@NormanDunbar@mastodon.scot
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NormanDunbar

@NormanDunbar@mastodon.scot

He/Him. Retired Oracle DBA, Toad MVP, developer, husband, geek, not a dad, open source contributor. McLaren & Mercedes F1 fan.

I own a Huawei P20 phone with the Leica camera. I try to take at least 1 half decent photo every day if I can.

In 2020, Apress published my first book, 'Arduino Software Internals'. My second, 'Arduino Interrupts' was published in Dec 2023. I'm writing another as well as a 2nd edition of 'Internals' to document recent changes.

No longer on Twitter as https://mastodon.scot/@NormanDunbar.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

NormanDunbar, (edited ) to random
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Good morning fellow Mastos and hello Tuesday. Food shopping day today, then more packing stuff away. The local charity shops are doing well! Are you doing anything exciting today? Whatever you do, enjoy it.

Today's random photo is a view over Portnahaven on Islay. The islanders call Portnahaven "The edge of the world"!

NormanDunbar, to random
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Good morning fellow Mastos and welcome back to another miserable Monday. It's bucketing down yet again. Sigh. Never mind, it's only water, so let's have the best day possible and with lots of laughs.

Today's random photo is a bee smoker, which I no longer own. It came in very handy for my second hive. My first hive had very docile bees and I could just wear a T-Shirt when working with those. I also looked after another keeper's bees over holidays. They were hooligans and would chase you away!

NormanDunbar, to random
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Good morning fellow Mastos and hello Friday. I hope you have a great day today, with lots of laughs.

The random photo today is from Gran Canaria back in December 2016 and is a pilot whale.

dgar, to random
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With the rise of self-driving vehicles, it's only a matter of time before we get a country song where a guy's truck leaves him too.

NormanDunbar,
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@dgar You know what happens when you play a country song backwards? Your wife comes home with your truck and brings the dog!

EDIT: I should have read the thread better. Someone beat me to it!

DrPlanktonguy, to random
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Well it had to happen eventually. is retiring FLIP (FLoating Instrument Platform). This is an amazing piece of engineering (and soooo weird on the inside - everything pivots, so walls become floors). The to be towed out to a location, and it would literally flip, sinking most of the ship directly down to give a *very stable platform for research. Launched in 1962.
https://maritime-executive.com/article/world-s-strangest-research-vessel-heads-for-scrapyard-after-51-years

NormanDunbar,
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@DrPlanktonguy Why oh why have I never heard of this? This should have been a TV science programme.

NormanDunbar, to random
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If I had a penny for everytime someone asked about my OCD, I'd have £277.39.

NormanDunbar, to random
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Good morning fellow Mastos and hello to a sunny Wednesday. I hope you all have a great day. I'm doing a bit more packing ready for the house move, when it eventually happens!

Today's random photo is from a few days ago. I spotted this butterfly on some nettles, and as far as my failing memory goes, I'd never seen one like this before. It would appear to be an Asian Comma. The plain Comma is a darker colour.

NormanDunbar, to random
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Good morning fellow Mastos and hello to the second dry day in a row, Tuesday. Early start today, Wesley needs a walk -- if he wakes up -- and MrsD's is due a service and MOT. Have a great day everyone, and don't forget to laugh.

Today's random photo is from yesterday and shows most of my collection of bee keeping equipment which I sold yesterday. MrsD is "off the scale" allergic to bee stings now, so we no longer have them in the garden.

helenczerski, to science
@helenczerski@fediscience.org avatar

Well. "Open sesame" is actually a thing.

Just googled where sesame seeds come from (it never occurred to me to ask before) and found that they grow in pods that are hung upside down to ripen until they burst open and release their seeds. The treasure is revealed.

https://awkwardbotany.com/2022/03/30/dispersal-by-open-sesame/

NormanDunbar,
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@helenczerski I was surprised by cashew nuts myself. They grow individually beneath an apple like fruit. You can eat the fruit, but your mouth will dry up!

NormanDunbar, to random
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Good morning fellow Mastos and hello Monday. After a somewhat moist weekend, back to work day just happens to be dry. Funny that! Anyway, have a great day, I'll be walking Wesley and cleaning bathrooms this morning, hope you have more fun than me!

Today's random photo is from one year ago yesterday, it's a hover fly on a flower.

NormanDunbar, to random
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Good morning fellow Mastos and hello to yet another soggy Saturday. I'm just heading out with Wesley for a wet walk. Wish me luck! I hope your day goes drier, but whatever, have fun. Cheers.

