March 12th, 2026
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
Lakota-Led AI Research at Bard College Explores Ethics Through Indigenous Knowledge

At Bard’s Wíhaŋble S’a Center, artist and scholar Suzanne Kite is rethinking artificial intelligence through Lakota knowledge—combining hide tanning, beadwork, dream research, and land-based practice to imagine a more ethical relationship with technology.


I'm reminded of Ash coding in ternary for Schrodinger's Heroes.
Mood:: 'busy' busy
dine: (sandra oh - hermit icons)
ysabetwordsmith: A blue sheep holding a quill dreams of Dreamwidth (Dreamsheep)
posted by [personal profile] ysabetwordsmith at 12:11am on 12/03/2026 under , ,
This year I'm doing Community Thursdays. Some of my activity will involve maintaining communities I run, and my favorites. Some will involve checking my list of subscriptions and posting in lower-traffic ones. Today I have interacted with the following communities...


* Posted "Wildlife" in [community profile] first_nations_freaks.

* Commented on "Seed Starting" in [community profile] gardening.

* Commented on "Check-In Post - March 11th 2026" in [community profile] get_knitted.
Mood:: 'busy' busy
March 11th, 2026
ysabetwordsmith: Damask smiling over their shoulder (polychrome)
These are the notes for "To Understand Water."

Read more... )
Mood:: 'busy' busy
ysabetwordsmith: Damask smiling over their shoulder (polychrome)
This poem came out of the October 5, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from [personal profile] dialecticdreamer. It also fills the "That felt weird." square in my 10-1-25 card for the Fall Festival Bingo. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony Barrette. It belongs to the Polychrome Heroics series.

Read more... )
Mood:: 'busy' busy
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
When you're surfing the web & face a tsunami, make home under a bridge along the information highway

I hereby propose the term "The Under-net" (or "The Undernet") to refer to our preparation for and relationship with whatever (if anything) will be left for us in a future Internet dominated by unending, disingenuous, grifting slop.


This is an analysis of what's wrong with the Internet and some things we can do to improve it, as a form of resistance against corporate takeovers and enshittification.
Mood:: 'busy' busy
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
posted by [personal profile] ysabetwordsmith at 09:58pm on 11/03/2026 under , ,
Scientists finally reveal why mint feels cold

Scientists have captured the first close-up view of the body’s “cold sensor,” revealing how winter air—and even mint—tricks your brain into feeling cool.

Scientists have revealed how the body’s microscopic cold sensor, TRPM8, detects both chilly temperatures and the cooling effect of menthol. The discovery finally shows how the sensation of “cool” works at the molecular level—and could inspire new treatments for pain and eye disorders.
Mood:: 'busy' busy
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
posted by [personal profile] ysabetwordsmith at 08:59pm on 11/03/2026 under , , ,
Today we went up to Champaign-Urbana.

Read more... )
Mood:: 'busy' busy
sineala: Detail of Harry Wilson Watrous, "Just a Couple of Girls" (Reading)
What I Just Finished Reading

Still nothing. I mean, okay, I read The Superia Stratagem for the 616 server book club but I'm not counting that because I have dignity.

What I'm Reading Now

Comics Wednesday!

1776 #5, Doctor Strange #4, Imperial Guardians #1 )

What I'm Reading Next

Don't know. Still trying to figure out how to medicate my migraines. I clearly shouldn't try to write these posts while in the middle of migraine prodrome.
Mood:: 'tired' tired
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
posted by [personal profile] ysabetwordsmith at 11:48am on 11/03/2026 under , , , ,
Extreme heat limits safe activity for millions of people worldwide

Extreme heat is now stopping people from doing simple daily tasks like walking, cleaning, or working outside.

A new study shows that climate warming has changed how much activity the human body can safely handle in hot weather.

Scientists found that since the 1950s, the number of hours each year when heat becomes dangerous for normal activity has increased sharply.



Yesterday it got up to 79℉, in Illinois, in early March. That is not normal. I rely on cool spring temperatures for yardwork such as planting bare-root trees and shrubs. I had to start my summer heat-coping skills, like avoiding direct sunlight and reducing workload. Plus we had to turn on the damn air conditioner, because recently when it was 76℉ outside, the house got considerably hotter and stayed that way through the wee hours. >_<

Summer, of course, has days when I can only go out for a few minutes at a time or not at all, and I worry about the air conditioner breaking because repairs take months to complete. It's life support for me, but other people don't consider that urgent.

Read more... )
Mood:: 'busy' busy
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
posted by [personal profile] ysabetwordsmith at 11:44am on 11/03/2026 under , , , ,
Today is cloudy, cold, and wet.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.


.
 
Mood:: 'busy' busy
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
posted by [personal profile] ysabetwordsmith at 11:14am on 11/03/2026 under , ,
A massive asteroid hit the North Sea and triggered a 330-foot tsunami

A long-running debate about the Silverpit Crater beneath the North Sea has finally been resolved. Scientists now confirm it formed when a roughly 160-meter asteroid struck the seabed about 43–46 million years ago. New seismic imaging and rare shocked minerals in rock samples provided the crucial proof. The impact would have sent a massive plume skyward and unleashed a tsunami over 100 meters (330 feet) high.


