pnathan | Reading

Last night I hosted the annual Murdoch University Alumni meeting for Melbourne at the Arts Centre with plenty of excellent and intelligent conversation, as would be expected at such an event (well-catered too, I must add). As part of the formal proceedings, we held a panel discussion on what Murdoch University meant and how it changed us. Our panel, quite remarkably, had graduates from every decade of the university's existence, including a foundation student, Dr. Trevor Hogan, and the remarkable story from Lem Bagout, who came to Australia as a refugee from Sudan; he now teaches physics.

For my own part (representing the 1990s graduates), I made the point that the radical parts of Murdoch's original educational objectives ("the Murdoch ethos") are now accepted and mainstream: encouraging mature-aged students and lifelong learning, allowing for part-time and external studies, encouraging interdisciplinary studies, and alternative entry based on experience. I also made a point of mentioning Bruce Tapper, who died a year ago on the day; not just because he was such a huge influence on my life, but in particular, because he was such a fierce advocate for Murdoch University's progressive education and egalitarian access.

In many ways, my alma mater sometimes stands in stark contrast with my employer, the University of Melbourne. Prestigious and conservative, the UniMelb is recognised as the top university in the country, which is really due to the excellent and well-funded research sector, standing on the shoulders of giants past. At UniMelb in the past fortnight, there have been two social occasions of note: an end-of-year potluck lunch for Research Computing Services (I brought along the Polish duck soup (Czernina), and an end-of-year social event for all of Business Services, this year held on campus at the Ernie Cropley Pavilion, a better location, and superior catering to previous years.

As another example of contrast, last Saturday I attended the Thangka Art Exhibition on Tibetan Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Development hosted by the Australian ReTeng Charity Foundation, associated with the Buddhist ReTeng Monastery in Donvale. I was somewhat surprised and impressed by the sheer number of dignitaries from the Melbourne Chinese community in attendance, and extremely impressed by the artworks on display. There was some juxtaposition of this aesthetic event, and the one attended in the evening, with Carla BL, at a little bar in Fitzroy to see a group of post-punk musicians (including my favourite local coldwave artists, Cold Regards) perform. For reasons of international travel, this is the end of EoY Melbourne activities - next stop, Santiago!

Current Mood: busy
Current Location: The Rookery

mahnmut posting in

talkpolitics

Much on the subject, eh? Examples of tasks given to AI gone awry abound, I'm sure you've realized by now. Well, for instance this article collects a series of AI-generated images where image-generation tools misinterpret prompts so wildly that the results are just... surreal.

Way to go, AI?

( SEE MOAR )

fridi posting in

talkpolitics

Although this month's topic is The AI Arms Race, I'd like to use one of the suggested topics for next month and go ahead of schedule a bit, and post on that topic now: Democracy in the Algorithm Age

In today's digitally saturated world, elections no longer hinge solely on speeches, rallies, or television ads. They increasingly depend on data. The turning point came with the 2008 campaign of Barack Obama, when his team embraced Web 2.0 tools: social networks, email, online video, to reach voters directly. More than half of adult Americans used the Internet in the 2008 election, and many became politically active online: donors, volunteers, and grassroots mobilizers.
LINK / LINK

But Obama’s team did more than broadcast broadly: they built detailed voter profiles, using public records and behavioral data to segment the electorate into fine-grained groups: young voters, minorities, new voters, even niche social networks never before used by major campaigns. By doing so, they could tailor communications, fundraise online, and create a sense of community among supporters. This data-driven approach didn't just expand reach, it changed the relationship between citizen and campaign, arguably revitalizing democratic participation for many previously disengaged voters.
PDF / PDF

( Read more... )

tcpip

A kind friend once introduced me as "This is Lev, he's one of those people who holds society together". A former partner, when I was juggling time and tasks, reminded me that every one of the tasks I was trying to arrange in some order was a voluntary role. This has been an approach for most of my life; even in my teenage years, I would take up volunteer roles, and at university, I helped start and organise some notable clubs. In my mature adulthood, this has continued over the decades, with several bodies of note (UniMelb PGSA, Linux Users of Victoria, Prosper Australia (Henry George League), the Melbourne Unitarian Church, all come to mind, for example). Currently, I'm the (volunteer) president of three non-profit incorporated associations, and that means being responsible for those groups, along with other voluntary roles, of course. "Responsibility" is a key term here; although the commitment is voluntary, once it is made, it is effectively a promise to others, and one that must be honoured.

