Posts by impermanen_@zirk.us
(DIR) Post #AwmX4KjINuucHXiKuG by impermanen_@zirk.us
2025-08-03T00:36:19Z
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Our collapsing petrostate is doing all it can to prop up a doomed oil and gas industry by stopping renewable energy on federal land (most of the Western US). Utility bills are soaring and will only get worse. Long blackouts during heatwaves will be more frequent.Whether you want to save money, stay cool, reduce local pollution, or do your bit for the whole biosphere, it’s a good time to install rooftop #solar and a #battery. There’s still a 30% tax credit and interest rates may never be lower.
(DIR) Post #AwmX4SR9jF9iBbHxk8 by impermanen_@zirk.us
2025-08-03T00:56:45Z
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The US electric grid is becoming less and less stable. We don’t have enough transmission capacity or political will to fix that. Arguably, distributed renewable power and reduced consumption are the way to avoid very serious collapse scenarios. Solar and battery storage in your own home is a smart idea. I notice when one neighbor installs it a few others usually follow, so it’s actually viral.
(DIR) Post #AwmX4aKiN4kyfwKvoW by impermanen_@zirk.us
2025-08-03T00:56:46Z
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One other seldom mentioned advantage of rooftop #solar over big solar farms in the desert: your roof is relatively dark and deserts are light colored. The light color means deserts radiate a lot of the heat from the sun back into space—unless they’re covered in black solar panels, in which case the benefit to the climate is reduced because we’ve created a heat island. This effect is negligible with solar modules on a dark rooftop so it’s much more effective for combating global warming.
(DIR) Post #AwmX4iqCjshP3v8C0W by impermanen_@zirk.us
2025-08-03T01:07:25Z
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It should go without saying that we can’t afford to be building massive data centers that drastically increase rather than decrease power and water consumption. If you see one starting to go up in your area, please join with your neighbors and stamp it out immediately.
(DIR) Post #AxR21xITP9MDvhuZ5k by impermanen_@zirk.us
2025-08-22T17:36:35Z
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@futurebird I’ve lived in a few supposedly “bad neighborhoods” in “big crime” cities since the 80s. They’re invariably peaceful. The only threatening presence I ever felt was the cops.I suspect that people hear about crime on the news and then the “confirmation” they receive from the world, if any, is observing through a windshield a person wearing a big pack, or searching for food in a dumpster, or walking on the sidewalk while black.
(DIR) Post #AxTtemG443GssF6LXk by impermanen_@zirk.us
2025-08-24T01:26:28Z
1 likes, 2 repeats
Somehow missed this:Pakistan, home to more than 240 million people, is experiencing one of the most rapid #solar revolutions on the planet, even as it grapples with poverty and economic instability.Suddenly about half the country’s electricity comes from solar. It’s not industrial solar farms or state-led: it’s a bottom-up revolution: households fed up with rising power costs and blackouts buying what are now ridiculously cheap solar panels.https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/01/climate/pakistan-solar-boom
(DIR) Post #Axq8mvf4lA6992GPBo by impermanen_@zirk.us
2025-09-03T20:20:07Z
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@interfluidity while the DOJ’s official stance on the remedy was that Chrome should be spun off as a separate business, it would hardly be a surprise if Trump privately intimidated a judge like Mehta and he felt too vulnerable to rule with appropriate force. Nor would it be a big shock to learn that Pichai and Trump are trading favors when they meet privately at Mar a Lago. Trump wants to appear tough on Big Tech publicly while quietly keeping them in his pocket with plausible deniability.
