@libroraptor@mastodon.nz
@libroraptor@mastodon.nz avatar

libroraptor

@libroraptor@mastodon.nz

Collector of extensive trivia that never gets asked about in trivia quizzes.

Fringe academic; ICOM-UMAC.

Polymath not-that-kind-of-doctor in history of sci-med-tech, art and architecture, mainly in early modern Europe.

Editor and writer of academic and technical things: I clarify ambiguity. I also bake, garden, and foster homeless dogs.

Posts auto-delete because the Internet's too cluttered and (in my opinion as an actual historian) most records are not worth keeping.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

libroraptor, to tinnitus
@libroraptor@mastodon.nz avatar

I've heard tinnitus for years, maybe decades. It's just been almost completely fixed by my physiotherapist who has been releasing a pinched nerve in my neck to address a different set of problems. Neither of us had any idea that nerve pinches could cause tinnitus but there turns out to be lots of literature on tinnitus caused in the temporomandibular joint nerve especially.

Neither did my GPs or audiologists know about this.

Maybe this'll help someone.

#tinnitus

sarahwedde, to random
@sarahwedde@mastodon.nz avatar

People who can comfortably live off 30% of their income cluelessly explaining savings to people who can barely live off 100% of theirs is a phenomenon I encounter way too often.

YOU'RE NOT BETTER AT BUDGETING YOU JUST HAVE MORE MONEY.

libroraptor,
@libroraptor@mastodon.nz avatar

@sidawson @sarahwedde I was in an especially strong history department. If merely half of the year's graduates had job offers, that was deemed an outcome exceptional and happy enough to warrant a not-cheap departmental party.

That very low job placement rate is just a given of higher studies. Many PhD students maintain a mystical, even religious, complex of denial and hope for years or even decades, but the low probability of working in the field is certainly no secret at the outset.

libroraptor,
@libroraptor@mastodon.nz avatar

@sidawson @sarahwedde One of my PhD supervisors told me that this is the most important thing to learn in grad school – the art of saving money while living on a stipend. Second most important thing, he said, is not to lose the habit – keep living like that all your life and save every bit of extra because the world will soon force you to need it.

Both are far more important than the dissertation.

quixoticgeek, to random
@quixoticgeek@v.st avatar

We have an utterly fucked up idea of what counts as technology. Something that projects many of our biases including gender, and race.

To many these days it's only technology if it's electronic, and used by western men. But to take such a narrow definition is to ignore the amazing technology that surrounds us, and upon which our society is built. As such. It's time for a thread. I'm gonna talk about two different items you use every day, and the technology that goes into them.

1/n

libroraptor,
@libroraptor@mastodon.nz avatar

@quixoticgeek "wrought iron" is another term that's changed its meaning. The old wrought iron is fibrous from the fibres of slag still in it, like a plant stem. When you bend it far enough, it splits like green wood. It got like that from being "wrought" from the bloom. Today's wrought iron is really nothing like it.

I remember the old guys at the forge complaining about running out of iron to re-work: their only source is old pipes and fences and things; no one makes the old iron anymore.

danilo, to random
@danilo@hachyderm.io avatar

We need to bring back skeuomorphic UI design.

So twice a month I hang out at my library and give people technology help. Back in 2021 I went down there and said to the administrator "hey do you want this?" And they did, so I've been doing it ever since.

What surprised me is that ALL OF MY TAKERS in all this time?

Senior citizens.

And they are absolutely baffled by modern software. In more ways than one. But flat UI is a big one. This is a issue I don't see discussed at all.

libroraptor,
@libroraptor@mastodon.nz avatar

@danilo Not only seniors – I am not a senior yet, and I can't tell what's clickable.

Flat design isn't the only impediment: another is invisible activators that are revealed only when you do some magic swipe thing that is completely arbitrary. Far too many phones have this instead of a button now, and many operating systems hide scroll bars this way.

Then there are interfaces that cater to only one sense, generally vision: no contouring means nothing for vision-poor people to find the button.

