atx_aquarian

atx_aquarian , 21 hours ago

Ranch water made from Topo Chico lime + Pantalones Tequila. But I prefer the black peppery hints of Don Julio, so I tried dropping a few whole black peppercorns in the bottle of Pantalones, and I think it actually got the flavor closer to where I wanted it. Or maybe it was in my head.

Anyways, cheers!

atx_aquarian , 23 hours ago

One down, one to go. Who Will it be?

atx_aquarian , 5 days ago

I think you're going to lose a few people with that first number being off by a decimal place, but the substance of what you said is still relevant and gives insight about the Lemmy experience right now.

atx_aquarian , 9 days ago

I hope this doesn't just dissolve into hand-waving and general dismissal based on "he said / she said". Someone call the bluff and let's see the cards face-up.

atx_aquarian , 12 days ago

Do I upvote or downvote this? What does that cat want from us?

atx_aquarian , 12 days ago

Infinity has a subscription concierge service.

https://www.infinitipersonalassistant.com/

I don't know how to apply or what qualifications they're looking for, but it sounds like it could be a good gig for computer-savvy telework.

atx_aquarian , 19 days ago

Small event that may only have been exciting to me.

I'm casually into amateur astronomy and stargazing. I like to count satellites if I'm outside on summer evenings, maybe haul the telescope out if some night is particularly clear. But I really don't get out very often. Emphasis on "casual."

We moved to our current house some years ago and were just enjoying the nice, big backyard for one of the first times, sitting in some folding chairs fully reclined to look straight up at the sky. Whenever we do that, which is maybe once every several years, even then it's always too cold, too hot, too many mosquitos, etc., so this was rare and nice.

Right above our heads, right where we were both looking, an Iridium flare swept across us. I'd heard of those satellites reflecting "flares" being particularly spectacular, and I'd thought about trying to get in the path of a predicted one someday, but I don't think I really thought I'd ever really make the effort or have any luck if I did. Not expecting it and seeing it happen, I couldn't decide if I was dreaming. I hopped on heavens-above.com right afterwards and, although I didn't see that flare predicted, it confirmed an Iridium pass had coincided with the sighting, so I'm convinced.

So, something spectacular and somewhat scarce that many people wouldn't notice and many would either find boring or think was a UFO was something we got lucky to accidentally see together right in our backyard.

atx_aquarian , 21 days ago

I guess their statement is news because they just said it, but the behavior is classic by this point. GOP--the "O" means "obstruction".

atx_aquarian , 23 days ago

I'm not even really sure any of it is really about China. This AP article updating about the progress of the attempt to ban DJI drones suggests Autel as "Best DJI drone alternative". Autel, a Chinese company based in Shenzhen.

Edit: I suppose that could just be the author(s) making an error, but, given the focus on one company in the drone market and a total lack of evidence about security concerns, I just wonder if these aren't all just companies trying to buy market control through lobbying.

atx_aquarian , 23 days ago

I hope they keep pursuing this inquiry:

At the time of writing, it is unclear whether these virtual impersonations resulted in any criminal investigations or charges against US-based victims whose IP addresses were hijacked as part of the 911 S5 botnet. WIRED is awaiting a response from the Department of Justice regarding this concern.

atx_aquarian , 1 month ago (edited 1 month ago)

Based on one of your comments clarifying what you're wondering, I don't know that this helps you in what you're looking for, but the "OMG particle" came to my mind. It was traveling at such high energy when it hit our atmosphere that...

If the proton originated from a distance of 1.5 billion light years, it would take approximately 1.71 days in the reference frame of the proton to travel that distance.

...

The energy of the particle was some 40 million times that of the highest-energy protons that have been produced in any terrestrial particle accelerator.

...

In the center-of-mass frame of reference (which moved at almost the speed of light in our frame of reference), the products of the collision [with a particle in our atmosphere ] would therefore have had around 2900 TeV of energy, enough to transform the nucleus into many particles, moving apart at almost the speed of light even in this center-of-mass frame of reference. As with other cosmic rays, this generated a cascade of relativistic particles as the particles interacted with other nuclei.

I don't know if that cascade is the same as the Cherenkov radiation it produced, but that radiation is how they detected this particle, and it's interesting a.f.

