Recently updated blogs

For almost two decades (!) the de-factor object storage system for Rails apps has been AWS S3. It’s resilient (99.999999999% durability!) and Active Storage makes it very easy to use. There was also little competition so it was basically a no-brainer. We used S3 to store terabytes of customer receipt data for FreeAgent, and 37signals used it to store petabytes of data for Basecamp and HEY (recently 37signals have started …

Map created by geo.facts_The map above shows traffic signs for crosswalks/zebra crossings throughout Europe. Here’s some more key details from the map’s author: Most of the countries refer to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals, except from Moldova, Spain and Ireland. This is why all of the signs look so similar, although if you check carefully they are almost all different! Sweden is the only country in …

2025 will become my personal year of philosophy. I turn forty this year, which, if all goes well, marks the first part of my life as over. Considering recent illnesses along my family and friends, I have little hope of ever reaching eighty, but let’s keep that as a grand goal for the sake of the argument. I’ve been reading more philosophy lately, including Joep Dohmen’s De kunst van het …

Aberdeen is about to get a blast of 60s fun as Hairspray hits His Majesty’s Theatre this January. Running from the 21st to the 25th, this much-loved musical promises big laughs, catchy tunes, and a story full of heart to liven up the winter season.The show stars Strictly Come Dancing champion Joanne Clifton as Velma von Tussle and Brenda Edwards (Loose Women, We Will Rock You), who not only takes …

5 dead as Eaton fire explodes to 10,600 acres — hundreds of structures destroyed or damaged Evacuations ordered for all of La Canada Flintridge as blaze burns. Before we get to the repost, here's a relevant excerpt from another post we did around the same time (emphasis added):The three areas that have long been in heavy rotation with the California YIMBYs are, in order, San Francisco, Santa Monica and Venice …

Short Cruise on a Destroyer Escort, By Ernie Pyle: “So now I’m a D-E sailor. Full-fledged one. Drenched from head to foot with salt water. Sleep with a leg crooked around your rack so you won’t fall out. Put wet bread under your dinner tray to keep it from sliding. They are rough-and-tumble little ships. Their afterdecks are laden with depth charges. They can turn in half the space of …

Echo is finally doing well, though winter is not great for him. He is active, eating and sleeping well. Though his urinary problems continue, they do not threaten his day-to-day activities. Temperatures have been quite low in Bengaluru this week, and Echo feels cold. I started using a standing table during COVID-19, and it's still a habit. I plan to mix it up a bit this year, alternating between standing …

Today's anniversary. Wiki

Many discoveries in physics flow from theory to experiment. Albert Einstein theorized that mass bends the fabric of space-time, and then Arthur Eddington observed the effects of this bending during a solar eclipse. Likewise, Peter Higgs first proposed the existence of the Higgs boson; nearly 50 years later, the particle was discovered at the Large Hadron Collider. Hadronization is different. It’… Source

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in the Minnesota Reformer on January 9, 2025, and is reprinted with permission. We encourage Streets.mn readers to attend MnDOT’s Rethinking I-94 Policy Advisory Committee meeting on Friday, January 17, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Learn more and register here. The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) announced late last year they were rejecting a proposal to turn I-94 into a boulevard between Minneapolis …

EngineAI has had quite a showing at CES 2025. It showcased the SE01, SA01, and PM01 humanoid robots at the event. We have already covered how impressive the SE01 and PM01 robot are. The SA01 is a robot designed for research and education. It is based on an open source platform. It can perform runs and jumps. This robot can maintain its balance when punched or kicked. It has a …

Derek Thompson’s interrogation into adult loneliness corresponds with a wavelength that connects to what’s going on politically, with capitalism/branding, and probably the future of the human race. It’s an astounding change in our species.

This is a writeup of research into using satellite imagery to track mining operations, funded as part of Bellingcat’s 2024 Technical Writing Fellowship, and is a more in-depth version of a short guide published on their online platform. The accompanying Multispectral Satellite Imagery Explorer tool is available here. This guide is intended as an overview of my research, and a starting point for these techniques. a false colour satellite image …

I recently encountered the following party game: Mumbo Jumbo, based on trying to pronounce a word while wearing a mouth-stretcher. Basically, you wear a mouth-stretcher, and then you are asked to read out a phrase. Your teammate has to figure out the phrase you're trying to say. The mouth-stretcher means that you cannot make labials. Of course, the words are selected to take advantage of this limitation as much as …