Last weekend, for example, was the Annual General Meeting of the Australia-China Friendship Society. It was well-attended with excellent discussion, and we have three major projects in the near year: a concert with Shu Cheen Yu and the Lotus Wind Choir, an anti-racism survey, and an incredible trip to Guizhou and Sichuan is being organised. Another example is that next week there is (again) a contested election for the executive of the local ALP branch, entirely from the enthusiasm of members. As the Returning Officer, I have to arrange ballots and engage in the task of counting up the votes using the multi-member proportional representation with the affirmative action method. But that's not all; I'm also the convener of the Murdoch University Melbourne alumni chapter, and we have an end-of-year social event at the Arts Centre arranged as well, which will included a panel discussion of how Murdoch's educational objectives ("the Murdoch ethos", as it was called) transformed our lives.

In each of these activities, I find myself supported by excellent committee members and other volunteers. People of a like mind and disposition who see the worth of freely working together with others on matters of a shared interest. The Ancient Stoics called this "sympatheia" (συμπάθεια), the connectedness of individual parts to the whole community ("The universe made rational creatures for the sake of each other, with an eye toward mutual benefit based on true value and never for harm", as Marcus wrote), and even beyond as the Stoics saw their ethics as a subset of their physics; the interconnecting logos touches all things. In a more modern and less metaphysical sense, Hannah Arendt waxed lyrically about what she called "action", when a public would engage in activities together that went beyond the satisfaction of necessities ("labour") or the economic incentives of exchange ("work"), but rather with the motivation of shared understanding, which she interpreted as freedom in its fullest sense.

Current Mood: relaxed
Current Location: The Rookery
Current Music: Albinoni, 12 Concertos, Op 9

cahwyguy

November is now in the books. This means two things: It is now less than a week away before ACSAC (Annual Computer Security Applications Conference), and holiday movies and music have started. I’m looking forward to the former, for which I’m local arrangements and registration chair (although it is a lot of work); much less so to the latter (because if one doesn’t observe Christmas, the hoopla over the holiday becomes a bit obsessive). That said, whatever holiday you are observing during this month of holidays: I hope it is happy, meaningful, and celebrated with those you love and care about.

I’m continuing to work on podcast episodes. I’ve currently working on writing the first episode on Route 12, leaving two more on Route 12, one on Route 13, and one on Route 14 to go. I’ll be getting back to the last round of updates for 2025 as soon as I get back from the conference.

We’ve started Season 4 of the podcast, and we were able to use new recording software (Zencaster) for episode. I think it sounds better, and I’m hopeful that the next episode will be even better as I now know how to adjust my microphone input better. Let us know what you think. It looks like the regular audience is between 60-70 folks, and I’d love to get that number up (as of today, we’re at 36 for 4.03, 63 for 4.01 and 4.02 and 70 for 3.15), although the numbers don’t included those who listen directly from the CARouteByRoute website (as I don’t know how to get those stats). You can help. Please tell your friends about the podcast, “like”, “♥”, or “favorite” it, and give it a rating in your favorite podcatcher. Share the podcast on Facebook groups, and in your Bluesky and Mastodon communities. For those that hear the early episodes, the sound quality of the episodes does get better — we were learning. If you know sound editing, feel free to give me advice (I use Audacity to edit). As always, you can keep up with the show at the podcast’s forever home at https://www.caroutebyroute.org , the show’s page on Spotify for Creators, or you can subscribe through your favorite podcatching app or via the RSS feeds (CARxR, Spotify for Creators) . The following episode has been posted this month:

