James H McLaren @JamesHMcLaren@social.cleverlibre.org
College professor, part time nerd and sci-fi enthusiast. Not actually a duck, but what’s Humphrey Bogart got that I ain’t got?
Joined Nov 2022
James H McLaren
boosted
It's been 2 weeks since Alberta updated the COVID, Flu and RSV numbers on its "Respiratory virus dashboard": https://www.alberta.ca/stats/dashboard/respiratory-virus-dashboard.htm
It's currently showing data for the week of Dec. 10 to Dec. 16, 2023.
It's normally updated on Thursday afternoons.
I just emailed the press secretary for health ministry and to ask when the next update will be and got an autoreply:
"Thank-you for your email. I am no longer with the Government of Alberta."
🙃
@lzg I don’t think the survivalists are intentionally trying for a comfortable suicide, necessarily. They’re just so breathtakingly unaware of how things like provision of food and drinking water actually get done that they don’t realize they’re building a death palace.
@MichaelPorter You’d think this would make southern hemisphere winters colder but that’s not the case (except for Antarctica) because there’s so much more ocean in the southern hemisphere.
James H McLaren
boosted
Another fun fact that will make people assume you don’t know what you’re talking about…
Yesterday (7:38 PM Ottawa time), the Earth was as close to the Sun as it gets. Yes, right in the middle of (Northern Hemisphere) winter! We are about *5 million km* closer than we will be on July 5, the date of aphelion (farthest point from the Sun).
https://mastodon.social/@telescoper/111691847930681152
#Astronomy #FunFacts
@noordsestern I suppose also because there’s no way to monetize Mastadon as well. That’s one of its best features - eliminates all the annoying click bait and “influencers”.
James H McLaren
boosted
James H McLaren
boosted
@robertatcara As someone who personally discovered and fixed bugs that would have had significant real world impact, it is disturbing to hear someone propagate this myth. And it is a myth.
https://time.com/5752129/y2k-bug-history/
The testing methodology insured that these impacts were not hypothetical. At my company, the testing was performed by "actually rolling the clock forward* on test. systems to see what would happen. For example, I discovered that every ATM in the state of Alaska operated by my company would have locked up until a chip was swapped. Someone had to fly all over the state to proactively swap the chip beforehand, to avoid significant customer impact.
And that was just one story. I personally oversaw investigation and fixes for other hardware and software at that company that would have failed.
And that was just my company. I spoke with others in IT at that time with similar stories. And that was just the people I knew.
So no, it wasn't "a big fuss about nothing" - and saying so is both dangerously revisionist, and disrespectful of the work it took to prevent real impacts.
James H McLaren
boosted
Kids today won't know the joy of spending the next 3 months writing the wrong date on their checks.
James H McLaren
boosted
Conjunctivitis.com – now that’s a site for sore eyes.
@AaronDavid D’oh! That’s probably why.
@AaronDavid In my family we always did it with a lump of bread, a piece of booze, and a glass or bottle of coal. Still didn’t work though.
@LadyDragonfly Governments: “Yes, we know we need more homes. We’ve tried giving money to rich people but it hasn’t worked so far. I guess we need to give rich people more money.”
People: “Have you tried actually building more homes?”
Governments: “What? I don’t understand. Are you speaking some foreign language?”
James H McLaren
boosted
The only anti-homeless architecture that actually works is homes.
James H McLaren
boosted
🏳️🌈🖖🏽
James H McLaren
boosted
Only 42% of eligible voters cast their ballot last provincial election. The corrupt Fordnation won with a mere 22% of the electorate. Now Ontario is being destroyed and sold to developers because the majority was too stupid and/or lazy to vote.
@dgar Here’s cool rock I found last summer. Too big to fit in my pocket though.
James H McLaren
boosted
Nobody wants to show me a cool rock they found anymore.
Adulthood is so dumb.
James H McLaren
boosted
Listen, I for one take great comfort in anything that suggests the universe is a rational and balanced place 😄
(Edmonton Journal, Dec 28, 1937)
College professor, part time nerd and sci-fi enthusiast. Not actually a duck, but what’s Humphrey Bogart got that I ain’t got?
Joined Nov 2022
