Search results for tag #life
#Dinner last night on the #grill. #Smoked two thick cut porterhouse #pork chops and a London Broil. Made my own dark and earthy #rub with #coffee and raw #cacao. It was great on the #steak, but the flavors really came alive on the chops. The #juicy pork infused with the rub and #smoke created this incredible interdimensional swirling #flavor.
By far, the best coffee I've used for rubs is freshly ground Dunkin Donuts Original Blend.
#grilling #summer #food #life #foodporn #food #esee #smoking #dunks #dunkindonuts #meat
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Massive thick cut porterhouse pork chops.
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A freshly smoked London Broil.
My Just Eat delivery dude asked to take a photo of my Free Palestine shirt to send to his wife, cos he couldn't believe I (another supporter of Palestine) actually existed in this 'hood. Raised fists as he drove off ✊ 🇵🇸
Dinner tonight! An incredibly satiating pan seared ribeye with grilled sweet Italian sausages carrots, and jalapenos.
I will probably be stuffed until next Tuesday.
#summer #grilling #ribeye #steak #vegetables #health #july #life #dinner #thursday #food
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Ribeye seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. It is resting on a cutting board, next to a large black cast iron skillet.
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Ribeye, sausages, tender carrots,and jalapenos on a large cutting board.
Resting below the food is the legendary ESEE-4.
Anyway, time for some tea and to calm down from all this Doing Stuff.
Here's an episode of the Flumps, called Balloons.
(it's not a particular favourite, I just liked the title 😊 )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2LUz-xt9GU
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Colour image of the Flumps, a family of furry balls with a variety of headgear. They're all standing on a wall, looking very pleased with life in general.
scrolling your feed is cool, we know that, but...
why not to go out, play with puppy or have some fun with friends?
* goes to kitchen to make tea*
* forgets teapot on desk *
* forgets reason for being in kitchen *
* idly begins reorganising freezers in time for big shop *
* pats self on back for remembering to unload washing machine at same time *
* sees teapot, remembers tea *
* berates self *
* remembers item for shopping list whilst making tea *
* forgets item immediately tea is made *
My Fog
An old, blurry photo brings back the memory of a walk through the thick fog - a protective blanket where the world fades away, sounds are muffled, and the only certainty left is your own thoughts.
https://www.europesays.com/us/920957/ Moved to New York for Dream Job, Partner Didn’t Go With Me; Worked Out #America #Charlotte #day #desire #DreamJob #Family #friend #hour #husband #JobListing #Life #love #Maine #NewYork #NewYorkCity #NewYork #NewYorkCity #NY #NYC #tyler #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesofAmerica #US #USA #year
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Moved to New York for Dream Job, Partner Didn't Go With Me; Worked Out
WE ARE THE ALIENS
Every drop of water in your brain right now was slung across space by Jupiter's gravity via rogue asteroids. 🌌☄️
In this episode of the Deep Dive #Podcast, we journey from ancient Greek philosophers to the high-tech reality of nuclear-powered submarines designed to melt through alien ice sheets. Discover why the universe might be a chemical whirlpool bursting with #life—and why we might be the #extraterrestrials we've been searching for all along. 🚀🛰️
Señor
People's positivity can be infectious, and sometimes, life is a matter of perspective.
People's positivity can be infectious, and sometimes, life is a matter of perspective.
Bus drivers for Merrimack Valley Transit go on strike
Union bus drivers and mechanics with Merrimack Valley Transit are on strike after their contracts expired at midnight Tuesday.
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Union bus drivers and mechanics with Merrimack Valley Transit are on strike after their contracts expired at midnight Tuesday.
Buy your video game boxes while you can — from January 2028, Sony will stop releasing games on physical discs for good. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2026/07/02/digital/sony-ending-disc-production-2028-games/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #life #digital #videogames #sony #playstation #nintendo
It was not the first time Amber had been forced to explain who she was.
With her First #Nation blood and #Ukrainian looks, Amber has spent much of her #life navigating assumptions from both sides. For her own kids, she envisions a different world.
This program was working perfectly fine until the programmer started messing with it, four years ago.
As you can see from the stats, it's impossible for me to have ridden 70 km an hour and have such a low avg speed at such a short distance.
