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Thursday, January 15th, 2026 06:11 am
The Whirlpool Galaxy is a classic spiral galaxy.
Wednesday, January 14th, 2026 05:00 am
Wednesday, January 14th, 2026 06:21 am
What just leapt from the Sun?
Tuesday, January 13th, 2026 10:15 pm
Heads up, locals! Observers report evidence of ICE/DHS activity preparing for an operation in MA, imminently.
2026 Jan 13 5pm: u/rarelighting in r/Boston: Boston quietly prepares for an ICE surge, points at:
2026 Jan 13: Axios: Boston quietly prepares for an ICE surge by Mike Deehan
Discussion at Reddit:
2026 Jan 13 5pm: u/rarelighting in r/Boston: Boston quietly prepares for an ICE surge, points at:
2026 Jan 13: Axios: Boston quietly prepares for an ICE surge by Mike Deehan
Discussion at Reddit:
OP:
While listening to the Sam Seder podcast today, someone sent in a report about increased activity at the Burlington ICE facilities. Stay alert folks.
u/Neat-Beautiful-5505 • 4h ago
Another Reddit post showed three 18-wheel trucks hauling several new SUVs each to the Burlington ICE facility.
u/_still_truckin_ • 4h ago
Two dozen white Ford Explorers. They’re the same Interceptor models that real police departments use. You can spot them by the searchlight mounted to the driver side A-pillar and lack of tracks for roof racks. Saw them in the parking lot of the Burlington ICE building.
u/ThePirateKing01 • 4h ago
Shoutout to @BearingWitnessBurlington on YouTube and TikTok
To those who say protesting peacefully doesn’t amount to much, this person has been both protesting and monitoring the facility almost 24/7. Without people like this we wouldn’t have the heads up that we do now
u/minilip30 • 4h ago
“The bottom line: While no operation has been officially confirmed, Boston is not waiting to find out — it is mobilizing now.”
Good!
Remember, ICE needs a warrant to enter any private residence or business. Business that aren’t fascist supporting should have signs that they will not allow ICE entry without a warrant.
u/beanandcod • 4h ago
A judicial warrant, signed by a judge
u/Pnoman98 • 4h ago
A lot of police presence at Alewife& Gov Center
u/cccxxxzzzddd • 4h ago
The Rindge / fresh pond apartments at alewife are home to many immigrants, particularly Ethiopians
This is not good
Edit: not good that ice is there
u/mysteriousfrittata • 4h ago
Saw a car full of them parked outside of MGH yesterday evening. All wearing DHS fatigues etc. Naturally the assholes were parked in an ambulance parking spot. I called to report a strange vehicle parked there.
u/HolyMoleyGuacamoly • 4h ago
they appear to be staying at that marriott right next door. was by there for a bit and saw a ton of activity in and out of there of single white men in suvs with beards
Happy_Literature9493 • 3h ago
Copied and pasted from Safari reader mode [the Axios article:]
“Boston quietly prepares for an ICE surge Mike Deehan Boston City Hall is privately getting ready for a potential spike in Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity.
Why it matters: Even without a confirmed federal operation, the city is "planning for the unthinkable," according to Mayor Michelle Wu.
Escalating tensions and violence in other cities are deepening anxieties within immigrant communities and worsening the friction between sanctuary communities and federal authorities. The latest: Wu confirmed on WBUR this week that she is discussing enforcement scenarios with Boston Police leadership.
Her goal is to establish clear protocols to ensure local police resources are not co-opted into federal immigration efforts. Wu maintains that Boston police will not leak information to ICE, a stance she views as crucial to maintaining community trust. The big picture: Boston isn't alone in bracing for federal action.
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons has stated plans for a larger presence in Boston, promising more agents following disputes over sanctuary policies. Past initiatives mobilized large-scale enforcement across Massachusetts. Zoom in: Unverified but persistent reports from residents and activists note a delivery of SUVs to the Burlington ICE Field Office last week.
Advocates interpret the arrival of three car carriers hauling SUVs as a sign that the local ICE branch is staffing up. What we're watching: If federal enforcement accelerates, pressure will mount on public-facing institutions and communities with sanctuary policies.
Courthouses are typically a flashpoint for arrests. City community centers and schools will need to know how to respond if agents appear at their doors. ICE likely won't limit large-scale enforcement to Boston. Municipalities with large immigrant populations like Chelsea, Everett, Lawrence, Revere and Lynn could also be in the crosshairs. Threat level: Activists have staked out the Burlington ICE office for months and will likely be among the first to know of any major rollout.
