thomasconnor

thomasconnor, 4 days ago to random

Well, it was bound to happen eventually...

Anti-Personnel Vehicle rusting on Garden St. in Cambridge.

thomasconnor, 8 days ago to random

Absolute bust looking for aurorae but I did catch a shooting star!

thomasconnor, 25 days ago to Astro

One of my silliest hills that I will die on:

STS-31, the #SpaceShuttle mission that deployed the #Hubble Space Telescope, launched #OTD in 1990: April 24.

However, the astronauts didn't deploy the observatory until April 25.

My view -- which is not held by the good folks at STScI -- is that Hubble's birthday is thus the 25th; I liken it to April 24th is when Hubble's parents drove to the hospital / went into labor, but the 25th is when it was born.
#Astrodon #HistoryOfAstronomy #NASA

thomasconnor, 1 month ago to random

Worked through the taxes for the year; now to take a break before going back to check over everything.

Dreaming of the day the government just knows how much we paid, owe, and are due and skips this whole Intuit-funded nonsense. #USATaxes

thomasconnor, 1 month ago to random

Look, I love me some Edmund Fitzgerald, but I'm not sure a hotel breakfast room in Oklahoma at 8 AM is the time or place for it. #StillJammingToIt #WitchOfNovember

thomasconnor, 1 month ago to random

Fuck.

Cars.

thomasconnor, 2 months ago to random

I hate to be the guy who judges things before they exist, but ... I just don't see how the movie adaptation of #EarthAbides is going to do the book any justice. I sincerely hope it will ... but, as someone on #Metafilter said, "get prepared for Earth Abides: Kickpuncher Requiem"

thomasconnor, 2 months ago to random

Controversial opinion: with how late the #SotU starts, the whole, slow line of hugging and handshakes for everyone entering the room needs to come to an end. It's quarter past nine already and Biden hasn't started speaking yet because Dennis McDonough needs to high-five back benchers. #USAPol

thomasconnor, 2 months ago to coffee

It's a paradox day! I've been too productive to take the time to make coffee yet -- but how could I have been productive if I didn't yet have #coffee???

thomasconnor, 3 months ago to space

Major congratulations to a team led by my old research group back at Caltech! NASA has selected UVEX for its next MIDEX mission, set to launch in 2030!

For the non-astronomers: that's a $300 million mission (+launch costs) to survey the sky at ultraviolet wavelengths. Not only is there so much to learn, but, as an added bonus, UV images look dope as hell.

https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/new-nasa-mission-will-study-ultraviolet-sky-stars-stellar-explosions/
#NASA #Science #Caltech #UVAstronomy #Astrophysics

thomasconnor, 3 months ago to random

Red Line really not handling the partial shutdown, innit?#MBTA #MBTARedLine #ScheduleAdjustments

thomasconnor, 5 months ago to random

New cars who dis #MBTA #BostonianOfTheYear #MBTARedLine #PublicTransit

thomasconnor, 5 months ago to boston

I'm happy to announce that I have been named #Bostonian of the Year by the #BostonGlobe. A deserved honor, certainly!

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/12/12/magazine/bostonians-of-the-year-the-beleaguered-essential-mbta-commuter/
#Boston #MBTA #PublicTransit

thomasconnor, 5 months ago to detroit

I've watched #AmericasThanksgivingParade from umpteen states now, but they really don't make it easy to view outside of #Detroit.

thomasconnor, 6 months ago to cycling

Commuted via Hampshire St. today, albeit late enough that I missed out on the traffic jams. Other than the sustained door zones north of Inman Square, it's a pretty nice ride! Now to remember how to bike in sub-freezing wind chill...
#CambridgeMA #BikeBoston #BikeTooter

thomasconnor, 6 months ago to random

Where's the #CambridgeMA election analysis?

thomasconnor, 6 months ago (edited 6 months ago) to Trains

In #Trains news:

Apparently #BNSF is spilling enough grain near Marias Pass that it will self-ferment, thereby acting as a brewery for the local bear (beer?) population.

(BNSF trains are then killing a handful of drunk bears every year, though, which is less amusing).

https://cowboystatedaily.com/2023/11/04/63-grizzlies-some-drunk-on-fermented-grain-killed-by-trains-in-montana/

#Bears #Montana #Rail #MastoTrain #DrunkBears #BeersForBears

thomasconnor, 6 months ago to random

I don't usually get too weird of "Starbucks Names," but a local Cantabrigian establishment somehow made my name Tallian (pronounced Tay-yahn).

thomasconnor, 7 months ago to random

The Globe has an article on Republicans trying to present Biden as both incompetent and a criminal mastermind, but apparently has no one on the masthead who has read Umberto Eco's "Ur-Fascism."

thomasconnor, 7 months ago to Astronomy

It's the 100th Anniversary of the "VAR!" plate, when humanity first had physical proof to understand the scale of the Universe. Happy VARDay, everyone!
#Astronomy #Astrodon #HistoryOfScience #Science #Telescopes #MtWilson #VARDay

thomasconnor, 7 months ago to random

Some advice from Yoda to Will urging him to calm himself instead of being destructive. #DontDeadOpenInside

thomasconnor, 7 months ago to MandelaEffect

Supposedly the reason #Monopoly takes so long is because most everyone plays by the house rule that landing on Free Parking gives you all the fees collected so far. Treating it just as a blank space speeds things up dramatically.

As such, in Monopoly as in real life, Free Parking ruins everything. #WarOnCars #SafeStreets #Urbanism

thomasconnor, 7 months ago to random

The EMERGENCY ALERT! ¡Y EN ESPAÑOL!
#FEMA #Alert #PhoneGoingOff

thomasconnor, 7 months ago to StarTrek

Not only is the #StarTrekTNG episode "Yesterday's Enterprise" an excellent rebuttal to attempts to make Trek about fighting ("This is not a ship of war. This is a ship of peace!"), but the set decoration in the Conference room is fantastic. #StarTrek #YesterdaysEnterprise #NextGeneration

thomasconnor, 7 months ago to boston

Ruggles seems like a critical missing link in #Boston's bike lanes. It's the closest the SWC and the Emerald Necklace get -- outside the Arboretum -- but it's a pain and a half to transfer between the two #BikeBoston