Paul @Pax Unplugged
@paul314.bsky.social
Retired actuary/data scientist. Grew up in Texas, happily living in Massachusetts. Board games, Ulysses, Bayern Munich, Commanders, GY!BE. If you voted for that guy, just shove off.
Went to the Rosenbach today, where a highly knowledgeable librarian let me (carefully) leaf through their #Ulysses manuscript, as well as giving me a lot of fantastic background/insights. Of course I took a run at Scylla & Charybdis, with Hans Walter Gabler's favorite passage....
November 20, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Went to the Rosenbach today, where a highly knowledgeable librarian let me (carefully) leaf through their #Ulysses manuscript, as well as giving me a lot of fantastic background/insights. Of course I took a run at Scylla & Charybdis, with Hans Walter Gabler's favorite passage....
The guy next to me on the train is typing an email with the subject line "FIX PRODUCTION" and all I can think is my god I'm so glad I'm retired.
November 20, 2025 at 2:27 PM
The guy next to me on the train is typing an email with the subject line "FIX PRODUCTION" and all I can think is my god I'm so glad I'm retired.
Reposted by Paul @Pax Unplugged
I said this elsewhere but it bears repeating: There is not ONE JOB worth staying silent for when hearing a "superior" say "quiet piggy" to another. Those other reporters should be ashamed. SPEAK UP.
November 19, 2025 at 1:11 PM
I said this elsewhere but it bears repeating: There is not ONE JOB worth staying silent for when hearing a "superior" say "quiet piggy" to another. Those other reporters should be ashamed. SPEAK UP.
The things people tell themselves without noting any signs of dissonance.
November 18, 2025 at 11:37 PM
The things people tell themselves without noting any signs of dissonance.
Today I learned to my surprise how many sites I visit daily rely on Cloudflare. Happy Find Something Else to Do Day!
November 18, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Today I learned to my surprise how many sites I visit daily rely on Cloudflare. Happy Find Something Else to Do Day!
I was wondering today: to what extent does the Queen Bee score provide a clue of the number of pangrams in a NYT Spelling Bee? The answer: looking at almost 1,700 puzzles…not much.
November 15, 2025 at 10:59 PM
I was wondering today: to what extent does the Queen Bee score provide a clue of the number of pangrams in a NYT Spelling Bee? The answer: looking at almost 1,700 puzzles…not much.
Repeatedly referencing her father as though she didn't earn her way in.
REPORTER: Why'd it take so long to get sworn in?
GRIJALVA: *gestures at Johnson* That would not be my question!
MIKE JOHNSON: Look, I really like this lady
GRIJALVA: *gestures at Johnson* That would not be my question!
MIKE JOHNSON: Look, I really like this lady
November 12, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Repeatedly referencing her father as though she didn't earn her way in.
Toy Story is on tap for summer, 2026, and it looks like the main cast will all be back! Logline: Bonnie is going to get a new toy called Lily Pad, a touchpad ‘friend’ who will try to separate her from her other toys. #MechaLily
‘The age of toys is over’: first Toy Story 5 teaser trailer introduces a new tech foe
‘The age of toys is over’: first Toy Story 5 teaser trailer introduces a new tech foe
Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and Joan Cusack are joined by Past Lives star Greta Lee in Disney’s highly anticipated sequel
The first trailer for Toy Story 5 has provided a brief glimpse at the highly anticipated animated sequel out next summer.
The teaser introduces a new arrival and “all-new threat to playtime” with the tagline “the age of toys is over”. The latest character is a smart tablet called Lilypad, voiced by Past Lives and Tron: Ares star Greta Lee, bringing new tech to the old toys. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Toy Story is on tap for summer, 2026, and it looks like the main cast will all be back! Logline: Bonnie is going to get a new toy called Lily Pad, a touchpad ‘friend’ who will try to separate her from her other toys. #MechaLily
Even after all these years of hating FIFA, it turns out they can still surprise me by achieving new, even more squalid levels of corruption.
www.nytimes.com/athletic/678...
www.nytimes.com/athletic/678...
Gianni Infantino to award FIFA’s inaugural peace prize at Washington’s World Cup 2026 draw
FIFA president Gianni Infantino will present the inaugural award at next month's World Cup draw in Washington DC.
www.nytimes.com
November 5, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Even after all these years of hating FIFA, it turns out they can still surprise me by achieving new, even more squalid levels of corruption.
www.nytimes.com/athletic/678...
www.nytimes.com/athletic/678...
Reposted by Paul @Pax Unplugged
The dataset for this study has some serious problems: pubpeer.com/publications...
PubPeer - Prevention of acute myocardial infarction induced heart fail...
There are comments on PubPeer for publication: Prevention of acute myocardial infarction induced heart failure by intracoronary infusion of mesenchymal stem cells: phase 3 randomised clinical trial (P...
pubpeer.com
November 2, 2025 at 3:10 PM
The dataset for this study has some serious problems: pubpeer.com/publications...
Okay, so yes, I admit it, I've fallen a bit behind in my reading. But I'm working on it!
November 3, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Okay, so yes, I admit it, I've fallen a bit behind in my reading. But I'm working on it!
