Tootfinder

In July, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France plans to recognize a Palestinian state
—joining the ranks of more than 100 global states, mostly non-European, that have already done so.
His decision was a clear shot across the bow to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israeli conduct in Gaza.
The point was made even more blunt in the following days by the news that the United Kingdom also intends to recognize a Palestinian state if no progress is…

What Was the Tipping Point on Gaza?
After almost two years of war, Israel is feeling the growing weight of governmental opprobrium.

Interesting that some who replied to my post on tax and GDP growth yesterday missed the point.
The point isn't to debate whether tax -> growth (it might, with a tail wind).
The point is that
1) Growth won't happen like it used to.
2) That is good because GDP growth is ecologically and socially lethal.
3) So our leaders (sic) had better adapt to the new reality and use taxation and other measures to build a better, fairer future.
More here:

Getting Real about the Crises Facing the UK | Stop the Damage! Build a Better Future!
Britain and the rest of the world face a set of almost intractable challenges, ecological (including climate), economic and social. Yet political leaders with few exceptions are failing to propose the actions and policies that could address the scale of this pancrisis. Here though is an alternative initiative, a kind of alternative manifesto with a portfolio of illustrative policies...

🌮

Hmmmm… here is a problem I did not anticipate.
Every time I empty the main pond hole of water, (the actual hole under the liner) water returns within an hour or two. I’ve done it 4 times now, and it keeps filling back up with water.
Obviously there is water underground infiltrating into the pond hole, and/or the water table itself is above the bottom of the hole. It is not coming from either of the other holes because they both have the same amount of water in them as they did this morning.
I have “watered” the blueberry patch and hazelnut tree a lot with the water that I have been cleaning the filter with… and we also had lots of water flying around outside the liners yesterday as I tested the pump. So it is quite possible that the ground around the pond is simply well saturated.
I think I am going to have to just keep removing the water (and putting it into the sewer) until it does not refill. We have a week of hot weather coming. Surely that will be enough time for everything to dry out completely.
Otherwise I might run into some issues if the rains return before I can anchor down the pond liner with gravel and get the plumbing in!
How is time already running short!?
Never underestimate the ability of water to find a place where it is not wanted. 😆
#poolpond #backyardProject #diy

FCC: "You need to do an RF exposure calculation for your barefoot 100W #HamRadio rig"
Urban climber: "Hold my beer"
https://www.reddit.com/r/urbanclimbing/s/tIGndPPCD0

"it’s believed to have revealed the identities of confidential informants."
PACER Gets Pwned: Hackers Breach Dinosaur Filing System - Above the Law
https://abovethelaw.com/2025/08/pacer-gets-pwned-hackers-breach-dinosaur-filing-system/

Sb doping effect on transport behavior in the topological insulator Bi2Se3
Shu-Wei Wang, Hang Chi, Jui-Che Chung
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.08244 https://a…

Sb doping effect on transport behavior in the topological insulator Bi2Se3
Bismuth selenide (Bi2Se3) is a good topological insulator (TI) with its surface band Dirac point inside the bulk bandgap. However, Bi2Se3 films grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) often require tuning of Fermi level near the Dirac point for optimal proximity effect with magnetic or superconducting materials. In this study, we achieve the control of the Fermi level in MBE-grown Bi2Se3 thin films by antimony (Sb) doping and systematically investigate the transport properties of these Bi2-xSbxSe…

Dolphins Mike McDaniel Provides Clarity on Player-Led Meetings https://heavy.com/sports/nfl/dallas-cowboys/mike-mcdaniel-coaches-player-led-meetings/?adt_ei=[email]

So on point - articulates so many of my feelings around this space (though I admit my feelings about use of AI in software are evolving, my feelings about it in creative endeavors have not).
https://theoatmeal.com/comics/ai_art

A cartoonist's review of AI art - The Oatmeal
This is a comic about AI art.

Interesting thread to get a first-hand account on the current state of LLMs for assisting US tax filings, even in complex situations. tl;dr: Very helpful for a sophisticated user that can check the output.
Another point towards my very narrow defense of LLMs, i.e., feel free to dislike LLMs for many good reasons, but please don't call them useless.

Patrick McKenzie
So October 15th, the extended US tax deadline, is just around the corner, and I have some observations which are more about LLM progress than taxes. Background: many people professionally involved with LLMs estimate 2026-2028 as the year where one can get an LLM to "do taxes."