Mark reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source
The media in this post is not displayed to visitors. To view it, please go to the original post.

Entropy distinguishes future from past. Entropy is defined as decreasing order.

Order is defined in multiple ways, at multiple scales. Matter with more lines of symmetry has greater order; periodic repetition is more orderly.

Consider an ant: The body of the ant consists of repeated patterns. Molecules of DNA & RNA, clusters of similar cells form organs.

Consider a deconstructed ant; a symmetrical array of perfectly sorted plies of elements.

Which one is more ordered?

reshared this

Mark reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source
The media in this post is not displayed to visitors. To view it, please go to the original post.

Martialis heureka is an ant first described in 2000 from Amazon rainforest near Manaus, Brazil. It's name means "from Mars" because it's so different from all other known ants.

This isn't just a new genus (which would be exciting enough) it's a whole new ant family and it's only been recognized in the past 30 years. This means that there are undoubtably more ants out there that define whole new morphologies of ants. #rareAnt

1/

#rareant
This entry was edited (Saturday, February 8, 2025, 10:28 AM)

Mark reshared this.

Mark reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source
Chemical Companies Ask Trump’s EPA To Hide Potential Disasters levernews.com/chemical-compani…

Chemical Companies Ask Trump’s EPA To Hide Potential Disasters

Biden increased transparency around the risks of chemical disaster — industry lobbyists just asked Trump’s new EPA chief Lee Zeldin to roll that back.
The Lever

reshared this

Mark reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source
The media in this post is not displayed to visitors. To view it, please go to the original post.
Having a rum and coke tonight on my dad’s birthday. I’d give pretty much anything to hear him laugh again. Not because it was hard to make him laugh, but because it was so easy. He’s totally responsible for my dopey sense of humour 🥹
Mark reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source
The media in this post is not displayed to visitors. To view it, please go to the original post.

So I finally turned a recent popular post here into a proper story.

Teen on Musk’s DOGE Team Graduated from ‘The Com’

Wired reported this week that a 19-year-old working for Elon Musk‘s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was given access to sensitive US government systems even though his past association with cybercrime communities should have precluded him from gaining the necessary security clearances to do so. As today’s story explores, the DOGE teen is a former denizen of ‘The Com,’ an archipelago of Discord and Telegram chat channels that function as a kind of distributed cybercriminal social network for facilitating instant collaboration.

krebsonsecurity.com/2025/02/te…

Teen on Musk’s DOGE Team Graduated from ‘The Com’

Wired reported this week that a 19-year-old working for Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was given access to sensitive US government systems even though his past association with cybercrime communities should have prec…
krebsonsecurity.com

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

Carl Sagan Predicts the Decline of America: Unable to Know “What’s True,” We Will Slide, “Without Noticing, Back into Superstition & Darkness” (1995)

"I have a foreboding of an America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time — when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness…"

openculture.com/2025/02/carl-s…

#USPolitics

Carl Sagan Predicts the Decline of America: Unable to Know "What’s True,” We Will Slide, “Without Noticing, Back into Superstition & Darkness” (1995)

Image by Kenneth Zirkel, via Wikimedia Commons There have been many theories of how human history works. Some, like German thinker G.W.F.
OC (Openculture.com)
#uspolitics

Minnesota 123456 reshared this.

Mark reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source
The media in this post is not displayed to visitors. To view it, please go to the original post.
Well played, Time, well played.

reshared this

Mark reshared this.

bridgy-fed - Link to source
The media in this post is not displayed to visitors. To view it, please go to the original post.
New Time Magazine cover just dropped. (Yes, it’s real.)

reshared this

Mark reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source
The media in this post is not displayed to visitors. To view it, please go to the original post.

This is pretty incredible. In the bowels of the UT Insect Collection we’ve found some Chagas bugs collected and identified by Carlos Chagas himself!

#Entomology #Reduviidae #ChagasDisease

#entomology #reduviidae #chagasdisease
Mark reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source

I'm using facebook for one more month. Facebook simply will not show you the things the people you follow post. For example, an old school friend posted a photo of a frog on his front door. Just what I want to see on social media! "look at this frog!" perfect content A++

Facebook hid it. My feed is full of other random stuff.

