Tootfinder

Series A, Episode 11 - Bounty
JENNA: It could be an injured pilot.
AVON: It could be a trap.
GAN: It's not a very good one, then. We're suspicious of it already.
AVON: The test is not whether you are suspicious but whether you are caught.
https://blake.torpidity.net/m/111/65

Designing Ethereum's Geographical (De)Centralization Beyond the Atlantic
Sen Yang, Burak \"Oz, Fei Wu, Fan Zhang
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.21475 https://

Designing Ethereum's Geographical (De)Centralization Beyond the Atlantic
Decentralization has a geographic dimension that conventional metrics such as stake distribution overlook. Where validators run affects resilience to regional shocks (outages, disasters, government intervention) and fairness in reward access. Yet in permissionless systems, locations cannot be mandated, but they emerge from incentives. Today, Ethereum's validators cluster along the Atlantic (EU and U.S. East Coast), where latency is structurally favorable. This raises a key question: when some r…

Good Morning #Canada
#HappyBirthday to Paul Shaffer, born OTD in 1949 in Toronto, and raised in Fort William (now part of Thunder Bay), Ontario. Shaffer is a Canadian musician, actor, and comedian who served as David Letterman's musical director, bandleader, and sidekick on Late Night with David Letterman (1982–1993) and Late Show with David Letterman (1993–2015). His father was a jazz aficionado while his mother loved show tunes. When Shaffer was 12, his parents took him on a trip to Las Vegas where they took in Nat King Cole and other shows; this was an experience Shaffer described later as "life changing" and led to his decision to become a performer. He was the musical director for the Toronto production of Godspell, a band member on SNL from 1975 to 1980, and the musical director for The Blues Brothers. Shaffer was inducted into the Order of Canada in 2007.
#CanadaIsAwesome #CanadianMusician
https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/paul-shaffer

This week’s #ThursdayFiveList is all about #Children, courtesy of @…:
1. Almost Vinyl, “That's a Fucking Ugly Baby”—

Multi-port programmable silicon photonics using low-loss phase change material Sb$_2$Se$_3$
Thomas W. Radford, Idris A Ajia, Latif Rozaqi, Priya Deoli, Xingzhao Yan, Mehdi Banakar, David J Thomson, Ioannis Zeimpekis, Alberto Politi, Otto L. Muskens
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.18205 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2511.18205 https://arxiv.org/html/2511.18205
arXiv:2511.18205v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: Reconfigurable photonic devices are rapidly emerging as a cornerstone of next generation optical technologies, with wide ranging applications in quantum simulation, neuromorphic computing, and large-scale photonic processors. A central challenge in this field is identifying an optimal platform to enable compact, efficient, and scalable reconfigurability. Optical phase-change materials (PCMs) offer a compelling solution by enabling non-volatile, reversible tuning of optical properties, compatible with a wide range of device platforms and current CMOS technologies. In particular, antimony tri-selenide ($\text{Sb}_{2}\text{Se}_{3}$) stands out for its ultra low-loss characteristics at telecommunication wavelengths and its reversible switching. In this work, we present an experimental platform capable of encoding multi-port operations onto the transmission matrix of a compact multimode interferometer architecture on standard 220~nm silicon photonics using \textit{in-silico} designed digital patterns. The multi-port devices are clad with a thin film of $\text{Sb}_{2}\text{Se}_{3}$, which can be optically addressed using direct laser writing to provide local perturbations to the refractive index. A range of multi-port geometries from 2$\times$2 up to 5$\times$5 couplers are demonstrated, achieving simultaneous control of up to 25 matrix elements with programming accuracy of 90% relative to simulated patterns. Patterned devices remain stable with consistent optical performance across the C-band wavelengths. Our work establishes a pathway towards the development of large scale PCM-based reconfigurable multi-port devices which will allow implementing matrix operations on three orders of magnitude smaller areas than interferometer meshes.
toXiv_bot_toot

Series D, Episode 12 - Warlord
TARRANT: Extent of damage, Orac? [pause, no response] Orac?
[Crew room. Tarrant enters and looks at Orac beneath the beam.]
[Shot of Zukan's ship in space, approaching another space ship.]
https://blake.torpidity.net/m/412/270 B7B4

Series D, Episode 06 - Headhunter
AVON: Where is Orac?
SOOLIN: Behind a panel in section four.
AVON: We have to get Orac outside.
TARRANT: Why risk it?
https://blake.torpidity.net/m/406/498 B7B5

Series A, Episode 13 - Orac
CALLY: We should keep on moving, they could be right behind us.
BLAKE: Yes, without weapons we don't stand a chance. Look, you keep going. I'm going to stay here and try and bring the roof down - block them off.
https://blake.torpidity.net/m/113/347 …

Series B, Episode 04 - Horizon
AVON: Has anybody else picked it up?
ZEN: Negative. [More beeps come in]
AVON: Decode.
https://blake.torpidity.net/m/204/530 B7B3