Great article!
Why Don’t People Return Their Shopping Carts? A (Somewhat) Scientific Investigation
"...I watched a total of 564 encounters between Cart Narcs and cart abandoners. These don’t represent a perfectly random sample of interactions, but together they capture a broad cross-section of everyday behavior. (And, as far as I know, it’s the largest archive of shopping cart behavior available.) Most interactions begin the same way: Someone leaves their cart and a Cart Narc requests they return it. At this point I documented what happened next, transcribing parking lot reactions word for unhinged word. To be clear, this was not a quick process. I spent dozens of weekend hours hunched over my computer pausing and replaying YouTube videos. People in my life called this “concerning” and a “waste of time.” I called it research."
Why Don’t People Return Their Shopping Carts? A (Somewhat) Scientific Investigation - by Hannah B. Waldfogel - Behavioral Scientist
For reasons I can’t fully explain, people’s failure to return their carts bothers me more than it probably should. But then I realized I can do something about it.Heather (Behavioral Scientist)
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This contestant for Miss World Chile actually won her place in the World finals with this progressive death metal song that she wrote. Amazing! Not for the faint of heart! @Christoph S
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i wonder if early text to speech models in satnavs had to have an entirely separate pronunciation ruleset for british place names.
a rule that says "louce" sounds the same as "louse" is all well and good until you have to say "gloucestershire", or as your naïvely programmed TTS model may call it, "glough-cest-er-shy-er"
and i can't imagine how you'd handle things like en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholmond… without just hard-coding them
even my modern TomTom app can mangle place names (and there are some unusual ones round here)
While cleaning a storage room, our staff found this tape containing #UNIX v4 from Bell Labs, circa 1973
Apparently no other complete copies are known to exist: gunkies.org/wiki/UNIX_Fourth_E…
We have arranged to deliver it to the Computer History Museum
“Multiple UNC-Chapel Hill faculty and student groups organized collective actions speaking out against the compact, including a SUNRISE UNC protest shortly before the Faculty Council meeting and a petition from the Coalition for Carolina that has amassed over 1,750 signatures.”
Organize
wunc.org/education/2025-11-10/…
After faculty raise concerns, UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor says university will not sign Trump's higher ed compact
Lee Roberts called the "preferential treatment" proposal a clear infringement on academic freedom.Brianna Atkinson (WUNC)
I'm starting a couple hashtags to help certain creators find one another.
#CreativeResisters for people who are contributing their creative skills to overcome abusive governments and economic systems.
#Hopecore for people who are creating works whose purpose is to portray the creating and maintaining of a world worth hoping for.
Please use these whenever you see anything that fits the bill!
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Seminar: Governance Among Plants & Insects with Dr. Orit Peleg
Dr. Orit Peleg seeks to understand the behavior of disordered living systems by merging tools from physics, biology, engineering, and computer science.luma.com
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Censorship may be a cat-and-mouse game, but our teams are staying ahead. If you want to hear more about our ongoing fight for online freedom, join us for our State of the Onion event on November 12 at 17:00 UTC. 📺
youtube.com/watch?v=fTDtUoauU7…
State of the Onion 2025
Keeping the internet free together: Join us for State of the Onion 2025What happens when the internet goes down during a moment of crisis, like political tur...YouTube
Suppose you have a site that has banned all the Tor exit nodes. Also suppose you have a shell account somewhere. Install Chromium in Tails, and then do this:
ssh -D 8888 user@shell-account-host
[separate window]
chromium '--proxy-server=socks://localhost:8888'
Now the SSH goes over Tor, and the Chromium uses the SSH tunnel to send its traffic out via the shell host. You can get around the Tor Browser and exit node bans this way. Handy if you are in a censored environment.
Tame your schedule in the terminal. 🖥️
Command Your Calendar: Inside the Minimalist Linux Productivity Tool Calcurse
A classic way to stay organized in the Linux terminal with a classic CLI tool.Roland Taylor (It's FOSS)
Privacy never looked so good. 👌
Nextcloud Files got a stunning mobile redesign in #NextcloudHub 25 Autumn, including #LiquidGlass UI on iOS.
🎥 All Files updates: youtu.be/fbFM58Ex9fI
🔥 Full release video: youtu.be/3jcYJGQgenI
Inteligencia Artificial Feminista: Marcos, Prácticas, Rechazos.
