Learned a new word today - "compute", yep.

Does not compute

Earlier today I came across this report ...

"Independent review of The Future of Compute: Final report and recommendations,
updated 6 March 2023"

... which had the word compute in the title and in several other places within the document. I skimmed through trying to work out if they meant 'computing' or 'computer(s)' or 'computer science' and couldn't understand what was going on. Surely someone proofreading it would have caught this. 

Bernard... Delaney
I did wonder if the authors had had enough of trying to decide whether to write 'computing' or 'computer science' and elected to simplify things with this new word and wondered if anyone else had noticed.

Taking the web page's link (URL) and pasting it into Twitter's search bar brings up any tweet that's mentioned that page. There were a few tweets but none of them mentioned the fact that the document used the word (to me, a verb) 'compute' as a noun the whole way through. Here are the section titles.

    Glossary of terms
    1. The significance of compute for the UK
    2. The international landscape of compute
    3. The demand for compute in the UK
    4. Meeting the UK’s compute needs
    5. Creating a vibrant compute ecosystem

 

Oh, I see!
To cut a long story short (I read the glossary, and asked people on Twitter) it turns out that the word has been used in this way for some time and refers to something like the computing equivalent of horsepower - the amount of processing resources and computational capacity your high performance computer has to complete a task.

The thing is... I work in the computer science department at Queen Mary University of London and write about computer science in my day job and I have never seen 'compute' used in quite this way before. You'd think it might have come up in the fourteen years I've been working there. 

Anyway I wanted to record this moment as it's not often you're "there" and able to remember exactly when you encounter a completely new word, or in this case a completely novel use of a word you're familiar with. 

It's not just jargon you have to worry about
This is actually a bit of a 'thing' in science communication. Scientists often talk about a 'theory' or about 'proteins' etc and, if talking to non-scientists, need to be aware that their audience might take a different meaning from the one intended. 

To a scientist a 'protein' might be a peptide, enzyme, membrane protein but to a non-scientist it might be egg or meat etc. 

To be honest an unfamiliar word in place of 'compute' would actually have been much less jarring and so I've basically been the 'non-scientist' here, experiencing an example of an everyday word being used in a very specific way. I'm sure it's good for me to be baffled occasionally :)

But for now I'm still at the point where a phrase like "the amount of compute used" just brings me up short and also makes me laugh a little. I expect after a period of time has passed I will adjust to this noun-ing of a verb. 

Another 'sextortion' Bitcoin scam email - these are sent out randomly, do not pay them anything

Another one of these spam / scam emails in my spam folder in Gmail (see my previous post). 

They are sent out to long lists of email addresses and have nothing to do with you personally. Ignore them, do not send money. I just publish these in case others google some text from the email. I hope they find this (or another scam awareness page) and are reassured that it's nonsense.

I have reported the Bitcoin wallet (1KSb6ZYjXjP5aGyMf6LDfmad5rsC7fV73J) here too: https://www.chainabuse.com/

- - - - -

From: clifford@audumi.lv
Subject: Amount of taxes

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....

I'VE GAINED ACCESS TO YOUR DEVICES DUE TO YOUR VISITS TO CERTAIN WEBSITES.
In fact, it was those sites that helped me. One of them contained my special code, which worked. This means that I can see everything happening on your scr and in front of it.

IF YOU DOUBT THIS, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER.
I'm not wasting my time on you and will simply post all this information about you on every possible website and social network, and send it to all your contacts.

I've made copies of your most interesting files and also have the contact addresses you use most often. I have your browsing history. I have everything I need. Initially, I was going to delete all the content from your devices and forget about it. But I looked at the sites you regularly visit and changed my mind. I'm talking about sites with all kinds of inappropriate content.

After some time, I had an idea. I took screenshots of the website pages where you spend your time alone. then I captured screenshots of you satisfying yourself using the cam of one of your deviecs. (by the way, I had to wait for you to successfully get in front of the canera lens.) But it was worth it, and it will impress all your acquaintances and regular people on the Internet.

To make a long story short, I'm offering you a DEAL. You transfer the money to me, and I'll delete all this stuff about you, and we will forget about each other.

1194 american dollars in Bitconis is fine with me.
My special wallet: 1KSb6ZYjXjP5aGyMf6LDfmad5rsC7fV73J

I give you only 44 hours from now to pay .
I've already mentioned what happens if you don't pay, I don't care, it's up to you.
And don't hold a grudge. Everyone has a job to do.

IF I SEE THE CONTENTS OF THIS EMAIL ON GOOGLE (etc.)
I WILL IMMEDIATELY PUBLISH ALL THE DATA COLLECTED,
NOT FORGETTING EVERYONE YOU KNOW.

 

 

 

Open air cinema screenings in London, in June (Week 25-26)

Here are the films that are coming to large airy screens in the great outdoors next week. Plenty more where that came from coming up in July and onwards. See the full listings here where you can also find out about films that have subtitles and which are free.

