Alexander (Sasha) Wait Zaranek @wait_sasha@scholar.social
#Arvados founder; Harvard Personal Genome Project (PGP) and #Curii co-founder.
#AI #BigData #Genomics #FreeKnowledge #FreedomToTinker #RightToRepair #FOSS #OpenScience #Vegan #Fedi22
Joined May 2022
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Hello #fediverse! I'm a scientist and entrepreneur interested in #freeknowledge business models and reimagining scholarship to be more diverse and inclusive. I've used #FOSS commercially for thirty years. ❤️
More stuff: I'm an atheist Jew. Born in Kyiv, #Ukraine. Family fled USSR in 70s via Italy. First language Russian. Grew up in Canada and a Canadian citizen. Lived longest in USA where I met my spouse and had a kid. We now live across the fence from our best friends. #introduction
Alexander (Sasha) Wait Zaranek
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looking for work
Hello fedi, as I'm looking for work, would you please lend me a hand and spread the word?
In short, I can do Chinese--English / English--Chinese translations. And I'm pretty good at it.
I used to translate for the New York Times. After getting my PhD in physics, I worked for the publisher SpringerNature as an editor, but my experience there only further radicalised me against the unethical practice of "academic publishing", and I quitted.
My career in science also saw me accumulating 15+ years' experience with C/C++/Python, contributing to projects such as scipy, numpy, etc. That made me a decent tech writer of documentations, too.
I actually quite enjoy translating -- so much so that I have a page set up for that -> https://ko-fi.com/post/Index-to-the-poems-live-document-O5O6EPXJY
Samples are available on request. I am capable of most commercial translation projects in Chinese/English. In my spare time, my language skills are further honed by my Ukrainian/Russian/French/Sanskrit/Old English projects.
Kidlet is enjoying reading outside as much as I did when I was a kid! Gorgeous day for it. ♥️☀️🍃
She has been reading "Warriors" books and just started second series. A good start to 4th grade.
I have been falling asleep to audiobook versions and find them engaging enough to make the serious time commitment while also finding them genuinely fun. So much better for my sleep "hygiene" than other options.
Going for a bike ride before weather makes this no fun.
President Biden on threat of MAGA Republicans
Video is worth watching if you didn't catch it live. 💔🇺🇲🇺🇲
Alexander (Sasha) Wait Zaranek
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Incredibly sad news tonight: Peter Eckersley, a sweet human and great champion of a better Internet has died unexpectedly. Such a sad loss personally and globally. https://twitter.com/jsrailton/status/1565916902098182144
Alexander (Sasha) Wait Zaranek
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Many of us are busy giving some final touches to our syllabi.
I always find Shannon Mattern's open-access syllabi incredibly thoughtful and inspiring. Here is one particularly relevant to the beginning of a semester, a reflection on "Syllabus" in her graduate course "Redesigning the Academy":
President Biden on threat of MAGA Republicans
Watching this live, last night, I couldn't help wonder if America still has some chance of repudiating Trumpism. 💔🇺🇲🇺🇲
American democracy has always been fragile. No illusions there.
This morning I'm again feeling we have already fallen through the event horizon of the abyss. And, still, very much hoping I'm wrong.
President Biden on threat of MAGA Republicans
"Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.
Now, I want to be very clear — (applause) — very clear up front: Not every Republican, not even the majority of Republicans, are MAGA Republicans. Not every Republican embraces their extreme ideology."
Home from Erie, PA. Driving is much cheaper than flying for a similar length journey door-to-door. 💔♥️
OMFG so tiring as only driver.
And Sarah drove with us whole way. Her conclusion is that flying didn't seem to help at all.
US Attorney General, Trump
Affidavit says they suspected further classified documents at Mar-a-lago justifying a warrant for search and seizure. And, indeed, they found them (according to recent reports.) 💔🇺🇲🇺🇲
Wonder which parts of GOP machinery will peel away from Trump as this unfolds?
