Tootfinder

CBS News Digital's WGA East members reach a deal with management on their first collective bargaining agreement, a week before Skydance is set to take over (Todd Spangler/Variety)
https://variety.com/2025/digital/news/cbs-news-digital-wga-east-u…

CBS News Digital WGA East Union Members Reach Three-Year Contract Deal
WGA East members at CBS News Digital reached a deal on their first collective-bargaining agreement, coming a week before Skydance-Paramount deal closes.

One thing that's great about living in #Japan is that it's one of the few countries where the main hard-left party both has some power, and is critical of the pseudo-#fascist, ethno-#nationalist party tha…

The Japanese Communist Party’s Feud with Beijing: Will the Global Left Take Note? | New Bloom Magazine
On July 1st, 2021, the Chinese Communist Party celebrated its hundredth anniversary, and duly received congratulatory messages from political leaders and parties around the world.

This https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.17502 has been replaced.
initial toot: https://mastoxiv.page/@arXiv_qu…

Demonstration of Quantum-Secure Communications in a Nuclear Reactor
Quantum key distribution (QKD), one of the latest cryptographic techniques, founded on the laws of quantum mechanics rather than mathematical complexity, promises for the first time unconditional secure remote communications. Integrating this technology into the next generation nuclear systems - designed for universal data collection and real-time sharing as well as cutting-edge instrumentation and increased dependency on digital technologies - could provide significant benefits enabling secure…

Ermittlungskomitee: Explosion sorgt für Brückeneinsturz in Brjansk und Kursk
Der Einsturz zweier Brücken am Wochenende in russischen Regionen an der Grenze zur Ukraine ist nach Angaben des russischen Ermittlungskomitees auf Explosionen zurückzuführen.
In der südwestlichen Region Brjansk sei am späten Samstagabend "eine Straßenbrücke infolge einer Explosion" eingestürzt, teilte das Ermittlerkomitee mit. Am frühen Sonntagmorge…
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Ukraine-Liveblog: ++ Wadephul betont Waffenhilfe ++
Außenminister Wadephul betont, dass Deutschland der Ukraine weitreichende Militärhilfe leisten wird. Nach einem Angriff auf eine ukrainische Ausbildungseinheit mit zwölf Toten tritt der Kommandeur der ukrainischen Armee, Drapatij, zurück.

Now starting: the #SecurityNarratives workshop, a very interesting expression of the #DigitalHumanities and a collaboration between the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture and Department of Information Security and Communication Technology at

ADHO (adho.org) updates at the opening of #DH2025 from Diane and Michael - the Italian Digital Humanities association officially joins ADHO, and announces awards including the Zampoli prize to Stylo software, the conference bursaries winners and Fortier prize nominees. Also note the Code of Conduct!

A Simple but Accurate Approximation for Multivariate Gaussian Rate-Distortion Function and Its Application in Maximal Coding Rate Reduction
Zhenglin Huang, Qifa Yan, Bin Dai, Xiaohu Tang
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.18613

A Simple but Accurate Approximation for Multivariate Gaussian Rate-Distortion Function and Its Application in Maximal Coding Rate Reduction
The multivariate Gaussian rate-distortion (RD) function is crucial in various applications, such as digital communications, data storage, or neural networks. However, the complex form of the multivariate Gaussian RD function prevents its application in many neural network-based scenarios that rely on its analytical properties, for example, white-box neural networks, multi-device task-oriented communication, and semantic communication. This paper proposes a simple but accurate approximation for …

To add a single example here (feel free to chime in with your own):
Problem: editing code is sometimes tedious because external APIs require boilerplate.
Solutions:
- Use LLM-generated code. Downsides: energy use, code theft, potential for legal liability, makes mistakes, etc. Upsides: popular among some peers, seems easy to use.
- Pick a better library (not always possible).
- Build internal functions to centralize boilerplate code, then use those (benefits: you get a better understanding of the external API, and a more-unit-testable internal code surface; probably less amortized effort).
- Develop a non-LLM system that actually reasons about code at something like the formal semantics level and suggests boilerplate fill-ins based on rules, while foregrounding which rules it's applying so you can see the logic behind the suggestions (needs research).
Obviously LLM use in coding goes beyond this single issue, but there are similar analyses for each potential use of LLMs in coding. I'm all cases there are:
1. Existing practical solutions that require more effort (or in many cases just seem to but are less-effort when amortized).
2. Near-term researchable solutions that directly address the problem and which would be much more desirable in the long term.
Thus in addition to disastrous LLM effects on the climate, on data laborers, and on the digital commons, they tend to suck us into cheap-seeming but ultimately costly design practices while also crowding out better long-term solutions. Next time someone suggests how useful LLMs are for some task, try asking yourself (or them) what an ideal solution for that task would look like, and whether LLM use moves us closer to or father from a world in which that solution exists.

Improving Public Service Chatbot Design and Civic Impact: Investigation of Citizens' Perceptions of a Metro City 311 Chatbot
Jieyu Zhou, Rui Shen, Yue You, Carl DiSalvo, Lynn Dombrowski, Christopher MacLellan
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.12259

Improving Public Service Chatbot Design and Civic Impact: Investigation of Citizens' Perceptions of a Metro City 311 Chatbot
As governments increasingly adopt digital tools, public service chatbots have emerged as a growing communication channel. This paper explores the design considerations and engagement opportunities of public service chatbots, using a 311 chatbot from a metropolitan city as a case study. Our qualitative study consisted of official survey data and 16 interviews examining stakeholder experiences and design preferences for the chatbot. We found two key areas of concern regarding these public chatbot…