Space Catitude 🚀

Fan of space, film, free/open-source software and free culture. Former pro astronomer. Writer, blogger, editor, visual artist. Occasional free-software developer. (Personal Account)

Public Key

npub1qe4sak9mrhjn4g6xkuv06ck4l8gvfh5x9a75z6w8gvujnkf7z2jstn0w0l

NIP-05 Address

TerryHancock@realsocial-life.mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsqv6cwmza3mef65drtwx8avt2ln5xym6rz7l2pd8r5xwffmylp9fgpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerfw36x7tnsw43qs99sxn

Publishing to

relay.ditto.pub

Author Public Key

npub1qe4sak9mrhjn4g6xkuv06ck4l8gvfh5x9a75z6w8gvujnkf7z2jstn0w0l

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Last Notes

2026-10-19 03:36:10 UTC

Also... "Hebrew symbol for blood"..? I mean, Hebrew has an alphabet, not ideographs, right..?
#monsterdondoublefeature

2026-10-13 16:25:37 UTC

Finally actually followed through on an order to @nprofile…ckyh
I like what they're doing. I've been meaning to put in a small order for awhile now. I really want to see in-person what the build quality is like on their in-house figures.
https://www.mountaintowntoys.com/

2026-10-08 21:19:02 UTC

This is pretty cool. A guy decided to build a replica of the late-1980s TARDIS control room.
That would be pretty high on my list of fun fan projects.
https://theconsoleroom.co.uk
It's interesting that I had to type in the link from the guy's T-shirt, even though I found him on YouTube. Does YT filter out links in video descriptions or something..? That would seem rude, but plausible.
The photo gallery includes both the finished work and some of the construction process, which I think is even more interesting.

2026-09-29 03:27:53 UTC

Okay, so people are posting "9 games" they found formative, so I have a wonderful opportunity to date myself here. :muppets_waldorf:
But here we go -- a good span of the history of computer gaming. But not recently.
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/117/352/189/572/711/580/original/177ca3488233778f.jpg

2026-09-08 06:16:56 UTC

I have yet to see a situation, no matter how bad, in which panic or despair is actually an effective strategy.

2026-07-30 16:29:32 UTC

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@nprofile…jzru
The fact that they didn't catch any of those immediately shows they were immensely ignorant of African geography.
Which tracks for this Admin.

2026-07-18 17:09:02 UTC

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@nprofile…pfuj @nprofile…djfr
It's very frustrating. When I started my animation project years ago, I got contributor applications from Blender artists in Cuba. I could take their work, but it was illegal for me to pay them for it.
So I had to turn them down. That sucked. They were pretty good artists.
I was feeling optimistic when Obama started normalizing relations, but we've obviously slipped very far from that now.
And for what reason? None of it makes any sense.

2026-06-30 01:24:17 UTC

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@nprofile…m2xn
A government that can't bring itself to impeach and remove this man is an utter, disgraceful failure.

2026-06-26 16:55:18 UTC

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I know that this isn't strictly malicious. These are defensive measures to deal with badly-behaved spammers, offensive DDOS attacks, and scraper bots.
I get it. I also run websites. But the result is a toxic, broken web.
And that makes me sad and somewhat afraid of the consequences of us going down this path.

2026-06-26 16:48:45 UTC

Well, shit.
My ISP blocks half of Europe's websites, because apparently they have the entire fricking Hetzner cloud blocked.
But now that I use a Squid proxy to get around the ISP's bullshit, Cloudflare blocks me from accessing websites, because accessing from a Digital Ocean IP is suspect or something.
Remember when the fricking web had "web sites" and we had "web browsers" and they just fricking WORKED..?
Now, all this paranoid bullshit is just splitting the web up and disconnecting us all.
This sucks.

2026-06-25 20:35:25 UTC

Accusing people they don't like of being part of an organization that does not in fact exist, is great for an authoritarian regime.
Because it's extremely difficult to prove you are not a member of an organization when it is entirely fictional to begin with.
You wind up having to prove that the organization doesn't exist. Which is proving a negative -- an almost impossible thing to do convincingly.

