@swart@mastodon.cloud
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swart

@swart@mastodon.cloud

Retired software engineer, formerly enthusiastic about all things computer, but now less so. Climate alarmist. Friend of old dogs, lifelong learner of new tricks.

North Vancouver 🇨🇦

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ai6yr, to Canada

PBS: A wildfire forces out hundreds of residents in Canada’s oil sands hub of Fort McMurray https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/a-wildfire-forces-out-hundreds-of-residents-in-canadas-oil-sands-hub-of-fort-mcmurray

swart,
@swart@mastodon.cloud avatar

@ai6yr John Vaillant’s Fire Weather is an absolute must read. It’s about a lot more than the 2016 fire in Fort McMurray — it’s about the reality of the climate most of us will be living in for the rest of our lives

https://vancouversun.com/entertainment/books/vancouver-authors-fire-weather-pulitzer-prize-finalist

swart, to random
@swart@mastodon.cloud avatar

TIL the default Emacs calendar can
display the names of the months as they were used in Revolutionary France.

ai6yr, to H5N1

UNMC: "There’s no question H5N1 bird flu has ‘pandemic potential.’ How likely is that worst-case scenario?" https://www.unmc.edu/healthsecurity/transmission/2024/05/07/theres-no-question-h5n1-bird-flu-has-pandemic-potential-how-likely-is-that-worst-case-scenario/

swart,
@swart@mastodon.cloud avatar

@ai6yr the die offs reported with penguins in Antarctica and flamingos in Africa have been extremely alarming. Fortunately it can’t be transmitted to us because we don’t want to think about it.

paninid, to ai
@paninid@mastodon.world avatar

“The humanities majors are the ones who think critically about words, and since the machines can now generate words, who really needs the #humanities majors?”

swart,
@swart@mastodon.cloud avatar

@paninid 1946

mimsical, to random
@mimsical@mastodon.social avatar

Most of history is people living nasty, brutish and short lives and modernity is a paradise by comparison, example 9,328:

Before the introduction in the 1920s of iodized salt, iodine deficiency was so widespread in the northeastern U.S. that it was known as the “goiter belt,” for the painfully enlarged thyroid glands that millions had as a result of this deficiency.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2024/05/01/iodized-salt-100-years-deficiency/

swart,
@swart@mastodon.cloud avatar

@mimsical @futurebird I had no idea it was endemic in the US but it was also a devastating condition in Switzerland (sorry if this is repetitive — I quit the Washington Post a few years ago and was not able to read the whole thing)

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v45/n23/jonah-goodman/a-national-evil

ai6yr, to gardening

I appear to have a volunteer monkeyflower (mimulus) growing out of a crack in the patio.

swart,
@swart@mastodon.cloud avatar

@ai6yr your dealer in your contact list? 😂

ai6yr, to random

Little Free Library on a post! Hopefully won't get too much friendly fire from the family, LOL. (Starting to add books).

swart,
@swart@mastodon.cloud avatar

@ai6yr @douglasvb honestly I’ve got dozens of obsolete engineering textbooks that my wife would be thrilled to see set free

swart,
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@ai6yr @douglasvb you’re right — it’s probably best to sneak them into other people’s libraries 😂

swart, to random
@swart@mastodon.cloud avatar

Boomers: Slacker kids should not be glued to their smartphones
Gen-Z: We don't want smartphones anymore
Boomers: Nooo you have to use smartphones to participate in society

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/apr/27/the-boring-phone-stressed-out-gen-z-ditch-smartphones-for-dumbphones

ai6yr, to wildlife

Massive die off and rescue of brown pelicans in Santa Barbara and Ventura County. https://www.edhat.com/news/santa-barbara-wildlife-care-network-is-experiencing-a-pelican-event/

swart,
@swart@mastodon.cloud avatar

@ai6yr fortunately bird flu can't be transmitted to mammals. Or at least not people. Well at least it isn't airborne. Well at least everyone has got some masks left. Okay well, I grew up on re-runs.

ai6yr, to random

Hmm, might have to start taking bets on how far off the chart we'll get this year on SSTs. 👀
https://climatereanalyzer.org/clim/sst_daily/

swart,
@swart@mastodon.cloud avatar

@ai6yr “now I’m praying for the end of time”

swart,
@swart@mastodon.cloud avatar

@ai6yr well I ordered a couple radios today 😂

paninid, to random
@paninid@mastodon.world avatar

Semiconductor manufacturing in a seismic zone: check.
https://mstdn.social/@sasyecat/112205125854446209

swart,
@swart@mastodon.cloud avatar

@paninid I wonder how many times the world has lost transformative technology due to this sort of thing. “Damascus” steel? ✅ Libraries? ✅ Greek fire? ✅

textfiles, to random
@textfiles@mastodon.archive.org avatar

I've visited Internet Archive Canada today!!!!

