Saw this beauty through the window, a 4-1/2 foot (~137 cm) Central Ratsnake (Pantherophis Alleghaniensis). It climbed up a bush near the corner of the house and I was able to get some close ups. I didn’t see a birds nest, so I suspect it was preparing to lay in wait for prey to ambush, which I’ve read they sometimes do. #wildlifephotography#WildLife#snake
-- 1992 essay included in every software distribution of pre-web WAIS system. seems prescient.
"As more of us become involved in serving information electronically to other users, we so-called “digital librarians” must become conscious of our ethical responsibilities to protect the privacy of our the users being served. ...
This information has power, a power that can be abused and thereby thwart the usefulness of the tools we promote."
@wndlb Thank you, Brewster. @brewsterkahle I love reading your communication. (Always both youthful AND wise.) And, of course, I love using the incredible tools you've birthed and nurtured. Thank you for all your hard, constant, important work!
BREAKING: Supreme Court, on 5-4 vote, grants DOJ request to enforce immigration policy over Texas decisions to install razor wire fencing along the border. The 5th Circuit had sided with Texas. The Chief Justice and Justice Barrett joined the three Dem appointees.
Notice you never hear the media talking about Fox News, much, if at all? If you don’t think they are a huge driver of this stylish fascism, you haven’t watched Fox lately. THEY are the true enemy of the people, and the Left, or whatever you call ‘not fascist’ is not only powerless to stop them, they don’t even seem too interested in stopping them. Nothing worries me more than that.
Today in Labor History January 11, 1911: Leonard Abbott, Alexander Berkman, Emma Goldman opened the first American Modern School in New York City. They modeled it after the Modern Schools that anarchist Francisco Ferrer had created in Spain. 1909, Ferrer was wrongfully convicted of fomenting an insurrection. He was executed in 1909, leading to worldwide protest. The creators of the American Modern Schools designed them to counter the discipline, formality and regimentation of traditional American schools. Regular working people ran the schools for the children of workers. They sought to abolish all forms of authority, including educational, with the goal of creating a society based on free association and free thought. By the time of the World War I in 1914, Modern Schools were operating in Philadelphia, Detroit, New York, Seattle, Portland, Chicago and Salt Lake City, with more soon to follow in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston and Paterson. They taught classes in English, Yiddish, Czech, Italian and Spanish. Some of the students at the original New York Modern School were visual artist Man Ray and early birth control advocate Margaret Sanger’s son. Organizers of the Modern Schools believed that learning was a life-long process that never ended. Therefore, parents were encouraged to participate in the operation of the schools and to attend evening and weekend lectures. Some of the speakers at these lectures included Clarence Darrow, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Jack London, Upton Sinclair, and Man Ray. The schools also served as cultural centers for the promotion of unionism, free speech, sexual liberation, and anti-militarism. The last Modern School in America was in Lakewood, New Jersey. It operated from 1933 to 1958. Two of its last students were the sons of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg who were accused of giving secrets of the atomic bomb to the Soviets.
Today in Labor History January 11, 532: One of the first documented sports hooligan riots escalated into a full-scale revolt against Emperor Justinian I in Constantinople. The Nika Riot began as a quarrel between fans of two different chariot teams, the Blues and the Greens. Over the course of a week, participants burned down nearly half of the city. Up to 30,000 people died. They were particularly angry at Justinian’s corruption, and the high taxes he levied on them.
The gun lobby has long claimed, falsely, that commonsense reforms to prevent gun violence like bans on assault weapons and high capacity magazines are "unconstitutional."
There's lot of discussion about Threads.net and its impact on the fediverse. Here are two quick points I'd like to make in response to queries I've received.
I'm aware that users are unable to post links to mas.to on Instagram. This may be due to website reputation rankings rather than any malfeasance on their part. Maybe!
Some time ago we blocked Threads as a precautionary measure. We will monitor the situation and review as required.
But really, has anyone seen a pattern of folks who you thought were reasonable suddenly becoming unhinged? Or is it just me just generally being disgusted with the world? Lol
Ion engines have been used on various spacecraft to achieve huge accelerations over long periods. The thrust is weak but added up over months and even years, and it's the most energy-efficient way to move around the Solar System. NASA is testing a more powerful ion engine called the Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) at the Glenn Research Center. It uses 12 kilowatts of power and will be installed on the Lunar Gateway to keep it in orbit near the Moon.
@fraser@Adam_Cadmon1 The Psyche deep space spacecraft had about 1 ton of Xenon gas onboard. That's a pretty heavy lift, but I think it's about 5 times better by weight than the older chemically burning stuff.