Notices by Peter Drake (peterdrake@mstdn.social), page 2

@catsalad 🎶I wanna pet you like an animal.

If you're storing anything battery-powered (flashlight, radio, etc.) as part of your emergency supplies, don't store it with alkaline batteries inside. When they inevitably leak, they'll damage or destroy the device. Much better to rubber-band them to the outside.

#preparedness #storage #batteries

@claralistensprechen3rd @mhoye @phillmv @dascandy Near the Oregon state capitol in Salem is the intersection of Church and State.

@mhoye

@htdrake grew up near Boring, Oregon, which is a sister city of Dull, Scotland.

@ansate *looks nervously at weather forecast*

@weirdestate Don't worry, if the stripper falls off, they'll land on carpeted stairs. Better yet, the carpeting will hide any bloodstains, especially if (thanks to recreational pharmaceuticals) the blood is bright red-orange.

IMMEDIATE need for a Visiting Professor or Visiting Instructor in Data Science and Statistics at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, OR.

https://lewisandclark.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Faculty/job/Visiting-Professor-or-Visiting-Instructor-in-Data-Science-and-Statistics_R-004632

Please boost for reach!

#GetFediHired #FediHired #FediJobs #academia #DataScience #statistics #pdx #portland

Somewhere between Pokémon Go and geocaching lies StreetComplete. Also, you help complete open data maps!

https://streetcomplete.app/

#StreetComplete #OpenStreetMap #maps #mapstodon

Hams:

My next radio quest is to get a better antenna for my Yaesu FT-65 HT. I've already got a 16" whip and the default rubber duck. I'm imagining something that I can put on an extensible pole. I would either be using this at home or walking a few blocks to a nearby summit (sadly, devoid of usable trees), so it would have to be a setup that I could carry on foot.

I imagine you have Opinions. Let 'em rip!

#ham #AmateurRadio

Asylum seekers in Oregon can now qualify for in-state tuition

https://www.opb.org/article/2025/05/30/oregon-asylum-seekers-in-state-tuition-international-students-higher-education/

#oregon #orpol #immigration #refugees #asylum #education

Ran some D&D for my 10-year-old nieces. Best lines:

Before the tavern brawl: "Let's order something so we can smash people with mugs!"

On bringing a giant toad into the brawl to swallow someone: "Wait, C-, wouldn't that be MURDER?"

On the way to a heist at Castle Bourgeois: "We are ready to do illegal stuff!"

At a ball: "I dance nobly with some guy in a suit who I don't know."

Best running gag: sign indicating number of days since last tavern brawl, heist attempt, etc.

#dnd #ttprg

Setting up for episode 1 (Pandemic) of the #TabletopSummer board game / exercise series. The emergency response meeple is so realistic #Violet barked at it! #preparedness #disaster #BoardGames #net #cert #pdx #portland

When they were done servicing my car, they parked it here. I don't know how they knew I was a new ham, much less why they think I'm doing it so well. #ham

Penguins, per Vescovi.

"Daddy, what's a tariff?"

"Hush, dear, it's best not to think about unpleasant things. Now hold still while I vomit this partially-digested sardine down your throat."

#MastoArt #drawing #ink #fineliner #penguin #pingwing #PenguinsOfMastodon #PenguinsOfMadagastodon #HeardIsland #uspol

Since that last sketch threw off the witch-to-broomstick ratio, here's a broomstick with zero witches (but two cats). #MastoArt #drawing #sketching #witch #CatsOfMastodon #meowstodon

The first robin of spring. #BirdsOfMastodon

Looks like digiKam is a bust, too. Auto-tagging is so bad as to be nearly worthless:

Reflecting pool in the fog? "traffic light"
Many photos of #Violet? "cat"
Drawing of a meerkat or someone spinning fire? "bird"
Box of rubber snakes? "bottle"

It's fairly good at *detecting* faces, but is totally unable to recognize them.

We might have to give up and stick with Google Photos because nothing else works.

#digikam #photos

Both of our workplaces have sent out information about what to do if ICE shows up. (TLDR: Contact security, who know what we can/must disclose/allow.)

#ice #dystopia #fascism

AI Sensei says this was my fatal mistake. Can you find the better move?

#go #igo #baduk #weiqi

National Science Foundation freezes grant review in response to Trump executive orders

https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/01/27/nx-s1-5276342/nsf-freezes-grant-review-trump-executive-orders-dei-science

#science #uspol #nsf