@mem_somerville@mastodon.social
@mem_somerville@mastodon.social avatar

mem_somerville

@mem_somerville@mastodon.social

Scientist. Lacemaker. Special fan of Ipswich Lace.

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

bodhipaksa, to random
@bodhipaksa@mastodon.scot avatar

WTF happened to Discover magazine?

It used to be a respectable publication, and now their "lifestyle" section is full of what seem to be AI-generated spam "articles" about viagra and cbd oil for dogs.

I thought for a moment that they might have been hacked, but according to the Wayback Machine it's been like this for years now.

h/t @mem_somerville

mem_somerville,
@mem_somerville@mastodon.social avatar

@bodhipaksa @idoubtit There was a report of this recently in WaPo. I tried to bring "Amber" to his attention, but that doesn't really work on twitter anymore...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2023/10/26/usa-today-gannett-reviewed-ai-fake-writers/

mem_somerville, to blackfriday
@mem_somerville@mastodon.social avatar

For your shopping needs, Discover Magazine has a guide to the best gas station Viagra.

What a shameful decay for a outlet.

I tried to track the author "Amber Smith" at one point. I'm pretty sure she's AI. Atrocious series of nonsense.

smach, to random
@smach@masto.machlis.com avatar

Massachusetts State Senate President Karen Spilka: “With Elon Musk’s endorsement of a monstrous and dangerous antisemitic lie, I can no longer justify using the X platform for any reason.I can be found on Facebook, Instagram, Threads and LinkedIn, as can the Massachusetts State Senate. I hope you will follow me, and the Senate, on these platforms, and join us in leaving X.”
But not on Mastodon. Sigh. I'll try contacting her office next week to see if I might persuade them 😃

mem_somerville,
@mem_somerville@mastodon.social avatar

@smach I had to go to twitter today to see when my trash day was this week...

If I didn't already have an old (locked) login, I wouldn't know.

At our last neighborhood meeting, I begged the city to use a site without paywalls and login barriers and ads....

mem_somerville,
@mem_somerville@mastodon.social avatar

@Craigp Yeah, I know. I took the screenshot. It's going to be my evidence that I show to the city...after the holiday. I was just working on it.

mem_somerville,
@mem_somerville@mastodon.social avatar

@Craigp I know, it's usually reliable, so I went to look deliberately at the twitter feed. Which I couldn't if I didn't still have a login there.

ArtPhotosDesk, to art
@ArtPhotosDesk@flipboard.social avatar

Why has The Laughing Cavalier (1624) by Dutch painter Frans Hals permeated pop culture, inspiring murals, musicals, and even biscuit tins? The BBC's Deborah Nicholls-Lee takes a look at the history and influence of this smiling figure, dubbed "the greatest ladies' man" by The Radio Times in 1970.

https://flip.it/mHflX_

mem_somerville,
@mem_somerville@mastodon.social avatar

@ArtPhotosDesk Obviously it's the lace.

mem_somerville, to knitting
@mem_somerville@mastodon.social avatar

is a nearly-complete baby sweater. Had to stop the lace projects for a while because this family baby is imminent.

Sewings and the neck still, but I have a nice break over to focus on it.

Pattern is here: https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-us/p/star-knit-baby-pullover-in-bernat-bundle-up-downloadable-pdf

gbhnews, (edited ) to fediverse
@gbhnews@mastodon.social avatar

🌞 Good morning ! This is GBH bringing you the world from . It's 30F at Logan Airport and visibility is 10 miles.

The Rolling Stones will tour again in 2024.

The median age of the typical homebuyer in the US has risen to 36, an all-time high, according to the National Association of Realtors. .

Massachusetts is allowing migrants to stay on the second floor of the state transportation offices in downtown Boston.

Cranberry sauce:

mem_somerville,
@mem_somerville@mastodon.social avatar

@gbhnews Also team cranberry rewilding.

https://commonwealthbeacon.org/environment/the-re-wilding-of-massachusetts-cranberry-bogs/

georgetakei, to random

Over the weekend, Nazis were marching in the streets of Madison, Wisconsin. They felt emboldened by an increase in antisemitism and the poisonous words of Donald Trump. This is in America in 2023. We must stand up to hate, to fascism, and to political violence of all forms. No less than the future of our country and what we leave to our children and grandchildren is on the line.

mem_somerville,
@mem_somerville@mastodon.social avatar

@georgetakei We had nazis recently too. We can help to give you pointers on how to do a Clown March, which helps disrupt their media cycle.

https://clownmarch.org/

mem_somerville, to Electricvehicles
@mem_somerville@mastodon.social avatar

Today is the 7th anniversary of my . We are getting a fresh charge at a public charging station this morning, as I don't have my own home charger.

As an early adopter, I have been trying to use my knowledge to advocate for the transition. I'm sorry to say we still aren't ready...

1/n

1/n

mem_somerville,
@mem_somerville@mastodon.social avatar

I love this car. It's quiet. It requires zero maintenance. We joke on the leaf boards that our biggest expense is washer fluid.

But it's hard to convince my friends that these are ready when they hear about how I can't get to some event or the problems I've had charging. And I've had them all. Including terrible siting of EV chargers. Even this one.

