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Posts Tagged ‘STEM’

Yes, They’re Still Tweets

Posted in Biography, Fiction, Miscellaneous, Philosophy, Tyranny, Words, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 24, 2024| Leave a Comment »

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Can You Picture That?

Posted in Diary, Miscellaneous, Music, tagged , , , on May 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Aurora borealis shinin’ down on Dallas
Can you picture that?  –  Paul Williams

Most of y’all probably know that the world enjoyed some intense auroral activity last Friday night due to unusually powerful solar storms; what made this manifestation especially unusual is that it could be seen well outside of its typical range, even well down into the US South (as far as Florida!)  So I thought I’d share a few more of the pictures I took from my office window.






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Diary #724

Posted in Diary, tagged , , on May 14, 2024| 3 Comments »

Ever since I moved to Seattle in 2015, I’ve been hoping to see the aurora borealis, but no luck; even had we not been at the wrong part of the sunspot cycle, Seattle’s light pollution would have made it unlikely at best.  So I was pretty jazzed to hear last Friday that the biggest solar storm since 2003 was generating intense auroral activity worldwide.  I went outside about an hour after sunset, then again about 11:30, and was disappointed both times; since it wasn’t very cloudy, though, I figured I’d check again later.  So when I got ready for bed and went upstairs about 1 AM, I looked out of my office window (which faces east) and saw a faint green glow shimmering in the sky.  I shut off my computer and desk lamp, then the lamp beside my bed, and as my eyes adjusted to the darkness I was rewarded with a much brighter glow.  I watched for a while, gazing up in wonder at the gorgeous light show the sun, the Earth’s magnetic field, and the laws of physics were putting on for those who cared to look up, and found that my understanding of what caused the phenomenon actually enhanced my appreciation of it.  I thought that it might be too faint for my phone camera to capture, but was delighted to discover that the exact opposite was true; the images in my camera were actually bolder than what my aging eyes could make out unassisted.  By the time I decided I really should get to bed it was almost 2:30 and I had taken several really good shots, posted them on Twitter, and texted them to several friends I knew would appreciate them; I only hope I don’t have to stick around until 2035 to see it again!

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Links #722

Posted in Current Events, Links, Miscellaneous, Obituary, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 5, 2024| Leave a Comment »

How many poor people in the world must die before we consider this a “crime against humanity”?  –  open letter from 100 Nobel Laureates

I think this video, made in 1899, might be the oldest one I’ve ever featured on this site (though the soundtrack is 21st-century).  The director, Georges Melies, is perhaps best remembered for “A Trip to the Moon” (or at least one famous image from the film); he invented many special effects, a number of them visible here, which were used for a century until replaced by CGI.  The links above the video were provided by Clarissa, Emma Camp, Ronald Bailey, Radley Balko, and IncarcerNation (x3), in that order.

From the Archives

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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Unwanted Gifts

Posted in Biography, Miscellaneous, Philosophy, tagged , , , on May 3, 2024| 4 Comments »

I’ve written on many occasions of the difficulty exceptional children have in schools.  My mother could never understand why I got straight “A” grades but straight “C” in conduct; why I ended up in the principal’s office as often as any of the “bad” kids; why I got detention on numerous occasions in 7th and 8th grades, and two suspensions in 12th; and why I was nearly expelled mere weeks before graduating from high school.  The answer of course, is that I was bored to tears and no less talkative than I am now (a deadly combination in a system designed to churn out docile, obedient factory workers).  I realized that before I turned 18, but it wasn’t until I already had a Master’s degree that I understood how I could be so intelligent, yet also so abysmally bad at any subject I couldn’t master just by sitting in class and taking the tests: I never learned to study, because in my formative years I never needed to.  So this passage in an essay I recently read caught my attention:

Gifted children usually sail through their first years of schooling without ever having to develop what psychologists call executive functions — a broad category of mental skills, two of which are self-control and planning.  Why would you need to plan your homework nights, for example, if you can finish the whole worksheet in under a minute because you mastered the material three years prior without any real effort?

As I read, I saw a lot more that intrigued me, especially this:

…in most western countries, the intellectually challenged receive much more funding than the intellectually gifted, despite the obvious benefits the gifted bring us.  Gifted children’s needs are rarely met and rarely recognised in law…they often suffer immensely in outdated and ill-equipped school systems.  These are children who read classic novels under their desks yet are forced to circle adjectives in class.  Children who write twenty-page short stories about string theory, yet must endure mundane assignments about their summer holidays.  Children who have mastered multiplication and division long before entering school, yet are forced to learn to count to ten with the rest of the class.  Children who spend all night coding, yet must sit through six hours of other subjects they have no interest in.  Children who are our greatest and most wasted resource…

Please read it, and then perhaps you will understand why I am so hostile to people who pretend that it’s not only acceptable but moral to treat exceptional kids like this.

