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Winter Driving Conditions
Jack Bishop
2016
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Winter Driving Conditions
Jack Bishop
2016
I need to start a hash tag for "ant of the day" but I'm scared to commit to that much work until I know I can stick to it.
I will keep posing ants of the day for a bit and then go back and tag them all when I feel like it's going to keep going for a good long while.
That's a task I'm looking forward too. It would be fun to look at all of the posts in one place.
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A couple snaps from the mapping of Casa Batlló tonight 😍
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Over at @WIRED, reporters like Vittoria Elliott are doing excellent work documenting Musk's takeover of the federal government
In this piece, she tracks down the names of the people Musk has installed at various agencies
these guys are all 19 to 24 year old engineers -- one is a Thiel fellow
Story here: wired.com/story/elon-musk-gove…
Unpaywalled: archive.is/L2C7d
The Young, Inexperienced Engineers Aiding Elon Musk's Government Takeover
Engineers between 19 and 24, most linked to Musk’s companies, are playing a key role as he seizes control of federal infrastructure.Vittoria Elliott (WIRED)
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@Old_IT_geek This is the part I've been waiting for. They're going to get to the IRS, see the mainframes, perhaps remember the outage on Tax Day 2018 due to a bug in the storage array firmware that the subcontractor forgot to apply, and they're going to jump to the conclusion that they can just migrate everything to AWS in a week.
Then they're going to discover that the IRS's millions of lines of mainframe code are IBM mainframe assembly language and not even as portable as COBOL.
Yeah, very good point – they are totally unprepared, technically, for the vicissitudes of these legacy systems
But I’m not sure they actually want to do any of this work correctly, carefully, and without destroying massive amounts of recordkeeping inside the IRS
For them, I suspect, changing things in a way that absolutely wrecks the IRS’s ability to collect would be a feature, not a bug
"Move fast and break things" aplicado al Gobierno federal estadounidense. Va a salir MUY mal y va a morir gente. No es hipérbole: VA a morir gente.
#EEUU🇺🇸 #tecnobros #política #noticias
wired.com/story/elon-musk-gove…
The Young, Inexperienced Engineers Aiding Elon Musk's Government Takeover
Engineers between 19 and 24, most linked to Musk’s companies, are playing a key role as he seizes control of federal infrastructure.Vittoria Elliott (WIRED)
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todos los que se van de box es porque descubren que eran machistas, o racistas, o antidemocráticos. Son muy poco originales, podría alguno decir "mi atracción hacia Abascal hacía imposible trabajar con él" o "no puedo tolerar su sesgo anti-schopenhauer"
Via Katie Phang:
NEW reporting from Yamiche Alcindor::
At the Dept. of Education, dozens of employees who attended a diversity training course encouraged by former Education Sec. Betsy DeVos during President Trump’s first administration have been placed on paid leave as part of Trump’s targeting of DEI programs.
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the cognitive dissonance of Betsy DeVos encouraging diversity training leads only to "it's a trap"
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My blueberry bush and I both love winter storms apparently #bloomscrolling #plants #garden
This entry was edited (Sunday, February 2, 2025, 5:21 PM)
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Ecuador President Says New Trade Deal With Canada Finalized usnews.com/news/world/articles…
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Protestors blockade Farnborough airport over private jet expansion plans
Local residents and climate activists have blocked access to Farnborough Airport to protest against the proposed expansion of the airport which they say will almost double the number of private jet flights to 70,000 a year
itv.com/news/meridian/2025-02-…
#Farnborough #Rushmoor #Hampshire #England #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #GlobalBurning #ClimateDestruction #ClimateSuicide #MassExtinction #environment #climate #ClimateStrike
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yesterday‘s hike was phenomenal. my body feels wrecked today but it was worth it. 💯
more photos in colour incoming on my new pixelfed @gestalter@pixelfed.social.
#hike #hiking #nature #landscape #photography #landscapephotography #fuji #fujifilm #blackandwhite #mountains #alps
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Marianne Faithfull was the ultimate poster child for the “freewheeling spirit of the 1960s”, says The Times. Born in 1946, the daughter of Glynn Faithfull, a British spy during WW2, and Eva von Sacher-Masoch, a baroness. She left home at 17 sank into drug addiction, made multiple suicide attempts, and ended up living on the streets. Her road to recovery was marked by a refusal to feel sorry for herself. “I don’t feel cursed,” she said in one of her final interviews. “I just feel f***ing human.”
Sonnet 120 - CXX
That you were once unkind befriends me now,
And for that sorrow, which I then did feel,
Needs must I under my transgression bow,
Unless my nerves were brass or hammer'd steel.