2026-06-21 18:02:53 UTC

TIL how to load an animated PNG loop into Kdenlive. At least, in the version I have, it doesn't just happen automatically.
But FFMPEG understands "apng" format.
I renamed my .png to .apng, but I don't know if that mattered.
But then I did:
$ ffmpeg -i <anim>.apng <anim_folder>/<anim>-%03d.png
And now I have a short PNG stream.
Which Kdenlive can load (including transparency and looping) with "Add Image Sequence..."
:smug_dance: <-- this one, BTW
#Kdenlive #Emojo #Animated

2026-06-20 19:27:48 UTC

Okay. Well, I can't share this on my broken Misskey, so I'll just share it here. "Ghostly gopher oversees the launch preparations".
I was checking the timecodes for a revised render, and the shot with the timecodes doesn't include the gopher.
#LunaticsProject #Kdenlive #Blender3D
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/116/784/077/723/013/898/original/31a0953ca9bf14fc.jpg

2026-06-15 18:45:56 UTC

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@nprofile…yjg9
I can't judge. I used to imagine the inside of the 107-inch telescope dome at McDonald Observatory was the decks of the Nostromo from "Alien".
It was kind of built around that time -- had a very similar hardware vibe. Also all the angles in a dome are crazy, and of course, it's dark with red lights a lot of the time. Spooky, in a fun way!

2026-06-14 02:40:30 UTC

It is interesting to consider that, if Elon Musk indeed owns $1 trillion dollars, a 99% wealth tax would reduce him to a "mere" $10 billion dollars. What a pauper that would make him. How sad. :muppets_statler:

2026-06-12 23:19:39 UTC

If I'm getting ready for localization of my film and I want to add both subtitles and descriptive audio, should I just use SRT for both?
Obviously they would be used differently, and I will likely record the English descriptive audio myself. But it seems like SRT would provide a good representation for other language readings. Does that make sense?
#Film #AskFedi #Accessibility #A11y #Localization #L10n #Translation

2026-06-09 19:07:22 UTC

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@nprofile…vxtn
Hmm. Could be an interesting challenge. The first adventure game was written in Fortran, wasn't it?

2026-06-09 16:12:21 UTC

Well, that's upsetting. Burner phones are hassle enough without the government interfering.
"FCC Wants to Kill Burner Phones By Forcing Telecoms to Get All Customers’ IDs"
https://www.404media.co/fcc-wants-to-kill-burner-phones-by-forcing-telecoms-to-get-all-customers-ids/

2026-06-07 05:00:27 UTC

The fact that I've spent over a decade making a short 3D animated film, and someone will inevitably look at it and think "Oh, that's obviously AI!" pisses me off so much.
:welp:
There are a few background elements that I *could* have used AI for. In 2022, I experimented a lot with MidJourney to see if that would be a good idea.
In the end though, I just gave up on that. It didn't seem worth it, and the really complicated backgrounds were already done, anyway.
But somebody's going to say it anyway, I am certain. And I will be sad.

2026-05-27 20:53:36 UTC

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It's always fun to give some character action to the background characters. I like how the one porter is sort of startled by the other one's chess move, which he made while the first one was distracted by the people walking by. Sneaky bastard!
I have forgotten where I got this chess game. It's actually a few plays from early in a tournament game I found a record for, though. So the piece positions should actually make sense.
(I'm posting on my personal account, because the video uploads work here. One of the things I want to fix on my Misskey installation. There's always something to fix!)
#LunaticsProject #Animation
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/116/648/515/218/107/795/original/e96bf048c8c12d31.mp4

2026-05-27 20:23:25 UTC

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And the reply from Georgiana.
#LunaticsProject #Animation
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/116/648/401/641/181/906/original/e9e2900556fe1964.mp4

2026-05-27 20:04:44 UTC

Okay. It's adequate. This lipsync wasn't done, so I just put it in manually. I don't really have a full phoneme set here, just moving her jaw around. But I think it reads okay.
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/116/648/323/092/531/077/original/52c1cd60532328a4.mp4

2026-05-19 09:45:19 UTC

Who among us hasn't wanted to build a "cyberdeck"..?
Honestly, though, I was happy putting Linux on a Thinkpad, myself. Not as cool, but certainly a lot easier!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIWp_F9PPzI

2026-05-10 20:35:04 UTC

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@nprofile…4w8z
Hmm. That would be a tactile display. I guess you kind of want it to be the opposite for easier finger reading (can't say from experience, but I wonder what blind users would make of this).