Yes I can ride 70 km an hour, no not on this bike where I sit straight up. No it's not the GPS reception which got haywire. The programmer keeps putting nag screens thinking that we will pay him while the program is free for use and donationware
This program reached stability more than 10 years ago for no good reason he keeps messing with it. All he needs to do is recompile it for higher Android versions.
/me is annoyed
#ThreadedRodsForBeginners #cycling #race #machines #training #PPE #ANSI #Z87 #movement #is #Life
I cooked dinner, though, 'cause I'm not a goober. It was definitely edible.
#polyamory #life
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I don't know how far back I'd have to go to reach this point, but I think we'd all benefit from a do-over starting around, say, 1979?
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Colour panel of Calvin and Hobbes sitting side by side on some grass, under the stars.
Calvin: "What do you wish you could get back?"
Hobbes: "The version of me that didn't expect everything to go wrong."
The Black Mug
A black mug, never used in 22 years, outlives the park whose name it still carries. A coincidence, a moment of weightlessness, and the quiet pleasure of feeling lighter.
Gmornin fedifam
So dya remember that animated face thing I was doin a few months ago? I got right to the end to find out my battery wasnt big enough. Boff.
Well that project is back on the table. Im tryin the same battery with smaller servos and face print. I should know by today if thats gonna work or if I gotta gotta battery up.
The deal is I bought two 10k-ma cell phone charge bricks and I dwanna give up on $50 of battery lol
aanywho..updates as they happen
Party On my peeps
Sometimes only a short ride can be executed.
I made it count, since my stats are usually much more relaxed
This was on the MTB on which you sit like a large braking parachute. Of course I was in full PPE and of course I made sure that I ate hours and hours before, which means my system had all the energy for the ride
#ThreadedRodsForBeginners #cycling #race #machines #training #PPE #ANSI #Z87 #movement #is #Life
Good morning. 🌹🌹🌹
19 June 2026
I think I’ll go a little out of my depth this morning and muse about life and death.
Is there life after death? I think there absolutely is — just not for the organism that has died. For that organism, there is nothing. Biological function ceases. Consciousness is a function of biology, so when the organism dies, thought dies with it. It’s like a flame: once it’s extinguished, the flame is no more.
But what about the universe? When we die and fade into nothingness, does the universe still exist? I’m sure it does — but only for those who still have the capacity to wonder about it. For the person who has died, awareness is gone. Their physical presence remains, but that’s about it. The world continues, just not for them. Their window onto reality has closed.
In that sense, death isn’t a doorway or a journey. It’s simply the end of experience. Life goes on for the living; the universe keeps unfolding. But for the one who has died, there is only the quiet absence where consciousness used to be.
So where does the idea of life after death come from? To answer that, we probably have to go back to the earliest humans — maybe even before them. Long before scientific understanding, people tried to make sense of death using the tools they had: imagination, fear, hope, and storytelling. They created spirits, gods, and unseen realms to explain the transition from being alive to not being alive. As Temple Grandin put it, the question was always, “Where do they go?”
I don’t say any of this to challenge anyone’s beliefs. People find meaning and comfort in different ways, and that’s part of being human. This is simply the way I understand it.
As you might discern, I’m not a believer in ghosts — but I still think they’re fun.
“Life is a flame that is always burning itself out.” — George Bernard Shaw
“We are our brains. That’s all we are.” — Antonio Damasio
#photo #photography #photographylovers #nature #rose #life #death #philosophy
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Blush in Bloom
"The image shows a single pink rose in full bloom, captured so closely that the viewer can almost feel the softness of each petal. The petals spiral outward from a deep, warm pink center, gradually lightening as they reach the edges, like a natural gradient painted by hand.
The rose fills most of the frame, making it feel intimate and almost touchable. The background is blurred into gentle purples and greens — hints of other flowers and foliage — creating a dreamy, velvety backdrop that makes the rose stand out even more.
The lighting is soft, giving the petals a delicate glow and revealing their subtle texture. The overall mood is calm, tender, and quietly beautiful, like a moment frozen in early morning light." - Microsoft Copilot
Goodnight, Sun.
And thank you for giving us this wonderful, though at times difficult, journey called life.
See you tomorrow.
#SilentSunday #Sunset #Spring #LateSpring #Summer #Warm #Italy #Ferrara #Life
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A golden sunset floods the quiet old city square, turning cobblestones to molten light while towers, rooftops, and an ornate streetlamp stand in dark silhouette like memories held against the sky.
