Paul Knightly

Geologist and Photographer.

Views are mine.

Research: https://www.paulknightlyphotography.com/research/
Photography: https://www.paulknightlyphotography.com
Location: Northwest Arkansas, USA

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Last Notes

2026-04-11 14:49:17 CEST

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Like it's 2026 and we're just gonna go with laying down bermuda under a tree canopy and permanently shaded yards and call it good?
People have laughed at me for my vocal distaste for and opposition to bermuda grass, but it seems just wholly unfit for most yard applications, unless the intent is to never have trees or any other type of landscaping aesthetic. Considering most lawns are setup that way, maybe I am the outlier.
Either way, embracing that today as I prep for a full day of yard work!

2026-04-11 14:43:34 CEST

TIL that shade-loving or tolerant grasses like fescue use a different type of photosynthesis than sun-loving varieties, like bermuda. While that's a neat science fact that I can file away in my dad brain and think about every time I mow my polyculture lawn, it's frustrating that the shade tolerances of different types of grass are well known. And yet builders and landscapers seem compelled to thrust bermuda grass onto every square foot of developed land regardless of long-term viability.

2026-04-11 14:37:41 CEST

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big yikes. Seems like there's more of that type of thing floating around. Kind of a perfect storm with rising costs, depressed wages, and people looking for an easy or cheap way to access entertainment.

2026-04-10 17:24:07 CEST

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my 'problem' now is that I have a friend group that includes a couple of big movie buffs who have created literal shrines to their DVD collections, either on multiple shelves or in a dedicated closet or cabinet.
I'm not one for keeping up with the Jones's, but they've shown me the light that DVD storage can be an art in and of itself. Mine just has significantly fewer collector's editions than theirs lol.

2026-04-10 16:42:24 CEST

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we only pay for Netflix and a Hulu/Disney bundle at this point, primarily for kids shows. Otherwise antenna for TV and DVDs for movies that we like watching frequently. I need to start taking more advantage of our library's DVD collection.
I've really taken towards browsing the DVD selection at antique stores. There can be a lot of good finds for DVDs in good condition for just a few bucks.

2026-04-10 16:38:14 CEST

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Very quickly reaching a point where the value proposition provided by streaming falls out, if not already.
Many streaming platforms don't report on total subscriber numbers, so I wonder how much of recent price increases are related to them compensating for losing subscriber revenue or missing growth targets because they're losing existing customers while adding new ones.
Either way, price increases plus decreased options in their libraries has led to increasing my DVD collection.

2026-04-10 16:36:44 CEST

PC Mag echoing the pain of the masses today.
Streaming is somewhat unavoidable in the current media ecosystem if there are certain shows or broadcasts that aren't available legally by other means. So while I don't subscribe to either of these services, I do feel the pain with the recent price hike to Netflix.
https://media.mstdn.social/media_attachments/files/116/380/895/669/538/117/original/5e3f718793e1ce20.png

2026-04-10 16:30:26 CEST

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I've never updated my mailing information with my alma mater but they always find me after I move. I think they're able to get a list that comes by way of USPS change of address notifications.

2026-04-09 14:27:05 CEST

Severe weather season is ramping up, with the next week looking to be particularly active across the Southern Plains and Ozarks in the U.S. Here are some of my favorite photos from over the years, all captured within an hour or so of home.
While I still try to do at least one larger storm chasing outing per year, allowing me to range further afield, I've come to appreciate opportunities closer to home. In that regard, next week could keep me busy. We'll see!
#arwx #weather #photography
https://media.mstdn.social/media_attachments/files/116/374/701/163/454/784/original/ff796875dc17ed5c.jpg
https://media.mstdn.social/media_attachments/files/116/374/707/223/179/612/original/3c7e988e7ebe9cb7.jpg
https://media.mstdn.social/media_attachments/files/116/374/713/307/903/474/original/5e1857a2ea649a29.jpg
https://media.mstdn.social/media_attachments/files/116/374/714/934/111/076/original/dfd88fae039cb739.jpg

2026-04-08 23:02:44 CEST

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I like his connection to the original establishment of the Fourth Amendment and the necessity of warrants to prevent British soldiers from rummaging through people's homes to determine if they possessed untaxed goods or treasonous writings about the King.
Warrantless access to digital devices and digital footprints alike are tantamount to law enforcement agencies rummaging about until they find something potentially or actually incriminating, completely devoid of guardrails and protections.

