Time to re-#introduction for the latest influx...
I'm ehashman! I have a hard time with intros because I feel like the most important parts of me are also ones I don't like sharing publicly. But I'm unapologetically disabled, queer, and looking forward to getting to know you a bit before you follow me.
I like technology that's in service of people, and recognize that tech isn't just military, industry, or software. I'm an amateur naturalist and cook. My public food alt is on @ehashman@kith.kitchen.
@brennen I mean mostly I just figured out the issue under contention and then produced this dank meme while everyone else was arguing
The sequoias are clearly not native, and they're also genuinely struggling with our climate (long dry period in the beginning of spring) and circumstances (sandy very poor soil).
Seeing them around French castles as a kid I've always wanted one though. So over the last four years I've tried to grow about 200 of them from those tiiiiiiiny seeds from a French and Dutch tree. About 30 survivors at the moment. Here's some Sequoiadendron giganteum baby photos:
I think that #LandBack is so terrifying not because it's impossible, but rather because it's so plausible. When you start thinking with an abolition mindset, you begin to see opportunity everywhere you go. There are vast amounts of crown land and relatively undeveloped rural land that would be pretty straightforward to cede control of.
Bird sex (chromosomes not activity)
TIL, in birds, what we call "female" is actually the heterogametic individual and "male" is the homogametic.
Some folks make a big fuss about "females always being XX and males being XY" (incorrect even for mammals).
But the egg laying bird is ZW (or just Z) and the sperm maker is ZZ.
Which means, had we gendered birds based on familiar mammalian chromosome patterning, it is the male that lays the egg and the female fertilizes it.
I love this.
Centuries before we had American Sign Language (#ASL), Native "Hand Talk" was thriving across North America. Plains Indian Sign Language (#PISL) was used so widely across the Great Plains that it became a universal language for both deaf and hearing people to communicate between tribes. At one point, tens of thousands of indigenous people used PISL for trade, hunting, conflict, storytelling and rituals. It formed the basis for ASL and has largely been lost to history. https://youtu.be/s1-StAlw3aE
Nereid gloves for #MerMay! I'm so pleased that the mirrored lace pattern turned out okay on the second glove, phew!
aviation, air traffic & transponders
Busy airports have controlled airspace, in which aircraft must identify themselves and stay in radio contact. To keep a clear picture of what planes are where, there are a few available technologies:
Radio self-reporting: incoming aircraft identify their altitude and relative position when entering the airspace.
Ground-based radar: sees planes, but doesn't know which is which
Mode-C transponder: transmits altitude with a 4-digit identifier assigned by ATC
& ADS-B...
Haven't done one of these in a while! Here's my latest p-patch update. Irises and azaleas look gorgeous. Someone even overwintered their plot with wheat! (not pictured) #florespondence
International florespondent, ๐จ๐ฆ settler south of the medicine line, exhausted tech worker. Tea aficionado. Amateur botanist, naturalist, and radio operator. ืืื ืืืข ืืืกื ืืืึผ ืืขื ืืืื...