Nostr notes by Stephen Shankland

Lots of spy novels here I haven't read. ...

2026-08-24T00:15:06Z

Lots of spy novels here I haven't read. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/23/books/review/best-spy-novels.html

That's it for Tesla's fancy solar shingles. ...

2026-08-21T13:27:29Z

That's it for Tesla's fancy solar shingles. https://electrek.co/2026/08/20/tesla-discontinues-solar-roof-panels-only/

Frijoles Fire in the Pecos Wilderness in the Sangre de Cristo ...

2026-08-07T02:24:48Z

Frijoles Fire in the Pecos Wilderness in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains north of Santa Fe, NM, yesterday with a helicopter returning to get more water to dump. Truchas Peaks in the background.
#wildfire #telephoto #NewMexico

Pure EVs just outsold hybrids, gassers, diesels, and plug-in ...

2026-07-21T12:33:40Z

Pure EVs just outsold hybrids, gassers, diesels, and plug-in hybrids in German for the first time, per registration stats. Pretty interesting culture/technology shift for that country in particular. https://insideevs.com/news/802162/evs-outsold-gas-hybrid-diesel-germany/ #EV

<waves from fusion energy land>

2026-05-01T18:44:06Z

In reply to nevent1q…mknl
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<waves from fusion energy land>

As if on cue just ahead of Superb Owl Sunday, a great horned owl ...

2026-02-08T21:30:59Z

As if on cue just ahead of Superb Owl Sunday, a great horned owl hooted nearby just after sundown at the end of yesterday's hike in Wildcat Canyon Regional Park near Richmond, California. Took me a few minutes to find it in the trees. Quite a specimen! #SuperbOwl #birds #NaturePhotography #California 🐦

A bellowing Bewick's wren near the San Francisco Bay ...

2026-01-21T20:18:14Z

A bellowing Bewick's wren near the San Francisco Bay shoreline, Baylands Nature Preserve, Palo Alto, California.
#Birds 🐦 #Singing #BirdOfTheDay #California #NaturePhotography #SanFranciscoBay

An osprey at Dillon Beach in Marin County, California, today. No ...

2026-01-17T23:52:35Z

An osprey at Dillon Beach in Marin County, California, today. No dramatic talon-first plunges into the water, but still pretty gnarly.
#birds #birding #NaturePhotography #Marin #California

There's losing your remote control between the couch cushions ...

2026-01-14T14:32:50Z

There's losing your remote control between the couch cushions and then there's this. https://www.thejournal.ie/sean-ocasey-bridge-remote-1713102-Oct2014/

Does this count as calligraphy? I think yes. ...

2025-12-31T05:53:53Z

Does this count as calligraphy? I think yes. https://spoon-tamago.com/duct-tape-typographer-shuetsu-sato-honored-with-design-award/
#typography

"Alternatives" is appropriate. I doubt social media will ...

2025-12-13T00:02:43Z

In reply to nevent1q…0sz2
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"Alternatives" is appropriate. I doubt social media will un-fragment anytime soon. Everything got a boost except Twitter when X happened.

A croaking raven near Alviso in the southern tip of the San ...

2025-12-03T22:03:53Z

A croaking raven near Alviso in the southern tip of the San Francisco Bay. One of my favorite birds.

#Birds #NaturePhotography #SanFranciscoBay #Telephoto 🐦

I feel a little better knowing that Paul Erdős also got the ...

2025-11-14T00:44:59Z

I feel a little better knowing that Paul Erdős also got the wrong answer on the Monty Hall problem the first time around. I encountered through a 1991 neural network demonstration at LANL and did not put up a fight when told I was wrong and the neural net wasn't.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Hall_problem
#math #probability

Now here's a gutsy headline. ...

2025-09-23T00:08:04Z

Now here's a gutsy headline. https://www.sciencealert.com/fish-buttholes-may-be-the-reason-we-now-have-fingers-study-finds
#science #evolution

A green heron today at Baylands Nature Preserve on the San ...