Rereading Proust tonight, The Guemantes Way: "... but neither can we tolerate a brawl encouraged by those elements on the Right, who instead of serving the patriotic ideal themselves, are hoping to make it serve them."
Plus ca change, and all that.
Plus ca change, and all that.
November 3, 2025 at 3:40 AM
Rereading Proust tonight, The Guemantes Way: "... but neither can we tolerate a brawl encouraged by those elements on the Right, who instead of serving the patriotic ideal themselves, are hoping to make it serve them."
Plus ca change, and all that.
Plus ca change, and all that.
My dog will sleep like this for hours while I watch football, blissfully snoring, but her ears perked up like this lest she miss Something Important happening
November 2, 2025 at 5:45 PM
My dog will sleep like this for hours while I watch football, blissfully snoring, but her ears perked up like this lest she miss Something Important happening
#30DayMapChallenge Day 2: Lines + Day 3: Polygons (yeah, I'm double-dipping here). Depth chart/bathymetry of the Quabbin Reservoir here in Massachusetts, using #rstats, polygons, and a color spectrum from white to - yes - dodgerblue. (also, I'd forgotten just how powerful the sf function is)
November 2, 2025 at 3:03 PM
#30DayMapChallenge Day 2: Lines + Day 3: Polygons (yeah, I'm double-dipping here). Depth chart/bathymetry of the Quabbin Reservoir here in Massachusetts, using #rstats, polygons, and a color spectrum from white to - yes - dodgerblue. (also, I'd forgotten just how powerful the sf function is)
#30daymapchallenge Day 1: points. NOAA shipwreck data + #rstats (marmap), Known Shipwrecks of the Gulf of Mexico. There may be some imprecision in the NOAA lat/long along the coast, or perhaps it includes inland waterways. But lots of them, unfortunately.
November 1, 2025 at 9:14 PM
#30daymapchallenge Day 1: points. NOAA shipwreck data + #rstats (marmap), Known Shipwrecks of the Gulf of Mexico. There may be some imprecision in the NOAA lat/long along the coast, or perhaps it includes inland waterways. But lots of them, unfortunately.
"Hoffenheim's Hranac checks Afolayan into the boards like an ice hockey player." Huh. There might be some real roller derby possibilities for association football that we haven't even considered yet.
October 28, 2025 at 9:15 PM
"Hoffenheim's Hranac checks Afolayan into the boards like an ice hockey player." Huh. There might be some real roller derby possibilities for association football that we haven't even considered yet.
I read something like this and can't help remembering Coogan and his co-writers wildly adulterating the timeline of another Frears film - Philomena - to make it more dramatic than real life, despite the fact that real life was very much dramatic enough.
October 27, 2025 at 3:23 PM
I read something like this and can't help remembering Coogan and his co-writers wildly adulterating the timeline of another Frears film - Philomena - to make it more dramatic than real life, despite the fact that real life was very much dramatic enough.
Playing the board game "Search for Planet X" for the first time in a while, I'd forgotten how fun it is. One of the few app-based games that I really enjoy.
October 25, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Playing the board game "Search for Planet X" for the first time in a while, I'd forgotten how fun it is. One of the few app-based games that I really enjoy.
An older lady with (I think) an Eastern European accent motioned me to a pause while jogging today & indicated that I need to breathe through my nose, not my mouth. "It's healthier!" she said several times.
Lady. Listen. I'm old and heavy. The simple fact that I'm jogging will have to do for now.
Lady. Listen. I'm old and heavy. The simple fact that I'm jogging will have to do for now.
October 15, 2025 at 5:50 PM
An older lady with (I think) an Eastern European accent motioned me to a pause while jogging today & indicated that I need to breathe through my nose, not my mouth. "It's healthier!" she said several times.
Lady. Listen. I'm old and heavy. The simple fact that I'm jogging will have to do for now.
Lady. Listen. I'm old and heavy. The simple fact that I'm jogging will have to do for now.
This is exactly the kind of joke that made me groan in despair, but I would have made it myself if I'd thought of it first.
October 1, 2025 at 4:18 PM
This is exactly the kind of joke that made me groan in despair, but I would have made it myself if I'd thought of it first.
I tried this in Copilot, and after repeated pressing I ended up with this, which even at the end is the AI trying to please me by confessing.
You can see why some tech billionaires have fallen in love with AI - part plutocracy, part praise machine. “Great idea, Sam!” “Very perceptive, Elon!”
You can see why some tech billionaires have fallen in love with AI - part plutocracy, part praise machine. “Great idea, Sam!” “Very perceptive, Elon!”
October 1, 2025 at 2:21 PM
I tried this in Copilot, and after repeated pressing I ended up with this, which even at the end is the AI trying to please me by confessing.
You can see why some tech billionaires have fallen in love with AI - part plutocracy, part praise machine. “Great idea, Sam!” “Very perceptive, Elon!”
You can see why some tech billionaires have fallen in love with AI - part plutocracy, part praise machine. “Great idea, Sam!” “Very perceptive, Elon!”
Reposted by Paul @Pax Unplugged
Les Pyrénées - 1956
📸 Justin Lock
📸 Justin Lock
September 28, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Les Pyrénées - 1956
📸 Justin Lock
📸 Justin Lock