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An Abundance of Katherines: The Game Theory of Baby Naming. By Katy Blumer, Kate Donahue, Katie Fritz, Kate Ivanovich, Katherine Lee, Katie Luo, Cathy Meng and Katie Van Koevering. In this paper, we study the highly competitive arena of baby naming. Through making several Extremely Reasonable Assumptions (namely, that parents are myopic, perfectly knowledgeable agents who pick a name based solely on its uniqueness), we create a model which is not only tractable and clean, but also perfectly captures the real world.
posted by gottabefunky at 3:56 PM - 25 comments

Small press books about writing, publishing, and creating art: Art of the Grimoire, The Long Run: A Creative Inquiry, My Trade Is Mystery, The Philosophy of Translation, and The Untold Story of Books. [more inside]
posted by joannemerriam at 2:26 PM - 6 comments

Why You Should Start Caring About Formula E, The Alternative Universe Electric F1 Series is an excellent primer on Formula E Racing, the cars, its history, and similarities and differences to traditional Formula 1 racing. The article also covers "the penultimate rounds of season 10 at Portland International Raceway in Oregon where a pair of races took place on the final weekend of June 2024."
posted by slogger at 1:53 PM - 14 comments

I drove a Cybertruck around SF because I am a smart, cool Alpha male. Drew Magary provides us (at least me) with a chuckle about the most ugly contemporary vehicle to currently exist. (SFGate)
posted by Kitteh at 12:51 PM - 70 comments

Technically, the returns will diminish because of the nature of LMs: they will return shallow text probabilistically biased toward any religious text in their training corpus. Spiritually, while LMs may marshal text effectively, they can neither “read, mark, learn,” nor “inwardly digest” it. Meditating on divine words is what human beings do in their inner being. This technically cannot and morally should not be automated. Mary could not have outsourced her pondering of the angel’s words to an LM, not only because an LM’s next-item-prediction objective is not pondering, but also because it would have denied those words’ ability to form her. from ChatGPT Goes to Church [Plough] [more inside]
posted by chavenet at 12:12 PM - 17 comments

Government flags massive expansion of Antarctic marine park for untouched Heard and McDonald Islands. The marine park that includes the subantarctic Heard and McDonald Islands is set for a massive expansion, with the Australian Federal government planning to protect an extra 300,000 square kilometres of ocean.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 9:43 AM - 1 comment

Taika Waititi is remaking Time Bandits as a TV series for Apple TV. The original was one of the funniest movies ever, when it came out. Eminently quotable, it featured a large cast of big name actors and a slew of not-so-big unexpectedly awesome actors who don't normally take the spotlight. [more inside]
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 8:01 AM - 64 comments

The White House Office of Public Engagement held its first LGBTQ-inclusive blood drive last month, garnering high turnout. The FDA’s revised guidelines, implemented last year, ended discrimination against blood donors based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Francisco Ruiz, the White House director of National AIDS Policy, emphasized the administration’s focus on advancing science-based policies: “The Biden-Harris Administration is really steadfast and committed to advancing the science. And the change in the guidelines is a testament to that. Making sure that we are not moving forward policies that are outdated, and that may be based on fear.”
posted by kristi at 6:54 AM - 1 comment

Artists across several national pavilions are exploring notions of contested land, land restitution, and rematriation — the latter of which signifies the return of objects to their original cultural contexts, avoiding the patriarchal and colonial overtones of “repatriation.” Several have also brought soil itself into the gallery space, emphasizing an engagement with land as a living entity that supports broader ecological and cultural systems [hyperallergic]
posted by HearHere at 6:36 AM - 0 comments

“At the end of every session it feels like there has been a weight that has been lifted from both of us,” Melamed continues. “It can be a very emotional experience. I love it. I feel fortunate that I am able to draw people out in this way and every time, I am able to learn something more and discover something more about myself. The healing always goes both ways.” from The exquisite joy of finding comfort in your skin [huck]
posted by chavenet at 1:12 AM - 6 comments

Filmed entirely on a mobile phone camera, Crazy Wisdom [youtube, ~12min] is the latest video part from all-rounder Andy Anderson [wikipedia] featuring a mixture of vert, street, freestyle, and cartoon-logic physics-defying stunts. Darkslides, giant kink rails, huge ramps, stationary rail combos, whatever kind of skating you enjoy, there'll be something in here for you. (Previous Andy Anderson FPPs.)
posted by Dysk at 12:59 AM - 9 comments

