@futurebird@sauropods.win
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

futurebird

@futurebird@sauropods.win

pro-ant propaganda, building electronics, writing sci-fi teaching mathematics & CS. I live in NYC.

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futurebird, to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

I have a bit of a problem with buying too many blank journals & notebooks. And as my taste has grown more fancy (I'm a paper snob for the ages) I've realized that I will never write in any of the notebooks on several shelves at home. But they are very nice blank books.

I could have maybe sold them as a lot on ebay for like $50 ... but that's annoying.

I took them to work and put up a little sign on the book cart in the hall "Free blank notebooks. Take one!"

They are all gone! I'm so happy!

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

I was a little worried they'd just sit there and someone would be annoyed ... but a bunch of students and teachers like notebooks. Go figure.

And now I'm not stressed about them not being used anymore.

And I can buy some more notebooks that I like better and will use.

(At least I don't have that disease where some people get scared to use a notebook that's "too nice." What's more nice is looking at your old notes in a nice journal... even if some pages are messy or crossed out.)

futurebird, to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

A big part of programming is boring details, language idiosyncrasies. For example, I wanted a java program to tell me the coordinates of the last mouse click. In Swing presents more options than I want— it’s too much control. So I have StdDraw to make the graphics & UI options less complicated: even then it wouldn’t work until I added pauses— This took like an hour.

How do I teach this miserable skill whatever it is?
You know it can be done, you keep isolating & eliminating until it works.

futurebird, to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Imagine architecture for creatures who easily climb vertical surfaces: a main entrance for a building could be in the center of the 2nd or 3rd floor— heck, you might not have floors, rather a system of depth: the number of major chambers from the main entrance— Theater ‘in the round?’ Try theatre in the sphere! Meeting rooms would have ceiling seats for the interns…

(If creatures are climbers & have fair sight the tension between natural light & space-efficiency produces incredible spaces)

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Imagine public spaces like stadiums: a stadium could still have a bowl shape— but why not put an inverted bowl with even more seats on the ceiling?

Same for subway cars: seats right up the walls! Of course, accessibility would be an issue too (one of my queens has five legs and can’t climb in the ceiling anymore— Her daughters help her to move)

Maybe ceiling seats would be seen as something for the young and reckless a natural upside down peanut gallery. Nosebleed seats? Try headrush.

larryfeltonj, to Cats
@larryfeltonj@journa.host avatar

The Cobb County Courier's Cat of the Day, selected from the Cobb Animal Shelter website, is a sweet-tempered medium-sized male gray tabby domestic short hair who came to the shelter as a stray

https://cobbcountycourier.com/2024/05/cobb-county-courier-cat-of-the-day-ive-been-living-on-the-street-but-now-im-ready-to-settle-down/

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

@larryfeltonj I can tell he will take my sausage… and I can tell I would forgive him.

futurebird, to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

My other colonies are thriving. I have the Camponotus nicobarensis colony fully moved into their new nests. The Camponotus pennsylvanicus colony has produced an alarming cache of eggs. The Formica subsericea colony is growing every day — and the Camponotus discolor colony is eating me out of house and home gobbling an extra large dubia and flask of sunburst nectar every three days! The Peronopsis imperis queen I found has eggs — but they seem stalled. But, overall good anting all round.

Close up of the nicobarensis queen— her daughters who all have different sized heads hand from the ceiling— one small worker attends her as she tucks her head towards the wall since she hates photography (her ocelli make her very sensitive to light, workers lack these extra eyes in this species)
The first of two wooden nests that house the Camponotus pennsylvanicus colony. Some of the chambers are stuffed with black ants others with white pupae.
In their second nest they have a massive pile of eggs. How did one queen lay so many? this summer is going to be full of ants! hurrah!

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

I estimate there are at least 100 eggs in that pile. I will try to see how long it is until the queen makes another— It’s interesting to me that they move the eggs to their second nest— you’d think they would keep the eggs near the queen but they don’t— the second nest is heated— they keep eggs there— but then move the pupae back to the main nest—

which is odd normally pupae are heated and eggs are not. But I assume the girls know best!

futurebird, to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

I’ve been putting off making this post because it’s not what I wanted to report and I’m disappointed. A few weeks back my Dorymyrmex bureni colony showed tantalizing signs of a miraculous recovery from the loss of their queen. I love this colony, I wanted it to be true— (Antdrew on formiculture.com tried to warn me not to be too optimistic: Just because female workers continued to emerge weeks after the queen died did not guarantee the new queen were fertile.) He was right.

1/

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

For the past two weeks all the new workers have been tiny males. It’s exciting to see & record the male form of this species: I will have a set of all casts in my pinning box… but these winged boys mean it is likely the end of the line for this colony. If only I could take them down to Florida so they could fly!

I’m going to update my old posts about the matter; see if I can find another queen, keeping these ants has been a wonderful adventure and they have and continue to teach me so much. 2/2

futurebird, to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

E-bikes are very cool and I'm glad they are getting popular.

However.

There is a big difference between a crash at 12mph and one at 20mph.

Your ebike can give you injuries normally only found in motorcycle accidents. And there isn't enough advice on what constitutes sufficient maintenance for ebikes.

If you don't get balding tires fixed on a regular bike you could fall off and bruise or break a leg.

At ebike speeds that same fall will shatter your leg in dozens of pieces.

BE CAREFUL

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Keep your tires and breaks in top condition.
The breaks on ebikes wear out very fast since they have to grip tires moving much faster and I don't think they have the ideal material selected for that task as of yet. Do not balk when you find out you need to get new pads every single year if you ride daily.

The same is true of the tires. They wear out fast, and can get smooth and dangerous.

Since you can ride an ebike at 20mph without being an athlete, it's just more dangerous.

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

@viq

Another issue is they are much heavier! Yes when I was a bike messenger I probably broke 20mph on the regular. I was also very fit and when I'd crash (which I did often) I'd just tumble around and grab the bike and get back up.

An ebike can weigh five times as much as a fixie. Even if you use pedal assist, you are still going very fast.

The bike is another object in the crash that can hurt you.

Of course if a car is involved forget it. But I'm talking about solo crashes.

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

@DiegoBeghin

I never had to change the pads on my fixie... but ... I guess I didn't really use them. LOL.

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

I know this because I shattered my leg into dozens of pieces. (27 to be exact) that was three years ago. I rode my old fixie around the block for the first time two days ago. Will I ride an e-bike again? maybe?? not being sweaty at work is so worth it. (do NOT talk to me about “wipes”)

But if i get one it will have fancy breaks, frequent maintenance and I’m never going over 15mph again. Too scared.

futurebird, to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

m'lady's false-fairhaird', faulty-functioning feral form

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

gross gold, gum-gutted, goblin guise.

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Plastic-pompadour'd, piss-pot, pump pile.

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

@weaselx86

I don't know if I have the energy to do the whole alphabet

roberthurdman, to minimalism
@roberthurdman@mastodon.online avatar

I saw this on a bumper sticker today. I love it so much.

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

@roberthurdman

“The next big thing will be a lot of small things..”
🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜❤️

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

@roberthurdman

Do I work for ‘Big Ant’ — ?! a silly rumor!
You can’t prove anything.
Don’t worry about it, OK?

futurebird, (edited ) to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

The bald eagle could have easily gone extinct. But we did all sorts of "woke" things protecting it legally, ran conservation and study programs, banned DDT (that was good for other reasons too) and in 2007 they were removed from the endangered species list.

Likewise pine forests could be dead from acid rain.

The ozone could have a huge hole.

We CAN take care of nature when we want to. And the successes have been worth it.

I feel like we forget this, you know?

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

I really wish the people complaining about the use of "woke" to describe environmental law would pay a little more attention to who is using (misusing) that word now... and consider that "tree hugger" used to be something of a nasty mocking term for anyone who dared to suggest that maybe driving animals into extinction was... bad and wrong...

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

@tob @CStamp

DDT cures COVID but THEY don't want you to know that!

(this is not true)

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

And when I say animals. I mean ALL animals.

futurebird,
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

@ghast

I'm not the one who redefined it. LOL. It's old as churches.

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