The hottest Standards Substack posts right now

Imperial and Metric systems both have their advantages and stories behind them, with Metric offering precision in calculations and Imperial reflecting historical ways of measuring based on human experience.
The history of measurement systems shows the challenges in implementing consistent standards, like how France struggled in the 18th century with different measures and Napoleon faced resistance in enforcing the Metric system in the early 19th century.
While Metric is efficient for scientific and engineering accuracy, Imperial measurements still offer unique perspectives and connections to everyday experiences that make both systems valuable.

A retracted paper revealed resistance in academia to the idea of certain subjects or institutions having more merit than others, especially regarding external hierarchies.
In academia, there appears to be a growing trend of reluctance towards acknowledging external hierarchies, potentially leading to declining standards and subjects being vulnerable to market pressures.
Editorial actions and societal trends reflect a shift towards more egalitarian philosophies in academia, raising concerns about defending academic standards and traditional disciplines against cost-cutting measures.

Workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion programs are facing challenges and skepticism.
DEI interventions should be seen as psychological interventions and held to appropriate standards to ensure they do not cause harm.
There is a lack of formal and rigorous evaluation of DEI programs, which hinders the ability to determine their effectiveness.

European standards body may make new encryption algorithms public due to backlash over secrecy.
Previously kept secret algorithms had major flaws, prompting consideration for greater transparency.
Independent researchers found vulnerabilities, including intentional backdoors, in old encryption algorithms in use for over 25 years.

Eliminating magnet schools and abolishing standards hurts Black students
Portland's new grading policy includes considering 'non-academic factors' in student grading
Lowering expectations and politicizing education can harm Black students

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The new Intel Thunderbolt 5 specification offers up to 120 Gbps bandwidth with PAM3 signaling.
Thunderbolt 5 is backward compatible with Thunderbolt 4, providing faster charging, networking, and PCIe speed.
PAM3 signaling in Thunderbolt 5 enables increased speed and efficiency by transmitting three bits per two transfers.

PCI Express 7.0 is expected to arrive in 2027 or 2028.
Despite new standards for AI and machine learning, PCI Express remains relevant for memory support and compute expansion.
PCI-SIG is still actively developing and growing the PCIe standard.

Snapchat's My AI feature faced backlash when they made it a paid subscription; users are not happy.
Google merged Google Brain and DeepMind into Google DeepMind, possibly affecting product innovation.
Google Cloud announced Google Cloud AI Workbench with security tools, showing innovation in a competitive space.

Upcoming London meetup on 19th July will focus on 'International Standards for AI.'
The event will also cover how to avoid becoming an 'ornamental' data scientist.
Guest speaker Dr. Florian Ostmann from The Alan Turing Institute will lead the discussion.

The Central Bank of Nigeria issued guidelines for contactless payments in the country, aiming to standardize operations and promote innovation while ensuring financial system stability.
Banks, financial institutions, and payment service providers are required to adhere to these guidelines, implement risk management processes, and maintain relevant standards for contactless payments.
Participants in contactless payments in Nigeria must download and adhere to Circular PSM/DIR/PUB/CIR/001/039 available on the Central Bank of Nigeria's website.