in an attempt to firstly clear out my tabs and also maybe show cool things to other people i'm going to like, publish The Good Stuff™ every now and then for your (theoretical) perusal

quick connect, by CONFERENCE SOFTWARE
10 track album
https://spinningvoices.bandcamp.com/album/quick-connect

Free album! Also yes the vibe of the title and the artist mean it's what you'd expect from that. Which is to say great

Age verification: what’s the harm? | Girl on the Net explains
Age verification has hit the UK, people need to upload ID to see ‘adult’ content. What’s the harm in laws like this, if they protect children? Let’s see.
https://www.girlonthenet.com/blog/age-verification-whats-the-harm/

if you're reading this you almost certainly agree, but this is a solid rundown with good analysis of the issues

The Secret to Song Sparrows’ Extraordinary Success Lies in Their Genome
This ordinary-seeming songbird species is teeming with subtle genetic diversity, which allows local populations to respond in various ways to a changing world.
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/secret-song-sparrows-success-genome/

Neat research into why there are so many subspecies of song sparrow

Just a moment...
Verifying you are human. This may take a few seconds.
https://distribute-aid.beehiiv.com/p/not-actually-possible-to-do-more-with-less-c0b3

notes on aid distribution and money

PDS MOOver
ATProto account migration tool
https://pdsmoover.com/

want to move your bsky account to a different personal data server? (perhaps one that automatically tells bsky's central age verification that you're an adult?) this is a simple tool for that.

【3DLIVE】夏のホラー満載‼️#赤井はあと爆誕祭2025 👻【ゲスト多数&告知あり◎】【ホロライブ/赤井はあと】
#赤井はあと爆誕祭2025📢PM10:00JST～新曲MV公開‼️youtu.be/sPVnvaBjQI0?si📢PM10:15JST～赤井はあと生誕祭グッズ販売開始‼️◇販売ページURLhttps://shop.hololivepro.com/products/akaihaato_birthday_2025…
https://www.youtube.com/live/vTsOdumJEOY

The legend.

Well There’s Your Problem | Episode 183: SL-1 Nuclear Reactor Explosion
in which we talk about an extremely gruesome and also extremely looney toons accidentcheck out scooter on bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/angryscooter77.bs…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqyQxAqX-8o

who doesn't love a good engineering disaster story that happened way away from you

What Does Palantir Actually Do?
Palantir is often called a data broker, a data miner, or a giant database of personal information. In reality, it’s none of these—but even former employees struggle to explain it.
https://www.wired.com/story/palantir-what-the-company-does/

what DOES palantir actually do: many asking this

The “Segregate-and-Suppress” Approach to Regulating Child Safety Online
<div> In an effort to protect children online, regulators around the country and the world are enacting laws that compel Internet publishers to age-authenticat
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5208739

paper on the efficacy of segregate-and-suppress regulation based on age (spoiler: it's not very good)

Teen Hannah Cairo’s Mathematical Discovery Sends Ripples through Harmonic Analysis
When she was just 17 years old, Hannah Cairo disproved the Mizohata-Takeuchi conjecture, breaking a four-decade-old mathematical assumption
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-teen-mathematician-hannah-cairo-disproved-a-major-conjecture-in-harmonic/

and also her presentation design is really cute.

GitHub just got less independent at Microsoft after CEO resignation
GitHub will be part of Microsoft’s AI engineering team
https://www.theverge.com/news/757461/microsoft-github-thomas-dohmke-resignation-coreai-team-transition

LONG SIGH

Trump takes over D.C. because ‘Big Balls’ got his ass beat by a teenage girl
That’s the excuse the president is using, at least, to kick off his military takeover of American cities.
https://www.laura-bassett.com/p/trump-takes-over-dc-because-big-balls

LONGER SIGH

Americans, Be Warned: Lessons From Reddit’s Chaotic UK Age Verification Rollout
Now that the Online Safety Act has gone into effect, countless problems have begun to reveal themselves, and the absurd, disastrous outcome illustrates why we must work to avoid this age-verified future at all costs.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/08/americans-be-warned-lessons-reddits-chaotic-uk-age-verification-rollout

unfortunately we cannot stop talking about this

How Chicago Sky aim to ‘take the power back’ against online abuse and harassment with new cybersecurity measures
WNBA players face a heightened vulnerability to online abuse and other harassment. The Chicago Sky are seeking to insulate their players from this environment.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/09/chicago-sky-cybersecurity-online-harassment/

i care about wnba basketball a normal amount and i'm glad there's people working on this

Just a moment...
Verifying you are human. This may take a few seconds.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/i-gotta-get-some-136263877

sometimes i wish i could make a living off of art, and sometimes i really am glad i don't

tech-jobs-silicon-valley-changes.html?unlocked_article_code=1.bk8.7-OO.wE3BW7FcAht1&smid=url-share
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/04/technology/tech-jobs-silicon-valley-changes.html?unlocked_article_code=1.bk8.7-OO.wE3BW7FcAht1&smid=url-share

man. man

Social Media Platforms Are Spreading Violent Warmongering Content Encouraging All-Out War Between Ethiopia and Eritrea, Again
The Distributed AI Research Institute is a space for independent, community-rooted AI research, free from Big Tech’s pervasive influence.
https://www.dair-institute.org/blog/tigray-social/

Really important research on the role social media platforms play in spreading genocidal rhetoric in active dangerous situations

FIU workers secretly delivered equipment to Alligator Alcatraz
Public records and a Florida International University employee confirm that at least one operations trailer was transported to the immigration detention facility in the Everglades
https://prismreports.org/2025/08/11/fiu-workers-secretly-deliver-equipment-to-alligator-alcatraz/

bruh?

Self-Insertion and the SCP Wiki
A 14th century European, an aspiring Hokage, and a sentient satellite walk into a forum website. Happy PridePatreon || https://patreon.com/raddagherBluesky |…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPtOdHEtQDw

very sweet, honestly

The Human Cost Of Our AI-Driven Future | NOEMA
Behind AI’s rapid advance and our sanitized feeds, an invisible global workforce endures unimaginable trauma.
https://www.noemamag.com/the-human-cost-of-our-ai-driven-future/

not new, but. good to keep in mind. at one point i started reading a novel about a woman who works as a content moderator and it got too bleak for me to keep reading?

on betrothals and beyond
Jewish weddings and ritual innovation
https://www.lifeisasacredtext.com/betrothal/

here's a nice thing for the end, though. the ketubah my wife and i got is beautiful, incidentally—they make really pretty ones.