2025-09-21T22:56:37Z

A green heron today at Baylands Nature Preserve on the San Francisco Bay. Cool two-tone feet and tan-outlined green glossy feathers on its back.

#birds 🐦 #SanFranciscoBay #NaturePhotography #Telephoto

IPv6 traffic at Google is brushing up against 50%. ...

2025-09-10T05:53:19Z

IPv6 traffic at Google is brushing up against 50%. https://www.google.com/intl/en/ipv6/statistics.html
#IPv6

For reasons lost in the mists of time, TWA (the long-since ...

2025-08-13T04:21:04Z

For reasons lost in the mists of time, TWA (the long-since defunct Trans World Airlines, acquired by American Airlines in 2001) used to hand out miniature staplers with a box of staples, too.
#Airlines #tchotchke #Americana

A banded demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) with pollen-dusted ...

2025-07-25T22:33:36Z

A banded demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) with pollen-dusted feet lands on a yellow water lily in Azay-le-Rideau, France.
#Photography #NaturePhotography #France

House finch this morning on an oak tree by our house. They suffer ...

2025-06-07T23:09:29Z

House finch this morning on an oak tree by our house. They suffer from being very common (at least in my eyes — "oh, just another house finch, move along"), but their songs really are very nice. #birds #birding #California #NaturePhotography

Red-tailed hawks are a dime a dozen as raptors go, I know, but ...

2025-04-10T01:24:01Z

Red-tailed hawks are a dime a dozen as raptors go, I know, but they're still great. Here's one in maximum aerodynamic lift configuration a couple days ago. #Birds #Birding #California #NaturePhotography

Very obliging demoiselle crane at Safari West near Santa Rosa, ...

2025-02-12T06:54:58Z

Very obliging demoiselle crane at Safari West near Santa Rosa, California. #birds

Favorite bird of the day: a Townsend's warbler jumping around ...

2024-12-16T02:22:25Z

Favorite bird of the day: a Townsend's warbler jumping around the brush at Bedwell Bayfront Park. The bird presumably was oblivious to the fact that this park on the edge San Francisco Bay is a former dump.

#birds 🐦 #birding #SanFranciscoBay #NaturePhotography #Nature #Photography

A pair of green-winged teal (Anas crecca) in the reeds at the ...

2024-12-10T22:25:00Z

A pair of green-winged teal (Anas crecca) in the reeds at the Arcata Marsh & Wildlife Sanctuary earlier this month. I almost missed these guys lurking not far away in a marshy area. #birds 🐦

Happy Thanksgiving from the Brookings along the Oregon coast. ...

2024-11-28T16:05:19Z

Happy Thanksgiving from the Brookings along the Oregon coast. Harris Beach area; sunset; St. George Reef Light (no longer active), and a sharp-shinned hawk. #birds #Oregon #PacificOcean #NaturePhotography

"In particular, Apple’s rules appear to be holding back a ...

2024-11-22T12:59:40Z

"In particular, Apple’s rules appear to be holding back a category of apps known as ‘progressive web apps’ (PWAs) that are lower cost and easier for developers to build since they can run on any operating system." https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/673f2d334ebce30ac7baf035/Summary_of_provisional_decision.pdf

Northern shoveler. I love these ducks for their comically large ...

2024-11-20T23:01:05Z

Northern shoveler. I love these ducks for their comically large bills, which have >100 little toothlike things they use to filter tasty crustaceans out of the muck (see the third photo). I often see mated pairs plowing their bills through low-tide mudflats as they wade around the SF Bay Area. #birds #birding #California #NaturePhotography

Backpacking in Ventana Wilderness last weekend in Los Padres ...

2024-11-14T03:02:05Z

Backpacking in Ventana Wilderness last weekend in Los Padres National Forest. So rugged. Fall colors, cold at night, tons of poison oak, dog fully self-actualized, bridge washed out so we had to ford Arroyo Seco (not so seco). Steady rain on Monday. Such beautiful mountains. #Wilderness #NationalForest #Backpacking

Black skimmer at Baylands Nature Preserve, SF Bay, CA, last ...