November | CA RxR 4.03: Route 9: Santa Cruz and Saratoga. Episode 4.03 starts a pair of episodes that explore Route 9, which in its post-1964 version runs from Santa Cruz to Saratoga and Los Gatos. Before 1964, Route 9 continued N up to the Mountain View area, and then across to Milpitas, and up to the Castro Valley. This episode (4.03) covers the current Route 9 from Santa Cruz to Los Gatos; the next episode (4.04) covers the remainder of pre-1964 Sign Route 9 through Mountain View, Milpitas, and up through Hayward and the Castro Valley. This episode also explores the 9^th State Route between Peanut and Kuntz (now Mad River), and LRN 9. LRN 9 ran all the way from Ventura to San Bernardino, and was Sign Route 118 from Ventura to Pasadena, and US 66 from Pasadena to San Bernardino. As always, we’ll talk about historical routings, projects along the route, and some significant names. As noted, the next episode explores the remainder of pre-1964 Sign Route 9 from Saratoga through Milpitas to the Castro Valley. (Spotify for Podcasters)
November | CA RxR 4.02: I-8 and US 80 Between El Cajon and the Arizona Border. This is Episode 4.02, which continues our exploration of Route 8, better known as Interstate 8. In this episode, we focus on the portion of I-8 from La Mesa (just outside of San Diego) to the Arizona border. We look at not only current I-8, but the routing of the predecessor route, US 80. We discuss the communities of La Mesa and El Cajon, Alpine and Descanso, Boulevard, the Mountain Springs Grade, Jacumba, Ocatillo (with a digression on the Imperial Highway), El Centro, Holtville and the Algondenes Dunes (with a digression on the Plank Road), Winterhaven and Yuma. We also briefly talk about the interesting routing of US 80 within Arizona, and how it differs from I-8. We talk about historical routings, projects along the route, and some significant names. In the next episode, we’ll turn our attention to Route 9, which currently runs from Santa Cruz to Los Gatos, but which once ran all the way to Castro Valley. (Spotify for Podcasters)

As a reminder: One of the sources for the highway page updates (and the raison d’etre for for this post) are headlines about California Highways that I’ve seen over the last month. I collect them in this post, which serves as fodder for the updates to my California Highways site, and so there are also other pages and things I’ve seen that I wanted to remember for the site updates. Lastly, the post also includes some things that I think would be of peripheral interest to my ~~highway-obsessed~~ highway-interested readers.

Well, you should now be up to date. Here are the headlines that I found about California’s highways for November.

Key

[Ħ Historical information | ＄ Paywalls, ＄＄ really obnoxious paywalls, and ∅ other annoying restrictions. I’m no longer going to list the paper names, as I’m including them in the headlines now. Note: For ＄ paywalls, sometimes the only way is incognito mode, grabbing the text before the paywall shows, and pasting into an editor. See this article for more tips on bypassing paywalls. ☊ indicates an primarily audio article. ↈ indicates a primarily video article. ]