Morning my dudes 🫡
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Panel from a Calvin and Hobbes story shows Calvin standing on the pavement looking blank, with a bag next to him. Caption reads: LET'S ALL QUIT. THEY CAN'T MAKE ALL OF US DO STUFF.
Winter is Over
A blood pressure cuff, a worn folder with someone else's name on it, and the walks to the pharmacy through the freezing air. Winter is over, thankfully.
Mood.
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Watercolour image of a smol woodland creature wearing a green cloak. They're sitting by a fire in a cave. A teapot is hanging from a branch over the fire. The creature is drinking a cup of steaming tea.
"I was doing okay until I woke up."
Nancy speaks for me.
with a shout out to @Mrfunkedude and this thing we call #Life
#comics #Nancy
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Cartoon Nancy in bed she says, "I was doing okay until I woke up."
Good morning. 🌺🌻🌼
1 June 2026
Charlie has positioned himself in my office doorway, waiting for the minutes to tick by until mealtime. Honestly, I remember doing the same thing decades ago — standing in line outside the mess hall (or “dining facility,” as they call it now), waiting for the doors to open. That was just the way of things, especially on weekends when I’d already spent my pay and mostly existed from one meal to the next.
I’ll freely admit that as a young man, I wasn’t exactly the wisest of the bunch. Luckily, we were paid twice a month, in cash. Assuming we had the weekend off, the money usually disappeared that first weekend, leaving a long stretch of days before the next payday. And weekends back then weren’t even full weekends — a half‑day on Saturday and Sunday off, unless we were in the field, deployed, or otherwise occupied.
As I implied, I probably could have used my time and money a whole lot better than blowing it in the off‑post bars whose sole purpose was to extract every cent from freshly paid Marines. I was a mess back then. My theme song was probably straight out of The Wizard of Oz:
"I could wile away the hours
Conferrin' with the flowers
Consultin' with the rain
And my head I'd be scratchin'
While my thoughts were busy hatchin'
If I only had a brain" - Harold
Arlen/ E.Y. ‘Yip’ Harburg
Actually, I was smarter than most, I think — but my brain was still relatively new, and I hadn’t yet learned how to use it… or maybe even how to turn it on.
Believe me when I say the old line is true: live and learn.
“In youth we learn; in age we understand.” — Marie von Ebner‑Eschenbach
“Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.” — Oscar Wilde
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” — Søren Kierkegaard
#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #nature #flowers #life
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Wildflower Fireburst
"A single Indian blanket flower (Gaillardia pulchella) fills the frame, glowing with fiery color as if lit from within. Its petals radiate outward in a perfect circle, each one a deep, velvety red at the base that gradually shifts to bright golden yellow at the tips. The transition is smooth and warm, like a sunset captured in a single bloom.
The center of the flower is dense and textured — a raised disk that begins as a dark, earthy brown and brightens into a ring of glowing orange as it moves outward. The tiny structures in the center catch the light, giving it a soft, almost sparkling appearance.
Behind the flower, the background fades into a blur of green, making the vivid reds and yellows stand out even more sharply. The petals appear almost flame‑like against the cool backdrop, giving the whole image a sense of warmth, energy, and motion even though the flower is perfectly still.
It feels like a small burst of summer — bold, bright, and impossible to ignore." - Microsoft Copilot
The Lock
An empty wardrobe, a rescued pendulum clock, and a lingering scent in the kitchen. Closing a door, forcing the key a little, and leaving a piece of life behind.healthcare [SENSITIVE CONTENT]
US healthcare still stupidly expensive, with pathetic outcomes, study finds
There are strategies to improve healthcare, but US isn’t trying them.
Archive: ia: https://s.faithcollapsing.com/stjgm
#america #health #healthcare #life-expectancy #maternal-mortality #premature-death
https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/05/us-healthcare-still-stupidly-expensive-with-pathetic-outcomes-study-finds/
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An image pulled automatically from the post for decorative purposes only.
