Derek Caelin is writing a book

The Whatcom County Planning and Development Services department is unmatched in providing video guidelines. I present to you "How to build near a wetland" featuring Super Wetland Consultant. https://youtu.be/-TciDCxwSK8

#wetlands

I found a sweet illustrated book of #JulesVerne stories and the #airship illustrations are 🤌.

#airships #bookstodon

My son and I started playing #FinalFantasy9. Loving all the #airships (only some of which are blowing up!) and it feels like a great refinement of the systems from #FinalFantasy7, which is the one from this era I've played the most.

Most games I play nowadays fit easily into my "dad" life. They have gameplay loops of about 20-30 minutes and generous saving systems. So far, Final Fantasy IX's checkpoints are 40-60 minutes apart, which make perfect sense for game in isolation but are a little stressful for me; my life is just shaped a little differently than what the game expects.

Playing this on my modded #PS2, by the way! Ripped my discs and converted them to .vcd, uploaded them with #PSBBN, uploaded to a harddrive embeded in the console. Great that new mod tools are still being made! https://github.com/CosmicScale/PSBBN-Definitive-Project

There I was playing "Nobody Wants to Die", a nice hammy future #filmNoir, and an #airship shows up. "That's nice," I said to myself. "Bonus airship."

Not 2 minutes later... explosion.

Why can't I have a nice, not explode-y airship experience?

A timely reminder from the immortal #CarlSagan of how absurd it is that we cause so much suffering to control this infinitesimal fragment of the universe.

#palebluedot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb4WhNvLRFw&t=240

📍 Does your community have a story worth telling?

Join us on March 25 at 10am EDT / 6pm EAT for a free webinar on Terraso Story Maps — an #opensource tool built for place-based storytelling. https://terraso.org/terraso-story-maps/webinar/

Perfect for:
🌿 Environmental #storytelling
📊 Nonprofit impact reporting
📣 Environmental & social advocacy

No cost. No catch. Just powerful tools to help your community's story reach the people who need to hear it.

🔗 RSVP here: https://terraso.org/terraso-story-maps/webinar/

Can't make it live? Sign up anyway — we'll send you the recording!

#storymaps

My son and I have been replaying The Legend of #Zelda, #Majora's Mask. A *very* strange #Nintendo64 title from 2000. Thoughts in 🧵

I'm about four hours in to Star Trek: Resurgence, and I'm delighted. The game "feels" like Star Trek: competent and idealistic people doing their best, themes of trust and perseverance, moral dillemas, sweeping views of ships. I was surprised how "social" a game it is: very much you are navigating the expectations of your fellow crew members.

#StarTrek #videoGames #Resurgence

Suncast RE+ 25 Survival Guide

I don’t know how I got to get the 2nd appearance on the show, right after Abby Hopper herself; a lovely surprise indeed. Excited to play games with you at RE+, Nico!

#Pikmin1 is pretty fun.

#TreasurePlanet is a good movie.

Birds!

#birdhouse #gourd #HouseSparrow #BirdBabies

As a #Connecticut resident, I'm deeply frustrated with #Lamont right now. Veto of #HB5002 and #SB8, endorsement of #Cuomo.
https://ctmirror.org/2025/06/23/lamont-vetoes-h-b-5002-housing-bill-sets-local-buy-in-as-priority/

How To Curve Trace Through Rapid Shutdown

The general understanding in the solar industry is that it’s impossible to curve trace through module-level rapid shutdown devices, but with the right equipment, it’s 100% possible.

For this video, I used an APsystems RSD-Start kit for APsmart rapid shutdown devices (not in stock anywhere I could find), and a Fluke SMFT-1000, but you aren’t limited to using these tools to accomplish your task. Any curve tracer should work, as long as you use an appropriate transmitter box to turn on the RSDs first.

If you want to build your own (affiliate links ahoy), here’s a general shopping list:

• APsystems Transmitter-PLC with single core
• Capacitor
• Battery bank
• Box-attachable DC socket
• PVC box with DIN rail and cable glands
• An interesting option if you want box-mounted connectors. Be aware that these are probably not technically compatible with MC4, but it’ll work for this purpose.
• Tigo transmitter, if you want to make this for Tigo instead

If you want to make the box for a generically rated Sunspec system, I’d honestly just try sticking with the APsystems transmitter, it’ll probably work.

The Optimizer Advantage?

This is not how I’d expect an optimizer system to work, at least based on how it’s advertised.

https://solarboi.com/2025/01/23/the-optimizer-advantage/

I, a layman, repaired a ShopVac with nothing but a $5 part, a YouTube video, and moxy! 😤👨‍🔧

#repair #RepairRevolution

“This work highlights the main challenge with realising climate change mitigation benefits from Redd+. The challenge isn’t around measuring carbon stocks; it’s about reliably forecasting the future, what would have happened in the absence of the Redd+ activity. And peering into the future is a dark and messy art in a world of complex societies, politics and economics."

#ReddPlus

My mother wove me a chess board and bag for my #lewischessmen pieces and it looks stunning.

"When the #LewisChessmen were carved, the queen moved one space. per turn, and only on the diagonal, or “aslant,” as a thirteenth-century sermon explains, because “women are so greedy that they will take. nothing except by rapine and injustice.” The queen was the weakest piece on the board, even weaker than the king, and Western #chess players had no clue what to do with her. Mostly they kept her close to her king, ready to block a check by a rook."
@[email protected]

A Bonkers Summer for Solar

Let’s talk about what all has developed in UL 3741 news this summer! It was a lil bit crazy and a lot of fun.

A ton of news around a bunch of companies, including Tesla, Unirac, Solis, Ironridge, MidNite Solar, Pegasus, TerraGen, EZ Solar, and more!

Make sure to check out https://ul3741.com to stay updated on UL 3741 news and product compatibility.

Gonna try to use #mpesa 😬

We're going to try something fun!

@terraso is hosting a roadmap validation exercise this week. Users will get a presentation of ideas for value-adds, propose new ones, and then dot-vote on what our priorities should be for 2024.

https://terraso.org/2024/01/29/help-us-build-terraso-in-2024/

#ParticipatoryDesign #Design #openSource #SoftwareDevelopment

The #AmericanChestnut sapling survived the winter!

A friend of mine gave me an #AmericanChestnut sapling. These trees are nearly extinct because of a fungus that nearly wiped them out. Usually they get sick and die after a few decades. I hope we can keep this one alive, and keep hope alive, so that this beautiful species can come back once again.

edit: gah, if course, it's a chestnut!

#trees #biodiversity

a gift from my friend in town: an American Chestnut seedling.

American Chestnuts are endangered in the U.S. because of a chestnut blight introduced from East Asia. It is estimated that the blight killed between 3 and 4 billion American chestnut trees in the first half of the 20th century, beginning in 1904.

People are working on a genetically modified strain, but until that gets introduced, i'm happy to try to keep hope alive and grow this.

#AmericanChestnut #backyardEcology #trees

Were they floating death traps? Absolutely. But that doesn't mean that the #dirigibles of the early 20th century weren't also extremely cool.

Straight to Jail – RE+ 2024 Hall of Shame

https://solarboi.com/2024/09/19/straight-to-jail-re-2024-hall-of-shame/