Drdind, to random
@Drdind@mastodon.social avatar

The Voting Rights Act was passed when I was a little boy. The foundational role slavery and its aftermath played in shaping this country is still playing out today.

libroraptor,
@libroraptor@mastodon.nz avatar

@FantasticalEconomics @Drdind There was definitely de facto segregation where I lived. The New York Times used to have an on-line map where you could plot population by racial category to see segregation. A walk through just about any wealthy US city or college campus shows at a glance that job availability is coded by skin colour.

The old slavery is now called "economics", expanded to include poor people of other ancestries, and effected through education, insurance, labour laws, policing.

mythologymonday, (edited ) to greece
@mythologymonday@thefolklore.cafe avatar

Hello, Myth Lovers! To celebrate International , we'd love to see your posts about ! Which museums have great mythological art? Which are your favourite artifacts? Do you have a favourite ? Where have you seen an amazing work of art related to mythology? Use the hashtag for boosts!

🎨 Kos Archaeological Museum,
📸 Dionysis Kouris

@archaeodons @mythology @folklore @TarkabarkaHolgy @juergen_hubert @curiousordinary @wihtlore @FairytalesFood @bevanthomas @FinnFolklorist @Godyssey @GaymerGeek @starrytimepod

libroraptor,
@libroraptor@mastodon.nz avatar

@mythologymonday

One of my favourite myths told in museums is that all ancient cultures had a wide range of food and drink vessels that they never ate or drank from, but which were understood purely in terms of their forms – for ancients nourished only their souls.

That's why the krater and amphora are separated from the wine cups, and why there are no chopsticks in the "Asian ceramics" case.

lavergnetho, to opensource

Is #OpenSource / #OpenScience -mentoring a thing?

One does not contribute to the development of the research or the software itself, but one helps others that don't know how this is done with the Open'ing aspects.

Of course, I know that there are several online resources for learning, but what beats a mentor who dedicates some if his/her time?

#IWantYouToBeMyOpenSourceMentor 😅

@pyOpenSci @scientific_python @turingway ?

libroraptor,
@libroraptor@mastodon.nz avatar

@meejah @lavergnetho Don't know whether you can do anything with this information, but I once gave back a research grant because the grantmaker's mentoring that was meant to provide exactly this help turned out unable to do so. They just didn't have a mentor with the matching knowledge.

Service availability would be excellent. Paying for it is hard but, if an identifiable service were at least there, grant applications could be written for it.

seachanger, to animals
@seachanger@alaskan.social avatar

Ok let’s do this, reply with your

libroraptor,
@libroraptor@mastodon.nz avatar

@seachanger
#dogsOfMastodon Our rescue pup, who found himself at a loose end when, following the first Covid lockdown, his owner went back to work. He took himself on walks and ended up in the pound. His owner, I'm told, surrendered him in tears after three or four of these visits, knowing that he needed someone who'd be home with him a lot more. And so he came to us.

I always wanted to communicate better with dogs but didn't know that it could be like this.

A dog, something like a ridgeless Rhodesian Ridgeback, looking into the camera.

tiamat271, to Colorado
@tiamat271@mastodon.online avatar

Did you use a colander to see or take pics of the eclipse? I know we laugh at it, but I seriously enjoy seeing others’ colander pics. In such a divided time, at least we all have colanders in common! Anyone remember Hands Across America? This is like that, but with colanders 🤣 Please post your pics and use the hashtag (and maybe ?). Here’s mine, from :

libroraptor,
@libroraptor@mastodon.nz avatar

@inquiline @tiamat271 Aristotle!

msquebanh, (edited ) to random
@msquebanh@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

This #poll is for me to gauge how others think about a sensitive social issue.

I have taken a strong personal stance on it myself & suffered some backlash from a small number of people who believe blood is more important than anything else.

Would you keep on defending close family members who have raped & abused multiple women? When there's no question they're serial abusers/rapists of women? (And you're a woman, yourself)

libroraptor,
@libroraptor@mastodon.nz avatar

@msquebanh East Asian heritage, by the way – if anyone tells you that this is contrary to what Confucius teaches us, you could answer like I do: What Confucius teaches us to respect our elders because they exercise the responsibilities of elders. Demanding respect for being merely older puts them completely out of the running.

