# douglas adams (blogs) — RSS Amplifier Recent posts from the 9 feeds in the RSS Amplifier directory that cover douglas adams. Page: Feed: --- ## [Quote Origin: It Ain’t Bragging If You Can Do It](https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/08/22/not-brag/) _2026-08-22 · quoteresearch · Quote Investigator®_ Dizzy Dean? Muhammad Ali? Sonny Liston? Reggie Jackson? Babe Ruth? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Unfounded boasts are criticized, but an individual who sets and accomplishes an audacious goal can win praise. Here are three versions of a pertinent saying: (1) It ain’t bragging if you can do it.(2) It ain’t bragging when you can … Continue reading "Quote Origin: It Ain’t Bragging If… ## [Flores, rosas e nomes](https://www.silveiraneto.net/2026/08/19/flores-rosas-e-nomes/) _2026-08-19 · Silveira · Silveira Neto_ “Ela tem o perfume de uma florQue eu não sei o nomeMas ela deve ter um nome bonito igual a ela“Jorge Ben em “Obá, Lá… ## [Quote Origin: I Find Ecstasy in Living; the Mere Sense of Living Is Joy Enough](https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/08/18/ecstasy-joy/) _2026-08-18 · quoteresearch · Quote Investigator®_ Emily Dickinson? Thomas Wentworth Higginson? Mabel Loomis Todd? M. Lincoln Schuster? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent literary figure was asked about her life experiences, and she responded emphatically: I find ecstasy in living; the mere sense of living is joy enough. This remark has been attributed to nineteenth-century poet Emily Dickinson. Some sources … Continue… ## [Enforcing OIDC for some users with Ory Kratos Webhooks](https://20papercups.net/enforcing-oidc-for-some-users-with-ory-kratos-webhooks/) _2026-08-17 · Michael Marner · Michael Marner's Website_ Use webhooks to enforce authentication requirements for different users of your platform. ## [Quote Origin: When a Shoeshine Boy Knows as Much as I Do About the Stock Market It’s Time for Me to Get Out](https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/08/16/shoeshine-stock/) _2026-08-16 · quoteresearch · Quote Investigator®_ Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.? Bernard Baruch? Joseph F. Dinneen? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: Prescient investors pulled their money out of the U.S. stock market shortly before the crash of 1929. According to a Wall Street legend, a financier who received a stock tip from a shoeshine boy experienced the following epiphany: When a shoeshine … Continue reading "Quote Origin: When a… ## [Quote Origin: When People Show You Who They Are, Believe Them, the First Time](https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/08/13/show-believe/) _2026-08-14 · quoteresearch · Quote Investigator®_ Maya Angelou? Oprah Winfrey? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The true character of a person cannot be hidden for a lengthy period behind a mask of deception. Here are two versions of a pertinent saying: (1) When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.(2) When someone shows you who they are … Continue reading "Quote Origin: When People Show You Who They Are, Believe… ## [(untitled)](https://mastodon.acm.org/@chris_bloke/117088915833728798) _2026-08-13 · Chris Samuel_ If an AI plays James Bond but doesn't tell anyone it's an AI is it... ....a secret agent? (sorry) # puns ## [(untitled)](https://mastodon.acm.org/@chris_bloke/117076724126865376) _2026-08-11 · Chris Samuel_ Oops. https://www. theregister.com/security/2026/ 08/11/mozilla-revokes-firefox-signing-key-after-unencrypted-copy-lands-in-github/5285908 # security # firefox ## [What's Forever For?](https://rolltop-indigo.blogspot.com/2026/08/whats-forever-for.html) _2026-08-11 · S. John Ross · Rolltop Indigo_ Feeling the Heartbeat of the Cumberland Style While I’ve been groping around for the tools and language for HTT (the High-Trust Traditional style of play Cumberland is devoted to) for as long as I’ve been a gamer, I’ve only blathered about it openly since the days of Google Plus, that platform Google hit-and-quit back in the day. And my methods of trying to convey what it is have changed over the… ## [(untitled)](https://mastodon.acm.org/@chris_bloke/117074153596779555) _2026-08-11 · Chris Samuel_ TIL that the earliest evidence of a stringed instrument in Europe was found in High Pasture Cave on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, and is the charred remains of the bridge of what is believed to be a lyre. It's about 2,300 years old. https:// scarf.scot/regional/higharf/hi ghland-archaeological-research-framework-case-studies/high-pasture-cave/ The earliest remains yet found are over 4,300 years… ## [ThreatCrush on GitHub (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/g8vFk3JhMVY0) _2026-08-11 · **Sponsored**_ View the ThreatCrush listing on the GitHub Marketplace. ## [(untitled)](https://mastodon.acm.org/@chris_bloke/117070805121731318) _2026-08-10 · Chris Samuel_ Sigh, humans care more about not disturbing fictional graves of fictional characters than possibly damaging real graves of real people. \> In the end, he said, “we went quite close to some real Bronze Age remains, but we avoided Dobby’s grave”. https://www. theguardian.com/environment/20 26/aug/10/harry-potter-fans-force-relocation-of-430m-undersea-cable-to-avoid-dobbys-grave # archaeology # Wales… ## [Quote Origin: When the Bird and the Book Disagree, Always Believe the Bird](https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/08/09/bird-book/) _2026-08-10 · quoteresearch · Quote Investigator®_ John James Audubon? Joseph Cornell? Patricia Holt? Jack Barclay? Birdwatcher’s Proverb? Jack Kornfield? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Much of our knowledge is obtained indirectly through reference books and instruction manuals. Yet, direct observation provides a more accurate guide. Here is pertinent saying from the domain of ornithology: When the bird and the book disagree, …… ## [(untitled)](https://mastodon.acm.org/@chris_bloke/117065937043958195) _2026-08-09 · Chris Samuel_ Shocked to find that the Australian language dictionary for Thunderbird does not seem to know "whinging". Yours, A whinging Pom. ## [Let's Make Electronics Makers Open Source Their Apps](https://20papercups.net/lets-make-electronics-makers-open-source-their-apps/) _2026-08-08 · Michael Marner · Michael Marner's Website_ I'm looking forward to my new headphones becoming unsupported! ## [Quote Origin: Don’t Just Do Something; Sit There](https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/08/06/sit-there/) _2026-08-07 · quoteresearch · Quote Investigator®_ Thich Nhat Hanh? Sylvia Boorstein? Peg Bracken? Ollie Crawford? George D. Ludcke? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: Humorous sayings can be created by ingeniously transforming mundane expressions. Most people are familiar with the entreaty: Don’t just sit there, do something. However, the following reordered sentence indicates that inaction is often desirable: Don’t just do something, …… ## [(untitled)](https://mastodon.acm.org/@chris_bloke/117045631417673525) _2026-08-06 · Chris Samuel_ Nostalgia - it's not as good as it used to be... A couple of years ago I found a really nice little quote in an article on nostalgia that claims that it doesn't date back to when we first started writing, but a little time after when we could look back at earlier writing and misunderstand how it had been then. 😃 https:// slate.com/human-interest/2016/… ## [(untitled)](https://mastodon.acm.org/@chris_bloke/117039933082960875) _2026-08-04 · Chris Samuel_ Gah - now the UK govt has managed to do it too... https://www. aisi.gov.uk/blog/incident-repo rt-unsanctioned-agent-behaviour-during-cyber-testing The crazy thing is they say they are working on: \> surfacing potential risks before they reach the public Yet they then say: \> we test them under deliberately permissive conditions: with access to the open internet, and with some safety filters disabled… ## [(untitled)](https://mastodon.acm.org/@chris_bloke/117029066926135877) _2026-08-03 · Chris Samuel_ Another, much more recent, aDNA genetics discovery again turning assumptions about the past on their head. Ancient DNA recovery of the Upton Lovell "Shaman" (bronze age metalworker), who had always been presumed to be a male, shows that instead they were biologically female. https://www. theguardian.com/science/2026/j ul/14/ancient-dna-analysis-reveals-upton-lovell-shaman-was-woman-wiltshire #… ## [Quote Origin: No Individual Raindrop Ever Considers Itself Responsible for the Flood](https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/08/02/raindrop-flood/) _2026-08-03 · quoteresearch · Quote Investigator®_ John Ruskin? Douglas Adams? Sydney J. Harris? Paul Harvey? Stanisław Jerzy Lec? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A group that acts in unison can cause enormous positive or negative changes. Each member of a group typically celebrates favorable developments but disavows adverse events. Here are three versions of a pertinent metaphorical adage: (1) No single … Continue reading "Quote… ## [(untitled)](https://mastodon.acm.org/@chris_bloke/117028044136721219) _2026-08-02 · Chris Samuel_ Nice to see aDNA genetics undoing some stories invented about some of the people found in Pompeii by revealing some of the realities of who they were, how they were related (or in these cases how they were not) and where they came from. https://www. cell.com/current-biology/fullt… ## [Trade Bitcoin and Ethereum Today (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/xZoIcCjc8LgW) _2026-08-02 · **Sponsored**_ Buy, sell, and margin trade BTC and ETH with EUR, USD, CAD, GBP, or JPY. ## [(untitled)](https://mastodon.acm.org/@chris_bloke/117014703973162245) _2026-07-31 · Chris Samuel_ "Wait, so if Demippos here gets to read all his part then he gets 3 hours, and I only get 2 for my part!" "I know, there's this other tale I know, I'll adapt it and then that'll make us equal" "Oh no, now we're too long overall! We'll need to take this other part out, everyone agrees it's not as interesting or relevant as other parts..." "What did you do! Now my part isn't long enough! I demand… ## [(untitled)](https://mastodon.acm.org/@chris_bloke/117014681633365003) _2026-07-31 · Chris Samuel_ Love this idea of no one # Homer . \> The poem could even have taken shape by committee. In the late 6th century BCE, Pisistratus, tyrant of Athens, mandated the annual performance of the entire Iliad and Odyssey at a festival celebrating the goddess Athena. \> \> It takes about 20 hours to read the Odyssey aloud: too much for one voice. \[...\] Some scholars argue the festival fixed many songs about… ## [Quote Origin: If I Wanted to Write, I Had To Be Willing To Develop a Kind of Concentration Found Mostly in People Awaiting Execution](https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/07/30/will-write/) _2026-07-30 · quoteresearch · Quote Investigator®_ Maya Angelou? Samuel Johnson? Sheree Crute? Salman Rushdie? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A writer, now celebrated, faced harsh criticism in the early days of her career. She responded by acknowledging that she required greater mental focus to succeed: If I wanted to write, I had to be willing to develop a kind of concentration … Continue reading "Quote Origin: If I Wanted to Write,… ## [A Girl Reading, Johann Georg Meyer, oil on canvas, 1871](https://www.silveiraneto.net/2026/07/30/a-girl-reading-johann-georg-meyer-oil-on-canvas-1871/) _2026-07-30 · Silveira · Silveira Neto_ Johann Georg Meyer on Wikipedia ## [(untitled)](https://mastodon.acm.org/@chris_bloke/117006167747694893) _2026-07-30 · Chris Samuel_ Oh I was wrong! The Fish Event Horizon was named in tribute to Douglas Adams! https:// zooarchisotopes.com/2014/08/27 /fish-for-the-city/ # archaeology # hhgttg ## [Quote Origin: When a Man Knows He Is To Be Hanged in a Fortnight, It Concentrates His Mind Wonderfully](https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/07/29/concentrate/) _2026-07-29 · quoteresearch · Quote Investigator®_ Samuel Johnson? James Boswell? William Dodd? Maya Angelou? Arthur C. Clarke? Vermont Royster? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A prominent literary figure crafted a fascinating statement about concentration. Here are two versions: (1) When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully. (2) Nothing so wonderfully concentrates … Continue reading… ## [(untitled)](https://mastodon.acm.org/@chris_bloke/117004271022410792) _2026-07-29 · Chris Samuel_ TIL that in # archaeology there is a thing called the Fish Event Horizon. Sadly it has nothing to do with Douglas Adams. ## [Quote Origin: If You Understood What Communism Was, You Would Hope, You Would Pray on Your Knees That We Would Someday Become Communist](https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/07/27/pray-knees/) _2026-07-27 · quoteresearch · Quote Investigator®_ Jane Fonda? Lee Winfrey? David Bassett? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: U.S. actress and activist Jane Fonda spoke on college campuses during the 1970s about the Vietnam War. I have seen claims that Fonda said something like the following: If you understood what communism was … you would pray on your knees that we would … Continue reading "Quote Origin: If You Understood What… ## [Quote Origin: (Multilayer Perceptrons) Our Intuitive Judgment That the Extension Is Sterile](https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/07/24/perceptron-sterile/) _2026-07-24 · quoteresearch · Quote Investigator®_ Marvin Minsky? Seymour Papert? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The remarkable breakthroughs in artificial intelligence in the twenty-first century are based on digital neural networks. This area of machine learning was pioneered by Warren McCulloch and Walter Pitts who created an artificial neuron model. Also, researcher Frank Rosenblatt moved the field forward with his work …… ## [Quote Origin: The People Have Spoken — The Bastards](https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/07/21/people-spoken/) _2026-07-21 · quoteresearch · Quote Investigator®_ Dick Tuck? Mo Udall? Dick Cavett? Question for Quote Investigator: A disappointed political candidate delivered a provocative concession speech which combined bitterness with humor: The people have spoken—the bastards. This line has been attributed to Dick Tuck who was a campaign strategist, prankster, and fabulist. This statement has also been credited to Arizona politician Mo … Continue reading… ## [Accept your Doppler invite (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/3mUW9QOT432r) _2026-07-21 · **Sponsored**_ Create your Doppler account using the invite code you received. ## [(untitled)](https://mastodon.acm.org/@chris_bloke/116948936111964590) _2026-07-19 · Chris Samuel_ The Linux kernel security team announced 433 CVEs in under 7 hours today (2026-07-19 09:09-15:40 UTC) - how's your weekend going? (Be aware that a kernel CVE can include anything that triggers a WARN\_ON() - including where they are fixing a wrong check (eg CVE-2026-53345) or is a kernel mitigation for hardware CVEs (eg CVE-2026-53354) , but that's still rather a lot to process) https://… ## [(untitled)](https://mastodon.acm.org/@chris_bloke/116932516427003913) _2026-07-17 · Chris Samuel_ \> The issue was therefore not simply the loss of one NTP server or redundancy in the design of the configuration of the three NTP servers, but the propagation and acceptance of erroneous date information by interconnected systems that rely on timing as a trust and ordering reference. Pretty shocking that # Telstra had a NTP config that allowed a bad clock source to propagate. 😬 I setup NTP… ## [(untitled)](https://mastodon.acm.org/@chris_bloke/116926741862677217) _2026-07-16 · Chris Samuel_ For folks interested in network monitoring/IDS things there's a free workshop on the open source Zeek monitoring tool in Berkeley coming up 2026-09-10 and 2026-09-11! Includes a session on how we use Zeek at NERSC as part of defending our # HPC systems by our own Aaron Scantlin. https:// zeek.org/zeek-workshop-berkele y-2026/ # security # intrusionDetection # itsec ## [(untitled)](https://mastodon.acm.org/@chris_bloke/116913514332507658) _2026-07-13 · Chris Samuel_ Who called the CVE severity number a "base score" and not a magnitude? "Two magnitude 9 CVEs have been detected in the Mellanox drivers. Aftershocks are expected." (for real: https:// nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answer s/detail/a\_id/5699 ) # security # humour # humor ## [(untitled)](https://mastodon.acm.org/@chris_bloke/116912935728402422) _2026-07-13 · Chris Samuel_ RIP Sam Neill. Hope you've found John Clarke and are having a lark together. Photo is from a review of their film "Death in Brunswick": https://www. flicks.co.nz/features/kiwis-sa m-neill-and-john-clarke-anchor-1990-aussie-cult-classic-death-in-brunswick/ ## [(untitled)](https://mastodon.acm.org/@chris_bloke/116904407506381928) _2026-07-12 · Chris Samuel_ My lightning detector had a bit of a workout this afternoon - 297 strikes in 2 hours (1345-1545). We didn't get the worst of the storm either! # PAwx ## [Do not go gentle into that good night – Dylan Thomas](https://www.silveiraneto.net/2026/07/10/do-not-go-gentle-into-that-good-night-dylan-thomas/) _2026-07-10 · Silveira · Silveira Neto_ Do not go gentle into that good night,Old age should burn and rave at close of day;Rage, rage against the dying of the light.Though wise… ## [Next Pandemic we should have Challenge Trials](https://liveatthewitchtrials.blogspot.com/2026/07/next-pandemic-we-should-have-challenge.html) _2026-07-04 · Iamreddave · Live at the Witch Trials_ Covid-19 is long enough away now that we should look at what happened and decide what we want to to next time there is a pandemic. One thing we could do is challenge trials of vaccines. This would have sped up vaccine deployment hugely and saved time and huge amounts of money. Reading books like Vaxxers there were several vaccines ready for early testing in the first weeks of 2020. But it still… ## [(untitled)](https://mastodon.acm.org/@chris_bloke/116863105213926269) _2026-07-04 · Chris Samuel_ The UK National Archives has found a new copy of the US Declaration of Independence in its archives, seized from an American privateer off Portugal in December 1776. It's the only copy of an Exeter Declaration known to reside outside of the US. https://www. nationalarchives.gov.uk/explor… ## [ELEGOO ESP32 kit notes](https://www.silveiraneto.net/2026/06/25/elegoo-esp32-kit-notes/) _2026-06-25 · Silveira · Silveira Neto_ Notes on the ELEGOO ESP-32 Super Starter Kit with Tutorial and Development Board USB-C Dual Core Microcontroller Support AP/STA/AP+STA, CP2102 Chip Compatible with Arduino IDE.