Expect throngs of Massachusetts residents to demonstrate against ICE if a surge happens here. The bottom line: While no operation has been officially confirmed, Boston is not waiting to find out — it is mobilizing now.”
Wednesday, January 14th, 2026 03:02 am
https://dotat.at/@/2026-01-13-http-ratelimit.html
There is an IETF draft that aims to standardize RateLimit header
fields for HTTP. A RateLimit header in a successful response
can inform a client when it might expect to be throttled, so it can
avoid 429 Too Many Requests errors. Servers can also send
RateLimit headers in 429 errors to make the response more
informative.
The draft is in reasonably good shape. However as written it seems to require (or at least it assumes) that the server uses bad quota-reset rate limit algorithms. Quota-reset algorithms encourage clients into cyclic burst-pause behaviour; the draft has several paragraphs discussing this problem.
However, if we consider that RateLimit headers are supposed to tell
the client what acceptable behaviour looks like, they can be used with
any rate limit algorithm. (And it isn't too hard to rephrase the draft
so that it is written in terms of client behaviour instead of server
behaviour.)
When a client has more work to do than will fit in a single window's
quota, linear rate limit algorithms such as GCRA encourage the client
to smooth out its requests nicely. In this article I'll describe how a
server can use a linear rate limit algorithm with HTTP RateLimit
headers.
( Read more... )
Tuesday, January 13th, 2026 11:56 pm
On the one hand, it is sort of obvious why I've decided I want to have another go at working out how Continental knitting works for a project that involves reversible cables and ribbing on DPNs.
On the OTHER, this feels like a bit of a trial-by-fire given that my problem has historically been tension...
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Tuesday, January 13th, 2026 09:53 pm
My counselor always starts with asking me how my week has been, since we last talked.
On every level, it has been A Lot.
But it was actually really good to talk about it all: on the macro level of course Minneapolis, my friends there and seeing fascism happen in places familiar to me, and then on the micro level ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
angelofthenorth moving out, and just seeing her thriving after six months in our goofy lovely home.
I can't fix everything but I'm so glad to have the personal security needed to donate to mutual aid, to drag someone else out of a situation so similar to the one I needed saving from five years ago.
Tuesday, January 13th, 2026 07:35 pm
Today I discovered that it is possible to add Too Many new games on Steam! It actually locked me out and I had to wait an hour before I could add the final items from the Humble Bundle I was working on. It did take fifty games in 25 minutes to hit the rate limit, though, which doesn't seem too unreasonable. I think I have now added every game I bought via Humble Bundle to my Steam account, which is a nice (small) milestone.
My cleaner came today for the first time since before Christmas, and my house is so pretty now! Also once she was gone I could start the laundry going again (I try to have all the laundry dry and away before she arrives, so she can e.g. vacuum the floor instead of having to work around the drying racks). I've hung three loads already, there's a hoodie in now and a second to go in when it's done, and the only things left that need washing are the half of the bedding that will need a drying rack. That will have to wait until the weekend. I would say "then I'll be all up to date!" but then I'll be at Mum's and will need to catch up again once I return from there! Still, I'm closer than I was.
There have been workpeople outside my window all day dismantling the next block of garages for replacement, which includes mine; I'm quite excited by this, since at the end of it I will hopefully have a garage with a door that I can open! and close! all by myself! without crowbars and ropes and enough equipment that I could really use three hands. Not that I have much to keep in it; the only thing in there before was my bike. Still, it would be nice to get that out of the spare room again.
My cleaner came today for the first time since before Christmas, and my house is so pretty now! Also once she was gone I could start the laundry going again (I try to have all the laundry dry and away before she arrives, so she can e.g. vacuum the floor instead of having to work around the drying racks). I've hung three loads already, there's a hoodie in now and a second to go in when it's done, and the only things left that need washing are the half of the bedding that will need a drying rack. That will have to wait until the weekend. I would say "then I'll be all up to date!" but then I'll be at Mum's and will need to catch up again once I return from there! Still, I'm closer than I was.
There have been workpeople outside my window all day dismantling the next block of garages for replacement, which includes mine; I'm quite excited by this, since at the end of it I will hopefully have a garage with a door that I can open! and close! all by myself! without crowbars and ropes and enough equipment that I could really use three hands. Not that I have much to keep in it; the only thing in there before was my bike. Still, it would be nice to get that out of the spare room again.
Tuesday, January 13th, 2026 07:43 am
Top 10 challenge
I'm onna train, so here are 10 railway stations I like. In no particular order, and for various different reasons.
