Nostr notes by Jules she/her

I think I've spent too much time on Mastodon. I had a dream ...

2026-07-29T08:08:18+02:00

I think I've spent too much time on Mastodon. I had a dream last night I was in my local bike shop trying to help an anthropomorphic wolf find a bike helmet that fit

I fully support treating gendered toilet signs as a surrealist ...

2026-07-28T18:18:53+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…eh59
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I fully support treating gendered toilet signs as a surrealist art project. Which category are you? Hats or potatoes? Cuttlefish or bookshelves? Paintbrushes or a nebulous yet overwhelming sense of unease?

there's this great series on iPlayer at the moment ...

2026-07-28T11:40:53+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…0t4c
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there's this great series on iPlayer at the moment https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002fc72/human and in the first episode they visit a rock in Botswana that looked a bit like a snake but was carved to look more like a snake about seventy thousand years ago. https://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyle/botswana-snake-rock-may-show-stone-age-religion-idUSL30693310/ And stone tools had been deliberately damaged and left there as offerings. So probably a very long time!

yes I guess historically they might have brought lice or bedbugs ...

2026-07-28T11:21:16+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…cgum
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yes I guess historically they might have brought lice or bedbugs into the house, which could well have been considered bringing "bad luck" if they caused illnesses and people didn't understand the method of transmission

To be clear I'm not personally worried about ghosts but am ...

2026-07-27T09:51:15+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…vca0
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To be clear I'm not personally worried about ghosts but am worried about thoughtlessly causing distress to people who are by using something I didn't know the cultural context of

Okay Mastodon, cultural appropriation question, I'm a bit ...

2026-07-27T09:48:08+02:00

Okay Mastodon, cultural appropriation question, I'm a bit stumped here. I picked this parasol up in a charity shop for Pride a while ago and have been using it to walk to work in the heatwave. I'm white British.

This morning one of the cleaners at work, who is from Hong Kong, saw me with it, asked me where I got it from and got quite upset when I said it was from a charity shop. He said in his culture you should never use these parasols if you don't know where they come from as they may contain ghosts and will bring bad luck. I ended up asking him in all seriousness if there was a way to remove ghosts from parasols, but apparently not.

So basically what I'm asking I think is should I stop using the parasol if it's upsetting East Asian people in a way I didn't realise it was?

jam is one of those things that never tastes as good as homemade ...

2026-07-25T22:54:11+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…ze3z
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jam is one of those things that never tastes as good as homemade isn't it

#BuzzBallz are unrecyclable, and claims to the contrary are ...

2026-07-25T12:22:29+02:00

#BuzzBallz are unrecyclable, and claims to the contrary are #greenwashing say recycling experts

"The company behind the bright, pre-mixed cocktails that have taken Gen Z by storm said they were recyclable on its website, but experts say this is not true.

BuzzBallz cannot be recycled as the PET plastic ball cannot be separated from the aluminium lid, global environmental action body WRAP said."

I do think the need some sort of legislation to stop people launching consumer products in new types of packaging that can't be recycled by existing infrastructure, and will in fact mess up existing recycling systems with cross contamination.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr490335z1eo

#alcohol #recycling

When you're a lesbian trying to support your straight friend ...

2026-07-20T12:36:38+02:00

When you're a lesbian trying to support your straight friend going through a nasty breakup by going to her nail appointment with her, so you ask your wife who's slightly more femme than you what it involves but she is, inconveniently, also a lesbian.

Science: hey look we found some new knowledge and want to share ...

2026-07-18T20:37:23+02:00

Science: hey look we found some new knowledge and want to share it with humanity!

Capitalism: you should be charging for that.

Science: no you see the more it gets shared about the more everyone can participate and the more further knowledge we can generate! It's not a zero sum thing! And that wouldn't work if we charged people to access it!

Academic journals: Don't worry Capitalism, we've got this

Capitalism: cheers fam

Science: well fuck

I recommend @npub1hqe…nt6l, @npub1zvl…qckq and ...

2026-07-18T19:49:49+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…ghqt
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I recommend Tinker ☀️ (npub1hqe…nt6l), Ms. Que Banh (npub1zvl…qckq) and Cambridge Community Kitchen (npub1saf…7jq7) for people actually out there doing positive things

Please don't do this. I'm sure the person who poured salt ...