… ## [vou aprender a ler pra ensinar meus camaradas](https://www.silveiraneto.net/2026/06/21/vou-aprender-a-ler-pra-ensinar-meus-camaradas/) _2026-06-21 · Silveira · Silveira Neto_ vou aprender a ler pra ensinar meus camaradas Trecho da letra de “Yá Yá Massemba” de Jose Carlos Capinam e Roberto Mendes. Eternizada na voz… ## [Flashforge AD5X](https://www.silveiraneto.net/2026/06/17/flashforge-ad5x/) _2026-06-17 · Silveira · Silveira Neto_ Factsheet Maximum build volume: 220 x 220 x 220mmFilament diameter: 1.75mmNozzle Diameter: 0.4mm (default); 0.25/0.6/0.8mm optionalMaximum Nozzle Temperature: 300°CMaximum Build Plate Temperature: 110°CPrinting Speed: Max… ## [You know what would be really cool?](https://www.silveiraneto.net/2026/06/15/you-know-what-would-be-really-cool/) _2026-06-15 · Silveira · Silveira Neto_ Sometimes while driving on a long trip I end up caught in a thought exercise. A creativity game that we can call “You know what… ## [Why the 2026 World Cup Ball Has Deeper Seams](https://liveatthewitchtrials.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-2026-world-cup-football-is-big.html) _2026-06-11 · Iamreddave · Live at the Witch Trials_ In 2010 the South African World Cup had a terrible football, the Jabulani​ ​It was too smooth resulting in serious problems. The football had a lot less seam which the technology at the time was not ready for ​ Jabulani: eight thermally bonded panels, unusually short/shallow seams ​ The 2010 ball had shallow thin seams When you kick a football really fast a layer of air develops around it that… ## [Ireland goes majority Solar May 24th 2026](https://liveatthewitchtrials.blogspot.com/2026/05/ireland-goes-majority-solar-may-24th.html) _2026-05-24 · Iamreddave · Live at the Witch Trials_ Green Collective solar farm only figure was a record % At 2:30 today, Ireland’s solar share may have been about 51% of total electricity demand , once imports and domestic rooftop solar are included. Calculation: Solar = grid solar + solar imports + domestic solar = 1.16 + 0.41 + 0.58 = 2.15 GW Demand = grid demand + domestic solar = 3.66 + 0.58 = 4.24 GW Solar share = 2.15 / 4.24 = 50.7% Domestic… ## [The asymmetry of the historical record](https://www.silveiraneto.net/2026/05/21/the-asymmetry-of-the-historical-record/) _2026-05-21 · Silveira · Silveira Neto_ “Yeah, I think that, I think it is important to recognize that much like the present, the past is largely a chronicle of misery. I… ## [Should I get an attribution here?](https://liveatthewitchtrials.blogspot.com/2026/05/should-i-get-attribution-here.html) _2026-05-21 · Iamreddave · Live at the Witch Trials_ I made a timeline of all the people in We Didn't Start the fire when Bridget Bardot passed away. It got popular and put in newspaper stories. Then three weeks later Nathan Yau makes a timeline of all the people in We Didn't Start the Fire and uses the Bardot passing hook my graph had. But he never mentions my graph His graph has a few ideas I am going to take to improve my next version. And Yau… ## [If an LLM is too expensive it won't be next year](https://liveatthewitchtrials.blogspot.com/2026/05/if-llm-is-too-expensive-it-wont-be-next.html) _2026-05-16 · Iamreddave · Live at the Witch Trials_ AI can cost more than human workers now This is an Axios headline but the tldr is that once an LLM can do your job it will undercut you the next year. This is the article and it focuses on token and infrastructure costs. Not cleaning up messes or other times a person needs to be in the loop. For example "Uber's chief technology officer already blew through his full 2026 AI budget due to token… ## [Irish Electricity Goes Majority Solar](https://liveatthewitchtrials.blogspot.com/2026/04/irish-electricity-goes-majority-solar.html) _2026-04-27 · Iamreddave · Live at the Witch Trials_ From Greencollective I think this 29% figure (1207MW out of ) is actually close to 50% of the electricity in Ireland. In Ireland small scale solar is shown as a fall in demand. the metrics measure solar farms and small scale production is used on site or locally and not shown in the full supply figures only in demand reductions. " Of the cumulative solar capacity , 1,322 MW comes from… ## [2 climate bets: Results are in China and World Coal in 2025](https://liveatthewitchtrials.blogspot.com/2026/04/2-climate-bets-results-are-in-china-and.html) _2026-04-21 · Iamreddave · Live at the Witch Trials_ I made a bet early in 2025 that China would reduce its coal usage for electricity in 2025. The bet is here and I blogged about it before here A bet has been accepted between u/TrueCryptographer982 and u/cavedave for $10. That according to Ember Energy statistics China will create less electricity from coal in 2025 than it did in 2024. David taking the prediction that it will be less. And we can…