One thing I love about science is that occasionally it can really prove things.
Mood:: 'busy' busy
sineala: Fraser (dS) doing buddy breathing with Ray Kowalski; the text reads "that thing you were doing with your mouth" (Due South: Buddy Breathing)
posted by [personal profile] sineala at 08:59am on 11/03/2026 under
It's the one post I remember to make every year!

They have called this day The Eleventh of March! And whom-so-ever of you gets through this day, unless you are shot in the head or somehow slain, you will stand at tiptoe when e'er you hear the name again, and you will get excited!...At the name March The Eleventh!

We happy few, we few, we band of brothers...our names will be as like...household names. And those who are not here, be they sleeping or... doing something else...They will feel themselves...sort of crappy. Because they are not here to, to join the fight. On this day, the Eleventh of March!


(Okay, I remember it because it's also my LiveJournal's birthday and I still haven't deleted it and so they send me an email every year. My LJ is now 25.)
Mood:: 'nostalgic' nostalgic
dewline: Highway Sign version of "Ottawa the City" Icon (ottawa-gatineau)
posted by [personal profile] dewline at 07:23am on 11/03/2026 under ,
Yeah. Freezing rain day from Ottawa-Gatineau to Montréal.

I am SO grateful for remote work in my case right now. Unless we have a power outage like we did in 1998.
Mood:: 'anxious' anxious
dine: (starry night cat)
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
posted by [personal profile] ysabetwordsmith at 12:14am on 11/03/2026 under , , , ,
On Monday, I picked out what I wanted for the Prairie Moon order. This is meant to be the last catalog order of the spring.


Spicebush (plant)

American Plum (plant)

Early Figwort (seed)

Late Figwort (seed)

Common Ironweed (seed)

Purple Love Grass (seed)

Lead Plant (seed)
Mood:: 'busy' busy
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
posted by [personal profile] ysabetwordsmith at 12:04am on 11/03/2026 under , , , ,
On Monday, I picked out what I wanted for the Select Seeds order.


Old-Fashioned Climbing Petunia (plant)

Lantana 'PassionFruit' (plant)

Penstemon 'Dakota Burgundy' (plant)

Painted Tongue 'Select Superbissima Mix' (seeds)

Yarrow 'Flowerburst Red Shades' (seeds)

Coreopsis 'Corusco Cream-Red' (seeds)
Mood:: 'busy' busy
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
posted by [personal profile] ysabetwordsmith at 12:03am on 11/03/2026 under
Life is full of things which are hard or tedious or otherwise unpleasant that need doing anyhow. They help make the world go 'round, they improve skills, and they boost your sense of self-respect. But doing them still kinda sucks. It's all the more difficult to do those things when nobody appreciates it. Happily, blogging allows us to share our accomplishments and pat each other on the back.

What are some of the hard things you've done recently? What are some hard things you haven't gotten to yet, but need to do? Is there anything your online friends could do to make your hard things a little easier?
Mood:: 'busy' busy
March 10th, 2026
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
posted by [personal profile] ysabetwordsmith at 07:01pm on 10/03/2026 under , ,
Remember when DART struck an asteroid? New surprises!

Don’t miss this astounding 40-second video. It shows the DART spacecraft’s strike of the asteroid moon Dimorphos, in the year 2022, from the vantagepoint of a camera on the spacecraft. It was a test of our capabilities in planetary defense from asteroids that might strike us. Afterwards, we knew the strike had slightly changed the orbit of Dimorphos. Now a new study shows how the DART spacecraft also affected the orbit of the primary asteroid in this system.
Mood:: 'busy' busy
ysabetwordsmith: Cartoon of me in Wordsmith persona (Default)
Today is partly sunny, breezy, and quite warm. It's 76℉ already.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a small mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

The first hostas have sprouted, and more bluebells are putting up leaves.  More things are sprouting in the water jugs too.  The first daffodils are blooming under the maple tree.

EDIT 3/10/26 -- I put out my indoor flat of fruit tree sprouts to get some sun and air.

I took pictures around the yard.

EDIT 3/10/26 -- It's 79℉ now.  Earlier was overly warm; now it's just plain hot  even with a brisk breeze.  We had to turn on the air conditioning.  In early March.  Fuck climate change. >_<

We hauled the two bags of topsoil from the car to the old picnic table bench.  We put the solid-top pallet in the garden shed.

EDIT 3/10/26 -- I trimmed the woody stems from the wildflower garden.  Lots of miniature irises are blooming there.  :D

EDIT 3/10/26 -- I started trimming woody stems from the septic garden.

EDIT 3/10/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I brought in the fruit tree sprouts.  I've seen a fox squirrel bounding across the ground.

EDIT 3/10/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 3/10/26 -- I finished trimming woody stems from the septic garden.

I am done for the night.


Mood:: 'busy' busy

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