Michael Porter @MichaelPorter@qoto.org

“As protests erupted in China, pro-govt accounts spammed Twitter, overwhelmed its defenses, & made it harder to find info about protests.

Ex-Twitter workers say the technique was known to them, but that many working on the issue left during the Musk era.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/27/twitter-china-spam-protests/

My daughter, Andie, showing Dad she's being safe while traveling.

She's the only person wearing a mask at Pearson Airport this morning.
😢

#CovidIsNotOver
#WearARespirator

When people travel to the past, they worry about radically changing the present by doing something small.

Few people think that they can radically change the future by doing something small in the present.

This is the only real time travel paradox.

My favorite part about this shot is that this Japanese Maple is like 4 feet tall, so you have to get real low as there's only a foot or so of space between the leaves and the ground. And also, there's a line of 4 or 5 photographers standing behind you waiting for their turn. 😂 😂

#photography #fall

Ten months after the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai volcano erupted, sending 1.9 km3 of ejecta into the atmosphere, sunsets still seem unusually vivid.

The first image was taken last night. As a point of comparison, I took the second image on photographic film in July 1991 after the comparably energetic eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines.

This is one of my favourite educational images so I’m going to share it just because. #languages #world

Please enjoy this AI-generated portrayal of Krampus and Santa Claus in a passionate, manly embrace. This is the energy we need to carry us into the holidays.

“For deep time is measured in units that humble the human instant: millennia, epochs and aeons, instead of minutes, months and years. Deep time is kept by rock, ice, stalactites, seabed sediments and the drift of tectonic plates. Seen in deep time, things come alive that seemed inert. New responsibilities declare themselves. Ice breathes. Rock has tides. Mountains rise and fall. We live on a restless Earth.”

― Robert Macfarlane, Underland: A Deep Time Journey

#DeepTime #RockyMountains #RobertMacfarlane

I swore I would share this astonishing rock face whenever I saw it on the bird site, so since I’ve migrated, I have to bring it here :)

The rock face was likely originally a #gneiss - a foliated #metamorphic rock where light minerals and dark minerals form in alternating bands due to high heat and pressure. This rock was further complexly folded and refolded during continental collisions and mountain building.

The rock face also has an unusual & beautiful texture caused by the more erodible bands partially eroding. Some have likened the texture to Damascus, metal forging technique.

All the details you are asking yourself are here: https://the-geophysicist.com/caledonian-folding-in-saltstraumen

You know you're old when you no longer sneak out of the house to go to a party, but sneak out of a party to go home

Perfect afternoon to work on our #Chanukah and #Christmas cards to send to friends and family. This year, perhaps more than ever, we must each hold up a light in the darkness, persevere in the face of adversity. #WeNotMe

As a geology undergrad I learned something that changed me forever - the set of Rocky Mountains we see today is the second set of Rockies that have stood there and replaced the Ancestral Rockies. It took millions of years for them to form, millions to erode away, and millions to form again. That concept of the vastness of time - “deep time” - is a cognitive shift and a humbling one. To learn more about the Ancestral Rockies, read Dr. Jack Share’s excellent blog, “Written In Stone”

https://written-in-stone-seen-through-my-lens.blogspot.com/2011/02/ancestral-rocky-mountains-and-their.html

$44B is actually a small price to pay to destroy the platform used to organize labor unions at Starbucks, Amazon, and other companies with a combined market cap over a TRILLION dollars. The timing is definitely not an accident.

Cool flourescing mineral collection.
Chapman's Gem & Mineral Shop
Fortuna, California
#minerals #geology

Interesting comment on Hackernews regarding a possible scenario/long term risk should Mastodon threaten the corporate sphere of social media.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33545541

When I turned 70, I thought, “Well, that’s it. I’ve had a great career, but it’s winding down.”
Boy, was I wrong. I found social media, and then a second wind at my sails in my 70s! I made my Broadway debut at 78, and I’ll make my London debut at 85.
Life is truly wonderful and magical.

If you’re in London, come see me in Allegiance starting in January. Tix here: https://allegiancemusical.com

HOT OLDER MEN in YOUR AREA want to know if YOU have been TOUCHING the THERMOSTAT.