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  I have a cryptic crossword clue and answer ... I can't see entirely how to construct the answer from the clue, and given that it's from fiction, maybe it's not kosher. If anyone would like to DM me I can pass on the clue, provide the answer on request, and you can help me understand what's going on. TIA. Edit for extra information: This is allegedly from a crossword in the 1930s. (Feel free to boost for reach) #CrypticCrosswordPuzzles #Cryptic

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  If you choose an answer at random, what is your probability of being correct? A: 25% B: 50% C: 60% D: 25%

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  Time for a question. * In the expression "18÷3x2" ... if I say (regardless of anything you've ever been taught) to do the multiplication first, what happens? I'd run this as a poll but I don't want to lead the witnesses, so to speak. * Start with "18÷3x2" * Do the multiplication first * What are the steps you go through? If you are content to do so, please boost to get out of my bubble. Thanks. CC: @solderandchaos@mastodon.me.uk

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  "What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure." -- Samuel Johnson

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  "People don't hate computers. What they really hate is lousy programmers." -- Larry Niven (paraphrased)

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  HAH !!! My (first) talk from #EMFCamp is up! https://media.ccc.de/v/emf2026-60-1-juggling-surprisingly-mathematical I honestly didn't know what I was going to say, although I've been giving talks about this material for a long time, so parts of it were well rehearsed. I'd welcome feedback. It wasn't perfect, but let me know what you think. I only ask that you be kind. Honest, but kind.

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  Brilliant day at #EMF ... so many amazing people, so many amazing things. Thank you for having me. #EMF2026 @emf@social.emfcamp.org

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  Your fingers have fingertips but your toes don't have toetips. Yet, you can tiptoe but not tipfinger.

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  Learning how to use "timeout" because I'm using someone else's software that's interacting with hardware that might be less well behaved than they expected.

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  @ansuz@gts.cryptography.dog Typo alert: https://cryptography.dog/blog/rng-day-2024/ ... because they are >quiet< closely related ... That should be "quite".

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  "The measure of a society is found in how they treat their weakest and most helpless citizens." -- Jimmy Carter

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  This graph should be front page news. Instead, there is silence. This is now a projection, not a prediction, not the result of a model. These are measurements, it is what is happening. Now. https://www.lyrebirddreaming.com/post/the-graph-that-should-be-front-page-news

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  Spotted on a Health and Safety poster, and again my mathematical mind betrays me. Quoting: "Safe use of projectors : Avoid staring directly into the projector beam at all times." I avoid spending all my time staring into the projector. I stare at it occasionally, here and there, now and again, but I don't stare into it "at all times". So ... is that OK? 1/n

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  One thing no one ever talks about being an adult is how much time you debate yourself on keeping a cardboard box because it's, like, a really good box.

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  "NASA launches robot to save Swift telescope falling to Earth" -- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0ry4xx7rk8o When I was a kid this was science fiction.

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  I don't usually do this, but I found this too funny not to share: The Bob Newhart Toupee Sketch That Broke Dean Martin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uau2DK4kwyo Not entirely sure you can use this to help calibrate your understanding of what I find funny ... I'm in an odd mood today. #Video #Humour #NotForEveryone

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  "... we should catch young people before they become CEOs, investment bankers, consultants, and money managers, and do our best to poison their minds with humanity." -- Kurt Vonnegut

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  EDIT: FOUND !!! I'll avoid spoilers for those who enjoy the chase, I'll happily reply to DMs asking for the answer ------------------ Here's a real challenge for die hard fans of older #SciFi ... I remember in my teens in Australia, 70s?, reading a story or novel in which two computers (or neural nets) were interacting, having a conversation in English, and at one point one of them offered the other a banana. The humans who were watching discussed this, and one said that this wa...

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  "Email is a wonderful thing for people whose role in life is to be on top of things. But not for me; my role is to be on the bottom of things. What I do takes long hours of studying and uninterruptible concentration." -- Donald Knuth

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  There's a fine line between numerator and denominator (and it's called a 'vinculum').

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  Wishing a Happy Birthday to Cecilia Helena Payne-Gaposchkin. Extraordinary woman ... simply extraordinary. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecilia_Payne-Gaposchkin

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  Fabulous pass of the #ISS ... totally clear skies, magnitude around -3.6 ... brilliant to watch it sail serenely overhead. Wanted to share the experience with a passerby: Me: In about 30 seconds the International Space Station will come into view over there. Him: Will it. I suppose you also believe we've landed on the Moon. Me: Yes. Him: What about the Van Allen Belt Me: They went through thin parts, and they're a lot less serious than people seem to think ... about the sa...

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  "When someone has trouble in mathematics, we should bolster our support, not lower our expectations." -- Francis Su

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  "Being a student is easy. Learning requires actual work." -- William Crawford

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  "You are a ghost driving a meat-coated skeleton made from stardust, riding a rock, hurtling through space. Fear nothing." -- Unknown.

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  "C++: An octopus made by nailing extra legs onto a dog" -- Steve Taylor

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  "Everyone has a photographic memory; some just don't have film." -- Steven Wright

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  Sent to me by a round-about route. I've tracked down a link that allegedly is the original, but fortunately it's been deleted, so I don't need to include a link to Xitter. (Edit for a typo fix)

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  "Power corrupts. Powerpoint corrupts absolutely." -- Edward R. Tufte

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  "Learn from the experts. You will never live long enough to learn it all directly from experience" -- Kop Kopmeyer