ReHacked #153: Strategic meaning of Finland's join to NATO, Duck chess, Vangelis dies at 79 and more

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Strategic point of Finland in NATO. Twitter thread. #politics #world #nato

Duck Chess #fun

Duck Chess is an exciting and absorbing new chess variant invented in early 2016 by Dr Tim Paulden, the president of Exeter Chess Club (Devon, England).

The basic principle of the game is very simple: in addition to the usual pieces, the two players have joint control of a small rubber duck which acts as a “blocker” (i.e. nothing can move onto or through it), and which must be moved to a new square after every turn. The goal is to successfully capture the opponent’s king.

Long-term Building in Japan - Long Now #culture #history #longread

It is striking that this part of Japan houses two sets of structures, both of nearly equal age, and both made of largely ephemeral materials that have lasted over 14 centuries through totally different mechanisms and religions.

More about Ise Shrine.

Turning radioactive waste into a tourist attraction #history

And now, a couple of decades later, the government says the Weldon Spring site is safe. You can walk up to the top of the containment mound. You can hunt, fish, and hike at the nearby Busch Conservation Area. You can visit an Interpretive Center that tell the story of the site. Around the site and the quarry, there are yellow poles that mark the location of monitoring wells to trace how much toxic material is moving around. One of the roads used to haul materials has been turned into the Hamburg Trail, a hike and bike trail connecting the site to the  Missouri Department of Conservation public lands, the Great Rivers Greenway trail network, and Katy Trail State Park. According to the Interpretive Center’s website, there are hiking trails where you can view wildflowers, and they offer classes for birdwatchers and others.

Fabio Manganiello: "@EU_Commission@social.network.europa.eu please do…" - Mastodon #copyrights #software

FairEmail stopping development after Google falsely flags app as spyware

The developer was advised to appeal to the EU, but (maybe rightfully) he said "what's the point? it's going to take them five years anyway just to come with a decision, and in the meantime my app won't be distributed on the major Android channel, and I'll have no incentive to keep working on it". We, as open-source developers, should NOT end up in this situation. We should NOT have the feeling that the institutions are not protecting  us because they're just too slow to intervene or even to understand an issue.

Vangelis, Oscar-Winning Composer, Dies at 79 | Pitchfork #promemoria #culture

Vangelis—the composer who scored Blade Runner, Chariots of Fire, and many other films—has died, Reuters reports, citing the Athens News Agency. A cause of death was not revealed. According to The Associated Press, the musician died at a French hospital. Vangelis was 79 years old.

Born Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou, Vangelis was largely a self-taught musician. He found success in Greek rock bands such as the Forminx and Aphrodite’s Child—the latter of which sold over 2 million copies before disbanding in 1972. One of his earliest film scores, written while he was still in Aphrodite’s Child, was for a French nature documentary called L’Apocalypse des animaux.

Cats learn the names of their friend cats in their daily lives | Scientific Reports #nature

We tested 48 cats (28 males and 19 females). Twenty-nine (17 males and 12 females, mean age 3.59 years, SD 2.71 years) lived in five “cat cafés” (mean number living together: 14.2, SD 10.01), where visitors can freely interact with the cats. The other 19 (11 males and 8 females, mean age 8.16 years, SD 5.16 years) were household cats (mean number living together: 6.37, SD 4.27). We tested household cats living with at least two other cats because the experiment required two cats as models. The model cats were quasi-randomly chosen from the cats living with the subject, on condition of a minimum period of 6 months cohabiting, and having different coat colors so that their faces might be more easily identified. We did not ask the owner to make any changes to water or feeding schedules.

New York Rolling Out Noise Law, Listening Tech for Souped-Up Speedsters - THE CITY #urbanism

The goal is to address ear-splitting clamor from cars and motorcycles amid a rising volume of complaints. The revving of engines, popping of tailpipes and blaring of speakers add to the cacophony of urban life and can pose health threats to New Yorkers.

Exposure to noise can cause hearing loss, exacerbate stress and disrupt sleep, experts say.

“Short of it affecting blood pressure, cardiovascular disorders, it diminishes quality of life,” said Arline Bronzaft, professor emerita of Lehman College and a longtime researcher on the effects of  loud sounds on our psyches.

ACM Digital Library #copyrights

ACM has opened more than 117,500 articles published between 1951 and the end of 2000, during the first 50 years of its publishing program. These articles, which include many foundational articles by the pioneers of the field, are now freely available to view and download via the ACM DL.

The Space Review: Kosmos 482: questions around a failed Venera lander from 1972 still orbiting Earth (but not for long) #technology #engineering #history #space

Fifty years ago, on March 31, 1972, just days after the launch of Venera 8, the Soviet Union made an attempt to launch yet another Venera probe. While it was meant to fly to Venus, something went wrong and it got stuck in Earth orbit instead. It subsequently was post-designated Kosmos 482 by the Soviets. Half a century later, one object associated to this launch is still on orbit, but it won’t be for long anymore. This object is 1972-023E, the Kosmos 482 Descent Craft, ostensibly the landing module of the Venera in its approximately one-meter protective shell.

Notes on Ukraine – Matt Lakeman #ukraine #war #travel #longread

In Uzhgorod, Lviv, Dnipro, and Odessa it is easy to forget that a war is going on. I’d estimate 90%+ stores are still open. People work, chill in cafes, and go out at night to bars and restaurants. There are some soldiers walking around, most of the police carry assault rifles, and you’ll come across the occasional street blockade or checkpoint. Still, life mostly functions like normal.

Uzhgorod is considered the safest major city in Ukraine and to my knowledge it has not been hit by any Russian attacks. Dnipro was subject to a few bombings, especially earlier in the war, and its airport was destroyed. Lviv was hit a few times but there was no major damage. Nearly all of the bombings in Dnipro and Lviv were on the outskirts and the vast majority of citizens are so far unaffected. Still, there are sandbags piled up in front of windows of government buildings and some corporate stores, presumably to protect from shrapnel in case of artillery strikes or bombings.

Vintage computer ads that show how far we’ve progressed, 1970-1990 - Rare Historical Photos #computer #history #culture

Do you know that your phone already has way more processing power than all the Apollo 11 computers in the Lunar Lander that put humankind on the moon? Do you know that the first HDD introduced in 1979 by Seagate was only 5 MB and was priced at $1500 USD?

Browsing these vintage computer advertisements can really showcase some of these changes, from the 1950s when huge computers were just for industrial and business users to the days when they became ubiquitous for the average consumer.

Lotus 1-2-3 For Linux #software #history

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Dainius