Mark Anderson

The mathematical mystery inside the legendary ’90s shooter Quake 3 Deep within the source code of this online multiplayer game lies an enigmatic number that puzzles and inspires experts to this day

Deep within the source code of this online multiplayer game lies an enigmatic number that puzzles and inspires experts to this day

But it's starting to get kinda fun and useful, as I can try designing some different playlists and connections through exploring the interface.

#AI #LLMs #Antigravity #vibecoding

Three columns with different curated playlists and some unexpected sonic connections lists

Screenshot of Top 20 Artists and Genre Galaxy interactives

Screenshot of a website that says "My Music DNA" at the top, then lists total listening time, unique artists, and genres

As a non-coder, my 1st 'vibe coding' project with Google Antigravity has been to see what it could do with all the FLAC and MP3 files I have from when I'd burnt all my CDs to my computer. We created an HTML to visualize different aspects of my collection. It took awhile to get it to where I wanted..

Let My People In: The Story of Immigration in the U.S. - Teri Kanefield My sixteen-year-old Chilean nephew was curious about what’s going on with ICE. In Chile, the word “conservative” is associated with capitalism, and the word “liberal” is associated with communism. He ...

"I can give you a 15-minute history lesson that will explain ICE and our current politics.”

“Can I use a timer?” he asked.

I said certainly.

I prepared the lesson, and my nephew started the timer.

Here is what I told him: terikanefield.com/let-my-peopl...

Climate, ecological dynamics, and the seasonal distribution of birds in mountains Ecological dynamics related to energy use and competition drives the seasonal distribution of birds in mountains across the world.

New review of sznal elevation ranges for >10k bird populations in 34 mountain regions reveals altitudinal migration fulfills same ecological function as long-distance latitudinal migration, offering better predictions for mountain birds under global change.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

It's so wild people this dumb are in charge of so much

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

"we propose replacing the 1-dimensional linear ... view – which positions implicit and explicit knowledge as two ends of a single axis and conceptualizes 2nd #language develop as a back-&-forth transition between these poles – with a multilayered knowledge view”

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Promotional image for the book Speaking in Pictures by Neil Cohn

After taking 7 years to write and draw, my new graphic novel, Speaking in Pictures, about language, cognition, comics, and visual communication is out in less than a week! At long last! www.visuallanguagelab.com/sip

This ancient South American kingdom ran on bird poop Maize farmers in Peru’s Chincha Valley were fertilizing their crops with seabird poop as early as the year 1250

Maize farmers in Peru’s Chincha Valley were fertilizing their crops with seabird poop as early as the year 1250

Pro-Trump Town Stunned After ICE Raids Leave It “Nearly Destroyed” Town residents were shocked that Donald Trump’s promised nationwide raids actually affected them.

91% of them voted for Trump:
John Carter, a white Trump voter told the Times that his 14-year-old daughter had had her hands zip-tied by federal agents. “Nobody thought something like this could happen here,” he said.

#ICE #AbolishICE #closethecamps

The Atlantic’s profile of Bondi has some wow.

@theatlantic.com
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

Kristi Noem has to go.
Gregory Bovino has to go.
Stephen Miller has to go.

"...not only from direct interactions with ICE but just knowing that families are being torn apart and people tortured and murdered all in our name."

"but the over-arching sense of unease and danger from knowing that the current administration not only doesn’t want to protect you from disease but promotes it; ..."

The ICEmen Cometh The potential effects of the current ICE actions on public health

I'm driven to write this, after a very long absence from the blog, because of what I am seeing in my clinic. My patients are not well. Every day, I hear fear—not necessarily fear of personally being deported, ..."

sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-icemen-c...

gradient.horse Draw a horse, watch it run!

omg everybody go draw a horse this is what the internet was made for

gradient.horse

A vibrant, wide-angle photo of a colorful outdoor mural promoting the "Super Bowl LX Apple Music Halftime Show." The mural is painted on a long blue wall in a sunlit, tropical setting with real palm trees and bright pink bougainvillea flowers cascading over the top. The artwork features a playful, surreal collage of cultural and football-themed elements: Central Text: The Apple Music logo in bold yellow and red 3D lettering is flanked by "SUPER BOWL LX" above and "HALFTIME SHOW" below. Iconic Imagery: Large illustrations of a golden trumpet, pink sunglasses, maracas, dominoes, and a cup of coffee with a musical note in the foam. Football Elements: Brown footballs are depicted growing on palm trees like coconuts and resting on the ground. Foreground: A young girl in a yellow dress walks along the sidewalk in front of the mural, passing a small goalpost illustration where a green parrot is perched. The overall aesthetic is warm, festive, and celebrates a fusion of Latin-inspired culture and American football.

