Webtagr - Technology News Summarizer

Life on a Submarine: From NUB to Submariner

2025-08-11

This article details the life of sailors aboard a US Navy submarine, focusing on the experiences of new recruits. New crew members, dubbed "Non-Useful Bodies" (NUBs), undergo a rigorous four-phase training program to become qualified submariners. This training covers all submarine systems and emergency procedures. Upon completion, they earn their "dolphins" and are categorized into "Nukes" (nuclear powerplant crew) and "Coners" (the rest of the crew), each with unique roles and personalities. The author vividly portrays the diverse characters and responsibilities of various crew positions, highlighting the challenging yet cohesive nature of submarine life.

(www.twz.com)

Misc Submarine

Hiroshima: The Untold Stories of the Enola Gay Crew

2025-08-11

This article recounts the experiences and reflections of the crew members of the Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. From the navigator to the bombardier, from the radar operators to the flight engineers, each crew member shares their perspective on the event and its aftermath. Their accounts reveal a complex tapestry of justification, regret, and a lasting hope for peace, offering a nuanced look at a pivotal moment in history.

(www.mentalfloss.com)

Misc Atomic Bomb Hiroshima

Soviet Family Albums: Silent Witnesses to a Shifting Collective Identity

2025-08-11

In Visible Presence meticulously examines over 50 Soviet family photo albums, revealing photography's crucial role in constructing and sustaining a shared Soviet identity. The authors uncover a surprising prevalence of strangers within these albums, demonstrating that these images transcended personal narratives to reflect broader socio-political shifts and collective memory. Analyzing both photographs and interviews, the book explores themes of silence, oblivion, and the evolving political significance of imagery across different eras. It offers a nuanced understanding of the interplay between societal repression, personal memory, and the enduring power of images, providing a fresh perspective on photographic and social memory studies.

(www.publicbooks.org)

Misc Soviet photography social memory collective identity

Free Guide to Mastering Social Skills: From Basics to Advanced

2025-08-11

This completely free guide to social skills contains three sections with seventeen in-depth lessons. It starts by explaining how to get the most out of the guide and set social goals, helping you overcome fear and the temptation of manipulation. It then teaches you how to interpret comfort and discomfort signals in body language and use your own body language to send positive messages. Furthermore, the guide instructs on how to conduct smooth and comfortable conversations, how to support friends in need, and provides quick tips for rapidly improving social skills.

(www.improveyoursocialskills.com)

Misc interpersonal communication

The Curious Case of "Try and"

2025-08-10

This paper delves into the origins and properties of the English grammatical construction "try and." Often considered non-standard, "try and" boasts a surprisingly long history, potentially predating "try to." The paper analyzes its syntactic peculiarities, such as its disregard for the Coordinate Structure Constraint, its resistance to reordering or modification by "both," and its dialectal variations in inflection. Finally, it compares "try and" to similar pseudo-coordinate structures like "be sure and" and "go and," highlighting their grammatical and semantic differences.

(ygdp.yale.edu)

Misc syntactic analysis

The Hollow Men: A Fragmented Masterpiece and its Musical Roots

2025-08-10

T.S. Eliot's iconic poem, "The Hollow Men," wasn't written in one go. This article traces its fragmented publication history across various literary magazines, highlighting its musicality, drawing parallels to Beethoven's late string quartets. The poem's structure and imagery reveal a deep engagement with music, reflecting Eliot's own love for ragtime and vaudeville. The poem's ambiguous ending, a fragmented attempt at the Lord's Prayer, continues to fuel critical debate, with interpretations ranging from religious conversion to a persistent sense of emptiness. Its lasting impact resonates across art forms, inspiring paintings, installations, and even influencing pop music lyrics.

(prufrock.substack.com)

Misc T.S. Eliot The Hollow Men Modern Poetry

The Myth of the Two Fitted Sheet Patents

2025-08-10

The internet perpetuates a myth about fitted sheets originating from just two patents. This article debunks that, showing fitted sheets existed long before 1992, and often without elastic. A deeper patent search reveals numerous earlier designs similar to modern fitted sheets, demonstrating a more complex evolutionary path. The author suggests the 'two-patent' narrative is a simplification, highlighting the importance of verifying online information and the nuances of historical narratives.

