Tootfinder

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/hacker-volunteers-set-water-utilities-cybersecurity/story?id=124456283
'Hacker-volunteers' set to help water utilities with cybersecurity

'Hacker-volunteers' set to help water utilities with cybersecurity
The announcement was made at the DEF CON hacker convention in Las Vegas.

Hundreds of consumers reached out to their congressional representatives for help in the past 12 months.
“I have been unable to pay my rent, utilities, personal bills, student loans, or my credit card. I have been unable to buy groceries or put gas in my car,” wrote a New Yorker, who contacted Rep. Nicole Malliotakis’ office.
Records show their representatives — all Republicans — referred them to the "Consumer Financial Protection Bureau",
the watchdog agency form…

These GOP Lawmakers Referred Constituents to the CFPB for Help. Then They Voted to Gut the Agency.
Many of the same Republican lawmakers who have targeted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for cuts have collectively directed thousands of constituents’ complaints about banks, credit cards, loans and other products to the agency.

The Implicit Barrier of Utility Maximization: An Interior-Point Approach for Market Equilibria
Chuwen Zhang, Chang He, Bo Jiang, Yinyu Ye
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.04822 https:…

The Implicit Barrier of Utility Maximization: An Interior-Point Approach for Market Equilibria
We study the computation of equilibria in exchange markets with divisible goods and players endowed with heterogeneous utilities. In this paper, we revisit the polynomial-time interior-point strategies that update \emph{only} the prices, mirroring the tâtonnement process. The key ingredient is the \emph{implicit barrier} inherent in the utility maximization: the utility turns unbounded when the goods are almost free of charge. Focusing on a ubiquitous class of utilities, we formalize this obse…

Zig's recent (and sudden) removal of `usingnamespace` completely and utterly destroyed my nD vector types library[1] architecture and I have no idea how to solve this...
Now I must find a way to rewrite and expose hundreds of swizzle functions (many of them conditional & dependent on different vector sizes) as well as other size-specific and value type-specific functionality, all whilst trying to keep the existing API intact and not to pollute or complicate it with additional s…

zig-thing/src/vectors.zig at main · thi-ng/zig-thing
Small collection of data types/structures, utilities & open-learning with Zig - thi-ng/zig-thing

Google agrees with two power utilities to pause non-essential AI workloads during peak demand or adverse weather events that reduce supply (Tobias Mann/The Register)
https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/04/google_ai_datacenter_grid/

Google agrees to pause AI workloads to protect the grid when power demand spikes
: On hot summer days, air conditioning is rather more important than search summaries

Toward Energy and Location-Aware Resource Allocation in Next Generation Networks
Mandar Datar (CEA-LETI), Mattia Merluzzi (CEA-LETI)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.05109 https://

Toward Energy and Location-Aware Resource Allocation in Next Generation Networks
Wireless networks are evolving from radio resource providers to complex systems that also involve computing, with the latter being distributed across edge and cloud facilities. Also, their optimization is shifting more and more from a performance to a value-oriented paradigm. The two aspects shall be balanced continuously, to maximize the utilities of Services Providers (SPs), users quality of experience and fairness, while meeting global constraints in terms of energy consumption and carbon fo…

Screening with damages and ordeals
Filip Tokarski
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.04456 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2508.04456…

Screening with damages and ordeals
A welfare-maximizing designer allocates two kinds of goods using two wasteful screening instruments: ordeals, which enter agents' utilities additively, and damages, which harm agents in proportion to their values for the goods. If agents have common valuations for one of the goods, damages always lead to Pareto-dominated mechanisms: any allocation using damages can also be implemented with ordeals alone, while also leaving greater rents to inframarginal types. However, using damages can be opti…

from my link log —
POSIX shell and utilities quick reference.
https://shellhaters.org/
saved 2025-05-02 https://dotat.at/:/NH5JA.html

