Matthew's Journal

We've had a sudden and unexpected cool change - it's only about 21°C/70°F today, cloudy and overcast and occasionally drizzly. I'm loving having all the windows open even though I'm slightly too cold! Unfortunately the forecast says it will be back up to 34°C/93°F tomorrow, so the respite is extremely brief.

I thought I'd decided on a pattern to use for my crochet flower granny square blanket, but I've found several other interesting free patterns so I'm undecided. I think I'll make sample squares of the most appealing ones and then decide. If more than one of them turn out to be the same size, I'll mix it up and use more than one design. The one I was planning to use is huge (12 inches by 12 inches) and I think I'd prefer to have more smaller squares rather than fewer large ones.

LJ is still being weird today, taking ages to load pages.

Sorry I'm a day late! Life intervened.

( Chapter 17 )

( Chapter 18 )

Not much time covered in these two but they're pretty action-packed! The description of the fire is really beautiful, and I liked the juxtaposition of the calm descriptive prose and the terror which Christy and the animals are feeling about it. She does a good job of keeping herself safe through everything, but Charles' arrival is a great relief! And finally they're both out, free, and together.

I have to write a bio to advertise a keynote speech I've agreed to deliver later in the summer.

I'm finding that coming up with more than one sentence to describe myself/my job is probably a lot harder than the speech will be itself!

I'm not sure if it's a sign of improving mental health (less hoarding/control tendencies!) or a sign of worsening mental health (lack of interest/care about things) in that after discovering that, no, even logging in with my RSS reader to ao3 won't make archive-locked fics show up in RSS feed, my reaction is: eh, that's the author's problem that I never see their fic, not mine.

I fully disagree with a lot of the reasons people lock their fic on ao3 (especially the way many people on tumblr frame it as them being "forced" to do so) but hey, it's their decision.

Once upon a time, if you wanted people to see your fic, you would do things about it. Maybe you'd send it to a mailing list. Maybe you'd post on a LJ community.

And now what people seem to do a lot of is just post it to ao3 and never crosspost about it anywhere. Their assumption is, you'll see it on Ao3.

But I don't. Because a small one fandom archive, sure, I could look at it every so often and see the what's new.

But I'm following a lot of ao3 tags and I am not checking ao3 for 1) any locked fics, which don't show up in RSS, 2) any fics posted to collections which, because of changes ao3 made years ago, do not show up in the feed if there are 20 fics posted since that was posted.

And once upon a time, I was like "I need to see all these fics, especially ones in tiny fandoms I'd never see otherwise!"

And now I'm just like. Meh. That's their problem that I'll never see their fic, not mine.

Possibly this is because my "to read" list is so very very long and so is my author subscription emails that haven't been read yet.

But also it's like. If you make it hard for me to find your fic. Then you're just like those people back on LJ who would post a fic to a community with a note that they were going to friends-lock the fic after 3 days, and if you want to see previous ones in the series, you have to get them to add you to their friends list.

Because honestly why bother. If you're going to make it hard for me to read your fic, then clearly you don't want me personally to read it, and that's okay. There's plenty of others, from people who aren't making it hard.

Because, no, I am not going to be checking every single ao3 tag even monthly for archive locked/collections fics. I'm sure some people are checking them frequently. Those people will read your fic. And that's fine, honestly.

But I'm not putting in the work. And if I miss the world's great fic because I don't see it, then yeah, okay. That's fine. Go with god, do your own thing. Not my problem.

I was a little startled to see, quite so high up in the chart of UK's best and worst seaside towns, Dungeness. Which isn't really even a town (Wikipedia describes it as a hamlet), more a sandspit at the end of the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Light Railway, famed for lighthouses, shingle beaches, nature reserves, Derek Jarman's Prospect Cottage, and a decommissioned nuclear power station ('Long journey ahead' for nuclear plant clean-up).

[A] barren and bewitching backdrop for a getaway. A vast swathe of this shingle headland is designated a National Nature Reserve, cradling around a third of all British plant species, with some 600 having been recorded, from rugged sea kale to delicate orchids. Exposed to the Channel and loomed over by twin nuclear power stations, Dungeness has, over recent decades, become an unlikely enclave for artists and a popular spot for day-trippers, horticulturalists and birders alike.

Or even
The ghostly allure of Dungeness, Kent. It’s an arid and mysterious place, yet it’s precisely these charms that captivate visitors.