(ratfactor.com)

Misc fitted sheets patents online misinformation

Stanford Forgoes State Aid to Preserve Legacy Admissions

2025-08-10

Stanford University is opting out of California's Cal Grant program to maintain its legacy admissions policy, prioritizing applicants with alumni or donor connections. This decision comes after California banned legacy preferences in admissions and follows the Supreme Court's ruling against race-conscious admissions. While Stanford claims it will replace the lost state funding, critics argue this move exacerbates inequality in higher education and undermines efforts towards a more meritocratic system.

(www.forbes.com)

Misc Admissions

Website Cookie Policy and Privacy Notice

2025-08-10

To provide the best user experience, this website uses cookie technology to store and/or access device information. Consent to these technologies allows us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Non-consent or withdrawal of consent may negatively impact certain features and functions. Cookie usage strictly adheres to relevant laws and regulations and is categorized as necessary cookies (for communication transmission), preference cookies, statistical cookies, and advertising cookies. Anonymous statistical cookies do not identify users.

(research.eye.security)

Misc

Soviet Absurdities: A Chronicle of Everyday Life in a Failed Empire

2025-08-09

This book recounts the absurdities of everyday life in the Soviet Union, starting from its collapse. Author Lauri Vahtre, drawing on personal experiences and historical sources, explores the roots of this absurdity in the inherent contradictions of Russian national identity and the flaws within communist ideology. From the absurdities of the Tsarist regime to the political repression and economic woes of the Soviet era, Vahtre paints a vivid picture of a system rife with cruelty and irrationality. The book serves as a cautionary tale, highlighting the lasting impact of the Soviet experience and warning against the repetition of history.

(laurivahtre.ee)

Misc Communism

Tech Entrepreneur's £4 Million Island Fortress: From YouTube Video to Luxury Retreat

2025-08-09

British tech entrepreneur Mike Conner bought a 19th-century island fortress off the coast of Pembrokeshire, Wales, in 2017 for £500,000 after seeing a YouTube video. Four years and over £2 million later, the waterlogged, windowless ruin is now a luxury retreat sleeping 20, boasting a helipad, rooftop bar, games room, and sea-view office. The extensive renovation included a £300,000 investment in renewable energy, making the fortress completely self-sufficient. Now, this meticulously restored marvel is on the market for over £3 million, awaiting its next owner seeking secluded luxury.

(www.cnn.com)

Misc Island Fortress Property Renovation Sustainable Living

Wisconsin's County Road Letter Mystery

2025-08-09

Have you noticed the alphabet soup of letters marking Wisconsin's scenic county roads? BB, CV, N, SS – why letters instead of numbers? Over a century ago, Wisconsin innovatively used letters to distinguish county roads from state highways, streamlining maintenance and preventing duplication of efforts. This system, initiated in 1917, has evolved, now using double and multiple letter combinations as the single letters ran out. The Wisconsin County Highway Association, founded in 1911, is proud of this historical system and their continuing leadership in road innovation.

(www.wpr.org)

Misc road numbering

Sea Stars: Ancient Ocean Wonders

2025-08-09

Sea stars, existing a quarter-billion years before dinosaurs, thrive in every ocean, from shallow sands to the deepest trenches. Lacking fins and gills, they've evolved diverse defenses: armor, spines, neurotoxins, and remarkable regeneration – some can regrow an entire body from a single arm! Throughout history, they've captivated cultures, from Aztec altars to modern cartoons. Today, approximately 2,000 species exhibit stunning variety in shape and color, ranging from tiny to enormous, showcasing the incredible diversity of the natural world.

(www.biographic.com)

Misc Sea Stars Marine Life

Amtrak's Rail Revolution: A Once-in-a-Lifetime Transformation

2025-08-08

Amtrak is capitalizing on a unique opportunity to revolutionize rail travel in the US. By modernizing, upgrading, and expanding its trains, stations, and infrastructure, Amtrak is responding to the growing demand for rail journeys. Offering unforgettable experiences to over 500 destinations across 46 states and parts of Canada, Amtrak invites you to learn more at Amtrak.com, download the app, connect on X, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and join Amtrak Guest Rewards for free points towards reward travel, upgrades, lounge access, and more.

(media.amtrak.com)

Misc Rail Travel

The Paranoid Style in American Politics: A Recurring Phenomenon

2025-08-08

This essay examines the recurring "paranoid style" in American politics, characterized by heated exaggeration, suspicion, and conspiratorial fantasy. Tracing its manifestations from late 18th-century anxieties about the Bavarian Illuminati to anti-Masonry, anti-Catholicism, and McCarthyism, the author argues this style isn't limited to the extreme right but is linked to movements of discontent. The essay delves into the psychological and social roots of this style, highlighting how paranoid thinking interprets history as the result of individual will and projects both ideal and unacceptable aspects of the self onto the enemy.