A Fully-integrated Diamond Nitrogen-Vacancy Magnetometer with Nanotesla Sensitivity
Yulin Dai, Wenhui Tian, Qing liu, Bao Chen, Yushan Liu, Qidi Hu, Zheng Ma, Yunpeng Zhai, Haodong Wang, Ying Dong, Nanyang Xu
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.03237

A Fully-integrated Diamond Nitrogen-Vacancy Magnetometer with Nanotesla Sensitivity
Ensemble diamond nitrogen-vacancy (DNV) centers have emerged as a promising platform for precise earth-field vector magnetic sensing, particularly in applications that require high mobility. Nevertheless, integrating all control utilities into a compact form has proven challenging, thus far limiting the sensitivity of mobile DNV magnetometers to the uT-level. This study introduces a fully integrated DNV magnetometer that encompasses all the essential components typically found in traditional pl…

THIS👇👇👇👇👇
https://zirk.us/@ChrisMayLA6/114949958179517536
( And it highlights the fact that we need to rethink utilities, recognizing them as services necessary for a modern equitable society to function)

THIS👇👇👇👇👇
https://zirk.us/@ChrisMayLA6/114949958179517536
( And it highlights the fact that we need to rethink utilities, recognizing them as services necessary for a modern equitable society to function)

"Google’s new plan to keep its data centers from stressing the grid"
#Google #Technology
https://www.

Google’s new plan to keep its data centers from stressing the grid
AI data centers are set to swamp U.S. power grids. Google’s new utility deals aim to flip the script — shifting workloads to ease strain and speed its…

NASIM: Revealing the low surface brightness Universe from legacy VISTA data
Elham Saremi, Ignacio Trujillo, Mohammad Akhlaghi, Zohreh Ghaffari, Johan H. Knapen, Manda Banerji, Helmut Dannerbauer, S\'ebastien Comer\'on
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.02780

NASIM: Revealing the low surface brightness Universe from legacy VISTA data
Near-infrared imaging is a powerful technique in observational astronomy, but the bright background, primarily from the Earthś atmosphere, makes the detection of faint features particularly challenging. To recover low surface brightness (LSB) structures in such data, we present NASIM (Near-infrared Automated low Surface brightness reduction In Maneage), a fully automated and reproducible data reduction pipeline optimised for VISTA/VIRCAM observations. NASIM builds on GNU Astronomy Utilities (G…

In 2001, California state regulators proposed a safety rule
to remove abandoned power lines, which could potentially ignite wildfires.
However, under pressure from utilities like Southern California Edison,
the rule was revised in 2005 to allow these lines to remain
until deemed "permanently abandoned" by executives

How a trans utilities employee used Pride to remind us that everybody poops - LGBTQ Nation
https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/06/how-a-trans-utilities-employee-used-pride-to-remind-us-that-everybody-poops/

Well I had a productive night, (and far too long of one at that...) I managed to finally get my network diagnostics script rewritten with standard libraries and curses support over on
https://github.com/eVAL-Agency/net-diag
Currently it supports Linux and Windows, but I…

Sometimes {renv} just isnt enough to ensure your environment is controlled. Maybe {slushy} could be an option? https://gsk-biostatistics.github.io/slushy/index.html

Every time I do anything with emulating old Macs and I want to "just create a disk image" it's like pulling teeth; literally all the emulation software and utilities are endlessly janky and it feels like they're deliberately made to be obtuse and gate-keepery.

NOTICE OF PUBLIC FORUM
(Public Participation Hearing)
Southern California Edison Company and San Diego Gas and Electric Company’s
Joint Application for the 2024 Nuclear Decommissioning Cost Triennial Proceeding
APPLICATION A.24-12-003
Southern California Edison Company (SCE), San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E), and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) would like to hear from you. You are invited to participate in a Public Forum, also calle…

Apple sparks a backlash from iPhone owners after pushing a notification from the Apple Wallet app that promoted a Fandango deal for Apple's F1 movie (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/24/iphone-customers-upset-…

iPhone customers upset by Apple Wallet ad pushing 'F1' movie | TechCrunch
However well-received the film may be, iPhone users don't necessarily want their built-in utilities, like their digital wallet, marketing to them.