(DIR) Post #Ay4nvenhdLZLn91CF6 by impermanen_@zirk.us
2025-09-10T21:47:16Z
2 likes, 1 repeats
I think I’ve rather come around to this position. Private land ownership is a way to avoid the hard work of building consensus in a community. And once consent is no longer a foundational principle, your “civilization” is always going to be full of slavery, depredation and exceptionally high levels of violence.From: @shufeihttps://merveilles.town/@shufei@merveilles.town@merveilles.town/115181497166989445
(DIR) Post #Ay5C2x0yi5exD0Er20 by impermanen_@zirk.us
2025-09-11T01:10:10Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
It’s been a quiet news day today in the US 😉so, maybe we’ll check in on donkey world for an update? Yep. Lookin good.#asstodon
(DIR) Post #AyPSbWXQlgjht8yf1U by impermanen_@zirk.us
2025-09-16T12:45:46Z
3 likes, 2 repeats
Arturo: “Good morning.”Manuel: “Oh, don’t you ‘good morning’ me!”#asstodon
(DIR) Post #AyTzBGCmwfRSp6FKAy by impermanen_@zirk.us
2025-09-23T01:40:53Z
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@futurebird Definitely John Mastodon’s steed is a giant ant. Sometimes he rides standing astride two giant ants.Note: do not ask an AI to generate images of this: that’s a sacrilege. 😨@mayintoronto has the right idea with the ASCII art. 😌@floatybirb @liferstate
(DIR) Post #AzVLSR5IzmpuqrRaGO by impermanen_@zirk.us
2025-10-23T14:07:05Z
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Me: <wakes up before dawn and feeds donkeys an hour early>An hour and a half later:Donkeys: “NO FOOD! WE ARE STARVING TO **DEATH** AND YOU ARE 30 MINUTES LATE!”Neighbors, ears ringing from the braying: “Oh lord, why can’t he just feed those donkeys on time?”Anyway, good morning to you all.#asstodon #spoiled #donkeys
(DIR) Post #AznuvEcRVn3kxYqOtk by impermanen_@zirk.us
2025-11-01T14:19:27Z
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@futurebird I love the hashtag implication that listening to Bytor and the Snowdog is instantly relatable to any math teacher. How else could one grade papers?
(DIR) Post #AzoISL8EcGcFf1TA0G by impermanen_@zirk.us
2025-11-01T18:43:11Z
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@futurebird this is how it is writing software, too. The process of feeling rough edges, stuff that isn’t clear, things that are out of balance or unwieldy… all that felt sense is what drives the gradual refactor to good architecture, a system capable of being maintained. You don’t get any of that if you’re vibe coding with an LLM. I think you must become numb and eventually quite helpless, even if you receive some applause for a while at being quick.
(DIR) Post #AzoqJTjkeN6MBTxoH2 by impermanen_@zirk.us
2025-11-02T01:02:35Z
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@futurebird lol. Well, first let me say, while I do geometry for a living, I am not a mathematician and dare not speak for mathematicians. With that caveat, let me say that personally I find the best Rush album to accompany the Euclidean arts to be… wait for it… Hemispheres!
(DIR) Post #B0HZKVEWePVQukySu0 by impermanen_@zirk.us
2025-11-15T21:38:53Z
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@futurebird it would be great if there were ants you could saddle up and ride to the supermarket instead of driving a damn car. They’d probably be thrilled to just march right into the store, too. Doubt they’d give you a lot of choice about that part of the trip.
(DIR) Post #B1iyAyaQeHAmlVhPai by impermanen_@zirk.us
2025-12-29T00:46:36Z
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@futurebird as far as I can tell everybody does it before drilling a well here. The debate is over: it’s considered common knowledge that dowsing works and you’re foolish not to hire one, even though no one can offer any scientific basis. Note, dowsers don’t just claim to find the spot to drill, they claim to measure the depth that will be required (which is pretty hyperlocally specific) and the gallons per minute (likewise). I assume it’s a scam but I don’t know how they pull it off.
(DIR) Post #B1j0zwY2Bgwv7U0fwG by impermanen_@zirk.us
2025-12-29T01:18:15Z
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@futurebird my impression is that dowsers fall into two categories: the first I’d describe as New Age. They’re are very happy to teach you to dowse… for anything: lost items, best route to take for your trip to Sedona, what minerals your body needs, oh and where to dig your well. 1/2
(DIR) Post #B1j104nZVo8ChzLCGe by impermanen_@zirk.us
2025-12-29T01:18:16Z
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Then there are the pros who don’t go in for all that and just want to be recognized as a craftsman who helps you figure out where and how to dig a well, the rig you’ll need, etc. They claim to give you all these metrics before the drillers even show up and they make a living doing this. You will find out if their predictions were correct. I haven’t used one, but have talked to drill rig operators who say they’re usually accurate. 🤷🏼♂️ Don’t know if they teach, but guessing not freely. 2/2
(DIR) Post #B1t3B8WK9pI0vTH4BU by impermanen_@zirk.us
2026-01-02T20:55:29Z
1 likes, 1 repeats
The donkeys wish you a Happy New Year, kiddos. We’ll get through this together. #asstodon