Replying to
@deathmetal@metalhead.club
@deathmetal@metalhead.club @IngridHbn@mastodon.online
Blocked for being a troll. And an idiot. Or possibly a bot.
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Hilary
@regordane@mastodon.me.uk
Bad at shoes. I know a bit about #InfectiousDiseases. Occasional amateur #history and #politics. #Mazeldon #Jewish She/her
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Joined November 05, 2022
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Replying to
@jannem@fosstodon.org
@jannem@fosstodon.org @0xabad1dea@infosec.exchange
A damp t-shirt is preferable, though perhaps unacceptable in offices or similar formal environments.
I have dampened down my hair and clothes several times today. It helps a lot
Replying to
@0xabad1dea@infosec.exchange
@0xabad1dea@infosec.exchange Yeah. Similar. I've always been sceptical about advice to keep windows closed, and don't follow it.
Curtains closed, windows open is the best approach in most typical UK housing.
We're fortunate in having a couple of north-facing windows that never get direct sun, so we can open those curtains.
Also, open windows at different heights, to force air flow. Sash windows are designed for this - open both top and bottom
Replying to
@regordane@mastodon.me.uk
@si_irini@mastodon.social @QasimRashid@mastodon.social
Helen wasn't even human. She was born from an egg, laid by Leda (yeah, her husband was sort of greek-ish - there was no such thing as Greek at the time). Who knows where Leda came from and what skin colour she might have had?
Helen was fathered by Zeus - do you believe in Zeus? I don't, but if you do, why would his beautiful daughter not be black?
Because you're a racist
Replying to
@si_irini@mastodon.social
@si_irini@mastodon.social @QasimRashid@mastodon.social
You do know that Homer is myth, as in fiction? Or maybe you don't?
Yes, Homer (if he existed) wrote the founding myths of greekness. The Iliad and Odyssey are both very composed works of literature, meaning someone edited/wrote/redacted them, and one may as well call that person Homer.
But it's myth. It's not fact or history so what anyone looked like is totally up for grabs.
You are a racist.
Replying to
@infobeautiful@vis.social
@infobeautiful@vis.social
It's a very North American-centred graphic.
The absence of peas, lentils, dates, pomegranates, sesame, millet, old world spices, nuts and beans (other than soya). The limited range of root crops...
Yeah, for folks in North America it may help to show where your most common foods originated. But it doesn't show where food in general originated.
Replying to
@EricBono@social.vivaldi.net
@EricBono@social.vivaldi.net @infobeautiful@vis.social
At the risk of being nerdy and boring, the hypothesis that syphilis came to Europe from the new world is interesting but unproven.
There is genetic evidence that suggests syphilis had quite recently evolved from yaws, within a limited human population, not very long before it reached Europe. But this was the "age of exploration". The Portuguese were advancing around the coast of Africa and beyond. It could have been from there.
There's no conclusive evidence
Replying to
@raymaccarthy@mastodon.ie
@raymaccarthy@mastodon.ie @luc0x61@mastodon.gamedev.place @infobeautiful@vis.social
That's interesting, because here in South East England, although I have Scottish ancestry, I would never call oats "corn". Wheat, barley or maize, for sure
Replying to
@raymaccarthy@mastodon.ie
@raymaccarthy@mastodon.ie @luc0x61@mastodon.gamedev.place @infobeautiful@vis.social
Even in modern UK English, I don't assume that corn means maize. It just means grain. Could be wheat, barley or maize (oats are not corn).
I may understand it as maize, but that depends on context. To be specific, one needs to say sweetcorn, or maize
Replying to
@mjd@mathstodon.xyz
@mjd@mathstodon.xyz @infobeautiful@vis.social @pozorvlak@mathstodon.xyz
The Roman empire did include parts of Asia. But not very much
Replying to
@infobeautiful@vis.social
@infobeautiful@vis.social
Hmm. As a European, the only things there I'd really miss are potatoes and chilli peppers (and other capsicums).
As for beans, the old world is MUCH better than the new. We don't only have soya (meh). We have haricots, broad/fava beans, cannellini, butter beans. Old world beans are infinitely better than anything we have got from the Americas.
Replying to
@mjd@mathstodon.xyz
@mjd@mathstodon.xyz
You probably know this, but just in case you don't, being registered as an "accompanying person" usually means access to the social events but not the main conference sessions.
So yeah, it's a great idea if you want to hang out with other maths folk. I get why that may be fun.
But if you want to get into the speaker sessions... check the small print
Replying to
@quixoticgeek@social.v.st
@quixoticgeek@social.v.st
I loathe tomatoes, so I can't say for sure, but the usual mistake people make in northern Europe is to sow too early. Seeds may germinate in late March or April, but they'll likely struggle, grow slowly and fail to out-run the pests. May is better.
So no, I very much doubt it's too late and I suspect it is perfect timing
Replying to
@ned@beige.party
@ned@beige.party
Clearly you know fuck-all about Judaism since you don't even call it by the universally accepted word.
So it's probably best to shut up and not pontificate from a position of total ignorance.
The land of Israel has been central to Jewish identity for at least two and a half millennia. Sure, Jews have varying views about the state of Israel, which is a modern political entity.
Replying to
@kkarhan@c.im
@kkarhan@c.im @Lionesslady@mindly.social
Yeah, her mother told her to stay there.
She's a bit scared of the big ape pointing a camera in her face, but she's been told to stay there and that's what she is going to do
Replying to
@mattsheffield@mastodon.social
@mattsheffield @SteveClough @0xabad1dea @kauer
Interesting. The key quote is:
"My definition of a scientist is that you can complete the following sentence: ‘he or she has shown that…’,” Wilson says.
