meyotch

@meyotch@slrpnk.net

A cranky biologist who means well. My hobbies include long walks off short piers and anything science related.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. For a complete list of posts, browse on the original instance.

meyotch ,

She had the most interesting childhood too. The “K” in her name stands for Kroeber, after her father, a famous anthropologist who is known for letting Ishi, the last living member of his tribe, live in their backyard. It really helps her work and perspective make sense when you know she is a dyed in the wool anthropologist.

meyotch ,

Maybe not. You will have the same number of tax preparers chasing less work. Through the magic of the Free Market™️, shouldn’t that mean pressure to reduce prices? We can only hope.

Boy Scouts of America changing name to more inclusive Scouting America after years of woes ( apnews.com )

Another positive step in the right direction for an organization rife with brokenness. There's a lot I don't like about the organization, but this is something a love--a scouting organization open to young women and the lgbtq community. The next step is being inclusive of nonreligious agnostic and atheist youth and leaders. As...

meyotch ,

I’m so ambivalent about this change. I had fun in the BSA but it’s also where I experienced the worst bullying as a gay neuro-atypical kid. This was in a Mormon associated troop long before the schizm over how exactly to enable child abuse.

Engineering Life: Chemists Have Created the Functional Synthetic Cells That Act Like Real Ones ( scitechdaily.com )

The engineering of artificial cells requires a reconfigurable cytoskeleton that can organize at distinct locations and dynamically modulate its structural and mechanical properties. This study combines peptide self-assembly with DNA programmability to realize a synthetic cytoskeleton in droplets showing that programmable...

meyotch ,

Not quite. I think you may be referring to their genome transplant. They used a natural cell and completely replaced the original genome with synthesized DNA. Whereas this project did not rely on existing cellular machinery.

meyotch ,

Grooming the youth, that’s the kind of indoctrination you need. As a missionary, the only non-indoctrinated adults who got into the BoM were, let’s say, simple.

meyotch ,

Mahana, you ugly!

No, guys, it isn’t racist it’s a parable that explains to women they only have value if they can get a relatively rich man to pay attention to them.

/s

meyotch ,

That’s a reasonable design. The result would be interesting and may raise more questions than it answers. That is a good thing.

I don’t think this design would conclusively prove they were engaging in abstract communication, but that would take many experiments of similar scope.

A sceptic could say the unconditioned group reaction was a result of social awareness of the reaction of the conditioned crows. Sort of a collective freak out based on the immediate reaction of the marked individuals.

Regardless, I hereby tender my application to be colony manager of the research group. Murder Manager is the title I would choose.

meyotch ,

I mean, I just admitted to lying to pollsters at every opportunity in another post. I know I am not the only one who wants to watch the world burn. I want the polls to be unreliable!

meyotch ,

Ive been lying to pollsters and my various representatives since before it was cool.😎

meyotch ,

Jump-humping is the preferred nomenclature

meyotch OP ,

Thanks! Perhaps they don’t like the cut of my jib?

meyotch OP ,

No, i did edit it to include my actual photo. Plus I am being super sarcastic and that may trigger some filters.

meyotch OP ,

Dicots, amirite? Best cots in town.

meyotch ,

Socialism: it’s a party™!

Do I have Burnout?

I really just need to talk about this to someone. I'm in college and I've always loved to learn, but now I don't feel motivated do my school work or to study, but at the same time, when a test roles around and I don't know how to answer the questions I get stressed and care about trying to do well. I've also always beaten myself...

meyotch ,

You sound like you mean well, but this is not helpful advice. You are essentially telling someone who is obviously a conscientious person and struggling that they have a character flaw.

meyotch OP ,

Right? It turns out there are important elections you can actually do something about once a year or more. The hand-waving about the electoral college and FPTP voting is frankly often an excuse to cover ignorance of democratic processes and feelings of helplessness.

I get it, it’s a lot like fighting your way out of a depression, easier said than done. Getting involved has taken me 15 years of false starts and facing up to my own ignorance. But local voting and advocacy is demonstrably effective.

meyotch OP ,

I understand you and no, my goal isn't to get people to focus only local. However, I definitely feel the over-emphasis on presidential politics hurts in both areas, local and Federal. The federal situation is very discouraging due to the not-invalid gripes about the electoral college. I really just want to shift the conversation away from the over-emphasis on how our votes are diluted so unfairly at the highest level.

If one spends all their emotional energy arguing about the presidential election, there's little left over for the equally important local issues. In fact, I would argue that the way to directly address the flaws of the electoral college in the long run is to focus on getting more people involved locally. That's how you build a movement. It's a hard pill to swallow, but fixing this crappy situation is a generations-worth of effort.

