Brian :cupofcoffee: :rss:

Chemistry & web programming teacher in Michigan, hobby web developer (#Flask, #HTMX), beekeeper, wannabe homesteader.

#homesteading
#beekeeping
#teaching
#chemistry

Personal website & blog: https://ohheybrian.com
Farm website: https://www.upstreamfarm.com

Public Key

npub1a3g2myrhpgqru20l95ds26cahpayd0t05d98whtuk9amc25e8exss9e095

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[email protected]

Profile Code

nprofile1qqswc59djpms5qp798lj6xc9dvwms7jxh4h6xjnht47tz7au92vnungpqqe486kn

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npub1a3g2myrhpgqru20l95ds26cahpayd0t05d98whtuk9amc25e8exss9e095

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Last Notes

2026-07-11 15:46:38 UTC

My longest solo ride so far. I'm really pleased with how I did.
https://ridewithgps.com/trips/396775002?privacy_code=INdTzkGdWeTXjVGtfrVEELrjQULFHGCW
#biketooter
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/116/902/112/641/955/149/original/b38e1af5a303c64c.png

2026-07-09 19:45:01 UTC

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Ok, so for non-WP, do you have it spin up a WP install and then add to a directory? Or can you do nonWP work?

2026-07-09 19:42:00 UTC

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He posted about an alpha ready way back in February and I finally found time to look over the repo. Summer brain has me in a deep grip this year.

2026-07-09 19:39:35 UTC

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Perfect.
I'm trying out Mark Sample's Glitchlet thing for next year to avoid all the dev environment setup for first semester.
https://github.com/samplereality/glitchlet

2026-07-09 19:34:31 UTC

How does one set up a PHP environment on MacOS these days? I haven't had do this in a long, long time...last time I used MAMP. Are there other options (without VMs, docker, etc?)
I just need to have a simple development server to test a potential app for next fall's web dev course.

2026-07-02 16:01:31 UTC

Of course the meat chickens show up during the hottest week of the year so far...
Got lots of water, shade, and fans set up to help them survive the next two days.

2026-07-01 01:55:36 UTC

The farm work this week is happening in early morning and evening to avoid the worst of the heat wave. The garden is producing and tonight our eldest daughter joined for some of the harvest.
#farm #summer #today
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/116/842/225/190/341/269/original/2f8a8f4772d76148.jpg

2026-06-30 00:17:27 UTC

I really hate buying through Facebook Marketplace. Either stuff is WAY overpriced or sellers with decent prices on good stuff are unresponsive.

2026-06-23 01:11:20 UTC

Well. It's after 9 PM and I am once again sitting outside waiting for a raccoon to show up so it can be dealt with.
At least it's nice out tonight.

2026-06-20 21:01:08 UTC

Is printer ink still a scam? Are there any companies selling DIY refills?

2026-06-10 22:51:47 UTC

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well it looks flipping awesome, so great work 🎉

2026-06-07 19:52:01 UTC

My youngest wants to go outside and play baseball, but it's like 90 F and that just sounds too hot.

2026-06-02 20:20:56 UTC

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Of course it worked perfectly at home.
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/116/682/368/381/636/185/original/80f6a50cfe596a10.mp4

2026-06-02 20:03:28 UTC

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Continuing my barrel saga:
The stupid burner worked perfectly at home when I lit it up. No issue with flame intensity or getting enough heat out of it.
I'm crushing this barrel today no matter what.
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/116/682/298/741/077/154/original/04e1ae7d4b717fb3.jpg

2026-06-02 18:52:53 UTC

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This damn barrel. No luck again this year.
I need to really work on the burner. THe first year I did this, I had a wicked hot flame and the barrel was scorching - a chimney of steam coming out the top like a locomotive. I just can't seem to get that kind of heat again.
I'm going to take it home and tinker with the burner tonight to try it with my kids at at least get a video.

2026-06-02 17:45:15 UTC

I really hate (and love) the barrel crush demo. It's so finicky for me.
This year, it's just taken forever to heat up. My turkey fryer decided to get a clog, so the flame was an anemic little wisp. I brought it inside to heat with bunsen burners instead, but it's just taking ages.
Blech. I wish I could get this one more consistent.

2026-06-02 11:12:40 UTC

There are ice cream sandwiches in the freezer at school and it is taking every ounce of my self control to not eat one for breakfast with my coffee.

