Keith Soltys
ksoltys.bsky.social
Keith Soltys
@ksoltys.bsky.social
Husband, parent, grandparent, retired technical writer, science fiction fan, amateur photographer, Deadhead. Blogger at https://coredump3.blogspot.com/
Reposted by Keith Soltys
I just gave a critical thinking talk to about 1,800 Texas science teachers. My heart is filled with joy and inspiration. It was an honor to talk to them, and I heartily thank the folks running the CAST 2025 conference for inviting me!

www.statweb.org
November 13, 2025 at 6:42 PM
The latest Security Now podcast has a segment on how Chrome (and the other major browsers) are deprecating support for XSLT. I remember taking a course in XSLT sometime in the early 00's but never found an actual use for it. The times, they are a changing.

@timbray.cosocial.ca.ap.brid.gy
November 12, 2025 at 10:46 PM
VLC is getting dark mode, finally!

My first impressions here:

coredump3.blogspot.com/2025/11/vlc-...

I found out about it in this blog post by Gordon Glas.

gglas.ninja/blog/2025/04...
VLC Is Getting Dark Mode
I generally use VLC for media playback but it's been a struggle because it doesn't have dark mode, which with my vision problems is essentia...
coredump3.blogspot.com
November 12, 2025 at 3:54 PM
This week's Featured Links post links to articles about how Putin outsmarted the oil sanctions, the 50th anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgerald sinking, the Florentine diamond resurfaces after 100 years, and more.

coredump3.blogspot.com/2025/11/feat...

#History, #Medical,rd, #Movies #TV, #Politics
Featured Links - November 11, 2025
Things I found interesting but didn't want to do a full blog post about. Model of the Edmund Fitzgerald at the Shipwreck Museum in Michigan...
coredump3.blogspot.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Mary Geddry is not very complimentary about the Democratic party right now, and with good reason. "The Democratic Borg Collective." Once again, they screwed the pooch.

marygeddry.com/p/the-longes...
The Longest Shutdown Ends Where It Began
Eight Democrats cross the aisle, Trump redeems his disciples, and America mistakes exhaustion for governance.
marygeddry.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Reposted by Keith Soltys
Elon Musk’s new pay package would feed all forty million Americans on SNAP for the next ten years. He wouldn’t notice the difference but the country would.
November 8, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Today's blog post links to 10 articles about misinformation and disinformation. I could probably do a daily post like this if I had the stomach for it.

coredump3.blogspot.com/2025/11/more...

#AI, #ClimateChange, #Disinformation, #Medical, #Science
More on Disinformation 8
It's time for another post about disinformation and misinformation. I could probably do a post a day like this if I had the time and the sto...
coredump3.blogspot.com
November 7, 2025 at 11:38 AM
This week's Featured Links post links to articles about one driver's thoughts after drving an EV for 18 months, a free rival to Photoshop, how Trump has ceded the future to China, and more.

coredump3.blogspot.com/2025/11/feat...

#AI, #Finance, #History, #Photoshop, #Politics, #Technology
Featured Links - November 4, 2025
Links to things I found interesting but didn't want to do a full blog post about. Autumn Leaves My Non-Fossil Car Experience . "Very few EV ...
coredump3.blogspot.com
November 4, 2025 at 12:15 PM
I have never understood why judges are elected in the US. BTW, we don't elect them in Canada either.
A reminder that this specifically American dysfunction DOES NOT EXIST in systems with an unelected judiciary, eg. the UK. (We have other problems with judicial appointments, but not *this* one—far-right lobbying groups like the Heritage Foundation subverting the justice system for political ends.)
Here’s my my pitch for why you care about your state attorney general.

The entire conservative judicial machine *depends* on conservative state attorney generals.

John Roberts can’t take a case asking to destroy voting rights if a state attorney generals doesn’t bring it.
November 3, 2025 at 4:22 AM
Reposted by Keith Soltys
NEWS FLASH: We have achieved the rare and coveted Cat Tree Triple Decker
October 31, 2025 at 6:18 PM
This week's Featured Links post links to articles about a catalog of dark patterns used to screw over users, a chip to restore some vision to people with macular degeneration, using NotebookLM as a personal journal, and more.

coredump3.blogspot.com/2025/10/feat...

#AI #Science #Vision #Politics
Featured Links - October 29, 2025
Things I found interesting but didn't want to do a full blog post about. Autumn colours in the park Catalog of Dark Patterns . "Discover a v...
coredump3.blogspot.com
October 29, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Today's blog post is about my thoughs on the iPad Mini 7 after using it for six months. It's a companion post to yesterday's post about iPad OS 26.

TL: DR: It makes a lovely ereader but the hardware has some limitations.

coredump3.blogspot.com/2025/10/appl...

#Apple #iPadMini
Apple iPad Mini 7 After Six Months
Back in April, I finally gave up on my Amazon 8" tablet and bought an iPad Mini 7. Shortly after that, my sister gifted me with an iPad Air ...
coredump3.blogspot.com
October 24, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Today's blog post is about my first impressions of iPad OS 26 on the iPad Mini 7. TL;DR: What was Apple thinking?

coredump3.blogspot.com/2025/10/firs...