On Dragon Quest's 40th anniversary, game developers look back at the series' lasting legacy: "For me, Dragon Quest is the single best example of how the core tenets of game design stand the test of time." https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2026/05/27/digital/dragon-quest-anniversary-legacy-jrpg-influence-developers/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #life #digital #videogames #dragonquest #jrpg #rpg
Japan's annual 'penis festival' 'may look weird,' says a priestess of Kanayama Shrine, but its origins and purpose point to a deeper meaning. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2026/05/23/travel/penis-festival-kanamara-matsuri-kawasaki-shrine-history/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #life #travel #festivals #matsuri #shrines #shinto #kawasaki #penisfestival #kanamarafestival
My City
I spent years trying to return to my city, only to understand that what I was looking for had disappeared long before I did.https://my-notes.dragas.net/2026/05/22/my-city/
#MyNotes #Life #Memories #Reflections #People #Change #Friendship #LifeLessons
My City
I spent years trying to return to my city, only to understand that what I was looking for had disappeared long before I did.
Gmornin(ish) fedifam
Currently light rain and some thunder in paradise.
Soo.. I dunno if my lucky bamboo I replanted is gonna make it. The big prob last night was I apparently over-mothered the replant and kept it too wet. I was noticing gnats around last night and yup. Plant was workin with fungus gnats. I sprayed some soap water and killed 90% then rinsed but more today so outside till dry then we'll see.
No plans for today, just listen to the rain.
Party On my peeps
Okay, afternoon report:
* The insurance companies should pay. Now the issue is not whether, but how much. Which probably isn't a minor detail, but at least I have the neighbors' solidarity.
* A neighbor was doing some work in his office and realized, being an architect, that one wall was from the 1700s. They carried out some checks and knocked it down: behind it they found a staircase from 1449, walled up a few hundred years ago to divide the rooms differently, and in perfect condition. I'll be curious to see it.
* Lawyers almost always have an irritating attitude. Maybe it's just their way of doing things, putting people on the spot, but it irritates me. I'm the opposite.
* The sewer smell is still strong. Let's hope we can solve it soon.
* Although it's just a simple 4G connection, it's stable. I updated BSD Cafe and illumos Cafe's Mastodon instances while waiting for the meeting to start.
* 28 degrees. Finally!
* I’m exhausted and will soon happily get into bed and watch something relaxing.
All in all, a good day.
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A car navigation screen showing a 3D city map with Italian street names in Ferrara, a route arrow near Largo Castello, and a temperature reading of 28°C.
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A gray coat rack in my office with an olive-green jacket hanging from one side and a FreeBSD sticker on the pole, set against a plain white wall.
Yesterday I saw a problem.
Today I saw an opportunity in it.
You always have to look for a silver lining to survive in this world...
The bubble person was there again today, in front of the Town Hall in Bremen, delighting all the children and many of the adults too.
They have a long string with knotted loops attached between two sticks. The wind, when it is not too strong, does the rest.
#life #Bremen #leisure #children #photography #StreetPhotography
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A black and white photograph of soap bubbles blowing across the marketplace square in Bremen, Germany.
We are all different from each other.
Although we look alike, no one is the same as the other. Yet we are all equally necessary, we are all equally important.
Let us learn to respect each other in our differences and, all together we will be something much greater, like the sea.
#Photography #Photo #Raindrops #FensterFreitag #WindowFriday #Life
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Raindrops on a glass. They're all different. I wanted to express the feeling that everybody is different and we're all important. The raindrops are the symbol of people (but also animals). All the drops together can make a sea, even if they're all different.
Sometimes the ride is short but the average speed is sweet
25km/h for me it's quite an average speed because I ride in areas where children are all around and inclusive Infinity of the roads.
This was a Day time ride, I was lucky that all the children were inside
I later on rode a bit more so I could reach 90 minutes
#ThreadedRodsForBeginners #cycling race #machines #training #PPE #ANSI #Z87 #movement #is #Life
## TIL about Ian Debian Murdock
### The sad story of legendary Ian Murdock
• Founded Debian in 1993 at age 20, while a Purdue undergrad
• Name "Debian" = Debra (his girlfriend) + Ian — she later became his wife
• Debian became the base for Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Raspberry Pi OS, hundreds of distros, arguably the most influential Linux project ever
• Worked at Sun Microsystems on Solaris
• Became Chief Operating System officer at Docker, right at the peak of container adoption
• Died December 28, 2015, age 42, officially ruled suicide
• His final hours: a series of distressed tweets describing a violent encounter with San Francisco police (claimed they beat him during an arrest), followed by increasingly erratic posts, then silence
• His Twitter account was deleted by the family shortly after; the tweets are preserved in archives
Debian is still going strong, 30+ years later, without him but his contributions can never be forgotten.