2026-04-16 17:17:49 UTC

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@nprofile…8atu
Is that some kind of formal preference for just dumping input into a chatbot and expecting useful output?
Because I've seen a lot of semi-reasonable search engines and expert systems replaced by thick-as-a-post chatbots recently.
Like, once upon a time, I could type in an error code and get an answer quickly, but now there has to be pages of wheedling first.

2026-04-14 00:46:56 UTC

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@nprofile…pfuj
I mean. On the whole, Jesus was "weak on crime".
If you think about it. 🤔
He was not very into the whole punitive model of justice.

2026-04-14 00:43:18 UTC

Today, I heard a video from Heather Cox Richardson in which she talked about being viscerally bothered by video from the Artemis II mission because of her "fear of heights".
I find that hard to relate to. I am definitely nervous about heights -- or more precisely about losing my balance and falling from them -- but images from orbit, or even from the safety of the inside of an airplane seem far too abstract to me to be any cause of fear.
Also, in space, I know that the issue is drifting away from your spacecraft -- not "falling" in any usual sense (yes, I know that both you and the ship are "falling" in a physical sense, as that's what an orbit is, but it's not the same).
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/116/400/282/095/377/718/original/0b9a804b04b10ac9.jpg

2026-03-21 22:29:39 UTC

So much panic over TSA not being funded, so little remembering that TSA does not make us measurably safer from crime or terrorism, and introduces a new vector for crime and abuse.

2026-03-19 22:21:44 UTC

Snapped this at the news stand in the Barnes & Noble a few days ago.
3 separate special issue publications:
"Essential Guide to ChatGPT"
"ChatGPT for Seniors"
"Improve your life with ChatGPT"
Holy pay-for-play crap...
There is no way the public was clamoring for this content.
I have to wonder how much of the magazines were written by chatbot.
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/116/258/161/627/401/942/original/d36052a159f03091.jpg

2026-03-19 18:58:19 UTC

"No results for K-Pop Demon Hunters blu ray in Movies & TV"
Still? Really? :welp:
They just won an Oscar.
I can definitely find it on Blu-Ray. Just maybe none of the money will go to the producers of the film.
I think they are leaving money on the table, myself.

2026-02-20 02:04:40 UTC

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@nprofile…pfuj
Huh. Like old movies.
Are uniforms becoming more popular again? Or has it always been like that in NYC..?

2026-02-19 14:17:47 UTC

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@nprofile…jydu
Is it possible to find out what shared library is responsible for some windows? I often wonder which project is actually behind the file browser or print dialog that I'm using and whether I can change it. My understanding is that these are usually delegated to an SO?

2026-02-19 14:01:57 UTC

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@nprofile…jydu
Yeah, I've often wondered about that myself. I understand that you can install the Sugar DE on Linux, generally, and get that "view source" button. But it seems specifically designed to oppose multitasking, too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_(desktop_environment)

2026-02-17 22:00:00 UTC

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@nprofile…pfuj
This says that replacing the hard drives would delete all prior video..?
Why?
Normally, I would expect that you'd read the drives on another machine to recover the video data?
Did they throw away the old drives? Because it's possible to recover data even from a damaged hard drive -- it's an expensive and time consuming process for *me*, but not really for the FBI.
The only reason that I can think of for this is some kind of built-in security measure, but surely even if so, that could be defeated? :welp:
Is the data really gone? Or just sitting on a defunct HDD in storage..?
And if the data was lost, what was that weird fix-up they published..?

2026-01-30 01:20:05 UTC

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@nprofile…qa6s
What I particularly love about this is that it completely works as a metaphor as well:
The true solution when you face a "trolley problem" in real life is to study more detail to find additional options. Because no real world situation is ever this binary.

2026-01-07 23:26:31 UTC

I'm seeing a lot of concern over heavy news today and boosts. So I want to call your attention to a useful, but perhaps little-known Mastodon feature:
If you want to follow an account on Mastodon, but you don't like the posts that they boost from others, you can hide these from an option on their profile (in the web UI) without having to unfollow them.
There are many strongly held opinions on the "correct" use of CW and what ought to be boosted, so this can be a useful way to cope.
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/115/856/333/620/637/883/original/b6d37e0effd51db7.jpg

2025-12-27 22:06:39 UTC

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@nprofile…hzyj
A sales tax on financial instruments has a number of nice properties, including mainly taxing the wealthy and disincentivizing rapid market speculation, which has been the source of much economic instability.

