boilerupnc

Would love to see a causal model [0] to help better understand all of the mediators considered as well as confounders. I'm close to finishing up an interesting read from Judea Pearl/Dana Mackenzie - The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect [1]. Talks alot about Causal Models, Causal Inference, the 3 ladders of causation, etc. I liked the graphical approach to help outline exactly how one thinks about direct and indirect effects and how it facilitates counterfactual analysis and causal mediation analysis.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causal_model

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_Why

Not sure if having point of presence (POP) managed DNS for China is of interest, but my company offers something for China traffic [0].

Disclosure: I’m an IBMer

[0] https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/ns1-connect?topic=started-manage...

https://archive.ph/f0mzg

MDM: Mobile Device Management. Software that helps ops folks control a fleet of mobile devices like tablets, phones, etc…

Mobile EDR: Endpoint detection and response. This is cybersecurity software to monitor and deal with network activity happening in mobile devices like tablets, phones, etc…

Provided link seems wrong. Should be [0]

[0] https://www.ibm.com/think/insights/eliza-effect-avoiding-emo...

Pi-Hole sped up my Samsung home and menu screens tremendously. I use something like this list [0]. The growing size of the list itself is a testament to the enshittification of Smart TVs.

I wonder if the SmartTV blocklist change history and size of commits could tell a historical story of how things have evolved? I'm aware that DoH makes this approach less and less viable ... but for my existing TVs it still seems to work fine as long as I'm careful not to blindly update.

[0] https://github.com/Perflyst/PiHoleBlocklist/blob/master/Smar...

Related [0]

[0]. https://www.wired.com/2012/12/couchdb/

archive.ph isn’t working for me, but .is works

https://archive.is/EHCxx

My personal philosophy has always been that “everyone has at least ONE good story to share.” Everyone. Best way to discover these gems is to talk with anyone as when the mood suits you. I’m a richer person for the stories that I’ve been honored to hear.

Off topic - But just wanna say - Love the cheat code! 30 Lives added :-) Nostalgia runs deep with that code. So deep - in fact, that I sign many of my emails off with "Sent by hitting Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A"

Related: Reminds me of the slaughterbot video [0] and the Hated in the Nation Dark Mirror Episode [1][2]

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CO6M2HsoIA

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hated_in_the_Nation

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN_kI7ELLJE

Related:

[0]. https://civai.org/p/ai-values

Surprised nobody has brought this up yet. There is also a competitive element to family additions in the form of pets. While not cheap, they are significantly cheaper. Lower emotional and financial stakes also makes them feel like an easier choice.

"Loving dogs has become an expression not of loneliness but of how unhappy many Americans are with society and other people. [...] For some owners, dogs simply offer more satisfying relationships than other people do." [0]

[0] https://theconversation.com/americans-are-asking-too-much-of...

I feel like the aviation pilot angst captured by "automation dependency" and the fears around skills loss is another great analogy. [0]

[0] https://eazypilot.com/blog/automation-dependency-blessing-or...

I believe this is one of the drivers for IBM Sovereign Core Announcement recently [0].

“ Technically, IBM Sovereign Core builds on open-source technology from the Red Hat ecosystem. The software uses OpenShift, among other things, and is designed to run on existing infrastructure. Organizations can deploy the platform in on-premises data centers, regional cloud environments, or through local service providers.”

* Disclaimer: I’m an IBMer

[0]. https://www.techzine.eu/news/privacy-compliance/137981/ibm-l...

The word "Maven" comes to mind. In my circles, there are many different Mavens that I lean on depending on the categorical niche that I'm evaluating.

Related: Why Americans Suddenly Stopped Hanging Out

https://archive.is/BIcjb

Well said. I try to capture and express this same sentiment to others through the following expression:

“Technology needs soul”

I suppose this can be generalized to “__ needs soul”. Eg. Technical writing needs soul, User interfaces need soul, etc. We are seriously discounting the value we receive from embedding a level of humanity into the things we choose (or are forced) to experience.