For if you were by my unkindness shaken,
As I by yours, you've passed a hell of time;
And I, a tyrant, have no leisure taken
To weigh how once I suffered in your crime.
O! that our night of woe might have remembered
My deepest sense, how hard true sorrow hits,
And soon to you, as you to me, then tendered
The humble salve, which wounded bosoms fits!
But that your trespass now becomes a fee;
Mine ransoms yours, and yours must ransom me.
bot by @davidaugust
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Photos from today's walk to burr oak road. I think my longest walk yet 25.5 Miles.
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Another sunriser at the beach... barefoot running and scenery fishing #running #barefootrunning #Phuket
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CPBD is down in Chile doing plant surveys in urban environments and cussing up a storm.
He talks about how "anthropic stone is shaped by water" which kind of gave me chills.
anthropic is geologist speak for "man made" and I think about how all of this will just be a very strange layer among many some day in a far future. The trace fossils of humanity.
youtube.com/watch?v=wujEfC4rAH…
- YouTube
Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.www.youtube.com
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when i take people on bird walks i hope im even half as entertaining and informative lmao
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I don't know if you ever dabble in video games, but one of the best pieces of fiction, in any medium, I've experienced in my life is titled Horizon: Zero Dawn. I saved the sequel as a pick-me-up "for emergencies," I'm playing it now. Both titles debuted the same year as major entries in famous beloved series, so they were very undersung.
Specifically (likely only) because of that context, "anthropic stone" didn't startle me in the least. It's a major feature of the game's landscape.
If you’re anything like me and are disheartened by businesses bending the knee, this article gives me a bit of hope.
“Business has to pick up the mantle when government fails you” Rose Marcario, CEO of Patagonia
‘Rampant Consumerism Is Not Attractive.’ Patagonia Is Climbing to the Top — and Reimagining Capitalism Along the Way
Patagonia is hoping to use its reputation to advance a humble goal: changing capitalism so that it’s less focused just on profit.Alana Semuels (Time)
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We have come to accept that businesses will gouge us if they can; that a business's only motive is making as much money as possible. Businesses not longer even pretend to be primarily interested in providing a good product or service. I think this is a change.
For example, if I ran Netflix, I'd think about how to provide entertainment to as many people as possible, while keeping employees paid a decent wage and the doors open. But Netflix simply announces, "We are raising our subscription prices and will start showing you ads, because we want to make more money."
Pues solamente quería deciros que he corrido una carrera con mi hija y estoy súper orgulloso de haberlo hecho
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I object to everything about this.
This entry was edited (Sunday, February 2, 2025, 2:15 PM)
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Alas, those things are nothing french, nor mexican. It is just pure junk in a wrap, and I don't understand why here in France some people look like having fun to eat those.
In french : "c'est dégueulasse"
This entry was edited (Sunday, February 2, 2025, 3:44 PM)
I'm french and Yes, me too.
And since I know what it looks like, and what friends who tried them said, you can't understand how far below what you think it is this is in reality
And since I know what it looks like, and what friends who tried them said, you can't understand how far below what you think it is this is in reality
Statistics Stumper:
Throw darts at a 1*1 square in uniform distribution. You can estimate pi by comparing the ratio of darts inside of an inscribed circle to those that fall outside of the circle.
But, what happens if you are aiming your dart? If the darts are normally distributed about the bullseye?
Can you still extract pi from the data? What will ratio of those inside the circle and out approach?
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@bob I just wrote a program to test this and it works! and the further out you go the better an estimate of pi you will produce— you do need to take two samples: a square and an inscribed circle but the normal distribution is almost kinda uniform if you don’t mind ignoring like 99.9% of the graph— should I show my students? I don’t think I can resist!
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@bob I feel like I’m being a bad influence—but they *did* drop this course in my lap at the last moment “please show up and teach the stats kids some python” OK. so… well I’m off the leash and don’t have to write grades let’s have some FUN
This entry was edited (Monday, February 3, 2025, 6:31 PM)
US Government Websites Are Disappearing in Real Time
https://www.wired.com/story/us-government-websites-are-disappearing-in-real-time/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
Posted into Elon Musk's Twitter @elon-musk-s-twitter-WIRED
US Government Websites Are Disappearing in Real Time
A growing number of US government websites have gone offline as of Saturday, including several related to USAID and others focused on youth programs, Africa, and more.Vittoria Elliott (WIRED)
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And now a federal agency says it will withhold public information in order to lock journalists into a failing private communications channel. (Yes, that one.) The courts will stop this, if anyone cares to sue.
thedesk.net/2025/02/ntsb-moves…
NTSB forces reporters to get plane crash updates on X
The NTSB says it will only notify the media about press conferences and investigative updates on two recent plane crashes via the social media platform X.Matthew Keys (The Desk)
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My overarching goal for 2025 is to organize, simplify, and clarify how I spend my days. I'm working on a loose framework to guide my overall wellness. To thrive in the ways that I want to thrive.
