(no subject)
Apr. 22nd, 2026 05:08 am![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
apod_feed
Why are there three arches across the sky instead of two?
The Artisans and the Engineers [hist, eng, text, anthro]
Apr. 21st, 2026 10:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
siderea(h/t conuly)
This longform article is framed as being a "ha ha isn't it wacky NASA hired a lingerie company for the Apollo missions". Ignore that. It turns out to be about an organizational culture clash around documentation and specification requirements that will speak to all the therapists and software developers in the room. Also of interest to fans of the US space program, the history of women in NASA and in tech, and clothing construction.
2023 April 14: Nautilus: "The Bra-and-Girdle Maker That Fashioned the Impossible for NASA" by Nicholas de Monchaux, Head of Architecture, MIT. Adapted from his book, Spacesuit. Recommended.
conuly)This longform article is framed as being a "ha ha isn't it wacky NASA hired a lingerie company for the Apollo missions". Ignore that. It turns out to be about an organizational culture clash around documentation and specification requirements that will speak to all the therapists and software developers in the room. Also of interest to fans of the US space program, the history of women in NASA and in tech, and clothing construction.
2023 April 14: Nautilus: "The Bra-and-Girdle Maker That Fashioned the Impossible for NASA" by Nicholas de Monchaux, Head of Architecture, MIT. Adapted from his book, Spacesuit. Recommended.
this is a lot of people all at once (Len McCain)
Apr. 21st, 2026 12:49 pmjulianA friend of mine died last week. He was, all in all, much more a friend of friends of mine, plus he was one of Calluna's sort-of-exes, but he *was* also one of my local friends, though I hadn't seen him in eons. Quiet, political, slid funny into everything like a very friendly dagger. African American, aware of it, aware of the political implications. Fannish.
He wastelepresence over on LJ, though I don't think he ever came over here.
Calluna (who is White) tells the story of how they were walking along somewhere or other in Boston, in the early 2000s, (or possibly late 90s) and she suddenly noticed them getting odd looks and she stopped in the middle of a crosswalk and said, "...Wait..." and then loudly burst out, "Are you telling me I'm dating a man and I'm *still* not socially acceptable?"
I don't know if COVID-19 had anything to do with this -- he was having heart failure for a few years, apparently -- but I will take the opportunity to link towerpiper's memorial talk at Ny's Online Thing anyway, because it *might* have. As she notes, there is a lot of Not Talking About It.
He was
telepresence over on LJ, though I don't think he ever came over here. Calluna (who is White) tells the story of how they were walking along somewhere or other in Boston, in the early 2000s, (or possibly late 90s) and she suddenly noticed them getting odd looks and she stopped in the middle of a crosswalk and said, "...Wait..." and then loudly burst out, "Are you telling me I'm dating a man and I'm *still* not socially acceptable?"
I don't know if COVID-19 had anything to do with this -- he was having heart failure for a few years, apparently -- but I will take the opportunity to link to
werpiper's memorial talk at Ny's Online Thing anyway, because it *might* have. As she notes, there is a lot of Not Talking About It.(no subject)
Apr. 21st, 2026 05:26 amapod_feed
The best way to see comet R3 PanSTARRS’s long tail is with a camera.
Did some stitching
Apr. 19th, 2026 11:24 amdianec42I finished all the outlines on Art Nouveau Autumn! I then tried to start the colours and promptly did a section with the wrong shade & had to undo.
I finished the moon on Upon A Star, and started some trees on the left side. There are still 2 stars to do, once I have enough trees done to have easy reference points.
I finished the moon on Upon A Star, and started some trees on the left side. There are still 2 stars to do, once I have enough trees done to have easy reference points.
(no subject)
Apr. 19th, 2026 05:53 amapod_feed
Near the eastern horizon before sunrise, Comet C/2025 R3
Notes from a Regicide
Apr. 18th, 2026 08:45 pmpsocopteraNotes from a Regicide, Isaac Fellman, 2026 novel. I did not think much of the other of Fellman's books I've read, the 2022 novella The Two Doctors Gorski, but I'd seen this one recommended highly by people whose opinions I respect, so figured it was worth a try. And I'm glad I did: I didn't completely love it, but I definitely liked it more than Two Doctors. It is a very slow book and low on plot; mostly a lot of very detailed character study. Closest comparison maybe something like Malafrena, a nineteenth-century Romantic novel being written in the modern day, in this case set in the medium-far future and principally concerned with (what seemed to me like) a very now-specific experience of transness, and secondarily alcoholism and/or being an artist.