On the same page: "Trump had privately spoken about the option of allowing Putin to keep Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014, and the Donbas area... Putin said last month that Russia would end the war only if Kyiv agreed to drop its NATO ambitions and hand over the entirety of four provinces claimed by Moscow, demands Kyiv swiftly rejected as tantamount to surrender." [more inside]
posted by kliuless at 11:26 PM - 17 comments

A Blake's 7 fanvid by garrideb, set to the song "Snap" by Rosa Linn. The fanvid premiered at Escapade 2023. This is incredibly well made, very powerful and very moving. Youtube link is here. Archive of Our Own link is here.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 10:41 PM - 1 comment

How to lay a hedge. Hedgelaying is a traditional method for creating/renovating hedges. More than just farm and livestock boundaries, they are critical ecosystems in their own right. Watch more here and here (with more history and details, and egg sandwiches). First link via tywkiwdbi [more inside]
posted by Gorgik at 8:10 PM - 11 comments

KJ Scott conducted a survey of preferred nomenclature for all the sexy bits. (link is to a PDF, no images but virtually all of the words are NSFW)
posted by jacquilynne at 7:21 PM - 27 comments

YouTube video about the history of cats at 10 Downing Street (11 minutes). Has transcript.
posted by paduasoy at 4:21 PM - 13 comments

Intriguingly, Woan and Bayley are not archaeologists, but astronomers who specialize in studying minuscule ripples in space-time. [artnet; 6-7 page pdf, Horological Journal; Smithsonian] [more inside]
posted by HearHere at 3:32 PM - 1 comment

Secrets of generative AI.: the French-American startup Hugging Face recently made the most powerful corpus of texts for developing language models available on its open-source platform. The process for obtaining a quality dataset is explained in detail here. The tool developed to achieve this result is available here. How does it work? First, you can download a huge set of 5.354 TB web pages here. You remove all the porn, crossing your fingers that not too much remains. You trash all languages except English because everyone speaks English. Your dataset has lost 50% of its weight. Eliminate all duplicates. Filter the nonsense created to fool SEO scores. Finally, you rate the remaining texts and keep only the best. It's that simple. By what miracle do you accomplish this task, which would keep mankind busy for several years? By using artificial intelligence, of course! Data sets intended to feed language models are filtered by language models. How logical! Refine one or two more times and no soul should remain.
posted by verylazyminer at 2:08 PM - 12 comments

Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, famous for his climate change denial speech where he brought a snowball on the floor of the Senate, has died at 89. [more inside]
posted by NoxAeternum at 12:53 PM - 61 comments

"I wanted to start an all-women punk rock band. My definition of punk rock is do-it-yourself, who cares if it’s sloppy or unprofessional. My definition of punk has little or nothing to do with politics or shaved heads and everything to do with what’s new and not in the mainstream. It’s about going on stage as you, full of rage, heartbreak and laughs. It’s about making the music you hear in your head and heart." from Rocker, writer and teacher: Remembering Laurie Lindeen of Zuzu’s Petals [MPR News] [more inside]
posted by chavenet at 12:47 PM - 8 comments

Country legends George Jones and Tammy Wynette recorded and scored a string of duet hits during and after their legendarily tumultuous marriage. Widely acclaimed as the greatest husband-and-wife duo—and among the greatest duos, period—in country music history, George and Tammy scored three no. 1 hits amid a total of eight Top 10 singles during their recording career. Despite their individual and collective health and addiction issues (e.g., the lawnmower incident), they made music and built an image that fans cherished long after the couple divorced. [more inside]
posted by the sobsister at 12:42 PM - 4 comments

Danish artist Thomas Dambo constructs giant trolls out of trash and hides them in the woods to surprise people. [more inside]
posted by zenzenobia at 12:19 PM - 11 comments

Getting Creative with Perlin Noise Fields
posted by dhruva at 11:48 AM - 5 comments

With no national support or attention, Arkansas women (and a few good men) did what everyone said couldn’t be done. On July 5, organizers turned in enough signatures to qualify an amendment to restore access to abortion in Arkansas (Daily Kos) despite fake sabotage emails purportedly from organizers and a recent legal change making amendments more difficult to place on the ballot. The amendment campaign has moved forward without the support of national advocacy groups (Slate) because it protects abortion rights up to 18 weeks instead of the limit under Roe, 24 weeks. Supporter and Arkansas ObGyn Dr. Dina Epstein points out, “The proposed amendment covers 98% of cases that occurred previously. … There are situations still, just because of the resources that we have available in the state of Arkansas, that we would not be able to do because we aren’t equipped to do that, and those patients would still need to travel out of state, which was the case previously. So again, not necessarily ideal for those patients, but it does improve access dramatically for the majority of patients who would be affected by this.”
posted by bq at 9:10 AM - 36 comments

