@connorboyle.io
@stephenjacobsmith.com how can I figure out what the required minimum decibel level is for a smoke alarm in CA? A loved one of mine has a very sensitive alarm that is *extremely loud*. It's ruining dinners and probably damaging the dog's hearing :( but building management say it is required by code
January 6, 2026 at 4:22 AM
@stephenjacobsmith.com how can I figure out what the required minimum decibel level is for a smoke alarm in CA? A loved one of mine has a very sensitive alarm that is *extremely loud*. It's ruining dinners and probably damaging the dog's hearing :( but building management say it is required by code
Reposted
With three “downtown” stations and counting, Sound Transit must overhaul its station naming policy and name its stations less confusingly so that riders can easily navigate a growing system.
Op-ed by Stephen Fesler: www.theurbanist.org/2025/12/05/o...
Op-ed by Stephen Fesler: www.theurbanist.org/2025/12/05/o...
Op-Ed: Sound Transit’s Station Naming Policy Has Run Amok Again » The Urbanist
# With three “downtown” stations and counting, Sound Transit must overhaul its station naming policy and name its stations less confusingly so that riders can easily navigate a growing system.
www.theurbanist.org
December 6, 2025 at 1:12 AM
With three “downtown” stations and counting, Sound Transit must overhaul its station naming policy and name its stations less confusingly so that riders can easily navigate a growing system.
Op-ed by Stephen Fesler: www.theurbanist.org/2025/12/05/o...
Op-ed by Stephen Fesler: www.theurbanist.org/2025/12/05/o...
Reposted
Every city that has driverless cars before driverless metros needs to hang its head in shame.
Crazy, Waymo is soon going to be in London AND Tokyo, AND New York
October 15, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Every city that has driverless cars before driverless metros needs to hang its head in shame.
Reposted
Fast Fourier Transforms Part 1: Cooley-Tukey
https://connorboyle.io/2025/09/11/fft-cooley-tukey.html
https://connorboyle.io/2025/09/11/fft-cooley-tukey.html
September 18, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Fast Fourier Transforms Part 1: Cooley-Tukey
https://connorboyle.io/2025/09/11/fft-cooley-tukey.html
https://connorboyle.io/2025/09/11/fft-cooley-tukey.html
Very pleased to share that there is now a version of OpenRailwayMap that shows rail operators, e.g.: openrailwaymap.app#view=12.08/4...
October 12, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Very pleased to share that there is now a version of OpenRailwayMap that shows rail operators, e.g.: openrailwaymap.app#view=12.08/4...
Saw the new Coast Salish story pole on UW campus today. Looks neat! www.washington.edu/news/2025/09...
October 2, 2025 at 11:55 PM
Saw the new Coast Salish story pole on UW campus today. Looks neat! www.washington.edu/news/2025/09...
Reposted
If you're a journal or publisher using institutional email addresses to verify the identity of authors or reviewers, you'll want to read this story by @joelving.bsky.social.
University email addresses no longer effective bulwark against fake peer review
To guard against identity theft, academic publishers have been using institutional email addresses to verify authors and reviewers are who they say they are. Now, however, findings appearing in a p…
retractionwatch.com
September 22, 2025 at 1:55 PM
If you're a journal or publisher using institutional email addresses to verify the identity of authors or reviewers, you'll want to read this story by @joelving.bsky.social.
This presidential proclamation is INSANE. The employer of any H-1(b) applicant or holder trying to enter the United States starting September 21 will have to pay $100,000 to allow the worker to re-enter. That's about 36 hours of notice!
Tell all your immigrant friends and colleagues about it!
Tell all your immigrant friends and colleagues about it!
Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION The H-1B nonimmigrant visa program was created to bring temporary workers into the United
www.whitehouse.gov
September 20, 2025 at 3:26 AM
This presidential proclamation is INSANE. The employer of any H-1(b) applicant or holder trying to enter the United States starting September 21 will have to pay $100,000 to allow the worker to re-enter. That's about 36 hours of notice!