2026-06-02 01:34:55 UTC

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my SHB isn't too terrible up here...ants suck though. Always fighting ants.

2026-06-02 01:33:08 UTC

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yeah. Just a chunk of landscape fabric to help knock back weeds and keep ants/SHB a little more under control. I don't love it, but it's a new spot and a quick fix for now.

2026-06-01 20:34:56 UTC

The time is ripe for swarms. A second one showed up today and started cleaning out an empty box.
#beekeeping
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/116/676/759/097/326/421/original/6a74f1ab35123c41.mp4

2026-05-22 23:14:45 UTC

My wife and I celebrated our 17th anniversary today with our annual bike ride. This year was the lovely Pumpkinvine Trail in NW Indiana.
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/116/620/762/701/885/681/original/8432b35568910eb3.jpg
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/116/620/762/900/511/947/original/0645365824ac7fe4.png

2026-05-13 11:21:06 UTC

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Right now, I'm planning on staying grid-connected, so we'll have inverters to switch everything to AC power.

2026-05-12 23:22:35 UTC

Ok Fedi, I'm starting the process of researching solar panels for my barn. I'm a DIY person, so not looking for install recommendations, more interested in what I need to learn in order to do this wisely. Hardware, unexpected gotchas, other things DIY people need to know.
I can build and I am comfortable with electrical work.
#askfedi #solar

2026-05-11 16:10:56 UTC

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We don't have the mountains, but my wife and I are planning on doing a good chunk of this trail nearby next week. She doesn't love road riding anymore, so these bike trails are a nice option.
https://pumpkinvine.org/the-trail/

2026-05-11 16:00:15 UTC

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That looks beautiful.

2026-05-11 14:50:49 UTC

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I'm pretty sure I had that Plumb album growing up...

2026-05-08 20:54:15 UTC

I went to check the text file for the breached Instructure clients out of curiosity and the link is dead. Does anyone know if that was archived somewhere?

2026-05-01 20:52:56 UTC

It's a new month, so it's a new post on the reading I did in April.
https://ohheybrian.com/blog/2026/05/april-2026-reading

2026-04-30 14:33:12 UTC

Something is telling me these assignment results aren't valid.
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/116/494/141/048/243/445/original/a8eaea3a41468b7d.jpg

2026-04-29 10:18:00 UTC

Today in the classroom:
First year chem will make their own pH scale. They'll convert between H+ molarity and pH for various substances and plot them on an 80 cm piece of receipt paper. They'll then add some color and artistic spice.
Second year is still slogging thermodynamics. I don't love this unit...I don't have great labs for it. We'll do my petri dish battery lab or calorimetry to break it up a little, but I need to update my procedures and analysis.
#chemistry #teaching :cupofcoffee:

2026-04-28 12:08:12 UTC

I have this list of recommendations open for adjusting assessments for "the age of AI" so I could comment on it, but I can't bring myself to put forward the mental energy.
https://educational-innovation.sydney.edu.au/teaching@sydney/what-to-do-about-assessments-if-we-cant-out-design-or-out-run-ai/
Any site that starts with, "we need to embrace AI" really just puts me off immediately.

2026-04-27 14:29:49 UTC

Doing acids and bases today, students understand why the general acid formula is HA (A- anion produced).
But why is a general base formula MOH? I don't know what the M stands for...I just know that's what we use.
#askfedi #chemistry

2026-04-26 17:36:04 UTC

I haven't bought a router in a decade (mine has miraculously survived for many years), but I think it's time. What's a good mid-range router for a large family? No gaming, but several devices in the house doing different things at the same time.
#AskFedi

2026-04-24 14:47:10 UTC

In a training today for a safety/alerting app we're using at school.
The main app includes a "Safety Center" location in the main organization list. It is a collection of press releases from the company.
So, I ask if we can remove it because we don't need press releases in our safety application for messaging and checking in and alerting.
"No, it's just there by default."
😑

2026-04-23 01:10:05 UTC

My daughter's bike needed new bearings. I have a cartridge replacement but the brackets fixed cup will not come off the bike. I feel like I've tried everything - wrenches, breaker bars, tapping, penetrating oil, and even heating with a torch. Any other tips?
#biketooter #bikerepair

2026-04-22 12:36:06 UTC

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There are individuals in P5 making huge gains each unit. But, overall, the class tends to skirt their way around the prep work which turns into these results.