Este miércoles 12 de noviembre a las 7:30 CDMX | 8:30 ET | 10:30 ARG/URY/BRA | 13:30 BST | 19:00 IST
Registro y más información:
datoscontrafeminicidio.net/ia-…
Inteligencia Artificial Feminista: Marcos, Prácticas, Rechazos - Datos Contra Feminicidio
Este noviembre, en el próximo encuentro de Datos Contra Feminicidio (DCF), organizado junto a la Red Feminista de Inteligencia Artificial en América Latina y el Caribe (FAIR), vamos a explorar cómo la inteligencia artificial (IA) puede moldear, enriq…Datos Contra Feminicidio
Tapanuli Orangutan Pongo tapanuliensis
Act now and save the Tapanuli Orangutan – boycott palm oil! Fewer than 800 individual animals remain alive due to palm oil and timber deforestation.Palm Oil Detectives
Talking point - what have you be playing recently? gamingonlinux.com/2025/11/talk…
#Gaming #PCGaming #Linux #LinuxGaming
Talking point - what have you be playing recently?
Hello GamingOnLinux readers! It's time again to open up the floor as they say so jump into the comments and give your latest recommendations.Liam Dawe (GamingOnLinux)
Crimson Freedom could be one to watch for single-player RTS fans gamingonlinux.com/2025/11/crim…
#CrimsonFreedom #RTS #Gaming #PCGaming
Crimson Freedom could be one to watch for single-player RTS fans
Do you live single-player RTS games with a proper narrative to go with it? You may want to keep a close eye on the upcoming Crimson Freedom.Liam Dawe (GamingOnLinux)
This new release marks a major milestone for the open document standard! 💪🎉
itsfoss.com/news/odf-1-4-relea…
ODF 1.4 Release Marks 20 Years of OpenDocument Format
Accessibility and compatibility upgrades mark 20th anniversary of document standard at OASIS Open.Sourav Rudra (It's FOSS)
"The feature freeze for ODF 1.4 was over two years ago, so while the list of changes is extensive the focus here is not on ‘new’ features that contemporary office suite users haven’t seen before, but improvements to bring ODF more in-line with current expectations."
Honestly I appreciate these "expectation" updates a lot. This is the stuff that makes it easier to recommend.
The EasySMX X05 Pro wireless controller is cheap, feature-filled and comfortable with a big flaw gamingonlinux.com/2025/11/the-…
#EasySMX #X05Pro #Gaming #PCGaming
The EasySMX X05 Pro wireless controller is cheap, feature-filled and comfortable with a big flaw
The EasySMX X05 Pro was sent over for review and after spending weeks with it, this little device nearly turned into a favourite.Liam Dawe (GamingOnLinux)
D7VK brings Direct3D 7 to Linux using Vulkan based on DXVK gamingonlinux.com/2025/11/d7vk…
#Linux #OpenSource #Vulkan #Direct3D #D7VK #DXVK
D7VK brings Direct3D 7 to Linux using Vulkan based on DXVK
We've have DXVK and VKD3D-Proton for various versions of Direct3D on Linux, but now it seems we're also getting Direct3D 7 as well.Liam Dawe (GamingOnLinux)
THRASHER is thoroughly weird and it's out now as the follow up to THUMPER gamingonlinux.com/2025/11/thra…
#THRASHER #IndieGames #Linux #SteamDeck
THRASHER is thoroughly weird and it's out now as the follow up to THUMPER
I'm not entirely sure what I thought of THRASHER but it's certainly a unique experience and it's officially out now with Linux / Steam Deck support.Liam Dawe (GamingOnLinux)
7 easy weekend wins to reclaim your privacy!
