Unpublished Games Network (Unpub). We support the game design and development community by organizing events intended to help designers receive public playtests and feedback, and connect with other tabletop gaming industry folks. These events are open to anyone who wishes to bring their game to the table.
Well, that was easier than expected. I followed the directions here: https://linuxvox.com/blog/install-ssl-certificate-ubuntu/. Added a “Let’s Encrypt” certificate using certbot.
a2enmod ssl
systemctl reload apache2
certbot --apache -d yourdomain.com -d www.yourdomain.comExpires every 90 days. Auto-renew:
crontab -e
Add:
0 0,12 * * * python -c 'import random; import time; time.sleep(random.random() * 3600)' && sudo certbot renew --quietKindle e-reader models
Kindle root / dashboard project
Kindle jailbreaking
Windsurf Launches SWE-1: AI Models Built for the Entire Software Engineering Process
PCSK9 inhibition: A game changer in cholesterol management, PSCK9.
PSCK9 / heart disease discovery paper
Early trials of the prostate cancer drug VIR-5500 showed it shrinking tumours in some patients
Prison guards discussed cover-up of Epstein’s death, inmate tells FBI. by Julie K. Brown
Drugs Would Be Cheap but for Patents That Make Them Expensive by Dean Baker
DOJ nopes out of Ticketmaster antitrust suit
Illumina Constellation Becomes TruPath Genome. $395 / genome, 30X with long read type connectivity information.
Chicago did it, in 2025 we had the fewest murders recorded since 1965–416 in 2025, 395 in 1965!
JD Vance Roasted After Comparing Trump Economy to ‘Titanic’
Nature article on cuts to Science funding under the Trump administration. Cuts of 25% to 35% this year. Fewer new grants funded. Science agency staff cut 20%. International students down 17%. Nature analysis.
Trump’s acting cyber chief uploaded sensitive files into a public version of ChatGPT
Reported in the Guardian, “AI being used to help cut A&E waiting times in England this winter” by Hannah Devlin. “
The A&E forecasting tool predicts when demand will be highest, allowing trusts to better plan staffing and bed space. The prediction algorithm is trained on historical data including weather trends, school holidays, and rates of flu and Covid to determine how many people are likely to visit A&E.
A&E is England’s term (Accident & Emergency) for the ER. So the national government brought this in from the top. The company and ‘AI’ is not described in the article, really just a puff piece for the government directors, but it is Faculty AI, a UK company. The tool is ‘available’ to all the NHS trusts, not clear if there’s much usage of it.
What does this ‘demand prediction tool’ predict? More demand during cold snaps and heat waves, on school holidays, and higher demand during peak flu and Covid season. Are these pedestrian predictions worth millions of pounds? Doubtful.
User Clip: Trumps insane mental asylum rant
If He Builds It, Tear It Down. Pendulums must swing. by Hamilton Nolan
Illumina: Introducing constellation mapped read technology
Monitor network traffic to web server:
tshark ‘tcp port 80 and (((ip[2:2] – ((ip[0]&0xf)<<2)) – ((tcp[12]&0xf0)>>2)) != 0)’
He made beer that’s also a vaccine. Now controversy is brewing. A scientist’s unconventional project illustrates many challenges in developing new vaccines. by Tina Hesman Saey
Golf Carts w/missing wheels: Rebutting Sen. Lankford’s CNN Appearance, Part 2
Within five years, anything above an entry-level bike will require batteries — and I don’t like it. Bikes shouldn’t need batteries to work: a stance against electronic shifting’s ubiquity. by Michael Venutolo-Mantovani
Setting up web commerce / shopping cart on a WordPress site: woocommerce module & oceawp theme.
Updated Voronoi_inkscape_1.4.2.zip extension to work with Inkscape 1.4.2! (ver 1.1, ver 1.3 of the extension.). To install, go to Inscape -> Extensions -> Manage extension -> Install packages tab -> click on file icon and select the zip file.
Takes as input a shape to fill with a Voronoi diagram. The number of levels of recursive Voronoi diagrams can be set.
Options
Random seed points: Number of starting points. The distribution of the starting points is set for each level of the diagram.
Options:
Levels of recursion: Within each Voronoi region, a new Voronoi diagram is created.
Level(rand_type):relax,…: Sets of parameters for each Voronoi diagram level.
<level>(<normalization method>[param1=n;parms2 = n.n; params3=foo…]):<Llyod’s relaxation interations>
The randomization type can be ‘normdist’, ‘normdist_edge’, ‘random’. ‘Random’ distributes the seed points randomly. ‘Normdist’ distributes the seed points around one or more ‘centers’ (default is 1 center), distributed around the centroid. ‘Normdist_edge’ moves the seeds away from the centers toward the edge.
