@jmccyoung@mstdn.social avatar

jmccyoung

@jmccyoung@mstdn.social

Live in #Berkeley, staff in the UC English Department, #Christian active at St. Columba's #Episcopal Church in West Marin Co., California. cyclist; reader of theology, science, and F/SF; BA in paleontology dating to near the K-Pg boundary; interested in classical and medieval history, historical linguistics, digital humanities and science. Also a cat guy. He/him/his.

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ai6yr, to cycling

Got my Saturday list done!

Bicycled to the library
Bicycled to a garage sale
Bicycled to the store (solely to buy snacks for the pet rabbits πŸ€”)

Saw some fitness cyclers
A few kids on bikes
No adults doing any utilitarian cycling
Eight bazillion cars (Nobody walks/bikes in LA!)
Annoyed the clerks in a store asking them where the nearest bicycle rack was (answer: nowhere nearby)

jmccyoung,
@jmccyoung@mstdn.social avatar

@ai6yr Fortunately Berkeley did that, although those alternate routes aren't always really close to the arterials & since those are where destinations frequently are (e.g., my library branch) sometimes it's necessary to ride a fraction of a block on a busy street to get where you're going: https://berkeleyca.gov/city-services/getting-around/walking-and-biking/bike-boulevards. Fortunately for that library, there are enough lights on the street that there are frequent gaps in the traffic so it's usually not to hard to get there from the closest cross street.

jeffjarvis, to random
@jeffjarvis@mastodon.social avatar

Insipient bothsidesism. One of these men is competent and wise, the other is unable to have coherent thought.
What science tells us about Biden, Trump and evaluating an aging brain https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2024/05/18/biden-trump-age-cognitive-decline/

jmccyoung,
@jmccyoung@mstdn.social avatar

@cindyweinstein @jeffjarvis To save @jeffjarvis a gift link: https://wapo.st/3QM14YI

ai6yr, to random

Remarkable how out-of-the-mainstream utilitarian cycling seems to be in my neighborhood. Strong car-centric culture in Southern California, for sure. (yes, I was, until recently, part of that). πŸ€”

jmccyoung,
@jmccyoung@mstdn.social avatar

@meganL @ai6yr See also: masking.

ai6yr, to Canada

PBS: A wildfire forces out hundreds of residents in Canada’s oil sands hub of Fort McMurray https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/a-wildfire-forces-out-hundreds-of-residents-in-canadas-oil-sands-hub-of-fort-mcmurray #canada #wildfires #oilsands #climate #climateemergency

jmccyoung,
@jmccyoung@mstdn.social avatar

@swart @ai6yr I second @swart's endorsement of the book, which was my very first thought when I read about this new fire. Totally different in subject, but his The Tiger is fascinating, too: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/182226/the-tiger-by-john-vaillant/9780307397157

jmccyoung, to random
@jmccyoung@mstdn.social avatar

Why Does the NYPD Hate This Bike Chain
https://www.404media.co/email/1cc25606-201a-4f10-87ce-aeefa8285c3f/?ref=daily-stories-newsletter

'β€œThis is not what students bring to school,” Sheppard said, holding the chain to the camera. β€œThese are heavy industrial chains that were locked with bike locks, and this is what we encountered on every door inside of Hamilton Hall.”

'But this is exactly what students bring to school, and it’s a bike lock chain that’s recommended to them through the Columbia University website.'

jmccyoung,
@jmccyoung@mstdn.social avatar

@ai6yr I've been put off by the weight: over 15 pounds! https://www.kryptonitelock.com/en/products/product-information/current-key/999492.html I find this tempting too: https://thebestbikelock.com/best-u-lock/hiplok-d1000-review/ but the price and the small size make it unworkable for me.

jmccyoung, to random
@jmccyoung@mstdn.social avatar

Nurses Protest 'Deeply Troubling' Use of AI in Hospitals
https://www.404media.co/nurses-protest-ai-automation/

Alice, to random
@Alice@beige.party avatar

I used to work at an Apple Store and my job title was "Creative" which mostly consisted of doing one-on-one trainings with customers on how to use their computers.

This could be anything from someone learning to use a computer for the very first time up to people learning Final Cut Pro to create movies.