2026-04-08 22:58:15 CEST

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I agree with Ferguson's assessment that certain tools can be extremely useful when used lawfully.
For example, license plate readers have been around since the 1970s and have helped solve numerous crimes. They were largely uncontroversial until Flock.
What isn't acceptable is the wholesale aggregation and creation of license plate data to create driver/vehicle profiles in an extrajudicial database where access can be sold to data brokers and law enforcement agencies.

2026-04-08 22:53:40 CEST

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As I've been saying for quite a while now (two decades-ish?), it doesn't matter if you feel like you are on the right side of the law and have nothing to hide. The protection of privacy rights impacts everyone.
Clear laws and boundaries are needed to define what types of digital data can be accessed, with appropriate protections in place to prevent otherwise innocent parties from becoming ensnared in criminal investigations, or from being targeted for their views or political affiliations.

2026-04-08 22:52:04 CEST

Ars sat down with Andrew Guthrie Ferguson to discuss his new book, "Your Data Will Be Used Against You".
Really insightful interview and I'll add this to my reading list.
https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/04/how-our-digital-devices-are-putting-our-right-to-privacy-at-risk/

2026-04-08 14:27:02 CEST

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I'll share some before and after photos soon. Not quite at the after stage yet, but I'm excited about the progress so far and looking forward to the final 'product'.

2026-04-08 14:24:47 CEST

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Typical for the region, our yard is on a slope with a high clay and rock content that isn't favorable for vegetation growth, which means a persistent risk of washout occurring if left untended.
Currently replacing a large swath of shaded portions of the yard with a shade and heat tolerant fescue and preparing to shore up some areas along the foundation with native shade-loving plants. Lessons from past years is that if new veg isn't established by late May, the entire summer is a struggle.

2026-04-08 14:20:23 CEST

Working at a somewhat feverish pace getting new additions to the garden and yard established over the coming weeks in anticipation of a likely warmer and drier pattern that will persist throughout the summer due to El Nino.
Arkansas is already entrenched in statewide drought conditions so I'm trying to take advantage of 'cooler' temps and current precipitation pattern.

2026-03-14 15:12:28 CET

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The award for creepiest new cars goes to Subaru. All of their new models appear to have a 'driver assist' system called EyeSight built-in, which includes driver monitoring and facial recognition built into the dash, and that you can't disable.
The salesman was gushing over how great it is and when he asked us if we were interested in looking at one more seriously we were upfront and said finding a car that wasn't constantly looking at us and storing biometric data was a non-negotiable.

2026-03-01 22:36:06 CET

Followers in the U.S.:
I frequently bemoan the state of new cars on the market. Too much invasive vehicle telemetry and "safety" features that are more hazard than help because they aren't ready for prime-time.
Starting to look into replacements for my wife's car, which has become a money pit rather prematurely (only 140k miles and scheduled for a new transmission).
I know most cars are awful, so Im looking for recs if you've bought a car in the past few years that you're actually happy with.

2026-02-27 16:09:30 CET

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We are here:
October 5, 1938: "the Reich Ministry of the Interior invalidates all German passports held by Jews. Jews must surrender their old passports, which will become valid only after the letter “J” has been stamped on them."
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/timeline-event/holocaust/1933-1938/reich-ministry-of-the-interior-invalidates-all-german-passports-held-by-jew

2026-02-26 17:22:28 CET

Kansas sent a letter dated Feb 23 (Monday) that effective Feb 26 (today), driver's license holders with genders that do not match what was assigned at birth will have their licenses invalidated today without a grace period.
Many people have not received the letter, and with less than 3 days notice, many trans Kansans have been immediately forced into having "illegal" IDs that in addition to barring them from driving, prevents them from accessing other services as well.
https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article314844596.html

2026-02-20 16:18:13 CET

RE: https://infosec.exchange/@briankrebs/116103192779110422
This is a really good rundown on the types of data sharing that occurs around biometric verification services, and why requests to share biometric data always give me pause.
#note1s2m…6ef5