1. Frankfurt Hbf. This was where my international rail travels began. Standing on the concourse, looking at the departure boards (getting slightly earwormed by Stuttgart and Fulda), realising that I could get pretty much anywhere from here...
2. London St Pancras. It's beautiful. It's not actually a terribly pleasant experience getting a train from here (maybe the East Midlands and South Eastern platforms are better) but from the outside it's a fairy tale castle.
3. Stockholm. Rolling in, bleary eyed, off the sleeper from Malta, through dingy orange lights, and then suddenly you're in this marble palace. (I got chugged in Stockholm station. I don't know what I was doing to look like a Swede with disposable income rather than a discombobulated tourist, but there we go.)
4. London King's Cross. Never mind all that wizard nonsense, it has a fully functional platform zero. Also the toilets are free these days.
5. Liège Guillemins. Just glorious.
6. Ryde Pier Head. When it's operational and when you don't just miss the train because the catamaran was thirty seconds late. But there's still something fun about a station in the sea.
7. Dawlish. Train to beach in under a minute (your mileage may vary, as may mine considering I haven't been there in about a decade).
8. York. Never mind a pub in the station, it has one on the platform. Lovely stained glass, too.
9. Norwich. Light, gracious, makes you glad you've arrived.
10. Luxembourg. Stained glass again - and just time for an ice cream before the train.
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Tuesday, January 13th, 2026 06:54 am
What's happening to this meteor?
Tuesday, January 13th, 2026 12:13 am
https://dotat.at/@/2026-01-12-hqlr.html
A while back I wrote about the linear rate limit algorithms leaky bucket and GCRA. Since then I have been vexed by how common it is to implement rate limiting using complicated and wasteful algorithms (for example).
But linear (and exponential) rate limiters have a disadvantage: they can be slow to throttle clients whose request rate is above the limit but not super fast. And I just realised that this disadvantage can be unacceptable in some situations, when it's imperative that no more than some quota of requests is accepted within a window of time.
In this article I'll explore a way to enforce rate limit quotas more precisely, without undue storage costs, and without encouraging clients to oscillate between bursts and pauses. However I'm not sure it's a good idea.
( Read more... )
Monday, January 12th, 2026 09:45 pm
I've done my approximately-annual tidy up of dreamwidth subscriptions. I've stopped following a set of blogs that haven't updated in ~2 years, left roughly half the communities I was in, and changed a few other details. The main exceptions on keeping people who don't post are people who comment often enough that I remember; at least one of those I've left their access but unsubscribed. The other exception is people who I'm very much hoping will turn up again one day (and one who, sadly, will never be back, but whose name makes me smile to see it in the list).
If, as happens with this, I've managed to remove your access and you are someone who does actually want to see the occasional locked post, please comment on this post. I'll put a locked post up shortly; it will read 'test' or some equally inane thing.
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Monday, January 12th, 2026 05:05 am
"What I 'erd, this nobby, 'iz bird got fingered over a tin o'beans, only shot the poor cow, didn't they? So, like, everybody's tooled up, an'..."
– V for Vendetta, Alan Moore & David Lloyd, 1988
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Monday, January 12th, 2026 04:58 pm
I've managed to winkle out some of the books that didn't get spotted while I was doing the catalogue check in 2024 (which finished, for logistics reasons, in about February 2025).
And I've just looked at the number of tags that I have (>2K) and decided that is ridiculous. The first pass I'm doing is changing all the old location tags to [year] - last seen (not the 'unchecked/not yet seen' ones, those I'm going to think about some more). Because where any book was in 2021 (etc) is obviously not right, or I would have found it there in 2024. Once I've done that for all years prior to 2024, I'm going to go poke at the various 'unchecked' tags and see what is there.
other things I've noticed that I want to reorder
- mythology should be
mythology - [country] - awards should be
awards: [name] - I have
juvenileandkidsandjunior fictionand possibly some others, as well as a set ofage: [...]categories; need to think what I want to do here.
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Monday, January 12th, 2026 06:04 am
This floating ring is the size of a galaxy.
Monday, January 12th, 2026 05:54 am
I did not entirely manage to get caught up with my planned revision before my first exam on Friday, but I got reasonably lucky with the questions. Only 6 marks out of 54 were on areas that I felt under prepared on, and when I got home it turned out that my somewhat educated guesses were pretty much spot on for at least four of those marks, so assuming that I got most of the rest right, I'm looking at a pretty solid mark, on one of my two weakest subjects. And once I had removed any further revision for that exam from my schedule, I was almost back on track.
