Durriya Doctor

@mathworks, @iitbombay, PM, sw r&d leader, #iitagne, Mom, #womeninstem #techladies-boston no particular order. opinions are my own for sure

[Durriya Doctor @ddoctor]

I am not a NYer - but this guy is one of the best when it comes to public speaking.

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

here is Mamdani's entire speech at the Knicks parade, which is easily the best speech I've ever heard at an event of this sort

[Nassim Nicholas Taleb @nntaleb]

Today in Haaretz there is an article accusing Israel of being a terrorist state (plus committing crimes against humanity). It was not written by a Marxist member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
It was written by former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert.

[Durriya Doctor @ddoctor]

Hmmm. 🤔

[courtneybonneauimages @cbonneauimages]

I just heard the @BBC radio say that the Israeli army was attacking Hezbollah targets yesterday & they also platformed someone bloviating about how Iran is ‘occupying’ Lebanon.

As a frontline journalist on the ground for the last 18 months, I would like to reiterate that I have not see any Iranian occupation bases in Lebanon. I have not seen any children killed here by Iranian bombs. I haven’t seen the IRGC massacring entire families on a daily basis. The IRGC has not shot at me or killed dozens of my colleagues in targeted attacks. Iran has not been systematically murdering healthcare workers (over 130) in Lebanon.

Israel has violently invaded and occupied Lebanon. The flag flying over the base in Al Khiam is an Israeli flag, not an Iranian flag. (Photo below)

The Lebanese Ministry of Health yesterday reported that 3,613 civilians have been killed and 11,072 have been wounded in Israeli attacks since March 2nd.

[Gianluca Martino @gianlucamart1]

🧵"Desidero che la Papamobile venga trasformata in una clinica mobile e donata ai bambini di Gaza"
Questa è una delle ultime volontà di Papa Francesco prima di morire.
Ad eseguire la disposizione di Papa Francesco, il Vaticano incarica il cardinale svedese Anders Arborelius che a sua volta incarica la Caritas svedese per la trasformazione del veicolo.

Quando la stampa dà la notizia dell'incarico alla Caritas svedese di trasformare la Papamobile in clinica mobile per i bambini di Gaza, scatta la solidarietà dei cittadini svedesi che in pochi giorni inviano alla Caritas cospicue donazioni.

Grazie alle somme raccolte, la Caritas, non solo riesce a trasformare la Papamobile in una clinica mobile fornita di attrezzature mediche di ultima generazione, ma acquista altre 12 ambulanze da inviare a Gaza.

A novembre dello scorso anno, quando i lavori sulla Papamobile sono ultimati, per celebrare l'evento e assolvere all'ultima volontà di Papa Francesco, il Vaticano sceglie Betlemme, la città simbolo per eccellenza della cristianità, la città dove nacque Cristo.
In Piazza della Mangiatoia, il cardinale Anders Arborelius benedice la Papamobile e le ambulanze in partenza verso Gaza.
La Papamobile viene rinominata "Veicolo della Speranza".

Passano giorni, settimane e poi mesi ma gli occupanti israeliani non consentono alla Caritas di fare entrare il Veicolo della Speranza a Gaza.
I rappresentanti del Vaticano e della Caritas chiedono più volte spiegazioni ma Israele si prende gioco di loro inventando storie assurde.
"Non è pervenuta alcuna richiesta di autorizzazione"
E poi ancora: "I materiali sanitari all'interno della Papamobile potrebbero finire nelle mani di Hamas ed essere usati come armi".

E intanto la Papamobile, trasformata in un gioiello della tecnologia medica, in grado di curare 200 bambini al giorno, è ancora lì, dopo sette mesi, sotto una teca in un parcheggio a pochi metri da Piazza della Mangiatoia in attesa di raggiungere i bambini di Gaza.

In uno stupendo articolo scritto dal cardinale Arborelius su ICN, Independent Catholic News (*link nel primo commento) il cardinale si rivolge alle autorità israeliane, chiede, quasi supplica, di lasciare entrare il Veicolo della Speranza ma non rinuncia a scrivere: "Negare le cure mediche ai bambini significa oltrepassare un limite morale che dovrebbe turbare tutti".

Limite morale che non turba i leader politici occidentali che ostentano senza ritegno la loro fede cristiana ma restano in un vile silenzio mentre la colonia di plastica denominata Israele umilia il Vaticano prendendosi gioco delle ultime volontà di un Papa.
Che schifo!

[Durriya Doctor @ddoctor]

Right place right time

[Physics & Astronomy Zone @zone_astronomy]

Last night's Full Flower Moon rising over Statue of Liberty, New York.

Photographers wait years for moments like this.

The Moon doesn't pose. You just have to be ready.

Last night, one photographer was in exactly the right place, at exactly the right second, with exactly the right lens.

[Senator Chris Van Hollen @ChrisVanHollen]

Watch: This is the result of the Trump Admin giving a blank check to the Netanyahu govt’s ongoing settlement expansion and its complicity with settler violence against Palestinians.

We cannot look away.