2025-12-05 04:04:08 UTC

Sometimes I think I should get rid of some books. But then I think, "Okay. Which ones?"
And, well, that's end of THAT.

2025-12-01 09:47:08 UTC

#FreeSoftwareAdvent
Free Software that I rely on. One per day, I guess.
Okay.... Day 1....
Inkscape
A vector graphics editor (edits SVG documents).
I use this in a lot of different ways whenever I need a drawing:
* Presentation slides
* Graphic illustrations/diagrams
* "Decal" graphics for 3D textures
* Layout of images or other graphics
* Video poster/cover graphics
* Book design
https://inkscape.org
Also included in most desktop Linux distributions, I believe.
#Inkscape
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/115/643/639/284/550/254/original/19504e3fc25d6f37.png
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/115/643/642/324/557/368/original/39048fa821cf262a.png
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/115/643/646/236/326/746/original/41de8e590b4ed190.png

2025-11-26 23:42:29 UTC

I have never skied, but isn't "over your skis" where you are supposed to be..?
🤔
How is this an expression? What does it literally mean..? Or I guess "figuratively", but when referring to skiing?

2025-11-15 18:53:44 UTC

Yet another snapshot of the server.
So I can do even more risky things with it.

2025-11-15 00:40:33 UTC

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@nprofile…e4ry
Nice piece of art, though. 😅

2025-11-11 20:28:02 UTC

I have started a file to collect sources on untrustworthy behavior from Big Tech SaaS platforms.
To include: Google Office and competitors, Facebook/Twitter/corp social media, etc.
Well-sourced articles from trusted sources are best, but anecdotes may be useful. Obviously don't dox yourself in the process.
And thus make the case for self-hosting our internal and community digital services.
#AskFedi #ToxicTech #ShowMeReceipts
[more detail in thread]

2025-11-09 18:17:50 UTC

Back to reading "How Infrastructure Works" (2023) by Deb Chachra @nprofile…k72k
About halfway through now. It is clear Chachra reads SF (as well as mystery, though I'm less qualified to gauge that).
I'm totally stealing this line, riffing on Clarke:
"Any sufficiently advanced neglect is indistinguishable from malice."
🤭
Oh yes. :kermit:
It's a very accessible book, telling anecdotes about historical infrastructure (and historical failures of it), with themes to build an understanding of the field and its impact on society.
I'll report back when I finish it.

2025-11-07 10:44:14 UTC

For someone not officially Christian, I have a lot of Bibles on my shelf. Several different translations, Catholic and Protestant canons.
Surely some of these could be boxed? I probably don't need more than one King James Bible on the shelf, right?
🤔

2025-11-05 14:56:25 UTC

When I remarked about what I'd see if I ever by chance got to Lyon, France. I *meant* to link to THIS:
"MUSEUM OF CINEMA AND MINIATURES in LYON, FRANCE"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58_Ae9opOEE
But I found this morning that I had actually posted a link to one of my own Production Log articles. Oops.

2025-11-03 20:49:35 UTC

"Breaking the Chains of Gravity" (2016) by Amy Shira Teitel
I'd been watching her "Vintage Space" YouTube history videos and decided to check out this book (her first, I think).
It's a deep dive into some largely ignored (perhaps purposely so) history. It largely follows the German pre-war and war rocket program and how that got absorbed into the US military and civilian space program.
This obviously means covering the Nazi connection via Von Braun and company. Some grim stuff.
During this phase, the USA didn't really have one space program, but three (at least), with different priorities and visions. The book follows these and how they ultimately were consolidated into NASA.
I was a little disappointed to find that the book has little to say on the Soviet space program -- I'd love to read a similarly detailed book on that. It was a subject that was largely hidden behind the Iron Curtain from me when I was young, and so I know only rough outlines, even today (one of the fun things about doing the Soyuz research I did for the Lunatics pilot).
But I guess this is understandable, since it's clear the focus is on what led to NASA, in which the Soviet program serves only as a foil.
Though I did find it interesting to read the history of the "International Geophysical Year" and how that led to Sputnik.
Good book. Covers an important gap.

2025-11-02 07:02:33 UTC

Well, that was fun. Just watched my onscreen clock count from 1:59 AM to 1:00 AM.
Intriguingly, online services I was trying to use were failing. Do they shut down to avoid experiencing the "same hour" twice in their logs...?
Or is this just a great time to run maintenance scripts?