Highway Headlines

Two Weeks After Anniversary of Fatal Malibu Crash, City Could Reject PCH Safety Improvements (Streetsblog Los Angeles). On Monday, November 3, the Malibu Planning Commission will hold a final hearing on the proposed Caltrans Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) Safety Project, a $55 million plan to repave and upgrade the western portion of PCH between Cross Creek Road and the Ventura County line. Find meeting details at the bottom of this article. This PCH project has been in the works for years. Then, after a fatal crash that killed four young women standing along PCH on October 17, 2023, advocates scrambled to get Caltrans to include safety improvements along with the repaving. The project now aims to improve safety and accessibility along the corridor via a range of infrastructure updates. Proposed features include 15 miles of new or upgraded bike lanes, nearly 7,000 linear feet of new sidewalks in high-pedestrian areas including near Pepperdine University, 42 dark-sky compliant light poles, 19 guardrails, 22 curb ramps, three retaining walls, and two realigned intersections. The plan also includes median reconstruction and law enforcement pull-outs at various locations.
Freeway vs. Highway: Yes, the Difference Matters (Readers Digest). Some road names are regional, but it’s the definitions that matter most. Life is a highway, or so the snappy song by Canadian crooner Tom Cochrane tells us. But what is a highway, exactly? And when it comes to freeways vs. highways, is there a real difference? Living in New York City means I’ve driven on many high-speed roads in the tristate area, from parkways to expressways and everything in between. And I’m here to tell you they are indeed distinct from one another. But don’t take my word for it—I’m no driving expert. (I get more parking tickets than I should and occasionally use the bus lane to pass.) Instead, I’ve tapped Nathan Huynh, PhD, a highway expert and professor of civil engineering at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, to suss out these thoroughfare subtleties, explain regional name differences and tell us why road terms matter.
＄ Caltrans cuts ribbon on 395 Olancha-Cartago widening (Ridgecrest Daily Independent). There are safer travels ahead on U.S. 395 in the Owens Valley with the end of major construction on the Olancha-Cartago 4-Lane Expressway Project. This project constructed 12.5 miles of new pavement, replacing the previous two-lane highway with a split 4-lane expressway designed to eliminate cross-centerline crashes. This is the final stretch of U.S. 395 to be converted into a 4-lane expressway in most of Inyo County. “The Olancha Cartago 4-Lane Expressway Project underscores Caltrans’ safety and people-first philosophy,” said Acting District 9 Director Brandon Fitt. “Enhancing safety along this vital roadway improves the quality of life for residents of Olancha and Cartago and provides a better and more efficient travel experience for drivers.”
Caltrans Commitment to Safety Highlighted in Completion of the Olancha-Cartago 4-Lane Expressway Project (Sierra Wave: Eastern Sierra News). There are safer travels ahead on U.S. 395 in the Owens Valley with the end of major construction on the Olancha-Cartago 4-Lane Expressway Project. This project constructed 12.5 miles of new pavement, replacing the previous two-lane highway with a split 4-lane expressway designed to eliminate cross-centerline crashes. This is the final stretch of U.S. 395 to be converted into a 4-lane expressway in most of Inyo County. “The Olancha Cartago 4-Lane Expressway Project underscores Caltrans’ safety and people-first philosophy,” said Acting District 9 Director Brandon Fitt. “Enhancing safety along this vital roadway improves the quality of life for residents of Olancha and Cartago and provides a better and more efficient travel experience for drivers.” The new lanes on U.S. 395 closed the gap between existing four-lane sections to the north and south. The upgraded facility will meet future transportation demands as vehicle and freight traffic through the region continues to increase.
Construction continues for Fanny Bridge near Lake Tahoe; nearby construction also scheduled (2 News Nevada). The Fanny Bridge construction continues in Sunnyside, California, along Lake Tahoe while crews add a permanent sewer line scheduled for Friday, November 7. During this project, cars will detour onto Lake Boulevard bypass to access State Route 89 and State Route 28. According to Caltrans, West Lake Boulevard will remain open for business and for transit center access, with only the Fanny Bridge being closed. The walking and bicycle path across the Truckee River Dam will remain open throughout the project.
Old Woman Springs Road officially designated “High Desert State Scenic Highway” (Z107.7 FM Joshua Tree). State Route 247, known locally as Old Woman Springs Road, now has a new name. The road that connects Yucca Valley to Barstow will now by known as “High Desert State Scenic Highway.” The Homestead Valley Community Council (HVCC) received word from Caltrans that the road was officially dedicated as “scenic” by the state’s road agency on October 4. The HVCC had been campaigning for the highway to be designated as scenic, and was informed of the designation by San Bernardino County’s Land Use Services on Thursday (October 30).
Goleta’s San Jose Creek Bridge Set for Major Replacement Project (Edhat). The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) will replace the San Jose Creek Bridge along State Route 217 in Goleta, the agency announced on social media on October 27, 2025. The work will require full overnight closures between Hollister Avenue and Sandspit Road on October 28, 2025, and October 30, 2025, from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. The road closures will allow for the installation of precast girders for the new bridge, the City of Goleta said in a statement. The bicycle lane will remain open during the overnight closures.
Hwy. 1 slide update: Caltrans installs cable nets to prevent falling rocks (SLO Tribune via MSN). Crews continue making progress in stabilizing Regent’s Slide on Highway 1, Caltrans said Wednesday, giving an update on work at the troublesome cliff face that’s contributed to a nearly three-year closure along the Big Sur Coast. of that stretch of the All-American Road and National Scenic Byway. The state road agency still estimates a spring 2026 reopening for through travel from Cambria to the Monterey Bay area, maybe as early as late March. That timing depends on various influences, of course, the most significant of which is weather, because heavy rains can unleash more slides in the geologically unstable area.
California’s Iconic, Major Interstate With Renowned Views Has Been Named America’s Busiest Highway (Yahoo! News). Similar to Interstate 95 (I-95), the East Coast’s major highway that’s considered one of America’s deadliest, the West Coast’s own Interstate 5 (I-5) stands out, not for danger, but for its sheer volume of traffic. Recently named America’s busiest highway by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), I-5 is more than just a road; it’s a lifeline connecting some of the country’s most vital regions. This 1,381-mile artery isn’t just about logistics, it’s a journey through the heart of the West Coast — and a scenic one at that. From sun-drenched beaches and bustling metropolises to sprawling farmland and snow-capped peaks, I-5 offers an unmatched visual narrative. Travelers along the Pacific Coast experience a true spectrum of the American landscape, especially between Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Santa Ana — the stretch of area under the spotlight in this recent study.

