If I enter a destination in my nav app and press 'start,' orange barrels and cones spring to life on my route. It's a curse.
Remote
killick
@killick@dmv.community
‘Which there ain’t no stern-gallery, sir, now we been degraded to a sixth-rate,’ cried Killick with malignant triumph. ‘Stern-galleries is for our betters, and I must toil and moil away in the dark.’
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Joined December 03, 2022
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#whatsthisbird
Seen today (7/31/2026) in Webster, Massachusetts, USA. There were two, and they make a high-pitched, repetitive, almost squeaky call. In flight, the tail looked squared-off, wings were pointy. I think this is a Sharp-shinned Hawk. The Merlin app thinks this bird is not here this time of year. I have been unable to get a sound ID, but I will keep trying. I've been seeing these birds for days now. Please share your opinion as to species. #GIMP was used to make the collage. #birding
Long story short, I went from Maryland to Boothbay Harbor, Maine, because I wanted to take a cruise out to see puffins in the wild. Weather cancelled the cruise. I spent a great deal of time, drove hundreds of miles, spent hundreds on lodging, and only saw Puffins on tourist knickknacks. The cruise boat gave me my money back, but another day of meals and lodging in Boothbay on the off chance that weather would improve seemed improvident.
I DID get to see my first Black-backed Gull, which is not insignificant, and just as beloved by the Flying Spaghetti Monster (blessed be their noodly appendages) as a Puffin, but I still feel disappointed. It may be years before I get back to Maine.
The #MLB app shows me rapid game updates- kind of like texts or a telegram. The app also includes the ability to listen to the radio announcers describe the game. I really like this feature. It allowed me to listen to the Nats vs. Braves game while driving in Massachusetts. I can't look at the telegrams while driving but I can listen.
When I got to my destination, I realized that the telegrams were minutes ahead of the radio. According to the telegrams, we had a final score, but the radio was still giving a play-by-play of the 9th inning!
If you want to listen to a game with the MLB App, don't look at the MLB App telegrams. They are all spoilers! #Nats #WashingtonNationals
"Claude" is not a crafty ne'er do well that "escaped" a testing environment. It's a computer program that the engineers at Anthropic don't understand, and, rather than seek understanding, are, instead, getting their jollies playing with the program like a dog that's running around with a lit Roman Candle in its jaws. #AI #Anthropic #Claude
Birding lifer. That's a bird you've never seen IN YOUR LIFE. So yes, you see plenty of lifers when you start birding, but after a few years, that jolt of excitement comes more rarely, because you've seen most of the local bird species. Yesterday, and again today, I have seen Sharp-shinned Hawks for the first time IN MY LIFE. But damnit, they have only been active at dusk, and I haven't been able to get even a blurry, badly lit pic of one of the birds. #birding #birdPhotography
Replying to
@SallyStrange@eldritch.cafe
@SallyStrange@eldritch.cafe
I think conservatives are sometimes hypocritical just for laughs. They like to troll progressives.
Replying to
@jcrabapple@dmv.community
@jcrabapple@dmv.community
Too bad they didn't use the same kind of test to prove that Holy Water isn't different from water.
What's This Bird? Seen yesterday in Central Maryland. I thought at first it was a kingbird, but it lacks the wihte-tipped tail. Now I'm leaning towards femaie Tree Swallow. I have seen Tree Swallows here in the past, but never just one. #birding #whatsThisBird
Replying to
@Nonilex@masto.ai
@Nonilex@masto.ai
I remember this guy. Isn't Bolton the one that kept heaps of classified documents all around in his Florida resort-- in bathrooms, etc? And he gets to plead to a single count? That's a sweet deal for so many hundreds of documents left sitting about where the resort staff can rifle through them at will. Man, he really does deserve a harsher sentence. #USPol #justice
Replying to
@aj@home.ajacks.net
@aj@home.ajacks.net @broadwaybabyto@zeroes.ca
It's Aesop's hard-working ants vs. the lazy grasshopper again and again. This is a trope nearly as old as western 'civilization."
I hate "means-testing" in which you have to _prove_ you're poor enough to warrant food or medicine or an education beyond secondary school.
To get public education for your kids in my county, you have to prove you live in the county. If you own your home, the school can just look in the state records to see if you are the owner. A few clicks of the mouse and it's done. If you rent, you have to show a current signed lease. If you are so poor you're staying with a friend or relative, then you and that person have to sign a declaration in the presence of a notary public, who, for a fee, will notarize the form. Then you need to show the school the lease, and you have to come up with two pieces of "official". mail you have received at your address to enroll your kid.
Hello! If you've just moved in with your sister, you don't have "official" mail yet. You have jack shit. You had to leave your last place and you're trying to not miss more work shifts so you can keep your jobs. You want your kids enrolled as soon as you can do it, because the state claims they have a right to an education. This is just one example of how EVERYTHING is harder when you are poor.
