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🔗 Computing

Jensen's Device is a computer programming technique that exploits call by name. It was devised by Danish computer scientist Jørn Jensen, who worked with Peter Naur at Regnecentralen. They worked on the GIER Algol compiler, one of the earliest correct implementations of ALGOL 60. ALGOL 60 used call by name.

🔗 Plants

Plant blindness is an informally-proposed form of cognitive bias, which in its broadest meaning, is a human tendency to ignore plant species. This includes such phenomena as not noticing plants in the surrounding environment, not recognizing the importance of plant life to the whole biosphere and to human affairs, a philosophical view of plants as an inferior form of life to animals and/or the inability to appreciate the unique features or aesthetics of plants.

The term was coined by the botanists and biology educators J. H. Wandersee and E. E. Schussler in their 1999 publication 'Preventing Plant Blindness'. Scientists have suggested that the reason some people don't notice plants is because plants are stationary and similarly coloured, although other research has suggested that plant blindness is affected by cultural practices. A US study looked at how plants and animals are perceived using "attentional blink" (the ability to notice one of two rapidly presented images). The study showed that participants were more accurate in detecting animals in images, rather than plants. The researchers also suggested possible strategies for characterizing and overcoming zoo-centrism.

According to the BBC journalist Christine Ro, plant blindness is potentially linked to nature deficit disorder, which she construes is causing what she claims is reduced funding and fewer classes for botany.

The term was coined in 1999 by botanists James Wandersee and Elisabeth Schussler.

🔗 Meteorology 🔗 Chemicals 🔗 Soil 🔗 Weather 🔗 Weather/Weather

Petrichor () is the earthy scent produced when rain falls on dry soil. The word is constructed from Greek petra (πέτρα), meaning "stone", and īchōr (ἰχώρ), the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology.

🔗 Apple Inc. 🔗 Video games 🔗 Computing

The Apple Pippin is a defunct open multimedia technology platform, designed by Apple Computer, and marketed as PiPP!N. According to Apple, Pippin was directed at the home market as "an integral part of the consumer audiovisual, stereo, and television environment."

Pippin is based on the Apple Macintosh platform, including the classic Mac OS architecture. Apple built a demonstration device based on Pippin called "Pippin Power Player," and used it to demonstrate the platform at trade shows and to the media, in order to attract potential software developers and hardware manufacturers. Apple licensed the Pippin technology to third-party companies. Bandai Company Ltd. developed the ATMARK and @WORLD models, and focused them on the gaming and entertainment business in Japan and the United States. Katz Media developed the KMP 2000, and focused it on vertical markets throughout Europe and Canada.

🔗 Measurement

ISO 1 is an international standard set by the International Organization for Standardization that specifies the standard reference temperature for geometrical product specification and verification. The temperature is fixed at 20 °C, which is equal to 293.15 kelvins and 68 degrees Fahrenheit.

Due to thermal expansion, precision length measurements need to be made at (or converted to) a defined temperature. ISO 1 helps in comparing measurements by defining such a reference temperature. The reference temperature of 20 °C was adopted by the CIPM on 15 April 1931, and became ISO recommendation number 1 in 1951. It soon replaced worldwide other reference temperatures for length measurements that manufacturers of precision equipment had used before, including 0 °C, 62 °F, and 25 °C. Among the reasons for choosing 20 °C was that this was a comfortable and practical workshop temperature and that it resulted in an integer value on both the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales.

🔗 Military history 🔗 Military history/Military science, technology, and theory 🔗 Military history/Weaponry 🔗 Middle Ages 🔗 Middle Ages/History 🔗 Military history/Medieval warfare

A rondel dagger or roundel dagger was a type of stiff-bladed dagger in Europe in the late Middle Ages (from the 14th century onwards), used by a variety of people from merchants to knights. It was worn at the waist and might be used as a utility tool, or worn into battle or in a jousting tournament as a side arm.

The rondel dagger featured a long, slim steel blade with a round or circular hand guard and pommel. Designed for close-quarter combat, it was effective in puncturing and bursting mail armor links and penetrating weak points in plate armor. The dagger evolved from the early knightly dagger and became the standard side-arm for knights in the 15th century. It was used as a backup weapon for hand-to-hand fighting and as a tool to force surrender, as captured knights could be ransomed. The rondel dagger also gained popularity among the middle class in the 15th century. Various combat techniques involving the rondel dagger can be found in Hans Talhoffer's combat manuals from the 1440s to 1460s.

🔗 United States/U.S. Government 🔗 United States 🔗 Biography 🔗 California 🔗 Politics 🔗 Biography/arts and entertainment 🔗 Politics/American politics 🔗 Journalism 🔗 California/Southern California 🔗 California/Inland Empire

Gary Stephen Webb (August 31, 1955 – December 10, 2004) was an American investigative journalist.

He began his career working for newspapers in Kentucky and Ohio, winning numerous awards, and building a reputation for investigative writing. Hired by the San Jose Mercury News, Webb contributed to the paper's Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake.

Webb is best known for his "Dark Alliance" series, which appeared in The Mercury News in 1996. The series examined the origins of the crack cocaine trade in Los Angeles and claimed that members of the anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua had played a major role in creating the trade, using cocaine profits to finance their fight against the government in Nicaragua. It also stated that the Contras may have acted with the knowledge and protection of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The series provoked outrage, particularly in the Los Angeles African-American community, and led to four major investigations of its charges.

The Los Angeles Times and other major papers published articles suggesting the "Dark Alliance" claims were overstated and, in November 1996, Jerome Ceppos, the executive editor at Mercury News, wrote about being "in the eye of the storm". In May 1997, after an internal review, Ceppos stated that, although the story was correct on many important points, there were shortcomings in the writing, editing, and production of the series. He wrote that the series likely "oversimplified" the crack epidemic in America and the supposed "critical role" the dealers written about in the series played in it. Webb disagreed with this conclusion.

Webb resigned from The Mercury News in December 1997. He became an investigator for the California State Legislature, published a book based on the "Dark Alliance" series in 1998, and did freelance investigative reporting. He died by suicide on December 10, 2004.

The "Dark Alliance" series remains controversial. Critics view the series' claims as inaccurate or overstated, while supporters point to the results of a later CIA investigation as vindicating the series. The follow-up reporting in the Los Angeles Times and other papers has been criticised for focusing on problems in the series rather than re-examining the earlier CIA-Contra claims.

🔗 United States/U.S. Government 🔗 United States

18F was a digital services agency within the Technology Transformation Services department of the General Services Administration (GSA) of the United States Government. 18F helped other government agencies build, buy, and share technology products. The team consisted of designers, software engineers, strategists, and product managers who collaborated with other agencies to fix technical problems, build products, and improve public service through technology. As part of wide-sweeping federal layoffs at the beginning of the second Trump administration that were carried out in connection with the Department of Government Efficiency, the agency was eliminated in March, 2025.

🔗 Computing

Secure Scuttlebutt (SSB) is a peer-to peer communication protocol, mesh network, and self-hosted social media ecosystem. Each user hosts their own content and the content of the peers they follow, which provides fault tolerance and eventual consistency. Messages are digitally signed and added to an append-only list of messages published by an author. SSB is primarily used for implementing distributed social networks, and utilizes cryptography to assure that content remains unforged as it is propagated through the network.