Ferdi F. Zebua 🌏 @FerdiZ@mastodon.cloud

Some more #wallpaper.
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Full size: https://wiki.hypertwins.org/mw/wikiup/e/e5/DSC_0033.JPG

@woozle That's bricked my phone.

It's about that time of year when people start wondering things like "hey, why isn't DECEMber the tenth month of the year?"

So it's time for my little lecture on Romans, calendars, and our friend Gaius Julius Caesar.

I'll be posting it as a tootchain replying to this one, but if you're impatient, here's the whole thing: https://gist.github.com/joyeusenoelle/3754e00a37fe81aa43aad3eb9543f3ce

So: “Why isn’t the new year on winter solstice?”

The answer, honestly, is that the Romans had no fucking idea how to run a calendar.

Why Violins Have F-Holes: The Science & History of a Remarkable Renaissance Design

http://www.openculture.com/?p=1013322 https://t.co/8MdG5X42Y1

me and the guys at the combination business meeting/ammonite pride event

Since getting laid off, I have yet to receive my last pay cheque or severance 😔

I'm available for short term freelancing gigs if you know anyone looking!

I'm trying to track down a 19th century French polymath -- engineer, economist, possibly public administrator. Did work on infrastructure, particularly sewers and/or water supply, bridges, and railroads.

I _think_ he also made an observation of the economic logic of multi-class passenger railroad service and amenities of accommodations (intentionally poor lowest-class service).

Likely active ~1840 - 1860.

My Web-fu is gives nil.

#dearMastomind #economists #france #nineteenthCentury

Solved!

It's Jules Dupuit:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Dupuit

And here's Jule Dupuit's argument for why third-class rail service is so poor, in a nutshell:

"It is not because of the several thousand francs which they would have to spend to cover the third class wagons or to upholster the benches. ...

"Its goal is to stop the traveler who can pay for the second class trip from going third class. It hurts the poor not because it wants them to personally suffer, but to scare the rich."

https://www.inc.com/bill-murphy-jr/why-does-air-travel-suck-so-bad-this-19th-century-economist-explained-it-with-ju.html

Neuroscientist (and accomplished comic artist) Matteo Farinella unpacks a serious issue in the practice of modern science: "Scientific knowledge is drowning in a flood of research"
(Plus- Claude Lévi-Strauss)

Honor abduction: http://bit.ly/2BXVb3Q

I don't normally post cat photos but this one got me laughing:

https://pawoo.net the largest instance on the #fediverse is being transferred from the ownership of #pixiv to a new company called “Crossgate Co., Ltd. and Russell Co., Ltd.”

https://www.pixiv.co.jp/news/press-release/article/7907/

The Matrix, 1999: Morpheus inserts a giant TRRS plug into Neo's head

The Matrix, 2019: Morpheus tries for 20 minutes to pair a Bluetooth neural interface to Neo's head before finally giving up

Yesterday, we won a legal ruling against the Department of Homeland Security, and filed another lawsuit against the agency. It's time to shine a light on the agency’s use of Rapid DNA technology on migrant families at the border. https://www.eff.org/press/releases/eff-sues-dhs-obtain-information-about-agencys-use-rapid-dna-testing-migrant-families

"The data... encompasses lab results, doctor diagnoses and hospitalization records, among other categories, and amounts to a complete health history, including patient names and dates of birth." #privacy #security https://www.wsj.com/articles/google-s-secret-project-nightingale-gathers-personal-health-data-on-millions-of-americans-11573496790