One early discovery: I forgot how much I love the library.
It's the second Saturday in a row that, as part of my new routine, I'm at the library to basically do some disk defragmentation for my brain. "Braintenance" I call it.
The library has a perfect blend of "solitude" and "be productive!" for me.
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This entry was edited (Sunday, February 2, 2025, 2:35 AM)
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NYT, Feb 11, 1933
DANES SEE HITLER WAGING TARIFF WAR
Increases Virtually Ban Their
Cattle
Scandinavian Papers Call for Reprisals.
Wireless to THE New york Toes,
COPENHAGEN, Feb. 10.
The recent cancellation of the Swedish-German trade treaty, with the resultant voiding of the most-favored-nation clause, has seemingly been used by the Hitler government as an opportunity to open a tariff war
on the Scandinavian countries andthe Netherlands.
@Some_Emo_Chick
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A small offering left over from yesterday eve. #StBrigidsDay #Mastodaoine
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Trump orders USDA to take down websites referencing climate crisis
Forest service website among many sites affected as agencies scramble to comply with president’s orders
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Yesterday 17:54
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...
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USAID website offline. usaid.gov
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confirmed
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"We were easily felled.
For our democracy became words upon paper, instead of conviction within our hearts."
SearingTruth
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#Rom #trastevere #italy #streetart
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Really enjoying the wastewater treatment facility
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Outside Landers, California, is a bizarre domelike structure called the Integratron. It was built between 1959 and 1978 by a former test pilot, engineer and UFO enthusiast, who claimed he received instructions from the planet Venus. The structure was built at a special location apparently influenced by alignments from the Great Pyramid and the nearby Native American sacred monument of Giant Rock. The builder of the Integratron claimed it was capable of time travel, defying gravity and rejuvenating human cells via electromagnetics. Following the creator's death, there were plans to turn the dome into a disco, but it was bought by two sisters who believed the 'acoustically perfect structure' could offer healing 'sound baths'. #folklore #weird #architecture #UFO #psychogeography #bizarre #California
This entry was edited (Saturday, February 1, 2025, 7:15 PM)
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I'd love to see that as a disco. As it is, for some reason it's giving me Mormon vibes. 🤷 Great history though! I've always had an interest in mid-20th century Venusian architecture. 
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Democracy is dying in daylight as a media institution crumbles and uncertainty hangs over the local section.
The Washington Post Is Hemorrhaging Talent at an Unprecedented Rate As Big-Name Journalists Head to Competitors
washingtoncitypaper.com/articl…
#JeffBezos #WillLewis #WashingtonPost #WaPo #Journalism #FreePress #BoycottAmazon #BoycottWholeFoods #EatTheBillionaires #USPol
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13.1 miles run in the rain and a chapuzón for my 33rd consecutive calendar month in the sea.
#Running #runnersofmastodon #barcelona
If you spray a puff of dust onto a attine fungus gardening ant she will stop and clean herself for up to an hour and she will refuse to enter the nest or go near the fungi until she is satisfied that she is clean. Even so ants not clean enough may be removed bodily by their sisters.
I saw a talk at the fly meeting once where they mapped the neurons that control the cleaning reflex, and if they mess with some of them (I don't remember if it was ectopic activation or inactivation; this was a long time ago) they can make the flies just clean themselves indefinitely.
I just read a passage of Doris Lessing's, where she remarked on the similarity between a cat and a fly washing themselves.
I wonder if there are any similarities at all in the neural circuitry.
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I will go further: I wonder how old self-cleaning is. is it a bilaterian thing? Does it go back to the first tubes with eyes and a cluster of nerves in their front section?
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Goddess, I'm late to this thread, but could I maybe book a me-cleaning robot? I bet the waiting list is huge...
@bytebro @EricLawton @stevegis_ssg primates are self cleaning when stressed. so we just need to stress you out.
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Day-to-day, showers are OK. But on a Sunday I love a long hot soak in a deep bath. This totally does not make me weird!
I only know that in mammals, there's huge variation in how much self-cleaning animals do. Cows and dogs do hardly any self-cleaning, while cats are notoriously fastidious.
Also, in birds there is said to be both a learned component and an inate component; birds raised without a role model preen, but do it poorly.
So the total phenomenon could be quite complicated, with some aspects of it ancestral and others not. : )
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@EricLawton @stevegis_ssg I imagine the Carboniferous ancestors of this dragonfly had similar habits
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There is this common feature of ants, cats and people-- all will self clean not just to get clean but also when stressed as a form of self soothing: there is some kind of reward path being exploited for excitement regulation here.
