xatharine
@xatharine.bsky.social
Existential questions before breakfast??!! Rude.
Cloudy datacenter infrastructure nerd. Knitter. Hiker. In a disfunctional relationship with the U.S. government.
Cloudy datacenter infrastructure nerd. Knitter. Hiker. In a disfunctional relationship with the U.S. government.
Amazing that a mere decade after women existing for the first time, we're able to get funding for increasing their ability to survive car accidents.
The federal Transportation Department has approved a new female crash dummy, replacing an outdated model largely based on male proportions. The new dummy would improve safety for women, who face higher fatality and injury risks on the road, officials said.
U.S. Introduces New Female Crash-Test Dummy Standards
A female crash-test dummy to replace an outdated model largely based on male proportions would improve safety for women, who face higher fatality and injury risks on the road, officials said.
nyti.ms
November 24, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Amazing that a mere decade after women existing for the first time, we're able to get funding for increasing their ability to survive car accidents.
Weirdest headline ever. This is the loudest case of "Blink twice if you're not able to criticize the police" I've ever seen in reporting.
From @theathletic.com: Police were no longer chasing Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland when he crashed his car into a pickup truck shortly before his death from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound earlier this month.
Police were no longer pursuing Marshawn Kneeland at time of crash, report says
Dallas Cowboys defensive end was later found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
nyti.ms
November 21, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Weirdest headline ever. This is the loudest case of "Blink twice if you're not able to criticize the police" I've ever seen in reporting.
New York Times Op Ed Pitch:
Is Ruining Thanksgiving the Third Rail of American Politics?
Is Ruining Thanksgiving the Third Rail of American Politics?
November 7, 2025 at 2:51 PM
New York Times Op Ed Pitch:
Is Ruining Thanksgiving the Third Rail of American Politics?
Is Ruining Thanksgiving the Third Rail of American Politics?
Oh, it appears to be "embarrass yourself at work by mentioning Dick Cheney to coworkers born in 1998" day.
November 4, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Oh, it appears to be "embarrass yourself at work by mentioning Dick Cheney to coworkers born in 1998" day.
Reposted by xatharine
This is fucking amazing
October 31, 2025 at 2:05 AM
This is fucking amazing
Cancelled my account.
Spotify is now running ICE recruitment ads. We asked them to stop. They ignored us. Let's show them what we showed Disney. No Kings, No Collaborators, No Capitulators. indivisible.org/cancel-spotify
Don’t Stream Fascism: Cancel Spotify
indivisible.org
October 29, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Cancelled my account.
Nobody tell them that measles can cause low testosterone and infertility in men.
What medical experts won't tell you is that vaccinations are the only thing that can help with this risk to male virility.
What medical experts won't tell you is that vaccinations are the only thing that can help with this risk to male virility.
October 27, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Nobody tell them that measles can cause low testosterone and infertility in men.
What medical experts won't tell you is that vaccinations are the only thing that can help with this risk to male virility.
What medical experts won't tell you is that vaccinations are the only thing that can help with this risk to male virility.
There is work to do for all of us, even when we're not sure how to start.
missionlocal.org/2025/10/the-...
missionlocal.org/2025/10/the-...
People We Meet: The S.F. composer who became an immigration court watcher
Nicholas Weininger's grandfather fled to the U.S. Now, he tries to help others do the same as a court watch observer.
missionlocal.org
October 20, 2025 at 8:59 PM
There is work to do for all of us, even when we're not sure how to start.
missionlocal.org/2025/10/the-...
missionlocal.org/2025/10/the-...
Reposted by xatharine
ICE secretly kidnap autistic boy during bathroom break—never notify parents.
Mother reported him missing a week ago—turns out ICE had him detained the whole time.
He was helping sell fruit and asked to go to the restroom—by the time she was done helping a customer he was gone.
Houston, Texas
Mother reported him missing a week ago—turns out ICE had him detained the whole time.
He was helping sell fruit and asked to go to the restroom—by the time she was done helping a customer he was gone.
Houston, Texas
October 11, 2025 at 3:11 PM
ICE secretly kidnap autistic boy during bathroom break—never notify parents.
Mother reported him missing a week ago—turns out ICE had him detained the whole time.
He was helping sell fruit and asked to go to the restroom—by the time she was done helping a customer he was gone.
Houston, Texas
Mother reported him missing a week ago—turns out ICE had him detained the whole time.
He was helping sell fruit and asked to go to the restroom—by the time she was done helping a customer he was gone.