2025-08-02 13:16:22 CEST

I felt motivated this morning to revisit my photo catalog from Iceland, including re-touching some edits that were lost to an older computer years ago. This is my new spin on an old photo of Kirkjufelfoss from 2019.
#Iceland #Photography #LandscapePhotography
https://media.mstdn.social/media_attachments/files/114/958/863/055/349/179/original/ee21421b16fb0bc9.jpg

2025-07-21 22:04:39 CEST

"Corn sweat" is real, and something I was first introduced to about 11 years ago. I had just moved back home to Kansas City after spending a year working in Phoenix. A few of my first jobs including collecting soil and groundwater samples in corn fields in east Missouri along the Mississippi River.
Not only was I not fully re-acclimated to working in the heat + humidity, but it was some of the worst kind of humidity possible under the prevailing conditions.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/humidity-from-corn-sweat-intensifies-extreme-heat-wave-in-midwest-u-s/

2025-07-17 12:46:34 CEST

Look, I'm not going to claim that I'm a master barista after my short-lived career working at Starbucks for about 2 months over 13 years ago.
But I will say that with a good pour over technique, it's possible to make that ground coffee that's been sitting in the back of the pantry for 2 years taste better than any K-Cup without generating the extra plastic waste.
Won't win any awards, but it's palatable.

2025-06-21 15:18:27 CEST

Haven't posted photos in a while because I'm woefully behind on editing anything new.
Case and point here - these are from a local northern lights outing along the Oklahoma/Missouri state line from October 10 of last year.
In keeping with my local sightings in the four state area, I tried to see the lights from as many states as possible, so I also have some pics from Missouri and Arkansas as well, although less vibrant due to light pollution.
#NorthernLights
https://media.mstdn.social/media_attachments/files/114/721/535/885/518/821/original/810099d9a72045bf.jpg
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2025-04-16 23:48:15 CEST

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I run Linux on my personal computer but as an IT-controlled work station, I don't have a say in what runs on my work computer - I'm just along for the ride and grateful that I'm not spending my money on rentalware. All points well taken.

2025-04-16 16:34:22 CEST

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This isn't a new concern for me either. I spent two months in the arctic in 2017 and had some serious concerns about losing access to software licenses that needed to check-in online at least once per month to verify the license was still active (i.e., that I had paid my bills).
I get that there's an expectation that the vast majority of users will not have this problem, but any talk about increasing productivity via constantly connected cloud services earns a very hard eye roll from me.

2025-04-16 16:30:08 CEST

Increasingly getting messages on my work computer running Windows 11 that it won't log me in if it does not have a network connection. I haven't bothered to try forcing it offline for more than a few hours to see if it will fully lock me out without an internet connection, but it's enough to give me some decent anxiety. I do a fair bit of fieldwork where internet connectivity isn't guaranteed, so what am I to do in those cases?

2025-04-11 15:36:57 CEST

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The work around had been to just download the album all at once rather than buying a song at a time, but that trick didn't work today when I downloaded a new album and it split off into two "separate" album entries that I'll now need to correct from my laptop at some point.

2025-04-11 15:35:05 CEST

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This may not be intentional, but it's a bug that exists regardless of where songs are downloaded from, originating from both the desktop app and iOS app.
The fact that it spans multiple applications points to, at best, neglect by Apple to correct software issues or at worst, that they are allowing issues in iTunes to persist to push people into subscribing to Apple Music.
I stopped using the native Music app and started using Cesium about 2 years ago to avoid the pushy subscription ads.

2025-04-11 15:30:11 CEST

Latest example of enshittification.
Something I've noticed for the past year or so is that when I purchase multiple songs from an album, or an entire album, from iTunes, the album will get split into multiple album entries in my music library.
Rooting around it seems to result from slight formatting changes to how the album is named, which results in separate entries being created. The only workaround is to sync the library to a laptop and manually change the album names in the file directory.

