"You've got to be able to hold a lot of contradictory ideas in your mind without going nuts. I feel like to do my job right, when I walk out onstage I've got to feel like it's the most important thing in the world. Also I've got to feel like, well, it's only rock and roll. Somehow you've got to believe both of those things."--Bruce Springsteen
A breakthrough in the field of random walks https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a31977621/math-problem-random-walks-solved/
"The interactive courses were created by ASU faculty experts to share research and information that can help people to think about how they view the world and to consider how other people experience it." https://asunow.asu.edu/20200616-solutions-be-welcoming-curriculum-offers-tools-counteract-bias
Using more than 50 years of satellite tracking data, a team found that green sea turtles will skip areas they don't know when looking for a foraging site even if they are suitable https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24632831-300-the-epic-journeys-of-green-sea-turtles-revealed-by-50-years-of-data
Four Non-Obvious Things Pink Floyd Can Teach Your Team by @estherschindler (2008) https://www.cio.com/article/2373792/four-non-obvious-things-pink-floyd-can-teach-your-team.html
Things I did not have on my 2020 Bingo Card: Ron Perlman will donate $50,000 to Black Lives Matter if Ted Cruz wrestles him. https://ew.com/celebrity/ron-perlman-ted-cruz/
Researchers found ancient survival gear for use in rainforests. Many of the tools discovered in the cave in Sri Lanka are made of monkey bone.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/06/tools-human-early-migration-rainforest-sri-lanka/
"Australian researchers have assessed free online symptom checkers, finding that they produce an accurate diagnosis around a third of the time and struggle with uncommon conditions."
Unsurprised. For two serious situations years ago (a kidney stone; internal bleeding) WebMD gave utterly useless advice.
https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2020/05/dr-google-symptom-checkers-wrong-most-of-the-time-study-finds/
"Can you trust what you read on Facebook? No. And why not? Because Facebook has now explicitly said that it will obey an executive order from President Trump and will refuse to fact-check misinformation and disinformation as American heads into the 2020 election."
To heir is human http://www.affidavit.art/articles/invisible-crown
A project that lets you explore ISS images of Earth for a given location https://callumprentice.github.io/apps/iss_photo_explorer_flat/index.html
From stockpiling Sprite to #coronavirusbaking, our relationship with food has gone to pot.
https://www.1843magazine.com/food/panic-at-the-supermarket-how-covid19-rewrote-the-shopping-list
Adobe to remove Flash Player from web site after December 2020 https://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/end-of-life.html
What testers should know about domain knowledge
You might be an expert in software testing techniques. But often, QA professionals require industry domain knowledge in order to respond to unique specifications, workflows, or technology adoption. Here’s what to look for, as well as how to obtain domain knowledge in vertical markets, such as hiring talent, using consultants, and taking courses and tutorials.
https://www.functionize.com/blog/what-testers-should-know-about-domain-knowledge/
Cheese sellers say that it's important now more than ever to support specialty cheese makers, who’ve made valuable, creative contributions to the culinary world. https://modernfarmer.com/2020/06/the-great-cheese-emergency/
A Kentucky tattoo shop is offering to cover up hate and gang symbols for free. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/14/us/tattoo-shop-hate-gang-symbol-cover-up-kentucky-trnd/index.html
On Wednesday, Gregory Benford and Larry Niven are discussing their latest book on a Zoom call with the Poisoned Pen. #cosobookclub
https://www.poisonedpenevents.com/event/virtual-event-gregory-benford-and-larry-niven-discuss-glorious/
Cities as Escher-style graphic puzzles. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2019/dec/21/amazing-mazes-cities-puzzles-in-pictures
Dr. Peniel Joseph, Professor and Chair in Ethics and Political Values at the University of Texas Austin and author of The Sword and Shield: The Revolutionary Lives of Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr., argues thatJuneteenth should be a national holiday.
I agree wholeheartedly. In addition to the reasons given here: While humans often get things wrong, perhaps it's time to dedicate a day in which we celebrate a moment when we got things right.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/13/opinions/make-juneteenth-a-national-holiday-now-joseph/index.html
Dogs have been trained to detect people who have COVID-19 at a 95% success rate.
https://www.iol.co.za/capetimes/news/dogs-trained-to-detect-people-with-covid-19-49252203
Writer. Editor. Baseball. Cats. Chocolate. Not necessarily in that order.