Site Unseen

“She was the first female programmer hired to work on the Apollo project, housed at M.I.T.’s Instrumentation Laboratory, in 1965. Her skills led to her promotion to director of software engineering on the project, which developed the two 70-pound onboard computers for the Apollo flights: one in the command module, which carried the astronauts from Earth, and the second in the lunar module, which set down on the moon’s surface. Ms. Hamilton, who would bring her young daughter to work on weekends and evenings, is credited with popularizing the term ‘software engineering’ to describe the complexity of the work her team did, thus elevating software coding to a status equal to hardware design.” Margaret Hamilton, The Woman Whose Software Guided the Apollo Missions Has Died.

+ “Long before software engineering became a boys’ club — the exclusive domain of tech bros and a mythical force that threatens to either transform the world or snuff it out — it was just Margaret’s thing. ‘There goes Margaret with her software engineering,’ Margaret Hamilton recalled being ribbed by her colleagues in the 1960s at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Instrumentation Laboratory.” Before Computer Science Became a Boys’ Club, Margaret Hamilton Wrote the Code.

“Whether any of the men are guilty of rape is a matter for the New York court system. However, the evidence we have so far convicts them of being cruel, misogynistic jerks who deserve the punishments they have already received. Those Snapchat messages are both revealing and incriminating, because they demonstrate the emotional dynamics of the night more clearly than any witness statement ever could. These men saw Jane Doe not as a fellow human being, but as a vending machine dispensing bro points they could cash in with their buddies.” Helen Lewis in The Atlantic (Gift Article): The Simple Truth Behind Jane Doe’s Story.

+ Of course, in this era, social media is touching every part of this case. It’s where the accused shared messages about the victim. It’s where toxic attempted doxxing has taken place. It’s where it seems nearly everyone has shared an opinion on the situation. That even includes the New York Attorney General, now assigned to the case. Accused Cornell fraternity member pushes to remove New York AG as special investigator over alleged bias.

“Kimberly Guilfoyle was preparing for her congressional hearing to become U.S. ambassador to Greece when she reached out to a Trump donor with an urgent request: She needed $100,000 that she said she owed American Express—in a way that wouldn’t leave a paper trail. ‘It won’t show up anywhere if you wire money to American Express … Please.'” WSJ (Gift Article): ‘Honey Please’: Kimberly Guilfoyle Pushed Donor to Wire $100,000 to Her Amex Account. “Text messages with a MAGA ally show her seeking funds and offering access to top administration officials ahead of her confirmation as ambassador to Greece.” (She didn’t ultimately get the payoff. If she had, she probably would have gotten a promotion.) Den ypárchei kapnós chorís fotiá – There is no smoke without fire. And given the widespread nature of the administration’s corruption, we’re going to be putting out these fires for years to come. In the Trump version of the Odyssey, the Trojan horse was actually filled with cash (and crypto).

The Betrayed: For some, the failures in Iran are about more than a temporary hike in oil prices. “US President Donald Trump encouraged Iranian citizens to ‘keep protesting’ and promised on January 13 that help was on its way. Scores of Iranians who took to the streets have since been charged with treason for allegedly cooperating with Iran’s enemies. At least 34 people have been executed for taking part in the January protests. Thousands have been jailed … Iran’s security apparatus is also reaching across borders to target Iranians who protested from exile. Interviews with dozens of Iranians in Armenia, Turkey and Georgia reveal how Iran is curbing opposition abroad by threatening family members in Iran, cancelling passports and withholding consular services.” Reuters: Iran’s wartime hunt for protesters at home and abroad ushers in a new era of repression.

+ Oct 7: “Hours after some Jewish leaders denounced Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s remarks about the attacks on Israel, activists interrupted a vigil to call him a traitor to the Palestinian cause.” For Mamdani, Oct. 7 Anniversary Sets Off Anger and Bitterness. (If you missed it, I wrote about Oct 7 yesterday.)

+ Wag the Don: “The stretch of relative tranquility is coinciding with the final phase of the midterm-election campaign, and the assumption has been that President Trump will want to keep it going through November 3 so as not to remind voters of an unpopular war that is dragging Republican candidates down nationwide. But that may not be what happens.” The Atlantic (Gift Article): Trump Is Considering a Plan to Strike Iran Before the Midterms. (Given that the war is about the only thing less popular than Trump, striking before the midterms for political purposes would make absolutely no sense. But that factor has rarely impacted decision-making in this administration.)

+ Bad Rep: “Amanda Ghost, a film producer, is not a sex trafficker. Jessica Serfaty, a model and actress, is not a prostitute. And Alexa Nikolas has never been charged with a crime. But anonymous websites that accused the women of wrongdoing — allegations that the three women have said are outright lies — popped up seemingly out of nowhere, as they each faced the most bitter disputes of their lives.” How to Destroy a Reputation in Hollywood, as Told in 5 Women’s Lawsuits.

+ De Bomb: “The calls often come in from metal detectorists and magnet fishers, hobbyists who throw strong magnets into waterways to see what comes up. They surge on bank holidays, when people are out walking and notice things underfoot, or catching up on tasks such as clearing out a grandparent’s home. Not long ago, the bomb-disposal unit was called to deal with a mortar that had been used for 20 years as a paperweight.” The Guardian on the art of defusing a Second World War bomb. (Which is still a very common request.)

+ A Good Working Oeuvre: “The Canadian poet and essayist Anne Carson was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday by the Swedish Academy, which cited ‘her bold and inventive oeuvre that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature.'”

+ Artificial Intelligence Meets Real Cowardice: “Seventy years ago last summer, a group of scientists met at Dartmouth College to discuss a wild idea—that machines might one day be capable of humanlike thought processes. One of those scientists, John McCarthy, had suggested a name for the new field: artificial intelligence. It stuck. When you search Google Scholar for ‘artificial intelligence,’ approximately 7,420,000 results appear. The term is utterly ubiquitous. Everyone understands it. Even for people who despise AI, the least of their worries is what we call it.” Steven Levy: Trump’s Crazy AI Rebrand Was a Loyalty Test for Tech Execs—and It Worked.

+ Finally, Somewhere to Get a Cup of Coffee! “A county program that gives out licenses to micro-enterprise food and beverage businesses has led to a quadrupling of the spots since the beginning of the year. The program prohibits outdoor signage, so customers led by Instagram and word-of-mouth are lining up at the secret locations for a private-garden experience.” LA Homes Turn Into New Artisanal Coffee Spots.

“William Arnold drove 900 miles from his home in Cornwall this summer to a windswept pay phone on the Isle of Lewis. When he got there, he pulled out a big bag of coins and started making calls, 52 of them to be precise. In doing so, he ensured the phone booth met the minimum threshold of a call a week to stay in service another year.” WSJ (Gift Article): The Quest to Save Rural Pay Phones, 52 Calls at a Time.