2026-07-15T19:17:25+02:00

Please don't do this.

I'm sure the person who poured salt all over their pavement weeds thought they were being more ecologically friendly than using weedkiller, but salt poisons the soil so nothing can grow in it for decades which is why ancient armies quite literally salted the fields of their enemies to starve them. If it ever rains again this will wash into the drains and into the streams, and in the meantime people walking through this volume of salt will tread it into any soil they proceed to. Salt runoff from road gritting in winter is a big enough ecological problem as it is, we don't need to be adding to it.

I know people are suddenly spending a lot of money on air ...

2026-07-15T15:48:58+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…qya9
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I know people are suddenly spending a lot of money on air conditioning and blinds, but I would have thought the economic impact would be obvious to everyone just looking at their own lives. Everyone's permanently exhausted and unproductive, and late all the time because public transport is breaking down. One of my colleagues is off sick with heat exhaustion. Things are shutting down in our personal lives too. We decided not to go to a concert we'd been looking forward to all year because there was no shade, so that's money that wasn't spent on drinks and transport. I've also dropped out of my friend's birthday party, two sets of leaving drinks at work and a swimming trip with my nieces because I was too tired and didn't trust the trains, and I've had to cancel a future camping trip to use the leave from work now because I've been so exhausted, so that's more money not spent greasing the wheels of capitalism.

I'm glad someone's finally looking at the economic cost ...

2026-07-15T15:43:08+02:00

I'm glad someone's finally looking at the economic cost of the heatwave, because maybe our governments will finally start taking that seriously. Yes the heatwave killed lots of people, but they were mostly poor, disabled or elderly so easy to write off as economically unimportant in the grotesque capitalist calculus that underpins our society.

https://theecologist.org/2026/jul/14/heatwaves-will-scorch-british-economy

Heat deaths are a public health crisis rooted in housing ...

2026-07-15T13:40:29+02:00

Heat deaths are a public health crisis rooted in housing inequality

"Heat deaths are not scattered randomly across the population. They fall predictably and measurably on particular people in particular homes.

Around 60% of the estimated deaths in May and June were among people aged over 85. But age is only part of the story, because vulnerability to heat is socially patterned....

...An analysis by the Resolution Foundation thinktank found that 54% of the poorest fifth of English households live in homes at high risk of overheating, against 18% of the richest fifth. Two-thirds of social renters, and six out of ten households with young children, live in homes at the highest risk as the country warms."

https://theconversation.com/heat-deaths-are-a-public-health-crisis-rooted-in-housing-inequality-287426

#ukheatwave

I think they've moved on to "they catch fire and so do ...

2026-07-14T07:15:43+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…9wy2
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I think they've moved on to "they catch fire and so do solar panels"

I don't want an AI generated result though, I want the kind ...

2026-07-13T17:17:46+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…xs3q
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I don't want an AI generated result though, I want the kind of thorough, detailed DIY instructions I could find by searching the internet a few years ago. They're still out there, just impossible to locate in a sea of slop

#GreenParty MP #HannahSpencer to introduce bill on maximum ...

2026-07-12T16:06:16+02:00

#GreenParty MP #HannahSpencer to introduce bill on maximum workplace temperatures.

"Campaigners and unions have criticised the fact the UK has health and safety guidance on minimum workplace temperatures but nothing for maximums, despite rising summer heat caused by the climate crisis.

Unison and the Trade Union Congress have called for a maximum indoor work temperature of 30C, or 27C for strenuous work."

Might be worth everyone writing to their MPs and urging them to support this.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/12/green-mp-hannah-spencer-aims-to-pass-law-on-maximum-workplace-temperatures

#UKpol #UKHeatwave

RE: https://mastodon.world/@ombialik/116906966255667244 The thing ...

2026-07-12T15:13:06+02:00

RE: https://mastodon.world/@ombialik/116906966255667244

The thing a lot of people don't seem to realise about scientific definitions in biology is that they're names we humans have slapped on the vaste chaotic diverse richness of the natural world out there for our convenience, they don't correspond precisely to objective reality. They're just like common definitions except have had a few more drunken conference arguments go into their choice. Green seaweeds aren't vascular plants, red ones probably aren't plants at all depending on who you ask and where they draw the lines, but the shape of the category "plants" is being constantly redefined to fit our growing knowledge and for most people at the beach or considering making sushi of them it doesn't really matter.