Deep BSVIEs Parametrization and Learning-Based Applications
Nacira Agram, Giulia Pucci
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.01948 https://arxiv…

Deep BSVIEs Parametrization and Learning-Based Applications
We study the numerical approximation of backward stochastic Volterra integral equations (BSVIEs) and their reflected extensions, which naturally arise in problems with time inconsistency, path dependent preferences, and recursive utilities with memory. These equations generalize classical BSDEs by involving two dimensional time structures and more intricate dependencies. We begin by developing a well posedness and measurability framework for BSVIEs in product probability spaces. Our approach …

Well worth a read:
The icons in /Applications/Utilities/ in MacOS 26 Tahoe represent a folder full of dead canaries.
via @…
https://

MacOS 26 Tahoe’s Dead Canary Utility App Icons
These are the not the work of carpenters who care about the backs of the cabinets they’re building. These icons are so bad, they look like the work of untrained “How hard can it be?” dilettante carpenters who only last a few days on the job before sawing off one of their own fingers.

Miscalculation by Spanish power grid operator REE contributed to massive blackout in Spain and Portugal, report finds.
Not enough thermal power plants were in operation to control the voltage after a disruption. Utilities blame Spain's grid operator REE.

I want to generate pleasing colour palettes autogically in #Clojure; it seems to me that this is best done in the CIELAB colour space. There's no Clojure implementation, but there is a Java one, here:
https://www.gicentre.net/utils

giCentre utilities — giCentre

Apple sparks a backlash from iPhone owners after pushing a notification from the Apple Wallet app that promoted a Fandango deal for Apple's F1 movie (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/24/iphone-customers-upset-…

iPhone customers upset by Apple Wallet ad pushing F1 movie | TechCrunch
However well-received the film may be, iPhone users don't necessarily want their built-in utilities, like their digital wallet, marketing to them.

Various thi.ng updates, bug fixes, additions and new version of https://github.com/thi-ng/zig-thing/ — now fully compatible with current Zig v0.14.1
On a more diary/devlog note: I also updated several of my Zig based work-in-progress art pieces to the latest version (some of them not touc…

Cutting-edge tech by RMIT University blocks 98% of harmful kitchen fats from clogging sewers, saving billions for water utilities. #climatechange #climatesolutions #climate

New tech blocks 98% harmful kitchen fats from clogging sewers
Researchers in Australia have unveiled a novel grease interceptor that removes up to 98% of fats from kitchen wastewater.

Preference Models assume Proportional Hazards of Utilities
Chirag Nagpal
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.13189 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2508.13189

Preference Models assume Proportional Hazards of Utilities
Approaches for estimating preferences from human annotated data typically involves inducing a distribution over a ranked list of choices such as the Plackett-Luce model. Indeed, modern AI alignment tools such as Reward Modelling and Direct Preference Optimization are based on the statistical assumptions posed by the Plackett-Luce model. In this paper, I will connect the Plackett-Luce model to another classical and well known statistical model, the Cox Proportional Hazards model and attempt to s…

Southern California Gas Company (SCG),
San Diego Gas and Electric Company (SDG&E),
Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E),
Southwest Gas Corporation (Southwest Gas)
(collectively, the Gas Utilities)
and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)
⭐️invite customers to participate in a Public Forum,
also called a Public Participation Hearing (PPH).
These Public Forums are part of a formal rulemaking proceeding
Customer c…

Multinomial probit model based on joint quantile regression
Masaaki Okabe, Koki Matsuoka, Jun Tsuchida, Hiroshi Yadohisa
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.13556 https://