2025-04-02 21:12:51 CEST

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And I do know that my photos, as well as those of other photographers, have been ingested by generative AI training datasets because of this poignant example from DALL-E several years ago. The prompt was "supercell over Kansas" and the resulting image attempted to replicate photographer watermarks along the bottom of the image. My photo of a similar scene on the right provided as an example. It's shameless, and still theft.
https://media.mstdn.social/media_attachments/files/114/269/944/054/665/508/original/2fd9d3aca5421344.jpg
https://media.mstdn.social/media_attachments/files/114/269/947/311/033/605/original/12428c0396ac4245.jpg

2025-02-02 05:47:24 CET

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Adding to this list, items that I purchased yesterday (January 31, 2025) in anticipation of the imposition of tariffs today.
Avocado (each): $0.96
Bettergoods Pot Pie (family size): $8.94
The Bettergoods pot pie is a new Walmart brand item and one of the few foods both kids will eat right now, and prominently labeled as "Produced in Canada."
Gas and other foods unchanged from Jan 20, however I did find a dozen eggs for $3.50 at one of our closest Trader Joe's in Kansas City on Tuesday.

2025-01-20 13:22:38 CET

For no particular reason.
Prices on January 20, 2025 (NW AR/SW MO)
- 12 eggs: $4.17
- 1 lb ground beef: $4.63
- Gallon whole milk: $4.23
- Gallon gas: $2.67

2025-01-10 11:57:07 CET

Whelp. A firefighting aircraft struck a civilian drone, punching a hole in the wing and grounding the craft.
The law and penalties are clear - do not fly drones in the vicinity of wildfire fighting operations. Hopefully the drone pilot is found and faces the full penalties under the law.
Unfortunately bound to happen and some point, and I've seen way too many drone images and video coming out of areas with active fires this week. Time to make examples.
https://abc7.com/post/los-angeles-fires-super-scooper-firefighting-aircraft-hit-drone-flying-palisades-fire-faa-investigating/15785774/

2025-01-09 21:16:05 CET

This is a really good interactive article on how North America is a "fire continent" and that wildfire behavior prior to European colonization was very different than it is today due to changes in land management practices.
It's a blessing and a curse in that many regions have experienced a relatively quiet century or so of limited fire activity. But the absence of fire combined with climate change means these regions will see more fire over the decades to come.
https://apps.npr.org/us-wildfires-impact-environment-climate-change/

2025-01-07 01:42:31 CET

I can confirm that I started seeing these posts cropping up in my Instagram feed around the September time frame that Meta reports as rolling out the feature. I tried to "show less" of the posts, but that only increased the frequency that they were showing up in my feed. I promptly and without second thought deleted my alt accounts and deactivated my primary account in late October. Probably deleting that one soon too.
https://www.404media.co/instagram-begins-randomly-showing-users-ai-generated-images-of-themselves/

2024-12-28 16:08:15 CET

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Some of my favorite views captured within a 30 minute drive of Jasper. I spent a week here in 2021 on a writing retreat to make progress on my dissertation. I took some time most days there to be in nature, whether that was a short drive to the Buffalo River or to nearby overlooks.
#Arkansas #NorthwestArkansas #Ozarks #Photography
https://media.mstdn.social/media_attachments/files/113/731/031/911/542/160/original/0751513ff6d7febc.jpg
https://media.mstdn.social/media_attachments/files/113/731/039/095/441/239/original/9d2dd95bac4fb6a4.jpg
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2024-12-18 22:44:55 CET

In a world of bad news, some potential good news. Murder hornets eradicated from the U.S. (Washington state).
https://abcnews.go.com/US/murder-hornet-declared-eradicated-united-states/story?id=116916451

2024-12-17 18:46:21 CET

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This was the second sprayer I bought on Amazon and while it wasn't perfect, it did get the job done. The first one, advertised as an olive oil sprayer, couldn't actually move oil through the spray nozzle (too viscous). So it was probably luck of the draw that I found one that worked at all, minus the leak issue.
But that's been my track record with the majority of Amazon purchases in recent years - just barely good enough, if I'm lucky. And at this point there are few alternatives for shopping.

2024-12-17 18:43:40 CET

Had an olive oil sprayer that was purchased on Amazon a couple of years ago tip over and leak it's entire contents into the pantry - ruined everything not in a plastic or metal container.
There really aren't any ready replacements available that aren't above Amazon's poor quality standards. At this point I'm not buying anything that's cross-listed to Amazon. It's a sure sign of poorly made products. So I'm open to olive oil sprayer suggestions.