So, now I just click on "friends" and look individually at what everyone has posted. Much more enjoyable. If I were going to stay I'd write a script to automate this.

reshared this

Mark reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source

Musk shields his finances as he hoards private data of millions of Americans
rawstory.com/elon-musk-financi…

#ElonMusk #DOGE #Swastikars #Gaslighter #RacistMusk #NaziMusk #PresidentMusk #TwitterIsGoingGreat #Shitter #Elno #FuckElonMusk #RhodesiaMusk #EETD #ElonPutz #BoycottTSLA #USPol

Musk shields his finances as he hoards private data of millions of Americans: report

Elon Musk vowed "maximum transparency" in his government work but won't even share his financial disclosures, according to a new report.
Travis Gettys (Raw Story)
#uspol #elonmusk #elonputz #eetd #doge #shitter #PresidentMusk #fuckElonMusk #elno #NaziMusk #gaslighter #racistmusk #twitterisgoinggreat #rhodesiamusk #boycotttsla #swastikars

reshared this

Mark reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source

BUT at least she's blonde!

Trump’s new 'White House Faith Office' pick claimed 'demonic' forces stole 2020 election
alternet.org/trump-benen-paula…

#PaulaWhite #StopTrumpNow #TrumpDidThis #RepublicansDidThis #RepublicansOwnThis #GOPKakistocracy #GOPWeirdos #NoRepublicansEverAgain #USPol

Trump’s new 'White House Faith Office' pick claimed 'demonic' forces stole 2020 election

When President Donald Trump spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday morning, February 6, he attacked Democrats as anti-religion — claiming, "They oppose religion, they oppose God.
Alex Henderson (Alternet.org)
#uspol #gopweirdos #norepublicanseveragain #TrumpDidThis #StopTrumpNow #republicansdidthis #gopkakistocracy #republicansownthis #PaulaWhite
This entry was edited (Friday, February 7, 2025, 7:46 PM)

Mark reshared this.

Mark reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source
The media in this post is not displayed to visitors. To view it, please go to the original post.
One of the world's eeriest war memorials has to be the Ossuary of Douaumont, Verdun, northern France. A large, oblong building holds the remains of 130,000 unidentified World War I soldiers. It is possible to look through small openings in the base and see masses of bones and skulls. Above the skeleton-filled basement is a cloister with a long hall with inscriptions on the walls. In the centre is a 150-foot tower, in which a rotating red-and-white 'lantern of the dead' shines its beacon over the surrounding former battlefields at night. The tower also contains a 2-tonne bronze 'death bell', which is rung on official occasions. In front of the ossuary stretches a vast cemetery of white crosses. #graveyard #war #peace #gothic #history #architecture #death
#history #architecture #war #Peace #death #gothic #graveyard

reshared this

Mark reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source
Der Absatz von #Tesla bricht im Januar im Vergleich zum Vorjahresmonat europaweit dramatisch ein. Eine falsche Modellpolitik und die extremistischen Ausfälle von Elon Musk vergraulen immer mehr Käufer:innen.
Dazu auch mein Video: youtu.be/8Wt4LXBFVFA
electrek.co/2025/02/05/tesla-s…

Tesla sales dropped 60% in Germany

Tesla’s sales have dropped nearly 60% in January in Germany compared to the same period last year. The same thing...
Fred Lambert (Electrek)
#Tesla

reshared this

in reply to Volker Quaschning

mastodon - Link to source

kernpanik 🐾 🕊️ ☮ 🖖

Die spannenden Fragen sind: Wie sahen die Verkäufe der Konkurrenz im gleichen Zeitraum aus? Welche Rolle spielt der Wunsch, beim Autokauf keinen Extremisten zu unterstützen? Und wen unterstützt man, wenn man statt eines #Tesla einen #VW oder #BYD kauft?

(Spoiler: Bei #Volkswagen profitiert unter anderem die Folterdiktatur #Katar als drittgrößter Anteilseigner, bei BYD sind es u.a. Warren Buffett, #BlackRock und der nicht gerade menschenrechtsfreundliche chinesische Staat.)

#Tesla #vw #volkswagen #byd #blackrock #Katar
Mark reshared this.

akkoma - Link to source

#Mastodon and #Bluesky also appeals to two substantially different groups of people:

  1. People who hate Twitter but want a microblogging service use Mastodon. They love Mastodon because it’s specifically not Twitter.
  2. People who love Twitter but hate what it’s become under Elon Musk use #Bluesky. They love Bluesky because it’s specifically like Twitter.