Tell all your immigrant friends and colleagues about it!
Tell all your immigrant friends and colleagues about it!
@stephenjacobsmith.com you might be interested in this? You seem like the most immigration-oriented person I follow on here
Wait, the cost of the "Trump Gold Card" has apparently gone down to $1 million (from $5 million)! I don't remember any news or announcements about this! And now there's a "Platinum Card" that allows spending 270 days in the US without being subject to US taxes.
![From the Trump Gold Card website. Under "Special Benefits." [sic]:
"Trump Gold Card
For a processing fee and, after DHS vetting, a $1 million contribution, receive U.S. residency in record time with the Trump Gold Card."
and
"Trump Platinum Card
Coming Soon
Sign up now and secure your place on the waiting list for the Trump Platinum Card. For a processing fee and, after DHS vetting, a $5 million contribution, you will have the ability to spend up to 270 days in the United States without being subject to U.S. taxes on non-U.S. income."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2mea5iw5aol2qcsl34ufhvmb/bafkreiaxuap3bfm5h432cyto6gams23zlwio3iw2pqrhrmrowgk66bmcvu@jpeg)
September 19, 2025 at 9:23 PM
@stephenjacobsmith.com you might be interested in this? You seem like the most immigration-oriented person I follow on here
Perhaps the best software I've ever used is a Chinese-language dictionary app called Pleco.
It works perfectly offline, has never once crashed on me, and has transferred in-app purchases across devices going all the way back to the Palm Pilot version in 2001.
www.pleco.com
It works perfectly offline, has never once crashed on me, and has transferred in-app purchases across devices going all the way back to the Palm Pilot version in 2001.
www.pleco.com
Pleco Software – The #1 Chinese dictionary app for iOS and Android
The #1 Chinese dictionary app for iOS and Android
www.pleco.com
September 19, 2025 at 1:28 AM
Perhaps the best software I've ever used is a Chinese-language dictionary app called Pleco.
It works perfectly offline, has never once crashed on me, and has transferred in-app purchases across devices going all the way back to the Palm Pilot version in 2001.
www.pleco.com
It works perfectly offline, has never once crashed on me, and has transferred in-app purchases across devices going all the way back to the Palm Pilot version in 2001.
www.pleco.com
How the Cooley-Tukey FFT algorithm calculates the discrete Fourier transform of a signal
September 15, 2025 at 3:10 PM
How the Cooley-Tukey FFT algorithm calculates the discrete Fourier transform of a signal
Reposted
Interesting how if you Google Translate “fire sprinkler” into French, you get what I believe is a very Quebecois word. I guess because Quebec requires way, way more sprinklers than France itself, so its terminology dominates in the corpus.
September 11, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Interesting how if you Google Translate “fire sprinkler” into French, you get what I believe is a very Quebecois word. I guess because Quebec requires way, way more sprinklers than France itself, so its terminology dominates in the corpus.
Maybe I'm being too snarky by posting this, but...
August 5, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Maybe I'm being too snarky by posting this, but...
Reposted
July 26, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Reposted
Viral paper on black plastic kitchen utensils earns second correction
Viral paper on black plastic kitchen utensils earns second correction
The authors of a paper that went viral with attention-grabbing headlines urging people to throw out their black plastic kitchen tools have corrected the work for a second time. But a letter accompa…
retractionwatch.com
July 6, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Viral paper on black plastic kitchen utensils earns second correction
Reposted
Automatic Train Operation (ATO) is making trips up to 3 min 45 sec FASTER. This safer, more reliable technology is now running on all rail lines. Metro operators are still in the cab of every train to respond to emergencies and monitor conditions.
June 26, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Automatic Train Operation (ATO) is making trips up to 3 min 45 sec FASTER. This safer, more reliable technology is now running on all rail lines. Metro operators are still in the cab of every train to respond to emergencies and monitor conditions.
