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I'm a single dad (widower) blessed with a lot of support. I'm a grizzled computer programmer (some days more grizzled than others). I'm a volunteer EMT and for me it's the greatest job I'll never get paid for. I'm a veteran and my thoughts about that are complicated. Temperamentally I consider myself to be an extroverted introvert.

It is once again time to give thanks to Brian Fox, the Black American programmer that has given us BASH and echo! Thank you for your INCREDIBLE contributions to open source software, Unix, and Linux. It literally would not be the same without you. BASH is still absolutely foundational to all computing today. Happy Black History Month to an absolute icon!

#bash #bashscript #echo #foss #linux #unix #BlackHistoryMonth #gnu

Left-handed people have always existed and will always exist. We are happier, healthier, more capable when we just use our dominant hand (or hands) to write, and do complex tasks.

It's possible to try to force everyone to use the same hand this leads to frustration, can hinder education. It is pointless.

You don't need to worry about what hand other people use. It's none of your business.

If you have never thought about this be glad your dominant hand was the one everyone expected.

@vikxin @futurebird

I think for both the meal worms and the super worms, they rely on some gut microbes to digest the polystyrene, and it's not necessarily easy to ensure your meal worms or super worms have the appropriate microbes. (In both cases I think it was isotope-labeled polystyrene feed experiments that showed atoms from the polystyrene were incorporated into the flesh of the meal worms and super worms.)

The three Southwest Air ladies who helped me just now are freaking angels.

I reserved the wrong date for my ticket home. When she said my reservation was for March I broke into tears and whispered, My father just died i have to get home.

Immediately two other women came over helping the first lady navigate their system to rebook me. I didn't even ask. One of the women was watching me and also crying and she had to walk away. She whispered to her coworker, This is too much.

There was now a small crowd of southwest folks grabbing my bag, making sure I was on preboard while I was just hunched over, crying quietly. All I could think was how if I fucked this up my sister would never forgive me.

One of the women grabbed my hand and said, We did it. You're rebooked for LA at 1 and you're coming back on Saturday. Don't worry. You're going home.

I could barely thank them. I started to walk away then came back and got their names.

Polaine
Lanice
Tami

Thank you SO much.

I know it's personalizing but it's *incredibly* demoralizing to spend 16hr work days responding to sobbing parents, working the Trump EO situation in my community, trying to keep on top of my state's horrible slate of bills, only to come to the internet to see the general sentiment from the peanut gallery is that nobody is doing anything.

I don't need a cookie, and I'll stop for no one, but some of you have no idea what those of us who've been doing this for a long while are managing.

Hey Mastodon.

How about take a minute and leave 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 for the Edom, TX knife shop owner who refused a woman's request to put a Nazi youth emblem on a knife.

The video of the incident is posted below.

We've got too many Nazis here in Texas.

Mr. Sibley isn't afraid to call their bullshit out.

Boosts for visibility appreciated.

maps.app.goo.gl/bREkNuSJ42YXbZ

As the song on the radio played, Arnold couldn’t help but wonder if this poor Taylor Swift girl would ever find true happiness. He made a mental note to send her one of his tennis balls when he got home.

To no one's surprise, people on the fediverse have some big feelings about Fortran.

(I'm here for it, fellow nerds)

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@sundogplanets @SRDas The most amazing achievement of the computer software industry is its continuing cancellation of the steady and staggering gains made by the computer hardware industry.
— Henry Petroski

What an absolute hero!

While Musk is trying to kill entire government agencies by tweet, Samantha Power walks into The Late Show and explains why USAID is the agency that keeps the world safe and free from disease.

Everything Elon is trying to hide because he wants to free up money for his own tax cuts, Samantha Power lays out beautifully right here:

youtu.be/OIHJub72vuM?si=yDT2rO

Boost her!

Something else I’m feeling really good about right now is the amount of my life I spent painstakingly implementing rigid gov security requirements that made Word crawl, and now we just let uncleared 24 year olds with Xbox gamertags install code and remote access apparently.

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If you are going to a protest and intend to provide aid to injured protestors and officers, here is some of what I carry in my protest medic bag (off-duty, on the get tear gassed side of the line):
CAT tourniquets, lots of nitrile gloves, eye protection, roller gauze, gauze pads (more than you think), tampons, distilled water in a squirt bottle, baking soda in water in a squirt bottle, candy, sunscreen, molefoam, athletic tape, masks, ear plugs, SAM splint.

Y’know, attorneys general in states could ho after Musk, and make it mighty hard for him to exist here. Like, you land in Denver you get nicked by the cops and sit in jail overnight. Bad things can happen in jails.

It’s #BlackHistoryMonth so it’s a good time to celebrate the extraordinary mathematician and NASA scientist Katherine Johnson (née Coleman; August 26, 1918 – February 24, 2020). One of the first Black women employed as a NASA scientist (and its predecessor NACA), she was known for her mastery of complex manual calculations of orbital mechanics and played a pivotal role in the success of 🧵

#linocut #printmaking #sciart #womenInSTEM #BlackInSTEM #histstm #NASA #MastoArt #mathematician #physics

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