A Twitter alternative cannot be a true Twitter alternative if the appeal is that it’s not Twitter.

#mastodon #bluesky

reshared this

Mark reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source

Happy birthday to civil rights activist Rosa Parks, who was born on this day in 1913 ✊

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Par…

#RosaParks #CivilRights #OTD #OnThisDay #BlackHistory #BlackHistoryMonth

African-American civil rights activist (1913–2005)

Contributors to Wikimedia projects (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.)
#BlackHistory #otd #onthisday #civilrights #blackhistorymonth #rosaparks
Mark reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source

At first, I thought Trump's new Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs could not possibly have said what was being attributed to him.

Then I found his actual tweet. It's true.
x.com/DarrenJBeattie/status/18…

"Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work."

i cant even

x.com

X (formerly Twitter)

reshared this

Mark reshared this.

akkoma - Link to source
#mastodon #fediverse #activitypub #misskey #Lemmy #bluesky #pixelfed #twitter
This entry was edited (Tuesday, February 4, 2025, 7:14 PM)
in reply to Sebastiaan Ammerlaan 🇳🇱

akkoma - Link to source

Chris Trottier

Well, there’s a few ways to approach the question of Bluesky.

First off, there’s no question that Bluesky has a more inviting UI/UX to people migrating away from Twitter. This can’t be helped since Bluesky is more Twitter-like than Mastodon.

But it also didn’t help that several marginalized groups, including Black folk, found a hostile environment here when they attempted to migrate in November 2022.

And while we can point at the tech here on Mastodon and say, “More decentralized!” the other fact is that Bluesky has tools to make life slightly more easier for some marginalized groups. For example, Bluesky has comment controls whereas Mastodon does not.

This entry was edited (Tuesday, February 4, 2025, 6:53 PM)
in reply to Sebastiaan Ammerlaan 🇳🇱

mastodon - Link to source

FOSStastic

@bammerlaan The messenger app #Signal is not run by a non-profit organisation or a charity.

Instead the service is provided by a for-profit company: Signal Messenger LLC
signal.org/legal
wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_Mess…

It is similar in structure to #Mozilla, where they also mix the non-profit and the for-profit organisations together on their websites. This confuses users in my opinion.

Accordingly #Firefox is developed by the Mozilla Corporation, not by the Mozilla Foundation.

American non-profit organization

Contributors to Wikimedia projects (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.)
#mozilla #firefox #signal @Sebastiaan Ammerlaan 🇳🇱
in reply to FOSStastic

mastodon - Link to source

David Chisnall (*Now with 50% more sarcasm!*)

@fosstastic @bammerlaan In both cases, I believe, the for-profit company is owned entirely by the non-profit. This structure is often in place because it lets you take donations easily as well as money for specific tasks. Donations, to be tax exempt, must not come with any specific return to the donor (the enforcement of this is, uh, somewhat variable). The Signal Corporation can, for example, provide consulting for integrating secure E2EE into other platforms and take money for this, which can go towards improving and maintaining Signal. The Signal Foundation could not. As with any corporation, the Signal LLC is accountable to its owner. The Signal Foundation is the owner and must justify that all of their activities are in pursuit of their stated objectives to maintain their non-profit status.

The problems with Mozilla have nothing to do with this structure and everything to do with the people in charge.

@Sebastiaan Ammerlaan 🇳🇱 @FOSStastic
Mark reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source
The media in this post is not displayed to visitors. To view it, please go to the original post.
I may need this on my bumper.
Mark reshared this.

flipboard - Link to source

Trump Taps ‘Sharpiegate’ Scientist to Lead US Weather Agency
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-04/trump-taps-sharpiegate-scientist-to-lead-us-weather-agency?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Posted into Profiles @profiles-bloomberg

Trump Taps ‘Sharpiegate’ Scientist Neil Jacobs to Lead US Weather Agency

The Trump administration has tapped Neil Jacobs, a scientist cited for misconduct related to the “Sharpiegate” hurricane forecasting controversy, to lead the agency that oversees US government weather predictions and climate research.
Lauren Rosenthal (Bloomberg)
@Profiles

reshared this

Mark reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source
The media in this post is not displayed to visitors. To view it, please go to the original post.