#Accessibility, #Apple #Design, #iPad, #IOS26
First Impressions of iPad OS 26
This is the first of two posts about my Apple  tablets. Tomorrow's post will be about my experience with the iPad Mini.  I put off upgrading...
coredump3.blogspot.com
October 23, 2025 at 12:41 PM
All those Seattle fans booing Springer after he went down from being hit by a pitch might have tipped the karmic balance in Toronto's favour, and having Springer hit the winning homer made it especially sweet.

#BlueJays #Toronto #baseball
October 21, 2025 at 4:18 PM
This week's Featured Links post links to a dozen articles about how SportsNet's announcers broke the mold in their Game 5 ALCS coverage, the coming economic AI apocalypse, what the West should learn from China, and more.

coredump3.blogspot.com/2025/10/feat...

#AI, #COVID19, #Politics, #Technology
Featured Links - October 21, 2025
Things I found interesting but didn't want to do a full blog post about.  Sportsnet gives viewers what they want after Brendon Little’s Game...
coredump3.blogspot.com
October 21, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Reposted by Keith Soltys
If you're planning to protest tomorrow and have questions about carrying your phone, please check out this article from my colleague @yaelwrites.com

It also shares an easy trick for stripping photos of their metadata.

blog.yaelwrites.com/options-for-...
Options for Phones at Protests
Simply showing up to a protest leaves you susceptible to all sorts of surveillance, including cameras, drones, facial recognition, and more. There's not always a lot you can do about pernicious street...
blog.yaelwrites.com
October 17, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Reposted by Keith Soltys
And it's all about Jeffrey Epstein.

Someone somewhere should grow a conscience and leak those files.
Mayes: 'Absurd' that Grijalva's not sworn in; threatens lawsuit
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is demanding that U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson stop stalling and seat Arizona’s newest congresswoman, who won a special election three weeks ago.
www.gvnews.com
October 17, 2025 at 5:33 PM
This week's Featured Links post links to articles about how transit in Toronto compares to Chicago's, how librarians are trying to prevent a digital dark age, how a blind photographer ttakes great photos, and more.

coredump3.blogspot.com/2025/10/feat...

#AI, #Politics #Science #Space #Technology
Featured Links - October 14, 2025
Links to things I found interesting but didn't want to do a full blog post about. A grey Lake Ontario Toronto vs Chicago: Transit Moving Mas...
coredump3.blogspot.com
October 14, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Reposted by Keith Soltys
Holy crap. This is terrible.

The article states it's "not related to the current U.S. government shutdown". But of course it is: they are both connected by the GOP destroying everything good about this country from the top down and the bottom up.
October 13, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Reposted by Keith Soltys
“CDC is over. It was killed. This administration only knows how to break things. They have made America at risk for outbreaks and attacks by nefarious players. People should be scared,” said Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, former director of the CDC’s National Center on Immunization and Respiratory Diseases
"CDC is over": RFK Jr. lays off over 1,000 employees in Friday night massacre
Amid the ongoing shutdown, the HHS secretary wiped out entire offices that investigate disease outbreaks, manage infectious disease responses and collect data.
www.msnbc.com
October 12, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Reposted by Keith Soltys
Well that’s not a good development…
October 10, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Today's post is a collection of links that support my feeling that the human race (or at least our technological civilization) is doomed. It's part of a continuing series.

coredump3.blogspot.com/2025/10/were...

#ClimateChange, #COVID19, #Environment,#Politics, #Religion, #Science,
We're Toast 63
This post is a collection of links that support my increasingly strong feeling that the human race (or at least our technological civilizati...
coredump3.blogspot.com
October 10, 2025 at 6:48 PM
This is at least the third article I've seen recently about the Trump regime's plans to invoke the Insurrection Act. They need an excuse and they are trying to provoke something. The upcoming No Kings protects on October 18th might do it.

statuskuo.substack.com/p/insurrecti...
Insurrectile Dysfunction
The White House is determined to achieve an insurrection, even if it has to red pill itself into one.
statuskuo.substack.com
October 9, 2025 at 10:45 PM
This week's Featured Links post has links to 13 articles about the ICE raid in Chicago, China's clean energy revolution, a science fair project that may change lives, and more.

coredump3.blogspot.com/2025/10/feat...

#ClimateChange, #Environment, #Medical, #Politics, #Science, #Society, #Technology
Featured Links - October 6, 2025
Links to things I found interesting but didn't want to do a full blog post about. I didn't post last week, so here's a baker's dozen for you...
coredump3.blogspot.com
October 6, 2025 at 12:45 PM
For some time, I've been reading mostly novels, so I'm trying to catch up on short fiction. The anthology I'm reading now is Jonathan Strahan's THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY OF THE YEAR, Volume 12, which contains stories from 2017 (When I said 'catch up', I wasn't kidding).
October 4, 2025 at 2:44 AM