2025-10-29 07:11:00 UTC

Michael J. Fox and Joan Jett was a weird combination of "siblings". I actually saw this movie in the theater when it came out.
"Light of Day" (1987)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093415

2025-10-29 02:35:07 UTC

I do understand why many reports talk about ICE roughing up "US citizens".
It shows how indiscriminate, inefficient, pointless, and cruel they are -- not even doing the thing they are supposedly mandated to do.
BUT... I just want to be damned clear: they don't have any goddamned business doing these things to undocumented immigrants, either.
There is no "paperwork crime" worthy of enforcement by violence.

2025-10-27 19:45:15 UTC

Hiromi Lerner was a musician and a medical student. Now she's a paramedic and a nutritionist for a Moon Colony.
And a Mom, as we see in the pilot episode of "Lunatics!"
Re-rendered to (I hope) loop properly, and with simple text wartermark.
#LunaticsProject #OpenMovie #Blender3D #NPR3D
lunatics.tv
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/115/447/811/760/237/532/original/d1f107db58497c3d.mp4

2025-10-26 05:04:34 UTC

I'm curious how this image will show up on Mastodon -- it's a very tall GIF. Used to be a "skyscraper" ad format on "Project Wonderful", IIRC:
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/115/438/716/394/940/730/original/e03b748ffa5b9839.mp4

2025-10-26 00:08:07 UTC

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@nprofile…3u5w
Linux for Good, seems like the strongest title, IMHO. Direct. Accessible. No $10 words.

2025-10-18 22:31:32 UTC

So, our #NoKings event was a little over 500 this time, up from ~400. Estimated by us in about the middle of each.
A lot of inflatables this time.
Even fewer MAGA drive bys. None with Trump flags -- instead one had a Charlie Kirk flag. Another had a couple of Burger King crowns on his side mirrors. That one seemed a little ambiguous. Couple of randos yelling or shooting the finger.
Probably 5-10X as many waving "No Kings" signs, waving, or thumbs up. Most passers-by were sympathetic with the protest, overwhelmingly.
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/115/397/538/059/608/565/original/fc20b1ec246c5a2a.jpg

2025-10-11 16:36:56 UTC

I still don't understand how Apple maintains any cultural cachet on the Left. They're so authoritatian. And they always have been -- right back to... well... 1984.
Their last genuinely good, liberating product was probably the Apple IIe. Even the classic Macintosh was a power grab, not power for the user. Their selling point is how locked down, polished, and impenetrable they are to the user.
But a lot of people seem to still think they're cool. :anime_huh:

2025-06-05 08:07:49 UTC

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@nprofile…fa4k
I wonder. When people describe "own" and "utility", what exactly do they mean?
We do have a concept of ourselves as individual organisms, and we can be "selfish" to think only about the physical benefit to that organism.
But we also each have a identity halo of family, friends, and various other levels of society.
Do we consider it a matter of "own utility" for our neighbors have access to medicine and education?
I don't see how that isn't self interest for me.

2025-06-03 08:32:57 UTC

Once again, I see "Apollo 13" on a list of #ScienceFiction movies.
It's not, folks. It's a #HistoricalDrama
It happened 55 years ago (not EXACTLY as depicted, but they did pretty well).
DEAL with that fact. 🤔
🚀 🌒

2025-06-02 00:47:57 UTC

I don't know this guy at all, but this is a very good criticism of the "Dark Forest" hypothesis for the "Fermi Paradox". I think his reasoning is pretty solid:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0SvgT9Lc2M
#Science #ScienceFiction #SETI #Astronomy #Intelligence #Bioastronomy #GameTheory #FermiParadox #DarkForest

2025-05-25 03:33:49 UTC

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@nprofile…naem
Thing is, I can change a password if it gets compromised.
I can't change my biometrics or DNA.

2025-05-18 17:51:05 UTC

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@nprofile…x759
My favorite is still going to be "Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy".
The audio production on that was incredible.
Also, the first two parts were actual radio shows, but they later continued the audiodrama series to part 5, covering Adams' entire book series.
But I'm guessing you've already heard that one.