Multinomial probit model based on joint quantile regression
The multinomial probit model is a typical statistical model for multiple-choice data applied in many research areas. When we are interested in some quantiles of relative utilities for understanding the distribution of these utilities, the multinomial probit model is unsuitable because we only interpret the expectation of relative utilities based on it. We thus propose quantile regression analysis methods for multinomial choice data based on joint quantile regression and multinomial probit model…

Two European incidents revealed last week -- an attack on a Norwegian dam by a Russia-friendly group known as Z-Pentest Alliance and a supposedly Russia-linked attack on a Polish city's water supply -- underscore that water utilities should intensify their focus on cybersecurity.
Check out my latest CSO piece. Thanks to former White House cyber official Jake Braun and ICS security specialist Ron Fabela for their insights.
Russia-linked European attacks renew concerns over wat…

Russia-linked European attacks renew concerns over water cybersecurity
Suspected sabotage in Norway and a foiled cyberattack in Poland highlight the growing risk to under-protected water utilities, experts warn.

F*ck me my water bill has gone up by 37.4% in the last 14 months. How did that happen? And I don’t get to switch providers, I just have to suck it up. WTaF?
#water #utilities #publicutilities

A Lightweight Incentive-Based Privacy-Preserving Smart Metering Protocol for Value-Added Services
Farid Zaredar, Morteza Amini
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.14703 https://

A Lightweight Incentive-Based Privacy-Preserving Smart Metering Protocol for Value-Added Services
The emergence of smart grids and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) has revolutionized energy management. Unlike traditional power grids, smart grids benefit from two-way communication through AMI, which surpasses earlier automated meter reading (AMR). AMI enables diverse demand- and supply-side utilities such as accurate billing, outage detection, real-time grid control, load forecasting, and value-added services. Smart meters play a key role by delivering consumption values at predefined …

A Robust Predictive Control Method for Pump Scheduling in Water Distribution Networks
Mirhan \"Urkmez, Carsten Kalles{\o}e, Jan Dimon Bendtsen, Eric C. Kerrigan, John Leth
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.18492

A Robust Predictive Control Method for Pump Scheduling in Water Distribution Networks
Water utilities aim to reduce the high electrical costs of Water Distribution Networks (WDNs), primarily driven by pumping. However, pump scheduling is challenging due to model uncertainties and water demand forecast errors. This paper presents a Robust Model Predictive Control (RMPC) method for optimal and reliable pump scheduling, extending a previous efficient robust control method tailored to our model. A linear model with bounded additive disturbances is used to represent tank water level …

DEF CON volunteers step up to help water sector after China, Iran attack utilities https://therecord.media/def-con-franklin-water-utility-cybersecurity-volunteers

On Pareto-Optimal and Fair Allocations with Personalized Bi-Valued Utilities
Jiarong Jin, Biaoshuai Tao
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.18251 https://arxiv.org/…

On Pareto-Optimal and Fair Allocations with Personalized Bi-Valued Utilities
We study the fair division problem of allocating $m$ indivisible goods to $n$ agents with additive personalized bi-valued utilities. Specifically, each agent $i$ assigns one of two positive values $a_i > b_i > 0$ to each good, indicating that agent $i$'s valuation of any good is either $a_i$ or $b_i$. For convenience, we denote the value ratio of agent $i$ as $r_i = a_i / b_i$. We give a characterization to all the Pareto-optimal allocations. Our characterization implies a polynomial-time alg…

from my link log —
rust-parallel: Run commands in parallel and aggregate outputs, like GNU parallel.
https://github.com/aaronriekenberg/rust-parallel
saved 2025-08-03

GitHub - aaronriekenberg/rust-parallel: Fast command line app in rust/tokio to run commands in parallel. Similar interface to GNU parallel or xargs plus useful features. Listed in Awesome Rust utilities.
Fast command line app in rust/tokio to run commands in parallel. Similar interface to GNU parallel or xargs plus useful features. Listed in Awesome Rust utilities. - aaronriekenberg/rust-parallel

