Dudes Shouldn't Have To Prove Themselves By Having Spartan Greyscale Homes With Dollar Store Rubber Shower

you know how mathematicians have the journal of recreational mathematics, right? where they publish stuff like, ‘oh i found this cool property of this one seemingly boring number’, or, ‘this is literally nonsense but it sounds ~scientific~’ and it’s all great fun to read?

well

behold, the journal of recreational linguistics

with such delightful papers as ‘tennis puns’, ‘animals in different languages’, and ‘gifts from a homonymous benefactor’

excuse me while i go read all 50 volumes in one sitting

At the risk of sounding anti-intellectual, I think that college should be free and also not a requirement for employment outside of highly specialized career fields

This deep into his disaster of a time running Twitter and people are still reporting "Elon Musk said he'd give Wikipedia a billion dollars to change their name to DICKipedia xDDDDD" as a wacky story, Which first of all implies the sad possibility that there are people who still find his "let that sink in" shtick funny, but his questioning of Wikipedia is uh. Actually p. sinister

Like, it's easy to go "haha, he doesn't know about hosting costs!" But he. Clearly does know that hosting one of the world's top ten most visited websites costs a lot of money. He wants to sow doubt and conspiracies, and it's working, judging by his replies

Also, he's a rich guy who loves spreading misinformation, mad that Wikipedia doesn't allow it. He also is baffled by the idea he can't buy it, that it's not trying to make money

He doesn't even have any specific criticisms of Wikipedia. Jimmy Wales called him out for removing verification with very specific criticisms, and he just responded "please fix Wokipedia". Ladies and gentlemen...got 'em!!!!!1!

A Bird Hit My Window: What Do I Do?

Having a bird hit a house window is an unfortunate consequence that can happen at anytime of year.  However, during bird migrations in spring and fall, the incidence of bird collisions increases as birds are traveling to their new summer or winter homes.  This white-eyed vireo slammed into my neighbor's window, and with a little TLC, it survived, despite being knocked completely unconscious!  This leads to the question, "What can I do for a bird that hits my window?"  The answer to that depends on the situation.  Audubon suggests calling a wildlife rehabber, and that would certainly be the best approach.  Unfortunately, many of us don't have a rehabber nearby, and the task of aiding in the bird's recovery falls on us.

Sometimes, birds are only lightly stunned post-collision.  Their eyes are open and they are looking around, but show no interest in flying.  If it's fairly warm outdoors, and the bird is not at risk of hypothermia, I fashion a makeshift nest out of a clean cotton hand towel, and place the bird in the "nest" and leave it alone.  From a distance, I do keep an eye on the recovering bird to see how it responds, and to make sure it stays safe from predators.  There's a good chance the bird will fly off within a few minutes; although, I have seen it take as much as 20-30 minutes.

If a bird is laying on the ground and appears lifeless, GENTLYtry to move its legs.  If the legs are stiff and don't move, the bird is likely deceased, and nothing more can be done.  However, if you can move the legs, the bird is unconscious and there are some steps you can take to aid in its recovery.  Line a small box with a clean cotton or paper towel, and gently place the bird in the box.  Bring the box indoors and place it in a dark or dimly lit area of your home that is away from noise and pets.  At this point, it's a waiting game.  It can take as much as an hour for a bird to regain consciousness and clear its head.  When you hear it scratching around the box, it's on the road to recovery!  At this point, I take the box outdoors and wait for it to fly out of the box.

What if the bird does not recover, and it dies?  It's sad, and not the outcome that any of us want, but the unfortunate truth is that this sometimes happens.  It's very likely that the bird sustained extreme head trauma, and/or there were other injuries that were not visually apparent.

In the case of our white-eyed vireo, the time from collision to full recovery was about an hour.  It regained consciousness within a few minutes, but sat perched on the shrub and looking around for what seemed to be an alarming amount of time.  Fortunately, it eventually flew away, continuing its migration south to its winter home.

I bet if a mushroom could lap water out of your hand with a tongue that a gently drinking mushroom tongue on your hand would be the softest and gentlest thing.

Hey everyone, I know it's going to be a busy day for a lot of people, but Google enrolled everyone over 18 into their AI program automatically.

If you have a google account, first go to gemini.google.com/extensions and turn everything off.

Then you need to go to myactivity.google.com/product/gemini and turn off all Gemini activity tracking. You do have to do them in that order to make sure it works.

Honestly, I'm not sure how long this will last, but this should keep Gemini off your projects for a bit.

I saw this over on bluesky and figured it would be good to spread on here. It only takes a few minutes to do.

Caspar David Friedrich (German, 1774–1840)

"Inside the Forest in the Moonlight", 1830.

Oil on Canvas, 70.5 × 49 cm.

Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany.

Japanese Giant Salamanders (Andrias japonicus), family Cryptobranchidae,  found in SW Japan

One of the largest amphibians in the world, this huge salamander grows up to a length of 4.46 ft.

Photographs by https://indopacificimages.com/

If you live in the USA and you're pleading for donations to pay your rent, bills, or get food then dial 211! Please dial 211 before the last minute!

It's a toll free service with people who will help you find programs in your community to pay those bills, find food, and find housing! They will give you numbers to call so you can get help.

It is not 100% foolproof. Their job is to direct you to a program they believe will help your current issue, but it's still a step up from praying random strangers online will give you enough cash before a deadline! The added benefit of these community programs, which get funded by the local government most of the time, is if there are more people using them then they can get more money to help more people.

You're not taking resources from other people if you use your community services. Your taxes pay for them. Use them.

Dial 211 first to see if they can help, and if for some reason they can't, then make your donation posts!

https://www.211.org/