I genuinely loved every level of user because they were there to learn something new, but my absolute least favorite were the cocky preteen boys who would start every lesson with something like "my mom made me come here and I already know everything so just teach me something new" which is really hard to determine when you just said you "already know everything," CHADLEY!

After running through a quick list of all of the software options and cool shortcuts I could think of and being hit with "I already know that" OVER and OVER again, my fallback was teaching them how to use their basic software like Pages and Keynote in weird ways, such as cutting the heads off their family photos and pasting them onto random things to make weird animations and movies.

While I dreaded the initial interactions with those boys, I ended up getting a lot of repeat visitors who would ONLY work with me because "Alice is the only one who knows how to use Pages and Keynote the RIGHT way" which definitely was NOT the way Steve Jobs ever intended for that software to be used, but I still maintain it was the BEST way.

jmccyoung,
@jmccyoung@mstdn.social avatar

@Alice Your posts are sometimes long but always worth reading.

ascentale, to random
@ascentale@sfba.social avatar

Welcome to the April 12th BikeNite! Thanks for joining, and I hope we all enjoy chatting about cycle stuff! Feel free to answer whenever at your convenience. Anyone can join, now or later. Reply to what you like, and boost for visibility.

We'll start out with our introduction, inspired by comment from @rodbotic:

Q1. Where are you posting from today? What does a typical ride for you look like? Share a photo if you'd like.

jmccyoung,
@jmccyoung@mstdn.social avatar

@bikescape @moira @ascentale @rodbotic I was riding in the Berkeley (CA) hills a few years ago and a wild turkey flew across the road about 10 feet ahead of me and it was in fact an amazing sight! There are thousands in the area and they're quite fearless around here and are often reluctant to make way for cars and bikes when they're hanging out in the middle of a road. I shoo them out of the way with loud gobbling as I approach and pass them.

ai6yr, to random

"Wall times" in the Conejo Valley (times ambulances need to wait before dropping off a patient at the emergency room) have been 2.5 hours this week. πŸ‘€ #EMS #ConejoValley

jmccyoung,
@jmccyoung@mstdn.social avatar

@ai6yr Yikes! Is that from a COVID surge?

jmccyoung, to random
@jmccyoung@mstdn.social avatar

@futurebird Saw and immediately thought of you:
The comings and goings of ants: how are social skills shaped in an ever-changing world?
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01000-z

jmccyoung, to random
@jmccyoung@mstdn.social avatar

Caribbean nation of Aruba backs itself up to Internet Archive
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/04/caribbean-nation-of-aruba-backs-itself-up-to-internet-archive/
"The Internet Archive is now home to the Aruba Collection, which hosts digitized versions of Aruba’s National Library, National Archives, and other institutions including an archaeology museum and the University of Aruba. The collection comprises 101,376 items so farβ€”roughly one for each person who lives on the Islandβ€”including 40,000 documents, 60,000 images, and seven 3D objects."

jmccyoung, to random
@jmccyoung@mstdn.social avatar

@ai6yr In case you hadn't seen this (and with apologies if you've covered it already):
Another significant landslide in the Hollywood Hills of California
https://eos.org/thelandslideblog/hollywood-hills-landslide

ai6yr, to random

Stumbled upon some "news" articles predicting gloom and doom about the Eclipse in Texas ("stock up on food and water!") and have decided that there are still humans you might be able to conquer by threatening to take away the sun. πŸ€”

jmccyoung,
@jmccyoung@mstdn.social avatar

@Lazarou @ai6yr You never know: The sky dragon that ate the sun might come down and eat the Texans too.

ai6yr, to random

Nope. I soundly reject your automated account request, USER. #MastoAdmin

jmccyoung,
@jmccyoung@mstdn.social avatar

@ai6yr Automated? Or Borg?

jmccyoung, to random
@jmccyoung@mstdn.social avatar

The Radio Squirrels of Point Reyes - The Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/04/ann-hermes-morse-code/677468/
Maritime Morse code was formally phased out in 1999, but in California, a group of enthusiasts who call themselves the β€œradio squirrels” keeps the tradition alive cc: @ai6yr

jmccyoung,
@jmccyoung@mstdn.social avatar

@tg9541 @ai6yr My father was a ham radio operator in the '50s and '60s and maybe even back into the '40s - W6WRX - and he had a telegraph bug I found utterly fascinating. I never learned Morse but he was good enough that he could understand and transmit it pretty well.