Incremental-Decremental Maximization
Yann Disser, Max Klimm, Annette Lutz, Lea Strubberg
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.14516 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2508.14516

Incremental-Decremental Maximization
We introduce a framework for incremental-decremental maximization that captures the gradual transformation or renewal of infrastructures. In our model, an initial solution is transformed one element at a time and the utility of an intermediate solution is given by the sum of the utilities of the transformed and untransformed parts. We propose a simple randomized and a deterministic algorithm that both find an order in which to transform the elements while maintaining a large utility during all …

Advanced Game-Theoretic Frameworks for Multi-Agent AI Challenges: A 2025 Outlook
Pavel Malinovskiy
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.17348 https://

Advanced Game-Theoretic Frameworks for Multi-Agent AI Challenges: A 2025 Outlook
This paper presents a substantially reworked examination of how advanced game-theoretic paradigms can serve as a foundation for the next-generation challenges in Artificial Intelligence (AI), forecasted to arrive in or around 2025. Our focus extends beyond traditional models by incorporating dynamic coalition formation, language-based utilities, sabotage risks, and partial observability. We provide a set of mathematical formalisms, simulations, and coding schemes that illustrate how multi-agent…

SENSOR: An ML-Enhanced Online Annotation Tool to Uncover Privacy Concerns from User Reviews in Social-Media Applications
Labiba Farah, Mohammad Ridwan Kabir, Shohel Ahmed, MD Mohaymen Ul Anam, Md. Sakibul Islam
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.10640

SENSOR: An ML-Enhanced Online Annotation Tool to Uncover Privacy Concerns from User Reviews in Social-Media Applications
The widespread use of social media applications has raised significant privacy concerns, often highlighted in user reviews. These reviews also provide developers with valuable insights into improving apps by addressing issues and introducing better features. However, the sheer volume and nuanced nature of reviews make manual identification and prioritization of privacy-related concerns challenging for developers. Previous studies have developed software utilities to automatically classify user …

OS/2 utilities - ftp.sunet.se archived at IA https://web.archive.org/web/19990828173048/http://ftp.sunet.se/pub/OS2/hobbes/os2/util/disk/

**This is unconstitutional; the law itself has no such cap.** HUD did this same b.s. 'enforcing' the Brooke Amendment, which prevented increases in rent due to increases in taxes and utilities; HUD put an arbitrary cap on how many increases, and the court said (*Howard v. Pierce*) 're-write the regulation to conform to enabling legislation'
'So disrespectful': This Trump proposal could throw 1.4 million people out of their homes - Alternet.org
https://www.alternet.org/hiousing-trump-homeless/?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Jul.17.2025_8.32pm

"Can AI Slash Pollution? Fossil Fuel Industry Is Investing in Boosting Oil Production, Profits Instead"
#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #FossilFuels

Can AI Slash Pollution? Fossil Fuel Industry Is Investing in Boosting Oil Production, Profits Instead
DeSmog reveals that Big Oil says they’re using AI to produce more fossil fuels, while utilities are exploring how “AI agents” could take over key power grid functions.

A novel framework for disinfection analisys in drinking water networks
Daniele Laucelli, Lucia Vergine, Giuseppina Messa, Orazio Giustolisi
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.14985 http…

A novel framework for disinfection analisys in drinking water networks
Disinfection in drinking water networks is performed to ensure water safety and potability. However, disinfectants can react with organic compounds present in the water networks. The reaction of disinfectants with such compounds generates byproducts that could be dangerous for human health. The compounds are generally endogenous, i.e., adhered or/and released by the pipe wall, and not introduced from reservoirs because water utilities efficiently monitor and manage their water quality. The pres…

Fast Distribution Grid Topology Estimation via Subset Sum
Yueyao Xu, Yize Chen
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.16924 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2507.16924

