@trachelipus@masto.ai cover
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trachelipus

@trachelipus@masto.ai

I live under a rock, occasionally emerging when the slugs run out of beer and start whining. Not quite round enough to be a roly-poly bug. Prone to odd humor.

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

Exciting ant queen collecting trip in AZ. Why does it feel like all the coolest ants are in the South and South West. It's not fair.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV1CkkkKbOM

trachelipus ,
@trachelipus@masto.ai avatar

@dalias @futurebird @dotsandlines Some pesticide company in my area is cold calling this summer. First they say they are "helping" a neighbor with a spider and ant outbreak. Then they offer to provide the same chemical-free spray service to me. Uh, I'd rather my spiders were left alone, and I'm 100% certain they are spraying chemicals. It might not be an organophosphate, but it is a chemical of some sort.

futurebird , (edited ) to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

All I wanted was a normal book on Arthropleura. All I found was... this.

Listen everyone loves a giant millipede... but I think some of these book mills have misunderstood what that means...

At least they used one of the reconstructions with a correctly sized head. And no silly jaws or anything. Arthropleura was a herbivore.

(A whole book on Arthropleura was too much to hope for. I'll need to go back to collecting papers.)

trachelipus ,
@trachelipus@masto.ai avatar

@futurebird @cpm And it's not even written by Chuck Tingle.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Was there any story, or example that started this Trump line that he keeps repeating about people from "prisons and mental institutions" "flooding the country" ?

I mean he has a point, there are so many they are even former presidents...

But seriously... was there anything that started it or is it just totally made up without even a single distorted example?

trachelipus ,
@trachelipus@masto.ai avatar

@futurebird A lot of Trump's thinking seems stuck in the 1970's and early 80's. I suspect, therefore, the allegation comes from the Mariel boatlift during the Carter administration. Short version is Fidel Castro allowed and/or encouraged political dissidents to flee from Cuba to the US. Allegations at that time said he used the opportunity to get rid of ordinary criminals as well as political prisoners.

futurebird , (edited ) to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

These AI SEO spam operations have used lists of common searches to ensure that their pages come up first in searches in the “long fat tail” the kind of search where it used to be about 50/50 if you’d find a page addressing your needs. But, it used to be if you found something like “The top 15 smallest ants in the world” it wouldn’t be nonsense. It’d either exist and be the work of another person who cared OR you found nothing. Not so now! I can’t possibly over-stress how bad this is! 1/

trachelipus ,
@trachelipus@masto.ai avatar

@futurebird It's like we have recreated the medieval bestiary - republishing real information such as the vocal mimicry of magpies, fanciful imaginings such as barnacle geese spawning from shellfish on driftwood, and dangerous information such as using mercury soaked undergarments to repel lice.

trachelipus , to random
@trachelipus@masto.ai avatar

Lichen has turned the weep track into a tiny window box.

loren , to random
@loren@flipping.rocks avatar

There is a pair of mallards that had been hanging out in the yard lately. I have no idea why. There is no water back there. There’s not even water that close to here?? Like hello yes please stay but why??

trachelipus ,
@trachelipus@masto.ai avatar

@loren When I was in college a group of mallards hung out by the door to the dining commons. People smuggled them peanut butter sandwiches. I don't suppose this is the explanation in your case, however.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

I've been reading up on Prenolepis imparis, the "winter ant" which is the species of the queen I caught yesterday. Many antkeepers have their queen die early in founding. Suspected issue is heat. Winter ants are active in winter, sometimes in remarkably cold temps. They go deep in the earth for the summer to raise their eggs.

So, I'm thinking about putting the queen in the wine fridge to simulate a deep cool chamber under Park Ave.

Did she grow up in the rail road depot down there?

trachelipus ,
@trachelipus@masto.ai avatar

@futurebird I am picturing your spouse returning home to find the wine evicted from the fridge. Looks at the fridge, looks at you, looks back at the fridge, does the math: "Uh, mmm, ok then."

erinnacland , to AcademicChatter group
@erinnacland@fediscience.org avatar

"Fewer U.S. scientists are pursuing postdoc positions, new data show" 📉

"The trend underscores concerns that the academic community is facing a postdoc shortage and that early-career scientists are increasingly favoring higher paid positions outside academia."

“It’s not a situation that’s good for the country.”

#Science #AcademicChatter @academicchatter via @klangin https://www.science.org/content/article/fewer-u-s-scientists-are-pursuing-postdoc-positions-new-data-show

trachelipus ,
@trachelipus@masto.ai avatar

@ashinonyx @erinnacland @academicchatter
Plus the postdoc's spouse is likely also in the career building years. Asking the spouse to move could set their career back by 5 years or more, if they need to get re-licensed or need to switch specialties due to lack of jobs in the new location.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

My husband felt so bad about all of my moping about there not being any insects that he called me down to the laundry room to see an ant. Tetramorium immigrans a hearty little pavement ant, probably very far from home, although the warm vents of the dryers could be very attractive to her colony.

