This url shortener points to the microsoft page where you can configure 2nd-factor auth for your account. -- service

Signal looks like a promising "non-tracking" messing app. But iMessage is probably good enough. -- service

I interpret the following to mean that when you're logged in and view a photo at a url, that url has a short lifespan. But if you right-click and copy the image url (and perhaps if its in a public album) then the url is marked to live forever. This article says that the photo isn't placed at that URL until you ask for it. Google Photos normally pulls its images through a more complex back-end system, but when a user right-clicks on one of their own images, Photos responds by placing the image at the designated public URL. "There are enough combinations that it's considered unguessable," says Aravind Krishnaswamy, an engineering lead on Google Photos. You can give it to a friend or pull it through an automated scraper, and it will load just the same. For Google, that's a feature. "The value of URLs is that they're universal," says Vincent Mo, another lead engineer on Photos. -- web

Lots of people claim that these direct links will expire. That's never been my experience. Maybe that's because all my images come from shared albums. -- web

There is no way around the expiration of the baseUrl. You need to save the mediaItem.id as it is a permanent, stable ID used to identify the object. Then you can fetch the GET https://photoslibrary.googleapis.com/v1/mediaItems/{mediaItemId} when you need the baseUrl. -- web

All shared Google Photos are open to the public, even if they were only shared with specific people. This is different from Google Drive. -- web

Lists know variants of the s400 postfix. -- web

The problem is what they call the DTMF level which is the technical name for the tone generated pressing a key on a telephone. The level is too low for the other end to pick it up. If you use those keywords in a chat they'll ask you to unplug the unit while the level is updated and then ask you to reconnect and test the change. -- gear

Professional sculptor at 1375 Rte 366, Val-des-Monts, QC, J8N 5B5 -- art

Free online tool to compare PDF files. Shows differences of two PDFs files quickly. Easy to use. No installation. No registration. -- tool

The 63rd HPS meeting in Cleveland discussed, among other things, how much we are spending trying to adhere to absurdly-low radiation limits fostered upon society by the LNT, trying to save one theoretical life while not saving millions of real lives for the same amount of money. -- health

In his Nobel Prize Lecture of December 12, 1946, Hermann J. Muller argued that the dose–response for radiation-induced germ cell mutations was linear and that there was ‘‘no escape from the conclusion that there is no threshold’’. However, assessment of correspondence between Muller and Curt Stern 1 month prior to his Nobel Prize Lecture reveals that Muller knew the results and implications of a recently completed study at the University of Rochester under the direction of Stern, which directly contradicted his Nobel Prize Lecture. This finding is of historical importance since Muller’s Nobel Lecture gained considerable international attention and is a turning point in the acceptance of the linearity model in risk assessment for germ cell mutations and carcinogens. -- health

Open-source (FREE) RPG (Roleplaying Game) for any genre. Create heroes your system said you couldn't. Exploding dice drive epic stories. Freeform storytelling with strategic fun. -- rpg

I bought and painted this one. The metal is soft enough to let you cut off any parts you don't want with a small pair of snips. Painting is easy and makes a huge difference. -- rpg

Might buy this one day. -- rpg

A copmrehensive review of popular iPad role playing games. -- rpg

Thoughts about D&D -- rpg

Do you need a brain to think? And are plants much smarter than we give them credit for? Radiolab Podcast by Robert Krulwich. -- intelligence

Salamander Tales comic by Claire Gary -- art

Many people are afraid of radiation, but scientists make clear that radiation is not so dangerous. Therefore they argue for a relaxing of the safety limits. (LNT) -- health