A fun Blake's 7 fanvid in which nothing bad happens: Last Friday Night.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 7:42 AM - 8 comments

Digital surveillance and customer isolation are locking us into a consumer hell of personalized prices. Companies were deterred from purely individualizing what they charge, because of publicly posted prices and consumer anger over the unfairness of being charged differently for the same product. Today, the fine-graining of data and the isolation of consumers has changed the game. The old idiom is that every man has his price. But that’s literally true now, much more than you know, and it’s certainly the plan for the future.
posted by AlSweigart at 6:59 AM - 74 comments

25 Songs about Horses Ranked By How Much I Think You Should Play Them for Your Horse (slPaste) [more inside]
posted by Kitteh at 6:37 AM - 51 comments

Jane McAlevey, the labor organizer whose No Shortcuts is one of the most beloved and most recommended books of our political era, has passed away. Below the fold, several reminiscences and other pieces on her life, work, and influence. [more inside]
posted by mittens at 4:56 AM - 22 comments

In these novels, when white women’s sexual practices contravene bourgeois ideals, the characters are often re-racialized, described as non-white. So if Russia-themed erotica tends to be about sexual slavery and sexual freedom, then — as in the construction of race itself — it’s always in reference to others: other white women, middle eastern women, Black women. As a novel in this messy canon, Ariane is about all of these figures, about the history of racialization across the globe. Erotica is world history written onto the two hemispheres of a woman’s butt. from Ice queens, sex machines by Fiona Bell [The European Review of Books; ungated] [NSFW text]
posted by chavenet at 1:27 AM - 9 comments

The big news from the UK this last week comes from the southwest of England. The Kelly Whip is a popular small boat in Cornwall, consisting of an enclosed cabin containing a fine array of delicious confectionary and a distinctive sound. On sailing, the autonomous (does not need a sailer) craft drew a large crowd (quote from Abi Fisk, and more) after self-launching from Harlyn Bay beach. Similar craft with signature sounds. What the hell is this picture, Boing Boing, as it is definitely NOT the good ship Kelly Whip?
posted by Wordshore at 12:40 AM - 22 comments

The year 69 CE is noted for the Year of the Four Roman Emperors, "The Revolt of the Batavi was a rebellion led by the Batavi, a small but powerful Germanic population of Batavia on the Rhine delta, against the Roman Empire." Though "Despite the ultimate victory of the Romans, the Batavi’s early successes were notable. In fact, their victories over the Roman legions were predicted by Veleda, a seer who was worshiped as a deity..." 'Veleda and the Ancient Germanic Seers' so, Vitellius... [more inside]
posted by clavdivs at 9:25 PM - 7 comments

Have you seen a rakali? Researchers need help to understand the elusive Australian species. A PhD candidate urges citizen scientists to log sightings of the mysterious, semi-aquatic animals — also known as water rats — so researchers can gather more information about its population.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 8:32 PM - 11 comments

Austin Lucas [previously] is a country punk performer whose soulful and angry music is quite something. Anyway, they have relatively recently come out as queer and trans. [more inside]
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:15 PM - 3 comments

A webcomic about learning and playing Go, the board game. Currently inactive but with several years of archives. Includes commentary from the author about the concept, development, or art below each one. [more inside]
posted by bq at 12:28 PM - 10 comments

“You must not talk about the future. The future is a con. The tarot is a language that talks about the present. If you use it to see the future, you become a conman,” says Alejandro Jodorowsky, maker of cult films El Topo, The Holy Mountain, Santa Sangre, and the unmade psychedelic Dune; writer of the legendary graphic novel series The Incal; and practitioner of the tarot. from Untold Fortunes: A Reading List on the Creative Uses of the Tarot [Longreads] [more inside]
posted by chavenet at 11:18 AM - 19 comments

Because I had inherited a vast legacy of silence, because silence was my country, I had to build a wall to see its borders. These two methodologies—the persistent Italian unchanging, the hyper Chinese dream of progress—are two ways of addressing the same vacancy: the void between where we came from and how we got here. [more inside]
posted by spamandkimchi at 11:17 AM - 6 comments

Helicopters, oyster boats, and barges called in to save rare raptors from extinction. Artificial nesting platforms are installed at key coastal sites across South Australia to help the eastern osprey breed after the population dropped to just 50 pairs of birds.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 8:31 AM - 3 comments

