Mark Pearson @wizardofosmium@mastodon.social
Retired chemist.
Using the free time to explore, by foot, bike and canoe.
My current spaceship is a Faulcon DeLacy Krait MKII (it has a coffee machine).
Joined Oct 2018
We've just had a redwing in the garden. It's the first time I've seen one here.
Mark Pearson
boosted
covid19 aerosol transmission
"A room, a bar and a classroom: how the coronavirus is spread through the air.
Here is an overview of the likelihood of infection in three everyday scenarios, based on the safety measures used and the length of exposure":
I tried to upgrade to the latest long term support version of Ubuntu on my laptop only for it to freeze half way through. It turned out that I was a bit short on RAM.
It's an old laptop, it still has windows 7 on it.
I've put Linux Mint on instead and that turned out to be one of the easiest installs I've ever done.
Our puppy is still too young to walk far so we needed a solution. He seemed happy to be there where he could see what was going on around him.
Mark Pearson
boosted
Can we please, please – PLEASE! not make the nonsensical US date format month/day/year the default in applications? 🤦♂️
PRE 👏 TTY 👏 PLEASE
And to all users of that format: it makes no sense, it's counter-intuitive, it makes collaboration frustrating, it introduces inconsistencies and errors... Just stop. Please. Use international standards.
(And don't get me started on your other units of weights, volumes and distances. Bloody hell.)
Boost if I'm right.
Our new arrival. Not too many pictures as he won't stand still long enough.
We had a walk at Castlelaw in the Pentland Hills this morning and came across spotted flycatchers and their nest.
Mark Pearson
boosted
USpol plea for letter writing (rape mention) 2/2
Deny asylum to children who flee to the United States to escape forced conscription by terrorist or other non-governmental armed groups
Deny asylum to a woman who is harmed for resisting men who claim they can rape her or beat her at will
Deny protection to refugees who have been tortured by a police officer or member of the military, if an adjudicator deems the officer to be a “rogue official”
Among others. Please read and consider writing.
Mark Pearson
boosted
USpol plea for letter writing 1/2
Please, if you are in the US, catch up on this horrific DoJ and Homeland Security proposition to change the rules of asylum. You can read about it https://softlandingmissoula.org/news/2020/7/8/act-to-stop-the-further-destruction-of-the-us-asylum-system and https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/press-release/human-rights-first-condemns-rule-seeks-re-write-refugee-laws-eliminate-asylum
Here are some of the changes proposed:
Deny asylum to LGBTQ refugees who pass through transit countries, seek protection due to persecution based on gender, or when fleeing persecution based on laws criminalizing same-sex relationships
My youngest son has some weird ideas
https://www.instagram.com/rosspearsonart/
Mark Pearson
boosted
probably not covid
decided to wfh today due to a sweaty night of splitting headache and congestion. Took allergy meds and aspirin and even a little caffeine in the form of purloined coffee from my partner and still feel like a warm loaf of shit.
Was still going to power through until I read this article https://www.ktvq.com/news/local-news/big-horn-county-contact-tracing-connects-covid-19-cases-to-yellowstone-county which has a great contact-tracing map showing how one person indirectly infected 53 people across 3 communities.
A good reminder of how individual choices matter.
This young greenfinch was happy enough to pose for the camera
Mark Pearson
boosted
something is going down in Cap-Haitien, Haiti (-)
So the second link I posted appears to be dead https://www.oursoil.org/a-devastating-blow-to-haitis-most-vulnerable/ (trying again)
Also to quote in case the link doesn't work "On Monday, June 15, the entire community, home to more than 1,500 families, was razed by tractors and heavy machinery. Community members have reported receiving no warning about the impending destruction of their homes."
We had a blackbird nest in our garden where at least 4 chicks fledged. Sadly only 2 still survive, the others were taken by magpies. The family spend most of their time in our garden feeding on the grapes we put out. They come right up to the back door for them.
One of the chicks was obviously in a fight a couple of weeks ago but managed to survive. I got a picture of it just now as it was sunning itself. You can see a lot of feathers missing in its neck.
My friends son Sean Miller made a video and it's up on the BBC web site.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08fx4gb
I've been busy the last few days. My wife wanted more storage space in the garden and we had a play house that the kids used when they were younger but was starting to rot at one side. I dismantled the play house to salvage the best bits, including some of the nails, and added an extension to the garden shed.
This morning I got a picture of a grey wagtail at the Water of Leith. Look away if you don't like squashed insects. It was a about a meter away from its nest and waiting for its partner to leave.
My son saw otters on the Water of Leith at Juniper Green a week or so ago in the late evening. Last night at 9pm We went for a walk there on the off chance that we might see them, we didn't but we did see roe deer and when the light was too dim to take a photo we saw some bats.
Retired chemist.
Using the free time to explore, by foot, bike and canoe.
My current spaceship is a Faulcon DeLacy Krait MKII (it has a coffee machine).
Joined Oct 2018
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