Looking at the criteria scored on, it really is rather weird: completely lacking in the hotels, shopping and seafront/pier categories and not much for tourist attractions but scores high on peace and quiet and scenery.

Perhaps there is a larger number of people looking for this kind of getaway experience, invoking a certain eerie folk-horror vibe, than one would suppose. Not really a Summer Skies and Golden Sands kind of experience, take it away, The Overlanders.

Surprised that somewhere like Margate didn't rate higher.

Posted by Zach Weinersmith

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/matter

Click here to go see the bonus panel!

Hovertext:
Once we have robotic monks, we can stop worrying about transcendence and focus on productivity.

Today's News:

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/matter

OK, who should be the next Bond? I’m impressed by the wide range of suggestions here. I especially liked the suggestion for Rege-Jean Page. No one mentioned Joseph Mawle, Edward Bluemel, Harry Lloyd, or Matthew Goode, though. Or Tobias Menzies!

What do you think?

Guardian readers make nominations for the next Bond

I've been spending quite a lot of time on crafting this month.

I( June crafts )

 I'm currently reading a book called CULTISH: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell.  It's a book that Mason brought home from college and had in his discard (as in to go out to the Little Free Library) pile. I picked it up because a friend of mine just shared a story about a friend of hers from college who was in a cult in the 1990s.  I'm not normally a person who is super into all this sort of thing, but I mean, I did watch all of  the 2015 movie, Going Clear about Scientology.  The book is a little frustrating because it was written in 2021 and the author skirts around taking seriously Trump's language as fantaticism (even while mentioning it) and that doesn't play well post Insurrection and current administration. Like, girl. You could have punched up HARDER. You were, in fact, on to something.

Ironically, I've been spending my free time doing something that feels cult adjactent.

I'm on the programming committee for this year's Gaylaxicon which I have mentioned a dozen times in other contexts. But, my current work has involved trying to recruit local professionals to attend. I feel a little bit like I'm standing on a soap box evangalizing, hoping to get some curious people to sign up! (Seriously, have you thought about attending?? It's a fun con! You don't have to be queer to go!  Membership is currently the low, low price of $80!!) 

 It's also been kind of time (and energy) consuming.  

Very cultish. 

Anyway, I am currently waiting for my brother-in-law to text or call to let me know that he's done with his MRIs. This whole week has been a series of tests for him (and, as it happens, the rest of my family.) So, I've been the Rounds Lyft driver, only without the pay. Ah well. That's what family is for. 

Bill Moyers, Lyndon Johnson press chief and celebrated broadcaster, dies at 91
Moyers, who served as Johnson’s press secretary for two years, became one of television’s most revered journalists
Associated Press
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/26/bill-moyers-broadcaster-dies

Road rash: Construction to close 3 major interstates this weekend
Road and bridge projects will shut down I-494 in Bloomington and Richfield, I-35W in Richfield, and I-94 in St. Paul between Friday night and Monday morning.
Author: Dana Thiede
https://www.kare11.com/article/traffic/traffic-nightmare-stretches-of-3-major-interstates-closed-this-weekend/89-76c556df-9be4-4dfa-952c-e77d6978230c

Wild, safe and sober: An antique mall in Fridley centers the queer community
Married couple David Wenzel and Joshua Larson are co-owners of Wild Things Antiques in Fridley, pictured here on June 16. "It's very important to us that our identity as a queer couple was going to be on the forefront of what we were doing as a business," Larson says.
Alex V. Cipolle
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/06/26/wild-safe-and-sober-an-antique-mall-in-fridley-centers-the-queer-community ( Read more... )

thestory inside is doing July signups. I'm not taking on any extra commitments, not even suggested reading, at the moment, but I have very much enjoyed the suggestions I have had from this group. If you have a TBR list you can share, you too can have this excitement in your life!

It works on a buddy system - they pick three books from your list for you to read, you pick three books from their list for them to read. Sign ups close on the 1st July.

A schoolgirl abandons the UK's post-Brexit educational system for the comparative safety and comfort of a magical school designed to turn out magical soldiers in the war on eldritch horrors.