Llyod’s relaxation moves each of the points halfway between its current position and the centroid of the Voronoi polygon it is located in with each iteration.
Parameters:
centers = 2 – Number of centers to cluster ‘normdist’ random points around. Centers are spaced at center_dist from the centroid of the input path.
keep_centers = 0,1,3… – Which of the centers to use. Numbering starts at 0.
center_dist = 1.23 – Distance from the path centroid to place the random seed centers. dist = size / center_dist. Default = 2.0. Large numbers push the centers towards the edge.
min_dist = 1.23 – Minimum distance of random points from the edge of the path. In Inkscape units. Default = 5.
sd = 1.23 – Standard deviation of the random points. sd = standard deviation of the random points. sd = size / sd. Larger numbers give a tighter distribution. Default = 2.5.
xy = x1,y1, x2,y2… – Explicitly enter random seed point locations. In Inkscape units. Overrides random dist center parameters.
Return lines or polygons: The Voronoi regions are added to the document as polygons or lines.
Examples:
340 mm diameter circle as a polygon of 30 points.
Parameters: 1(normdist[centers=3;center_dist=1.2;sd=4.14;min_dist=25]):1
Two levels of recursion:
Parameters: 2(normdist[centers=3;center_dist=1.2;sd=4.14;min_dist=25]):1, 1(normdist):1
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers. He co-discovered DNA’s structure but later engaged in rank racism and sexism. by Sharon Begley
“From today until 2030 big tech firms will spend $5trn on infrastructure to supply AI services. To make those investments worthwhile, they will need on the order of $650bn a year in AI revenues, according to JPMorgan Chase, a bank, up from about $50bn a year today.” link
How to Make Repeat Patterns: A Guide for Designers, Architects and Artists. by Paul Jackson.
Designing tessellations : the secrets of interlocking patterns. by Jinny Beyer.
Density:
0.08988 g/L H2
1.2250 g/L air
Lift: 1.13512 kg / m3
Volume to lift 250 kg -> 220.4 m3
220 m3:
6 m diameter tube -> 7.8 m long
4.5 m diameter tube -> 13.9 m long
6.1 m cube
7.6 m sphere
Volume to lift 150 kg -> 132 m3
Wing with 1 m2 cross-section x 132 m long
Wing with 2 m2 cross-section x 66 m long
Cory Doctorow on the AI bubble
AI as Normal Technology. An alternative to the vision of AI as a potential superintelligence
Lessons from a Red Scare. The American people are capable of turning the tide against repression. by David R. Lurie
Pi with the Major system:
| 0 | s, z |
| 1 | t, d, th |
| 2 | n |
| 3 | m |
| 4 | r |
| 5 | l |
| 6 | j, ch, sh |
| 7 | c, k, g, q, ck |
| 8 | v, f, ph |
| 9 | p, b |
Mad, rat, lip, nacho, llama, lava, pack, puma, gnome, fire
mad -> 31 rat -> 41 lip -> 59 nacho -> 26 llama -> 53 lava -> 58 pack -> 97 puma -> 93 gnome -> 23 fire -> 84
100 digits of pi:
perl -e 'use Math::BigFloat "bpi";print "pi: ",bpi(101),"\n";'3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170680
Using word length:
Pie, I wish I could remember pi,
“Eureka!” cried the great inventor,
Christmas pudding, Christmas pie,
Is the problem’s very center.
Algorithms for making interesting organic simulations
Scientists just cracked the mystery of why cancer immunotherapy fails. “Unlike ordinary stress responses that slow protein production to help cells regain balance, TexPSR drives protein synthesis into overdrive. The result is a relentless buildup of misfolded proteins, stress granules, and toxic aggregates ¾ similar to the amyloid plaques seen in Alzheimer’s disease. This overload poisons the T cells, crippling their ability to attack tumors.”. Nature 01 Oct 2025.
How Trump Is Making China Great. Why we’re going to lose the trade war, and much more besides. by Paul Krugman
Pluralistic: Apple’s unlawful evil (06 Oct 2025) by Cory doctorow.
Apple has removed ICEBlock, a totally legal app that helps people track the movements of the masked snatch-squads who illegally terrorize brown people in America’s cities, capitulating to a warrantless demand from Trump’s DoJ boss Pam Bondi. link.
Scientists found that “young” immune cells made from human stem cells can reverse signs of aging and Alzheimer’s in mice. pub link.