Just...
Georgia, USA
Joined November 2013
- Tweets14.5K
- Following1K
- Followers370
- Likes121K
Flüff retweeted
New paper out in Evolution & Human Behavior! Do people agree on what the ideal partner personality looks like, or is it just a reflection of their own traits? And do people care more about politics than the big five?
sciencedirect.com/science/ar…
Flüff retweeted
Scientists have determined that Vincent van Gogh’s masterpiece The Starry Night depicts a real sky observed on July 22, 1889. For decades, art historians and viewers regarded the painting primarily as an imaginative expression, created in mid-June 1889 while the artist stayed at the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. A team of researchers using advanced computer simulations and historical astronomical data has challenged this long-standing view.
By mapping the precise alignment of the crescent moon, Venus, and the Hyades star cluster, the researchers found that the painting’s celestial composition mathematically and geometrically matches the predawn sky visible from the artist’s window on July 22, 1889. This finding indicates that *The Starry Night* was an exaggerated interpretation of observed reality rather than a work born purely from imagination and internal turmoil. Although Van Gogh’s letters from mid-June mention early ideas for a night sky, the astronomical evidence suggests he likely finalized the painting more than a month later.
By showing how accurately Van Gogh recorded real cosmic details alongside his distinctive swirling brushwork, the study reframes one of modern art’s most celebrated works, connecting artistic emotion with physical observation.
[Kim, E. J., Kang, S., Song, J., & Jin, H. (2026). The actual sky of Van Gogh’s Starry Night: a multidisciplinary reconstruction. *Scientific Reports*. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-73025-5]
Flüff retweeted
Today, the calendar makes a right triangle, for the last time this century.
This Saturday is October 24, 2026.
Write it as 10/24/26 or 24/10/26, and the same beautiful relationship appears:
10² + 24² = 26²
100 + 576 = 676
But here’s what makes today special.
There are infinitely many Pythagorean triples. Only a handful fit our calendar.
Using the rule
month² + day² = (last two digits of the year)²,
the month cannot exceed 12, and the day cannot exceed 31. Those small limits leave exactly 12 qualifying dates in this century.
Today is the last.
The next will be March 4, 2105:
3² + 4² = 5²
That is a wait of more than 78 years.
An infinite family of triangles. Just twelve appearances on a century’s calendar.
Happy Pythagorean Triple Day.
Flüff retweeted
I read this 30 years ago and it’s that story. Never been able to get rid of the book, the story is amazing
Flüff retweeted
Philomena: Some people have been writing PHP for over 20 years. Is that because it's particularly difficult to finish?
Expert: No, software is constantly evolving.
Philomena: So they've been writing the same website for 20 years?
Expert: No, different projects.
Philomena: Have they tried finishing one before starting another?
Expert: That's not how software development works.
Philomena: My mate Paul spent 20 years building a shed. Turned out he was just an alcoholic.
Expert: Right.
Philomena: Is PHP like that?
Flüff retweeted
ICYMI: Google Cloud outage disrupts UK banks, businesses operations
Google Cloud says a power event at its London data centres disrupted services used by banks, businesses and courts in the United Kingdom on Tuesday.
BBC reported that Revolut, Halifax, Lloyds Bank and HSBC were among the financial institutions affected by the outage, while delivery firm DPD also experienced connection problems with its website.
Revolut said the disruption affected multiple services, including card payments and ATM withdrawals, but customers’ money and data remained safe.
thecable.ng/icymi-google-clo…
Flüff retweeted
🚨 NEW: Google Cloud has reported an “issue” affecting dozens of services across the UK
They include Revolut, Lloyds, HSBC, Halifax, Rightmove, Royal Mail, Bank of Scotland, DPD and Sky
Flüff retweeted
Multiple banks (Lloyds, Revolut, Bank of Scotland and HSBC) are down for some users.
This looks like a Google Cloud issue.
Importantly, your money in Revolut will be safe - this clearly isn't a hack on them and the issue lies with a third party.
downdetector.co.uk
#TIL 'longue durée' aka long- lasting
I once heard a professor give a talk about how he was researching some aspect of European society from the 15th to 18th centuries. It was interesting, but I couldn’t figure out why he kept mentioning “lingerie.”
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Flüff retweeted
Remembering those born on October 10th:
1917 Jazz pianist/composer Thelonious Monk is born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
Composed many #jazz standards, including "Round Midnight," "Ruby, My Dear" and "Well, You Needn't," to name a few.
Monk's compositions and improvisations feature dissonances and angular melodies, often using flat ninths, flat fifths, unexpected chromatic notes, low bass notes and stride, and fast whole tone runs. His playing style combined a highly percussive attack with abrupt, dramatic use of switched key releases, silences, and hesitations.
Flüff retweeted
A principle that covers 90% of media training is to relentlessly visualize your audience and speak only to them.
- a political candidate or a CEO bombing an interview is usually because they’re trying to answer the journalist’s question
- “Mr CEO, were the layoffs a mistake or a deliberate choice?” The only way to look good answering this is to visualize your audience and talk to them about amazing products you’re going to build with the great ppl in your company
- “Ms political candidate, given your recent hospitalization is there anything else voters should know about your health?” Yup, visualize your audience and tell them how you’re going to throw your boundless energy at solving their problems
- “ this is nonsense she evaded the question!” That’s because she’s not answering the question. Answering the question looks horrible on video, it's a lost cause. She’s talking to her audience. The question just establishes the topic to speak about, details don’t matter. (And her audience thinks she handled that great btw)
- the reason this works is that people subconsciously feel the world is against their favorite but for their opponent. Thus they expect the opponent to answer the question; they expect their favorite to demonstrate grace under pressure. And since you can't win people who already don't like you, speaking to your audience with grace is all you have to do
- what about ppl on the fence? I once heard @SarahLongwell25 say smtg like "in media you can’t convince ppl from scratch or make them reverse an opinion, you can only unlock what they already think." And so you have to speak persuasively to your audience. Fence sitters will either be drawn to you or they won't
- all this is extremely counterintuitive because nothing works like this in real life. It is entirely an emergent property of media. Debate stage, to a degree court room, video, etc.
- this explains behavior of top accounts on X. That's because X timeline is media, it's a 100% constructed world. (One difference with video is that on X ppl are at home relaxed in their pajamas, so they can generally be more clever than in stressful situations thinking on their feet)
- as always with these things wizards can break this principle and still look good, but don't try that at home
