Hotel search update: looking grim. Found one place, but it's a hostel and I'd be sharing a room with 7 other people. The reviews are not encouraging: "The shared bathroom is the creme of the creme, and would scare the shit out of Chuck Norris, Rambo, Terminator, and North Korean defectors." 😬 Nope.

I am going to a conference in Quebec City Monday evening through Friday evening... I guess I should try to book accommodations and travel, eh? 🙄 In my defense, I wasn't sure I was going until late last week. #chaos

Canadian COVID Forecast May 23 - Jun 5, 2026 CANADA MODERATE [no change] About 1 of every 314 people is infected. Compared to lowest point of pandemic in Canada: -Infections: 5.3 x higher -Long COVID: 4.8 x higher -Hospitalizations: 3.0 x higher -Deaths: 2.1 x higher

Today's #music and video makes me feel catastrophically lonely and isolated, but it is also profoundly beautiful and powerful. No AI or CGI was used. If you had been there in person, this is what you would have seen before you too. Breathtaking. youtu.be/hTGJfRPLe08

Hey @technodruid.bsky.social ... any thoughts?

TIL... 8 gauge (a thickness or diameter) is not an actual measurement. In particular, 8 gauge aluminum is 0.1285", but 8 gauge cold/hot rolled steel is 0.1644", and stainless steel is 0.17187". What the fuck is wrong with the Americans that decided this??? #blindfury #metrology

I used to do an FM radio show where I would buy stuff from "dollar bins" at record stores (mostly by bands I didn't know, $3 or less), listen at home, then put a show together around the #music I had found. This album from Poland was one of them, and it's still a favourite! youtu.be/OlK3jqI6U7g

Well paint me purple and call me Barney... huh.

solar is so cool man. I climbed up on my shed roof last week and installed a panel to charge my yard tools and now I’m mowing my lawn with power I stole from a fucking star

My existence for Monday in shrimp posture: measuring laser induced graphene samples on a 4-point resistance probe. Graphs will be produced, and new samples will be generated tomorrow using the recipe(s) that resulted in the lowest sheet resistance for XRD and SEM studies. #science #drudgery

TIL... cilantro, lime, caramelized honey, and carbonated water makes a believable cola. It is called Senku Cola and apparently it works (there are a bunch of recipes on the Intertubes for it). From the Dr. Stone manga.

Something different part 2 of 2. I shared this amazing cover 04/09. Apparently I'm not alone in thinking it's exceptional. I don't watch reaction videos much anymore... but while I found this streamer annoying in some ways, her actual reaction during proves how hard it can hit. youtu.be/ofLCMmNT_wA

Something different part 1 of 2. I shared this amazing cover 04/09. Apparently I'm not alone in thinking it's exceptional. I don't watch reaction videos much anymore (they're usually vapid and formulaic), but this guy from Ghana really gets how this is the yang to Aurora's yin. youtu.be/-gevnuAyA04

Today's beautiful and impactful #music is from the Isle of Man. She blends vocals and synths into cinematic soundscapes. "This emerged from a quiet moment when I was sitting at the piano, feeling the weight of a depressive episode yet realising I wasn't at rock bottom anymore." youtu.be/Zq4HPo3FO_o

Sigh. The fantastic pizza place near me got bought out last year and sucks now. I tried another nearby "halal" pizza place with high hopes. It was better, but mostly meh. So today I was going to try a further away pizza shop I remember being good: "Closed until further notice". Double sigh. #denied

Well here's a fun little article that might explain why some folks (like me) are waaaaay more comfortable at night than during the day... the "infrasound" generated by traffic and industry can't be heard directly but affects our mood and stress levels. #science www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks...

Did you know... #humans can directly, and without any equipment, directly perceive single subatomic quantum particles? Photons! This is something I've always wanted to experience, but building a source of one-at-a-time photons is hard for a home hobbyist. #science www.nature.com/articles/nco...

Here's an oldie (25 years ago!) but a goodie that will get you dancing to the #music (if you're inclined to do such things). Quirky and weird and fun, the video is its own short story. Staying in France, this is the project of electronic musician and producer Guillaume Atlan. youtu.be/h61QG4s0I3U

Doing this tomorrow... thanks to the @technodruid.bsky.social for getting me out to it! (no flying, but just about everything else) foundation.vintagewings.ca/products/war...

In case I crash early again tonight (I'm tired), here's today's #music post. A treat for your ears for the weekend! MÖNG is a French duo, Lily Noroozi and Isao Bredel Samson, bringing together a mix of electronic and traditional music from around the world. youtu.be/NoK9po4eMC0

A quick, little study... With apologies to Vermeer:

As Chef José Andrés said on air after receiving the check from Colbert: “People of America, he is the best of us. He is the best of us.”

Tonight's dinner. Salad (lettuce, tomato, dried fried onions, homemade croutons, smoked paprika, ground black pepper, grated cheese). Deep fried chicken wings (crispy). Sauce is Bullseye original, gochujang, ketchup, blackcurrant syrup, Grace's Jamaican hot sauce, blue cheese dressing. #cooking

Today's #music (not late) is ... very strange. On the surface, this sounds depressing af, but for some reason listening to this gives me hope and brings me happiness. This band is just Brian Batzs out of Denmark, with friends, but they play together so well. Performed live. youtu.be/aFUzvbkEvRk

As promised... my article was published on arXiv (ahead of being submitted to JINST), so here is the link (free access). This is the first article I wrote myself and am publishing myself. Life takes me in directions I could never have predicted. #science arxiv.org/abs/2605.22559

In the lab... I have to use the Python programming language... I am filled with incandescent rage at how insanely horrible it is. Whitespace as lexically significant code? Yeet it into the sun! #technology

Voted against 8: Belarus, Iran, Israel, Liberia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, United States, Yemen. Voted for: 141, including Canada and China. Abstained: 28. It's not even legally binding, it's just a declaration (although it will have a legal impact). #climate #politics www.cbc.ca/news/science...

