Interesting Links for 06-03-2024

[andrewducker]

1. French decision to protect right to abortion shows 'real fear far-right populists could gain power'

(tags:abortion rights France )

2. How much effort it takes to clean a professional kitchen (and how much the cook will hate you if you walk in 10 minutes before closing)

(tags:restaurant cleaning )

3. More than one-quarter of scholarly articles are not being properly archived and preserved

(tags:research academia fail viaPatrickHadfield )

4. Why Edinburgh's potholes are winning

(tags:edinburgh roads weight )

5. How Hugo ballots used to be counted

(tags:software hugo awards )

6. Sugary drinks increase your risk of a heart condition by 10%. Drinks with sweeteners raise it by 20%

(tags:sugar drink heart doom )

7. The man who spends £8,500 a year to live on a train

(tags:trains germany viaDanielDWilliam )

8. This is The Longest Train Route in the World (as of 2024)

(tags:trains china Russia Spain Portugal )

9. What is your objective?

(tags:advice life )

10. European Court of Human Rights Confirms: Weakening Encryption Violates Fundamental Rights

(tags:encryption privacy Europe rights )

11. Racism is embedded in LLMs (in this case, based on dialect)

(tags:racism ai )

Comments

[ninetydegrees]

"French decision to protect right to abortion shows 'real fear far-right populists could gain power'"

No need to go to the far right. Some of us are already afraid of right parties getting more and more extreme. Like Macron defending rapits and defunding public hospitals and other health services that actually let people abort. Two examples among many.

How much effort it takes to clean a professional kitchen (and how much the cook will hate you if you

[jack]

I often don't know for sure here. I definitely agree that the cooks shouldn't be put on the spot like that!

I assume if the restaurant is open till 10, ordering a bit before 10 is bad! But if the pub is open for lunch from 12-2, they often are still cooking things at 2 and accepting orders from lots of people at 1:50 without looking reluctant about it, I'm not sure if it's actually just normal that any cleaning is after than "kitchen closing" time. But I know sometimes I've screwed up by coming to a pub 20 minutes before end of lunch service and asking if they're doing food and been told no, sorry, with no indication that was at all unusual.

Re: How much effort it takes to clean a professional kitchen (and how much the cook will hate you if

[andrewducker]

I think if they say "Served between" I'd be happier ordering up until the end date than if they say "Open until".

Also, I don't assume that they're cleaning the whole kitchen down after lunch (rather than doing a quick tidy up so it's ready for dinner set-up later).

Re: How much effort it takes to clean a professional kitchen (and how much the cook will hate you if

[jack]

Yeah.

Re: How much effort it takes to clean a professional kitchen (and how much the cook will hate you if

[calimac]

I've seen places that list hours extending to N p.m., with a note following "last service at [say] N-0.5 p.m." That's clear.

On the other hand: On my way home from the City, I often stop at my favorite burrito place just before closing at 10 p.m. for a takeaway order. (I save it for lunch the next day.) They make orders right up until 10, but if you're eating in, they let you stay afterwards. You eat, they clean the kitchen.

Re: How much effort it takes to clean a professional kitchen (and how much the cook will hate you if

[andrewducker]

That makes perfect sense to me.

(And I'd generally assume that a takeaway place served up until closing time)

Re: How much effort it takes to clean a professional kitchen (and how much the cook will hate you if

[calimac]

It's not a takeaway place, exactly, though it offers takeaway. Most customers eat in. There's a large number of small tables on one side, and a counter on the other at which you order, behind which is the easily visible kitchen area.

They do lock the door at 10, so no more customers can enter, but there's a guard at the door (this is a dicey neighborhood), who'll let you out.

Sugary drinks increase your risk of a heart condition by 10%. Drinks with sweeteners raise it by 20%

[jack]

Ugh :(

Re: Sugary drinks increase your risk of a heart condition by 10%. Drinks with sweeteners raise it by

[andrewducker]

This might cheer you up: https://twitter.com/dougclow/status/1765059886168354993

[fub]

About number 9: so many things can go so much more smoother if, before anyone starts anything, you ask yourself: "What does success look like?" Because that gives you something to work towards, it gives you the chance to set out the steps needed to reach that point, and allows you to determine what needs to be true to achieve every one of those steps.
It's not sexy and flamboyant, but it always produces results.

3)

[calimac]

This is nothing new. Over 20 years ago, my job at the library included checking DOIs to ensure the links were still valid. Sometimes they weren't.

Of the five major journals in Tolkien studies, 4 still publish print editions. The one that doesn't is hosted by the rather small university where the editor used to work; he isn't there any more, and as nothing was ever said as to the reason for his separation, I wonder if it wasn't entirely voluntary. We can only hope the institution is stable and that its commitment to the journal is lasting.

Of the four others, one is on Project MUSE, which one hopes is stable. I think some of the others may be copied to major archives, but their major online sources are their own websites, or, in one case, another small university archive which is the pet project of their archivist, and what happens when he retires I don't know.

Re: 3)

[andrewducker]

I take it none of this is also archived by the government at all.

Re: 3)

[calimac]

Not publicly, no. But I think the Internet Archive grabs at least the two (including the no-print one) which are open-access.

Re: 3)

[andrewducker]

I'm glad some of it is being backed up.

Re: 3)

[anna_wing]

What are those five? I'd be interested in getting back copies if they exist.

Re: 3)

[calimac]

Tolkien Studies

Journal of Tolkien Research

Mallorn

Mythlore

Journal of Inklings Studies

Re: 3)

[anna_wing]

Thank you very much!

[movingfinger]

7, 8: thank you for the train stories!

2: A huge problem for restaurant workers where I used to live was that transit pretty much stopped by 1:00 in the morning, with many last trains to farther-out places leaving in the 12:35-12:50 zone. It was manageable until the investment and Air B&B crowd bought up housing and rents became utterly unaffordable. The restaurant scene subsequently has taken a noticeable hit.

[andrewducker]

Yeah, when a difference of 5 minutes can mean not making it home it would be awful to let things run so late.

[armiphlage]

7. I got a first-class rail pass when visiting Europe in 2001, and would use sleeper trains instead of hotels. I hear there are far fewer sleeper train options now.

6.

[channelpenguin]

I can't see if they controlled for caffinated Vs not. But I don't imagine there's any difference between sugar and sweetener fizzy drink choices in terms of that. But it's safe to say pure fruit juice had no caffeine. May just be a marker for other healthy behaviours though?

Re: 6.

[andrewducker]

Yeah. See minor discussion here: https://twitter.com/dougclow/status/1765059886168354993

Re: 6.

[channelpenguin]

ah, yeah. that too. I wondered about a connection between 'drinks "diet" drinks, and "already have health issues" '

seems like kinda useless study then!

Re: 6.

[channelpenguin]

Oddly IIRC, caffeine actually HELPS with some kinds of AF, rather than making it worse!

[anna_wing]

Most restaurants I know of tell you the cut-off time for orders.

I like fizzy drinks but not sweet ones, so have had to settle for making my own, by mixing fruit juice, or occasionally fruit wines, and soda water.