2026-04-22 12:35:28 UTC

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I do open notes because they build references for themselves. Tests are open ended written responses, data collection, or lab-based situations with multiple steps. Having a notebook to reference procedures and methodology is helpful for building thorough answers.
The P5 pattern isn't new. That class, in particular, has less participation, more distraction from phones, and less overall engagement with the process, which leads to lower results.

2026-04-22 12:30:58 UTC

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I also looked at pre/post test proficiency and we need to talk about these results in a couple classes.
This indicates two things:
1. _Most people_ are doing fine - they're improving with each unit.
2. People/classes which aren't improving as a whole indicates inauthentic work leading up to tests. I got several blank papers from P5 in particular after they "did" all of the material leading up to the test.
Tests are open notes, too.
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/116/448/360/571/216/198/original/84d673ab7391fb58.png

2026-04-22 12:28:24 UTC

I have two big takeaways from yesterday's test:
1. Students have a misconception between _solubility_ and _concentration_. Many said that decreasing temperature decreases molarity when asked about how to decrease concentration. Solubility does decrease at colder temps (for solids), but the overall concentration of the solution stays the same.
2. I need to spend more time on water's chemistry and the interaction with salts in solution.

2026-04-21 11:16:05 UTC

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When I dig into individual skills, it's a little more clear.
This is the record of feedback on assignments for their ability to calculate molarity and concentrations of solutions. Early in the unit there's a lot of variation, but the final two assignments shows a good cluster of progress. Each class is on track to show proficiency overall on this.
There are still some who won't, but that's why I use this data. I can look back and target interventions.
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/116/442/398/819/297/929/original/e947791050f293e6.png

2026-04-21 11:12:05 UTC

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These values will increase today - this is showing people who are consistently proficient across coursework. The test will weigh in on that.
I have a few students who opt out of the classwork because they know they have the skills. So, the aren't represented in these data. Following the test, they will jump into the "proficient" group and the percent proficient will move up.
The trajectory is more what I'm interested in unit to unit.

2026-04-21 11:10:34 UTC

As per usual, heading into test day, I look at this graph a lot.
The last two points are the current skills I'm assessing. I would _prefer_ these to all be above 50% before the test, but...not so much with the afternoon classes.
We had a big talk yesterday about why skill development was so stunted compared to the morning classes. Much of it boils down to missing assignments (I can't assess) and phone use during class (much higher).
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/116/442/379/034/939/355/original/28ed606997adf161.png

2026-04-21 11:04:38 UTC

RE: https://fosstodon.org/@blainsmith/116442314126471453
I also hadn't heard about bubbles.town and it turns out mine is there, too.
https://bubbles.town/source/ohheybrian.com
#smolweb #indieweb
#note1lfe…35ex

2026-04-15 18:38:06 UTC

I told my TA today that I would do dishes because I need a mindless job to distract myself from all the crap that has happened this week.

2026-04-13 12:56:30 UTC

I'm entering a new age bracket today - 40 trips around the sun completed.
I've taken the day off school and we're taking the kids on the train to tool around Chicago. The plan is to eat lunch at the Millennium Park playground, visit the Art Institute, and grab dinner somewhere before heading home.

2026-04-11 22:15:14 UTC

@npub1a22…z9pp ok I did it.
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/116/388/376/816/584/992/original/416b7b891afff569.png

2026-04-11 20:35:32 UTC

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No idea.

2026-04-11 20:32:24 UTC

Can't decide if I want to do a short bike ride or paint something...

2026-04-11 14:32:24 UTC

I'm getting into my own bicycle repair. I'll start with my daughter's, whose cranks are sticking. I'm planning on trying to get into the bottom bracket today to check the bearings. This video is fantastically helpful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXQA4kNmhPA
#biketooter

2026-04-09 12:34:41 UTC

The wonderful PhET team at UC Boulder has released a new sim for the model of the hydrogen atom. There is a ton packed into this...I need to take time to look through it for next year.
https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/models-of-the-hydrogen-atom/latest/models-of-the-hydrogen-atom_all.html
#chemistry #teaching

2026-04-08 16:47:38 UTC

I've always struggled with coming up with good interfaces for a feedback app I use with my class. I tried prompting Gemini for some ideas and I decided to write up the results.
https://ohheybrian.com/blog/2026/04/using-gemini-to-rethink-a-dashboard
In short, I think this is one of the first things an LLM has been helpful with for me. There are things I like and others I don't, but it's given me ideas on where to start.

