Tootfinder

Combinatorics of descent algebras and graph coverings
Philippe Biane
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.05528 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2506.0552…

Combinatorics of descent algebras and graph coverings
We give a direct combinatorial proof that the product of two descent classes in a symmetric group is a sum of descent classes. The proof is based on the fact that the group product gives a covering map when descent classes are endowed with the graph structure coming from the weak order. The main geometric argument is valid for any Coxeter group, even infinite ones for which the descent algebra does not exist.

Dissenter Headlines For June 9, 2025 https://thedissenter.org/dissenter-headlines-for-june-9-2025/

Florida agency tells newspaper to halt reporting angle on foundation associated with governor's wife (Mike Schneider/Associated Press)
https://apnews.com/article/orlando-sentinel-florida-desantis-welfare-9636452a8bf8eb230489513db64d86f7
http://www.memeorandum.com/250609/p104#a250609p104

Anarchism and Linux share key similarities in decentralization. Anarchism puts power back into the hands of the people through democratic, decentralized communities and bottom-up unions that organize collectively without hierarchy. Similarly, Linux operates as a decentralized system where no single entity controls the whole; instead, development and decision-making happen through collaborative, distributed contributions from a global community.
They also align in the principle of mutua…

Some WordPress veterans and the Linux Foundation start FAIR, a federated update network to decentralize WordPress infrastructure and boost supply chain security (Chris Stokel-Walker/Fast Company)
https://www.fastcompany.com/91347003/wordp

WordPress veterans launch FAIR project to tackle security and control concerns
Backed by the Linux Foundation, the new federated update network aims to decentralize WordPress infrastructure, strengthen supply chain security, and restore trust amid growing tensions with Automattic.

Was speaking to some journalists recently who didn't realise how long a history the use of radar has in measuring ice thickness over glaciers.
The technique was discovered by pilots, who must have had the frankly terrifying experience of landing on the ice sheet with their radars telling them they still had a few thousand metres of descent to reach the surface...
It's not mentioned in this obituary but I wonder if this guy would have seen it? Perhaps he didn't even have radar to assist in landing?
https://flipboard.com/@newyorktimes/obituaries-bq1u22g8z/-/a-gd4LiLY4RbOMXavSDWOBQQ:a:3195393-/0
newyorktimes@flipboard.com - Conrad Shinn, First Pilot to Land at the South Pole, Dies at 102
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/obituaries/conrad-shinn-dead.html?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
Posted into Obituaries @obituaries-newyorktimes

Understanding Community-Level Blocklists in Decentralized Social Media
Owen Xingjian Zhang, Sohyeon Hwang, Yuhan Liu, Manoel Horta Ribeiro, Andr\'es Monroy-Hern\'andez
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.05522

Understanding Community-Level Blocklists in Decentralized Social Media
Community-level blocklists are key to content moderation practices in decentralized social media. These blocklists enable moderators to prevent other communities, such as those acting in bad faith, from interacting with their own -- and, if shared publicly, warn others about communities worth blocking. Prior work has examined blocklists in centralized social media, noting their potential for collective moderation outcomes, but has focused on blocklists as individual-level tools. To understand h…

All this brings me back to some text I was writing yesterday for my students, on which I’d appreciate any thoughtful feedback:
❝You can let the computer do the typing for you, but never let it do the thinking for you.
This is doubly true in the current era of AI hype. If the AI optimists are correct (the credible ones, anyway), software development will consist of humans critically evaluating, shaping, and correcting the output of LLMs. If the AI skeptics are correct, then the future will bring mountains of AI slop to decode, disentangle, fix, and/or rewrite. Either way, it is •understanding• and •critically evaluating• code — not merely •generating• it — that will be the truly essential ability. Always has been; will be even more so. •That• is what you are learning here.❞
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In Nature Human Behaviour, Peter Gleick calls on scientists who are able and willing to do so to speak out publicly against the Trump administration’s attack on science,
and argues that although dissent carries risks, it is riskier to stay silent.
http://go.nature.com/3FIV7cC

👀
https://electrek.co/2025/06/05/tesla-goes-full-desperate-cybertruck-with-biggest-discount-yet/

Tesla becomes desperate with Cybertruck, launches biggest discount yet
Tesla has announced that it now offers interest-free loans on the Cybertruck until the end of the month. The move...