Houston, Texas
Reposted by xatharine
Malignant machine spirits:
- printer
- vending machine
- us-east-1
Benevolent machine spirits:
- crt display
- kei truck
- those industrial lights that you turn on with a big switch and they go thwomp thwomp thwomp as they light up
No soul, but evil within capitalism:
- large language models
- printer
- vending machine
- us-east-1
Benevolent machine spirits:
- crt display
- kei truck
- those industrial lights that you turn on with a big switch and they go thwomp thwomp thwomp as they light up
No soul, but evil within capitalism:
- large language models
all discourse aside, there is one machine with consciousness. it's printers. they are alive and conscious and they hate you and they'd take your arm clean off if you let them. never trust a printer.
October 7, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Malignant machine spirits:
- printer
- vending machine
- us-east-1
Benevolent machine spirits:
- crt display
- kei truck
- those industrial lights that you turn on with a big switch and they go thwomp thwomp thwomp as they light up
No soul, but evil within capitalism:
- large language models
- printer
- vending machine
- us-east-1
Benevolent machine spirits:
- crt display
- kei truck
- those industrial lights that you turn on with a big switch and they go thwomp thwomp thwomp as they light up
No soul, but evil within capitalism:
- large language models
Reposted by xatharine
Lots to love if this holds for CA crops:
-utility-scale solar that doesn't require wrecking desert habitat
-less water use, probably less dust
-more options for siting close to existing transmission
-on-site generation for switching diesel pumps to electric and cleaning up the air
-utility-scale solar that doesn't require wrecking desert habitat
-less water use, probably less dust
-more options for siting close to existing transmission
-on-site generation for switching diesel pumps to electric and cleaning up the air
Vertical rows are the agrivoltaic winner!
“The vertical panels produce slightly less electricity—but with higher value, as generation peaks coincide with morning and late afternoon demand…The crops don't seem to mind the presence of solar panels and they like the wind protection they provide.”
“The vertical panels produce slightly less electricity—but with higher value, as generation peaks coincide with morning and late afternoon demand…The crops don't seem to mind the presence of solar panels and they like the wind protection they provide.”
Double harvest: Vertical solar panels and crops thrive side by side
Imagine a field where solar panels and crops coexist—with no trade-off. It sounds like science fiction, but that's precisely what researchers from Aarhus University have now documented in a full-scale...
techxplore.com
September 23, 2025 at 3:54 AM
Lots to love if this holds for CA crops:
-utility-scale solar that doesn't require wrecking desert habitat
-less water use, probably less dust
-more options for siting close to existing transmission
-on-site generation for switching diesel pumps to electric and cleaning up the air
-utility-scale solar that doesn't require wrecking desert habitat
-less water use, probably less dust
-more options for siting close to existing transmission
-on-site generation for switching diesel pumps to electric and cleaning up the air
Reposted by xatharine
Time for the world to install a gigawatt of solar power capacity
2004: A year
2010: ~ a month
2015: ~ a week
Now: A day
ourworldindata.org/data-insight... 🧪
2004: A year
2010: ~ a month
2015: ~ a week
Now: A day
ourworldindata.org/data-insight... 🧪
September 15, 2025 at 5:01 AM
Time for the world to install a gigawatt of solar power capacity
2004: A year
2010: ~ a month
2015: ~ a week
Now: A day
ourworldindata.org/data-insight... 🧪
2004: A year
2010: ~ a month
2015: ~ a week
Now: A day
ourworldindata.org/data-insight... 🧪
Reposted by xatharine
fbi puts another one in the books. closing the case the way most crime is solved: someone calls and tells them who did it.
September 12, 2025 at 3:00 PM
fbi puts another one in the books. closing the case the way most crime is solved: someone calls and tells them who did it.
I'm watching my timeline full of seed art and llamas in costume and the Burning Man orgy tent and I have an idea....
August 28, 2025 at 5:26 AM
I'm watching my timeline full of seed art and llamas in costume and the Burning Man orgy tent and I have an idea....
Reposted by xatharine
Being right in the bifrost of the Northern Lights. Taken from the ISS on November 4 by astronaut Thomas Pesquet.
August 23, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Being right in the bifrost of the Northern Lights. Taken from the ISS on November 4 by astronaut Thomas Pesquet.
Reposted by xatharine
Margaret Boden, a British philosopher and cognitive scientist who used the language of computers to explore the nature of thought and creativity, leading her to prescient insights about the possibilities and limitations of artificial intelligence, died last month at 88.