Fast Distribution Grid Topology Estimation via Subset Sum
Faced with increasing penetration of distributed energy resources and fast development of distribution grid energy management, topology identification of distribution grid becomes an important and fundamental task. As the underlying grid topology is usually unknown or incomplete to the utilities, it is becoming a fundamental task to efficiently identify the distribution grid network topology using limited measurements. A fast and accurate topology identification can help achieving the tasks of …

Polynomial-Time Approximation Schemes via Utility Alignment: Unit-Demand Pricing and More
Robin Bowers, Marius Garbea, Emmanouil Pountourakis, Samuel Taggart
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.20030

Polynomial-Time Approximation Schemes via Utility Alignment: Unit-Demand Pricing and More
This paper derives polynomial-time approximation schemes for several NP-hard stochastic optimization problems from the algorithmic mechanism design and operations research literatures. The problems we consider involve a principal or seller optimizing with respect to a subsequent choice by an agent or buyer. These include posted pricing for a unit-demand buyer with independent values (Chawla et al., 2007, Cai and Daskalakis, 2011), assortment optimization with independent utilities (Talluri and …

innovations from the semiconductor, electronics, metallurgy, and petroleum industries played a major role in reducing both PhotoVoltaic and Balance of System (BOS) costs,
but BOS costs were also impacted by innovations in software engineering and electric utilities.
Noninnovation factors, like efficiency gains from bulk purchasing and the accumulation of knowledge in the solar power industry, also reduced some cost variables.
In addition, while most PV panel innovations origi…

Surprisingly diverse innovations led to dramatically cheaper solar panels
A new study reveals key innovations that contributed to the rapid decline of solar energy systems, showing that many of the most significant technological advances came from outside the solar sector. This work could help businesses, researchers, and policymakers identify optimal areas for future investment.

Exploiting Convexity of Neural Networks in Dynamic Operating Envelope Optimization for Distributed Energy Resources
Hongyi Li, Liming Liu, Yunyi Li, Zhaoyu Wang
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.13090

Exploiting Convexity of Neural Networks in Dynamic Operating Envelope Optimization for Distributed Energy Resources
The increasing penetration of distributed energy resources (DERs) brings opportunities and challenges to the operation of distribution systems. To ensure network integrity, dynamic operating envelopes (DOEs) are issued by utilities to DERs as their time-varying export/import power limits. Due to the non-convex nature of power flow equations, the optimization of DOEs faces a dilemma of solution accuracy and computation efficiency. To bridge this gap, in this paper, we facilitate DOE optimization…

Comparisons of Experiments in Moral Hazard Problems
Zizhe Xia
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.12476 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2507.12476

Comparisons of Experiments in Moral Hazard Problems
I use a novel geometric approach to compare information in moral hazard problems. I study three nested geometric orders on information, namely the column space, the conic span, and the zonotope orders. The orders are defined by the inclusion of the column space, the conic span, and the zonotope of the matrices representing the experiments. For each order, I establish four equivalent characterizations, (i) inclusion of polyhedral sets of feasible state dependent utilities, (ii) matrix factorizat…

Higher-Order Uncoupled Learning Dynamics and Nash Equilibrium
Sarah A. Toonsi, Jeff S. Shamma
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.10874 https://

Higher-Order Uncoupled Learning Dynamics and Nash Equilibrium
We study learnability of mixed-strategy Nash Equilibrium (NE) in general finite games using higher-order replicator dynamics as well as classes of higher-order uncoupled heterogeneous dynamics. In higher-order uncoupled learning dynamics, players have no access to utilities of opponents (uncoupled) but are allowed to use auxiliary states to further process information (higher-order). We establish a link between uncoupled learning and feedback stabilization with decentralized control. Using this…

General Matching Games
Felipe Garrido-Lucero, Rida Laraki
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.15737 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2507.15737