2026-04-08 10:32:41 UTC

Today in the classroom:
It's SAT/PSAT day for us, so the first three hours of the day are devoted to the College Board and the Almighty Test.
The second half of the day is...well...I'm not really sure. I may just ask students what animal they want to learn about and find a documentary.
#teaching #chemistry :cupofcoffee:

2026-04-07 21:19:57 UTC

A student made an offhand comment about Albert Einstein being a great contributor to the scientific world today and I successfully incorporated the great dad joke, "Yeah, but his brother, Frank, was a real monster."
One student looked in my eyes and gave a knowing nod while the rest wondered who Frank Einstein was.
#teaching

2026-04-06 10:45:58 UTC

Today in the classroom:
We're back following spring break last week. I would have preferred Easter Monday off as well, but such is life.
All classes will do some review work to get their minds back into the chemistry.
First year chem will do some work with solubility to prep for a lab tomorrow. Second year chem is doing work with acids and bases, particularly Ka and Kb values. We'll prepare buffers this week.
#chemistry #teaching :cupofcoffee:

2026-04-06 02:11:37 UTC

Bleh. Just turned my school alarm back on.

2026-04-05 12:41:55 UTC

Is there a deer on a raft in this picture?
https://mastodon.social/@livelakemichigan/116352010630944639

2026-04-04 14:48:42 UTC

This is cool. Shared by [@jbaty](https://social.lol/@jbaty )
printed analog camera space
https://printed.analogcamera.space/

2026-04-04 13:32:19 UTC

Local guy on Marketplace is selling a _pile_ of Raspberry Pi 3B+. The post says, "these were pulled from a production environment."
Smells like a bitcoin mine going under.

2026-04-04 01:17:27 UTC

I'm watching Ghostbusters tonight and I love how one of the demon dog things is super scary and serious and the other is just kind of a dorky goofball.

2026-04-03 17:23:36 UTC

I started a book that's a little bit dumb, but I'm going to give it a chance.

2026-04-02 21:39:04 UTC

I wasn't thrilled. It felt like they threw in fan favorite characters just because they weren't in the first movie. There were a lot of action sequences, but it was to facilitate characters getting from Point A to Point B.
I wish there had been more of a story developed - the overall plot felt very thin and I left feeling disappointed.

2026-04-02 01:01:02 UTC

I need to make some time to make my blog a little more comfortable to use. It's fine for me because I built the entire thing, but there are some rough edges I'd like to smooth.
The main thing I'd like to build in is a media picker. Sometimes, I want to use the same image in a post, but that's no easy to do at the moment.

2026-04-02 00:40:32 UTC

I had some really bad painting experiences last week with a new sketchbook. It was one I'd received as a Christmas gift and I just couldn't get anything to come out how I wanted. I felt really discouraged and lost the desire to do anything.
I switched back to my old notebook brand and I'm convinced it was bad paper. This came out much more like what I know I can do with very little frustration.
This is a sketch from my trip to the boundary waters last summer.
#watercolor #mastoart
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/116/332/321/419/651/459/original/af9a1106d79284b9.jpg

2026-04-02 00:37:03 UTC

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that book was wild. So much I hadn't thought about.

2026-04-01 23:21:20 UTC

via @cogdog re: human.json
"Of course someone will pipe in already, 'GenAI can just spoof this.' Of course it can, but that’s not the point to just pee on all the parades like that...It carries both the act that an individual can do by tossing a single tiny file on their web server but also the pay it forward effect by vouching for other people."
https://cogdogblog.com/2026/03/web-side-cars/
#note13lw…d2wn

2026-04-01 19:01:44 UTC

Given today's #Artemis2 launch, here's a scale model of the solar system if the moon were 1 pixel large.
https://joshworth.com/dev/pixelspace/pixelspace_solarsystem.html

2026-04-01 15:59:37 UTC

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I'm going to reshare a fish painting I did a couple weeks back.
#dailycreate #tdc5192
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/116/330/276/273/862/384/original/2844f91d88b8151a.jpg

2026-04-01 15:11:27 UTC

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That's why I'm thinking about moving it to something more dynamic. A WP plugin would make this easy. Mine would be an extra table with one extra form that I could pop a site into and move on. Having to manually edit and reupload is much harder to remember to do regularly.

2026-04-01 15:09:31 UTC

24 hours later, I have some more thoughts on human.json.
https://ohheybrian.com/blog/2026/04/more-thoughts-on-human-json
I'm keeping it published, but I think I'm still not really sold on the viability.

2026-04-01 13:00:35 UTC

We went from high 60's with clouds yesterday to low 40's and rain today. Doesn't the atmosphere know I have work to do outside still?

2026-03-31 23:32:12 UTC

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Nice. I did this last year with my first year chem students as a conclusion to redox reactions. We had really good luck with using sharpie on watch plates to actually create some artwork.
https://fosstodon.org/@brianb/114417083226777291
#note1dhw…6jfa

2026-03-31 21:55:38 UTC

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I'm on 7!

2026-03-31 20:38:33 UTC

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yeah, I think I have another blog post churning in my head about the whole thing, that being one of the big gaps.

2026-03-31 18:34:54 UTC

Ok, I did it. I threw a human.json file up on my site this afternoon.
https://ohheybrian.com/blog/2026/03/i-am-a-human

2026-03-31 12:50:34 UTC

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Is there a recommended way to update the `vouches` property easily? Or do I have to update the file manually?

2026-03-31 12:46:30 UTC

The whole human.json things is intriguing to me. I have a hard time seeing it getting critical mass to be a solution for AI sloppy websites, but at the same time, it's something that costs me nothing to do in the long run.
I'm curious if browsers (*tap tap* Vivaldi?) would bake in the trust interaction to remove the need for an extension.
Rain coming today, so outside time will be limited. Maybe I'll poke at it this afternoon.

2026-03-31 03:12:17 UTC

Well, that's a wrap. I've now seen them all.

2026-03-31 02:50:37 UTC

Ok, this is a monster movie, not a dinosaur movie. These mutant dinosaurs are too much. We've gone from not great to really dumb.

2026-03-31 02:47:26 UTC

There's also a lot of green screen now, which is distracting.

2026-03-31 02:44:24 UTC

I'm losing interest in this movie...the plot armor is thick and they're just being dumb. It isn't bad luck or situations out of their control, it's just a string of bad choices.

2026-03-31 02:00:33 UTC

Another!

2026-03-31 01:54:34 UTC

One minor character down!

2026-03-31 01:23:51 UTC

You can almost tell who is going to get eaten before people start getting eaten.

2026-03-31 01:16:11 UTC

Lots of throwback imagery and sets so far.

2026-03-31 01:03:15 UTC

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At least someone is carrying a gun on the Netflix cover image for the movie, so that's a start to a lot of the problems they're sure to encounter.

2026-03-31 01:02:23 UTC

Night four of spring break brings with it the fourth installment of the Jurassic World franchise, Jurassic World Rebirth featuring Scarlett Johansen and some other people.
This will complete my viewing of recent dinosaur science fiction cinema.

2026-03-30 18:50:23 UTC

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that said, on mobile I had scroll back the date picker manually 40 years, which wasn't a great experience 😅

2026-03-30 18:49:32 UTC

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I got it to work on mobile. My mirror date is April 27, 1946, so lots of World War II related events. Notable is that in 1941 on that day, the Germans entered Athens.
#dailycreate #tdc5190

2026-03-30 18:45:36 UTC

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happy birthday!

2026-03-30 13:02:40 UTC

I have to use a skid steer this morning to move a bunch of material.around the farm. What kind of music should I listen to?

2026-03-30 04:13:41 UTC

This is a rehash of the original movie. Not enough power to turn on the imaginary air defense system which keeps airplanes safe so they can fly out. They're running into dark rooms with flashlights now.

2026-03-30 03:58:54 UTC

This move is so dumb.

2026-03-30 03:56:20 UTC

Chris Pratt just grabbed a dilophosaurus by the neck.

2026-03-30 02:35:56 UTC

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yes, that's how the first book ended.
This is the money grab franchise extension trilogy, so it's a world where dinosaurs are everywhere causing havoc in general.

2026-03-30 02:34:39 UTC

This is just one big nostalgia flick, isn't it?

2026-03-30 02:32:14 UTC

Oh boy. Now there are giant insects.

2026-03-30 02:30:01 UTC

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oh, duh

2026-03-30 02:21:59 UTC

It's spring break, so I'm watching Jurassic World Dominion tonight wondering how the like 15 different escaped dinosaurs from the last movie managed to breed and cross oceans.

2026-03-29 23:16:45 UTC

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that sounds terrifying 😬

2026-03-29 23:07:23 UTC

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that looks awesome. I appreciate that you share how you get stuff like this to work.