Notices by Elizabeth Ayer (elizayer@mastodon.social)

@krusynth Thank you for recommending this! Do you know of any good, accessible write-ups of the threat model behind this recommendation? I think folks are struggling all the time to figure out what online protections they need, in what order, and that might help?

What a perfect end to #FluConf: a beautiful, short piece of writing on the need to dream bigger when small fixes just aren't working-

https://notapplicable.dev/daring-to-dream

Key question it poses: "Where are we escaping to, and how do we transform this imaginary world into reality?"

It's also a welcome call for more spaces in the spirit of #FluConf, trying to regrow conferences from principles of liberation.

Thank you, @anna and kudos to @fluconf !

Hooray, we're about to get a refresher on why all those pesky processes exist!

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/musk-cronies-dive-into-treasury-dept-payments-code-base

Unexpectedly triggering phrase: "mutable state" 😭

@trondhjort so very much this!

Absolutely, the science establishment missed its opportunity to accommodate good-faith external skepticism, like Sagan was afraid of. So now we see science-types trying to use the same, "It's not politics, I *am* superior" tactics against bad-faith skepticism and... what a mess.

Now, I happen to believe science is a great way to understanding many things, but I also think it's political as hell to delegate away (or be asked to delegate) your interpretations and predictions of the physical world. [2/2]

I keep reading that science isn’t political, but I disagree:

Science is an endless field of knowledge that the vast majority of people on the planet don’t have access to. It tells people they don’t have the tools to observe the world, let alone understand it. It says, “don’t worry, you can delegate the pesky details to us, just believe what we say at the end.” And then the press reports some outputs. Really badly. [1/2]

The FBI updated its guidance from last week about switching to encrypted messaging platforms. It clarified that it only meant people should use "responsibly managed" encryption. Specifically,

"This encryption should be designed to protect people’s privacy and also managed so U.S. tech companies can provide readable content in response to a lawful court order."

Dang. For a minute there I thought they finally understood.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2024/12/11/fbi-warns-iphone-android-users-change-whatsapp-facebook-messenger-signal-apps/

I never knew the Library of Congress could simply add an author to a book, or that they use this power in cases of plagiarism.

Awesome.

https://www.themarysue.com/female-archeologist-ommited-from-history-finally-receives-justice-almost-a-century-later/

It’s Sep 28! One of my favourite days in history: the day Alexander Fleming claimed to have discovered penicillin.

There are a few things I love about Fleming’s story. #1 is that Alexander Fleming was messy and kinda gross. His previous breakthrough was finding an antibacterial agent in snot and other bodily fluids. Let’s just say he experimented *very* widely.

Fleming showed the mouldy plate around his lab, and nobody else cared. They said things like “it may well turn out to be important,” which, in 20th century British, is incredibly dismissive.

Maybe it was because he called it “mould juice” for the first 6 months of talking about it, before rebranding it “penicillin,” I dunno.

Then in 1928, Fleming was growing some staphylococcus bacteria, and he left lids off some plates and went on holiday. He would later contradict himself about whether it was accidental or on purpose, but it doesn’t really matter.

A mould from the lab below, one occupied by a mycologist they called “Old Mouldy,” settled on one of his plates and killed off bacteria around it.

Fleming never managed to produce penicillin in useful quantities. It would take another 17 years and many other scientists to isolate the compound, figure out how to keep it stable, do clinical trials, and devise a way to mass produce it.

Fleming never overstated his role. “My only merit is that I did not neglect the observation,” he said.

It all started with noticing.

I think about that a lot.

If you're a Mastodon veteran, what #MastodonTips would you offer us #Mastodonn00b coming over in the #TwitterMigration?

As you can tell, the only thing I know yet is that hashtags are a thing! ? (thanks @tbaxter)