It's just my so-called elders' bad luck that I took the time to read Confucius a bit more than they bothered to.

bastianallgeier, (edited ) to random
@bastianallgeier@mastodon.social avatar

Do you need some good news? We only have to replace one-third of the energy generated by fossil fuels with renewables to meet our energy demand. Sounds weird? Here’s why: https://youtu.be/EVJkq4iu7bk?si=OuVh11T0jPnr_bGI

libroraptor,
@libroraptor@mastodon.nz avatar

@msquebanh @bastianallgeier I get tired of being tokenised, too. So many majority-group people are convinced that they've done the "diversity" thing by bringing along a few token people who then aren't allowed to engage.

Of course they've been given equal speaking rights.

But not an equitable dynamic in which their voices, ideas, experiences, values, norms are equally legitimate.

I saw too much of this when I was in academia, and now I see it all the time in local government.

libroraptor,
@libroraptor@mastodon.nz avatar

@msquebanh @bastianallgeier They're new where I am – not yet clear whether they'll achieve anything.

Something that is clear to me, though, is that the existing consultation system never worked to begin with; it's rigged by design. Something that I get so tired of hearing is "It would be great if [minority] would come along" from the same people who shut them out. [Minority] here can be so many things – gender, age bracket, ethnicity, disability, wealth ... all systematically excluded.

libroraptor, to random
@libroraptor@mastodon.nz avatar

https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/4th-anniversary-of-covid-19/

#covid

libroraptor, to Mushrooms
@libroraptor@mastodon.nz avatar

It's mushrooms-in-the-lawn season. This one caught my eye blending in with the brick.

Does anyone know what this one is?

#fungi #mushrooms #mycology

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/216977190

libroraptor, to random
@libroraptor@mastodon.nz avatar

Another academic journal outs its authors, reviewers, editors on the pseudo-intellectual catwalk.

There surely can't be a shortage of rigorous, honest candidates for academic jobs?

#academicChatter

libroraptor, to Mushrooms
@libroraptor@mastodon.nz avatar

My #mushrooms suddenly emerged! A day of heavy rain triggered them after weeks of hiding.

#gardening

libroraptor, to random
@libroraptor@mastodon.nz avatar

I went to the supermarket for a bottle of ammonia water yesterday. The sort often sold as "cloudy ammonia" as if there is also a non-cloudy version. Could not find it.

Today, following a web search, I found that it's not with the cleaning stuff where I'd expected it, but in hardware. And there I found it on the lowest shelf sandwiched between methylated spirits on the left, and soft toys on the right.

This has me wondering: what do other people use ammonia solution for?

#supermarket #mystery

compost, to gardening
@compost@regenerate.social avatar

I have identified what is eating our roses.

It is some bees that I have finally seen on the roses.

It feels better to know that it is just some bees having a snack.

The flowers of the roses are edible and it is a nice treat if you make rose water with the petals.

When you deadhead the dead flowers you can simply add the hips to the compost pile they will add a lot of nutrients to your compost that you can feed to the roses.

#gardening #compostodon

libroraptor,
@libroraptor@mastodon.nz avatar

@compost if you let the hips ripen, you can eat those, too. The most common uses now are to cook them into jams, jellies and syrups, and to dry them for tisanes. If you go searching for older recipes, you'll find them also in soups and stews.

inquiline, to random
@inquiline@union.place avatar

Serious question: when and in which contexts did calling people "individuals" emerge as a common practice, as a synonym for people? Or "an individual" for "a person"?