This morning I have my Hebrew exam, and by last night was still feeling underprepared for that as well, but I got an early night (by my standards), and managed to get up at oh-god-this-is-going-to-bed-time-o'clock in the morning and finish it off. I'm feeling pretty confident about this one. It's mostly based on translating and answering questions on the grammar of seen texts, of which there are about 100 verses (Deuteronomy 5.6-12 and 6.4-9, 1 Samuel 9, 1 Samuel 20 and Psalm 13), which is little enough that I've basically memorised them, including all of the more unusual verb forms. There'll also be a little bit of unseen translation, with glosses for more unusual words. There isn't much one can do in terms of revising for that, but I'm hopeful that the work I've been doing on the seen texts, and also other bits of translation I've been doing for my essay and my Psalms class will have given my muscles a reasonable workout. So, for that matter, will the Ugaritic translation that I've been doing for that class, as the languages are pretty similar, and learning the ways that they're different has been cementing my understanding of both of them.
I've then got a couple of days off before my "Introduction to the Anthropology of Religion" exam on Thursday. That's my other weak subject, but the assessment was half by portfolio (a ~2500 word essay on a subject of our choice, plus six ~500 word responses to questions reflecting on six papers or documents), and the exam is essentially a viva of our portfolio, so again the revision required is fairly limited. Friday is Old Testament:Psalms and Wisdom Literature, another oral exam, which should be fairly easy to prepare for.
Then I've got a whole week off to prepare for Ugaritic and New Testament:Johannine Literature the following Monday and Tuesday. Ugaritic will be fairly similar to Hebrew, mostly translation of seen texts, although I think a bit harder because for at least some of it we'll be given the unvocalised texts and have to vocalise them (although we will get it transliterated rather than having to read the cuneiform). Also I think there's more text. It's 466 lines, and although that's a line on a tablet, which is considerably shorter than a verse in the bible, I'm fairly sure it's more words in total, even accounting for the fact that some of it is epic verse, and thus has quite a lot of repetition. There'll also be some unseen text, but we're allowed access to lexica and reference materials for that bit, so I hope that should be reasonably manageable.
As for the New Testament module, I'm not so much revising as vising, having skipped all the lectures except the first one. They're recorded, and we get given a list of 42 questions from which the exam will be chosen, so it's just a case of drafting bullet point responses to the questions as I listen to the lectures, and then memorising them. On the one hand, leaving it entirely to the last minute might seem a bit foolhardy, but on the other, at least everything will be fresh in my memory....
This morning I have my Hebrew exam, and by last night was still feeling underprepared for that as well, but I got an early night (by my standards), and managed to get up at oh-god-this-is-going-to-bed-time-o'clock in the morning and finish it off. I'm feeling pretty confident about this one. It's mostly based on translating and answering questions on the grammar of seen texts, of which there are about 100 verses (Deuteronomy 5.6-12 and 6.4-9, 1 Samuel 9, 1 Samuel 20 and Psalm 13), which is little enough that I've basically memorised them, including all of the more unusual verb forms. There'll also be a little bit of unseen translation, with glosses for more unusual words. There isn't much one can do in terms of revising for that, but I'm hopeful that the work I've been doing on the seen texts, and also other bits of translation I've been doing for my essay and my Psalms class will have given my muscles a reasonable workout. So, for that matter, will the Ugaritic translation that I've been doing for that class, as the languages are pretty similar, and learning the ways that they're different has been cementing my understanding of both of them.
I've then got a couple of days off before my "Introduction to the Anthropology of Religion" exam on Thursday. That's my other weak subject, but the assessment was half by portfolio (a ~2500 word essay on a subject of our choice, plus six ~500 word responses to questions reflecting on six papers or documents), and the exam is essentially a viva of our portfolio, so again the revision required is fairly limited. Friday is Old Testament:Psalms and Wisdom Literature, another oral exam, which should be fairly easy to prepare for.
Then I've got a whole week off to prepare for Ugaritic and New Testament:Johannine Literature the following Monday and Tuesday. Ugaritic will be fairly similar to Hebrew, mostly translation of seen texts, although I think a bit harder because for at least some of it we'll be given the unvocalised texts and have to vocalise them (although we will get it transliterated rather than having to read the cuneiform). Also I think there's more text. It's 466 lines, and although that's a line on a tablet, which is considerably shorter than a verse in the bible, I'm fairly sure it's more words in total, even accounting for the fact that some of it is epic verse, and thus has quite a lot of repetition. There'll also be some unseen text, but we're allowed access to lexica and reference materials for that bit, so I hope that should be reasonably manageable.