Replying to
@TerryBTwo@ohai.social
@TerryBTwo@ohai.social @broadwaybabyto@zeroes.ca
This is true in the USA, too. If you're poor, you must also be undeserving of pleasure, comfort, or ease.
"suspiciously reluctantly and grudgingly" is poetry. "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat" is nearly as good.
And it's EXPENSIVE to be poor. But that's another whole rant/rabbit hole.
Replying to
@dannyman@sfba.social
@dannyman@sfba.social @feoh@oldbytes.space
If I zoom in, then I have to scroll left to right. Paper menu is the way, or just another posted menu near the back of the line.
Replying to
@datenwolf@chaos.social
@datenwolf@chaos.social @freakboy3742@cloudisland.nz
EXACTLY. If your audience is reading everything you plan to say, then why are you there?
Just spent an hour trying to get my printer working. This led to the discovery of a home network issue. It's all working now.
All those guides online never seem to cover this situation: the expected screen is different from what I am seeing. A real HOWTO would also cover all the many ways things can go sideways and what to do about it.
Friggin' Google shoved Gemini "AI" into my Android Auto today, univited, unheralded. As many times before, I hit the mic icon and said my destination - this time, "Carmen's on Nelson Street" and, silly me, expected directions to Carmen's on Nelson Street. Instead of just providing directions, it started explaining to me what kind of place Carmen's was and was this where I wanted directions? Meanwhile the car is moving and I need to know, left or straight?
If Gemini was ACTUALLY intelligent it would be able to read the room and just say "straight on and then go south on the highway" instead of blathering to me details about the shop I already knew. A third-grader could do much better.
You know what's a really dangerous thing to do? Put a new interface into your nav app while the car is moving. There may have been some way for me to opt out, but I WAS DRIVING.
I had a good time birding today, despite the constant threat of rain. The only real rarity I saw was an Anhinga that appears to have taken up residence locally; she has been showing up on the rare bird alerts for 3 weeks now.
Still, a good day, at two locations. I saw a Barred Owl and a large Barred Owlet (pic). A Wood Duck with ducklings, dozens of Canada Goslings, My son even agreed to come see the Anhinga, where we met a man who showed us a photo of a Little Blue Heron he said was taken at the same spot. JEALOUS! I've never seen one, and the photo was beautiful, too. #birding
EDIT: These are Wood Ducks. Thanks to @fitzbew248@mastodon.sdf.org for the ID!
___________
What is this duck? She looks kind of like a mallard and kind of like a ring-necked. I say mallard because of the blue feathers on her wing. I say ring-necked because of the white eye-ring. If you share your opinion, can you please help me out by also explaining why you think so? Thank you!
Replying to
@deb829@dmv.community
@deb829@dmv.community
I went to Lake Needwood yesterday evening, hoping for an ibis but didn't see any. There were at least 9 cormorants.
Online subscriptions suck. The need to prove I'm a subscriber every time I visit a publication is a hassle. Yes, I clear my cookies when I log off. Yes, this is a different browser than last time. Yes, this time I'm coming from my RSS feed reader. Yes, I'm using my phone this time, etc. etc. Half the time I can't come up with the password on the first try and have to do the whole "send a reset link to my email" but that only works when I can remember which email account I used when I subscribed. It's a hassle, as I said.
I'm at work, wearing a polyester t-shirt under a thick cotton rugby jersey and a bulky cotton cardigan with corduroy pants and I'm still cold. Air conditioning is a mixed blessing at times. It was 41 F when I came to work and it'll be 30 degrees warmer at the end of the day, but it will still be too cold in my part of the building. People are walking about inside with blankets around their shoulders.
We use water to transmit heat, so once they have switched from heating to cooling, it's hard to go back. The system has to sit for a few days before it can be switched to between heating/cooling.
Replying to
@deb829@dmv.community
@deb829@dmv.community Cool! I like the photos.
White Ibis have been confirmed in a few MoCo locations this week, and an Anhinga was in Gaithersburg. Like the Brown Pelicans, this is north of their usual range.
Replying to
@kims@mas.to
@kims@mas.to
Wilhoit's Law:
Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.
Replying to
@zwol@masto.hackers.town
@zwol@masto.hackers.town
I'd love one. How is it for passenger safety? It looks like the cab is the crumple zone.
Replying to
@samlitzinger@journa.host
@samlitzinger@journa.host
It might be the case that by spreading around democratic-leaning Black TN voters, the GOP may have created many more competitive districts than safe ones.
Replying to
@danmccullough@ecoevo.social
Replying to
@noondlyt@hellions.cloud
@noondlyt@hellions.cloud @dangillmor@mastodon.social
I don't know if self-labelled conservatives even know what they mean anymore. If your party platform is "whatever Don says" then you really don't have a platform, do you? Con is right. It's all a big game to rake money to themselves.