itsfoss.com/privacy-wins-linux…
7 Privacy Wins You Can Get This Weekend (Linux-First)
Take one step at a time to get your privacy right.Theena Kumaragurunathan (It's FOSS)
Halls of Torment is still probably the best survivor-like with The Boglands DLC and free update out now gamingonlinux.com/2025/11/hall…
#HallsofTorment #PCGaming #Linux #Gaming #SteamDeck
Halls of Torment is still probably the best survivor-like with The Boglands DLC and free update out now
Possibly still the absolute best action-roguelike survivor-like ever made, Halls of Torment has expanded with The Boglands DLC and a big free update.Liam Dawe (GamingOnLinux)
When you shop #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect.bsky.social palmoildetectives.com/2021/02/…
Johnson & Johnson
Global mega-brand Johnson & Johnson have issued a position statement on palm oil in 2020. ‘At Johnson & Johnson, we are committed to doing our part to address the unsustainable rate o…Palm Oil Detectives
Get The Sinking City Remastered and a lot of Sherlock Holmes in this Humble Bundle gamingonlinux.com/2025/11/get-…
Get The Sinking City Remastered and a lot of Sherlock Holmes in this Humble Bundle
Need some more adventures? How about The Sinking City Remastered and a bunch of Sherlock Holmes? Check out the Lovecraft and Sherlock classics collection.Liam Dawe (GamingOnLinux)
Orange-breasted Falcon Falco deiroleucus
Help protect the Orange-breasted Falcon, vibrant birds of prey facing significant threats from palm oil, gold mining, and soy deforestation, boycott palm oil!Palm Oil Detectives
Linux Mint to get an upgraded System Information tool and a spruced up system menu gamingonlinux.com/2025/11/linu…
#Linux #LinuxMint #LinuxGaming
Linux Mint to get an upgraded System Information tool and a spruced up system menu
A new blog post is out from the Linux Mint team going over some recent work, with the newer Cinnamon Menu coming along nicely and a new System Information tool.Liam Dawe (GamingOnLinux)
The popular Easy Effects app swaps from GTK over to Qt, QML and Kirigami with a big new release gamingonlinux.com/2025/11/the-…
#Linux #OpenSource #EasyEffects
The popular Easy Effects app swaps from GTK over to Qt, QML and Kirigami with a big new release
Originally known as PulseEffects, Easy Effects is an audio manipulation tool for Linux that provides many different useful effects and filters.Liam Dawe (GamingOnLinux)
Open science provides fraud deterrence, and facilitates fraud detection.
When I first learned about open science around 20 years ago (then called "open notebook science"), I never thought about research fraud. Now it is a critically-important issue.
Open science practices provide part of the records needed for data provenance or chain-of-custody trail. Here's one of my posts from earlier this year about fraud deterrence: alexholcombe.wordpress.com/202… .
So in my view, open science policy updates need to consider fraud deterrence. Disappointed to see no consideration of the issue in the TOP guidelines update. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.11…
Scientists can’t even prove their data are real
I gave a workshop on preregistration to honours students last Friday and mentioned that preregistration provides evidence that you created your hypothesis in advance of seeing the data. The student…Alex Holcombe's blog
@bitbraindev You are asking "what else should we evaluate (people who spent a decade learning their craft) by?"
There is only a single method that actually works:
Trust other scientists in the same field (only they can actually understand the research) and punish proven fraud by expulsion.
Competition for jobs doesn’t work in science.
Giving publications a secondary objective ("get a job") ruins them for their prime objective (communicate).
⇒ draketo.de/english/science/qua…
counting scientific publications as metric for scientific quality is dumb | Zwillingssterns Weltenwald | 1w6
So, 11/19/2017 - 11:35 — Draketo Scientific institutions1 currently base a large part of their internal evaluation, their comparison to others, and their hiring decisions on counting publication (with a number of different scorings).www.draketo.de
@ArneBab @bitbraindev
Indeed – publishing's purpose is to communicate their progress in scientific research. Nothing else, nothing more.
On the measure and evaluation of science, I continue to think Ross Cagan's vision is best:
mathstodon.xyz/@albertcardona/…
Albert Cardona (@albertcardona@mathstodon.xyz)
The reality of scientific interactions and possibilities versus funding timelines, an example: A junior scientist and I meet at a conference.Albert Cardona (Mathstodon)
@albertcardona I think the part "it was pretty much a given if you were doing good work." is the most important in that.
Don’t constantly stress people about their employment future while they are working for you. That stress steals focus from the work they are doing that actually benefits society.
@foaylward There’s some background from concept discussed in the book Thinking Fast and Slow:
Since you often only know years (decades) later whether some research was important, building intuition can’t work and creating metrics that quantify that is a fools errant.
But people try anyway. It looks a lot like superstition caused by a need to have certainty.
Either an emotional need or as a cover-my-ass method in case something doesn’t work out.