2024-11-18 12:26:25 CET

I've setup a bridge to Bluesky and can be followed there at the link below. I'll share some additional links on how to bridge between Bluesky and the fediverse.
https://bsky.app/profile/paulknightly.mstdn.social.ap.brid.gy

2024-11-11 22:42:48 CET

Ironing out details for our trip to Europe next month. About a week in the UK (London and Oxford) for a work meeting, followed by a few days in Paris, and then Amsterdam.
Specifically looking for food recommendations in those cities from my European followers. I have a short list pulled together from looking at online guides, but I know those are only part of the story.
The rest of the trip will be hitting the expected major attractions. But we're big on food and drink tourism wherever we go!

2024-11-08 00:58:20 CET

Reasons why I (usually) never leave anything of value in hotel rooms.
Came back to my hotel room early today to take a couple of afternoon calls and found work crews throughout the hotel replacing door locks/handles. No notification was provided to me or other patrons. "Do not disturb" signs were ignored.
Most room doors were wide open, including occupied rooms (like mine). My personal laptop that I left to lighten my backpack load was on full display to anyone standing the hallway.

2024-11-04 22:39:45 CET

Confirmed tornado in far northeast Oklahoma working its way towards NW Arkansas over the next hour. KNWA is live with local coverage.
#arwx #okwx
https://www.nwahomepage.com/weather/livestream/

2024-10-14 16:38:45 CEST

Never ceases to amaze me how much of consumerism is driven by the inability to track down replacement parts to keep otherwise functioning items working.
Latest example is our camping stove, which apparently got damaged when we moved last year and is missing the knob to adjust propane flow. OEM parts used to be available, but have been discontinued. I confirmed with some testing that it otherwise works, but isn't safe to do so without a dedicated knob. So now we will end up buying a new unit.

2024-10-09 23:31:21 CEST

Ugh. I spent half of the day messaging a coworker I thought lives in Jacksonville before realizing just now, eye wall bearing down, that they're in Tampa. Please ya'll, for any job but especially white collar jobs, let your coworkers know. An email saying "Hey, the world is literally falling apart around me, I can't get this file to you today" is completely acceptable. Please stay safe out there.

2024-09-20 11:20:10 CEST

Apple going on the record to say that a photo is "something that really, actually happened" is a stark contrast from statements from other companies, including Samsung and Google, who have said things like "there is no such thing as a real picture".
While Apple isn't immune to doublespeak, it's a big deal for them to say that "2+2=4" while their competitors try to argue that "2+2=whatever you want it to be".
There has to be consensus on what constitutes reality.
https://petapixel.com/2024/09/19/if-you-care-about-photography-apples-approach-should-have-you-cheering/

2024-09-11 13:19:13 CEST

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"Why not just delete your accounts?"
Because of the walled garden effect and the negligible uptake of alternative means of staying in contact with people. I have some friends who live oversees who insist on using Meta-only services to stay in contact (admittedly not entirely their fault since there are few alternatives).
Deleting FB would be equivalent to ending those friendships, so I go the deactivation route to keep a backchannel available, if needed, to stay in contact.

2024-09-11 13:15:39 CEST

Finally deactivated FB (again). The last time I deactivated was pre-pandemic and lasted for a couple of years. Need to find a way to save all of the recipes my spouse has sent me on IG, but that will be soon to follow.
There's the standard privacy concerns, but what's pushing me over the edge is too much AI-generated content that isn't flagged as such, despite Meta's promises to do otherwise. I've yet to see a single AI flag on FB or IG. The election is 2 months away. That's a problem.

2024-09-06 16:50:31 CEST

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I need to look into the metal filter. We compost all of our grounds, including filter papers for the carafe and now the Aeropress, but I haven't been a fan of the added paper waste, even if its being 'reused'.
I'm glad to hear that review. The cost of even an entry-level espresso machine had been the major hold-up in us making the jump to making our own lattes. I can see minor benefits to an espresso machine, but it isn't enough to offset the price if the Aeropress does the job.