General Matching Games
Matching games is a one-to-one two sided market model introduced by Garrido-Lucero and Laraki, in which coupled agents' utilities are endogenously determined as the outcome of a strategic game. They refine the classical pairwise stability by requiring robustness to renegotiation and provide general conditions under which pairwise stable and renegotiation-proof outcomes exist as the limit of a deferred acceptance with competitions algorithm together with a renegotiation process. In this article,…

Data-driven quantification and visualization of resilience metrics of power distribution system
Dingwei Wang, Salish Maharjan, Junyuan Zheng, Liming Liu, Zhaoyu Wang
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.12408

Data-driven quantification and visualization of resilience metrics of power distribution system
This paper presents a data-driven approach for quantifying the resilience of distribution power grids to extreme weather events using two key metrics: (a) the number of outages and (b) restoration time. The method leverages historical outage records maintained by power utilities and weather measurements collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to evaluate resilience across a utility's service territory. The proposed framework consists of three stages. First, outag…

Properties of Egalitarian Sequences of Committees: Theory and Experiments
Paula B\"ohm, Robert Bredereck, Till Fluschnik
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.14439 https://

Properties of Egalitarian Sequences of Committees: Theory and Experiments
We study the task of electing egalitarian sequences of $τ$ committees given a set of agents with additive utilities for candidates available on each of $τ$ levels. We introduce several rules for electing an egalitarian committee sequence as well as properties for such rules. We settle the computational complexity of finding a winning sequence for our rules and classify them against our properties. Additionally, we transform sequential election data from existing election data from the literat…

Real Preferences Under Arbitrary Norms
Joshua Zeitlin, Corinna Coupette
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.09046 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2508.09046

Real Preferences Under Arbitrary Norms
Whether the goal is to analyze voting behavior, locate facilities, or recommend products, the problem of translating between (ordinal) rankings and (numerical) utilities arises naturally in many contexts. This task is commonly approached by representing both the individuals doing the ranking (voters) and the items to be ranked (alternatives) in a shared metric space, where ordinal preferences are translated into relationships between pairwise distances. Prior work has established that any colle…

Equitable Mechanism Design for Facility Location
Toby Walsh
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.10460 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2506.10460

Equitable Mechanism Design for Facility Location
We consider strategy proof mechanisms for facility location which maximize equitability between agents. As is common in the literature, we measure equitability with the Gini index. We first prove a simple but fundamental impossibility result that no strategy proof mechanism can bound the approximation ratio of the optimal Gini index of utilities for one or more facilities. We propose instead computing approximation ratios of the complemented Gini index of utilities, and consider how well both d…

Optimizing Battery and Line Undergrounding Investments for Transmission Systems under Wildfire Risk Scenarios: A Benders Decomposition Approach
Ryan Piansky, Rahul K. Gupta, Daniel K. Molzahn
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.06687

Optimizing Battery and Line Undergrounding Investments for Transmission Systems under Wildfire Risk Scenarios: A Benders Decomposition Approach
With electric power infrastructure posing an increasing risk of igniting wildfires under continuing climate change, utilities are frequently de-energizing power lines to mitigate wildfire ignition risk, which can cause load shedding. Recent research advocates for installing battery energy storage systems as well as undergrounding risky overhead lines to reduce the load shedding during such de-energizations. Since wildfire ignition risk can exhibit substantial geographic and temporal variations,…

Beyond Scalars: Zonotope-Valued Utility for Representation of Multidimensional Incomplete Preferences
Behrooz Moosavi Ramezanzadeh
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.05844

Beyond Scalars: Zonotope-Valued Utility for Representation of Multidimensional Incomplete Preferences
In this paper, I propose a new framework for representing multidimensional incomplete preferences through zonotope-valued utilities, addressing the shortcomings of traditional scalar and vector-based models in decision theory. Traditional approaches assign single numerical values to alternatives, failing to capture the complexity of preferences where alternatives remainmain incomparable due to conflicting criteria across multiple dimensions. Our method maps each alternative to a zonotope, a con…