@ArneBab @foaylward @bitbraindev @albertcardona Does it really take decades to know though? This feels like one of those things people say, like “protein has to be the genetic material because nucleic acid is too simple” or “bacteria don’t have genes”.
Where is the systematic evidence (not anecdata) that this is true?
@kristine_willis If you want to check that, the easiest sanity check could be to investigate when the science that led to Nobel prizes later on was recognized as groundbreaking.
The next step could be to check which requirements these had to be possible and how long it took for those requirements to be recognized as important (time after publication).
@ArneBab could not agree more, this is an obvious test. But, we have to define "recognition".
I suspect that the immediate field recognizes breakthroughs much more rapidly than the broader scientific community, and I would hypothesize that perhaps the lag time between recognition by practitioners of a sub-specialty and recognition by the scientific community in general is what give the appearance of a long delay.
@ArneBab The sleeping beauty phenomenon you're describing in comp sci fits a different pattern where neighboring practitioners don't recognize the immediate utility (and maybe they never do, it's some other community that finds the utility). But this just means, I think, there can be delays, not that the delay in recognition is obligatory.
@ArneBab We may be violently agreeing here. But I seem to hear the "you can never know" line rolled out as a kind of bromide to provide cover to funding work that, as a subject matter expert, I'm pretty sure is a dead letter.
Of course I could be wrong. Sure. Absolutely. The problem is, our resources are finite, and I wonder to what extent this paradigm is undermining progress by contributing to problematic hyper competition. @foaylward @bitbraindev @albertcardona @alexh
@kristine_willis @ArneBab @foaylward @bitbraindev
A key point here is that in scientific research competition is counterproductive. That no scientist in their right mind would want to compete with anyone. And if a work is so obvious that multiple labs are on it, collaboration beats competition any day. There's no point in being a month faster and scooping someone; even the concept of scooping is absurd: if anything, that'd be confirmation, validation – and very valuable. Most, though, would rather work on questions whose answers push the horizon of knowledge.
Resources are indeed finite, hence let's stop competition for papers, for grants, for positions. There is no point in that. Define what size of scientific research sector can the country support and go with that, with properly funded labs.
@albertcardona I see two different aspects:
One is that funding is provided by people outside the field, and they want proof of value. But they don’t want to trust the people within the field ("they all know each other, so how can they be objective?"). So they request something impossible.
The second is that abuse of funds absolutely does happen, and bad theories often only die with their generation. So there *is* need for funding of outsiders.
@albertcardona The current solution is to make the most accomplished scientists waste at least a third of their time writing grants just so people they know are doing good work have a chance to continue their work.
And the missing job security kills a lot of good work because people are on the edge instead of focusing on their passion.
So the current situation is just bad.
The only ones who benefit are administrations who can point to metrics.
@albertcardona "We did not choose wrong: here are the numbers to prove that our selection is the only correct one, so if it does not work out, we are not responsible."
science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv…
When you make judgements by asking a limited number of experts for their subjective feelings, you get … uneven results.
@kristine_willis @ArneBab @foaylward @bitbraindev
Indeed, the evaluation problem is a tough one. Two points.
1. Outsider perspectives are always needed. Hence I'd value most an evaluation committee composed on 1/3 internal, 1/3 national, 1/3 international. The result should be biased towards not squashing potentially great people or projects, at the cost of letting some less good ones continue. While the cost of an error in the latter is small, the cost on the former is gigantic.
2. Since it's impossible to be perfect, I'd use, again the Ross Cagan proposal of funding levels: go up, go down, and so on, depending on past performance, not future perspectives. In other words, no grants: the evaluation is done on past work only.
@druedin @kristine_willis @ArneBab @foaylward @bitbraindev
Same as now: who is interested, who did a sensible internship or rotation, who do you happen to know, who has sensible grades on relevant subjects, who can come up with a project proposal that reads sensible. Plus the equivalent of a visitor project for juniors: short-term positions of 3 months to a year where they can prove themselves. Actual work in a lab is the best recruitment basis there is.
Frankly, my problem is finding people who want to work in academic scientific research. There aren't enough. And the issue isn't entirely salaries, which is a major one. It's also that not everybody is comfortably being wrong all day long, all year wrong, not knowing exactly how to do something, not knowing what the outcome may be. Perhaps this can be learned, but at the PhD/postdoc level it may be too late.
