1c flour
1c sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4tsp salt

1 oz toasted sesame oil
1 oz earth balance buttery spread (or, butter)
1/2 oz neutral oil
1 oz tahini

2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs

1/2 c soy milk (or, milk)

1 tbsp sesame seeds

Whisk the dry ingredients together. Melt the butter. Whisk in the tahini, then the oils, then the eggs and vanilla, then the milk. Add the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Bake at 350 in a 9-inch cake pan; I used a parchment liner. After 5 or 10 minutes, sprinkle the sesame seeds on top, then continue baking for a total of 20 minutes.

I thought it was pretty good, but I would have made the following changes:
1. Bake it for two more minutes
2. Try a little less sugar -- maybe 7/8c
3. More sesame seeds

Attachment: A brown/silver Maine Coon cat sleeping curled up under some wire shelving next to a cardboard box. He has crammed himself into a very small space.

Attachment: A brown/silver Maine Coon cat sleeping curled up under some wire shelving next to a cardboard box. His white back paw sticks out next to his head at a funny angle.]]> https://honk.novalis.org/u/novalis/h/bb4W6p5V99m1PT4hfb Thu, 14 May 2026 23:32:56 UTC https://honk.novalis.org/u/novalis/h/bb4W6p5V99m1PT4hfb You know how there's Wikipedia, and then there's the spin-off Wiktionary for words, and Wikidata for data? They should do one for units of measure. They could call it Wikifeet.

Note that the diagram is a little misleading. An octopus does not have a north arm and a south arm as shown here. It has four arms on the left, and four on the right.

So here we see that the frontmost of the left arms is directly connected to the rearmost of the left arms, but this connection bypasses the other two left arms. It is, however, connected directly with the third arm back on the right.

#octopus #wtf

Attachment: Diagram from Nature paper, with a schematic showing which arms are connected with nerve cords. The caption is: “*Arm control*: Octopuses coordinate their eight arms using a network of intramuscular nerve cords that bypass the brain. Each connects arms separated by two others. Separate nerve fibres, the axial nerve cords, connect the arms to the brain.” Source: Arm-control diagram, A. Kuuspalu et al. Curr. Biol. 32, 5415-5421 (2022) ]]> https://mathstodon.xyz/@mjd/116528109322991755 Wed, 06 May 2026 14:31:31 UTC https://mathstodon.xyz/@mjd/116528109322991755 Apple TV has just produced a version of the Scottish Play set on a plane: MacBeth Air.

She would have just had a UUID.

Attachment: Two frames: Bilbo Baggins, looking at a phone. Beneath that, a conversation with ChatGPT on a phone screen. Bilbo: "After all, why not? Why shouldn't I keep it?" ChatGPT: "You're absolutely right — you found it, it's been with you a long while, and it's only natural to feel fond of something that's served you so well, especially when someone like Gandalf suddenly seems to want it for himself."]]> https://mas.to/@swelljoe/116413169851882694 Fri, 17 Apr 2026 10:49:34 UTC https://mas.to/@swelljoe/116413169851882694 Age verification is a deliberate attack on system sovereignty, both for individuals and countries. There’s no “age verifcation”, there is only “identity verification that includes age”, and the system doing that verification is not just a privacy-invasive user tracking system but a remotely controlled off switch for anyone of any age.

https://income-tax-body-count.lav.io/

Attachment: A screenshot of a license-plate aspect ratio sticker in NASCAR style design, but stating NAZGUL on the top, and RING SERIES below]]> https://bitbang.social/@NanoRaptor/116223876063787194 Fri, 13 Mar 2026 21:02:30 UTC https://bitbang.social/@NanoRaptor/116223876063787194 If I were a paying OpenAI customer, I'd feel as proud of that fact today as a Tesla owner did one year ago.

Attachment: ]]> https://dirtyknight.life/objects/be728674-8ae2-434b-8e6a-9afcafb510f3 Fri, 27 Feb 2026 23:11:38 UTC https://dirtyknight.life/objects/be728674-8ae2-434b-8e6a-9afcafb510f3 Kai Huang's 2012 Functions was dramatically more elegant than this year's, because of the constraint. Functions (2026) is less about the sequential ahas of figuring out the functions, and more about grinding through to figure out what X and Y can go into g(X, a(Y)). Several of Kai's functions were really fun, while these were rather straightforward. Weirdly, the solution page for the 2026 puzzle doesn't mention Kai's as an inspiration, which seems odd, given that the puzzle has exactly the same name and a very similar conceit.

At least when Allie Goertz covers Nine Inch Nails, missing the point is the point.

Attachment: A square marble tile with a shiny metal ball on it next to some papers and a coffee mug. ]]> https://toot.cafe/@codepo8/116011676439857924 Wed, 04 Feb 2026 18:28:46 UTC https://toot.cafe/@codepo8/116011676439857924 Just tried to get a 1099-INT from my bank. It's under Settings. Wow.

• Claude's constitution

This is the toughest time to work at a charity. When a charity posts its fundraiser, the total ask has been vetted 100 times: it's the amount that the org needs to keep going for the coming year.

Unlike your local PBS/NPR station, #SFC doesn't have a service we can interrupt to
pitch appeals for donations (& we probably wouldn't even if we did).

#SFC is short $48k with just days to go.

If you want me & my colleagues to work for #SoftwareFreedom in 2026, please give.

Attachment: "Reading sports headlines while pretending sports doesn't exist suggests a fascinating world of magic and whimsy" Series of headlines" Darius Slay says he was "this close" to becoming a Raven David Montgomery was pursued by Vikings, Bears Transfer Portal Created in Good Faith, But is Out of Control Wolf Enters Transfer Portal Wizards and Raptors injury reports]]> https://chitter.xyz/@Alephwyr/115867161387673372 Sat, 10 Jan 2026 02:53:56 UTC https://chitter.xyz/@Alephwyr/115867161387673372 Are you playing along with Only Connect? Want your chance to do the wall yourself instead of just yelling at the screen? Play along with this vibecoded tampermonkey user script) on OCDB. Public domain, as Gemini wrote it.

You can still yell at the screen, but only about categories that you solved.

Attachment: A figure in a hooded nudibranch hoodie, holding a bottle of watermelon scent spray. The hoodie is blue with orange rhinophores, oral hood tentacles, and cerata. The hood covers the figure's face.]]> https://honk.novalis.org/u/novalis/h/nykC312S8Y8VsxJvS1 Sun, 07 Dec 2025 02:28:47 UTC https://honk.novalis.org/u/novalis/h/nykC312S8Y8VsxJvS1