#uspol
Replying to
@Jgbird@mas.to
@Jgbird
This is my favorite Mastodon photo so far this month. I love the way you've framed it-- not quite symmetrical., and even though the background is bright, we can see all the foreground colors.
Replying to
@jernej__s@infosec.exchange
@jernej__s
Ah, yes. I bought a humidifier and it has advertised features you can only control with a phone. it was a pretty good humidifier until it started leaking. Would not buy again because of the needed app.
Replying to
@dangillmor@mastodon.social
@dangillmor
Ok, for once in my life, I'm on Waymo's side on this. You're focusing on the car. Focus instead on the people. Taxis have been stopping in travel lanes to discharge and pick up passengers ever since we have had taxis. Now we're supposed to expect taxis to NOT drop off and pick up at the curb because bike lanes are somehow different from other travel lanes? If I'm driving a taxi, I'm going to let my PEDESTRIANS out at the sidewalk. I'm not going to ask them to get out of my cab in the middle of the street.Yes, it's a dedicated bike lane, but it's not sacrosanct. Waymo isn't in the bike lane just for the hell of it. Would you like to get out of a cab and step into a the path of a biker?
Replying to
@internetnerdgrl@solarpunk.moe
@internetnerdgrl
Hannah, it's not just textiles! You think those cameras in phones are just a handy accessory? There's a whole INDUSTRY behind digital cameras, DSLRs, lenses, Mirrorless, classes, etc. And look out, there's still FILM cameras. My wallet is screaming at me!
Replying to
@ianbetteridge@social.vivaldi.net
@ianbetteridge
People who buy houses between Georgetown University and the high street bars complain when there are loud drunks walking late at night. They expect the university will be able to do anything at all about it.
Replying to
@z_everson@journa.host
@z_everson@journa.host
It's so blatantly illegal. Under any self-respecting Congress this corruption would be addressed. The number of illegal things this Republican president has done makes it hard to know what to impeach him for first.
They made Carter sell his peanut farm.
"Galway Girl was written in 2000 by American Steve Earle.
"Galway Girl" was written in 2017 by Englishman Ed Sheeran.
I like both songs, but now that it's 2026, would the REAL Galway Girl please stand up?
I want to go back to Dublin. I was there in 2018 and didn't understand anything about the Grafton Street busking scene. If I were there today, instead of riding a bus to see the foggy cliffs out west, I'd stick around in Dublin and follow the YouTuber of "Dublin City Today" and check out all the buskers on Grafton Street, which is plainly, the busking capital of the English speaking world.
Alt-text. What's useful?
The picture shows two girls playing lacrosse. I like the image because it's dramatic, and because the light is sweet, and because I'm friends with the ball-carrier's parents. Providing the right alt-text kind of stresses me.
Please look at the alt-text I have added. Is it too much, too little? Does it fail to convey the drama? Should I have brought up race/skin color? Have I missed other important details? Should I say why I posted it, or is it enough to say so in the post? Help, please.
OK, camera makers. Here's a feature I want that you don't have.
When I'm shooting baseball/softball, I want to be able to stand in my vantage point, then quickly pre-set the focus for home, mound, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd base. Then when the ball is (or isn't) in play, I can just say "Mound" or "Two" or "Home" to have the focus snap to that pre-set. And I can just say "Auto" to go back to autofocus. Can you make that happen?
My Fandango transaction fell apart at the end, so I went straight to the AMC theater website. Three Sunday morning matinee tickets came to $54 -- two bucks more than Fandango. What a racket!
We somehow had too many eggs to eat before they went bad, so Ms. Killick made a frittata and put the slices in the fridge. Now for my breakfast I just take out a wedge and nuke it for 40 seconds. I may have to make a frittata every week. This must be what life is like for people with foresight.
Amazon just announced they were going to kill my kindle.
First, they said (2/2025) that kindles can no longer transfer books via USB. So I resolved to stop buying ebooks on Amazon. BUT, my public library still lends me ebooks, -- I expect that will stop working because they are Amazon ebooks.
Now Amazon says that if I want access to the 16+ years of books in my kindle library, I should just buy a new kindle because they are killing all the old ones. HA! I already have all my copies saved to my computer. My old ebooks are not your hostages, Amazon!
I want inter-operable ebook formats. I still want to buy ebooks, but I hate the idea of getting locked in again. I'm now on the no-DRM diet.
I may just go ahead and try that jailbreak hack for kindle I saw on the youtube. Yeah, I'm risking turning my kindle paperwhite into a paperweight, but if I just wait, Amazon says they're going to do that for me anyway.
I'm starting to lose track of all the businesses, industries, programmers, celebrities, countries, platforms, religions, raw materials, etc. that I'm not supposed to support anymore.