wendigo

futurebird , 2 months ago to random

So night terrors, sleep paralysis etc. seem to be a real thing. I've had "bad dreams" but never anything that sounds like these experiences. It sounds like it's scary. Scary like when you are home alone and hear a sound and don't know what it is.

I'm curious if people who can have this are can be aware that it's not real when it's happening.

When I get anxious I can also know "this is just that thing" and I'm sort of detached about it?

Can that happen with fear?

wendigo , 2 months ago

@futurebird Whatever made you think they were not real conditions? I've had both for many years. Usually I know it's not real and paralysis only lasts for a brief time. But it is terrifying when you experience at a young age and you don't know what's going on. Even so, it's not too pleasant as an adult, especially the paralysis part.

johnmacintosh , 2 months ago to random German

The British Museum has a tablet that details why 40 employees in ancient Egypt missed work 3,270 years ago?
This limestone “ostracon” is a register of attendance from “Year 40 of Ramses II” that offers a fascinating glimpse into work-life balance in Thebes in 1250 BC.

Here are three common reasons for employee absences, translated directly from the tablet:

• “Brewing beer”
• “His wife/daughter was bleeding” (i.e., menstruating).
• “The scorpion bit him”

via Brian Roemmele from Twitter

wendigo , 2 months ago

@futurebird @johnmacintosh The Scorpion is a wily dude, canonized by Dewayne "The Rock" Johnson in modern cinema...

futurebird , 2 months ago to random

Thinking about organisms that can survive in arid conditions by becoming totally desiccated. On the macro scale the eggs or suspended forms of these creatures aren't very different from the dry soil & jumbled organic matter that surround them. But, due to their structure, they can begin living again.

Is it too much to say that the difference between living & dead organic material is... encoding?

Naively it seems like this boundary is a place to look for the origins of living processes.

wendigo , 2 months ago

@futurebird Don't fleas do this?

futurebird , 2 months ago to random

Part of the reason I keep ants is this barren no bug having city has me bug starved. It's just sad to go for a walk on a warm day and not see very many bugs in the park

wendigo , 2 months ago

@futurebird I hear you. We have lizards everywhere, so you don't see too many where I live. However, come summer time, I'll have wee 'sugar' ants all up in my apartment. Is that the same as keeping them? ;>)

18+ futurebird , 2 months ago to random

As of this month I’ve been taking Ozempic for a year and I will continue to take indefinitely. I want to share my experience because the way I sometimes see it discussed gives what I think is the wrong impression.

I decided to take it since I was struggling to regain full mobility after breaking my leg. I wish I could have discovered this drug 30 years ago.

I’ve only been overweight for 8 years. So why do I say that? 1/

18+ wendigo , 2 months ago

@futurebird Thanks for sharing this. I have a friend who struggles with this. In fact, she is so embarrassed, it's like pulling teeth to get her to see me...

futurebird , 2 months ago to random

I need to write up my 'discovery' about thelytoky in Dorymyrmex Bureni. I have photos with date stamps, many posts & videos. I think I will make a spreadsheet & date each observation/event. I'll need to strip out all the fun stuff, but this is still unexpected for this species.

I also need to see the librarian for a deep search of the lit to see if this has been documented before.

I'm not a biologist at all. Is there a book like "how to write a paper for dummies?"

https://sauropods.win/@futurebird/112209125290500641

wendigo , 2 months ago

@futurebird I think I'd search the literature for how to write for scientific journals. I think the style guide is the AP...

wendigo , 2 months ago

@futurebird That sounds like a great idea!

futurebird , 2 months ago to random

Cataglyphis lutea (UAE and parts of India) is a desert dwelling ant, the photos of this ant on iNaturalist caught my eye, since, like Leptomyrmex erythrocephalus (the Spider Ant of Australia), this these little ants fold their gasters over their mesonoma.