52 Weeks, 52 Half Marathons,

Map updated with 05/2025

More overlap than I wished for because of private properties but still another nice brush stroke in Sintra.

#52weeks52halfmarathons #halfmarathon #running #sintra

#running #halfmarathon #sintra #52weeks52halfmarathons

Mark reshared this.

Mark reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source

The American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, groups with tremendous influence in Washington, are among the professional societies for physicians that have not directly weighed in on Kennedy’s nomination — even after last week’s confirmation hearings in which Kennedy refused to unequivocally disavow falsehoods connecting vaccines to autism.

#AMA #AAP #MedicalCowards #USPol

#uspol #ama #aap #medicalcowards
Mark reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source
The media in this post is not displayed to visitors. To view it, please go to the original post.

A town of shining cherry blossoms overflowing with gentleness.

#photography #nature #art #写真 #日本 #japan #beautiful #beauty #landscape #scenery #ファンタジー #fantasy #oldlens #filmlike #classical #retro #healing #calm #春 #spring #桜 #cherryblossom #cherryblossoms #town #country #pink #shine #shining

#Fantasy #japan #photography #beautiful #beauty #nature #art #landscape #spring #retro #pink #写真 #日本 #calm #oldlens #classical #country #town #scenery #cherryblossom #shining #shine #cherryblossoms #Healing #filmlike #ファンタジー #桜 #春

reshared this

Mark reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source

“I have never seen the level of retribution and anger expressed towards career prosecutors and staff who are basically doing their job. It is stunning, the level of retribution. What is ironic is that President Trump talked about witch hunts. What we are now experiencing is his answer to the witch hunt, which is much worse.”

-- Gene Rossi, who previously worked as a prosecutor, represented the first Oath Keeper to enter the Capitol.

#StopTrumpNow #TrumpDidThis #RepublicansOwnThis #USPol

#uspol #TrumpDidThis #StopTrumpNow #republicansownthis

Mark reshared this.

Mark reshared this.

akkoma - Link to source

Wait. Did Trump say that Canada couldn’t do anything to stop the tariffs and that they are imminent?

Well, he just “paused” them for 30 days.

cnbc.com/2025/02/03/trump-cana…

Trump pauses tariffs on Canada for at least 30 days, Trudeau says

Dan Mangan (CNBC)

Mark reshared this.

Mark reshared this.

akkoma - Link to source

You know what’s foolish about these tariffs?

Before this ridiculousness, it was a near certainty that Pierre Poilievre was going to be Prime Minister of Canada and that the Liberals were on their way out. Now I’m not so sure.

So if Trump just left things alone for a year, he would have had a guaranteed yes-man in Canada. But now even the yes-man doesn’t want to present himself as a yes-man.

reshared this

in reply to Christopher

mastodon - Link to source

Alexander The 1st

@Christopher Really, it almost begs the question as to whether Trudeau could re-run in the Liberal Leadership Race, and in the election campaign.

(Probably not, but arguably he could go the "Look; you can trust that I won't capitulate to Trump on our sovereignty, and I can fight back with tariffs too; I just think tariffs in a Free Trade Agreement is a unwise decision.")

@Christopher
This entry was edited (Tuesday, February 4, 2025, 5:26 AM)
Mark reshared this.

akkoma - Link to source
The media in this post is not displayed to visitors. To view it, please go to the original post.

😂

Trump stans like Tim Pool have no bloody clue about Canada.

We’d rather burn the economy to the ground then live under the thumb of the USA. If you want to go to war, we will go to war.

Mark reshared this.

in reply to Chris Trottier

glitchsoc - Link to source

Robot Diver 🌊🌬️🍃🌿🌸🌱🌱🌱

I used to work for some very wealthy Americans when I was a designer. One day, one of their trophy wives made a realization about Canadians and it was spot on. She said, I think I've realized that the difference between Canada and the US is that everyone has their price in the States, it's just a matter of finding out what it is, but you Canadians are really different. If you don't wanna do something, you just won't do it. It doesn't matter what you get offered.

I don't think she was wrong

in reply to Robot Diver 🌊🌬️🍃🌿🌸🌱🌱🌱

akkoma - Link to source

Chris Trottier

I think the biggest difference between the USA and Canada is that Canadians believe in a common good.
This entry was edited (Tuesday, February 4, 2025, 3:20 AM)
in reply to Chris Trottier

mastodon - Link to source

True North Strong And Free

Seems like they do not have any clue about how their own system works either.

