Peter Drake HAS MOVED @peterdrake@qoto.org

I have started trying to get back in the habit of regular sketching to improve my drawing ability.

I've been doing two or three a week for the last couple of weeks.

The pencil sketches are from the exercises in 3DTotal Publishing's The Sketch Encyclopedia: Over 900 Drawing Projects.

The pen sketches are freehand sketches from reference photos off the Internet.

#Drawing #Sketching #Art #ArtPractice

Asking the Fediverse hive mind: What is a good dead-tree book about Python for a seasoned developer (me)?

Examples of books that I found valuable for other languages:

Donovan & Kernighan: The Go Programming Language

Zakas: Understanding Ecmascript 6

What are similar well-written, advanced and practical books for #Python?

In 2017, I crocheted myself a solar system costume. The headpiece is mounted on a bike helmet for stability (I got that tip from some folks who build showgirl costumes). The tunic is made from fine black linen yarn, very matte, very tedious, much like I imagine space is most of the time. The planets are made using an online sphere pattern generator, so that I could vary the sizes in a predictable way; they are strung on a fishing line with beads, and suspended from an elastic collar, also crocheted. They are also kept in place with a beaded "asteroid belt", located between Mars and Jupiter, of course. Photographed at Manhattan Beach Pier. All second-hand yarns, though I had to ask around for enough yellow to make the sun so large. #solarsystem #crochet #costume #planets #sun #astronomy #planetary #yesplutotoo

Texas Superintendent Defends Suspending Black Student Over Locs Hairstyle in Full-Page Ad: ‘Being American Requires Conformity’
Darryl George's family has filed suit claiming the hair policy violates state law
https://themessenger.com/news/texas-superintendent-black-student-locs-hair-punishment-lawsuit

you have one job

#Caturday

What's large, grey, and doesn't matter?
An irrelephant.

Big news in bug math. This is the first year since 1803 when both 13-year cicadas and 17-year cicadas will emerge from the ground simultaneously in the US!

13 and 17 are both prime. It's believed cicadas evolved to have prime-number life cycles to avoid predators that emerge more frequently, like once every 4 years or 5 years or... whatever. By showing up infrequently, with a prime number life cycle, they can starve out those predators.

And since 13 and 17 are both prime and 13 × 17 = 221, both kinds of cicadas emerge simultaneously only once every 221 years. And

1803 + 221 = 2024

so now they'll both emerge simultaneously and we'll have 𝑙𝑜𝑡𝑠 of cicadas!

Also, this year the two kinds can interbreed!

The last time the Northern Illinois Brood’s 17-year cycle aligned with the Great Southern Brood’s 13-year cycle, Thomas Jefferson was president.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/19/science/cicadas-emergence-broods.html

Count the limbs. Centaurs are insects.

The ashes of Arthur C. Clarke and Star Trek creator Gene Rodenberry just burned up on re-entry to Earth's atmosphere after a failed moonshot

Check it out! 👇
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-ashes-of-arthur-c-clarke-and-star-trek-creator-gene-rodenberry-just-burned-up-on-re-entry-to-earths-atmosphere-after-a-failed-moonshot