Category: Wandering.Shop

The use of random scrap metal as proto-currency is interesting, too.

Archaeologists unearth a Bronze Age warrior’s personal toolkit

Lost at a battle between unknown forces, fought for a reason no one remembers, these are the tools and wealth of a warrior who did not survive.

Useful either for a DM who wants to add some historical accuracy to their game, or as a magical artifact.

–@Canageek

The use of random scrap metal as proto-currency is interesting, too.

On Wandering.shop

While looking at this preview of Far Sector, an upcoming Green Lantern comic by N….

While looking at this preview of Far Sector, an upcoming Green Lantern comic by N.K. Jemisin & Jamal Campbell, I had an odd realization.

For years, the DC Universe was a draw for me. By comparison, Marvel felt unfamiliar. And I would read DC comics across the line, and Marvel comics that were off in some corner like Alias (now Jessica Jones).

Since the New 52, I’ve felt less & less connected to the DCU…and now I’m reading DC the way I used to read Marvel.

#comics

PREVIEW: Young Animal’s FAR SECTOR looks very good

On Wandering.shop

How Yahoo used the Flickr Commons collection to train machine learning algorithms

@Satsuma NYTimes article on how Yahoo used the Flickr Commons collection – which is made up of photos that people CC-licensed – to train machine learning algorithms. And some discussion on Flickr about it.

Yeah, the use that the tech has been put to is in many cases creepy and unethical. But the source data was made up of images that people specifically said, “do whatever you want with this.”

On Wandering.shop

The bigger question, IMO, is whether the *subjects* of the photos would have agreed to this use. Not an issue when you’re training computers to identify trees, buildings, cars, sheep, birds, etc. but definitely an issue with face recognition – both ethically and legally.

That’s also part of the article, but the discussion I’ve seen so far seems to be focused on “you used my photos!”

On Wandering.shop

OMG people used creative commons-licenced works without asking first!!!! (Um, isn’t that the point…?)

OMG people used creative commons-licenced works without asking first!!!!

(Um, isn’t that the point of licensing something through Creative Commons? So that people won’t have to ask you?)

On Wandering.shop

I mean, I really don’t get this. If someone violated the terms of the CC license you picked, then yeah, that’s a problem. If you didn’t license it at all, then again, yeah, that’s misappropriation of your work, because you haven’t given permission.

But if you make the effort to choose a license that preemptively gives people permission?

On Wandering.shop

Are there people out there using creative commons licenses who don’t know what they mean?

On Wandering.shop

Negative Humidity

Ugh. “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity” still applies when the humidity is so low it might as well be negative. I’ve been drinking water all morning & I feel dehydrated after 10 minutes walking outside.

On Wandering.shop

On the plus side, I have power, and neither my home nor workplace is on fire.

On Wandering.shop

I have co-workers working remotely today because they live on the other side of an active wildfire. So there’s that for perspective.

On Wandering.shop

Article about how the power grid we have now is built on old assumptions and …

Article about how the power grid we have now is built on old assumptions and old priorities, and how it has changed in some places (notably, the areas served by San Diego’s grid since the devastating Witch Fire a decade ago)…but not enough in the areas facing high winds and dry conditions this week.

California’s huge, humiliating power outages expose the vulnerabilities of PG&E’s power grid

On Wandering.shop