2025-05-15 19:39:28 UTC

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@nprofile…args
Well, it has been called "The Curse of Knowing How", and I feel it a LOT!
This was written about programming, but it applies to other trades, too. (I didn't write this, but I can relate).
There are so many things that I know that I *can* do, and I feel this growing-up-poor obligation to DIY, but it's just not efficient, and there's only so much time in a day.
https://web.archive.org/web/20250506084841/https://notashelf.dev/posts/curse-of-knowing

2025-05-14 22:07:17 UTC

Just look at this bumblebee!
Got to be 3cm long, at least.
And I believe that's a variety of milkweed.
Taken just a few minutes ago.
#Nature #Photo #Spring #Bumblebee #Bee #BloomScrolling #Flower
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/114/508/459/934/919/638/original/7c86d7752b97dc59.jpg

2025-05-13 23:10:38 UTC

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@nprofile…t3wn @nprofile…f456
Though actually set (mostly) in 1969 -- so that's a bigger gap. 🤔

2025-05-13 19:14:27 UTC

Does anyone have recommendations for a good book on the *process* of working with open source teams on software development?
I'm self-taught, and though I've done it for work, I've not been formally a "programmer".
And It always feels like I missed a meeting or something.
I know OF such things as version control, forges, bug triage, code review, and pull requests. But my grasp of actually doing these things is very shaky.
#AskFedi #Books #Computer #Programming #OpenSource #Workflow

2025-05-10 06:34:42 UTC

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@nprofile…gd7f
The good news is that we are probably decades if not centuries away from being able to do that!

2025-05-09 22:58:02 UTC

Literally could not get tickets to my son's commencement without installing a smartphone app. That is really a gross privacy violation.

2025-05-09 22:29:20 UTC

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@nprofile…gd7f
I'm pretty sure they're both "you you". Which then diverge from that point. We're just not used to that concept. Or ready for it, probably.

2025-05-09 17:19:10 UTC

Pay attention to the rigged-election stuff from Russia.
This will be the play in the USA, too.
I see a lot of people placidly assuming we'll have fair elections in 2026 & 2028.
Or that elections will be suspended.
No, that would be too obvious -- and also not feed MAGA's need for shallow reinforcement of their "mandate".
In authoritarian regimes, the purpose of elections is PR for the ruling party, to be obtained by any means necessary.
We have to protect our elections.

2025-05-04 20:36:13 UTC

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FWIW, the main thing I bought on Amazon was probably media (videos, music CDs, and books), and for those I've got a little list of places to check:
Alibris https://www.alibris.com/
Particularly good for textbooks and technical non-fiction.
Half-Price Books https://www.hpb.com/
Used books, movies, music. I shop in the local store, but they also have online sales.
Deep Discount
New titles -- deals often same as Amazon:
https://www.deepdiscount.com/
Have purchased from all of these.
[...]

2025-05-04 20:27:46 UTC

No, eBay, I did not "forget something". I'm ignoring you, right now, because my bank account needs a rest.
I wonder if there's a setting to turn off these creeper emails? 🤔
So far, the "Life Without Amazon" experiment is going so-so, post Lent. It is more complicated -- I have to go to several different sites to replace them.
eBay is one of them, and of course, has its own issues.

2025-05-01 03:30:56 UTC

I have either got a hellish case of allergies or I've caught *something*.
I suppose I should take that last CoViD test (actually I think it's a combined CoViD/RSV/Flu test).
After dodging for 5 yrs, have I finally caught it, after all? IDK.
Thing is, I have terrible congestion and sinus, and I do feel fatigued, but not much else. And the fatigue might just be my awful sleep schedule/deficit.
Ugh. :neko_tired:

2025-04-25 19:24:21 UTC

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@nprofile…fe4j
🤔
To me, it looks like they have reduced the saturation and tinted it blue, which emulates naked eye perception more than most long-exposure low-light photos do.
It is nice, isn't it?

2025-04-23 03:18:59 UTC

Finally.
The animation linking in this shot was kicking my ass today!
I had it animated, but then I closed it and came back to it later to find the animation was missing.
Probably, I had deleted something accidentally, or else changed the animation file without realizing it.
But I think I have finally gotten it working correctly.
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/114/385/081/484/466/175/original/32e8800164b6f80a.png

2025-04-20 20:04:06 UTC

A lot of Democrats keep talking about how we're basically holding out to make gains in the 2026 midterm elections. And THEN we can solve things.
But I am very skeptical about those midterms.
An executive that gives the finger to SCOTUS over habeas corpus will not balk at rigging elections out-of-sight, and it's not that hard for them to do.
They are already talking about standardizing our election procedures federally, and that's step one of the exploit I see.
[1/5]