I ask because I'm noticing it in student writing, and I associate it with police-speak. I don't know if it's in some corners of social science or medicine too

??

libroraptor,
@libroraptor@mastodon.nz avatar

@inquiline I can't trawl up sources for you, but I'm pretty sure that this usage has existed at least since early modernity – which means all of modern English. But when it was dominant, and among which groups talking about which others, is a much harder, and better, question – though probably not at all a straightforwards answer to the usage that you're seeing now.

skinnylatte, (edited ) to random
@skinnylatte@hachyderm.io avatar

I’ve received invites to almost every queer Asian activism thing in the Bay Area this summer, so I think I’m going to be extremely busy. I don’t have enough ‘gala clothes’ but I am also excited that I don’t need to conform to the feminine expectations of such events in straight spaces.

libroraptor,
@libroraptor@mastodon.nz avatar

@skinnylatte I had a conversation about this related cases with an elder colleague back in my historian days at Rochester. He observed that the stories that the press tells – even the ones that purport to be disturbing – tend to be the affirming stories that make the system comfortable.

We were talking, in that case, about liberal education in China being sometimes markedly more liberal than in the US liberal arts colleges where our deans and presidents and newsletters claimed the opposite.

inquiline, to random
@inquiline@union.place avatar

I am very here for all the rhubarbposting, please keep it up, you know who you are

libroraptor,
@libroraptor@mastodon.nz avatar

@inquiline I picked rhubarb yesterday afternoon. I was going to simmer it a little before putting setting it into a tart but I left it too long and the threads separated. Thus we have apple tart rather than rhubarb.

msquebanh, to random
@msquebanh@mastodon.sdf.org avatar

Good morning 🌄
Fantastic news to start this fab Friday with 😀

I got into a new para #dragonboating #PilotProgram. It's a 7-week program starting April 6, leading to the Super Sprints Festival May 26, on the Gorge waterway. Training with head coach of the Canadian Para Dragon Boat team.

https://youtu.be/QtChOhgJSpA?si=Tn98MPep_nRczNxy

#ParaSports #ParaDragonBoating #DisabledSports #InclusiveSports #PaddleSports #DragonBoaters #FairwayGorgeRowingClub #Lekwungen #Songhees #VancouverIsland #iLovePaddling

libroraptor,
@libroraptor@mastodon.nz avatar

@msquebanh @tezoatlipoca A bit of that happens here, too, but it's just one day at the wrong time of year – a special event largely where businesses do "team building" stuff and call it "the Dragon Boat Festival".

The appetite for celebrating the actual festival is low in New Zealand because (a) the cultural significance has been suppressed and (b) it's not in the New Zealand summer – here it's more about summer despite its name. You've got seasonal and cultural advantage in Vancouver!

libroraptor,
@libroraptor@mastodon.nz avatar

@msquebanh @tezoatlipoca Cultural donation is something that we lack over here, at least on the North American scale. Returning here made me all the more conscious of how important they have been not only in North America, but across the northern hemisphere in general. And increasingly in Australia (like the new museum at Sydney University). But not yet here.

I benefitted immensely from Paul Mellon's anglophilia legacy in particular. He was one of the Pittsburgh steel Mellons.

dnc, to gardening
@dnc@vive.im avatar

I’ve dun goofed with my peas haven’t I? https://www.diningandcooking.com/1342322/ive-dun-goofed-with-my-peas-havent-i/

#Gardening #Vegetable #VegetableGardening

libroraptor,
@libroraptor@mastodon.nz avatar

@dnc what are you going to do?

I see three ways forwards

  1. cut the pots to liberate the roots

  2. separate the pots to plant with the plants

  3. cut the roots and trust that they'll regrow, maybe with better roots

Maybe you could do an experiment by implementing all three!

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • JUstTest
  • mdbf
  • everett
  • osvaldo12
  • magazineikmin
  • thenastyranch
  • rosin
  • normalnudes
  • Youngstown
  • Durango
  • slotface
  • ngwrru68w68
  • kavyap
  • DreamBathrooms
  • tester
  • InstantRegret
  • ethstaker
  • GTA5RPClips
  • tacticalgear
  • Leos
  • anitta
  • modclub
  • khanakhh
  • cubers
  • cisconetworking
  • megavids
  • provamag3
  • lostlight
  • All magazines
    •