Very little is known about Cataglyphis lutea, shockingly little. I can't even find a mention of gaster folding in any of the brief descriptions of this ant.

This is why descriptions are not enough. 1/

(photos by Jonghyn Park and TimL)

A black ant with a red head and black dot eyes clamors over a rock on remarkably long legs. The antennae and legs are very long and evenly spread giving the impression of a spider (hence the common name) The gaster is folded over the mesonoma.

wendigo , 2 months ago

@futurebird Well, I would say that by folding the gaster over like that, the ant might resemble a spider to some species (and even humans) on a cursory look. So, that would make it a defensive measure?

HailsandAles , 2 months ago to random

One of my closest friends is looking to give Mastodon and the #Fediverse a try but I’m not sure what instance to recommend to them. They’re very into computers and open source stuff. They’re not a metalhead sadly 😅

wendigo , 2 months ago

@HailsandAles I'm very into computers as well, but I think I enjoy this metal scene a lot more. I follow my technology people. But I would say the serious recommendations so far are good ones.

wendigo , 2 months ago

@HailsandAles Also, you may want to ask @FediTips

exocomics , 3 months ago to random

small sample 💖

wendigo , 3 months ago

@futurebird @mensrea @kechpaja @exocomics I don't suppose that Brita makes an acceptable filter option so that you wouldn't have to change the filter every week? ;>)

futurebird , 3 months ago (edited 3 months ago) to random

Easter means a lot to me. I know it's not everyone's holiday, but if you feel like I do about Easter and you have ever wondered if the story of Easter is for you-- don't let anyone tell you it's not.

I can't possibly apologize for all of the harm done in the name of a beautiful story. But, I think it's because of how fundamentally subversive "love thy neighbor" really is, if you take it seriously. So, the message is often poisoned at the source.

#TransDayOfVisiblity
#Easter #Jesus

wendigo , 3 months ago

@futurebird Well said.

futurebird , 3 months ago to random

I wonder what would happen if one ran a LLM on data representing analog TV or radio signals for a type of video or music... then generated an analog signal and played it on a TV?

Would it make any difference in the texture, look sound of the resulting output?

wendigo , 3 months ago

@futurebird So, basically, you want to convert analog to digital and feed it through an LLM? What operations or analyses is the LLM supposed to complete before the signal is converted back to analog?

futurebird , 3 months ago to random

Have you ever encountered the superstition that you should always burn, or carefully dispose of your cut hair or hair that is caught in a comb or brush because if a bird gets your hair and makes a nest with it you'll go mad?

Or did my grandma make that one up?

wendigo , 3 months ago

@futurebird No, but that is a very interesting one. Sounds like something out of Native or Celtic lore...

chris , 3 months ago to random

Found my iAudio M3 Digital Audio Player from 2004. 20 years old and still working, now look at these features:

• slimmer than the OG iPod, slightly bigger than a credit card
• excellent sound
• 20GB Toshiba 1,8" replaceable harddrive
• format-agnostic, direct encoding
• supports lossless FLAC! (see display screenshot) and a ton of formats
• USB 2.0
• Line-in INPUT
• Mic, audio recording
• Rockbox support

Such a cool device, love the minimalistic design. Next project: replacing the battery.

Photo of a MP3 Player (Digital Audio Player) iAudio M3 from 2004, side view. A silver, metallic device, about the size of a deck of playing cards or slightly bigger than a credit card with 3 round buttons for play, forward, previous - very minimalistic, no display. On the right side: a volume dial, a lock button and a recording button.
Photo of a MP3 Player Display on the remote of a (Digital Audio Player) iAudio M3 from 2004. A blue 8-line display with dark text: FL (for FLAC) 1020 KBPS 44Hz Clock DVA Voice Recognition Test HDD Portable Digital Audio Player iAudio

wendigo , 3 months ago

@chris Wow! That's some great tech. I can really appreciate it. Wish I had been smart enough to buy one back in the day...