[It is] emitted when a charged particle (such as an electron) passes through a dielectric medium (such as distilled water) at a speed greater than the phase velocity (speed of propagation of a wavefront in a medium) of light in that medium. ... Its cause is similar to the cause of a sonic boom....

I.e., (layman's understanding here) the particle, having a dual particle- and wave-like nature, is propagating through the vacuum of space "close" to the max speed of propagation of causality itself. As it encounters a medium, our atmosphere, it is going faster than causality itself can possibly propagate through that medium. But the energy is still there and isn't going to just vanish, so it has to split out into multiple particles that would, with their fraction of the original energy, then be able to propagate through the medium. Or something amazing like that?

Edit: My layman's understanding of Cherenkov radiation requires a bigger disclaimer, like a strike-through. :)

atx_aquarian , 1 month ago

Good point, I think you're right. I've probably been making an unsupported leap in logic there.

atx_aquarian , 1 month ago

Narrator who sounds just like Ron Howard: "It doesn't."

atx_aquarian , 1 month ago

The secret is to throw yourself at the ground and miss.

atx_aquarian , 1 month ago

An all-powerful, omniscient creator of literally spacetime itself, and he needs an anthill--one that is, on his scale, far smaller than a subatomic particle--to defend his honor against other anthills within the same infinitesimally small particle and to keep defending their anthill by some arbitrary and tiny point in this spacetime so they can have an everlasting party together outside of his pet spacetime, of which that anthill is, itself, constituted.

atx_aquarian , 1 month ago

I like the "private bathroom" ideas better, too, but, if you find yourself having to make a constant cleaning strategy work, after all, then on top of cleaning, perhaps try using something like Elimin-Odor after cleaning (if you didn't already try that) to specifically neutralize what she might smell? They claim it's designed to neutralize odors enough that a cat won't associate an "accident" spot with future bathroom eligibility.

atx_aquarian , 1 month ago

And this article recommends waiting 48 hours to make sure it's dried enough to pick/scrape.

atx_aquarian , 2 months ago

Do library cats' names count? Like Catticus Finch and the Great Catsby?

atx_aquarian , 2 months ago

I always wondered about that name. It seemed deliberate, but I didn't know what he was going for. TIL

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slartibartfast

Douglas Adams wrote ... that he wanted Slartibartfast's name to sound very rude, but still actually be broadcastable. He therefore started with the name "Phartiphukborlz"...

...

"One thing I don't think I explained in the script book was that I was also teasing the typist, Geoffrey [Perkins]'s secretary, because ... she'd be typing out this long and extraordinary name which would be quite an effort to type and right at the beginning he says 'My name is not important, and I'm not going to tell you what it is'. I was just being mean to Geoffrey's secretary."

atx_aquarian , 2 months ago

The occupation of a person’s non-residential property without their permission is not a crime in England

slowblink.gif

edit: TIL! Thanks for reminding me that if something seems far out, chances are that my understanding just hasn't caught up.

atx_aquarian , 2 months ago

There were definitely a couple of prominences peeking out from behind the moon and visible as bright spots that persisted throughout totality. From my spot, I just noticed one.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2024/04/10/red-dot-2024-total-eclipse-astronomer-explains-solar-prominence-coronal-mass-ejection/73272304007/

atx_aquarian , 2 months ago

If it was 2 days in Nashville, I want to believe it was for BTBAM's 2-day/2-part concert "Colors II Experience" on March 26 and 27 at Basement East.

edit: nm

Documents ... say that Washburn “falsified sick leave” on Feb. 8 and 9...

atx_aquarian , 3 months ago

I want to believe it'll be hard to find a school that won't already have at least a small group of people who are already going to not make it an easy "nod and clap" talk.

atx_aquarian , 3 months ago

And the thing about regulation like this is that it just resets the bar height for everyone. It's not like this doesn't apply to all competitors.

Unless we mean non-cable competition, i.e. streaming. Maybe that's not under the jurisdiction of FCC? If not, though, then I have to wonder why this has to be an FCC thing in the first place. This is about truth in advertising, in general.

atx_aquarian , 3 months ago

Well, too late to do anything about it. The candidates are now, as the article says,

“Come November they are going to be choosing between two individuals — Joe Biden and Trump, who is dramatically worse when it comes to making any progress at all on climate,” she said.