2025-04-19 22:26:49 UTC

There were about 70-75 people in Burleson, TX Hands Off protest today. Less than Apr 5th, but still a pretty good showing.
There were ZERO counter-protesters this time. Still some obnoxious people in passing cars, but they were outnumbered by people expressing support. A lot of people looking but not reacting -- I think they are often the most important.
The photographer did ask for permission. I assume he did for others as well, but to be on the safe side, I'm just posting the picture of me.
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/114/366/955/599/516/770/original/52fad1a9ff231b42.jpg

2025-04-18 00:35:57 UTC

We've reached the part of this timeline where David Brooks is paraphrasing Karl Marx and Lisa Murkowski is calling for people to get out and protest in the streets.
:welp:
I may have to sit with that for a bit.
:kermit: 🍵

2025-04-17 00:52:55 UTC

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@nprofile…xrxy
Filmed < 50 miles away. The roads look SO familiar.
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/114/350/562/178/023/050/original/1998bff245622f04.jpg

2025-04-16 19:50:04 UTC

A much-needed fiery speech by Letitia James (NY Attorney General). You've probably heard her name from trials of Donald Trump prior to the election.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9NVNUo5PAo

2025-04-16 15:41:53 UTC

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@nprofile…jhfw
If nothing else, meeting with Garcia will convey hope to him that people are fighting for his return. I doubt his jailors have told him that. He's been there a month, now.
Also I hope this doesn't end up solely focused on this one man. His case is the most clear cut, but none of them were deported legally. We need to get them all back.

2025-04-06 16:22:05 UTC

This is a fun list of bad books to begin with if you're getting into science fiction literature.
Some great books here, actually, but yes, hard ones. I've started 5 of these, and finished, um... 3. ( I do have plans to finish reading the other two, but I have a large to-be-read pile).
https://screenrant.com/sci-fi-books-series-bad-for-beginners-list/
#ScienceFiction #Books

2025-04-06 00:39:30 UTC

Burleson, TX
Peaked at about 350 people -- this is an outlying suburb, so it's more of a satellite protest.
Along with our contribution to the signage.
#HandsOff #Protest #USA #Burleson #Texas
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/114/288/212/758/089/005/original/c86405c03518780e.jpg

2025-04-05 07:13:16 UTC

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@nprofile…t5r6
I recall once seeing (very old) concept art for a mule in a spacesuit as a serious concept proposal for mobility on the Moon, and it would be perfect for this if I could only find it again!

2025-04-02 17:47:42 UTC

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@nprofile…svl3
I think I got most of the ones I've read, but there are a lot here I haven't.

2025-03-29 05:46:44 UTC

It's amazing to me that we're still making discoveries of something this basic on Mars: the red oxide coloring looka to be a different chemical than we used to think, also implying a different climate history (adds to the "wet Mars" theory):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_DsX-1-q1E
#Astronomy #Mars #Space #PlanetaryScience #Geology

2025-03-26 04:06:27 UTC

Evil bastards are hitting me where I live now.
Anyway, you can still get these comics. I made sure to save local copies. I probably should mirror some of this stuff.
https://nasawatch.com/education/you-can-still-read-nasas-deleted-first-woman-graphic-novels/

2025-03-12 05:45:36 UTC

Haven't seen this in awhile. Fun little animated movie:
"Tokyo Cosmo"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SEXokSxZBI

2025-02-23 01:40:57 UTC

Neil DeGrasse Tyson has a very popular one-liner about the futility of terraforming Mars. He remarks that "If we have the technology to turn Mars into Earth, we have the technology to turn Earth back into Earth."
Mm-hmm. I like NdGT a lot, but he's not making sense here.
Consider this proposition SERIOUSLY: he's proposing we engage in *climate engineering* solutions here on our ONLY HOME: Earth.
With 8-10 BILLION HUMAN LIVES hanging on us getting it right on the very first go.
BAD idea.