22 Jun	Sat	Coco	Canary Wharf Film Club	Canada Square Park	Canary Wharf	10:30
22 Jun	Sat	Wreck It Ralph	Vision Cinema	Cator Park	Kidbrooke	10:30
22 Jun	Sat	Ratatouille	Rooftop Film Club	Roof East	Stratford	13:00
22 Jun	Sat	Mamma Mia!	Rooftop Film Club	Bussey Building	Peckham	13:00
22 Jun	Sat	Wonka	Vision Cinema	Cator Park	Kidbrooke	13:20
22 Jun	Sat	Dune Part 2	Vision Cinema	Cator Park	Kidbrooke	16:30
22 Jun	Sat	Set It Off	Rooftop Film Club	Roof East	Stratford	16:45
22 Jun	Sat	Cruel Intentions	Rooftop Film Club	Bussey Building	Peckham	16:45
22 Jun	Sat	Pulp Fiction	Rooftop Film Club	Roof East	Stratford	20:05
22 Jun	Sat	Iron Claw	Vision Cinema	Cator Park	Kidbrooke	20:20
23 Jun	Sun	Sonic The Hedgehog 2	Vision Cinema	Cator Park	Kidbrooke	10:30
23 Jun	Sun	Dirty Dancing	Rooftop Film Club	Roof East	Stratford	13:00
23 Jun	Sun	The Princess Bride	Rooftop Film Club	Bussey Building	Peckham	13:00
23 Jun	Sun	Wonka	Vision Cinema	Cator Park	Kidbrooke	13:40
23 Jun	Sun	Bohemian Rhapsody	Rooftop Film Club	Roof East	Stratford	16:30
23 Jun	Sun	The Birdcage	Rooftop Film Club	Bussey Building	Peckham	16:30
23 Jun	Sun	Dune Part 2	Vision Cinema	Cator Park	Kidbrooke	16:45
23 Jun	Sun	All Of Us Strangers	Rooftop Film Club	Bussey Building	Peckham	20:00
23 Jun	Sun	How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days	Rooftop Film Club	Roof East	Stratford	20:15
23 Jun	Sun	Iron Claw	Vision Cinema	Cator Park	Kidbrooke	20:25
24 Jun	Mon	Wonka	Rooftop Film Club	Bussey Building	Peckham	18:00
24 Jun	Mon	But I'm A Cheerleader** (headphones + phone needed)	Canary Wharf Film Club	Canada Square Park	Canary Wharf	19:00
25 Jun	Tue	500 Days Of Summer	Rooftop Film Club	Roof East	Stratford	17:30
25 Jun	Tue	Notting Hill	Rooftop Film Club	Bussey Building	Peckham	18:00
25 Jun	Tue	The Lego Movie	Summer By The City: London Bridge City	Scoop Amphitheatre, More London	London Bridge / Tower	19:00
25 Jun	Tue	Groundhog Day	Canary Wharf Film Club	Canada Square Park	Canary Wharf	19:00
25 Jun	Tue	True Romance	Rooftop Film Club	Roof East	Stratford	20:15
25 Jun	Tue	The Fall Guy	Rooftop Film Club	Bussey Building	Peckham	21:20
26 Jun	Wed	The Birdcage	Rooftop Film Club	Roof East	Stratford	17:30
26 Jun	Wed	Anyone But You	Rooftop Film Club	Bussey Building	Peckham	18:00
26 Jun	Wed	The Beach	Rooftop Film Club	Roof East	Stratford	20:40
26 Jun	Wed	Saltburn	Rooftop Film Club	Bussey Building	Peckham	21:20
27 Jun	Thu	Amelie	Rooftop Film Club	Roof East	Stratford	17:30
27 Jun	Thu	But I'm A Cheerleader	Rooftop Film Club	Bussey Building	Peckham	18:00
27 Jun	Thu	The Wood	Rooftop Film Club	Roof East	Stratford	20:45
28 Jun	Fri	Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind	Rooftop Film Club	Roof East	Stratford	17:30
28 Jun	Fri	Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again	Rooftop Film Club	Bussey Building	Peckham	18:00
28 Jun	Fri	Barbie	BST Hyde Park / BA	Parade Ground, East side of Hyde Park, W2 2UH	Hyde Park	19:00
28 Jun	Fri	Cruel Intentions	Rooftop Film Club	Roof East	Stratford	20:30
28 Jun	Fri	Dirty Dancing	Catford Weekender	Jubilee Grounds: Festival Outdoor Stage	Catford	21:00
29 Jun	Sat	How To Train Your Dragon	Canary Wharf Film Club	Canada Square Park	Canary Wharf	10:30
29 Jun	Sat	The Greatest Showman	Rooftop Film Club	Roof East	Stratford	13:30
29 Jun	Sat	Little Miss Sunshine	Rooftop Film Club	Bussey Building	Peckham	16:30
29 Jun	Sat	Before Sunrise	Rooftop Film Club	Roof East	Stratford	16:45
29 Jun	Sat	About Time	Rooftop Film Club	Roof East	Stratford	20:00
30 Jun	Sun	Migration	Rooftop Film Club	Bussey Building	Peckham	13:00
30 Jun	Sun	10 Things I Hate About You	Rooftop Film Club	Roof East	Stratford	13:30
30 Jun	Sun	To Wong Foo: Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar	Rooftop Film Club	Bussey Building	Peckham	16:30
30 Jun	Sun	Superbad	Rooftop Film Club	Roof East	Stratford	17:00
30 Jun	Sun	Wonka	Canary Wharf Film Club	Canada Square Park	Canary Wharf	17:00
30 Jun	Sun	Beaches	Rooftop Film Club	Bussey Building	Peckham	20:00
30 Jun	Sun	Inception	Rooftop Film Club	Roof East	Stratford	20:30