Crap like that happens on a platform without moderators and fact checkers.

Reality:
DJT needs 2/3 votes in the Senate before he can invade another country.
There are 53 GOP Senators and 45 Dems + 2 Indi.
I hope that no more than 53 Senators would vote to invade.

#CdnPoli #uspol

#uspol #cdnpoli
Mark reshared this.

flipboard - Link to source

Elon Musk Creates Confusion About Direct File, the IRS’ Free Tax-Prep Program
https://time.com/7212617/elon-musk-irs-direct-file-18f-taxes/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Posted into Top Stories @top-stories-time

Elon Musk Creates Confusion About Direct File, the IRS’ Free Tax-Prep Program

Though the billionaire presidential adviser created confusion when he said he’d “deleted” the agency behind it, the free filing program is still available—at least for the coming tax season.
Fatima Hussein and Barbara Ortutay / AP (Time)
@Top Stories

reshared this

Mark reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source

Edward R. Martin, Jr. is a freak and a traitor to the United States.

New top prosecutor for DC advocated for Jan. 6 rioters and echoed Trump's false 2020 election claims | AP News
apnews.com/article/justice-dep…

#StopTrumpNow #TrumpDidThis #RepublicansDidThis #RepublicansOwnThis #GOPKakistocracy #GOPWeirdos #NoRepublicansEverAgain #USPol

New top prosecutor for DC advocated for Jan. 6 rioters and echoed Trump's false 2020 election claims

The top federal prosecutor for Washington is a conservative activist who promoted Donald Trump’s conspiracy theories about a stolen election, railed against the prosecution of the rioters who stormed the Capitol and represented some in court.
ALANNA DURKIN RICHER (AP News)
#uspol #gopweirdos #norepublicanseveragain #TrumpDidThis #StopTrumpNow #republicansdidthis #gopkakistocracy #republicansownthis

Mark reshared this.

Mark reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source
In feudal times, the rich didn’t pay taxes and the peasants worked until they died. Now, the rich don’t pay taxes and the peasants work until they die—but at least you have Netflix!
Mark reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source

Hmm... setting up ActivityPub to federate what are essentially blog posts is interesting.

Permissions issue right now that should be sorted soon, and then I can describe what's what.

cc @elzbethmrgn @futzle

#activitypub #WordPress #fediverse

#fediverse #wordpress #activitypub @Deborah Pickett @Elizabeth M, stationer

reshared this

Mark reshared this.

akkoma - Link to source

It’s not “capitalism” to want the #Fediverse to grow and be a useful alternative to Zuckerberg and Musk-owned social networks.

But it’s certainly capitalism to allow Zuckerberg and Musk to grow their wealth unchallenged because they own the only large and useful social networks.

#fediverse

Mark reshared this.

Mark reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source
The media in this post is not displayed to visitors. To view it, please go to the original post.

💌THE LOVE LETTER SALE❤️‍🔥

At Suga-jinja (須賀神社 - twinned with Kōtsū-jinja) a rather different sort of event takes place at Setsubun (and the day before).

There are no oni, but there are 'Kesōbumi-uri' (懸想文売), 'vendors of love letters', with their faces carefully hidden.

#京都 #Kyoto #loveletters #Japan

#japan #kyoto #京都 #loveletters

Mark reshared this.

in reply to Camellia Tea Ceremony

mastodon - Link to source

Camellia Tea Ceremony

The media in this post is not displayed to visitors. To view it, please go to the original post.

Naturally there is a special sweet for the occasion😉...

Setsubun is the only time it is possible to purchase Aoimochi's (葵餅) 'suga-tamochi' (須賀多餅).
The plum-flavored mochi is branded with a love letter, and the yuzu-flavoured mochi with a gohei (御幣).

#須賀多餅 #餅 #mochi #sweets #Japan

#japan #Sweets #mochi #餅 #須賀多餅
Mark reshared this.

mastodon - Link to source
The media in this post is not displayed to visitors. To view it, please go to the original post.
Good Day!
A Frosty Morning by Frederick William Newton Whitehead 1890
Oil on Canvas
(Dudley Museums Service)
Winter has its beauty.

Mark reshared this.

⇧