Me being me I was most interested in the speculative elements, and since my ebook expires at midnight let me put a bunch of quotes behind the cut and talk a little about some worldbuilding choices.
( Read more... )
Me being me I was most interested in the speculative elements, and since my ebook expires at midnight let me put a bunch of quotes behind the cut and talk a little about some worldbuilding choices.
( Read more... )
(no subject)
Apr. 16th, 2026 05:32 amapod_feed
Nope, that is not an alien spaceship landing on the Moon! This is an image of
stupid ethics, making life ... minimally more complicated (Ny stuff)
Apr. 14th, 2026 10:00 amjulianOn Sunday, we had Ny's Online Thing. (Wake. Memorial.)
It was very good; full of singing and poetry and science facts and art and memories and sadnesses. and made me sort of/almost cry at various time periods, but because I was the Official Zoom Host I felt like I couldn't, like, take breaks, which is of course Never True. Once it finished, I ended up with a dyspeptic-and-congestion-related headache that took a bit to clear out, but it did eventually.
There were a thousand small details that I didn't quite think of, which makes sense because generally I'm not the one hosting large Zooms, or, for that matter, organizing memorials. And also, the sad.
The general inchoate "we" of the Discord have been hashing out ethical stuff about posting and/or linking to the video of the memorial. Because, it was a semi-public event, but also private, and the simultaneous chat in particular had a lot of linking up wallet names and online handles that is perfectly fine in a semi-private space, but less so in the wider world. And yet, one of the things I appreciated about Ny was that she created a life where she could, to the extent possible, be as much herself as she could, out loud, and I don't want her life's celebration muffled.
But, we didn't quite make it clear that it might be posted later, or ask people if they were OK with it being posted (see above re: small details), and in the general sense, we're fans of opt-in rather than opt-out. So we've come to a (current) compromise. I am quite positive there will be further movement later. (For all I know, someone'll make it a Project to ask everyone who was there if they're OK with it being public, or if they'd like their identities ambiguated. I'm sure not doing it, though, because I have overdue client notes to write.) But anyway, for now, we're not sending out the chat, but will send out the video. So!
If you're interested, either
a) email vicka about it, and she can send you the video. (vicka's the one with the Ny Page, which was where I originally found out about the dying-of-COVID part. Her email is findable on the wider andor pages.)
or b) PM me/comment here/email me/send me a carrier pigeon, and I can send you a link to the video, which is on Mega, which is how I got it to vicka because I decided I wasn't up to figuring out SCP. I'm not including the chat there because of the aforementioned linkages.
Or c)gingicat is, soon, going to post the link to the announce-list, if you're on that.
It was very good; full of singing and poetry and science facts and art and memories and sadnesses. and made me sort of/almost cry at various time periods, but because I was the Official Zoom Host I felt like I couldn't, like, take breaks, which is of course Never True. Once it finished, I ended up with a dyspeptic-and-congestion-related headache that took a bit to clear out, but it did eventually.
There were a thousand small details that I didn't quite think of, which makes sense because generally I'm not the one hosting large Zooms, or, for that matter, organizing memorials. And also, the sad.
The general inchoate "we" of the Discord have been hashing out ethical stuff about posting and/or linking to the video of the memorial. Because, it was a semi-public event, but also private, and the simultaneous chat in particular had a lot of linking up wallet names and online handles that is perfectly fine in a semi-private space, but less so in the wider world. And yet, one of the things I appreciated about Ny was that she created a life where she could, to the extent possible, be as much herself as she could, out loud, and I don't want her life's celebration muffled.
But, we didn't quite make it clear that it might be posted later, or ask people if they were OK with it being posted (see above re: small details), and in the general sense, we're fans of opt-in rather than opt-out. So we've come to a (current) compromise. I am quite positive there will be further movement later. (For all I know, someone'll make it a Project to ask everyone who was there if they're OK with it being public, or if they'd like their identities ambiguated. I'm sure not doing it, though, because I have overdue client notes to write.) But anyway, for now, we're not sending out the chat, but will send out the video. So!
If you're interested, either
a) email vicka about it, and she can send you the video. (vicka's the one with the Ny Page, which was where I originally found out about the dying-of-COVID part. Her email is findable on the wider andor pages.)
or b) PM me/comment here/email me/send me a carrier pigeon, and I can send you a link to the video, which is on Mega, which is how I got it to vicka because I decided I wasn't up to figuring out SCP. I'm not including the chat there because of the aforementioned linkages.
Or c)
gingicat is, soon, going to post the link to the announce-list, if you're on that.