@rick I'm almost inclined to bring burner devices to the conference that I power down and physically destroy before bringing back into wireless range of my home lol
@malcircuit I'd had that same thought! Because, for real, you kindof get morbidly curious about how pervasive that kind of hacking really is in that culture. And you want to put just a little bait on the hook to see if you get any bites, right?
"Is it just hype, or are there actual people who actually do that?"
I've listened to the Skeptic's Guide To The Universe podcast for many years now, and it's fundamentally shaped who I am as a person. But for the past several years I've been drifting away from it more and more. I still think critical thinking is incredibly important, but the events since 2016 have been a lesson in the limits of such things.
@paezha I'm probably not the best person to find holes in your arguments (if only because I basically agree with you), but if I think of anything I'll let you know.
Sci-fi: What if humanity built generation ships? That'd be cool, right?
Actual human history: You mean a designed, self-contained, indefinitely stable, culturally and ecologically sustainable society where everyone cooperates to work toward a far-off goal they will probably never see achieved?
One thing I appreciated reading through Kelly and @ZachWeinersmith 's "A City On Mars" was that they made that point; as well as elaborating on what might happen to different social structures in such an environment.
Although they were focusing more on humans in the solar system; rather than people who would be indefinitely isolated by years of light travel time.
Either I need a dose increase, or I need to take a vacation from stimulants (caffeine and my ADHD meds) for a day or two. I've been really out of it lately. It's like none of this stuff works anymore.
Need to remind my brain of what no dopamine actually feels like until it stops complaining.
As I suspected, the flare came from AR3664, which has nearly rotated out of view of Earth. Probably aren't going to see any aurora from this flare. X8.8 is still impressive though. I wish the sun had been clear for me to see it (and take pics of it).
Yooooooooo hot damn. NOAA SWPC just pushed a new #aurora forecast and they are predicting another G5 storm tonight with Kp index up to 9!
DEAR GOD IF YOU DIDN'T GO OUT LAST NIGHT GO OUT TONIGHT!!!! I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH MORE I CAN STRESS HOW FUCKING COOL THE AURORA IS OTHER THAN TO TYPE IN ALL CAPS AND USE A BUNCH OF EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!!!!
@malcircuit barely anything just now in Ireland, but seems like more than zero. Clear skies, and at 01:30 local time, that's not any remnant of sunset.
Managed to catch a just-shy-of-X1-class flare a few hours ago when I put my scope out on the deck.
The complex chaos of magnetic fields — that is much, much larger than the size of Earth — designated as Region 3664 and Region 3668 (center right sunspot smudge) has been spawning a great number of flares recently, flinging an truly stupendous amount of energy and relativistic particles out into the solar system.
So some of that stupendous amount of energy and particles that Region 3664 kicked off earlier in the week is projected to arrive here on Friday night, causing a G2 geomagnetic storm.
If you live up dare in da north and it's clear out where you are (and you have a sufficiently dark sky), I highly suggest stepping outside and looking for some possible aurora in the sky. The viewline dips as far south as Chicago.
I want to establish extra urgency to anyone living in the Seattle and (less so) Vancouver area. The weather forecast is going to be about perfect for tonight. Almost no clouds.
YOU ARE IN A PRIME AURORA VIEWING REGION. DRIVE OUT TO A DARK SKY LOCATION LATE TONIGHT (12-2AM) AND WATCH THE SHOW!!
(I have an old friend out there and I'm honestly tempted to fly out there just for tonight)
Been working outside this afternoon so I can babysit my telescope while it takes a set of pics. The sun kicked off a big flare last night, so I was hoping it'd be active today and make for a good timelapse, but so far it's been relatively boring. Basically no flare activity.
At least I'm actually getting some work done out here for once lol