As for the New Testament module, I'm not so much revising as vising, having skipped all the lectures except the first one. They're recorded, and we get given a list of 42 questions from which the exam will be chosen, so it's just a case of drafting bullet point responses to the questions as I listen to the lectures, and then memorising them. On the one hand, leaving it entirely to the last minute might seem a bit foolhardy, but on the other, at least everything will be fresh in my memory....
Sunday, January 11th, 2026 11:38 pm
Today I attempted to make (bake? I’m not sure if that’s the right verb) a cake in the pressure cooker. I’m intrigued by the concept but unsure what to expect the results to be like. How much will the texture be different to oven baking? Will it be more like a steamed sponge pudding? Will I like it?
I’m still really not sure because the cake failed for non-pressure-cooker reasons. I used a new-to-me-brand of almond extract and it is obviously considerably stronger than the brand the recipe-book writer uses. A teaspoon was way too much and I now have pretty much the cake-shaped version of those room scenting wax-chips rather than something you’d want to eat…
(It was at least a sweet almond extract rather than anything too cyanide-y)
I’m still really not sure because the cake failed for non-pressure-cooker reasons. I used a new-to-me-brand of almond extract and it is obviously considerably stronger than the brand the recipe-book writer uses. A teaspoon was way too much and I now have pretty much the cake-shaped version of those room scenting wax-chips rather than something you’d want to eat…
(It was at least a sweet almond extract rather than anything too cyanide-y)
Sunday, January 11th, 2026 11:40 pm
Celebrating. A's birthday!
Reading. ( Rogerson, Rundell, McGuire, Clarke, Duncan, Scalzi, Hermé )
I also: remain up to date with Dreamwidth; worked through a brief pain management course for Youth, as background reading.
Writing. The Document continues to be expanded a little every day. It is now over 4000 words.
Playing. A bit of The Bridge, "a 2D logic puzzle game that forces the player to reevaluate their preconceptions of physics and perspective", which sounded like it might be about the right speed for me given that we'd just enjoyed playing through the Monument Valley series, and which instead for the most part does not seem to fit into my brain terribly neatly and is also weirdly evocative/reminiscent of Braid (lonely dude in a suit) while also being kinda... gay? possibly? I can't tell yet? Anyway we've played through I think the first four levels and might or might not continue.
We have also engaged in some Spirits -- mostly A playing and me watching, because I am not feeling up to timing problems and having to keep pressing Esc also feels overwhelming, but I have been Providing Commentary and enjoying watching the process of TURNING MUSHROOMS INTO CLOUDS to HELP THE LEAVES GET HOME.
We have also been playing (independently) sudoku, & grousing about each other's incomprehensible approaches to solving things, and then I nerdsniped A with a specific puzzle & they went to look up Theory And Strategy Of Sudoku, and I may yet get around to uh actually looking up the approach named "jellyfish"...
Elsenet vass has introduced me to Squardle.
Cooking. One spice mix, and subsequently one recipe from East featuring a vegetable I think I have not previously consciously eaten (Jerusalem artichokes). Another batch of medlar sticky toffee pudding as A's birthday cake; I think that in fact one cannot tell the difference between medlar that has not been jellied and medlar residue from jellying, at least in this setting. Also, turns out you can successfully add beetroot to the red cabbage and cauliflower udon noodles thing. Oh, and pineapple fried rice, which A had somehow never previously encountered???
Eating. We were both, on Friday, quite tired and sad. The internet brought us Pizza Express. It was good.
Making & mending. I FINISHED A GLOVE. I WOVE IN THE ENDS. Now to cast on glove #2 of that pair...
Growing. Both orchids seem to be putting forth flower stems! And I have sown lemongrass, pineapple physalis, and (not expecting any of these to actually germinate) some lithops I was sent as a gift a while ago...
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Sunday, January 11th, 2026 10:18 pm
- Do you have a favourite cause that you support?
I support multiple causes through charitable donations, but one of the most important to me is the Abortion Support Network, which does exactly what it says on the tin: It helps people in the UK and Europe to get abortions, particularly those who live in areas with restrictive laws. - If so, how do you support it?
I give them as much money per month as I can. When they have fundraising drives, I donate more. When they ask for comments they can use in their promotional materials, I provide as much detail as I can. - Have you been an active member of an organization (attending meetings, volunteering, etc)?
Yes. I was a school governor for a while, and I’ve also volunteered for Parkrun, as well as other charitable organisations. - Have you ever led any group?
No, I’ve never had the capacity with either full-time work or academic study to lead a volunteer group. - If so, how was your experience with it?
See above. I’m sure I’d find it very fulfilling, but it’ll have to wait until I retire (or go part-time).
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