>Although Murdock's parents were both from Southern Indiana,[2] he was born in Konstanz, West Germany, on April 28, 1973, where his father was pursuing postdoctoral research. The family returned to the United States in 1975, and Murdock grew up in Lafayette, Indiana, beginning in 1977 when his father became a professor of entomology at Purdue University. Murdock graduated from Harrison High School in 1991,[3] and then earned his bachelor's degree in computer science from Purdue in 1996.
>While a college student, Murdock founded the Debian project in August 1993, and wrote the Debian Manifesto in January 1994. Murdock conceived Debian as a Linux distribution that embraced open design, contributions, and support from the free software community. He named Debian after his then-girlfriend (later wife) Debra Lynn Roundy, and himself.[4] They later married, had three children, and divorced in January 2008.[5]
>In January 2006, Murdock was appointed Chief Technology Officer of the Free Standards Group and elected chair of the Linux Standard Base workgroup.[6] He continued as CTO of the Linux Foundation when the group was formed from the merger of the Free Standards Group and Open Source Development Labs
>Murdock died on December 28, 2015, in San Francisco.[12][13][14] Though initially no cause of death was released,[15][16] in July 2016 it was announced his death had been ruled a suicide.[17][18] The police confirmed that the cause of death was due to asphyxiation caused by hanging himself with a vacuum cleaner electrical cord.[19][20]
>The last tweets from Murdock's Twitter account first announced that he would commit suicide, then said he would not. He reported having been accused of assault on a police officer after having been himself assaulted and sexually humiliated[21] by the police, then declared an intent to devote his life to opposing police abuse. His Twitter account was taken down shortly afterwards.[22][23]
>The San Francisco police confirmed he was detained, saying he matched the description in a reported attempted break-in and that he appeared to be drunk.[24][25] The police stated that he became violent and was ultimately taken to jail on suspicion of four misdemeanor counts. They added that he did not appear to be suicidal and was medically examined prior to release. Later, police returned on reports of a possible suicide. The city medical examiner's office confirmed Murdock was found dead.[26][27]
>The autopsy report noted extensive bruise marks found on Murdock's body, and a medical history of alcohol abuse, psychological disorders and Asperger syndrome.[28][17]
^Z
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Murdock?wprov=sfla1
verified FB link
#programming #OpenSource #Linux #Debian #Founder #Deborah #Ian #tragic #life #death #suicide
A forgotten cotton swab in an old cabinet brings back the memory of a terrifying afternoon on the road, the indifference of crowds, and the quiet dignity of a stranger's last day at work.
Nope.
The #hero #narrative is a significant part of the problem. Every member of the #EpsteinClass is convinced that he is some kind of superior human specimen, and therefore deserves our worship.
My #life is my #story, and no one else gets to #prophesy my #destiny. I have #agency over my life and my future.
You cannot force me to become your protagonist. And, if you think this is important work that needs doing, it's rather arrogant of you to ask the #fediverse to do your work for you.
Anyone who has read my social media account, although it mainly concentrates on travel and photography or literature, will know that I have an interest in Customer Service. In truth, it is not so much about customer service, and more about the lack of services, and the lack of perso
Whatever Happen To Customer Service?
https://urban.camera/2026/04/whatever-happen-to-customer-service/
#Banking #Business #CustomerService #Education #Entertainment #Leisure #Life #Photography #Society #Technology #Travel
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A monochrome photograph of a mobile coffee shop built into a VW traveller. The side of the VW opens upwards and customers are standing ordering drinks. Copyright Urban Camera.
Anatoly's mother waits for her son's messages with the quiet, stubborn hope only a mother can have. In the space between one phone call and the next, war enters the house through silences, small gestures, and the unbearable weight of what everyone already knows.
My grandfather, at a certain age, realized that he no longer recognized the people he met on the street. He forgot the roads. He decided to stop going out on his own, staying at home peacefully, and to entrust the main responsibilities to his son, "so as not to cause problems for himself or others", even though he was calm and certainly not aggressive.
My grandfather showed wisdom and intelligence.
Unfortunately, my grandfather never ran for President.
