@rdnielsen@floss.social cover
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rdnielsen

@rdnielsen@floss.social

Environmental scientist (biology/oceanography), data analyst, data manager. Semi-retired.

Started programming in 1971 with FORTRAN and Basic. Started FOSS programming in the early 1980s. A trace of that work: http://www.kc85.info/index.php/magazines-mainmenu/morrow-owners-review-mainmenu-143/118-forever-z-scripts-a-loops-1.html. Now mostly working in Python; see packages 'mapdata' and 'execsql' on PyPI.

Moved from @rdnielsen

Avatar by @orbite

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

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

People use the "square cube law" to feel like there can't possibly be giant ants... but they just ignore all the giant crabs the size of army duffle bags.

The barriers to huge ants are not as robust as you think, and they can be overcome!

rdnielsen ,
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

@futurebird

That's interesting speculation about insect brain efficiency and scaling. Birds also seem to have more efficient brains than mammals, with corvids having intelligence equivalent to great apes. If that scaled with body size, ostriches would be geniuses. But it doesn't necessarily: ostriches are 46 times larger than crows but their brains are only 5.7 times larger (from https://sizegraf.com/blog/list-of-brain-weights-for-animals/). So bigger ants might not be a lot smarter.

rdnielsen , to random
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

6PPD and 5 other chemicals released by tire wear have now been found in leafy vegetables obtained from supermarkets:

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2024.1384506/full

GottaLaff , to random
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

Look what my pal @Wileymiller made! chef’s kiss

https://www.gocomics.com/nonsequitur/2024/05/19

rdnielsen ,
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

@GottaLaff @Wileymiller

Corollary: Those who remember the past are doomed to avenge it.

See: pretty much all current events.

GottaLaff , to random
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

Oy!

Via RonFilipkowski

Michael Flynn has a business venture he is promoting now called, ‘MAGA Realty.’ The website promises to “make liberals heads explode” by giving away an AR-15 to every client

rdnielsen ,
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

@GottaLaff

Repeating an earlier post of mine -- Even pro-gun groups don't want to live next to neighbors who own AR-15s: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2311825121

Ailantd , (edited ) to random
@Ailantd@mastodon.art avatar

Modern cockpit.
Waiting is the only thing pilots are expected to do.
Just months of nothing but thinking and contemplation.
They all become philosophers or serial killers.

Would you?

Variations:
https://artnol.com/artwork/eKd0

rdnielsen ,
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

@Ailantd @Bishop

That would be a pool cube, wouldn't it? The game to be played with a cube-cue.

GottaLaff , to random
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

administration bans drilling in nearly half of petroleum reserve in sweeping win for climate advocates

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/19/climate/alaska-drilling-ban-biden-climate?cid=ios_app

rdnielsen ,
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

@GottaLaff @ld

GottaLaff , to random
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

Griftology.

Politico—The campaign is asking for down-ballot candidates who use his name, image and likeness in fundraising appeals to give at least 5 percent of the proceeds to the campaign.

rdnielsen ,
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

@GottaLaff
Trump ought to be compensating them for being linked to his name: https://www.psypost.org/surprising-study-suggests-trumps-endorsements-influence-democrats-more-than-republicans/

GottaLaff , to random
@GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

FYI I asked Aaron Rupar if he would post his “Are you better off 4 years ago…?” vid series here. It’s just superb.

He does post other things here, but not that

I tried, folks

Here’s his reply:

Replying to
@GottaLaff
I’ll take this under advisement but to be honest I don’t think there’s really an audience there to justify the time it would take. I crosspost a lot of stuff on Threads & I’m also active on Bluesky, Substack Notes, & Post. It’s already a lot. I do post my newsletters on Mast tho

rdnielsen ,
@rdnielsen@floss.social avatar

@GottaLaff
@atrupar

There's probably very little overlap in the audience, though, as it seems likely that relatively few Mastodon users are also on Threads, Bluesky, Substack, or Post. In addition to direct followers of atrupar, boosts by Laffy and others would substantially increase visibility of those posts.

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