jmccyoung, to random
@jmccyoung@mstdn.social avatar

@ai6yr DLARC Preserves β€œHam Radio & More” Radio Show
https://blog.archive.org/2024/01/30/ham-radio-and-more/
Saw this and immediately thought of you.

noellemitchell, to books
@noellemitchell@mstdn.social avatar

Me: I have a lot of books I should read. πŸ€”

πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ

Me: checks out more books from the library

πŸ‘€ πŸ˜† :blobcatread:

#reading #books #library #bookstodon #lol #funny

jmccyoung,
@jmccyoung@mstdn.social avatar

@noellemitchell Libby told me today an ebook I'd put on hold was in, the library proper told me a paper book I'd put on hold was in, and when I stopped by to pick it up on the way home from work I also got a book recommended by @charliejane in her recent WaPo review (https://wapo.st/42TqAQq) so my thousands and thousands of owned and unread books will just have to wait their turn.

athena, to random
@athena@union.place avatar

Lazy ask: Is there a good guide out there on making meetings truly hybrid, maybe with equipment recommendations?

I've been on too many unfortunate "hybrid" meetings where it was impossible for people joining remotely to hear what people attending in person were saying because the organizers were relying on a laptop mic in one corner of the room to pick up all sound. Trying to plan well so my work can avoid a situation like this.

jmccyoung,
@jmccyoung@mstdn.social avatar

@bikescape @athena @glightly For seminars we've found Owls to work well, but for Qualifying Exams for grad students we switched to a Jabra camera mounted to the top of a TV stand plus a Jabra tabletop mic; that way the in-person attendees are looking at the remote participants rather than at the Owl camera. We had some remote search interviews with a deaf candidate and in which a deaf grad student participated and campus arranged for an ASL interpreter to join the Zoom.

jmccyoung, to random
@jmccyoung@mstdn.social avatar

β€˜To kill a program’: Duke to close herbarium after over 100 years of operation - The Chronicle
https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2024/02/duke-university-plants-biodiversity-herbarium-climate-commitment-kathleen-pryer
The Duke Herbarium, one of the largest herbaria in the country, will shut down and have its plants relocated in the next two to three years, according to a Tuesday email obtained by The Chronicle.

ai6yr, to random

If you have need to keep any captured aliens in a giant tube, here's your free Craiglist deal of the day! πŸ€ͺ #plexiglass #tube

jmccyoung,
@jmccyoung@mstdn.social avatar

@ai6yr Did the owner say what happened to their captive alien? This is worrisome.

jmccyoung, to random
@jmccyoung@mstdn.social avatar

Striking fossil found along Calif. coast reveals new mammal species
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/new-walrus-fossil-santa-cruz-county-california-18642540.php
An extinct species of walrus was unearthed in Santa Cruz County, providing a unique window into a time when California was teeming with odd creatures that feel closer to fantasy than reality, researchers said.

Likewise, to random
@Likewise@beige.party avatar

2/1
#writerscoffeeclub Tell us about yourself, your published work, your WIP, or anything you think we should know about.

My current WIP is a nonfiction account of the year my dad, who had Alzheimer’s, lived with us. I started it several years ago during a brief time when I wasn’t working and made a fair amount of progress, but set aside when I began working full time. I began writing again at the beginning of this year. I’m close to finishing the first draft. I’d like to try and get it published, that being said, I have never published anything, so I’ve been researching and looking for places that accept submissions. There’s a pinned post on my homepage that tells more about me, so I won’t bore you with it here. πŸ™‚

jmccyoung,
@jmccyoung@mstdn.social avatar

@Likewise @CindyWeinstein wrote an excellent book about her father's early-onset Alzheimer's and might be able to offer advice on a venue for your piece.

Alice, to random
@Alice@beige.party avatar

Is this a positive result for COVID? The people in this ball pit at Chuck E. Cheese say it's not positive because the line isn't pink and is instead a really dark red.

jmccyoung,
@jmccyoung@mstdn.social avatar

@Alice A tip I've read to increase test reliability is to swab both your nostrils and the back of your throat, because sometimes the virus is more concentrated one place or the other. (And I agree, that feels yucky to me too.) I'm glad you're fully negative now!

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