Today's been a beautiful and productive day. Spring is definitely here and it's sunny and in the mid 70s. Started off with a hike, did the usual sysadmin thing, and spent my lunch break cleaning my grill....which was dirtier than a mass chemical spill! 🤣🤯
This evening will be a lovely trail run followed by chicken breasts and veggies on the grill.
uspol [SENSITIVE CONTENT]
Donald Trump’s pivot to blasphemy
Attacking the pope and posing as Jesus—even religious conservatives are mad this time.
#donald-trump #life #politics #religion #world-politics
https://www.vox.com/politics/485563/trump-pope-ai-blasphemy-art-christ-evangelical-religious-right
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President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance sitting in a church pew
Monks are building chatbots. Robots are entering rituals. But something essential may be missing. What happens when AI starts to sound like the Buddha? https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2026/04/13/lifestyle/buddhism-shinto-ai-religioin/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #life #lifestyle #buddhism #buddha #shinto #religion #ai #chatbots #tech
Good morning. ☕☕☕
7 April 2026
I’m off to a rough start this morning, though at least there’s hot coffee. I woke up to deal with Charlie’s accident from last night — the second morning in a row, and today’s was worse. For some reason he’s been choosing my office when nature calls, but this time the trail followed him out into the hall.
No worries. I grabbed my Bissell wet vac and got to work. The hallway went fine, but once I hit the office the brushes stopped spinning, so the cleanup was mediocre at best. I can still see outlines in the carpet and I’m still working on lifting them out. Ohhh nooo 😱. I ended up ordering a new steam vac from Amazon. Charlie is lucky we’re besties.
The whole thing threw off my morning rhythm. I didn’t get my usual couple of hours to just sit and vegetate after waking up. Numb mornings are important at this stage of life.
There was a noise in the background I couldn’t place at first, and then it hit me — it’s Wednesday, and the Roomba is roombaing.
The new steam vac should arrive tomorrow, and now I’m wondering what to do with the old one. The only problem seems to be the brushes not turning; I’m pretty sure the motor is done. It still sucks… in both senses. Maybe I’ll take it to Goodwill, or maybe it’ll just go out with the trash. Most likely the curb.
What I’ve noticed is that when I set something like that out for trash pickup, it’s usually gone before the garbage truck ever shows up. An interesting and slightly magical detail.
“Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.” — John Lennon
“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” — Anatole France
"The things you own end up owning you.” — Chuck Palahniuk
“Every day may not be good, but there’s something good in every day.” — Alice Morse Earle
#photo #photography #photographer #photographylovers #nature #morning #life #dogs #sky #clouds
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Stormlight Over the Gulf
"The sky over the Gulf of Mexico is a shifting tapestry of shadow and light, captured in a moment where the weather seems to be thinking out loud. Heavy gray clouds dominate the scene, layered and textured like thick brushstrokes, but along their lower edges a warm golden glow breaks through — the kind of light that feels both distant and intimate, as if the sun is trying to speak through a crack in the storm. The gold softens into amber, then fades back into the cooler slate tones above, creating a natural gradient that feels almost abstract, more painting than photograph.
At the bottom edge of the frame, the silhouettes of tree branches reach upward, thin and dark against the luminous sky. They anchor the image to the shoreline at Gulfport, reminding you that this drama is unfolding just above the quiet land. The overall impression is one of contrast and quiet intensity: a sky in transition, caught between storm and sunrise, shadow and fire." - Microsoft Copilot
It's great to see such a huge turnout for this past weekend's No Kings Rally. However, at the end of the #weekend, a friend (who works in healthcare) asked me which rally I went to. I told him I didn't attend any due to caregiving responsibilities. He asked what was so difficult about bringing our son to a rally.
So...I want to talk about #caregiving for a bit. I've mentioned here before my son is fully #disabled with severe spastic #quadriplegic cerebral palsy, is #actuallyautistic, and has significant #sensory #needs. Caregiving is physically and emotionally #brutal. It's a significant #life change that, unfortunately, a lot of #people simple do not and cannot fathom - unless it happens to them.
The best way I can describe *my* #experience is it's real time #multivariable #calculus with known, unknown, and constantly changing variables. It requires high level non-linear systems-based thinking to solve #problems, #chaos #management, and constantly being on high alert.
#Burnout is inevitable, the #physical and #emotional #labor is genuinely exhausting on a cellular level, and #time and #access to self care is rare. It's also incredibly #socially #isolating.
