@shuttersparks@qoto.org avatar

shuttersparks

@shuttersparks@qoto.org

So. Cal. engineer (hardware/software, retired, he/him), born at 313 ppm, musician, chef, now living in West Virginia. KW2P ham radio (the original social network), father of three, grandfather, astronomy, solar dynamics, photography, writing, birding, birdwatching, eBird, fountain pens, cats and dog, reader of banned books, Chairman of the Charcuterie Board, Whisk Manager, Compuserve refugee, founder of The Church of The Unwarranted Assumption. Crypto is short for cryptography. Blog: shuttersparks.net

#HamRadio
#Morse
#MorseCode
#Birding
#BirdWatching
#eBird
#wv
#WestVirginia
#food
#cooking
#astronomy
#physics
#engineering
#photography
#FountainPens

"To hold a pen is to be at war." --Voltaire

"I never understood wind. You know, I know windmills very much. Gases are spewing into the atmosphere. You know we have a world, right? So the world is tiny compared to the universe. So tremendous amount of fumes and everything." --Donald Trump

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GottaLaff, to random
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

Via Pagliery:

So, actual brain worms.

NYT reports RFK Jr. had previously undisclosed health issues, including a parasite in his brain. “I have cognitive problems, clearly,” . said in the 2012 deposition. “I have short-term memory loss, and I have longer-term memory loss that affects me.” https://nytimes.com/2024/05/08/us/rfk-jr-brain-health-memory-loss.html

shuttersparks,
@shuttersparks@qoto.org avatar

@GottaLaff Yes, I have long and short-term memory loss and cognitive problems so I should run for president. Makes sense, right?

Dodges, to Dog
@Dodges@furries.club avatar

video/mp4

shuttersparks,
@shuttersparks@qoto.org avatar

@Dodges Learned this trick from Billy Joel.

shuttersparks, to random
@shuttersparks@qoto.org avatar

I read Google's new Terms of Service today and was amused. It says that you can't machine read Google's stuff to train your AI.

HopelessDemigod, to news
@HopelessDemigod@mstdn.social avatar

Notice:

From approximately 0000 UTC on April 7, 2024 WWVB's south antenna has been disabled as a result of damage from wind gusts in excess of 90 MPH. WWVB continues to operate at reduced overall power using its north antenna only.

shuttersparks,
@shuttersparks@qoto.org avatar

@HopelessDemigod Did not know that. Thanks. I have three atomic clocks and they've been having trouble getting a "fix". It never occurred to me there might be an extended problem at the transmitter.

The question is why isn't it fixed? I'd imagine they'd fix it real quick. WWVB is not an experimental service.

ChrisMayLA6, to Energy
@ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar

To actually accomplish a green transition we (the world) needs to spend around $9 trillion a year.... well that's just not affordable, say climate sceptics.

You might say that, but lets have a look at the money we were prepared to pony up to deal with the pandemic.

While a more focused threat & certainly causing some fiscal issues, when required the money can be found.

(Don't get me started on fossil fuels subsidies!)

So its not the money stopping the green transition!

#green #energy

shuttersparks,
@shuttersparks@qoto.org avatar

@jeff61813 @ChrisMayLA6 Depends on where you are. The grid in my city dates from the 1950s. Rusty transformers and cracked insulators still work...until they don't. No maintenance is done here until something blows, and then it's fixed with a band-aid.

br00t4c, to australia
@br00t4c@mastodon.social avatar

Students suspended at Yarra Valley grammar school over 'disgraceful' spreadsheet rating female classmates

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/may/06/yarra-valley-grammar-students-suspended-spreadsheet-rating-female-classmates

shuttersparks,
@shuttersparks@qoto.org avatar

@br00t4c Sigh. This is how "The Facebook" got started, you know. Zuck created it at his college so he could pick through the girls and avoid the "ugly" ones.

LouisIngenthron, to random
@LouisIngenthron@qoto.org avatar

"You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."