Vanya and the Wild Hunt (Vanya, volume 1) by Sangu Mandanna

For Murderbot Day, a great interview with DeWanda Wise, about playing NavigationBot in The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon:

https://www.nexuspointnews.com/post/interview-dewanda-wise

I had worked with Paul on Fatherhood. He literally texted me and was like, "do you want to play a murderous robot?"

TL;DR My friends came. They loved Timber Ridge. We shopped and shopped and shopped and shopped. And had a great visit. My feet are broken. I have an appointment with a new (to me) podiatrist on Tuesday. The Pride monsters were a huge hit and now it's back to dolls. My new window shades have a fatal error. Regular life resumes this afternoon.

The details.

Julie and Scott live on the South Island of New Zealand in a beautiful tiny town. They have been all over the United States in all the big cities. This tour - two months - is driving around - first Canada and then the western United States (except California).

Even in the biggest town in New Zealand, they shopping opportunities are not what they are here in the US. They just don't have the selection and they have the add on of 'shipped to small island far away' tax. So here, particularly Julie, wallows in all the choices available. The last time they were here, two years ago, they wanted to shop and, for some reason, we ended up down in Federal Way where we discovered chain shop heaven. Lovely stores of Old Navy, Skeechers, Walmart, Target, etc.

This time they wanted to go back to all those places plus they found North Bend Outlets on Google and wanted to go there.

So we started at North Bend which is not too far up the road. And a lovely drive. But the outlet mall there is a bust and a half. The stores were sparse and empty. But, they drive was lovely. And we saw other stuff.

So we came back here and toured Timber Ridge and Issaquah. They are pretty impressed with Timber Ridge. and Issaquah always presents nicely.

Tuesday we went back to Federal Way and did not miss any stores. Julie had a ball and Scott got new shoes and it was a huge hit. Wednesday, there was more shopping and we found the Issaquah troll which was way more impressive than I expected.

Yesterday, Thursday, it was into Bellevue to that huge, lovely, downtown mall. And then to the conveyor belt sushi place for lunch. Fun and delicious.

In between, we've been enjoying Timber Ridge. We've eaten in all the dining rooms and tried all the various serving options except lunch. All have been pretty impressive.

Today they leave. They are taking the next few weeks to drive from here via Salt Lake City and Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore to Chicago where they will fly to San Francisco and then home. It's such a wonderful trip.

Meanwhile, my feet are just screaming at me. Finally, on Wednesday, I sent a note to my doctor asking for referral to a podiatrist or any other suggestion. She got right back to me with a couple of podiatrist options and I was able to get an appointment here in Issaquah for this coming Tuesday! Yeah.

Oh and it's window washing time at Timber Ridge. I have a panel of three windows. The middle one opens. They use it to hang out and wash the outside of all three panels. It's a good system. Except. When the shade guy designed and the installer guy installed, none of us realized that the scheme will completely bar me from ever opening that window again. So no cleaning. Ever. I have now sent him a note asking what he can do about it. I'm guessing nothing. And it's not fatal. But they should not have been installed that way. Weird and a little annoying.

Today is the Timber Ridge Pride parade which is just about the same time Scott and Julie were planning on leaving and will block in their car. I suspect it will be a short parade and not interrupt the leaving for long.

And now I think I'm caught up. I should get dressed and ready. They will text me when they are up and we'll meet in the dining room for breakfast.

Posted by Salo linkspam

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/06/book-authors-made-the-wrong-arguments-in-meta-ai-training-case-judge-says/

https://linkspam.dsalo.info/shaare/wqJfIw

— Permalink

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/06/book-authors-made-the-wrong-arguments-in-meta-ai-training-case-judge-says/

https://linkspam.dsalo.info/shaare/wqJfIw

Questions from thefridayfive:

1. Who was your favorite teacher? and 2. Why was that teacher so special?

Without a doubt, it was Patricia Adams Lent, who taught my AG middle school English classes from 6th-8th grade. She recognized that I was a socially awkward oddball stuck in my own head, and she was so very, very kind to me when I had no real friends. She was a rigorous instructor, she helped form/improve my writing/editing skills, but also was a very much a teacher of critical thinking. Outside of that, she led drama activities, a literary magazine, and even enjoined me for bike rides in the countryside outside of class. On my middle school graduation, she made me an actual walking stick (made from an apple tree, carved and cured and polished and with my name and the dates carved in it).