Well, I couldn't do any better than this myself... So for Wednesday's (late, I know) #music post, this is it. An absolutely delightful song and amazing video (thanks so much to dagnamit)! Elderbrook is a musician and DJ out of the UK, and Bob Moses is a west coast Canadian electronic music duo.

I just think it would be better for everyone if the people who make adhesive for maxi pads and the people who make adhesive for bookstore price stickers switched jobs

Remember when their motto was "Don't be evil"? Yeah... not so much anymore, eh?

Given how things are going in our world, this seems perfectly reasonable and predictable to me. Really started taking off during the early days of the ongoing Covid pandemic, which again makes sense. From WitchTok to a Canadian witch school, lots going on. #society www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Fell asleep at 8PM last night... here's Tuesday's #music post. Out of Connecticut in the USA, not sure what to say about this except it's super satisfying for me to listen to... makes my brain go brrr. Prog, metal, ambient, noise, fusion, stuff. youtu.be/A2wqHxddbts

It's nice having an entomologist in your livestream chat when a big bug lands on your monitors and hangs out (Dr. Inés Dawson aka DrawCuriosity on Twitch). I've been seeing them here for years. Turns out it's an invasive adult brown marmorated stink bug. #science en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_m...

Just did a 9 hour livestream to finish the 3 mechanical designs I needed to finish for my laser experiments. CAD files and drawings are all done. Time to sleep a couple of hours. Meanwhile, here is Monday's #music video. Creative, inclusive, cozy, trippy, and cat in a backpack. youtu.be/BqnG_Ei35JE

Having recently been an educator at the college and university levels, I have seen firsthand the devastation AI is wreaking on students and their lives. I've since walked away because I realized I was wasting my time and theirs to even try to teach. #technology #society www.bbc.com/news/article...

I am once again begging, praying, weeping for lists of written instructions rather than videos. I do not want to watch your two minute video in the hope of catching the two seconds where you whizz past what goddamn menu the thing is under. Write. It. Down.

For today's #music I bring you joy and dance and community. Off the French duo Ibeyi's (Yoruba for "twins") upcoming album "Offerings". English, French, Spanish, and Yoruba lyrics in a fusion of jazz, beats, samples, and traditional instruments. A wonderful find! youtu.be/XwxA_oOzMDY

Saw this in a Twitch chat just now... 😂

I thought I super hecked up, but it turns out I'm just dense. I submitted an abstract to a conference this summer but couldn't find it. Carleton has two email address aliases: [email protected] and [email protected]. I registered with the latter, but logged in with the former. 🤦

I was using Safari on an iPad 2 (latest avail. OS) to follow my chat when I was livestreaming, but a couple of days ago it stopped working. I spent an hour troubleshooting, but the URL works fine on my other devices. I'm guessing Twitch decided it no longer supports old iPads. #technology #ewaste

Prog legend Robert Fripp discussing philosophy and the power of "liminality" in Part I of a seven part keynote address he gave at the 2025 Alexander Technique Congress. This dropped today... the other six parts will be published later (presumably soon-ish). Cool. #philosophy youtu.be/8RY0MAfyl4k

Today's #music and video is ... sublime. Filmed in Antarctica on scientific expedition PS152 by the band's leader Jonathan Meiburg, a multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter out of Austin, Texas. No AI was used in the making of the video. Gorgeous in every dimension. ❤️ youtu.be/iqfqt1XYuds

We have a ton of work that needs doing and a ton of people who need work and our economy currently offers no possible way to reconcile this. Truly the greatest and most efficient economic system possible.

I have often thought that doing the same with cars and aiming for a similar low-ball price point versus other vehicles that are loaded down with ultra-tech would find a place in the market. A bare-bones means of getting around.

I was going to post Parov Stelar's latest, but it seems he uses AI in his #music and videos these days. So, no. In it's place I present the latest from Eartheater (Alexandra Drewchin), currently based in NYC. Absolutely cinematic, filmed in Latvia, dark and moody, unsettling. youtu.be/_vkf22qnqTk

I finally got up the nerve to tackle the mechanical design I needed for a vacuum plate to hold my samples for a laser setup (I've a little vacuum pump and the plate just needs to hold a thin sheet of plastic). My confidence really took a hit the past year so it has been hard to even start. #design

Offspring-the-Youngest made dinner last night. Fingerling potatoes roasted with rosemary, crushed garlic, parmesan, s&p. Baked salmon with a butter, sweet white wine, and dill sauce (we didn't have lemons so they used wine and it was amazing!). Boiled carrots with some of the same sauce. #cooking

I got up to go pee and saw this in my inbox: "I sign off on behalf of the [CERN/ATLAS] ITk Speakers and Publications Committee and on behalf of the Project Leader. This paper draft is ready to be submitted. Congratulations on your hard work!" I might pee twice I'm so excited! 💥 #science