Tootfinder

Poolside launches Laguna S 2.1, an 118B open-weight model built for agentic coding and long-horizon work, that it says competes with larger open models (Iain Martin/Forbes)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/iainmartin/2026/…

American Open-Source Labs Think They Can Beat China’s Best AI Startups
Chinese open-source models like Kimi and Deepseek are now dominant AI tools. American startups like Thinking Machines, Reflection AI and now Poolside are trying to challenge that.

This month's "battle with the rose bush" done.
As in, the yard waste bin is full.
Do anyone know of good, long, thick leather gloves that might save my underarms? They look like I might have attempted to give a pill to a cat.
For reference, this is the kind of rose bush that I prune when it starts knocking on the windows on the second floor, usually three times per year.

https://thenextweb.com/news/ai-advice-suppresses-critical-thinking-wrong-answers-study

Kept thinking about Fetty today, so some of that had to happen. His classic debut from 2015 #NowPlaying. His new one this year is great too.
Cmon, you know you love Trap Queen. This fucker got TWO Grammy noms! 😂
https://youtu.be/i_kF4zLNKio

Vz-GAL Dusty Star-Forming Galaxies: Revisiting the CO-H2 Conversion Factor Tension
Prachi Prajapati, Axel Weiss, Dominik Riechers, Tom J. L. C. Bakx, Leindert A. Boogaard, Diana Ismail, Pierre Cox, Andrew J. Baker, Roberto Neri, Matthew Lehnert, Chentao Yang, Emilio Romano-Diaz, Hiddo S. B. Algera, Stefano Berta, Edoardo Borsato, Kirsty M. Butler, Asantha Cooray, Bethany Jones, Amelie Saintonge, Paul van der Werf
https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.18440 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2607.18440 https://arxiv.org/html/2607.18440
arXiv:2607.18440v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: The CO luminosity-to-H$_2$ mass conversion factor ($\alpha_{CO}$) remains a debated uncertainty in determining molecular gas masses of high-redshift dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs). Dynamical mass constraints have often favored $\alpha_{CO}=0.8$~$M_{\odot}~{(K~km~{s}^{-1}~{pc}^{2})}^{-1}$, whereas dust- and radiative-transfer-based methods imply higher values. We revisit this ``tension" using the largest homogeneous sample of 21 unlensed $z\sim1-4$ DSFGs, with securely measured \coonezero luminosities from the VLA \vzgal survey and resolved ($\sim{0.1}^{\prime\prime}$) ALMA 1~mm dust continuum imaging. For 12 galaxies with robust modeling constraints, we derive molecular gas masses using dust spectral energy distribution modeling and the TUNER LVG framework, adopting a solar-metallicity gas-to-dust mass ratio of 100. Although not fully independent due to shared assumptions on dust properties, these approaches yield mutually consistent gas masses corresponding to $\alpha_{CO}\sim1.5-11.5$, with a median near the Galactic $\alpha_{CO}=4.3$. Isotropic virial dynamical masses agree with these gas masses when realistic molecular gas sizes are adopted, while our proposed ``mixed" (rotating, pressure-supported, thick-disk) estimator systematically underestimates dynamical masses, producing low $\alpha_{CO}$ limits. Using GN20 ($z=4.055$) as a case study, we show that resolved gas geometry and kinematics reconcile the discrepancy with LVG-derived $\alpha_{CO}$. Our results suggest that current data do not require $\alpha_{CO}=0.8$, and intermediate to near-Galactic values remain dynamically viable given uncertainties in gas geometry, dust properties, and gas-to-dust ratios. Further progress in calibrating $\alpha_{CO}$ in the early universe will require resolved molecular gas observations, physically motivated ISM modeling, and stringent constraints on dust properties.
toXiv_bot_toot

The thesis I was reading spent the majority of it's time focused on John Boyd's OODA loop as a tool for critical analysis in high pressure or constrained situations. Table top exercises could also benefit from using these steps to slow down the thought process, expose what's actually happening, and sharpen these tools.
So each step could start by observing (which is generally what the GM will tell you, but you may ask additional questions to refine observational thinking). What do you look for in any given situation? How do you gather data? What sources do you use?
Next you would orient. Talk through this out loud. What does that data mean? How this fit what you already know, or does it challenge your assumptions? Are you observing something related to a previous action? What does that tell you about your previous action or actions? How do you turn the data you observed into intelligence you can act on? How do your observations narrow the options for the next possible action?
Then you decide your action. But you're not simply deciding, you're coming up with a hypothesis that your action will test. Anything you do is an opportunity to learn something about the world, about your situation, about the accuracy of the model you're using to make decisions. What belief does your next action imply? How will you know if that action was correct or incorrect? What observations would challenge your hypothesis? What observations would confirm it? Are those mutually exclusive, or are there additional observations or actions you must make to clarify things?
Then act. Finish your turn by choosing your action or actions (individually or collectively). Perhaps take a moment to write down notes, like what your observations, your hypothesis, and if you think your previous hypothesis was confirmed or refuted. You can review these all later to refine your thinking.
By exploring these ideas in a safe environment, you can train your brain to run through the process at high speed when under pressure. This helps you avoid panic. It's a lot like slowly practicing marshal arts moves until they become muscle memory, which then just happen without thought when needed.

Hot take: DKIM signatures with ed25519 are largely useless🔥🔑
I know what you're thinking. RSA is bad. You read that blogpost with the "f" word. (It's not good.) This isn't about ed25519 vs. RSA, but about how DKIM works
Here's the problem: if you introduce a new crypto algorithm into a protocol, you need to know if the other side" supports it. But in DKIM, you don't. You're sending e-mails to arbitrary receivers. DKIM has no mechanism to tel…

I know next to nothing of substance abt The Amazing Digital Circus. All I know is that every time a trans woman makes a virtual reality story she makes a zillion bucks and her characters get turned into fortnite skins cuz of our innate sauce with the feeling of physical disconnection, and im lowk tempted to try continuing the family nacho recipe even as itd be purely cynical cuz I actually really really only care abt the process of becoming a real physical person im tired of thinking within …

POL-GÖ: (183/2026) Polizeieinsatz in der Groner Straße - 26 Jahre alter Mann in Geschäft von Spezialkräften festgenommen, kein Zusammenhang mit Ermittlungen nach Schussabgabe auf Polizeibeamten am Samstag Göttingen (ots) - Göttingen, Groner Straße Donnerstag, 18. Juni 2026, 17.25 Uhr GÖTTINGEN (jk) - Im Zusammenhang mit Ermittlungen u. a. wegen gefährlicher Körperverletzung haben Ermittler der Polizei am Donnerstag (18.06.26) in einem

Since it was relevant to a discussion I just had on here and is something most people probably haven't thought about much (unless you've taken one of a handful of philosophy classes), I thought I'd try to lay out a key piece of Descartes' Meditations (#philosophy