2025-02-19 14:45:47 UTC

So, if I log into my phone/ISP company, I see options to order additional services. But there are no options to *cancel* any of them.
I thought we made that illegal? :welp:
But am I surprised? No. That would be a no. One of the reasons I want to cancel is that this is exactly the sort of behavior I have come to expect from them, in addition to:
* Bill-padding
* Frequent outages
* Opaque billing
* Substantial inflation (now > $150/mo)
It Is Time For Them To Go. :dumpsterfire:

2025-02-03 17:59:03 UTC

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@nprofile…m3qg @nprofile…y6g5
Don't walkie-talkies work on a CB band..? It's been awhile, but I seem to remember them working on one or more of the lower CB channels. 🤔

2025-02-01 22:11:25 UTC

So, a President issues illegal orders, contradicting Congressional authority, and the Constitution.
Agencies start to comply with the illegal orders.
Now what? Lawsuits against the agencies for violating the Constitution?
:dumpsterfire:

2025-01-30 08:40:16 UTC

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@nprofile…hrmg
Oh! I just realized the orange & white part is the paper sleeve and this is just a regular 45, but with an integrated adapter.
I originally thought this was the whole record and it was single-sided, like a CD.
Nevermind. :corgi:

2025-01-30 08:17:49 UTC

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@nprofile…hrmg
Wow. I don't think I've ever seen that record format. Was that something special to the UK?

2025-01-17 20:14:10 UTC

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@nprofile…apfl
iPlayer doesn't usually work here. They want us to pay for "BritBox" or "BBC America".
I did have a VPN for awhile, just for "Doctor Who". But I think they got wise to it.

2025-01-17 19:46:25 UTC

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@nprofile…apfl
Hmm. So my 1st reading should be the main one, but maybe there is some intentional irony/foreshadowing here? I.e. that perhaps Richard himself is not so happy about the events (IIRC, he then proceeds to stir up trouble -- Richard III being seen generally as a villain).
I'd forgotten it was the first line!
Not the play I'm most familiar with (that'd probably be "King Lear" or perhaps "Midsummer Night's Dream").
But I like the modernized movie version with Ian McKellan (1995).

2025-01-17 18:08:47 UTC

I was always a little ambiguous on that line from Richard III:
"Now is the winter of our discontent"
Is that saying the discontent is coming to an end (Winter being a symbol of endings)?
Or does he just mean he's discontented, and Winter is a metaphor for generally being uncomfortable?
Or is it intentionally ambiguous?
It definitely sounds cool, but I never quite figured out what Shakespeare was doing there.
So I feel weird using it.
#Shakespeare #English #Metaphor

2025-01-16 06:27:40 UTC

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For a periods in the late 80s, early 90s, late 90s, and early 2000s, I was a professional #Astronomer (yet another workstation jockey) with a particular interest in #BioAstronomy -- planets, star forming, potential habitats -- that sort of thing.
Used data-reduction software. And I wrote some in #FORTRAN
Along the way, also learned BASIC, C, C++, Pascal, and then #Python
Helped develop the #NICMOS camera for Hubble. Then got to reduce some data from it to study protostars.
[2/3]

2025-01-16 06:14:54 UTC

2025 #Introduction update:
Currently finishing up what has become a 14-year project of producing an 18-minute #FreeCulture #OpenMovie #SciFi #Animation pilot episode using #FreeSoftware authoring tools like #Blender3D #Kdenlive #Audacity and more.
Hopefully episode 2 will go faster!
I have a professional account where I talk mostly about that at
@nprofile…4hfr
net and a "Production Log" at
https://lunaticsproject.org
Also a #Pixelfed for the project at @nprofile…ux3g
[1/3]

2025-01-15 18:05:33 UTC

Interesting -- I pasted the URL into my own PeerTube search bar, and so now, I can watch @nprofile…dvqh and @nprofile…qz4x on my *own* PeerTube server:
https://tv.filmfreedom.net/w/q1AAL629GYMFtN6nCy15WE
How about that?

2025-01-14 20:30:16 UTC

Thinking about "hacking fire exits" as @nprofile…qz4x puts it.
Could one implement a site that connected by both AT and AP protocols, and supported *migration* specifically?
I know there is already a way to connect for *federation of posts*.
And there is an effort underway to create a truly independent BlueSky platform.
So a BS user could migrate to said site, then migrate off BS to Fedi, if they so chose (and presumably the reverse as well). 🤔

2025-01-12 00:17:38 UTC

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@nprofile…args @nprofile…dyep
Yes!
"Get on the cart, ya toadies!"*
Shadows of the Butlerian Jihad coming.
[*H2G2 Radio Show, if this is too obscure]
[EDIT: okay, I'm assuming everyone knows the Dune reference]