image/jpeg

swart,
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@textfiles do they still have the Permanent Library building in Vancouver?

h_thoreson, to random
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I can't believe this is real

swart,
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@h_thoreson is the ship still there?

swart,
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@h_thoreson at least they’ve got someone to bring them food and stuff. Those poor guys in Suez were miserable. They legally can’t leave the ship, and were stuck there for 7 years https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Fleet

VeroniqueB99, to random
@VeroniqueB99@mastodon.social avatar

‘Caiman Crunch’ by Ian Ford, winner of Sony World Photography Awards 2024

swart,
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@VeroniqueB99

video/mp4

philpem, to random
@philpem@digipres.club avatar

Pulled the spectrum analyser apart ... the power supply has some popped electrolytics inside. Sod it, whole thing's getting recapped. New caps ordered, should be here for the end of the week all being well.
The Agilent VSA is going on the bench next, but I'd like to finish getting the Advantest going first, because I need it for the CATV project.

swart,
@swart@mastodon.cloud avatar

@philpem @brouhaha how effective is recapping? Sounds expensive and time consuming, but what do you do next if it doesn’t work?

ai6yr, to random

The most useful invention I've ever run across... Corsi-Rosenthal box.

I have used this so far for:

  1. Wildfire smoke
  2. COVID-19
  3. Bacon smoke (on Saturdays, LOL)
  4. General improvement of AQI
  5. Pet related allergies (hay and dander)
  6. Ragweed/pollen heavy days
  7. Dust from Santa Ana winds
  8. Dust from construction/remodeling
  9. Paint fumes (only partially useful, doesn't absorb gases, but helps somewhat) -- plus it sucks all the dust from the air, so it doesn't stick to your paint

(probably other uses, too...)

How to build one:
https://engineering.ucdavis.edu/news/science-action-how-build-corsi-rosenthal-box

swart,
@swart@mastodon.cloud avatar

@ai6yr I wonder if I could make a miniature one to help deal with CA glue fumes, but I’ll prob open a window and use a table fan

swart,
@swart@mastodon.cloud avatar

@ai6yr oh yeah my son is (still) annoyed that I still use lead-based solder (it’s fine)

RickiTarr, to random
@RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

It still gets me the Bible Jesus is a homeless socialist with brown skin, hangs out with 12 dudes and a Prostitute, tells rich people to pay their taxes and give their wealth to the poor, tells the religious leaders that they need to love everyone equally, gets a whip and goes hog on people using religion to sell stuff, and then straight up gets murdered for these beliefs. Yet somehow churches act like he's some kind of Conservative Haircut in khakis and a button up, who would support cutting welfare programs, and would preach Prosperity Gospel.

swart,
@swart@mastodon.cloud avatar

@paninid @AlexanderVI I have Umberto Eco to thank for turning me on to Hypatia

swart,
@swart@mastodon.cloud avatar

@paninid @AlexanderVI this bit from her Wikipedia page is pretty amazing

ai6yr, to Aviation

ABC7: United flight makes emergency landing at LAX after suspected hydraulic failure https://abc7.com/united-flight-makes-emergency-landing-at-los-angeles-international-airport-after-reports-of-suspected-hydraulics-failure/14505488/

swart,
@swart@mastodon.cloud avatar

@EugestShirley @ai6yr at least it wasn’t a bird or a ground crew member, this time.

carnage4life, to random
@carnage4life@mas.to avatar

Why is there a sudden epidemic of planes falling apart in the sky and on the runway?

swart,
@swart@mastodon.cloud avatar

@carnage4life Aviation safety is a zero interest rate phenomenon

swart, to random
@swart@mastodon.cloud avatar

Some absolutely staggering numbers in this report on China’s investments in clean energy in 2023:

  • $890bn investment in clean-energy is almost as large as total global investments in fossil fuel supply in 2023 – similar to the GDP of Switzerland or Turkey

  • The manufacturing boom has pushed down the cost of solar panels 42% year-on-year – a dramatic drop even compared to the historical average of around 17% per year, and battery by an even steeper 50%.

https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-clean-energy-was-top-driver-of-chinas-economic-growth-in-2023/

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