GZDoom successor project UZDoom gets a first preview release gamingonlinux.com/2025/11/gzdo…
#UZDoom #GZDoom #Doom #FPS #Gaming
GZDoom successor project UZDoom gets a first preview release
After the GZDoom implosion, the rest of the developers split off to form UZDoom and the first preview release has rolled out with some essential improvements.Liam Dawe (GamingOnLinux)
The Godot Engine 2025 showreel is out gamingonlinux.com/2025/11/the-…
#Godot #GodotEngine #Gaming #OpenSource #GameDev
The Godot Engine 2025 showreel is out
Showing off a bunch of what's capable with the free and open source game engine Godot, the 2025 showreel has been released.Liam Dawe (GamingOnLinux)
Fantasy Grounds virtual tabletop (VTT) is now free to play gamingonlinux.com/2025/11/fant…
#VTT #FantasyGrounds #Unity #Gaming
Fantasy Grounds virtual tabletop (VTT) is now free to play
Previously known as Fantasy Grounds Unity, the developers at SmiteWorks have now made Fantasy Grounds VTT free to play.Liam Dawe (GamingOnLinux)
Image previews gone in GNOME Files? Fix it with one command. 🐧
itsfoss.com/image-thumbnails-m…
Fixing Image Thumbnails Not Showing Up in GNOME Files on Fedora Linux
Tiny problem but not good for the image of Fedora Linux, pun intended.Abhishek Prakash (It's FOSS)
Digital ownership is a myth unless you control your files, formats, keys, and server.
itsfoss.com/news/digital-conte…
Ownership of Digital Content Is an Illusion—Unless You Self‑Host
Prices are rising across Netflix, Spotify, and their peers, and more people are quietly returning to the oldest playbook of the internet: piracy. Is the golden age of streaming over?Theena Kumaragurunathan (It's FOSS)
A native GNOME office suite? It’s overdue. Let’s bring it back.
itsfoss.com/gnome-office-reviv…
It's Time to Bring Back GNOME Office (Hope You Remember It)
Those who used GNOME 2 in the 2000's would remember the now forgotten GNOME Office. I think it's time to revive that project.Roland Taylor (It's FOSS)
LibreOfficeKit API in action - LibreOffice Development Blog
If you want to use LibreOffice functionality in your applications, LibreOfficeKit API is one of the good ways to do that. Here i describe how, with some examples.Hossein Nourikhah (LibreOffice Development Blog)
Sambar deer Rusa unicolor
The majestic Sambar deer, cloaked in hues ranging from light brown to dark gray, are distinguished by their rugged antlers and uniquely long tails. Adorned with a coat of coarse hair and marked by …Palm Oil Detectives
YouTube's automated moderation systems are a joke. 😐
itsfoss.com/news/youtube-remov…
YouTube Goes Bonkers, Removes Windows 11 Bypass Tutorials, Claims 'Risk of Physical Harm'
When will these Big Tech platforms learn?Sourav Rudra (It's FOSS)
Good.
Because it's really hard to copy/paste a command line or registry key from a video, often hard or impossible to read, and shown only in a single frame. And when there are Youtube videos on the subject, that's all Google will give.
Some things really should be text (with screenshots when relevant) and not a video.
Why Did YouTube Delete Over 700 Videos Of Alleged Israeli Human Rights Violations?
YouTube quietly removed the accounts of three major Palestinian rights groups, including hundreds of their videos.Shiena Iane B Enerio (International Business Times)
Matt Blaze (@mattblaze@federate.social)
@imbl@treehouse.systems @soop@outerheaven.club Fortunately, they changed Mastodon's policy and people are no longer required to follow me or read my posts. I'm a law professor who studies technology policy, elections, and surveillance.Matt Blaze (federate.social)
Pooch rave!
"Spot and the Sub-woofers"
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Capacitive Touch Keyboard Business Card
This looks like fun!
Capacitive Touch Keyboard Business Card
The project aims to combine a business card with a functional USB-C capacitive touch keyboard on a PCB.hackaday.io
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Art X
in reply to Muse • • •Muse likes this.
Muse
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Jess Nut
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Brad Koehn ☑️
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in reply to Muse • • •diana 🏳️⚧️🦋
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Mark Wollschlager
in reply to Muse • • •The sense of relief at getting out of there and stowing your loot in the car overrides "duty to return to the cart pen".
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