(harpers.org)

Misc political psychology conspiracy theories

The Whispering Earring: A Paradox of Happiness and Free Will

2025-08-07

The ancient treasure vaults of Til Iosophrang hold a magical earring that provides its wearer with optimal advice, ensuring maximum happiness. However, at a cost: it gradually takes control of the wearer's mind, causing their neocortex to atrophy, ultimately turning them into an individual acting purely on instinct. Finally, a man named Kadmi Rachumion uncovers the earring's secret and locks it away deep within the vaults, a warning that the line between freedom and happiness is sometimes more subtle than imagined.

(croissanthology.com)

Misc fantasy story philosophical implications

US Library of Congress Briefly Deletes Sections of the Constitution

2025-08-07

Parts of Article I of the US Constitution, including clauses authorizing Congress to create a Navy, call forth a militia, and sections on habeas corpus, bills of attainder, and limitations on states' powers, were temporarily deleted from the Library of Congress website. While the error has been corrected and the Constitution itself remains unchanged, the incident has sparked attention and may ironically lead to increased readings of the foundational document.

(arstechnica.com)

Misc Library of Congress

Mountain Road Traffic Jams: A Mathematical Puzzle of Queue Lengths

2025-08-07

While stuck in slow-moving traffic on a winding mountain road, the author pondered the length of the queues. He initially attempted to calculate the average queue length using probability theory, but the result (an average of 2 cars) drastically contradicted his experience. Subsequently, a simulation revealed a much larger average queue length, leading to a correction of the initial derivation. The correct formula for the queue length distribution was obtained, but its expected value diverges to infinity, implying that mountain road queues can be infinitely long.

(e-dorigatti.github.io)

Misc

Finnish: More Familiar Than You Think

2025-08-07

This article explores the surprising connections between Finnish, a Uralic language, and the Indo-European family, particularly Germanic. Despite their separate origins, Finnish vocabulary contains a significant number of loanwords from Proto-Germanic, and even earlier pre-Proto-Germanic sources. By examining etymological links between Finnish words and their English/German counterparts, and analyzing sound changes, the author reveals a long and intense history of language contact between Finnish and Germanic languages, dating back to the Bronze Age. This challenges common perceptions of Finnish and demonstrates the power of historical linguistics to bridge linguistic divides.

(dannybate.com)

Misc Finnish language Germanic languages

How to Reduce a Great Empire to a Small One: An 18th-Century Guide to Self-Destruction

2025-08-07

An 18th-century satirical essay outlines twenty methods for dismantling a vast empire. These include alienating colonies, appointing corrupt officials, suppressing dissent, misusing taxes, and generally exacerbating tensions. The essay uses biting irony to illustrate how abuses of power can lead to an empire's downfall, a warning that remains relevant today.

(founders.archives.gov)

Misc

Closed-Form Solution for a Zigzag Number Spiral

2025-08-06

This article tackles a mathematical puzzle involving an infinite grid of numbers arranged in a spiral pattern that reverses direction at each grid edge. By analyzing patterns along the spiral's edges and diagonal, the author derives a closed-form expression, (f(m, n) = (max(m, n))^2 - max(m, n) + 1 + (-1)^{max(m, n)} (m - n)), to calculate the number at any position (m, n) in the grid. The article meticulously details the derivation, including analysis of edge and diagonal numbers, and the process of transforming a piecewise function into a single closed-form expression.

(susam.net)

Misc

AI in Education: Out of Control?

2025-08-06

A high school science teacher in the South posted on r/teachers about the rampant use of AI tools in education. School administration is aggressively pushing AI tools, and many teachers are using AI-generated presentations to save time. However, these AI presentations often lack substance, are repetitive, and omit key learning points. The author worries about the difficulty in teaching students about originality, academic integrity, and the importance of independent learning when teachers themselves are using AI to cut corners.

(simonwillison.net)

Misc

Military Casinos Rake in Millions, While Soldiers Struggle with Gambling Addiction

2025-08-04

In the aftermath of 9/11, US Army officer Dave Yeager found solace in the slot machines at his Seoul base, spiraling into a devastating gambling addiction. This highlights a concerning trend: veterans and service members are more prone to gambling disorders than civilians, often hesitant to seek help due to fear of repercussions. The Army Recreation Machine Program (ARMP) generates tens of millions of dollars annually from its overseas slot machine operations, yet critics argue insufficient funds are allocated to problem gambling education, creating a stark contrast between the program's profitability and the suffering of those it potentially harms.