I broadly agree with the definition. I don't know whether or not Dawkins can meet it. But certainly, Dawkins is famous as a science communicator, not as a scientist
Replying to
@SteveClough@metalhead.club
@SteveClough @0xabad1dea @kauer @mattsheffield
You then went on to mislead with the "have their moment and then wane" bullshit. As if Dawkins' "moment" had been when he was doing science. It wasn't, it was when he was writing about science for lay audiences.
I really don't know how good a geneticist/evolutionary scientist Dawkins ever was.
My guess is mediocre, precisely because he changed career to become a science writer instead.
Replying to
@regordane@mastodon.me.uk
@SteveClough @0xabad1dea @kauer @mattsheffield
Yes, he must have been *competent* in genetics and evolutionary science to write those books.
But no more than that.
Contemporary famous "scientists" mostly do have a genuine background in science. But they're famous because they're superb science communicators. This may or may not reflect their actual scientific achievements.
(Historically famous scientists are different, having faced the judgement of time.)
Replying to
@SteveClough@metalhead.club
@SteveClough @0xabad1dea @kauer @mattsheffield
Almost right, but not quite. Most absolutely brilliant scientists are unknown outside their own field, because they're ahead of anything anyone outside their field can understand.
Dawkins became famous not for scientific work but for writing about science. The Selfish Gene and The Blind Watchmaker were genuinely brilliant books, which made me (and many others) think about evolution differently.
But they were science-writing, not science.
Replying to
@sarae@ecoevo.social
@sarae
Hmmm. While I am strongly in favour of routinely vaccinating infants against hepatitis B, I have not had this vaccine myself.
My non-immune status doesn't worry me in the slightest, because my risk of hepatitis B exposure is virtually zero. This is true for many adults.
Also, it is unnecessary to check measles immunity if the person definitely received two vaccine doses (if this is uncertain, YES, GET CHECKED OR GET MMR). Adequate immunity persists even if antibodies decline.
Replying to
@rustoleumlove@mastodon.online
@rustoleumlove@mastodon.online @coolcalmcollected@mastodon.social @ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org
My day-pack is a subdued green. But it has a high-visibility bright yellow rain cover, which folds into a tiny pocket when not in use.
So I don't need to distract other walkers with bright colours unnecessarily, but can be seen if needed
Replying to
@regordane@mastodon.me.uk
@springdiesel@spore.social @scm@sfba.social @ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org
But I also walk a lot and in the days before online maps, could totally ACE the A-Z of London.
Replying to
@springdiesel@spore.social
@springdiesel@spore.social @scm@sfba.social @ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org
Map skills ARE learned skills. They don't come naturally. My father taught me map skills, to the extent that as a child I'd read an Ordnance Survey map from the back-seat and announce that we're just about to pass a church with tower (not spire) on the left.
A consequence is that I can't make head nor tail of a map which doesn't have North at the top (unless I happen to be facing North). My mind automatically rotates to North at the top and anything else destroys me
Replying to
@ra6bit@infosec.exchange
@ra6bit
Yeah, totally with you here.
And it's not just trans people. I knew a woman who had been called Christine before she converted to Judaism. To protect her privacy I won't say what new name she chose, but no one was surprised that she changed it
Replying to
@magsol@quinnwitz.house
@magsol@quinnwitz.house
This applies if you see a friend walking, too.
If they recognise you then, sure smile and wave. But if you are driving, never assume that anyone on foot can see your face through the windscreen (mostly we can't). Horns are alarming. That's what they're for. They're not for greeting people.
Replying to
@infobeautiful@vis.social
@infobeautiful@vis.social
We should stop quoting the vaccinated rate and start quoting the unvaccinated rate.
As in, the proportion of children unvaccinated has nearly doubled*, from 5% to 8%! Shock horror alarm.
*In journalistic terms it's sort of ok to describe 8 as nearly twice 5.
Replying to
@wjt@mastodon.me.uk
@wjt@mastodon.me.uk @katemorley@hachyderm.io
We're not allowed to call it plant milk any more
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/feb/11/oatly-banned-from-using-word-milk-to-market-plant-based-products-in-uk
Replying to
@xahteiwi@mastodon.social
@xahteiwi@mastodon.social
I'm a believer in the oracle of Delphi. Obviously the drugged priestess spouted nonsense, but then it was interpreted by the priests. They had centuries of experience and received delegations from throughout the Greek world.
They'd know if, say, the harvest failed in Sicily or war broke out in Egypt. And they could judge how that might impact on trade and politics elsewhere.
In other words, a think tank, and probably quite a good one
Replying to
@ryan@m29.us
@ryan
For anyone who does dates properly.
5/4 was nearly a month ago. May the fourth is today.
Replying to
@andrewrock@bne.social
@andrewrock @mttaggart
What you are describing sounds to me like AI, which has many valid uses, but not generative AI, which largely doesn't.
The rest of your rant did make me wonder for a bit whether you were an AI bot yourself.
Replying to
@QasimRashid@mastodon.social
@QasimRashid@mastodon.social
Flagging this thread - Texas governor pardons racist murderer.
Replying to
@rickmans@nerdculture.de
@rickmans@nerdculture.de It's like "Neither a borrower nor a lender be" and other quotes that people attribute to Shakespeare without mentioning they were said by Polonius... one of his most vainglorious, duplicitous, pompous and downright evil characters.