starless @starless@pixie.town

Figure study 23-05-01. Ballpoint on A3. #art makes a fine gift

We report: it is always a privilege to catch a sunset in its entirety. We usually get a glimpse, sometimes a flash of some rare colours. Tonight, when we saw the clear sky, we turned to the West and we were lucky enough that the sun decided to set there and then.

they've been signed. hell yeah https://www.mprnews.org/story/2023/04/27/walz-bills-ban-conversion-therapy-and-protect-abortion-genderaffirming-care

Constant reminder that you shouldn't willingly pay for the NYTimes and that you can read it online for free in perpetuity with an email address and this access code via the Berkeley Public Library https://www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org/explore/elibrary/new-york-times-digital-edition

If you're an instance admin, would you be happy to opt in to a 'list of trusted instances for people new to fedi who need a safe instance' that asks you;

- Are there BIPOC/queer/disabled/neurodivergent people on your mod team
- Do you maintain a block list, either importing from a trusted source and/or actively monitoring fediblock
- Do you proactively moderate
- Do you defederate from instances that don't moderate hate speech
- Do your rules prioritise safety of marginalised folk

#FediAdmin

We've received some lovely compliments about the little virtual space we've created in the #CircusInPlace video chat. The one I always find myself reaching for when describing the thing we do three days a week is the word "cozy".

Should you find yourself needing a cozy (albeit often silly) place filled with friendly people, we'll save you a spot.

https://meet.jit.si/circushomegym

We'll be there starting at noon (CDT/UTC-5), enjoying each other's company well into the evening.

#PleaseBoost
#JoinIn

Let's see how a panoramic photo does. It's either going to display thin and narrow or cropped off the sides. You probably will need to click it to see it fully.

This shows the Milky Way from the southern sky (right) to the northern sky (left). There are slight northern lights in the north.

#photography #night #MilkyWay #LakeSuperior #Minnesota

I spent a little time updating my Northern Lights Viewing FAQ. I hope you find it helpful.

https://www.bryanhansel.com/2015/northern-lights-viewing-faq/

Join the clowns and their fediverse friends in the cozy little oasis from the gravity of reality that we call the #CircusInPlace video chat.

https://meet.jit.si/circushomegym

We'll be in the chat practicing our circus skills and enjoying the company of kind people from all around the world starting at noon (CDT/UTC-5) and going well into the evening.

If you need some company, I highly recommend a visit.

#PleaseBoost
#JoinIn

The Olive tree of Vouves is believed to be the oldest olive tree in the world. Its exact age is impossible to measure, but it's at least 2000 years old, and could be as much as 4000 years old. This means it was likely originally planted by the Ancient Minoan civilisation, who prospered by trading in olive oil on the ancient Mediterranean Sea 🫒
#ThickTrunkTuesday

What do you call a flying nun?

A bird?

A plane?

Nope. Nun of the above.

me, reviewing trending: oh wow I see people once again don't understand why "you give us a licence to things you post" is in ToS statements

*loud sighing*

get yourself a girl who deletes tracking parameters from URLs she shares you

I'd think this should be obvious... But one thing you should never do when you're using a blind person's computer is mute the sound, then give it back to them while it's muted. Seriously people? That's not a hard concept to grasp. It's incredibly rude because if it's muted, they won't know what the fuck is happening. It's something that I'd think would be quite obvious, but apparently it's not.

Folks, do any of you remember a blog post that used "gears" as a simple metaphor for how much capacity/energy a person has at a given day or point in life?

Gist was that the lowest gear is "just do what's needed to survive" and the highest gear is when you might be able to work towards complex goals/projects/etc?

Pretty sure it was in the context of Spoons Theory, maybe also neurodiversity. I think I saw it on here, but don't seem to have bookmarked it.

(More context: I've found the metaphor useful, and I want to share the post with a neurodiverse friend who is dealing with some very difficult events but also beating themselves up for not progressing their other work/life goals at the moment. I just can't find the post!)

Tagging #Spoonie #ADHD #ActuallyAutistic folks for reach. Thanks!

it’s night one and time to go to bed

I can’t leave her running around the living room unsupervised yet, but I don’t want to have to physically remove her from the lovesac 😭😂

“Evaluating Verifiability in Generative Search Engines”

"On average, a mere 51.5% of generated sentences are fully supported by citations
and only 74.5% of citations support their associated sentence."

The difference between the AI crowd and the rest of us is that they’re going to think this is an excellent result. https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.09848