I'll end with my favourite sentence from our paper: "This new, anthropogenic sky feature would even be easily visible in a light-polluted city: the natural patterns of the star- filled night sky that have been a source of wonder and knowledge for all of human history will have been erased by […]

Kid2 had their annual checkup at the pediatrician this morning. My heartfelt thanks to the young couple with an infant who were very patient and understanding when my kid bolted across the room, decided they were friendly, and plopped onto a seat beside them to pat the adults' heads. We […]

Seeking book recommendations A family member (US Boomer) has been dealing with a chronic condition with symptoms that come and go, and they're having a hard time adjusting to the unpredictability of their health. They're an avid reader and I thought maybe a book or two on disability/chronic […]

Count me as NOT a fan of the new ACS logo. My hot take: the icon thingy looks too much like an AI sparkle butthole and is not sciencey enough https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:jomweq7j44pcqclqrhxlyqc4/post/3msbyy3k3ns2r

"Letters to a Pre-Scientist is looking for enthusiastic STEM role models! Share your story and inspire the next generation of STEM leaders. Connect with a middle school student through a yearlong snail-mail pen pal exchange that aims to demystify STEM careers, humanize STEM professionals, and […]

I had a checkup at mg doctor's office this morning. In the waiting room there's a TV that loops through images of quotes and health facts. One of the slides just said something like "Can bacteria make you feel better?" I thought the next slide might be about probiotics or something, but it just […]

Today, the nonverbal autism therapist who works on the corner messaged us and asked us to bring Odin downstairs because one of her students said he wanted the big black dog and (I know firsthand, because I have seen this child several times) that's just about the most communicative he's ever […]

I'm reading a 2023 post about a visit to the country by a professional troll. To avoid getting derailed into a discussion about the particular issue this person uses as bait, I won't give details. But the post argues - as did many at the time - that those who staged an aggressive counter-protest […]

Open Letter: Stop the Uncritical Adoption of AI Technologies in Academia It's been a year & people tell me they've changed their mind, feel safer now to sign, etc. So I'm sharing it again for them. We're almost at 2k & anybody from anywhere can add their […] [Original post on scholar.social]

Ughhhh internet slop is so aggravating. I'm looking for a knit fabric for a project and I'd prefer to use cotton. One item's name says "cotton blend" but the description is 96% polyester, 4% Spandex "Cotton blend" is usually majority polyester, but this isn't even that, or it's an AI slop […]

I brought my camera therefore I still am.

The new king was a tyrant and the people lived in fear. The king's first advisor, a magician of a new religion claimed that he would make the stones speak, and that that those who listened to the stones (any merchant, bard or lord) might unlock endless wealth. The magician made and offering to […]

#TextureTuesday

Uni HR: book your flights directly, we'll reimburse you when you start. Uni relocation expenses procedure: book your flights directly, we'll reimburse you when you start. Uni Finance: we see you booked your flights outside the system, here are a bunch of extra hoops to jump through to be […]

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a messy item left on the kitchen counter will be found by my younger child the moment my back is turned Tonight it was raspberry sauce Spouse left out to cool, and Kid2 decided to find out how it feels to stick their entire hand in it

But I keep thinking about the company that wants to make nurses bid against each other driving their wages lower and lower just to have a shift. It feels like a fire to me, in a shirtwaist factory. At some point the creative innovations of the market sound like rolling back civilization rather […]

RE: https://sauropods.win/@futurebird/113866093397576803 What is it like to work at FLOCK what is is like to work at palantir? What is it like to work for ICE... not on the ground but doing their website, or their payroll? I posted about this just after the election and this interview reminded […]

myrmepropagandist@futurebird.sauropods.win.ap.brid.gy · 2y ago

If you work with a database and are asked to alter the table structure to comply in advance for citizenship or gender categorizations it's really important to NOT do it. "The governor is concerned about all this stuff they want us to update our record keeping so we store both gender AND […]

#MonochromeMonday #Monochrome #BlackAndWhite #BlackAndWhitePhotography

Help* is expensive, and those who need it most often find it farthest from their reach *Help = physical healthcare, mental health support, childcare, accessibility & accommodation support, legal advice, etc

I emailed someone in a professional context and I am going to stress for the next hour that I misjudged the appropriate level of formality to use Also I wish more people would put their pronouns in email signatures or on contact pages. This person's first name has been ambiguous/gender-neutral […]

The automated "you password will expire soon" message does not know I received a layoff notice. I know this. And yet it feels very weird to update my password for a place that is attempting to be rid of me as soon as a month from now. Like the whole employer/employee relationship is the thing […]

🎶 wildfire season's here again each year it's harder to pretend that we've been doing all we can🎶 wow I'm ready for this to stop being timely https://youtu.be/QVVSL9SbGKA

I went through my scarf inventory and reopened the sale section. These beautiful #sciart scarves are all 40% off www.etsy.com/shop/artolog...

The article linked in the post is on point, but the website is maddening with flaky slide-over crap and autoplay videos that reloaded the page and made the "reader view" and "hide distracting items" mode reset. So read on an archive page maybe From the article: "The American workplace is still […]

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If calculators, at the time that they came out, had delivered correct sums, products, square roots, etc., only about 90% of the time, would there have been the same precipitous rush to adopt them? 🤔

I wish we made less medical/hygiene waste My prescription bottles are not recyclable here. I should be able to take them back to the pharmacy so they could be reused, not just toss them in the garbage It would take different infrastructure, so it's not likely to happen anytime soon, but it's […]

The pokeweed is back. I generally try to leave the native plants that grow in my yard, but poke berries are very poisonous and this plant is growing where my kids are likely to encounter it. Warning kid1 away would be fine, but that approach won't work for kid2 Pokeweed is hard to remove […]

You don't really need a reason to stock up on Penzey's spices, which are AMAZING, but they happen to be having a sale www.penzeys.com/shop/spices/...

RE: https://raggedfeathers.com/@lilithsaintcrow/117020904859904785 The book contract I signed a few days ago has a "no genAI" clause. Neither I, the author, nor the editor/publisher are allowed to use genAI. I am extremely happy about having that written officially in the document!