2024-09-05 14:34:44 CEST

The city of Bentonville released some new renderings of the 8th Street Gateway Park, which sit on a currently undeveloped tract of land between a residential area to the west and the 'gateway' to the downtown area to the east.
Concept art is cool. Although bigger concern for that area is it's capacity to handle traffic. The I-Street/8th Street/Walton Blvd intersection is awkward at best and quickly becoming a pinch point for traffic entering from all directions.
https://www.8gatewaypark.com/

2024-09-02 13:19:15 CEST

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And yes, my Southern Weather Brain is showing that I consider the mid-80s to be refreshing, although I'm mostly referring to morning temps that truly fit that bill.
There's always the possibility of this being False Fall, and seeing hotter temps in September lately hasn't been unusual.
I for one am rooting for a seasonal September to remember. Like the ones I grew up with below 375 ppm.

2024-09-02 13:12:25 CEST

As if on cue with the start of meteorological fall, the upcoming week+ in NW Arkansas should have highs consistently below 90F/32C with some excursions into the upper 70s for the first prolonged stretch since mid-June.
This summer had less 100+ degree days than last year IIRC, however we've still been running several degrees above avg most of the summer. This week will be avg or just below.
To have temps that are seasonable and feeling that first chill in the air is refreshing. #arwx

2024-08-15 01:33:17 CEST

Had a very fortunate opportunity today to join a guided tour to the bottom of Meteor Crater in Arizona. This is a bucket list stop for a lot of planetary geologists but due to the steep slopes and harsh environment the area is typically closed.
The tour was provided in conjunction with a few planetary science meetings that are happening in Flagstaff. Its been great talking about terrestrial analogs for planetary exploration over the past few days, and putting some principles to practice today!
https://media.mstdn.social/media_attachments/files/112/962/923/067/965/996/original/82b87eac6a07e343.jpeg
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2024-08-13 22:28:47 CEST

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forever and always calling this area Potato Alley from now on.

2024-08-07 20:56:17 CEST

One of the bigger perks to not living near an airport is I can finally use my drone to avoid going up on our roof for basic inspections.
Like today I just needed a better visual of the eave/peak to scope out for installing a TV antenna later this month. Easy 3 minute flight to get the photos I needed and didn't need to scale the roof on a hot summer day. Winning.

2024-08-06 18:25:05 CEST

You've probably heard that the U.S. highway system was designed with stretches suitable for landing aircraft.
A stretch of highway in northeast Arkansas was closed for several hours this weekend so that Arkansas National Guard pilots could practice landing their C-130s on a straight stretch of highway.
I'm sure this has happened more frequently, but this is only the second time that I'm personally aware of. Very cool.
https://youtu.be/s3hL4Z4h8yE?feature=shared

2024-08-06 16:00:44 CEST

Finding out that Gov. Tim Walz is enough of a geography nerd that he gave a keynote address to the Esri User Conference two weeks ago just sent my approval of him into the stratosphere. Watching this right now but man, I'm excited for this ticket.
https://youtu.be/Ni8BrT0-6gM

2024-07-31 17:23:38 CEST

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this is true. My only 'success' in licensing photos was through sending ABC a bill plus added recovery fees when they scooped photos off Twitter without asking. Base rate for each photo was a comparable range - if they had just asked nicely first!

2024-07-31 17:16:58 CEST

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I tried a similar approach a while back and was also met with crickets. It sucks because I know the local outlets don't have the budget and would benefit for the sake of supporting issuing warnings or emergency coverage, but the major networks do (or rather could have the budget if they adjusted their model). I think most photographers aren't expecting to get rich, but why should CNN get ad revenue when I went to the effort to get the photo? At least help put a few gallons in the tank.

2024-07-31 17:02:32 CEST

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My interactions with major media outlets over the past decade is that most news organizations treat still images as a birthright that they should have unfettered access to at next to no cost, if any at all. I've definitely encountered that with written assignments that were expected to be done on a volunteer basis.
It's part of why I've stepped back from sharing images and stopped attempting to license storm chasing content. It's a theft-based business model that few photographers can win.

2024-07-31 17:00:12 CEST

This is disappointing but mirrors a broader trend throughout media that all but strips photographers of their rights to license content that they independently capture, either through agreements such as this, or by outright refusing to license still imagery period. I can only imagine that the ULA agreement may partially have come from media pressure, but no proof.
https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/07/ula-to-amateur-launch-photographers-work-for-me-but-not-for-thee/