Attention Conservation Notice: optimality in a one-dimensional parametric model is so 1960s. Wikipedia says “For practical statistics problems, it is important to determine the MVUE if one exists, since less-than-optimal procedures would naturally be avoided, other things being equal”, but they’re not using the word “practical” to mean what I would use it to mean In the Laplace (or double exponential) distribution, with density \[f(x;\theta) =\frac{1}{2} \exp(-|x-\theta|)\] the maximum…

I became a software engineer because I wanted to create products. Not because I wanted to write code.

From New England to Scotland, from West Sussex to Denbighshire I’m home…I am home and Coalbridge Street has returned to an upper shelf in the workshop, destined to slumber for a few months I’m sure, whilst the warm lights glow on Lochdubh and Paxton Road and I ponder how you could share my experience of ‘arriving’ home…For whilst Coalbridge is small, this pair are tiny; to share their magic would mean letting people stand almost nose to the fascia. It is an interesting conundrum - these…

SITE OF THEHOMESTEAD OFCAPTAINMYLES STANDISHTHEMILITARY LEADEROF PLYMOUTH COLONYHERE STOOD THEHOUSE WHERECAPTAINMYLES STANDISHLIVED AND DIEDOn the peninsula called "The Nook" in Duxbury, Massachusetts, on Mayflower Drive, is a small one acre property that looks like an empty lot over looking Duxbury Bay and Plymouth Harbor. At one time most of this peninsula was owned by the Standish family. This is the site of the original home Captain Myles Standish built in 1632. He died here in 1656, and…

Hi Crew, My girlfriend Ersilia was asking about CHANEL No 19. Went to the cupboard and realized I’d given away or sold off my vintage 50ml EdT so then I hit the resellers. Found one for a very reasonable price and grabbed it. Came with a box and is so pristine I wondered if the […]

a merchant asked all his daughters what they wanted from his business trip. the hottest one asked for a rare checkerboard-patterned petunia. he got lost on the way down the silk road and found a huge palace with a vast and beautiful garden. he wandered around and spotted a checkerboard-patterned petunia, which he clipped off with his weed cutters. then a big snake appeared, called him rude and badly dressed, and took him prisoner in the oubliette of the big snake palace, which it turned out was…

Not to be confused with Nightmare Creatures Developer: Manley & Associates, Inc. Publisher: NEC Technologies Available On: Turbografx-16 Release Year: 1992 Genre(s): Action, Horror If I had a nickel for every time I found a non-Japanese PC Engine game that felt like a really weird fit for the console and covered it on this blog, I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice. Well, buckle up, because I’m about to get myself a third nickel! Night Creatures is a…

For the past couple of weeks, you could get my latest book — The Secret Life of Circuits — directly from the publisher. That said, I know that some of you don’t want Jeff Bezos to starve, so I’m happy to announce that it’s now in stock on Amazon:Buy on AmazonProspective readers in Europe can place orders on amazon.de, amazon.fr, amazon.pl, amazon.es, amazon.nl, amazon.se, amazon.it, and amazon.co.uk. The book is also available from Barnes & Noble and other major online retailers in the US and…

Sometimes you'll take a photo of your kid, and it will turn out to be a treasure to be shared among all of your friends and relatives. And other times it'll turn out like this. It's not her fault, she was caught off-guard, squinting into the sun, pigtails so tight that she can't think straight. The bangs mean mom cuts her hair. She's somewhere in Frontierland, back when they had room for things like random patches of grass. It looks like a dirt path was added, probably where people were cutting…

The Mission (1986)

Fakery used to be the exception you had to spot. Now authenticity is the exception you have to verify.— Kai, writing about the state of the internet today (via Dense Discovery)

In the summer, while I was working on a feature locally, I noticed a test started failing. I initially dismissed it: I assumed there was some flakiness, and CI was green, so everything must’ve been good, right? Until it kept failing, only locally. A test that a few days before was working as normal. It was not just a single test. Multiple tests were failing, so the immediate thought was that they must be related. The question was: why are they failing on my machine, but not on CI? The exact…

Listen to this episode here. Further Reading Beyond the Pale, Tannic, Landmark, Hidden, Secret Socials Amanda P. on Bluesky and at Weird Wonder Sam on Bluesky and itch The Dice Exploder blog is at diceexploder.com Our logo was designed by sporgory, our theme song is Sunset Bridge by Purely Grey, and our ad music is Lilypads by Travis Tessmer. Join the Dice Exploder Discord to talk about the show! Credits Our logo was designed by sporgory, our ad music is Lilypads by Travis Tessmer, and our…

I wanted a sunrise alarm: the light slowly ramps up before I need to be awake. I also wanted to control it from a Home Assistant dashboard without opening any menus. One tap to arm it, and a time picker that only shows up when it's armed. Here's how I built it, starting with the dashboard and then the automation that does the work. It's another smart-light automation to add alongside my post on controlling Govee Scenes in Home Assistant. Here's how it looks on a dashboard, armed for 05:55: What…

Good morning everyone! I’m heading to Essen today, which feels strangely surreal this year. Like if I wouldn’t see the new suit case I bought just yesterday half-packed on the floor in front of me, SPIEL might still be out a month or two. Somehow my excitement level is different than last year, more chill. I think part of it is the routine that seems to have set in by now. I booked the same hotel I’ve stayed in before pretty much a year ago, I have my packing lists I can check off, same audio…