1/🧵

quoting
note14ey…2zdv

There is No (scientific) Consensus on Biological Sex. The title and summary of a new paper on how scientists define sex, the lack of unanimity on the topic, and how some of the existing definitions just don't work for all organisms.

Link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ele.70350

#Biology #Sexuality

PSA for the #gardening #allotment #GrowYourOwn folks: this sounds ...

2026-07-12T12:48:41+02:00

PSA for the #gardening #allotment #GrowYourOwn folks: this sounds ridiculous but is 100% true I promise. If your courgettes, zucchini or summer squash taste bitter, don't eat them. In hot dry conditions squash produce a toxic defensive compound called cucurbitacin E, which can cause vomiting and diarrhea. If you keep eating them it can cause something called toxic squash syndrome (again I promise this isn't a joke) which can make your hair fall out. And this has been a very hot dry summer.

Prompted by a friend of mine sharing that his courgettes were minging this year so he covered them in cheese and ate them anyway. Don't do that.

#UKHeatwave

Fuck AI so much, it's impossible to find DIY information on ...

2026-07-10T18:24:07+02:00

Fuck AI so much, it's impossible to find DIY information on the internet now

RE: https://wandering.shop/@feorag/116896105249913656 You know ...

2026-07-10T16:37:23+02:00

RE: https://wandering.shop/@feorag/116896105249913656

You know how when much loved famous people die people share touching memories of them? I'm rather enjoying the way Ann Widdicombe is inspiring the exact opposite

quoting
note173l…kh52

A few years ago, I was flying to Brussels from Bristol Airport.

I was walking with a stick, and it was a way to the gate. When I got there, I paused at the top of a flight of stairs wondering whether there was a lift. A woman, about my mum’s age, approached me, and sharply asked where the lift was. I said I was wondering the same thing myself, noticed who I was talking to, and struggled down the stairs rather than risk being stuck in a lift with Ann Widdicombe.

But I think the thing I really hate about these type of headlines ...

2026-07-02T10:59:27+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…k328
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But I think the thing I really hate about these type of headlines is how they feed into victims blaming. People aren't poor because they don't have enough money for a decent life and it's really hard to claw your way over life's obstacles without money rather than having them knock you back further. They're poor because they spend too much money on sandwiches instead of making their own, the lazy idiots

They also mention not putting on the heating in winter and using ...

2026-07-02T10:57:07+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…7cgg
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They also mention not putting on the heating in winter and using jumpers and hot water bottles instead, during which they presumably continued performing well enough in finance and life coaching. I'm guessing their house is high enough quality that it retained some heat and didn't immediately get covered in damp and black mould. Meanwhile during the really cold winter we had a couple of years back I was really worried about how exhausted one of the cleaners at work was getting, who admitted he couldn't afford to heat his house and it was too cold to sleep properly.

To angrily overthink this further, it really does illustrate how ...

2026-07-02T10:53:39+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…elns
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To angrily overthink this further, it really does illustrate how people in the UK (and probably the wider Western World) are so completely isolated from one another by income bracket we don't really understand each other's lives. All of this couple's friends are presumably in finance or life coaching so to them making lunch instead of buying it sounds so outrageous they presumably approached the BBC and got themselves interviewed about it because they think they've done something so unusual. When really the unusual thing is that it worked.

I hate headlines like this. You read the article and discover she ...

2026-07-02T10:37:54+02:00

I hate headlines like this. You read the article and discover she works in finance, he runs a life coaching business whatever that is, and they retired once their savings hit £1 million which didn't come from making their own sandwiches.

Meanwhile out in the real world most of us have been bringing packed lunches to work since the 2010s at least and are still one unexpected vet bill away from a couple of months of home haircuts.

I do sometimes wonder whether the tendency (at least in Western ...