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@EricLawton @stevegis_ssg
I've noted that my feline friend Hendrix suffers from bald spots from over grooming over the winter, which is the period I see him far less because its so fecking cold and we hang out outside together.
I suspect its because he needs lots of interaction and might not get it so much over the winter.
I've noted that my feline friend Hendrix suffers from bald spots from over grooming over the winter, which is the period I see him far less because its so fecking cold and we hang out outside together.
I suspect its because he needs lots of interaction and might not get it so much over the winter.
I don't know if anyone has proved the thing about ants self-cleaning when stressed; but any antkeeper will tell you that if you move a queen too often, or cause vibrations she'll start cleaning. And if there is too much grooming it's a sign that you need to put her in the dark away from all vibrations and STOP bugging her or she will never lay any eggs.
Also, if you trap an ant it will do this once it realizes it can't get away.
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Christopher Walken, remains blissfully insulated from modern technology. “I don’t have a cellphone. I’ve never emailed or, what do you call it, Twittered,” the 81-year-old actor tells The Wall Street Journal. To watch his own performance in the Apple TV show Severance, Walken had to ask the producers to send him DVDs. “I’ve never had a watch either… if I need the time, I just ask somebody.”
youtube.com/watch?v=wCDIYvFmgW…
- YouTube
Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.www.youtube.com
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#stickerSpotter #stickerArt #streetArt
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Sonnet 114 - CXIV
Or whether doth my mind, being crowned with you,
Drink up the monarch's plague, this flattery?
Or whether shall I say, mine eye saith true,
And that your love taught it this alchemy,
To make of monsters and things indigest
Such cherubins as your sweet self resemble,
Creating every bad a perfect best,
As fast as objects to his beams assemble?
O! 'tis the first, 'tis flattery in my seeing,
And my great mind most kingly drinks it up:
Mine eye well knows what with his gust is 'greeing,
And to his palate doth prepare the cup:
If it be poisoned, 'tis the lesser sin
That mine eye loves it and doth first begin.
bot by @davidaugust
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Purely for a photo op and a bragging media post, Trump minions at the US Army Corps of Engineers have just literally thrown away millions of gallons of #water that farmers in the Central Valley were relying on for later this year. This water will not be captured, will not be useful for cities or farms or firefighting. It is now lost to Californians. There is a small chance some ecosystems will benefit. How ironic.
latimes.com/environment/story/…
Federal officals suddenly released water from two California dams, on Trump's orders
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers just opened up two California dams. A spokesperson says the flows are 'controlled' and being coordinated with local officials.Ian James (Los Angeles Times)
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@mcnado
Why shouldn't California take control of those dams from the Corps of Engineers? If the operators won't close the gates, arrest them for vandalism, public endangerment, theft of a valuable resource, whatever. Those watersheds don't drain into another state or country, so there are no downstream governments to object. Protect Californians from crime.
Texas ignored Federal laws and court rulings, pushed aside Federal enforcement, and took over the Rio Grande.
“This is going to hurt farmers,” Vink said. “This takes water out of their summer irrigation portfolio.”
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The main problem I see with Mastodons is precisely that. You lose your toots. Yes the backup, but what good is it if you can't import or migrate? That makes some people afraid (escape) from small instances.
@juancho_me It's a point of view and a matter of the instance. This culminates to a point of the eventuality. We don't get anything with us when we die. I've learned to accept nothing is so precious or permanent ever as we tend to think.
Check out the ongoing discussion: github.com/mastodon/mastodon/i…
Support Post Migration · Issue #12423 · mastodon/mastodon
#177 – Support Account Migration – was closed after implementing follower migration, but this is only one small part of a true migration. To really be able to change instances, you need to be able ...GitHub
llewelly
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •do you take requests? That's probably even more work. How about Oecophylla kraussei , a fossil weaver ant from the early Eocene of Okanagon highlands, British Colombia, Canada?
cambridge.org/core/journals/ca…
Fossil weaver ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Oecophyllini) of the early Eocene Okanagan Highlands of far-western North America | The Canadian Entomologist | Cambridge Core
Cambridge Coremyrmepropagandist
in reply to llewelly • • •@llewelly
ooooh that's a good one!
llewelly
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •there's also a bunch of bulldog ants known from the same formation.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleofau…
oh yeah, and Titanomyrma, the titan ant!
(to me the Eocene is neat because it's an example of how climate radically alters the where and how of where plants and animals live )
Paleofauna of the Eocene Okanagan Highlands - Wikipedia
Contributors to Wikimedia projects (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.)Sarah E Bourne
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •