Tootfinder

*gently opens up the December 15th flap on my react CVE advent calendar*

I managed to get out and I can confirm snow and ice on forest roads.
But it was fine. It all was a bit more technically challenging than usual.
Maybe I've got to clean my bike tomorrow.
#cycling #mountainbiking

Wunschzeit im Advent! ✨ Ab dem 7. Dezember könnt ihr wieder nach oben schauen und euch etwas wünschen, denn dann beginnt der aktivste Sternschnuppenstrom des Jahres: die Geminiden!
Zum Artikel: https://heise.de/-11102201?wt_mc=sm.re

Raiders’ Maxx Crosby Gets Strong Message Amid Eagles Injuries https://heavy.com/sports/nfl/las-vegas-raiders/maxx-crosby-strong-message-eagles-injuries/

Robust Multiagent Collaboration Through Weighted Max-Min T-Joins
Sharareh Alipour
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.07720 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2602.07720 https://arxiv.org/html/2602.07720
arXiv:2602.07720v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: Many multiagent tasks -- such as reviewer assignment, coalition formation, or fair resource allocation -- require selecting a group of agents such that collaboration remains effective even in the worst case. The \emph{weighted max-min $T$-join problem} formalizes this challenge by seeking a subset of vertices whose minimum-weight matching is maximized, thereby ensuring robust outcomes against unfavorable pairings.
We advance the study of this problem in several directions. First, we design an algorithm that computes an upper bound for the \emph{weighted max-min $2k$-matching problem}, where the chosen set must contain exactly $2k$ vertices. Building on this bound, we develop a general algorithm with a \emph{$2 \ln n$-approximation guarantee} that runs in $O(n^4)$ time. Second, using ear decompositions, we propose another upper bound for the weighted max-min $T$-join cost. We also show that the problem can be solved exactly when edge weights belong to $\{1,2\}$.
Finally, we evaluate our methods on real collaboration datasets. Experiments show that the lower bounds from our approximation algorithm and the upper bounds from the ear decomposition method are consistently close, yielding empirically small constant-factor approximations. Overall, our results highlight both the theoretical significance and practical value of weighted max-min $T$-joins as a framework for fair and robust group formation in multiagent systems.
toXiv_bot_toot

#FotoDerWoche mit gefrorenen und längst wieder aufgetauten Blättern.
https://blog.till-westermayer.de/2025/12/12879/

Photo of the week: Frozen leafs
Das Wetter, das Wetter. Das Bild ist am 19. November entstanden, da war es richtig kalt, wenn ich mich korrekt erinnere, fiel dann kurz darauf sogar Schnee. Heute Nacht hatten wir dagegen - Dezember, Nikolaustag, zweiter Advent - schon wieder 10 Grad plus. Und es soll sogar noch wärmer werden.

Sources: IBM is in advanced talks to buy data streaming software maker Confluent for ~$11B, above its market value of ~$8B as of December 5 close (Lauren Thomas/Wall Street Journal)
https://www.wsj.com/business/deals/ibm-nears-roughly-11-billion-de…

The RAISE Act vs. SB 53: A Tale of Two Frontier AI Laws
https://fpf.org/blog/the-raise-act-vs-sb-53-a-tale-of-two-frontier-ai-laws/
@…

From @…’s excellent microfictions horror advent calendar 7th Dec…