My intent is a sort of emotional aikido, I guess? Emotions are so high about the presidential and I think the disinformation campaigns exploit that by exhausting people on the big picture issues an individual can do little about.

meyotch OP ,

And how do we move from FPTP and electoral college madness to one of the various proportional strategies?

We have to engage now with the system as it is. Wanking on Lemmy is only so effective.

meyotch OP ,

Pretty sure I didn't say it didn't matter. It's just that your vote and engagement at the local level are more effective than making everything about the presidential contest. I'm attempting to shift the conversation to topics that don't just de-moralize people and enforce the all-too-easy feelings of helplessness that engenders.

It feels good to spend a weekend knocking on doors doing get-out-the-vote efforts for a school board candidate you actually know and support, especially when the race ends up hinging on about 80 votes. Arguing in a circular firing squad about only the presidency just leaves everyone frustrated and no minds are changed.

meyotch OP ,

Thank you for your comment, and special thanks for engaging in good faith.

One thing I have learned from getting a bit more involved is that there are more people of good faith than being online too much would lead you to believe.

When you get involved locally, you can actually feel some reward for your efforts. Multiply my puny efforts by the literally millions of people who might agree with my general sentiments and then suddenly, we might get the changes we need so desperately .

meyotch OP ,

I certainly cannot disagree with you. I guess I'm making an argument about how an individual should spend their precious and limited time and emotional energy.

How would you suggest a person get their state to sign the compact?

meyotch OP ,

Thanks for commenting. I don't think most comments so far have missed my point by much. You certainly seem to 'get it'. I see the comments to this point as more the typical thing of online comments talking past one another.

It's more of a symptom of online discourse. You can't see me, my body language or general demeanor and we don't have to take turns as is polite in real life conversation. You probably don't even know what US state I am in unless you peek at my comment history. Does the presidency matter? God, yes! Is it productive to spend one's limited energy and time arguing about that online. A resounding NO!

As a made-up example, a voter from California talking to a voter in Michigan online may be pretty pointless as their situations and political calculus are very different. Two voters from the same jurisdiction having a meeting of the minds is significantly more effective.

Edit: typos

meyotch OP ,

Oh, that sucks, but thank you for sharing the story. It is a very important lesson and the type of situation you describe is very, very common in US local elections.

We get fed hopium stories about how one person can make a difference, but those simplistic stories don't usually explain how one person can make a difference. We only get to see the stories of exceptional leaders who are buoyed up by the invisible efforts of the people who made their own humble difference in their local area.

I happened to be in DC on an unrelated lobbying trip during the Bush II administration on the day they reauthorized the voting rights act in 2006. Jesse Jackson was wandering around doing photo ops as is the norm. What didn't make it on to TV was the veritable army of formidable organizers who themselves were representing their own local constituencies. Mr. Jackson's power and visibility was directly derived from the humble and tireless work of supporters, just like any other political figure.

meyotch OP ,

That's a great idea and I think I will suggest it to our local party as a theme for house parties that the more engaged volunteers can throw. People hate door-knocking and it's not the most effective thing to do anyway, so we are always searching for more impactful activities.

I hate to say this, but 'think of the children' and include them if they are old enough to not be a complete distraction. My views on democracy were formed from very young listening to my parents discuss politics amongst themselves and others. My household was 'divided' politically in that my mother was a labor Democrat active in her union governance and my father an Eisenhower-type Republican who once ran for a county office unsuccessfully. Seeing them disagree about politics, but still have a generally loving relationship was extremely influential. You never know who is watching.

meyotch OP ,

Nothing to disagree with there!

meyotch OP ,

I would need to know your jurisdiction and I won’t ask you to dox yourself. For local judges, some states put out a voter information pamphlet. Your Secretary of State’s website may have resources too.

There are a few websites out there that keep track of rulings. chooseyourjudges.org seems to do a credible job. There are others.

I liked the suggestion in another comment of making research of local candidates a social activity because it is a lot of work. However, once you do identify the right resources for your local situation, it gets easier.

Best of luck! Even a half hours effort is more than most are willing to do.

meyotch OP ,

Excellent idea. That is more likely to be effective than waiting for it to happen nationwide first.

Are you aware of any local efforts to do that? I’d love to hear of them.

meyotch OP ,

Oh, yes, dealing with the tension between the grassroots and the national party is a real thing to deal with. It may be true that the presidential primary is the only game right now in your jurisdiction, but there are frequently special or other off-cycle local elections, too.

I'd go so far as to say the presidential primaries are pretty pointless this time around, as the contest seems to be already set-up, regardless of primary results. Thanks for your insightful comment.

meyotch ,

Bless you for this comment.