Mutual Funds Decoded As investors, we buy mutual funds(MF) from various platforms and receive units. But have you ever wondered what happens behind the scenes? How do these funds operate, function and what processes are involved in managing them? In Mutual Funds Decoded series, we'll explore about these in detail. Mutual Funds Decoded - Structure of MF Mutual Funds Decoded - From Order to NAV (you are here) A visit to MF office Capital Mind Mutual Fund held flexi cap unit holder meet in the…

i'm trying something t. susan chang mentioned - making a little rhyming couplet from a pair of cards... somehow transmuting a reading into something artistic to kind of imbibe its meaning, make it yours, integrate it into your life. (i didn't ask a question, wanted to just try the rhyming so the message was secondary): woman of wands - sensor she's absorbing, luxuriating in all the sensations and forms of spirit, spirit/god is everywhere and she bathes in them 8 of worlds - change the material…

Source It almost looks like a still from a forgotten B-movie, but it’s actually an illustration from the first Czech edition of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea by Zdeněk Burian, 1937. Burian is a favorite but I didn’t know he did this kind of work. I mostly know his paleontologic reconstructions. Cthulhu rises? Source Burian focused on artistic paleontologic reconstructions of ancient animals and beasts, in cooperation with scintists. Mostly ilustrations, scientific or popular. Here…

Wonderful little progression from Keinseier, a little beep of a rhythm slowly unfolding amid static and alternating chords. There are also these pauses where it suddenly shifts material entirely, to a more elegiac piano part at one point, and then to a more vibrant sequence, like something out of Tron or Blade Runner. Quite a lot packed into not even five minutes total, and yet it all holds together.

When I started physical therapy for my neck this spring, the therapist asked why I had stopped weight training five years ago. I gave him a pat answer: “I’m lazy.” But the question nagged at me. As far as exercise goes, I actually like weight training. So why had I quit? Was it really just laziness? I’m trying to apply some of what I learned from working with health coaches in the past and approach problems like this without self-judgment*. There’s a reason (or many) I’m doing what I’m doing,…

Members of the #30plus MIRC channel were asked to note their all-time favourite films and to submit a list of 10, in order of enjoyment. Thanks to the 31 people who spent many hours jotting notes, the process provoked amazing discussions on line, and around peoples' kitchen tables. The final list consists of films that were mentioned over and over again, with the most frequently nominated films having an asterisk attached. This list does not seem to hang together cohesively. As some…

Today sees the release of my latest book from the British Library, The Golden Age of Classic Crime Quiz Book: Over 500 Questions, Puzzles and Mysteries. It is available to buy directly from the British Library, or alternatively it can be purchased via Amazon, Waterstones, Foyles, Bookshop.Org, Blackwells (who offer international shipping) and if you’re in the UK, hopefully your local independent bookshop. To celebrate my book coming out I am running a competition and given the nature of my…

Soft and chewy Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal Cookies, loaded with oats, chocolate chips, cranberries, coconut and pumpkin seeds. The perfect cozy fall cookie recipe. Prepare to fall in love! As soon as the temperatures start to fall and the leaves start to turn and drop, I find myself reaching for recipes filled with warm spices and comforting flavours. These Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal Cookies are everything I love about autumn baking and flavours, all wrapped in one delicious cookie. Soft and chewy,…

Today is my Dad's 88th birthday, and I wondered what he and I had been up to on birthdays past. I have 50 years of diaries so I looked back and checked. The 🎂 symbol means that he and I spent his birthday together. 50 October 20th birthdays Thu 20 Oct 1977:🎂 Opened presents and cards before school/work. In the evening we spent two hours at a Greek restaurant - the Culverhouses were also there! [I can't remember which restaurant, where it was or what we ate, sorry] Fri 20 Oct 1978:🎂 Dad's 40th…

This list will not revolutionize your life. But it just might have a little positive impact on your or someone you encounters’ day. It is just a short list of things that came to my mind and may be updated or expanded over time. If things are present on both high and low shelves and you are able to reach the top one - grab them there. Others who are lower does not have the choice.

Trump Continues to Try to Buy the People's Votes with the People's Money Forgive us for saying so, but some of the best evidence that Donald Trump and the Republicans don't have a secret plot to remain in control of the government is the fact that he keeps thrashing around like a beached whale, trying desperately to pull something out of his hat to try to save the GOP before Election Day. The last several days have witnessed two more attempts to try to buy votes with federal money. Click here…

Protractor° is on the App Store. A simple app, one that I didn’t type a single line of code or write the mundane metadata on App Store Connect. What I didn’t mention: when I got the dreaded rejection letter, all I did was ask Codex to read and fix it. That’s all. Codex just asked me for some alternative names. I made that 1 decision, and it updated all the screenshots, app name, subtitle, keywords and descriptions in 5 languages, then submitted it again for review. Wow. I love this way of app…

Editor’s Note: Post originally published on October 28, 2021. The Sacred Scriptures contain truth and wisdom from God. These truths are eternal and ever relevant— and practical. When you live in accordance with the Word of God everything in your life is ordered. This doesn’t mean you will be free of struggles and suffering. However, … Continue reading How the Letter of Saint James Guides Your Speech (and Heart) The post How the Letter of Saint James Guides Your Speech (and Heart) first appeared…

I climb into the truck hitting the door sill with my heavy mud stained boots hearing the sound of small stones scratching into the paint and putting their permanent mark on the metal underneath. But it does not really matter. There is a slim chance of hitting a place on the sill where there is any paint left anyway. It may even have removed some surface rust appearing in this damp wet environment.

Two colleagues sit down to compare their values lists. Both have Growth, Family and Integrity in the top three. One takes a stretch role in a different city. The other turns down a near-identical role to stay near school pick-up. Both say the decision came down to their values, and both are right.The words were never the problem. The words were the same.A value you cannot break is not a value yetA single word cannot be broken, so it never gets tested, and it never changes a decision. "Growth"…