Notices by AskPippa🇨🇦 (askpippa@c.im)

Should I take the plunge and have a Linux OS on my next 'spare' laptop? The spare laptop is basically the one I'll use when traveling, or on the tread desk -- mostly for writing, a simple spreadsheet, reading PDFs, and dumping photos onto when traveling. I have to get a new one. (The heavier work is on my desktop). So, thinking of a lower priced laptop. I'll be using LibreOffice on it, not the MS Word suite.
How much RAM should said lower priced laptop have?
is 256GB good enough?
Is i5 good enough?
Linux OS (Ubuntu?) -- is it as easy to use as Windows? I don't have the motivation to fuss a lot and troubleshoot. (Already using LibreOffice on the current dying spare laptop)
***EDIT: Oh, and will I be able to view photos from my iPhone in their HEIC format?

Walked into shop in the local Chinatown that has a lot of vases, dishes. etc. Noticed some tea thermoses that were loose-leaf friendly and spent a lot of time comparing them. Was talking to a women who said the man who kept talking in Chinese was the new owner/manager. She translated back and forth. We started talking about tea. I mentioned I prefer black tea -- he didn't know the teas I named, and I wasn't familiar the teas he named. But there were packages there of 2-3 types of teas (big, flat rings of pressed leaves) that he opened and let me smell. I bought one of the glass thermoses. I showed him a sealed tea bag (Tazo Awake -- an ok black tea blend) I happened to have in my pack -- he didn't know it (I carry a couple around in case of tea emergencies). But then he pulled out his personal container of loose leaf tea, measured out a small amount for me to take home to sample. So nice! And it turned out the woman didn't work there, she was another customer. Tea really does cross cultures and there's something special about the connections it can lead to.

Recently, I had conversations with 2 people who turned out to be vaccine skeptics. They stopped getting #COVID vaccines after their first jab or two. So, I told them about the 30+ year history behind mRNA vaccine development. That it has been (and continues to be) worked on for treating cancer as well as for other diseases. And that mRNA vaccines were part-way developed for #SARS during the 2002-2004 outbreak (but work stopped because the infection petered out for various reasons) and for Zika. And that when the pandemic came along, most of the pieces of for creating an #mRNA #vaccine for COVID were already in place -- which is why the the vaccines came out relatively quickly. And that they underwent clinical trials before they were approved for release.
Both conversations ended with "Wow, I didn't know any of that. You've given me something to think about."
I'll take it as a win.
Sometimes it's #history more than #science that can help get a message across.

Sources:
1.Timeline: https://www.niaid.nih.gov/diseases-conditions/decades-making-mrna-covid-19-vaccines
2. One of the best summaries of the mRNA vaccine and its history. https://www.statnews.com/2020/11/10/the-story-of-mrna-how-a-once-dismissed-idea-became-a-leading-technology-in-the-covid-vaccine-race/

#publichealth @medmastodon #medmastodon #IDmastodon

@wigglytuffitout @gutocarvalho maybe promote tips in Portuguese on how to the platform!

@HistoPol @davidho @rahmstorf You can bet they hired PR companies and other agencies to create some of these campaigns as the oil companies wouldn't necessarily have the communications expertise and structure to do it all in-house.

@johncarlosbaez As a science journalist, I'm having a much better experience here than I did on Twitter. More followers, more interactions, more story ideas, and new experts.
But if I were reporting on politics or current events, I'd have to include Twitter (and other platforms) to follow those types of stories.
I closed my Twitter account a few months after starting on Mastodon.

Seen elsewhere.
"Hello I'm a bat...
I don't suck your blood and I won't get tangled in your hair.
If I happen to enter your house, please don't hit me with bats or squash me out; it hurts a lot and on such occasions I'm very scared. It was an accident and I didn't mean to scare you.
If I land, I may not be able to get up and I need your help. Just grab a towel and pull me out carefully. I'll fly right away, I promise.
I feed on mosquitoes and many other insects.
Our houses are being demolished to build other buildings and we still have a few places to go. So if I'm flying in your space, turn off the lights and leave the outside light on with the door open, I'll be out shortly."

#bats #wildlife

@lisamelton @renchap @Gargron I love how responsive the admins are (at least the ones in my experience), and the people doing general help, like #FediTips, etc.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-girl-in-the-kent-state-photo

@georgetakei So much for the Turing test! @danfalk

@briankrebs @th3_protoCOL Firefox doesn't have this problem, right? And Privacy Badger helps?

@coolboymew @briankrebs @th3_protoCOL @FF777 DuckDuckGo seems ok.

#Canada #goose #moose

@feditips What format should date be written in?

Boosting this. Vote to stop privatizing Ontario healthcare:
The Ontario Health Coalition is holding a community-run referendum on the province's plan to privatize many aspects of Ontario's public healthcare system.
You can vote online now until tomorrow at midnight.

https://publichospitalvote.ca/vote/pledge

You can also vote at one of nearly one thousand voting stations across the province, including the following locations and times in Toronto-Danforth tomorrow:
• The Redwood Theatre at 1300 Gerrard St E from from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
• The Gerrard/Ashdale Toronto Public Library branch at 1432 Gerrard St. E from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• MPP Peter Tabuns constituency office from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Phin Park at the corner of Condor and Baird from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Eastminster United Church at 310 Danforth Ave from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Quince Flowers at 660 Queen St. E from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Our public healthcare system is crucial for the wellbeing of ourselves, our loved ones and our communities. Please vote online now or at one of the above stations tomorrow.

@AstroKatie @hollie It's evolving. I'm seeing a lot of discussions between developers on how to change things, new apps, etc. For me personally, as a journalist, it's been proving more useful than Twitter. I have more followers, more engagement, new expert contacts and have a gotten a number of story leads.