( Read more... )

abomvubuso posting in

talkpolitics

Hey guys! Holiday season is coming! Well, now that December has come, here's what you guys chose for a monthly topic:

The AI Arms Race

And here's the poll for January:

What should be the next monthly topic?

1) The Weaponization of Energy
2) Democracy in the Algorithm Age
3) The New Non-Aligned Movements
4) The Politics of Identity Economics
5) Political Utopias: The Best Ideas That Never Worked

(Feel free to suggest more topics)

neonvincent posting in

coffeepartyusa

( Links from and about partners shared at the Coffee Party USA/Citizen Connect Facebook page during November 2025 behind the cut. )

Current Mood: sick
Current Location: House in the woods at the edge of town
Current Music: Star Wars: The Old Republic

denise posting in

dw_news

Hello, friends! It's about to be December again, and you know what that means: the fact I am posting this actually before December 1 means

karzilla reminded me about the existence of linear time again. Wait, no -- well, yes, but also -- okay, look, let me back up and start again: it's almost December, and that means it's time for our annual December holiday points bonus.

The standard explanation: For the entire month of December, all orders made in the Shop of points and paid time, either for you or as a gift for a friend, will have 10% of your completed cart total sent to you in points when you finish the transaction. For instance, if you buy an order of 12 months of paid time for $35 (350 points), you'll get 35 points when the order is complete, to use on a future purchase.

( The fine print and much more behind this cut! )

Thank you, in short, for being the best possible users any social media site could possibly ever hope for. I'm probably in danger of crossing the Sappiness Line if I haven't already, but you all make everything worth it.

On behalf of Mark, Jen, Robby, and our team of awesome volunteers, and to each and every one of you, whether you've been with us on this wild ride since the beginning or just signed up last week, I'm wishing you all a very happy set of end-of-year holidays, whichever ones you celebrate, and hoping for all of you that your 2026 is full of kindness, determination, empathy, and a hell of a lot more luck than we've all had lately. Let's go.

azurelunatic

The new dryer is just fine, except the top is ever so slightly slanted in a way that makes it a bad place to set your dryer balls.