More emails trying to get a link on your site - this time it's attempted emotional blackmail

 "...Then the Sun shined out warmly, and immediately the traveler took off his cloak." - Aesop's fable The North Wind and the Sun

There are many ways to ask someone to add a link back to your blog or website. People ask because if you link to their site because, when Google indexes the pages and links on your website, Google 'reads' the fact that you've linked to a site as a recommendation, helping it to get higher in search results for particular keywords.

One of my pages receives a disproportionate number of requests (it's a popular page, though not my most popular) from people requesting that I add some link or other, much like a cuckoo leaves its eggs in other bird's nests. 

Of course I'm not having any of it but I am interested in the methods used. 

Recently I wrote about false copyright infringement requests (basically implying a DMCA take-down if you don't add a link) and today, after a BlueSky 'skeet'* from Jenny Shipway about the 'emotional blackmail' variant, decided to blog some examples. 

They're... rather similar (and some of them (one of the examples shown but a common feature in others I've had and since deleted) have an unsubscribe link at the end - why would they have that?!).

 

__________
*skeet is what BlueSky people call their Tweet equivalent. 

Example One

From: [Name and email address redacted]
Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2023 at 17:03
Subject: A note from Ms. [Name redacted]'s class.
To: <Jo>

Hello,

I'm Ms. [Name redacted], a homeschooling teacher, and we wanted to express our gratitude for your helpful webpage: http://brodiesnotes.blogspot.com/2009/07/amrc-member-charities-websites.html. It has been an invaluable resource for our class.  (Edit - this is the page on my site that gets a lot of this!)

During extra credit research, one of our students, [girl's name redacted], came across this informative site: [irrelevant link redacted]. [girl's name redacted] believed it would be a great addition to your page and asked me to reach out to gauge your interest. Your consideration would mean a lot to [girl's name redacted] and our entire class.

We kindly request your thoughts on including this resource. Please let us know your decision, and we'll be eager to share this exciting news with [girl's name redacted] and her peers.

Thank you for your support!

Best regards,
Ms. [Name redacted]
Teacher & School Counselor

 

Example Two

From: [Name and email address redacted]
Date: Fri, Oct 20, 2023 at 12:40 PM
Subject: AstroBoost, Activity ideas and resources
To: <Jenny>

Hi,

My name is [redacted] and I instruct an Astronomy Club for K12 students and just wanted to send a quick email and thanks. I was able to take advantage of some of your activity resources for my lessons (astroboost.org/external-resources). Thank you!

While exploring your page, one of my students, [girls name redacted], noticed you don't have an astronomy page we found together as a class. She thought it'd be a wonderful reference for students or other aspiring astronomers! :) I'll include it in my email below.

Anyways, I hope it's not too much trouble to ask to include it to your page? [Redacted link about space elevators]

[Girl's name redacted] is very shy and doesn't speak up much. I'm so proud of her for stepping out of her comfort zone and recommending a resource!

We meet as a class again tomorrow afternoon and I'd love to show how our recommendation is up for others to explore and learn from! I'm hoping it'll break her out of her shell and volunteer more wonderful ideas in the future. :)

Thanks again!
[redacted]

 

Example Three

From: [Name and email address redacted]
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2024, 18:03
Subject: Can You Help (Your Resource Page)?
To: <Jenny>

Hi,
 
I am [redacted], an educator currently guiding a group of science students on their educational journey. As we explore the world of astronomy, we came across your resource page https://www.ips-planetarium.org/page/resources, and I wanted to express our sincere appreciation for the invaluable information on your website that has greatly benefited our studies.
 
One of our diligent students, [Girl's name redacted], who has a keen interest in data science, discovered an excellent resource on the role of data science in astronomy and interstellar exploration at [Data science in space link redacted]
 
She suggested sharing it with you, believing it could enhance your webpage. We kindly request your consideration even if it's for a short while as it will also inspire our students.
 
Please let me know if you're able to add it to your page so that I can show it to my students. Thank you for your time and potential collaboration.
 
Regards,
 
[Name redacted]
Teacher and advisor at [link redacted]

If you don't want to receive emails like this from me, please let me know here [link redacted].