These new pricing intermediaries are similar to ATPCO, but don’t just act as information exchanges between competitors. They actually set the prices for an entire industry by using machine-learning algorithms and artificial intelligence, which are programmed to maximize profits. To arrive at optimal prices, these software applications aggregate vast amounts of relevant market data, some of which is public and much of which is competitively sensitive information given to them by their clients. Each algorithmic scheme has its own distinct features, but they all share the same underlying philosophy: Competing on price in an open market is a race to the bottom, so why not instead coordinate together to grow industry’s profits? from Three Algorithms in a Room [The American Prospect; ungated]
posted by chavenet at 12:04 AM - 57 comments

Have you learnt, or tried to learn, a second (or third or fourth language)? Either fully, partially, or just a few essential phrases? Did you learn by accident, deliberately, for a trip or holiday, or were you forced to learn at school? Do you still use it? Do you intend or want to learn a language? ... Or write about whatever is on your mind, in your heart, on your plate or in your journal, because this is your weekly free thread. [Post inspired by a 1970's song, Wikipedia detail] [Most recently] Also ... [more inside]
posted by Wordshore at 12:00 AM - 140 comments

Scientists discover first algae that can fix nitrogen — thanks to a tiny cell structure.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 6:25 PM - 13 comments

Andrea Robin Skinner, daughter of revered writer and Nobel laureate Alice Munro, published an essay today in the Toronto Star revealing that she was sexually abused as a child by her stepfather, Munro's husband Gerald Fremlin, and that Munro both knew and did nothing. [more inside]
posted by minervous at 5:31 PM - 56 comments

TZXDuino is a clever bit of circuitry to replace the cassette player that loads programs on old computers like the ZX Spectrum or Commodore 64.
JamHamster is a guy that puts tech into cassettes for fun, so naturally he put the cassette deck replacement in a cassette that goes in the deck.
posted by WhackyparseThis at 5:04 PM - 11 comments

“Twitter was what made it possible for us to get together,” he said. “And now we’re suing it.” A litigation team built from the sharpest, funniest tweeters is suing Elon Musk. by John Leland for the New York Times. Includes quotes from metafilter’s own Kathryn Tewson .
posted by bq at 3:07 PM - 13 comments

On July 1, the Biden administration's new rule extending overtime rules went into effect. President Biden said, "While Republicans side with big corporations and special interests on Park Avenue to try to deny workers these protections, I will always side with hardworking families like the ones I grew up with in Scranton." Another 3 million will get protection next year. [more inside]
posted by kristi at 1:53 PM - 23 comments

I think the foreignness of my new life also paved the way for this awakening: Because everything was unfamiliar, my perspective on the world and my place within it shifted. I was different in France, which meant that—just maybe—I could be different at home. Could I have found this part of myself if I’d moved to, say, New York, instead of France? Perhaps. But I think it often takes a total shake-up of our life to shake truths out of ourselves—and travel can often be a vehicle for that transformation. from In France, a Swimming Pool With a Story by Aislyn Greene [Afar]
posted by chavenet at 1:02 PM - 2 comments

Exit polls for the 2nd round of the snap French legislative elections are in - and show the very welcome surprises of both the FN (extreme right of Le Pen) in third place and the NFP (left-green alliance) coming first. Live updates: BBC, Guardian, BFMTV (fr), FranceTVInfo (fr)
posted by protorp at 11:24 AM - 78 comments

No bad dream cover's gonna boss me around [more inside]
posted by rory at 10:52 AM - 3 comments

This is an excellent, readable summary of why we won't see a fusion reactor in our lifetime or falling temperatures (unfortunately, the two are linked). Also worth noting is how private investment always jumps on the bandwagon once public funds have built the locomotive.
posted by verylazyminer at 10:13 AM - 41 comments

Brother of hostage Itzik Elgarat says Hamas claims he is no longer alive. US Intelligence warns that the Gaza war is a recruiting boon for terrorists, as widespread anger at the US support for Israel has galvanized organizations globally. Hamas has accepted the US proposal on the release of Israeli hostages, according to a Hamas source. Two thirds of Israelis back hostage deal over continuing war in Gaza. Era of Miracles: Israeli Far-Right celebrates West Bank settlement expansion. Archive.is [more inside]
posted by toastyk at 9:36 AM - 30 comments

Giant kangaroos once roamed Australia. New fossils suggest they moved more like T. rex than Skippy. Scientists are piecing together a picture of how Australia's extinct giant kangaroos moved. [more inside]
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 6:15 AM - 7 comments