Who the fuck is trying to catch flies?

shuttersparks,
@shuttersparks@qoto.org avatar

@LouisIngenthron To further muddy the waters I'll point out that when I have an infestation of fruit flies or gnats, I put out a couple of ramikens with apple cider vinegar with a tiny speck of Dawn detergent mixed in. Red wine vinegar and balsamic vinegar also work sometimes, but not always. Not sure why.

alysonsee, to random

The bird seed thief is checking to see if anyone would notice if he helped himself to a wee snack.

#today

shuttersparks,
@shuttersparks@qoto.org avatar

@alysonsee The battle here is against European starlings.

Next experiment is black oilseeds. American songbirds have stout beaks and can crack them open. Starlings with their soft and longer bills cannot.

shuttersparks,
@shuttersparks@qoto.org avatar

@alysonsee Well, I'd expect them to come. European starlings are smarter than most birds and physically aggressive.

fatsam, to random
@fatsam@mstdn.social avatar

Always fascinating to me to run across European lefties who want to explain that the Democratic party isn't leftist. The English speakers come from, almost always, overwhelmingly white countries without birthright citizenship and bad records for handling immigrants.

shuttersparks,
@shuttersparks@qoto.org avatar

@fatsam @TruthSandwich There are more crazy people around than I'm comfortable with.

serra, to random
@serra@qoto.org avatar

I was completely out of the loop about what happened to Naomi Wu.

She is being silenced by the Chinese government and it seems like I am not the only one who missed this.

https://www.hackingbutlegal.com/p/naomi-wu-and-the-silence-that-speaks-volumes

https://skepchick.org/2023/08/maker-naomi-wu-is-silenced-by-chinese-authorities-and-why-i-blame-elon-musk/

#naomiwu #sexycyborg

shuttersparks,
@shuttersparks@qoto.org avatar

@serra Yup. Followed her for years. Then "click", gone.

This is our future too if we're not diligent about keeping fascists in check

tusk81, to random
@tusk81@mastodon.social avatar

Stephen Miller planning the Great Purge: Recruit ‘red state’ deportation army of law enforcement and National Guard to round up immigrants, rip them from their homes and community, and forcibly deport them.

https://americasvoice.org/blog/stephen-miller-planning-the-great-purge-recruit-red-state-deportation-army-to-round-up-immigrants-rip-them-from-their-homes-and-community-and-forcibly-deport-them/

shuttersparks,
@shuttersparks@qoto.org avatar

@tusk81 As far as Miller is concerned, all I'll say is self-hatred often manifests like this.

HopelessDemigod, to random
@HopelessDemigod@mstdn.social avatar

Speaking of thunderstorms and leaving your radio(s) we are having a thunderstorm as we speak.

shuttersparks,
@shuttersparks@qoto.org avatar

@HopelessDemigod My antennas are always physically disconnected unless I'm using the radio. BNC connectors are great for this. Coax(s) get disconnected where the feed enters the building and the loose cable tossed across the room for plenty of air-gap.

therightarticle, to random
@therightarticle@mas.to avatar

“Taxing big fossil fuel firms ‘could raise $900bn in climate finance by 2030’” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/29/taxing-big-fossil-fuel-firms-raise-billions-climate-finance

shuttersparks,
@shuttersparks@qoto.org avatar

@Naich @therightarticle Won't happen. They own the legislators that write the checks, so to speak. Big oil also has treaties with most countries preventing them from doing anything that interferes with their business lest they encounter penalties greater than the net worth of their country. They've had these treaties for a hundred years.

shuttersparks,
@shuttersparks@qoto.org avatar

@schuga @Naich @therightarticle Good to hear. This must be challenging. I'm sure the oil cartels will fight.

shuttersparks, to random
@shuttersparks@qoto.org avatar

Life's too short to wear cheap (low-quality) socks.

shuttersparks,
@shuttersparks@qoto.org avatar

@HopelessDemigod Good question. I've tried various brands and narrowed it down to two that I'm okay with: Gold Toe and Dickies. Gold Toe seems a bit more comfortable but wear out quicker. Dickies last longer in my experience. I switch back and forth between the two.

carnage4life, to random
@carnage4life@mas.to avatar

Google has laid off their Python Foundation team and asked them to train their replacements who will be in the Munich office.