That's it. If we want anything different, we have to look for congressional candidates who will change voting such that 3rd party candidates can be taken seriously, and we have to fill ballots with better choices during primaries. After primaries, in our "first across the finish line" system, it's all over except for the big tug-of-war between the two parties.

And that takes time. So this year, you're either voting for Biden in hopes of "best we can do right now," or literally any other action (including inaction) is giving it over to a worse outcome for our climate goals.

atx_aquarian , 3 months ago

Ok, if I'm not going to live long enough to see aging reversed, at least I might get to try naturally different-colored bleu cheese.

atx_aquarian , 3 months ago

Well, they are doing a pretty good job burning down their own house.

atx_aquarian , 3 months ago

It's their magnetism.

atx_aquarian , 3 months ago

It's exactly what it means. This has to be potential common ground that can help the "pro life" crowd see that their argument is an oversimplification. But I also think it's a fragile situation. This just passed. It still has to survive court scrutiny, spread, and last long enough for a majority to continue to see it as sensible. I think then in it can be part of an argument that mere conception isn't when a person suddenly exists. (And I know that's all about choosing to engage the discussion on the terms of the "pro life" crowd; the "pro choice" argument isn't contingent on the personhood status of an embryo but, rather, the right of the mother to choose what happens to her own body. But the "pro life" crowd either doesn't seem to grasp or doesn't more highly value that logic, so something like IVF might be like getting them to compare a mother's weight to that of a duck to "realize" what's really important to them, that she's not made of wood.)

atx_aquarian , 3 months ago

I feel like this recent episode of Hidden Brain is a very relevant discussion about this topic.

atx_aquarian , 3 months ago

What if that's what they expect you'll do?

atx_aquarian , 3 months ago (edited 3 months ago)

Only which primaries you can participate in. It doesn't require you to vote in any particular way in the actual election. The public voter roll will show which primary you participated in, but your vote in the election is secret. So anyone who says they checked and confirmed their vote was counted wrong in the election is full of shit or confused by the public voter roll's representation of party selection during primaries.

edit 1: I think Texas Standard did a nice job explaining it.

edit 2: The Texas Secretary of State office has a good FAQ, too. Some other interesting points in there that I didn't know about. Specifically, that signing petitions for candidates also locks you into their party's primaries (if applicable) for that year.

6. What if I signed a petition for a candidate for a place on the primary ballot?

If a voter signed a candidate’s petition for a place on the primary ballot, that voter is only able to vote in the primary, or participate in the convention, of that candidate’s party during the voting year in which the primary election is held. For example, if a voter signed a Democratic candidate’s petition, that voter is ineligible to vote in the Republican primary or participate in a minor party convention. (§172.026).

7. If I signed a petition for a candidate for nomination in the Libertarian Party or Green Party, can I still vote in a primary election?

No. If a voter signed a candidate’s petition for nomination for the Libertarian Party or Green Party, that voter is ineligible to vote in a primary election or participate in the convention of a different party during the voting year in which the primary election is held. (§§172.026, 141.041).

atx_aquarian , 4 months ago

Hot take? This should have been a major version update.

https://semver.org/

atx_aquarian , 4 months ago

I wonder if that was meant to say our solar system. I'd check the original article for a hint if it wasn't paywalled.

atx_aquarian , 4 months ago

The time thing is interesting, but I feel like no one talks much about the appearance of passing objects. That is, I wonder how the image of a passing celestial object might distort due to length contraction and any other effects. I'm still trying to understand that. This article seems pretty digestible, so far.

atx_aquarian , 4 months ago

Many outlets' stock photos for their version of this story are of much, much heftier towers than what was actually stolen. CNN's story has what they attribute as a photo of the actual shack and the base of the tower. It's still a pretty amazing story, nonetheless.

atx_aquarian , 4 months ago

Narcissistic Loser Blames Everyone But Self

fixed it

atx_aquarian , 4 months ago

That title is on cocaine.

atx_aquarian , 4 months ago

✅ raven

✅ claw

atx_aquarian , 4 months ago

"He's going to get medicated, right?" -Padme

atx_aquarian , 5 months ago

2024, the first winter of anyone owning anything with a battery, apparently.

atx_aquarian , 5 months ago

Epoch comeback!

atx_aquarian , 5 months ago

You're not wrong. The headline's misrepresentation is needlessly distracting. The bill is still racist; why specify ancestry at all?