szescstopni @szescstopni@social.cleverlibre.org

In honour of the 75th anniversary of the invention of the transistor: Bill Shockley, from that team at Bell Labs, quit, moved out west, started a company, hired the brightest recent grads he could find, and made the first silicon (vs germanium) transistors.

But Shockley was such an absolute jerk of a boss that eight researchers soon left to found Fairchild Semiconductor, which became the seedbed of Silicon Valley: its employees went on to start scores more tech companies (the "Fairchildren").

#FuneralFactFriday: Cremated remains aren't "ashes" (plus, how much do you get?)

Cremated Remains = mostly bone fragments, plus some ash from the cremation container and trace particles of brick from the chamber. The fragments are pulverized in an industrial blender (called a cremulator) into a coarse, sand-like consistency. Surgical implants, like hip replacements, are pulled out of the fragments before processing and are usually collected for recycling.

General Guideline: One pound of pre-cremation weight yields approximately one cubic inch of cremated remains. A 150 lb. person = 150 cu. in., now weighing about 4-9 lbs. This varies slightly based on height, bone density, and whether the person was cremated in a cardboard container or a solid wood casket.

This information is critically important if you're shopping for an urn online! If you order one that's too small, the crematory must attach the excess in a cardboard or plastic urn and include it with the chosen urn. An average urn should hold about 200 cubic inches. Watch out for "keepsake" urns which are designed to only hold a token amount (usually 3-20 cu. in.).

Bonus fun fact: the alkaline hydrolysis method (AKA water cremation) yields approximately 20-30% more cremated remains than flame cremation! The process is gentler, so more of the delicate bone matrix is preserved. It's not lost to the air currents.

#HisAndHearsePress #Cremation #CrematedRemains #Cremains #Ashes #Urn #Crematory #Funeral #Death #FunFacts #WaterCremation #Aquamation #Resomation #AlkalineHydrolysis

BAM! #cartoon

"Security is a false God. Begin to make sacrifices to it and you are lost."

– Paul Bowles

[from The Sheltering Sky, 1949]

I was thinking last night as a new wave of #TwitterRefugees came washing over the #fediverse about the many #climate and #political #refugees doing the same irl right now.
Will you take a moment with me today to think beyond computer screens, phone apps, etc to consider those who are actually undergoing #migration - fleeing unsafe conditions, giving up their homes and cultures in hopes of safety and a life worth living? #TwitterMigration is trending rn but human migrants need support too. 🙏 🤎

A whole world in a dead stump.

This forest constantly makes us re-think the definition of 'dead'.

#nature #photography

I kind of wish there were more First Nation and Inuit folk on Masto.
Or have I just not found them yet? Recommendations very welcome!
#FirstNation #Inuit

Not an elf on a shelf but...😉

Welcome, newbies! Start off with a #FollowFriday and start chatting with anyone, EVERYONE! It’s really nice here. Add a list of your hashtagged interests so others can search and find common bonds. Boost interesting and helpful posts. Look at what other people boost to find the coolest stuff. Follow those people!

Here’s what I’m about, in no particular order: I’m a #FuneralDirector #Embalmer #Mortician turned #Writer and #DeathPositive #Educator. I like to share interesting facts and explanations about dead bodies and funerals, especially to help authors write accurately. It’s also important to help alleviate the fear and stigmas associated with #Death.

I’m also into #Cats #Dogs #Dinosaurs #Welding #Cars #DemolitionDerby #Books #Reading #Writing #Napping #Memes #Sarcasm and probably other stuff that I can’t remember right now.

#HisAndHearsePress #Welcome #Newbie #Newbies #TwitterMigration #Follow #Boost

Tom Lehrer put all his songs in the public domain, asks people to not delay as his website won't be kept up forever https://tomlehrersongs.com/

NBC is sending the message to all of its reporters and journalism as a hole that the only way now to move forward is to self-sensor when speaking about billionaires and the right wing. This is an intended consequence of musk‘s actions and it signals that media is falling in line.

My first attempt at #sporespondence. #mushrooms #fungi

Before leaving Twitter, consider archiving your Tweets on the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. https://help.archive.org/help/how-to-archive-your-tweets-with-the-wayback-machine/

Chiński system zaufania społecznego (tudzież system kredytu społecznego, jak piszą polskie media) obrósł wieloma legendami. Dziś Chiny przymierzają się do jego reformy. Nie przyniesie ona jednak żadnej rewolucji – a raczej utrwali i scentralizuje to, co testowano przez ostatnie osiem lat.

https://techspresso.cafe/2022/12/14/chiny-zapowiadaja-nowy-system-zaufania-spolecznego-nie-ma-rewolucji-jest-kurs-na-utrwalenie/

I wrote this annual review of blasphemy attacks and arrests in 2022 two days ago. I have already had to update it to include another death sentence issued for blasphemy in Nigeria yesterday. https://sarahemclaugh.substack.com/p/2022-this-year-in-blasphemy

Just before the invasion, #Ukraine made a deal with #Amazon #AWS to create a data warehouse for its government information and infrastructure: tax and property records, bank statements, and the like. Things that an invaded and occupied Ukraine might lose if Russia got their hands on the only copies.

They literally snuck Pelican crates full of SSDs into the country and spirited them back offshore after backing up 10 petabytes of important historic and legal records.

This paragraph, second from the end, really put a fine point on why Amazon did this: They were not beholden to, nor being held hostage by, any Russian operations...because they never had any:

Amazon didn’t have to worry about its relationship with Russia on the Snowball project. It doesn’t have one. “We didn’t have anything to turn off there,” Maxwell said. “We had never invested there. It’s a point of principle.”

Truly an amazing story from the #LATimes.

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-12-15/amazon-ukraine-war-cloud-data