Tootfinder

I realize that in 2026, saying the WaPo op-ed page has gotten dumber than a bag of bricks is not saying something novel, but "Your salted caramel mocha latte is destroying society", invoking Edmund Burke, might set a benchmark for the year even though we're only 3 months in.

“The Mistake Of CES’s Accessibility Stage”
https://accessaces.com/the-mistake-of-cess-accessibility-stage/
“Accessibility had not disappeared [from CES], but it was segregated into its own corner with a dedicated ‘Accessibility Stage’.”

CAGE: An Internal Source Scanning Cryostat for HPGe Characterization
G. Othman, C. Wiseman, T. H. Burritt, J. A. Detwiler, M. P. Held, R. Henning, T. Mathew, D. Peterson, W. Pettus, G. Song, T. D. Van Wechel
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.06289 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2602.06289 https://arxiv.org/html/2602.06289
arXiv:2602.06289v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: The success of current and future-generation neutrinoless double beta decay experiments relies on the ability to eliminate or reduce extraneous backgrounds. In addition to constructing experiments using radiopure materials and handling in underground laboratories, it is necessary to understand and reduce known backgrounds in data analysis. The Large Enriched Germanium Experiment for Neutrinoless double beta Decay is searching for this decay using 76Ge-enriched high-purity germanium detectors submerged in an active liquid argon veto. A significant background in LEGEND is surface events from shallowly-impinging radiation on detector surfaces. In this paper we introduce the Collimated Alphas, Gammas, and Electrons (CAGE) scanning system, an internal-source scanning vacuum cryostat, designed to perform studies of surface events on sensitive surfaces of HPGe in a surface-lab. CAGE features a collimated radionuclide source inside a movable infrared shield that is able to perform precision scans of detector surfaces by utilizing three independent motor stages for source positioning. This allows detailed studies of pulse shapes as a function of source position and incident angle, where defining features can be extracted and exploited for removing surface backgrounds in data analysis in LEGEND. In this paper, we describe CAGE and demonstrate its performance with a commissioning run with 241Am. The commissioning run was completed with the source at normal incidence, and we estimate a beam spot precision of 3.1 mm, which includes positioning uncertainties and the beam-spot size. Using the 59.5 keV gamma population from 241Am, we show that low-energy photon events near the passivated surface feature risetimes that increase with radial distance from the detector center. We suggest a specific metric that can be used to discriminate low-energy gamma backgrounds in LEGEND with similar characteristics.
toXiv_bot_toot

AGI is Our Generation's Alchemy, And We're Too Arrogant to Admit It
The AI industry has a dirty secret: we're building toward Artificial General Intelligence without the faintest consensus on what intelligence actually is.
https://ocrampal.com/from-sophi…

From Sophists to Alchemists to AI Coders: The Technique Without Understanding
We believe we are at the cutting edge of history, but we may just be repeating its oldest mistakes. From the Sophists’ empty rhetoric to the Alchemists’ blind experimentation, humanity has a long history of mastering technique without possessing understanding. This dialogue explores how today’s AI-driven world is creating

Fernando Mendoza Criticized Over Draft Decision Amid Raiders Projection https://heavy.com/sports/nfl/las-vegas-raiders/fernando-mendoza-criticized-nfl-draft-decision/

In december hebben de besturen van de digitale expertisenetwerken van D66, VVD, GL-PvdA en CDA elkaar opgezocht en consensus bereikt. Bij het bekijken van het coalitieakkoord "Aan de slag" zien zij genoeg inhoudelijke punten terug, om het een succes te mogen maken. Bijgaand het document waarover de vier besturen consensus hebben gevonden.

Inbreng besturen landelijke Digitale Expertisenetwerken | Wouter Teepe | 10 comments
In december hebben we met de besturen van de digitale expertisenetwerken van D66, VVD, GL-PvdA en CDA elkaar opgezocht en consensus bereikt op enkele onderwerpen die in een coalitieakkoord zouden moeten staan. Bij het bekijken van het coalitieakkoord "Aan de slag" zien we genoeg inhoudelijke punten terug, om het een succes te mogen noemen. Door constructief samen te werken, krijg je altijd meer voor elkaar. Bijgaand het document waarover de vier besturen consensus hebben gevonden. D66 VVD Groe…

Louis Braille’s Earlier Ideas, Ranked:
7. Musical Reading
Braille got Parisian street performers to “play” books by assigning each letter a note on the 🪗
The ensuing cacophony was unlistenable. However, it paved the way for experimental, atonal music which people now claim they enjoy to sound sophisticated
https://…

Louis Braille's Earlier Ideas, Ranked - The Squeaky Wheel
In 19th-century France, 15-year-old Louis Braille invented his famous tactile codex while still a student at a school for the blind, but Braille wasn’t the first thing he tried. These are our favorites of his earlier ideas: 8. Lickbooks Making all the letters of lickbooks (livres de la langue) taste different was too time-consuming. Plus, […]

EU internal market commissioner Stéphane Séjourné responds to Trump's comments:
'Any threat against member state is threat against the EU,'
Séjourné is the latest high-profile name to express solidarity with Madrid over Trump’s threats to
“cut off all dealings with Spain” last night over its criticism of the Iran war

Boah, was sind die Chinesen für Angeber. Der Schnellzug von Chongqing nach Zhangjia ist nicht einfach nur pünktlich... nein, der fährt AUF DIE SEKUNDE GENAU los.
Ich sag's euch: China is echt ne "humbling experience "

Trump said tariffs (a regressive consumption tax primarily paid by American consumers)
may “substantially replace”
(progressive) income taxes.
Here is what policy experts say.
https://

Trump said tariffs may 'substantially replace' income taxes. What policy experts say — CNBC
During his State of the Union address, President Donald Trump said tariffs could someday "substantially replace" the federal income tax system.