2024-10-04T00:41:42Z

Black skimmer at Baylands Nature Preserve, SF Bay, CA, last weekend. These spectacular terns fly with their long lower beaks cutting through the water. This one caught a little fish, so I guess it works. Note the film of water that peels away from the jutting corner of its beak near its chin, keeping the bird dry. Photo taken at dim, overcast dawn: 800mm f/9 1/3200 sec ISO 32000, edited with Lightroom's AI noise reduction.
#birds #birding #SanFranciscoBay

All we need to do is find a cozy little home for all the helium. ...

2024-08-20T02:10:57Z

All we need to do is find a cozy little home for all the helium. https://news.mit.edu/2024/more-durable-metals-fusion-power-reactors-0819
#Fusion #EnergyTransition #ClimateChange #Energy #MaterialsScience #Science #MIT

At first we thought this iceberg looked like a gingerbread house. ...

2024-08-13T06:11:39Z

In reply to nevent1q…k5c0
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At first we thought this iceberg looked like a gingerbread house. As we got closer, I decided it was more like a sphinx with paws outstretched. Beautiful midnight vistas on an all-but-freezing, calm sea north of the Arctic Circle just before the storm hit.

#Greenland #NaturePhotography #ClimateChange #Iceberg #Sunset #Ice

Greenland weather is unpredictable — several planned excursions ...

2024-08-10T20:11:59Z

In reply to nevent1q…h5j2
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Greenland weather is unpredictable — several planned excursions were canceled because of storms or icepack — but that once gave us time to check a random fjord where there were a pair of bearded seals, or as I would call them, mustached seals. Tubular!

#WildlifePhotography #Photography #NaturePhotography #Greenland #TravelPhotography #MarineMammal #Fjord

I photographed these icebergs near Ilulissat, Greenland, 23 ...

2024-08-10T04:30:44Z

In reply to nevent1q…ypgy
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I photographed these icebergs near Ilulissat, Greenland, 23 minutes before midnight, awhile before sunset. I went to bed at 9 p.m. but randomly woke up at 11:20 p.m. or so, peeked out the window, and grabbed my camera. The distant one I call the Castle was enormous.

Next day a huge storm set in. Gray, cold, dark, huge waves — totally different. #Greenland #TravelPhotography #Iceberg #ClimateChange #Photography #NaturePhotography #Arctic

Humanity is a thin layer atop the Greenlandic rock, with almost ...

2024-08-08T13:03:03Z

In reply to nevent1q…z330
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Humanity is a thin layer atop the Greenlandic rock, with almost no soil to bury water pipes or electrical conduit. Greenland blends subsistence hunting Inuit culture with Danish colonial culture; the latter contributed the colorful house style. This is Qaqortoq, population 3,000 (5% of Greenland's total population of about 56,000).

#TravelPhotography #Greenland #Architecture #Photography

An arctic fox on an island near Qeqertarsuatsiaat, Greenland. ...

2024-08-07T14:15:38Z

In reply to nevent1q…elm7
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An arctic fox on an island near Qeqertarsuatsiaat, Greenland. This one was with a cub we saw carrying a big fish in its mouth. It watched us very intently. I love the thick fur (the cub was even poofier) and the rounded ears, both adapted for withstanding cold. #WildlifePhotography #Greenland #Fox #NaturePhotography #Photography #TravelPhotography

My favorite bird on our Greenland trip is the fulmar, an ...

2024-08-05T23:13:37Z

In reply to nevent1q…6ksq
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My favorite bird on our Greenland trip is the fulmar, an albatross-like pelagic bird that races just above the ocean, one wingtip almost touching the water. They're graceful, efficient fliers and, more impressively, were unbothered by near-freezing rain and gale-force wind.

#Birds #NaturePhotography #Birding #Greenland #Photography #TravelPhotography