[Durriya Doctor @ddoctor]

Respect for the Pope in so many ways

[Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex]

Today we celebrate World Press Freedom Day, sponsored by UNESCO. Unfortunately, this right is often violated, sometimes flagrantly, sometimes in hidden ways. Let us remember the many journalists and reporters who are victims of war and violence.

[Durriya Doctor @ddoctor]

@Unseen_Archive @LaraFriedmanDC @UMich As an @UMich alum, I support your call for freedom to express ones opinion. Keep it up

[Christiane Amanpour @amanpour]

As Israeli settlers continue to attack Palestinians across the occupied West Bank. CNN Producer Abeer Salman reports from Umm al-Khair, where razor wire has blocked Palestinian children from going to school.

[Christiane Amanpour @amanpour]

"I support Israel and we must continue to support Israel. But there was a slaughter of the Palestinian people in Gaza." On America's relationship with Israel @wendyrsherman tells me, "things have changed, I spend a lot of time with younger people. I try to listen and learn as my parents did with me during the Vietnam war... Israel must be safe and secure and have peace forever. And the Palestinians have to be able to have dignity and a place they can call their own as well."

[Norwegian Refugee Council @NRC_Norway]

Israeli authorities ordered 42 Palestinians in Batn al-Hawa, half of them children, out by 17 May.
Properties are set to be handed to settler group Ateret Cohanim.
An occupying power cannot remove protected persons except in limited circumstances.
This is forcible transfer.

[NASA History Office @NASAhistory]

Annie Easley, born OTD in 1933, began her career at the NACA (NASA's predecessor) in 1955 as a “human computer.” When machines began to replace human computers for performing complex calculations, Easley adapted, becoming an expert computer programmer.

Easley's 34-year career at NASA furthered research on alternative power and technology on the Centaur rocket.

[Durriya Doctor @ddoctor]

It goes on & on 😢

[Will Christou @will_christou]

Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil was found dead after hours of searching under rubble. She was killed in an Israeli strike, after the Israeli army fired at ambulances trying to reach her, delaying her rescue.

She is the fourth journalist killed by Israel while in the field since 2 March.

She was a professional, kind and dedicated journalist, and always a pleasure to run into in the field.

[Reuters @Reuters]

Israeli strike kills infant girl in south Lebanon during father's funeral https://t.co/boGcDphpay https://t.co/boGcDphpay

[Durriya Doctor @ddoctor]

“No. Not in our name. Not at this moment. Not with our country”

[Christopher Hale @ChristopherHale]

NEW: Pope Leo XIV’s close ally Cardinal Robert McElroy received a standing ovation at the end of his homily, where he called on Catholics to take up civic action to help end the “immoral” war against Iran.

“When we leave this church tonight, we must move beyond prayer. As citizens and believers in this democracy that we cherish so deeply, we must advocate for peace with our representatives and leaders.

“It is not enough to say we have prayed. We must also act. For it is very possible that the negotiations will fail because of recalcitrance on both sides, and the president will move to re-enter this immoral war.

“At that critical juncture, as disciples of Jesus Christ called to be peacemakers in the world, we must answer vocally and in unison:

“No. Not in our name. Not at this moment. Not with our country.”

[Durriya Doctor @ddoctor]

Rational approach

[Barry Rosen @brosen1501]

I was thirty-something years old when Iranian students dragged me into a room and told me I wasn't going anywhere. Four hundred and forty-four days later, I walked out. I've spent the decades since trying to make sense of what happened — and what keeps happening — between our two countries.
So don't talk to me about Iran like it's an abstraction. I lived inside that confrontation. I felt it.
Which is why I'm not ready to write off this ceasefire, even though everything about it is maddening.
Negotiations in Pakistan may produce nothing. The talks could collapse before they get started. I've seen American diplomacy with Iran fail more times than I can count, and usually for the same reasons — too much pride, too little patience, and Israel holding a match in the corner of the room.
But here's what I know in my bones: another war won't break Iran. We just tried. It didn't work. Iran doesn't break — it absorbs, it adapts, and it waits. I watched that stubbornness up close for 444 days.
What bothers me most isn't that Iran is winning this moment — it's that we handed it to them. Tehran's framework is running these negotiations. Iran still controls the Strait of Hormuz. Still collecting tolls. Trump looked at their proposal and called it workable. I never thought I'd see the day, but here we are.
Iran wants everything on the table — sanctions, enrichment rights, American troops out, and a deal that covers what's happening in Lebanon and Gaza too. That's a lot to swallow. And Israel, which wasn't invited to this conversation, is already making clear it has no intention of being constrained by it.
That's the part that worries me the most. Because if Israel keeps bombing and Washington can't or won't stop it, none of this holds.
And yet — and I say this as someone who has every reason to distrust Tehran — I don't think we go back to all-out war. Not because anyone has suddenly gotten wise, but because the math doesn't work. A second round ends the same way. Iran still controls the Strait. The global economy still flinches when Tehran flexes.
What we're heading toward isn't peace. It's something smaller and more precarious — two countries silently agreeing not to destroy each other today, with no paperwork and no guarantees.
I know what it's like to survive on something that fragile. For 444 days, that's all I had.

[Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex]

Those who pray are aware of their own limitations; they do not kill or threaten with death. Instead, death enslaves those who have turned their backs on the living God, turning themselves and their own power into a mute, blind and deaf idol (Ps 115:4–8), to which they sacrifice every value, demanding that the whole world bend its knee. Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war! True strength is shown in serving life. #Peace

[Durriya Doctor @ddoctor]

Totally agree. I have not coded in years and now can build apps with the coding agents. And non technical friends make jokes about its hallucinations

[Andrej Karpathy @karpathy]

Judging by my tl there is a growing gap in understanding of AI capability.

The first issue I think is around recency and tier of use. I think a lot of people tried the free tier of ChatGPT somewhere last year and allowed it to inform their views on AI a little too much. This is a group of reactions laughing at various quirks of the models, hallucinations, etc. Yes I also saw the viral videos of OpenAI's Advanced Voice mode fumbling simple queries like "should I drive or walk to the carwash". The thing is that these free and old/deprecated models don't reflect the capability in the latest round of state of the art agentic models of this year, especially OpenAI Codex and Claude Code.

But that brings me to the second issue. Even if people paid $200/month to use the state of the art models, a lot of the capabilities are relatively "peaky" in highly technical areas. Typical queries around search, writing, advice, etc. are *not* the domain that has made the most noticeable and dramatic strides in capability. Partly, this is due to the technical details of reinforcement learning and its use of verifiable rewards. But partly, it's also because these use cases are not sufficiently prioritized by the companies in their hillclimbing because they don't lead to as much $$$ value. The goldmines are elsewhere, and the focus comes along.

So that brings me to the second group of people, who *both* 1) pay for and use the state of the art frontier agentic models (OpenAI Codex / Claude Code) and 2) do so professionally in technical domains like programming, math and research. This group of people is subject to the highest amount of "AI Psychosis" because the recent improvements in these domains as of this year have been nothing short of staggering. When you hand a computer terminal to one of these models, you can now watch them melt programming problems that you'd normally expect to take days/weeks of work. It's this second group of people that assigns a much greater gravity to the capabilities, their slope, and various cyber-related repercussions.

TLDR the people in these two groups are speaking past each other. It really is simultaneously the case that OpenAI's free and I think slightly orphaned (?) "Advanced Voice Mode" will fumble the dumbest questions in your Instagram's reels and *at the same time*, OpenAI's highest-tier and paid Codex model will go off for 1 hour to coherently restructure an entire code base, or find and exploit vulnerabilities in computer systems. This part really works and has made dramatic strides because 2 properties: 1) these domains offer explicit reward functions that are verifiable meaning they are easily amenable to reinforcement learning training (e.g. unit tests passed yes or no, in contrast to writing, which is much harder to explicitly judge), but also 2) they are a lot more valuable in b2b settings, meaning that the biggest fraction of the team is focused on improving them. So here we are.

[Black Hole @konstructivizm]

Everyone Should Meet Them: WOMEN OF SPACE

These four women represent different generations of space science, from paper calculations to digital systems and the exploration of other planets.

Katherine Johnson: A key mathematician at NASA, she calculated orbital trajectories for historic missions. At a time when computers were still limited, her hand calculations were so reliable that astronauts asked to check the results before launch.

Margaret Hamilton: She led the development of software for the Apollo program. Their work allowed the onboard computer to prioritize tasks during the Apollo 11 lunar landing, avoiding potential failure. It also helped lay the foundations for modern software development.

Diana Trujillo: A Colombian aerospace engineer who participated in the Perseverance rover mission to Mars, where she led the team responsible for the vehicle's robotic arms, a critical system for collecting and analyzing high-precision Martian rock samples. She also led the first Spanish-language broadcast of the Mars landing.

Christina Koch: The NASA astronaut holds the record for the longest continuous stay in space by a woman, at 328 days. She participated in the first all-female spacewalk. And recently, she became the woman who has been farthest from Earth.

[Durriya Doctor @ddoctor]

Lamb a d eggplant samosa 🧐

[Dr. M.F. Khan @Dr_TheHistories]

The samosa is one of the most eaten street foods on the planet. This is a 500-year-old recipe for it, written in Persian in a manuscript sitting in the British Museum.

The manuscript is called the Ni'matnama, the Book of Delights, written between 1501-1510 AD, for the Sultan of Mandu in central India. It passed through the hands of the Mughal Emperor Akbar, Tipu Sultan of Mysore, and the British East India Company before ending up in what is now the British Museum, where it has sat ever since.

The samosa recipe inside calls for roasted aubergine (eggplant) pulp, dried ginger, and lamb cooked completely dry with onion and garlic, all fried in ghee. No potatoes, no chilli. Both arrived in India after this manuscript was written.

This is the samosa before it became street food. It is richer, more perfumed, and more obviously royal than anything you will find at a street stall today.

© Eats History

#drthehistories