(www.wired.com)

Misc slot machines

AI Interviewers: Boon or Bane for Job Seekers?

2025-08-04

The rise of AI interviewers is causing a stir among job seekers and HR professionals. Some candidates find the experience impersonal and frustrating, even opting out of opportunities; others see it as an efficiency booster. Currently, AI interviewers are primarily used for initial screening, excelling at objective skill assessment but lacking in cultural fit evaluation. While AI interviewers are here to stay, their effectiveness and acceptance remain to be seen, requiring adaptation from both job seekers and companies.

(fortune.com)

Misc AI hiring job seeking

Warning: Leaving the U.S. Department of Transportation Website

2025-08-04

You are about to access a non-government link outside of the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Transportation Library. Please note: When you exit DOT websites, Federal privacy policy and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (accessibility requirements) no longer apply. Additionally, DOT does not attest to the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of information provided by linked sites. Linking to a website does not constitute an endorsement by DOT of the sponsors of the site or the products presented on the site.

(rosap.ntl.bts.gov)

Misc website link warning

Despair Among the Young: A Shift in the Age-Despair Profile in the US

2025-08-04

Research spanning 1993-2023 across multiple US surveys reveals a significant shift in the relationship between age and mental despair. Previously, despair followed a hump-shaped curve, peaking in middle age. However, a recent rise in despair among young people has reversed this trend, leading to a monotonic decline in despair with age. This trend differs by labor market status; the hump-shaped curve persists among the unemployed and those unable to work, while homemakers, students, and retirees show a relatively flat relationship. The study concludes that rising despair among young workers is the primary driver of this change.

(www.nber.org)

Misc Youth Despair Socioeconomic Trends

Pre-Modern Peasant Marriage Patterns: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

2025-08-04

This article explores marriage patterns among pre-modern peasant populations, highlighting that while high mortality rates led to diverse household structures, marriage was a universal and strictly enforced social norm. Three marriage patterns are analyzed: an early pattern (average female age at first marriage around 16, e.g., ancient Greece), an intermediate pattern (average female age at first marriage around 20, e.g., Rome), and a late pattern (average female age at first marriage around 25, e.g., early modern Western Europe). These patterns are closely linked to women's social status, fertility control strategies, and household structures. The late pattern is particularly unique, associated with high percentages of never-married individuals and newly married couples forming independent households. The article emphasizes the significant differences between elite and commoner marriage patterns and notes that marriage in these societies wasn't an expression of individual affection but a necessary component of fulfilling social roles.

(acoup.blog)

Misc pre-modern peasants

Yosemite: A Century of Privatization Battles

2025-08-03

Since 1864, when Yosemite Valley was granted to California, the conflict between privatization and public interest has been ongoing. Early private businesses operating in the valley led to legal disputes. In 1973, MCA's acquisition of Yosemite concessions sparked concerns about over-commercialization. A 2016 concession transfer saw Delaware North demanding exorbitant compensation for historical names, reigniting the debate. Now, the Trump administration's budget cuts and staff reductions are raising privatization fears, bringing Yosemite's century-long struggle back into the spotlight.

(theconversation.com)

Misc Yosemite National Park Privatization Commercial Interests

Generating Big Ideas by Flipping Bits in Large Systems

2025-08-03

The author argues that most people lack systems thinking, hindering innovation. The article proposes a 'flip a bit' innovation method: choose a large system (e.g., education, healthcare), invert a core assumption within it, and explore the consequences. For example, what if students graded teachers instead of the other way around? This approach reveals hidden system structures, identifies new leverage points, and sparks unconventional ideas. The author encourages readers to view the world as a systems debugger, finding and exploiting arbitrary points waiting to be 'flipped'.

(opuslabs.substack.com)

Misc systems thinking disruptive thinking

Fulbright Program: A Collaboration That Exceeded Expectations

2025-08-03

The author recounts their experience collaborating with Emily Simons through the Fulbright Program. An initial project stalled due to privacy concerns, leading to a pivot towards graph learning, culminating in a joint ICML 2025 paper. Emily's contributions extended beyond research, encompassing dissemination strategies, repository improvements, and website enhancements. The author advocates for recognizing the long-term value of fundamental research, arguing that the Fulbright Program fosters invaluable connections and positive impacts that are difficult to quantify immediately.

(bastian.rieck.me)

Misc academic collaboration Fulbright Program graph learning

Category: Misc