Tootfinder

"Perhaps the biggest difference between the two novels is that Goldratt’s protagonist gets promoted after demonstrating the success of his techniques, while Kim’s is promoted while it’s still clear to him and his manager that he has no clue what he’s doing. This ass-backwards career progression is necessary to make the book realistic in a software development context."

Play It Again, Sam
While the phrase "Play it again, Sam" never occurs in the film Casablanca, the sentiment does. Sam is asked to play "As time goes by", a song about how some things remain the same despite the passage of time. The song was originally part of a 1931 Broadway musical, and perhaps ironically due to a musician's union strike when Casablanca was released, the studio were unable to release a new version of the song as a record. Instead, they re-issued the original version, recorded over a decade earli…

This piece by @… just hits different. So good.
“The "problem" was that creating art—real, human, meaningful writing—is slow. It is expensive. It is unpredictable. And it is diverse. It requires dealing with people. People with traumas, people with political opinions, people with voices that don't fit into a corporate style guide. [……

Different Corners III ▶️
不同的角落 III ▶️
📷 Nikon F4E
🎞️ Fujifilm NEOPAN SS, expired 1993
#filmphotography #Photography #blackandwhite

Hardness and Tractability of T_{h 1}-Free Edge Deletion
Ajinkya Gaikwad, Soumen Maity, Leeja R
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.00644 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2602.00644 https://arxiv.org/html/2602.00644
arXiv:2602.00644v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: We study the parameterized complexity of the T(h 1)-Free Edge Deletion problem. Given a graph G and integers k and h, the task is to delete at most k edges so that every connected component of the resulting graph has size at most h. The problem is NP-complete for every fixed h at least 3, while it is solvable in polynomial time for h at most 2.
Recent work showed strong hardness barriers: the problem is W[1]-hard when parameterized by the solution size together with the size of a feedback edge set, ruling out fixed-parameter tractability for many classical structural parameters. We significantly strengthen these negative results by proving W[1]-hardness when parameterized by the vertex deletion distance to a disjoint union of paths, the vertex deletion distance to a disjoint union of stars, or the twin cover number. These results unify and extend known hardness results for treewidth, pathwidth, and feedback vertex set, and show that several restrictive parameters, including treedepth, cluster vertex deletion number, and modular width, do not yield fixed-parameter tractability when h is unbounded.
On the positive side, we identify parameterizations that restore tractability. We show that the problem is fixed-parameter tractable when parameterized by cluster vertex deletion together with h, and also when parameterized by neighborhood diversity together with h via an integer linear programming formulation. We further present a fixed-parameter tractable bicriteria approximation algorithm parameterized by k. Finally, we show that the problem admits fixed-parameter tractable algorithms on split graphs and interval graphs, and we establish hardness for a directed generalization even on directed acyclic graphs.
toXiv_bot_toot

Japan and the Octopus Trap of Modernity (file under: Takotsubo is not only a cardiac disease)
https://genealogiesofmodernity.org/journal/2021/6/10/cgq5rildc4mxhatmak817jxn3f9bef

Genealogies of Modernity — Japan and the Octopus Trap of Modernity
What we see in Japanese modernity, according to Maruyama, is a national franchise of these “idols of the market place” through the continuous specialization and internal diversifications that multiply these groups. Takeshi Morisato on how Japan became trapped in a hyper-specialized version of mode

Liam Ramos, the 5-year-old from Minnesota who was detained last week after coming home from preschool,
is being held in the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas.
Congressmembers who visited Liam report that has been depressed and hasn’t been eating well.
Javier Hidalgo, legal director at RAICES, has worked with families at the detention center for years.
“We often hear about food with bugs or worms in it,
half-frozen food being given,
gua…

“Let Us Out”: ICE Detention of Children Sparks Protests at Immigration Jail in Dilley, TX
Liam Ramos, the 5-year-old from Minnesota who was detained last week after coming home from preschool, is being held in the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas. Congressmembers who visited Liam report that has been depressed and hasn’t been eating well. Javier Hidalgo, legal director at RAICES, has worked with families at the detention center for years. “We often hear about food with bugs or worms in it, half-frozen food being given, guards yelling at parents if their kid…

If you're interested in how I quantified natural #CO2 emissions from "mofettes" near #Tübingen with a low-cost sensor network, and want to join my PhD defense tomorrow at 10:00, DM me here and i might send you the link (if I don't forget it 😅).
I'll be mostly talking about …

Quantification of natural CO2 emissions from mofettes using a low-cost sensor network at the Starzach site in South-West Germany
We present a top-down method to derive CO2 emissions from mofettes, using only point measurement time series at irregular locations. Notably, no wind vector information is needed, as gas transport is derived from cross-correlations between sensor stations and subsequently integrated using Gauss’ divergence theorem. The method is applied to an existing low-cost sensor network at the Starzach site near the Black Forest in Germany, for which no comprehensive estimate of the total emissions exist…

"For others, the exploration of old computer magazines brings the possibility of running old software. Many computer magazines, and not only the programming kind, used to bundle reams of source code listings across their pages, and many an enthusiast would painstakingly type those code bits by hand, in order to have a new utility, to learn a new programming language, or to enjoy a new game."

Retro Gaming Museum
Reviewing old computers magazines of yore is a pastime most often associated to retrocomputing enthusiasts. It is part of that feeling of bliss that comes with the realization that there used to be a different world, when software was simpler, when corporations did not have that much power, and when programming languages were more approachable; in short, a more innocent time.

Series A, Episode 13 - Orac
TRAVIS: Right. [They go down some steps into a tunnel. Travis looks around.]
SERVALAN: Travis!
TRAVIS: Huh?
SERVALAN: It's this way. [They walk through wet tunnels, there are loud breathing sounds in the background.]
https://blake.torpidity.net/m/113/94<…

Monat der Leaks: Apples Dezember legte viele Geräte für 2026 offen
Eine Vorabversion von iOS 26 und ein entfleuchtes Kernel-Debug-Kit sorgten fürs Durchsickern diverser Apple-Hardware-Details. Ein Überblick.