3. Do you think teachers get paid enough? Well, having very close family as teachers I must say I am pretty well-acquainted with the responsibilities and the paycheck, and no, it is not nearly enough, not for the extra work and activities that are required, not for the enormous disrespect and wringers that they are put through by students and parents and administrations and political pontificators. There's so much less freedom in teaching than there used to be, which seems such a disservice to all involved.

4. Do you have a favorite year of school? Not really. School was mostly miserable for me, I connected more with the adults than the other students, with a few exceptions, so I mostly focused on the work. I did enjoy the last two years as I was starting to finally feel more comfortable with myself, but given that I cocked everything up right after high school, I don't look at that former version of myself very kindly. (They were intelligent but also young and naive, I really should forgive them someday.)

5. If you could travel back in time and tell yourself something now that would have helped you get through school, what would you say? Calling on Mr. Rogers, I guess I'd say "Look for the helpers." They are the only ones to have helped me survive it.

Posted by Bruce Schneier

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/06/the-age-of-integrity.html

https://www.schneier.com/?p=70415

We need to talk about data integrity.

Narrowly, the term refers to ensuring that data isn’t tampered with, either in transit or in storage. Manipulating account balances in bank databases, removing entries from criminal records, and murder by removing notations about allergies from medical records are all integrity attacks.

More broadly, integrity refers to ensuring that data is correct and accurate from the point it is collected, through all the ways it is used, modified, transformed, and eventually deleted. Integrity-related incidents include malicious actions, but also inadvertent mistakes.

We tend not to think of them this way, but we have many primitive integrity measures built into our computer systems. The reboot process, which returns a computer to a known good state, is an integrity measure. The undo button is another integrity measure. Any of our systems that detect hard drive errors, file corruption, or dropped internet packets are integrity measures.

Just as a website leaving personal data exposed even if no one accessed it counts as a privacy breach, a system that fails to guarantee the accuracy of its data counts as an integrity breach – even if no one deliberately manipulated that data.

Integrity has always been important, but as we start using massive amounts of data to both train and operate AI systems, data integrity will become more critical than ever.

Most of the attacks against AI systems are integrity attacks. Affixing small stickers on road signs to fool AI driving systems is an integrity violation. Prompt injection attacks are another integrity violation. In both cases, the AI model can’t distinguish between legitimate data and malicious input: visual in the first case, text instructions in the second. Even worse, the AI model can’t distinguish between legitimate data and malicious commands.

Any attacks that manipulate the training data, the model, the input, the output, or the feedback from the interaction back into the model is an integrity violation. If you’re building an AI system, integrity is your biggest security problem. And it’s one we’re going to need to think about, talk about, and figure out how to solve.

Web 3.0 – the distributed, decentralized, intelligent web of tomorrow – is all about data integrity. It’s not just AI. Verifiable, trustworthy, accurate data and computation are necessary parts of cloud computing, peer-to-peer social networking, and distributed data storage. Imagine a world of driverless cars, where the cars communicate with each other about their intentions and road conditions. That doesn’t work without integrity. And neither does a smart power grid, or reliable mesh networking. There are no trustworthy AI agents without integrity.

We’re going to have to solve a small language problem first, though. Confidentiality is to confidential, and availability is to available, as integrity is to what? The analogous word is “integrous,” but that’s such an obscure word that it’s not in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, even in its unabridged version. I propose that we re-popularize the word, starting here.

We need research into integrous system design.

We need research into a series of hard problems that encompass both data and computational integrity. How do we test and measure integrity? How do we build verifiable sensors with auditable system outputs? How to we build integrous data processing units? How do we recover from an integrity breach? These are just a few of the questions we will need to answer once we start poking around at integrity.

There are deep questions here, deep as the internet. Back in the 1960s, the internet was designed to answer a basic security question: Can we build an available network in a world of availability failures? More recently, we turned to the question of privacy: Can we build a confidential network in a world of confidentiality failures? I propose that the current version of this question needs to be this: Can we build an integrous network in a world of integrity failures? Like the two version of this question that came before: the answer isn’t obviously “yes,” but it’s not obviously “no,” either.

Let’s start thinking about integrous system design. And let’s start using the word in conversation. The more we use it, the less weird it will sound. And, who knows, maybe someday the American Dialect Society will choose it as the word of the year.

This essay was originally published in IEEE Security & Privacy.

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/06/the-age-of-integrity.html

https://www.schneier.com/?p=70415