This thoughtful dive into the legal/ethical/technical mess that is Mastodon search is so good.

"Stated in the most general possible way: The Fediverse needs to get its content-licensing shit together."

by @timbray, who knows a thing or two because he's seen a thing or two

https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/202x/2022/12/30/Mastodon-Privacy-and-Search

The New York Times has editorialized angrily against forced arbitration -- a system designed to protect companies from accountability.

So guess what I found in my inbox this morning. Yes! Subscribers to the NY Times must now submit to forced arbitration if there's a dispute:

https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us/articles/115014893428-Terms-of-service?launch_id=18232205#12

New blog post: A Visit to the Computer Museum at System Source in Baltimore, MD. On Feb 15, 2020, I took lots of pictures of #RetroComputing and #VintageComputing that you might enjoy. #IMSAI, #Apple, #DEC, #Commodore, a #Linotype, and more!

See more: https://biosrhythm.com/?p=2271

ICYMI: A call for pedantry in free speech debates and for separating Free Speech Rights, Free Speech Culture, And Speech Decency.

https://popehat.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-free-speech-pedantry

Me: Lord I wish we had something new and exciting for the Serious Trouble show tomorrow

SBF: [gets arrested]

Me: Okay now You're just showing off

If you ever had a vaccine, injection or surgery, you’re indebted to the ancient & wondrous horseshoe crab.

Its blue blood contains Limulus Amebocyte Lysate (LAL) which clumps at contact with bacterial toxins. Animals are caught for their blood to test sterility of medical equipment & injections.

Unfortunately the harvest is unsustainable & populations are in decline. An effective synthetic substitute has been around for 2 decades & we just need the biomedical industry to switch. #SharedPlanet

Our piece on how science education needs to adapt for the misinformation age is now out in Scientific American.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/to-fight-misinformation-we-need-to-teach-that-science-is-dynamic/