She went back into the outer wall. Hope she makes it back outside (they don't really like living inside)

Quite a catch. (My husband, not the ant.)

trachelipus ,
@trachelipus@masto.ai avatar

@futurebird ❤️

yurnidiot , to random
@yurnidiot@mstdn.social avatar

we meet again my elusive nemesis

orange cat jumping on bed playing with its own shadow on the wall

trachelipus ,
@trachelipus@masto.ai avatar

@futurebird @yurnidiot I saw one article suggesting that bumblebees will play with beads, and another that captive octopus will play with items in their tanks. I think play capacity varies on the complexity of survival skills needed. If you are an armored siphon feeder, like a clam, you don't need much brain. Hunters, prey animals that survive by fleeing & social animals depend more on learned skills. Thus more need for practice, adaptation & planning.

18+ futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

I keep seeing these discussions in left circles about how terrible social media is. It angers & frustrates me that Mastodon & the Fediverse don't even merit a mention.

"The Majority Report" goes as far as dissing Threads but never mentions the fedi.

There are only 170 comments. Why not leave a comment asking why "the left" keeps complaining (rightly) about corporate social media but ignoring the alternative?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqY7sLRaUWQ

trachelipus ,
@trachelipus@masto.ai avatar

@futurebird @secretsloth
The server you end up on makes a huge difference. I test drove an account on a small instance. The small server's feeds were nearly dead. The only way I could even find anything to follow was if I already knew the account existed and ran a search for it. Then my server would import the current posts but none of the history. I let the account go dormant because it was just too much of a slog.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

"Crazy Legs" lives in Australia. he raises various bull ants, as I assume anyone lucky enough to live in Australia would. This is a video about moving his Myrmecia nigrocincta colony to a fantastic new nest of their own design.

It shows how the ants react to getting help from a giant (imagine a bunch of babies being dumped into your front door.) And the ways ants help each other when confused (happens often as they are just little ants.)

Captioned, with ambient sound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIaVWfKx4vk

trachelipus ,
@trachelipus@masto.ai avatar

@futurebird I love how gentle, patient, and respectful he was with them. I would have been tempted to rush them by rudely tipping them out of their previous nest.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

An attempt to infiltrate the school. But she was caught.

https://youtu.be/F7c6oHXDwKE?si=GVVVKcOhqqv8f2Hn

trachelipus ,
@trachelipus@masto.ai avatar

@futurebird That would have been a regrettable decision after her log went home without her.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

What have you done for your family & community today? This ant escaped an “escape proof” ant prison, found a treasure of immense value in the wilds (dry cat food) avoided being eaten by a house spider, & climbed a sheer cliff clutching her prize.

And I think she’s just getting started. Her bookshelf free climb is equivalent to a human climbing to Everest base camp… if base camp were up a 90 degree wall with eight-legged monsters in it.

https://youtube.com/shorts/MglPfnuGMKs?feature=share

trachelipus ,
@trachelipus@masto.ai avatar

@futurebird @donkeyherder Did you let her keep her cat food treasure when you opened the door for her?

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

There was some kind of work party and I only make myself go to one per year tops and I did mine already. Listening to people who “had a good time” mystified and having several panic attacks because people “missed me there” and can’t tell if they are being angry, nice, or what.

I like my coworkers I just wouldn’t ever consider having some roving conversation and drinks and dinner anything but stress. I wish I could just explain this but someone always takes it the wrong way.

trachelipus ,
@trachelipus@masto.ai avatar

@futurebird I usually say, "I would have loved to, but my introvert account was overdrawn that week. I wouldn't have been functional afterwards." I then pass them info about Susan Cain's book if they don't get it. I think some people enter the teaching profession because they are extraverts who love hanging out with people. Their worldview can't encompass non-extraverts.Therefore, when someone doesn't want to hang out with them, they think it's a diss on THEM instead of a diss on HANG OUT.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Bolo ties are so cute. But also very masculine. But also adorable.

So they are on the list now too.

What other items have this quality?

trachelipus ,
@trachelipus@masto.ai avatar

@futurebird Tie pins and tie tacks. Which can be worn on the lapel instead, should you choose to wear a bolo tie instead of a silk tie.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

There is this trope in fiction: A boy gets bullied on his way to school; his dad teaches him to fight. It always seemed so bizarre to me.

Somewhere in there is a less perplexing story about a young person learning to deal with conflict--

But, I spent a lot of my childhood waiting to be "jumped" on the way to school. Because, I was being bullied, just not physically.