We're onto the official "coming soon" website phase of the Trump Card (FKA the "gold card")
Trump Card - Pathway to American Citizenship
Join the official Trump Card waitlist - Donald Trump's revolutionary pathway to American citizenship. Secure your spot today.
trumpcard.gov
June 12, 2025 at 5:10 PM
We're onto the official "coming soon" website phase of the Trump Card (FKA the "gold card")
US House Rep. Paul Gosar claimed that OPT, a program allowing int'l students to work for 1-3 years after graduation, was costing SS & Medicare $4 billion per year. Noticing major errors in the statement, I did my own estimate, finding OPT may be a net gain for SS & Medicare.
Rep. Paul Gosar’s Claims about OPT Contain Major Errors
U.S. Congressional Representative Paul Gosar of Arizona1 recently reintroduced proposed legislation to ban the Optional Practical Training program (OPT).2 OPT is a program that allows international st...
connorboyle.io
May 24, 2025 at 5:51 PM
US House Rep. Paul Gosar claimed that OPT, a program allowing int'l students to work for 1-3 years after graduation, was costing SS & Medicare $4 billion per year. Noticing major errors in the statement, I did my own estimate, finding OPT may be a net gain for SS & Medicare.
RAI released the televote shares for Italy. Assuming that Italy had a typical vote share for the year (other than for San Marino, where it was essentially voting for itself), I imagine Israel may have won the televote with <20% of the total vote share.
May 22, 2025 at 12:22 AM
RAI released the televote shares for Italy. Assuming that Italy had a typical vote share for the year (other than for San Marino, where it was essentially voting for itself), I imagine Israel may have won the televote with <20% of the total vote share.
Paul Gosar cited this 2015 article in his proposal to eliminate OPT. WTF! It claims that America is being overrun by hordes of OPT workers but also that hardly any int'l students had heard of OPT. Um... I remember being an int'l student program volunteer in 2016-17. They definitely knew about OPT!!!
April 14, 2025 at 6:28 AM
Paul Gosar cited this 2015 article in his proposal to eliminate OPT. WTF! It claims that America is being overrun by hordes of OPT workers but also that hardly any int'l students had heard of OPT. Um... I remember being an int'l student program volunteer in 2016-17. They definitely knew about OPT!!!
Absolutely no one understands (or, I think really cares) how immigration to the US works, exhibit #46,781. Lots of internet commenters not bothering to read the article(s) and learn about the already-existing EB-5 (requiring ~$1,000,000 investment) that this replacing.
Trump Plans ‘Gold Card’ Alternative to Green Cards for ‘High Level People’
President Trump said the cards would have “a higher level of sophistication” than green cards and cost applicants about $5 million.
www.nytimes.com
February 26, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Absolutely no one understands (or, I think really cares) how immigration to the US works, exhibit #46,781. Lots of internet commenters not bothering to read the article(s) and learn about the already-existing EB-5 (requiring ~$1,000,000 investment) that this replacing.
Google's AI overview helpfully informs me that red traffic lights are more saturated than green traffic lights, which in turn are more saturated than red traffic lights
February 9, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Google's AI overview helpfully informs me that red traffic lights are more saturated than green traffic lights, which in turn are more saturated than red traffic lights
Reposted
The E.O. purports to apply only prospectively (starting 30 days from today). But its rule, if applied retrospectively, would deny citizenship to Kamala Harris - and to me. Both our sets of parents were on student visas at the time of our births.
January 21, 2025 at 2:00 AM
The E.O. purports to apply only prospectively (starting 30 days from today). But its rule, if applied retrospectively, would deny citizenship to Kamala Harris - and to me. Both our sets of parents were on student visas at the time of our births.
Reposted
I believe retroactive application of the rule also would affect the citizenship of Usha Vance, Bobby Jindal, and Vivek Ramaswamy.
January 21, 2025 at 2:18 AM
I believe retroactive application of the rule also would affect the citizenship of Usha Vance, Bobby Jindal, and Vivek Ramaswamy.