How many commenters here have even tried to figure out how ‘busses’ (the electoral process) work and find a way to get involved?

Spend 5 hours a week (yes, you can find the time, deduct it from your screen time!) and you could basically take over your local party committee. That alone won’t change the national trend, but you might just be able to influence a city council or school board race.

Local races hinge on a handful of votes very often. In our area, we managed to keep two anti-LGBTQ+ candidates off the school board last election. This impacts the lives of literally thousands of youth and their families and it hinged on about 80 votes. Vote, yes, but at least skim the Chilton manual for your bus in between elections. It really does matter

meyotch ,

Gwynne Shotwell deserves quite a lot more credit for SpaceX than Musk. Someone has to keep the place running until the ketamine clears his system.

meyotch ,

Funny coincidence, i know Pavitra. Hi!

meyotch ,

But it’s really good at spitting out JavaScript code that works the first time you run it. Of all the languages I have tried an LLM assistant with, the JavaScript output is the best. Im guessing that’s because it had almost every working webpage on the internet to learn from.

I mention this because how is being able to construct working code from a plain language description not a type of intelligence? Perhaps a narrow form, but the proof is in the pudding, it outputs working code that fits an arbitrary purpose.

Just bringing that up for discussion. I don’t really care if LLM are ‘intelligent’ or not, but the utility is obvious. Even if the LLM isn’t smart, it still speeds progress by acting as an extension of my own so called intelligence.

meyotch ,

This is sad news. He was deeply influential and at the same time a somewhat obscure author. At least, in my experience, he didn’t have the name recognition other - dare I say lesser - authors had.

One lesson I learned as a young person from reading A Fire Upon the Deep was to never believe anything just because it was on the internet. That alone makes his legacy worth remembering.

meyotch ,

Just as a counterpoint, brief moments of large meteor impacts are of great interest to geologists. I bring that up just to say that the brevity of the event isn’t a disqualifying factor, even for a science that usually has to think about the deepest of deep time.

meyotch ,

I feel the wave of exhaustion you are talking about. Everyone is in a different place, but the common experience of 'hold up a minute' during Covid has changed us all, somehow.

It's going to be a long, hot summer here in the Northern hemisphere and everyone is in a 'mood'. I can't say exactly what shenanigans will occur, but I guarantee the Summer of '24 will be one for the history books.

meyotch ,

These are all great suggestions and I concur. Education will be much more individualized. I prefer a competency (some folks here use ‘results based’ which is analogous, also sometimes called ‘strengths based’) focused education process.

Also, education will no longer be seen as a thing separate from life/work. Education isn’t something you finish then go to work, it’s a thing you incorporate into your whole life. Solarpunk society values simplicity but solarpunk society is more complex and demands a bit more from people. The solarpunk dream is that these demands are balanced by a healthy reward of a functional supporting social system.

meyotch ,

You live for these opportunities. The pay stinks, your parents don’t understand what you do for a ‘living’, but you got a sick pun in a Nature Group™️ publication.

Sweet.

meyotch ,

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-46669-y.pdf

It’s a sick pun on top of a technique that is also fsckin sick. Read it only if economical spatial imaging of gene expression in a whole tissue section series slightly arouses you.

meyotch ,

Science, as a harsh mistress, often leaves one feeling somewhat disappointed.

William Shatner did not like his performance in Generations. Obviously, he blames the director. ( www.geo.tv )

David Carson was not the most accomplished feature film director. He only directed one minor film before Generations, so maybe he wasn't the best choice... but he did direct four episodes of TNG- including Yesterday's Enterprise- and four episodes of DS9 before filming Generations, so I think he had a pretty good understanding...

meyotch ,

Sad. I thought the joke was that Mr Shatner was also the director of that one. That would have been a funny self-own that shows self-awareness

meyotch ,

You come in here with your link, trying to sabotăj my comment, when all I want to do is chew the scenery?

No, jk, I get it. I’ve met the man and while he isn’t the worst, it’s clear he is awfully self absorbed.

meyotch ,

Id be curious to try SDR. Will anyone experienced in it outline a simple ‘hello world’ type project a tech-savvy SDR noob could try to get started? The article is good but I guess I am seeking insights and discussion on the best starting point.

meyotch ,

This is a proven fact. Expose yourself early and often, that’s my motto.

meyotch ,

Give them time to think about what they did, maybe learn from it

meyotch ,

I’m partial to Brexit for my first childs name.

meyotch ,

‘Shopkeeper’ implies you might actually own the shop you keep. Modern retail provides few such jobs.

meyotch ,

You are correct. People these days are idjits.

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