Notices by chiasm (chiasm@mastodon.online)

@GottaLaff that's not actually a fair situation. The rrigning political party re-worded the ballot so that as you read it it was not clear what a yes or a no vote was going to do. They deliberately messed with the ballot wording. It was truly shocking when I looked at the ballot and had to read the wording and then go back and check whether I was supposed to vote yes or no. It really looked like voting no is how you would end gerrymandering.

Heh. Very fair point.
"Republican Jesus isn’t half as demanding as Gospel Jesus is. In fact, all things considered, he requires very little from me: say a quick magic prayer in exchange for a permanent Get Out of Hell Free card, a life of unrepentant privilege, and the right to judge the humanity around me however I please. It’s a pretty sweet deal....Republican Jesus also frees me up from worrying about the planet heating up or the coral reefs dying..."

https://johnpavlovitz.com/2023/07/13/im-ready-to-invite-republican-jesus-into-my-heart/

Cutest Halloween costumes last night was a toss up between Goldilocks and her family dressed as the three bears (and Darth Vader), and the puppy family with the toddler who insisted on trying to carry the umbrella Dad had. The umbrella was bigger than the child, so she'd hold it for a few seconds like an adorable mushroom, then drop it and become completely invisible behind it, then dad would pick it up and it would all start over. 😂

#Halloween

There is nothing three day about working with 3 Day Blinds. They are good about showing up to give you a quote, but after that they disappear into the swamp... It was weeks from the time we ordered it, and it was incomplete, and it's now been weeks again.

I'm glad we started by giving them the smaller of the two jobs we were interested in, because we're now two months into it and it's still an incomplete job!

We definitely won't be giving them the larger job we had considered. 😡

I voted today!! I voted for unions and healthcare and democracy, and to honor my grandparents, who way back when supported the war effort against fascism. May their sacrifices not be in vain, eh?

#harriswalz #VoteBlue2024

We have reached the point in the semester where the new undergrad researchers have figured out how R works, and are charging ahead making graphs and doing regressions, exploring and really getting to know the datasets they are working with. They are all proud smiles, have a deserved sense of accomplishment, and I get to see the evolution of their skills and thinking in real time. ::happy::

Plus, they are finding stuff out, which is the addiction we are trying to instill. 😁

#science #R

I am amused that, even though I've been working with some of my collaborators for multiple decades, that when they tell me the grant reads really well and they're really impressive with my hard work on it, I still tend to say to myself, oh well they're just saying that, you have to say that at 5:00 p.m. when the grant is due.

Imposter syndrome dies *hard*. 🤣

#academicchatter

@thomasfuchs So computer trends of getting smaller follow skirt length trends...?

@silverwizard oh wait--what do they say constitutes "proof"? Push back on that.

@silverwizard that's a toughie, for those of us not used to hacking the system like that. Can she screen shot the threats, with date and time and user name, then block that user and see if the same threats show up under another name? That should at least be a start for FB, to show there's a pattern. Proving who it is, though, that I'm not sure about. Can she explain why she thinks she knows who it is? That and the screen shots might be enough to have a conversation with a lawyer.

@silverwizard that sounds like a horrible situation. I'm a little confused how she could be being harassed on FB if she's made her account Friends Only and then unfriended anyone who is nasty, though. You don't have to be wide open to the public, there (unless you are trying to run a business).

Locking her account down only addresses stopping that avenue for the harasser, though. It doesn't address getting the cops to handle threats. But is her harasser using multiple FB accounts?

Stand one foot with your eyes closed? I'm not sure I can stand on two feet with my eyes closed! 😆

It is bizarre how I don't feel myself falling. I'm practicing standing on two feet with eyes closed, shifting my weight to get as little weight in one foot as possible.

After doing that for a few minutes, though, it was weird to open my eyes! It was like meditation.

I wonder if "pay intense attention to every body signal for fear of falling over" is a legit form of some body mindfulness?? 😂

Weird--starting last year I got emails from putative graduate students at the University of Toronto complaining that their advisors were discriminating against them due to various disabilities. I emailed the sending address back explaining I have no connection to anyone at that university, please quit emailing me.

Since then, now every day or two I get another email from another address with a variation on the same complaint. I'm blocking / reporting them, but whuuut? 😖

#academicchatter

I'm firmly on the #harris2024 bus, but the amount of donations email is shocking. I saw a headline that they'd already raised half a billion or something--which is awesome, speaks to the enthusiasm, etc.--but then I get another half dozen "can you donate $25" emails, and *crap* that is a waste of $$ that should be put to use in other ways that actually have lasting benefits to society.

The US presidential elections are an orgy of capitalism, seriously.

Hee hee hee. A new grad student showed up at the start of the summer, and has worked hard learning to do some data analysis and preparation--they are *this close* to being able to do not one but two major analyses!! I'm so excited to see it come to fruition! 😁 I sent them a shell script Friday that did some complex munging and they've already worked through it with chatgpt so they can run it again on another dataset. Be still, my beating heart... 🤩

#science #neuroscience #academicchatter

I said this elsewhere as part of a "life is good" theme, and I'll say it here too--This is life, and it is good sui generis. It is not always equally enjoyable, it is downright hellish for many, and it does not last. But it is still worth celebrating in all its amazing forms, past and present. (Picture: Little dino)

20 books that have influenced me, one book a day for 20 days? oog, that'd probably be embarrassing... But it is a prompt for self-reflection.

#20books20days
#20books
#bookstodon

I was talking to a neuroscience grad student who wants to write a book on the use of psychedelics in treating Evangelical Trauma.

We had to do some verbal handshaking to make sure we both knew what she was talking about--I hadn't heard that phrase in quite a while and had forgotten it was a thing, but she moves in circles where it's definitely recognized.

My world is a better place for having heard that. 🤣 😍 I hope she can do it!

#psychedelic

Hey all, I'm trying to find a speaker for a conference session next spring, someone (female, established, mid career?) who does some work in/knows something about AI in biomedical research and comes from an interdisciplinary background.

They do not have to be a psychiatrist, though they'd be speaking to women who are biomedical researchers in psychiatry with an eye toward leadership challenges, career building, etc.

Any suggestions welcome!

#science #LLM #AI #Diversity #psych

I'm turning into quite the Grinch on 4th of July. We are now homeowners in an area where anyone can and does set off fireworks.

I love seeing fireworks, but knowing how many house fires are started each year on the 4th of July by idiots with fireworks, it does dampen my enthusiasm significantly for the local amateur evening.