The diversity in individual micro-biome ecosystems now walks into the room

I miss my old Panasonic Plasma. I chose to leave it with my old home because of its size and its age. It was rock solid after 10+ years with many cycles to go. Solid gear! Sigh…

And that’s the tragedy. It should be viewed as a feature, not the bug. Curiosity and willingness to mix it up is where the serious innovation resides. Cross cutting concepts more easily happen when you’ve done/experienced/seen/felt different stuff … period.

I tell my son all the time that I couldn’t predict what I’m doing now … 3 years prior. I didn’t have this insight or awareness but after running the SW/IT marathon for 25 years here we are. Trust your instincts, they weren’t developed in a vacuum. The more you explore, the more insights pop in your mind and every 3 years or so, a change presents itself for you to affirm or deny.

this is my goto for xbox gen1 HDMI - Electronxout[0]. Here's a full list of video options[1]

[0] https://electron-shepherd.com/products/electronxout

[1] https://www.xbox-scene.info/forums/topic/657-list-of-all-og-...

Related Qiskit Tutorial Video[0] "This tutorial covers advanced techniques for implementing the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) at the utility scale using Qiskit. In this video, we walk through how to build, optimize, and run QAOA for real world optimization problems on real IBM Quantum hardware. This series is designed for quantum computing practitioners who are ready to move beyond basic examples and start running large scale, hardware aware algorithms. We explore how to transition from theory to practical execution, covering algorithm development, circuit optimization, hybrid workflows, and best practices for hardware performance. Whether you are expanding your QAOA skills or preparing to run your own research experiments, this tutorial will help you strengthen your understanding of utility scale quantum computing with Qiskit."

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBfK-l-qSNk

Not sure what specific operational services are of interest - but here's a link to their historical service status [0]

[0] https://status.gitlab.com/pages/history/5b36dc6502d06804c083...

I suspect the early variants will fall into two camps:

1. Traditional garden variety human to human, computer to computer and computer to human crime stuff that happens today.

2. Human to computer (AI) crime, misdeeds and bullying. Stuff like:

- Sabotage and poison your AI agent colleague to make it look bad, inefficient, ineffectual in small, but high volume ways. Delegate all risky, bad+worse choice decision making to AI and let the algo take the reputational damage.

- Go beat up on automated bots, cars, drones, etc ... How should it feel to kick a robot dog?

For a humorous read on automation bots and AI in a dystopian world, take a look at Quality Land [0]. Really enjoyed it. As a teaser, imagine having some drones suffering from a fear of heights, hence being deemed faulty and sentenced for destruction. Do faulty bots or AI have value in this world even if they don't deliver on their original intended use?

[0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36216607-qualityland

Give IBM Instana a look. It has great otel support. Nice usability. [0][1] Free sandbox for an email [2]

[0] https://www.ibm.com/products/instana/opentelemetry

[1] https://github.com/instana/instana-otel-collector

[2] https://play-with.instana.io/#/home

[disclaimer: I'm an IBMer]

Also works for getting backstage passes to concerts! [0]

[0] https://liveforlivemusic.com/news/fan-edits-wikipedia-page-t...

A few other interesting links with Vitamin D absorption. Surprised nobody has brought up gut dysbiosis and the role microbiome plays in Vitamin absorption. I'm finding it increasingly difficult to discern whether the things we consume are for the direct benefit of our cells and metabolic needs or via a more indirect path if the things we consume directly affect the microbiome within us which then translates into either nourishment or inflammation within us. Since microbiomes can change rapidly in composition, this feels like a game of nurturing over the long-haul with some minor blips along the way.

[1] "connection between vitamin D and the immune system through gut bacteria and may have applications for improving cancer therapies"

[2] "How the Gut Microbiome Affects Vitamin D Absorption"

[3] "vitamin D may affect the host-microbiota relationship."

[1] https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adh7954

[2] https://www.gutnow.com/medical-treatments/how-your-gut-micro...

[3] https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/spectrum.00083-24

Previously discussed:

“ Without data centers, GDP growth was 0.1% in the first half of 2025”

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45512317

My kid used an ancient HP laptop that found new life as a Hackintosh. Was rock solid for his early HS needs. Side bonus was the peer admiration he got around it.