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Links #721

Posted in Current Events, Links, Miscellaneous, Music, Obituary, Philosophy, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on April 28, 2024| Leave a Comment »

An unintentional body movement can lead to death.  –  Scott Harlan

Since I often share my earworms with you, I’m unsure how this one – presenting a view of death not at all unlike mine  –  has managed to avoid being featured before.  The links above the video were provided by Jesse Walker, Winnie Pond, The Onion, Mike Siegel, C.J. Ciaramella, Popehat, and Marc Randazza, in that order.

From the Archives

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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The Last Angry Tweets

Posted in History, Miscellaneous, Perception, Philosophy, Tyranny, Words, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 22, 2024| Leave a Comment »

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In the News (#1424)

Posted in Current Events, Miscellaneous, News, Tyranny, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 27, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Artificial intelligence is not that intelligent.  –  Ella Dawson

Dirty Amateurs

Why are amateurs so damned averse to using condoms?

…Calmara claims to use AI to screen photos uploaded by users for STIs.  They want you to open their website, take a picture of your partner’s genitals before having sex, and upload it to their database so that a…[computer] can review it and scan for 10+ “conditions” including herpes, syphilis, and HPV.  Buried in the Q&A section…Calmara makes it clear-ish that they cannot actually diagnose anyone with any STI, the AI only “works” for penises, and you should really just go to a doctor for an accurate STI test.  But you wouldn’t glean any of that from their cocky Instagram or glossy imagery.  “No cap, just facts,” the copy reads beneath an illustration of a dancing robot.  “Up to 90% accuracy, our AI is grounded in real science.”  Uh… sure…the service is so misguided that it’s easy to dismiss it as satire.  But…Calmara is…not satire, and available to download right now…their…own fine print says, “These offerings should not be used as substitutes for professional medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or management of any disease or condition.”  So what is this service for?  Literally why does it exist when it cannot provide the service it advertises?…

Moral Climate

Never make the mistake of thinking the current zeal for library censorship is limited to either the US or the so-called “right wing”:

Cathy Simpson, the CEO of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Public Library, [h]as [been] fired…[because the board dislikes a group she quoted in] an op-ed column published by The Lake Report.  The Feb. 22 opinion piece, “Censorship and what we are allowed to read”…drew strong criticism from a few…over its promotion of some of the principles espoused by the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR)…[regarding] “hidden library censorship,” which she said takes two forms — “the vigorous defence of books promoting diversity of identity, but little to no defence of books promoting diversity of viewpoint, and the purchase of books promoting ‘progressive’ ideas over ‘traditional’ ideas”…[library board chair Daryl Novak tacitly admitted that Simpson was fired purely due to the] content related to FAIR, [because] “the balance of (Simpson’s) article, you can’t really criticize”…

Censorship Ascendant

Censors are now pretending ideas they don’t like constitute a “crime”:

Police Scotland…will in[timid]ate actors and comedians if a…[wannabe censor points at them and croaks the magic words] “threatening and abusive” [because] under the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) [Law, the taboo magic] can be communicated “through public performance of a play”…the Assistant Chief Constable responsible for overseeing the implementation of the controversial legislation has [washed his hands of it] after just a year in the post…Police Scotland has [threaten]ed that it will investigate every [incident, no matter how trivial, reported as a “]hate crime[“]…despite the force adopting a “proportionate response” approach to [actual] crimes…there [h]as [been] an outcry from artists…[pointing out] that in the past shows ha[ve] been picketed by organisations trying to get them shut down and warn[ing] that “putting theatre in its own category makes it a target”…

I Can’t Breathe (#1329)

It’s about time cops stopped being allowed to cover up their murders so easily:

The Colorado Senate [has] pass[ed] legislation that would bar the term “excited delirium” from use by [cops and medical examiners.  If signed by]…Governor Jared Polis…it would bar the term [or any of its synonyms] from being used in [cop] training or incident reports, or from being listed as a cause of death on a death certificate…Prominent medical organizations have urged [cops and medical] professionals to not use the [pseudoscientific] term…[whose sole purpose is] to justify injury or death to individuals [attacked and restrained by] police…

Thought Control (#1345)

Some censors are so mentally ill they feel threatened by the sexuality of trees:

The Floyd County (Va.) Public Schools have suspended a…community reading of Katherine Applegate’s Wishtree following complaints that the middle-grade novel depicts a monoecious red oak, a tree with reproductive parts that can pollinate and flower simultaneously.  In the book, originally published in 2017, the tree claims an identity that is “both” female and male and responds to diverse pronouns:  “Call me she.  Call me he.  Anything will work”…[wannabe censor] Jodi Farmer…took to Facebook to [warn] Floyd County residents about the [terrifying] reference to…[vegetable biology], calling the book “indoctrination at its finest”…

Apparently, Farmer imagines these scary, scary words will bewitch her children into transkingdomism.