This is similar to layoffs in their finance department a few weeks ago where some positions were moved outside the country where they’re cheaper. 😬

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40171125

shuttersparks,
@shuttersparks@qoto.org avatar

@Nigel_Purchase @Npars01 @carnage4life I did that five years ago and have been happy ever since.

shuttersparks,
@shuttersparks@qoto.org avatar

@Nigel_Purchase @Npars01 @carnage4life Me, I switched to DuckDuck in 2018 and am very happy with it. Linux. Firefox browser with tracker blockers. Proton for email. Signal for texting. Zoho for online spreadsheets and such. (I've used Zoho since before there was a Google Docs.) For cloud storage for my family and me, I use a leased server in Germany where I also host blogs and web sites.

lovelylovely, to random
@lovelylovely@masto.ai avatar

The Biden Campaign knows just how to make a total fool of the clown Donald Trump 😂 😂

video/mp4

shuttersparks,
@shuttersparks@qoto.org avatar

@lovelylovely As you can see, Trump does a fine job by himself. Problem is his followers think it's genius.

As I've long said, this kind of thing says more about his followers than it does about him.

dev, to random
@dev@discuss.systems avatar

All her circuit boards were falling apart, it seemed hopeless, yet she soldered on

shuttersparks,
@shuttersparks@qoto.org avatar

@dev Thanks. That one goes into the "groaners" pile.

StillIRise1963, to random
@StillIRise1963@mastodon.world avatar

The fact that this presidential immunity question is being discussed in SCOTUS makes this nation look like the land of morons. Seriously.🙄

shuttersparks,
@shuttersparks@qoto.org avatar

@StillIRise1963 Or the nation that wants to slide into totalitarianism.

An ever-present feature of all dictatorships is immunity for politicians. This legacy still poisons many Latin American countries that used to be ruled by dictators. The immunity laws are often still on the books. Why would politicians get rid of them?

Because of the history, many of the people take it for granted that politicians and judges have immunity.

This is gradually being fixed in places like Guatemala but it takes decades.

And here we are in the U.S.A. talking about it like it was a reasonable thing to consider and argue about. This is crazy. It's not.

shuttersparks,
@shuttersparks@qoto.org avatar

@hasani @StillIRise1963 Exactly. This was brought up by one of the justices.

I mean, why was a pardon appropriate? What's more, why did Nixon accept it? Everyone at the Supreme Court today was a lawyer and they all know that accepting a pardon is a tacit admisson of guilt. Nixon knew this too, of course.

A pardon is not the same as an exoneration.

shuttersparks,
@shuttersparks@qoto.org avatar

@CStamp @hasani @StillIRise1963 We don't have to imagine it. It's what Nixon did and got busted for. He had the FBI spying on opponents.

shuttersparks,
@shuttersparks@qoto.org avatar

@StillIRise1963 The unfortunate truth is that those people in Congress and on the Supreme Court are people that we the people are ultimately responsible for putting there. We allowed it.

I'm not saying you or I individually condoned or supported it but around half the population did. And quite a few of those want to go much farther toward the right. (They're ignorant and don't know what they're doing, but they think they do.)

I saw this in the population 30 years ago and more. The U.S. is full of nasty entitled people, bigots, racists, xenophobes, people who want the U.S. world hegemony that we've enjoyed since WW2 to translate into us forcing our will on the rest of the world.

I've spent a lot of time out in the world and in so-called third-world countries. I was constantly embarrassed by "ugly Americans".

Anyway, we have a huge problem in this country. A large fraction of the population is under the sway of right-wing media. They're addicted to it and get their fix every day. And, they all vote.

Anti-intellectualism has been a constant theme throughout U.S. history. "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge and this is proven by the fact that my vote counts just as much as yours." So you can be darned sure they all vote. Voting is the great equalizer for stupid people.

The disadvantage liberals have is we all think for ourselves so organizing liberals is like trying to herd cats. Whereas right-wingers are accustomed to regimentation and being told what to think, starting with their religion. So they easily fall into lock-step and goosestep their way to electoral victory. Modern technology has made it very easy to organize these people. How to fix it is not at all clear to me because the fundamental need is for education, and that takes generations to fix. I really don't know how we're going to dig our way out of this mess.

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