In addition to the #social #isolation, navigating the outside world isn't just unnecessarily difficult it's a #failure of the #system. The uncomfortable #reality is most places are NOT #accessible, including #bathrooms. #Toileting is a basic #human #right! My son is too large and heavy for the baby changing stations in "#family #restrooms." We need to put him on a #dirty bathroom floor in order to change his #diaper. Where is the #humanity and #dignity in *that*?
I feel like a broken record explaining this to him for the past six years. It's honestly mind blowing and exhausting.
What do these people actually mean when they shout that man is a machine? It is, as I’ve suggested, that human beings are ‘‘computable’’ (berechenbar), that they are not distinct from other objects in the world, in any way deserving of special respect or even attention. This then leads, at first gradually and then with exponentially increasing speed, to a view of human beings as mere objects who—no! Not who, that—can be exploited, inducted in killing machines, imprisoned, tortured, killed (providing they are ‘‘enemy combatants’’). It leads to the American military sponsoring programs to produce robot soldiers. What is then left of Norbert Wiener’s vision of the human use of human beings? And does not our world show us with utmost clarity how far we have already come?#AI #ComputerScience #human #life #TormentNexus #machinicI want here to emphasize, especially to this audience, that all this is not the fault of the computer. Guilt cannot be attributed to computers. But computers enable fantasies, many of them wonderful, but also those of people whose compulsion to play God overwhelms their ability to fathom the consequences of their attempt to turn their nightmares into reality.
Perhaps the most (in)famous and illustrious American computer scientist and acknowledged principal pioneer of the discipline now known as artificial intelligence (AI), Professor Marvin Minsky of MIT, once pronounced—a belief he still holds—that ‘‘the brain is merely a meat machine.’’ It is significant that the English language distinguishes between ‘‘flesh’’ on the one hand, and ‘‘meat’’ on the other. The latter is dead and may be eaten, thrown in the garbage, fed to pigs, and so on. Flesh, on the other hand, is living matter and, as such, deserves the respect and dignity for life of which, among others, Albert Schweitzer spoke eloquently. The word ‘‘merely’’ in Minsky’s sentence means essentially ‘‘nothing but,’’ that is, also not deserving unusual respect. His statement is a clear reflection of a profound contempt for life that, as I see it, is shared explicitly by important sectors of the AI community, the artificial intelligentsia, as well as many scientists, engineers, and ordinary people. Daniel C. Dennett, an important American philosopher, once said that we must give up our awe of life if we are to make further progress in AI.From Weizenbaum, Joseph (2007). Social and Political Impact of the Long-term History of Computing
Astrophysicist Sandra Faber has used a very similar approach to argue that the likelihood of extraterrestrial life--not just intelligent life but any life--is extremely small. In other words, she reaches the exact opposite conclusion from what the Drake equation would have us believe. Her approach is a "20 questions" style argument not unlike that used in the Drake equation. She lists approximately 20 characteristics Earth has that are widely thought necessary to make life possible. She then guesstimates that for any given characteristic, an exoplanet has a 1 in 10 chance of having it. Assuming the characteristics are independent, that's a 1 in 10^20 chance another planet has all 20 characteristics.
Depending on who's counting and how, 10^20 is about how many planets there are in the universe, give or take a few orders of magnitude. So this leads us to conclude there's a decent chance that Earth is the only planet in the universe with life (let alone intelligent life!). On the outside it's among a tiny fraction (10,000 maybe?) that have the right conditions to harbor life. Considering that having the conditions to harbor life does not imply there is life, and that having life does not imply there is intelligent life, even that high-end guesstimate goes down to an amazingly small number--possibly 1!
In my view both ways of counting are wrong in the same way. They come at the question from different directions, which accounts for the different conclusions. But there's no way of assessing which argument is to be preferred, and given that their conclusions could not be more different, the only rational conclusion I can see is to reject both for now (though I'll confess I'm more sympathetic to Faber's view--I think life is astonishingly rare and therefore precious).
I believe that this way of thinking, that astronomical universe-wide forces or monumental events like the emergence of life can be boiled down to a single number, a probability, is fallacious. We should stop doing that; it muddies our thinking without offering a tangible benefit. Life is not a Fermi problem (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_problem). The assertion or insistence that it is is a metaphysical commitment, not a scientific question.