Have I mentioned that especially after Colonoscopy Week I've had more trouble than usual walking? I've been using my cane inside the house for the first time in quite a while, and I'm limited in how much I can carry without (more) pain. It sucks. Belovedest has set up the short ramp against the shortest outside stairs, and while going up it is Bad, going up the stairs without it is Worse. (Both outside doors have stairs.)

I wasn't available to assist with any of the Thanksgiving cooking. Belovedest did it themselves! Including: turkey, the epic tray of dressing, biscuits from the mix, and instant potatoes made the way that erases the taste of Box. (There was also salad available, but there's quite a bit of vegetable in the sausage-cornbread dressing.)

Today we had some roof inspectors. The inspection's free; the quote for fixing things up is *sigh* very much not free.

asthfghl posting in

talkpolitics

Slavic geometry... Is this perfection? Mathematicians, explain 😂

pauamma posting in

free_speech

It's that time of the fortnight again. If you have a link related to free speech but no time or energy to write an entry around it, or if you want or need to remain anonymous, this is the entry to do it for the next 2 weeks. Or, if a comment sparks a thought, feel free to jump in and reply or join the conversation.

tcpip

In recent days, I have been engaging in my personal Project Döstädning, literally "Death Cleaning" in Swedish. Whilst the original concept is that a person should sort out and minimise their belongings in the event of their death so others don't have to sift through everything, it does have a number of broader applications. It fits with the principle of one should keep in their possessions the things that they will use, along with mementoes of their life experience, all matching a short presentation I gave to the Melbourne Agnostics Society about five years ago, "The Continuum of Needs and Wants". Because disaster can strike at any time, it is recommended that everyone, regardless of health or age, invest in the process. In a more advanced sense, Döstädning also applies to emotional content, relationships, and ultimately is very close to the Stoic principle of "memento mori".

In the past year, I have engaged in several actions on this theme. Earlier this year, I sold off three bookcases' worth of roleplaying games and raised around $15000 for the Isla Bell Charitable Fund. I have also gifted a similar-sized collection of books, initially according to academic requirements (and with a sense of motivating concern), but more recently with a more open-ended approach, and one which will have to be revisited again (I still have thousands of books). In the past week, I've taken a similar approach with my collection of LPs and CDS. Whilst I am not a music collector or librarian, over the many years I've been a reviewer for a variety of physical and online 'zines and, as an enthusiastic attendee and listener, I have ended up with a rather large and eclectic collection, and much of it can be passed on to those who are more likely to use it. Following on from my recent Lightbringers post ("The Phenomenology of Nostalgia and Record Players"), from my collection I have earmarked over 300LPs to give away, and almost 600CDs.

Rather than provide a list of everything that's available (I haven't had the time to type that out), it would be far quicker for people to simply drop me a line about what sort of material they're interested in, and we can take the arrangements for collection from there. With the music part of Project Döstädning reaching this initial stage, the next targets on the agenda are DVDs and that curious collection of oddities that makes up my wardrobe. But with regards to music, books, etc., at my next linner-soiree planned for January, I'll be encouraging attendees to gather and take whatever interests them. After that, the rest goes to charity stores. It's all about redistributing my things to those who can best use them, all whilst preparing myself for one of the most substantial changes in my own life.

Current Mood: busy
Current Location: The Rookery
Current Music: Rachmaninoff, The Isle of the Dead, Op.29

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pnathan on software

notes on the software world

Reading

Murdoch Uni and Other End-of-Year Events

Friday LOLs. On/offtopic: The AI apocalypse we didn't ask for

Democracy in the Algorithm Age

Responsibilties in the Last Month

Headlines About California Highways – November 2025

Key

Highway Headlines

Monthly topic

Links from and about partners shared at the Coffee Party USA Facebook page during November 2025

Look! I remembered to post before December started this year!

Post-Turkey (well, there are leftovers...)

Friday LOLs. The perfect Slavic geometry, courtesy of Gopnik

Fortnightly links collection entry #229

Project Döstädning: Music Edition

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