Unredacted parts are plenty to put an ordinary person in prison for a long time.
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.617854/gov.uscourts.flsd.617854.102.1.pdf
Alexander (Sasha) Wait Zaranek
boosted
uspol: public funding of research, new free and open mandate
"... the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) updated U.S. policy guidance to ... federal departments and agencies [who must] ... update their public access policies ... to make publications and research funded by taxpayers publicly accessible, without an embargo or cost ... no later than December 31, 2025."
We frequently visit parents in Erie, PA and this year is no exception. A few years back we realized we loved extra space and convenience of staying in an AirBnb. Then we found a great landlord who gives us discounts on their new properties. This is third one we stayed in and it has a kid's play kitchen, great A/C and is generally super nice. ♥️
For this trip kidlet and I drove and Sarah flew. We picked her up in Buffalo, NY and drove rest of way together. No rental + fewer bumps for Sarah!
Large bunny eats a leaf in our backyard. Giant sunflower is so big. ♥️🐇🌻
So much construction in Somerville these days keeps us from actually getting to our street. Often walking home from whatever random place I was able to park the car.
US Attorney General, Trump
https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/22131381/read-trumps-mar-a-lago-search-warrant.pdf via @CaribenxMarciaX
Warrant and items seized. 💔🇺🇲🇺🇲
There is no "positive" way to spin this. And even GOP is realizing this can of worms may well harm them in midterms (which is all the seem to care about.)
Trump clearly has no problem sharing military secrets to enrich himself. I wonder if GOP still close ranks around Trump as even more evidence emerges of #treason?
And FWIW I hate referring to anyone as a "traitor." Fits here.
Biking, fun
Kidlet and I got a #bike rack so we can go for longer and more interesting adventures. ♥️🚴♀️🚴♂️
Plan was to drive somewhere and bike home. And then I can bike back and get our car while kidlet stays home with Sarah. There is a bit of a walk from bike path since kidlet still not biking on roads.
Tried this out today with so much success and pride. Still shy #biking with her friends but so happy with me.
Now we have to get Sarah's bike fixed up.
Biking adventures unlocked!
US Attorney General, Trump
A report that FBI agents searched for classified documents related to nuclear weapons at Donald Trump's Florida resort could explain the urgency of the unprecedented operation at the home of an ex-President and takes his showdown with the Justice Department to a grave new level.
US Attorney General, Trump
USAG motion to #ShowUsTheWarrant is a strong message for #TraitorsToAmerica! 💔🇺🇲🇺🇲
"On Thursday night, the Washington Post reported that highly sensitive records, including classified documents related to nuclear weapons, were among the materials sought by the Justice Department."
“I personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant in this matter,” Garland said Thursday. “The department does not take such a decision lightly."
Appeasement and Russian aggression
"14 years ago today, on August 7, 2008, in blatant violation of international law, Russia launched a war of aggression against Georgia. The ramifications of this war are now vividly felt all over Europe. Russian aggression that went largely unpunished has engendered the Annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the full-scale illegal, unjustified, and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine in 2022."#UkraineInvasion #Russia #RussiaGeorgiaWar
https://violavoncramon.eu/neuigkeiten/inhalt/russia-georgia-war
Alexander (Sasha) Wait Zaranek
boosted
So apparently I'm presenting at @SummerSchool tomorrow.
And the focus of the talk - taking a course sequence in the physical sciences and driving its cost to students down to zero - is now oddly relevant in the face of Pearson (#norelation) announcing a plan for electronic textbooks as non-fungible tokens. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/aug/02/pearson-plans-to-sell-its-textbooks-as-nfts
Sign up to attend and hear how one small-school prof fights back: https://summerschool.scholar.social/2022/participants-signup/
#Arvados founder; Harvard Personal Genome Project (PGP) and #Curii co-founder.
#AI #BigData #Genomics #FreeKnowledge #FreedomToTinker #RightToRepair #FOSS #OpenScience #Vegan #Fedi22
Joined May 2022