I'm going to do a thread of all the references and context behind Bad Bunny's performance and what it means for Puerto Ricans to see this on the biggest stage.

The opening title screen is a street mural in Puerto Rico that comes to life with footballs as coconuts.

Follow along!

Diversity in Schools: Immigrants and the Educational Performance of U.S. Born Students Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

“the presence of immigrant students has a positive effect on the academic achievement of U.S.-born students, especially for students from disadvantaged backgrounds… & does not negatively affect the performance of affluent U.S.-born students.” www.nber.org/papers/w28596

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

Krämer, Möller, & Zimmermann (2021): This meta-analysis concluded that inclusive classrooms do not adversely impact the learning of students without disabilities and can provide benefits. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/...

Trump Rages at Bad Bunny—and Accidentally Exposes a Big MAGA Weakness MAGA’s hatred of the Super Bowl halftime performer reflects a hubris about what parts of the culture are “theirs.” But those assumptions are proving more wrong every day.

Trump is badly losing the war over ICE, not just on the streets, but also in the culture. As Bad Bunny shows, this has become a culture war unto itself. Trump-MAGA's initial hubris has been utterly deflated.

I've got fresh data illustrating the point. 1/

(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2062...

Exploring phonological complexity in statistical learning of artificial words Purpose This study examined whether phonological complexity enhances auditory word learning within a statistical learning framework. Specifically, we tested if exposure to phonologically complex speec...

"Findings suggest that passive exposure to complex patterns does not enhance generalization within a statistical learning paradigm."

#research #speech #cognition

journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

They found that while students juggle multiple languages effortlessly in their daily lives, this constant switching didn't appear to give them a measurable boost in mental focus or memory tests.

Scientists studied students in Ahmedabad to see if living in a city with so many languages makes the brain "sharper" at focusing and memory.

#language #research #multilingual

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

"What do you say to those who claim you're not American?

I understand it's confusing to encounter an American who can speak two different languages."

😝

Sánchez Defies Trump Again With Spain’s Big Bet on Immigrants Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is pursuing a bold gamble that the benefits of embracing swathes of undocumented immigrants will make the inevitable backlash worthwhile.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is betting the benefits of embracing undocumented immigrants will make the inevitable backlash worthwhile, and defying the global tone set by US President Donald Trump.

Beast In My Bonnet Discover delightful home goods, Christmas items & clothing for all ages featuring exclusive artwork by Christina Blaiklock. Adorable designs that bring joy, now available for the first time from a lif...

Also, my oldest sis started making some fun products based off of her quirky animal cartoons, if you're into these kinds of fun gifts. She's super talented!

beastinmybonnet.com

Extremely Accurate Birds Have you ever taken a really good look at the bottom half of a bird? At long last, this birding guide from esteemed birder and New Yorker cartoonist Tommy Si...

Do yourself a favor and order one of these delightful bird-butt lover gifts. Brings a little silly piece of joy into your every day.

via @tommysiegel.bsky.social

www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/tommy...

Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue

Dems need to abandon the idea, fed to them by certain commentators, that Trump's 2024 win represented a durable cultural shift against immigration. It's blinding them to the possibilities of this moment.

Check out this exchange with @brianbeutler.bsky.social:

newrepublic.com/article/2061...

Inside the ICE Forum Where Agents Complain About Their Jobs “I'm all for removing illegals, but snatching dudes off lawn mowers in Cali and leaving the truck and equipment just sitting there? Definitely not working smarter,” writes one forum user.

“No more weekends off, more work than ever before in 18 years. No more union. No more down time,” the post continues. “This is not what any of us envisioned for our last years of career when we are in our 50's.”

#ICE via @wired.com

www.wired.com/story/inside...