ijk64✅ @ijk64@m.futex.au

Yes, NYT editors should revisit the sourcing of that story, and let the public know if a Russian operative was their main source. The public -- and historians -- deserve to know. @nycscribe
---
RT @protecttruth_
What will the NYT say or not now that this FBI agent has been indicted? Was McGonigle an NYT source? Was he the boss of people who were NYT sources for this story?

Seems like Joe Kahn and AG Sulzberger should be telling us a…
https://twitter.com/protecttruth_/status/1617612856219865092

I’m sure you’ve seen one of these on the internet before. Or maybe IRL!

This is a #Amorphophallustitanum… the largest stemmed flowering plant (an inflorescence - ie a cluster of flowers arranged on a single stalk) on earth.

It is native to the island of Sumatra in western Indonesia.

The first pic is from the #Cairns #Botanicgardens, #Queensland #Australia (2022).

Intriguing info:

The Amorphophallus titanum is also known as the "#corpseflower" because of its pungent smell when it blooms.

The odour is designed to attract carrion flies for pollination by imitating the stench of a dead animal.

Some #Amorphophalli will go through an entire life cycle in three or four years, although most (a #titanarum, pictured) can be expected to live for several decades.

The titanarum stores energy in its corm, or underground stem. This energy (food) is later used to fuel the rapid growth, following a period of dormancy.

Usually takes 4–10 years or more between flowerings (ie, for a titanarum).

The corm can weigh around 70–90 kg (154–200 pounds).

While in bloom, the plant structure generates heat, more than 90 °F (32 °C)

They typically grow around 2.5m (8 feet) tall. Some grow larger.

How intriguing!

Source: abc.net.au.
Also Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amorphophallus_titanum and Britannica.com.

#urbanflora #flora #gardening #garden #melbourne #aesthetichedonist #januaryjoy #gardeningAU #gardening #narrm #victoria #Australia #godmustbeabotanist #makesmehappy

The spirit of Mastodon - 1994.

Everyone talks about “rockstar developers.” And sure you might need some of those but not many.

Usually, you’re looking for the software equivalent of the session or studio musician. The folks who can turn out amazing stuff in varying styles, but can do it all the time, on demand, consistently. They’re not going to have design philosophies, or manifestos, or lofty-sounding stuff in their bios.

They’re going to have code, and a long list of folks who say “this engineer, you want them. Really.”

First large crochet project of the year completed. Started 20th December, completed 28th January. KnitCompanion tells me it took 171 hours and 9 minutes! 
Making this made me realise my brain occasionally forgets the difference between ”front” and “back” and I often cannot count :D At some points I had 27 different balls of yarn attached!
Pattern Astrid’s Cat Blanket
Yarn Catona in ”all the greens” and Shadow Purple.
#crochet #green #cats #roomwithaview

#linux #unix #bsd 😅

#January 29, 1882
#OTD Berton Braley, American #Poet, is born.

Here's an excerpt from his 1929 #Epic #Limerick about #Botany.

There should be no monotony
In studying your botany;
It helps to train
& spur the #Brain —
Unless you haven't gotany.

It teaches you, does Botany,
To know the #Plants & spotany,
& learn just why
They live or die —
In case you #Plant or potany.

Your time, if you'll allotany,
Will teach you how & what any
Old plant or #Tree
Can do or be —
& that's the use of Botany!

How likely is it that you will still be on Mastodon a year from now?

#BOOST OK

#ContentDesign

New Commodore VIC-20 Build https://hackaday.com/2023/01/25/new-commodore-vic-20-build/

37 years ago today, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after launch. Most of us of a certain age can remember where we were. I was in the common area of a dorm at the University of New Hampshire, watching the 1 TV with another student.

What I did NOT remember, until reading Scott Monty's newsletter today, was that President Reagan was supposed to give the State of the Union address that night, but instead said these power words:

https://history.nasa.gov/reagan12886.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynuDA8A42Ic

1/2

Not only do you need leap seconds to keep solar time and atomic time in sync, you'll need a different kind of leap second to keep Lunar atomic time and Earth atomic time in sync, because mass distorts spacetime. So good luck with that... Defining lunar...
https://jwz.org/b/yj9T

#Gumtrees are my favourite large growing mass within the flora world.

They’re known as #eucalypts and csiro.com.au reports that there are 934 species of #eucalypt trees native to #Australia.

Gums typically grow to a height of 45 m (148 ft) but may sometimes only be a stunted shrub. Alternatively under ideal conditions, they can grow as tall as 90–100 m (300–330 ft).

IMO, they’re an emphatic statement of strength and resilience.

Gums can withstand prolonged drought conditions and still stand tall and present happy and healthy. Their trunks and branches are normally covered in a thin layer of white bark that sheds annually around this time of year (summer time).

Their leaves vary in size and shape, depending on the species.

My favourite are the shape as seen in these photos taken a couple of days ago near #Melbournes #Botanicgardens. They’re long (elongated), 10+cm (4+ inch) long and 1.5-2.0cm (3/4 inch) in width at their widest point.

Their leaves often possess a slight curved appearance, are usually deep dark green and clumped together, facing downward toward the ground, hanging from their branches.

This specific tree caught my eye. Its trunk is mottled with varying shades of whites, browns and greys. It is also pitted and indented along its entire length.

It really is a beauty

#urbanflora #flora #gardening #garden #melbourne #butterfly #aesthetichedonist #januaryjoy #gardeningAU #gardening #narrm #victoria #Australia #godmustbeabotanist #makesmehappy

Mastodon founder and CEO Eugen Rochko tells Engadget: “Third party applications are incredibly valuable for a platform because that's where the power users go … it benefits everybody because the power users are the people who create the content that everybody reads.”

THANK YOU 👏👏👏

https://www.engadget.com/twitter-client-developers-fleeing-twitter-mastodon-130031551.html

The German word "Moin", mostly used in the northen parts of the country, can mean

- Good morning
- Hello
- Good day
- Good afternoon
- Good evening
- Welcome!
- How are you?
- Long time no see
- Oops!
- Bye

So, if you only speak little German, visit the North.

You only need one word to get through the day.

Enjoy our language!

#TheGermanWord

Here is an updated light curve from http://astro.vanbuitenen.nl/comet/2022E3 with magnitude (brightness) values of Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF). This graph predicts a magnitude value of around 5 on Feb 1, at closest approach to earth.

Objects with lower magnitude values are brighter. The human eye can detect objects with magnitude < 6. With a good pair of 10x50 binoculars, one can observe objects at magnitude 11 and lower .

Credit: Gideon van Buitenen at http://astro.vanbuitenen.nl/home
#comet #C2022E3 #Astronomy
5/n

Like other comets, C/2022 E3 (ZTF) has a dust tail trailing behind the comet and a glowing ion tail, pointing away from the Sun, formed from gases ionized by UV radiation from the Sun.

The dust tail is also affected by solar radiation and hence is oriented a bit away from the sun.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Image source: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/comets/en/
#comet #C2022E3 #Astronomy
6/n

Someone's ported the Level 9 text adventure engine + game data for the BBC Micro to Python. While I was mince at these, I know many people were fond of them.

Repo: https://github.com/ajgbarnes/level9

Announcement/discussion: https://stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=26239

#Python #RetroComputing #BBCMicro #InteractiveFiction #Level9

Wow, there's innovation in propeller shapes (which i thought we're close to optimal for a century): toroidal propellers https://newatlas.com/aircraft/toroidal-quiet-propellers/ >50% performance improvement at midrange rpms in liquids!