Today's bad phone photo is from 2020 and shows the lock gates at Five Rise Licks near Bingley, West Yorkshire.

NormanDunbar, to random
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Good morning fellow Mastos and hello to a soaking wet Friday morning. I know it's wet because it hammered down on Wesley and I while out walking. Not pleasant! Here's hoping your day is going to be better than mine has been so far. Oh yes, I have the dentist later too. Is it Friday 13th? Oops sorry, it's bad luck to be superstitious! 😉

It's almost conker season. The trees are hanging heavy with chestnuts at the moment. Sadly, kids don't play conkers much these days, unless it's on their x box.

NormanDunbar, to random
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Good morning fellow Mastos and hello to a wet Sunday. It's bucketing down right now and I don't care! 😁 Yes, I'm still in bed. Lazy me.

If you are still in bed, or even up and about, then have a great day.

Today's random photo is from yesterday, taken in the nature reserve at Gallows Hill, Otley. It's a puffball fungus about 17.5cm/7in in diameter. These are edible when white, but I would never trust myself picking wild fungi to eat, so it stayed right where it was.

NormanDunbar, to random
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Good morning fellow Mastos and hello to Friday. Make the most of today folks, it's the last working day before the wet weekend. Funny how the rain always times its arrival to coincide with the weekend. Or the cricket. Enjoy yourselves today.

Today's random photo is from 2012 when MrsD met a meerkat in Leeds city centre. They look cute but are potentially vicious little buggers and do not make good pets. This one was a rescue.

NormanDunbar, to random
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An SQL query walks into a bar. It looks around and wanders over to a couple of tables and says, "may I join you?"

Flash, to random
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A moist owlette.

NormanDunbar,
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@Flash Did you know that owls never mate when it's raining? It's too wet to woo.

NormanDunbar, to random
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Good morning fellow Mastos and hello to yet another Thursday. As I mentioned last week, they come around so quickly these days.

Wesley got me up at midnight for an urgent wee. It was bucketing down. We got wet. He went straight back to sleep, I didn't. Very tired this morning. 😟

Hopefully you all will have a better day than my last night!

The photo today is a lovely cottage on the bank of the Crinan Canal in Scotland. It used to be the lock keeper's home but it's now a private dwelling.

NormanDunbar, to random
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Came home from walking Wesley and found a fox, fast asleep on my back lawn. Foxes like our garden.

NormanDunbar, to random
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I made a new friend yesterday. This Poplar Hawk Moth climbed onto my finger and refused, I kid you not, to get off!

I finally managed to get her (no moth balls!) Off and onto some foliage, but it took a few attempts. I wonder if she survived the rains last night.

NormanDunbar, to random
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Good morning fellow Mastos and hello to a very wet and soggy Sunday. And it's forecast to be that way until 5 AM tomorrow. Yuk. Looks likely that Wesley and I will be getting wet again. Oh well.

Hopefully you all will be keeping dry and having fun today. Enjoy.

Today's random photo is from Portnahaven in Islay, and is a group of Grey Seals basking in the hot sun. It was around 21°C that day.

NormanDunbar, to random
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Good morning fellow Mastos and hello Thursday, again! They do seem to come around so quickly at my age! Progress on Arduino Interrupts is fairly rapid. I've got to review and fix what Apress have queried now. I wonder if MrsD has any plans for me today though? 😉

Have a great day, and don't forget to have fun.

The random photo today, is a Nautilus which is a slightly weird beastie, but I love them. I took this in California some time back.

NormanDunbar, to random
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Sleepy time. Night night everyone.

NormanDunbar, to random
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When you come from a farming background, AI is not Artificial Intelligence, it's really not! 😉

NormanDunbar, to random
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Good morning fellow Mastos and hello Tuesday. Looks like it might rain today. I better wake Wesley and head out for a walk before that happens. Got to write a new chapter for my Arduino Interrupts book today as well, with code and pictures. Busy busy.

Hope you all have a good day. Have fun.

My brother gave MrsD a wee gift while we were up visiting.

NormanDunbar, to random
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Good morning fellow Mastos and hello to what looks like a sunny Monday morning back home, for now, in Leeds. After Scotland, traffic here seems extremely busy. 😐 Sorting out the washing today, post house hunting holiday, have fun today -- even if it is Monday -- whatever you are up to.

The white house in the woods is where we left yesterday to drive home.

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