2/n

mem_somerville,
@mem_somerville@mastodon.social avatar

This one sits in a tight row of compact car parking. If you had a wheelchair or a walker even--it would be hard for you to get to the charger when people are parked in all the spaces.

That said, at least it front-charge port friendly unlike the other one they put in my neighborhood. I got a ticket for using it because my car couldn't reach the other way.

I got ticketed for this charge.

3/n

mem_somerville,
@mem_somerville@mastodon.social avatar

I know that some people do not want as a tool. And I fully support bike lanes and public transit. I advocate for 24/7 all year round walkability.

But those things are not possible for everyone and everything at this time. I simply cannot bike to places that I need to go. And they are not served by transit, and probably won't be in my lifetime.

is sometimes misguided on this front.

4/n

mem_somerville,
@mem_somerville@mastodon.social avatar

Anyway, I love my . I'm happy to have not been to a gas station in 7 years. I like having a giant battery in my basement for emergencies. I still dream of the promise of the as backup.

But widespread adoption has barriers at this time.

https://i.redd.it/3trtchlp42121.jpg [this links to an diagram of how Nissan Energy Share car charging could feed back into homes or businesses or feed to the grid to stabilize it.]

mem_somerville,
@mem_somerville@mastodon.social avatar

@Craigp The other thing I didn't really address is that when it gets sucked into the culture wars, it never comes out. I have not seen anything get extricated from that yet.

mem_somerville, to Iceland
@mem_somerville@mastodon.social avatar

Well, some good news from . They seem to be good at evacuation.

"It is believed that all animals have been rescued."

Somebody even had turkeys. Also 🐏 .

Best wishes to the residents, sorry about the having the last word on this.

https://www.ruv.is/english/2023-11-10-liveblog-reykjanes-peninsula-and-grindavik-396249

vlrny, to fediverse
@vlrny@disabled.social avatar

Ok hive mind!

I am looking for sources for watching science documentaries (NOVA, Nature, National Geographic, BBC Earth... And other awesome stuff I probably don't even know about) that isn't via YouTube. I am fed up with their unrelenting greed.

So need suggestions on doc-heavy streaming services, and/or a #peerTube buddy to help me find stuff if it's there, and/or advice on an applebox app that filters out these unrelenting intrusive ads on YouTube. 😤

mem_somerville,
@mem_somerville@mastodon.social avatar

@vlrny My local libraries offer Kanopy and Biblioplus, both of which have a decent selection of documentaries. And they are free. Check your library.

mem_somerville, to random
@mem_somerville@mastodon.social avatar

Attended a memorial today for a soldier who died in 1775. Unknown British soldier who was killed in the walk back from Concord and Lexington.

British Consul was there, and former mayor Dorothy Kelly Gay is next to him.

Also, a segment for the soldiers.

A memorial service for the Civil War veterans, next to what is claimed to be the first monument dedicated to the Civil War servicemen. Three rows of veterans stand with a flag of the state of MA, and former mayor Gene Brune prepares to place the wreath. Lawrence Willwerth reads the memorial service text at the front.

mem_somerville, to anime_titties
@mem_somerville@mastodon.social avatar

is changing.

American agriculture faces new headwinds. What’s next?

Climate change, consumer choices and political pressures have forced many ranchers and farmers to rethink their purpose

https://wapo.st/40uCeAd

mem_somerville, to random
@mem_somerville@mastodon.social avatar

Nice piece about the musician who plays often at the , accompanying the shows. He's terrific, I've been to many.

https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/11/09/silent-film-music-composer-jeff-rapsis

mem_somerville, to Paranormal
@mem_somerville@mastodon.social avatar

@idoubtit Interesting question for a exercise for a group of teens. Do you have any ideas on something for this?

https://redd.it/17qodo5

mem_somerville, to random
@mem_somerville@mastodon.social avatar

Well, at least it looks like we kept the Christo-fashies at bay for the most part yesterday.

Thank you to people who live in places that I can't impact for holding that line.

mem_somerville, to boston
@mem_somerville@mastodon.social avatar

If area folks are looking for pricing, some local hero has gotten quotes from 20 contractors.

I cannot vouch for this person, but I 💚 anyone who loves data this much.

https://redd.it/17ndsf8

mem_somerville,
@mem_somerville@mastodon.social avatar

@jimgon I thought anyone who could get 20 quotes from contractors must be have some kind of superpower.... 🦸

mem_somerville, to boston
@mem_somerville@mastodon.social avatar

And a good time was had by all the clowns, anyway...

Hoping the Christo-fashies, not so much...

mem_somerville,
@mem_somerville@mastodon.social avatar

Yah, had some impact. They mad. They big mad that they didn't control the media cycle. They counted the sentences.

We also learn that they prefer the nice khaki bois from Patriot Front to clowns.

"Unlike peaceful marchers who wear a certain logo on their caps"... see, Patriot Front is peaceful.

photo used with permission @edwardboches on Insta

https://catholicism.org/boston-globe-celebrates-mockery-of-catholics-attempts-to-suppress-free-speech.html

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