Wandering Hermit

Was hearing an unusual noise from my camp spot, got out my binoculars. If you zoom in on that hillside, you can see it is covered in little white dots. Each one is a sheep. Very noisy sheep. I also heard a barking dog, but was unable to find it through the binoculars. #Camping #Sheep

Today I had a two hour book club meeting followed immediately by a 90 minute Zoom call. I am *so* peopled out. I think I'll spend the weekend at home alone, writing code and working on my bicycle. #introvert

@sister_ratched@toot.community Ah, the feeling of "I'm going to retire and become a bus driver."

I had an interesting discussion over beer with a colleague last week, we’re both seismologists. The topic was, given the hostility toward science of the current regime and the difficulty of obtaining funding, how do we keep the science alive and moving forward? One idea we had is to encourage and support independent scientists, who in a less-enlightened age would have been called “gentlemen scientists.” The concept would be to give interested people of independent means (e.g., retired) and STEM backgrounds the opportunity to do science in collaboration with scientists on campus. There would be shared office space, and independent scientists could at their discretion spend time on campus and meet with scientists and technicians to evaluate ideas and design experiments. They would presumably collaborate with full-time scientists to learn the current state of the science and the ins and outs of peer review and publishing. As an example, much of seismology is signal processing; anyone with a background in signal processing (EE degree?) and even a rudimentary ability to code could produce real, useful science. I would welcome any commentary here. Do you think people would be interested? If so, how do we reach them and invite them to participate? Also: I’m not in love with the designation “independent scientist”, do you have suggestions for something better? #Science

@VeroniqueB99@mastodon.social Back in the days of fax machines: we had a proposal due on Friday, and it wasn't ready. Late on Friday we faxed a cover page and then a smeared first page to the client so it looked like the fax machine malfunctioned. Then we had all weekend to finish it.

Wish list: I realize that I'm in the minority, but I wish Mastodon had a way to filter posts that include an attached video. I'm not going to click on them, why do I need to see them? #Mastodon

@idzie@kolektiva.social I live on top of a steep ridge of millions-years-old volcanic rocks; the ground is littered with sharp chunks and boulders of rock, where rattlesnakes snooze in the noonday sun. There are precious few inches of soil over fractured bedrock. I'm in a saddle, there are steep rocky hills to the east and west. Because of the ridge-top location, the wind is a constant presence and an old friend, whistling around the corners of the house. The dominant plant species is juniper, interspersed with smaller thorny bushes of honey mesquite. In between are grasses and an assortment of small cacti, seasonal wild flowers, and the dreaded tumbleweed. The sky overhead is nearly always a deep clear blue, in which red-tailed hawks soar, ravens cavort, and turkey vultures perform cleanup duty. Wildlife abounds. Mule deer and javelina are frequent visitors, making it nearly impossible to grow roses because both species consider roses to be a delicacy. Less common are the occasional coyotes, foxes, ringtail, coatimundi, bobcat, mountain lion, and black bears. A range of dark mountains lies to the west, about 10 miles distant. In the winter they might be dusted with snow, in any changing weather they attract a mantle of clouds with attendant lightning and rain. I like it here.

Abandoned track along the Gila River. #FootPathFriday

I think I might curtail for a while going out to look at the stars in the middle of the night...

@Robotistry@fediscience.org I solved this by getting a professor to hire me as a researcher, paying me for one hour per 2 week pay period. He gets a lot of free work, mostly software development. I get $48/month and a university affiliation and library privileges. Win-win.

@alexhaist@wandering.shop @idzie@kolektiva.social Close! Southern New Mexico.

@impermanen_ Between the current world situation, and the fact that I just had eye surgery, this song has been living in my head for a couple of months.

@ascentale@sfba.social @streetmeme@cycle.town @bikenite@fedigroups.social A1) I'm posting from the Toiyabe National Forest, where it is raining and 61 degrees F. I've never been able to track stand. #BikeNite

@intrepidhero@vmst.io I like "citizen scientist" but that term is already in use with different connotations.

@Alice We love you, don't change a thing!❤️

@elaterite Or maybe the cat will be rewarded with a free lunch? I think they're awesome but wouldn't try to follow one.

@LikeItOrLumpIt Yes! From the size of the paws I'm guessing it's a fairly young male.

@superflippy@mastodon.xyz On the web interface there is an item on the right called @ Private mentions. I think that's what you want.

@rythur@mastodon.social I like it, thanks

@doctormo@floss.social Perhaps I wasn't clear, looking for talent, not dollars. People who want to solve interesting scientific questions and who don't need a salary to do so.

@aliceamour I love the video! Also... the harmonies on the version she does with Sarah McLachlan make me tear up, every time. After time. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8fVoVl19Vz4

@mlanger I'd call it medium size. Plenty big enough to startle me when I was sitting out on the patio and it started buzzing.

@SeanPLynch Yes! I could submit it to New Mexico magazine.

@infiniteinside I think that's a hard "yes". Usually they're very shy around humans, human deaths from mountain lions in the US tend to be about one/decade. That said, when I'm camping and hiking somewhere where I see a lot of mountain lion poop I tend to be very careful. If I thought there was such a thing as reincarnation, I'd want to come back as a mountain lion. They're awesome animals.

@IanHill@infosec.exchange I'm 69, my newest vehicle is from 2014. I sincerely hope that the vehicle's lifespan and my lifespan expire at approximately the same time. I don't want to drive spyware. This is, to me, a big block to getting an EV.

@superflippy@mastodon.xyz Or maybe I misunderstood the question. I don't know how to search within DMs other than using the browser ctrl-F

@MostlyHarmless@thecanadian.social Fondly. In those days I nearly always carried a book.

@nomadgoat If you get too close to the edge, you might *become* part of the view!

@FurryAges@mstdn.social I'm so glad you like it, I'll be out again by the end of the week and will hug a tree for you! The amazing thing about this place is that it is in the desert. All is green and cool and quiet next to the stream, but a few hundred feet on either side is open rocky desert. I loved it.

@VeroniqueB99@mastodon.social I lived for a while in a state where it was fine for your kids to ride in the back of the pickup, but illegal for your dogs to do so.

@akkana Great article, thanks! I'm tolerant and fine with rattlesnakes, but I don't have nearly that large of a population. Most years I only see one or two near the house. Last year there was one that spent much of the year coiled up under a clump of grass next to the birdbath, which was a brilliant location as all sorts of small creatures came to the birdbath for a drink.

@UnionizedNetizen @SeanPLynch You are welcome! I've stayed there several times, it's nice. If you like to hike, one end of the Baylor Canyon Trail is in the campground. Sorry, I don't usually venture into Texas so have no recommendations there.

@ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org Sad to say, that's actually an improvement. I remember writing code on Windows 95 machines and having to reboot hourly. Or even more frequently.

@CheapPontoon@beige.party I think the point is independent as in self-funding.

@ascentale@sfba.social @MartyCormack@urbanists.social @bikenite@fedigroups.social A1a) Posting from Southern New Mexico, where we have winds to 43 mph and it looks like rain. Probably won't rain here, though. A1b) No answer, I started cycling so many years ago that I don't remember what and when I learned along the way. #BikeNite