Margaret Boden, Philosopher of Artificial Intelligence, Dies at 88
A cognitive scientist, she used the language of computers to explore the nature of human thought and creativity, offering prescient insights about A.I.
nyti.ms
August 15, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Margaret Boden, a British philosopher and cognitive scientist who used the language of computers to explore the nature of thought and creativity, leading her to prescient insights about the possibilities and limitations of artificial intelligence, died last month at 88.
Reposted by xatharine
If you really want to get rich, start thinking of a use for these data center buildings after the AI bubble bursts.
Wanna see a crazy chart? Of course you do.
Spending on constructing datacenters and manufacturing facilities for computers & electronic products in the US now exceeds the entire retail and wholesale industry and almost as much as the rest of the office and manufacturing sectors combined.
Spending on constructing datacenters and manufacturing facilities for computers & electronic products in the US now exceeds the entire retail and wholesale industry and almost as much as the rest of the office and manufacturing sectors combined.
August 5, 2025 at 1:32 PM
If you really want to get rich, start thinking of a use for these data center buildings after the AI bubble bursts.
A pedophilia ring is a tragedy; 40 million uninsured children is a statistic.
This is a really big deal that will impact MILLIONS of people:
"For example, if someone paid $60 a month for their health insurance this year, they might be looking at $105 a month next year. "
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
"For example, if someone paid $60 a month for their health insurance this year, they might be looking at $105 a month next year. "
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
July 18, 2025 at 1:33 PM
A pedophilia ring is a tragedy; 40 million uninsured children is a statistic.
I think most companies have leadership telling them to treat AI being more expensive as a loss leader and count on the "filled with mysterious knowledge" effect to cover up the loss of quality.
This is a constant battle working in a large tech organization too.
Explaining that yes, I do think that generative AI could solve this problem we have, but it would be worse at doing it and more expensive than traditional means.
Explaining that yes, I do think that generative AI could solve this problem we have, but it would be worse at doing it and more expensive than traditional means.
July 9, 2025 at 10:09 PM
I think most companies have leadership telling them to treat AI being more expensive as a loss leader and count on the "filled with mysterious knowledge" effect to cover up the loss of quality.
Reposted by xatharine
What are the Rights of Man and the Liberties of the World but Loose-Fish?
June 23, 2025 at 6:47 AM
What are the Rights of Man and the Liberties of the World but Loose-Fish?
I hate having to pay this much attention to Murkowski.
June 29, 2025 at 12:58 AM
I hate having to pay this much attention to Murkowski.
My nominee for this year's Best Short Story:
Instead, we went to the Fridge Graveyard.
It was on the side of a road that once connected like 4 resorts, 2 hospitals, between 3 towns, way out in the woods.
It was on the side of a road that once connected like 4 resorts, 2 hospitals, between 3 towns, way out in the woods.
June 27, 2025 at 1:20 PM
My nominee for this year's Best Short Story:
Movie you've watched more than six times, using gifs.
June 26, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Movie you've watched more than six times, using gifs.
For those who want more info, read Fuzz by Mary Roach.
conversation I had with a ranger at Corbett National Tiger Reserve
me: whats the most dangerous animal in the jungle? Tiger?
him: elephant
me: what about in the water
him: elephant
me: you don't understand, I mean aquatic animal
him: no you don't understand, don't fuck with elephant
me: whats the most dangerous animal in the jungle? Tiger?
him: elephant
me: what about in the water
him: elephant
me: you don't understand, I mean aquatic animal
him: no you don't understand, don't fuck with elephant
A swift kick in the chest from a deer would put a human down for weeks at a minimum. And that deer would bounce away like nothing happened
June 23, 2025 at 6:45 AM
For those who want more info, read Fuzz by Mary Roach.
Reposted by xatharine
we're living through one of the greatest technological revolutions in the history of mankind and it's not AI
Solar + storage is now $104 per MWh in Las Vegas or similar regions for nearly 100% clean firm power. There is no way new nuclear can compete with this. Even new gas plants will struggle and that is assuming access to cheap gas over the life-cycle of the plant, which is kind of a crazy gamble TBH.
Batteries are so cheap now, solar power doesn’t sleep
Batteries are now cheap enough to make 24/7 solar power affordable, unlocking round-the-clock clean energy in the world’s sunniest cities.
electrek.co
June 23, 2025 at 4:17 AM
we're living through one of the greatest technological revolutions in the history of mankind and it's not AI