I was looking forward to learning kungfu and taking them all out. LOL. 1/

trachelipus ,
@trachelipus@masto.ai avatar

@futurebird The teachers in my elementary school tolerated bullying because they thought kids learned social skills from it. Act normal and you don't get picked on. What I saw instead was that, once a kid was labeled a safe target, the kid just got very confused. They got bullied no matter what they did, so they never figured out what they were doing to trigger the attacks.

futurebird , (edited ) to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

It annoys me how people talk about using social media like it's a vice. And a female-coded one at that.

"Spend less time on social media" is trotted out a virtuous in the same way that "not eating a pint of ice cream" is.

Imagine if in the early days of movable type, there were people going around saying "don't read pamphlets, they are full of misinformation"

Social media is the primary way news is disseminated. It is superseding newspapers and TV as the primary vector of mass media. 1/

trachelipus ,
@trachelipus@masto.ai avatar

@futurebird I've helped two women get out of abusive relationships after we met on social media. One of them would probably be dead now without an intervention. The other didn't have money for Xmas after leaving her ex; her kids got toys that year because I reached out to a mutual for her PO Box and put in an Amazon order.

CultureDesk , to bookstodon group
@CultureDesk@flipboard.social avatar

"Gen Z is bringing back reading," says The Week, which leads us to wonder what the heck it is we've been doing all these years. But, the publication explains, it's not just reading — it's real books, made of paper. Per research published in @TheConversationUS: "Gen Zers and millennials prefer books in print over e-books and audiobooks" which has manifested in an "unlikely love affair with their local libraries." Here's a breakdown of what might be happening. We want to know: How do you like to read these days?

https://flip.it/zJEJAK

@bookstodon

trachelipus ,
@trachelipus@masto.ai avatar

@CultureDesk @TheConversationUS @bookstodon
I prefer hardcopy for anything with illustrations or technical drawings, e-reader for straight text. My current electronic library is ~2000 books; I simply don't have room to house all of them in hard copy.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Are there therapists who specialize in helping children who are stressed out giving tech support to their parents?

My mom is a mathematician. She can program w/ punch cards. But, she & Dad just don't keep up with tech anymore. Drives me nuts.

Gave my dad an iPhone for Christmas. They HATE it. Probably would hate any phone. Now they say it's recording their conversations.🙄

Dad holds down the buttons on the side when he picks it up. Activates the voice assistant... they think it's a hacker.

trachelipus ,
@trachelipus@masto.ai avatar

@futurebird @perigee @slothrop Is accessibility the techbro version of fake pockets and 32 inch legs in women's fashion? They only want customers (young, fit, beautiful) that fit their brand image?

futurebird , (edited ) to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Niki Haley wants to raise the SS retirement age to 70.

Life expectancy for African American men in the US is 62*.

For men in general? 73.

Enjoy your negative 8 and 3 years everyone.

*This is for black men born in 1960 ... the cohort who would be retiring soon if they weren't dropping like flies.

trachelipus ,
@trachelipus@masto.ai avatar

@futurebird The amount of childcare and eldercare provided by people in their 60s and early 70s is undervalued. If Haley gets it through, I can see it resulting in a lot more older men in nursing homes and a lot more working age women leaving the workforce or choosing not to have children.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

I’m making some “fractions sensitivity training” warm up questions for grade five and six. Any particularly silly or subtle suggestions would be a big help. These are too boring.

A. How is 15min like $0.25?
B. How are three cat paws like 45min?
C. How is 12min like holding up one finger on one hand? .. or like $0.20?
D. How is one ant leg like 10 min?
F. How is holding up four fingers on one hand like 48min? … or like 8 dimes?

Ideas?

trachelipus ,
@trachelipus@masto.ai avatar

@futurebird I once had a job where I needed to train someone on how to inspect whether a part was in spec or out of spec. She couldn't tell whether 10,000.001 was more than or less than 10,000.011. It made training kinda hard.

KitMuse , to bookstodon group
@KitMuse@eponaauthor.social avatar

I need your help #bookstodon. One of the classes I'm taking at the graduate level this semester is Religion & Science Fiction. I read more fantasy, and would like to do my research paper on something that's not obvious (like ST/BS5/Matrix/etc.) & I'd love to use more modern sf rather than the golden age classics.

Anyone have any interesting ideas for my research paper on regarding the intersection of religion and science fiction?

@bookstodon #sciencefiction #scifi #ReligiousStudies #academia

trachelipus ,
@trachelipus@masto.ai avatar

@KitMuse @bookstodon Leftover AI as a metaphor for divine omniscience in a devolved society has been a theme in a few series. The Homecoming Saga by Orson Scott Card and the Samaria Series by Sharon Shinn are two that come to mind. I think the tail end of the Pern series had a leftover space station too.

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