The Next Target (#1371)

Rather than actually filing a lawsuit against Mastercard for its discriminatory policies against sex workers (which would cost them actual money), ACLU prefers to Tweet, to dilly-dally with complaints to the FTC (a bureau of a government which actively persecutes sex workers and encourages corporations to do the same), and now to file a petition which I can’t imagine will prove to be any more effective than its other slacktivist efforts.  Given the wording of the petition and the website page it’s included in, this seems more like an exercise in virtue-signaling than an actual effort to right an injustice, but I reckon it can’t actually hurt you to sign it.

The Puritan Recrudescence (#1417)

Tennessee’s float in the current “monkey see, monkey do” parade will cost it millions every year:

A Tennessee bill would make it a felony for an adult content website to allow access to a minor without age verification…[bill sponsor] Becky Massey…[burbled a lot of nonsense about magic sex-ray emitting pictures, but didn’t publicize that her exercise in morality theater] will cost the state more than $4 million in the first year and then $2 million each year after that…

 

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

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Tweetenstein

Posted in History, Miscellaneous, Perception, Philosophy, Tyranny, Words, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 22, 2024| 1 Comment »

 

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Tincture and Snakebite

Posted in Miscellaneous, tagged , , , , on March 15, 2024| 1 Comment »

One of the ways Grace and I use cannabis is by ethanol extraction of THC from resin, then using the resulting solution in either concentrated (tincture) or dilute forms.  Due to Grace’s many health problems, one of which is severe arthritis, her THC intake is so high it would be cost-prohibitive to get it all from edibles; smoking doesn’t bring long-lasting relief, and doing too much of it is inadvisable anyhow due to her chronic lung damage from decades in the industrial trades.  She keeps a bottle of the tincture on her desk, and adds drops of it to her tea as needed; we use the more dilute form (which I call snakebite) in her soup, and I sometimes use it (very sparingly; “dilute” is a relative term, as you’ll see) in cocktails when I really want something strong.  We were introduced to both of these by a generous gent who used to make them for us, then decided to buy us the equipment and teach us to do it ourselves.  And now I’m going to teach you; it isn’t that hard, and the equipment isn’t terribly expensive.

The first step is to buy “dab wax” (resin) from your local legal dispensary; I’m afraid I have no idea how to get ahold of it in places where it isn’t legal.  In Washington, this is actually the cheapest ingredient; I usually get the highest-THC resin available from among the budget-priced selections, which are usually just over $10.  If we’re going to make tincture, I get two packs of an indica; for snakebite, a single pack of sativa.  I wouldn’t advise going any stronger until you’ve tried it at this level; as I wrote above, “dilute” is a relative term, and the snakebite is still very strong (just not as concentrated as the tincture, which one uses by the drop rather than the tablespoon).  Put the wax into a small beaker (we use an 80 ml size) and place that into a decarboxylator machine like this one; you’ll need to read the instructions carefully, but it’s fairly foolproof and has a light that turns from red to green when it’s done.  The beaker will be hot, so Grace usually lets it sit in the machine for about 30 minutes or so before attempting to remove it.

Once it’s cool enough to handle with bare hands, take it out and add about 60 ml of pure ethanol; you don’t want to add it too soon lest the beaker break.  You don’t need lab-grade ethanol; Everclear is 95% ethanol, and that works just fine (it’s also available at most liquor stores).  Next, you need to stir it very thoroughly, over heat; Grace insists stirring it by hand is not sufficient.  Here’s our magnetic stirrer in action; you can get similar units on Amazon.

You can see the settings Grace usually uses in this video. When you can’t see any more wax globules at all, either suspended in the liquid or stuck to the sides (roughly 45-60 minutes), you’re ready for the next step.  For tincture, that means simply pouring it into a small bottle with a dropper top; make sure you label it!  For snakebite, there’s an extra step.  If you look at the package the resin comes in, there’s a little chart with the THC content broken down; the one you want is “Total THC”.  It will be expressed as a %, and since the resin we get here comes in 1-gram containers, it’s a simple matter to work out the amount of THC in your beaker (93% = 930 mg, etc).  Multiply that by 0.75 to get the total # of ml of ethanol for your batch, allowing for what’s already in the beaker; in my example, the total volume of the finished snakebite should be about 698 ml, so if there’s 70 ml of solution in the beaker, I would add 628 ml.  You don’t need to be exactingly precise; you just want to know how strong the resulting solution is.  At these proportions, the snakebite is 60 mg of THC/45-ml shot; that works out to 20 mg per tablespoon.  You could of course make it stronger if you like, but I wouldn’t go much weaker because pure ethanol is over 3x as strong as typical vodka.  I keep it in a fancy decanter I bought from a garage sale when I was a teenager, and I add 8 drops of green food coloring per bottle so no guest at your house accidentally pours themselves a big old slug without asking what’s in the bottle (which may or may not have happened with one of our early batches).  You could use any color you like, but I chose green in Scotty’s honor.

Anyhow, that’s all there is to it; enjoy it in good health!

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