2026-07-02T09:15:44+02:00

I do sometimes wonder whether the tendency (at least in Western culture) to applaud saving things from crisis but not the work needed to prevent the crisis in the first place is something innate in human nature or something about the stories we choose to tell. Superman saving someone from a burning building makes a much better blockbuster than Superman diligently lobbying for better fire building safety codes and ensuring unscrupulous landlords don't cut costs by dodging them.

I'm too much of an exhausted puddle to run for office right ...

2026-06-30T11:02:41+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…aqm0
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I'm too much of an exhausted puddle to run for office right now I'm afraid, but I'm sure I'll get my turn to be UK prime minister eventually

Also no one seems to complain about air conditioning in cars, but ...

2026-06-30T10:17:36+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…nryx
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Also no one seems to complain about air conditioning in cars, but as soon as anyone starts talking seriously about putting it in buildings like hospitals, schools or workplaces suddenly everyone's an armchair climate activist

I wish we in the UK could mobilise half the outrage we express ...

2026-06-30T10:15:32+02:00

I wish we in the UK could mobilise half the outrage we express about "air conditioning is a waste of energy and bad for the planet" and target it at AI datacentres, short haul flights, the beef industry, fast fashion or golf courses. They all do huge amounts of planetary harm without the justification of potentially saving lives in a heatwave.

"We survived the 1976 heatwave". Yes we did, in the same ...

2026-06-22T15:09:46+02:00

"We survived the 1976 heatwave". Yes we did, in the same way we survived the covid pandemic - some of us survived to say things like that, the people who died aren't here to disagree. The 1976 heatwave was estimated to have caused 20% extra deaths in the UK compared to the same period in 1975.

Also 1976 was fifty years ago, and the heatwave was so unusual people are still talking about it. Today dangerous heat is more of an "every other Thursday" type event.

Turns out if I spend a weekend yomping round the Tamar Valley ...

2026-06-22T11:01:42+02:00

Turns out if I spend a weekend yomping round the Tamar Valley catching moths with little reception I come back to find out the government's collapsed. I wish I'd known I had this ability beforehand, I'd have used it more strategically

Does a broad brimmed sunhat exist, suitable for standing out in ...

2026-06-19T09:49:50+02:00

Does a broad brimmed sunhat exist, suitable for standing out in the sun for the duration of a gig that:

a) isn't made out of leather and
b) doesn't make the wearer look like a pillock?

I'd also like to see a society where you study archaeology ...

2026-06-18T11:03:47+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…7g6m
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I'd also like to see a society where you study archaeology (biology/social sciences/astrophysics/linguistics) if you're genuinely interested in learning about archaeology (biology/social sciences/astrophysics/linguistics) and want to contribute to human knowledge of the subject, rather having to study something you don't really want to and accumulating debt in order to get a job in a bank or company. But a society where learning more about the world is valued, even if you don't personally understand the importance or appeal of what the person is learning, is always a good thing

Not really doing anything to counteract my reputation as an ...

2026-06-17T10:10:16+02:00

Not really doing anything to counteract my reputation as an environmentalist killjoy here, but I have just added "flying rings" to my extensive mental list of "things that will be banned when I'm ruler of the world". List currently includes but is not limited to leaf blowers, helium balloons, sky lanterns, plastic grass, glitter, vapes, disposable barbecues, single use phone chargers, Marmite, changing TV schedules because the football is on now we have streaming, watching videos on phones on public transport without headphones and anyone over the age of about 8 saying that stupid "six seven" thing

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqj1d51955ro

Also I wish everyone's response to moving into a house with ...

2026-06-13T15:35:54+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…xzhm
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Also I wish everyone's response to moving into a house with mature trees in the garden didn't seem to be to immediately hack them all down. Quite apart from the fact they're beautiful and good for wildlife they keep the place cooler in heatwaves. If people don't want the maintenance I wish they'd just buy an apartment instead

Popped in to see my parents. Their new neighbours have cut down ...

2026-06-13T15:22:58+02:00

Popped in to see my parents. Their new neighbours have cut down the crab apple tree in their garden. This made my Mum very sad because it was beautiful, but also means they can now see right into the neighbour's bathroom window which doesn't have a blind. So now my parents don't dare go downstairs around ten at night when the neighbours go to bed and turn the bathroom light on, for fear of seeing more of them than they want to. In spite of being mostly Belgian and half Welsh respectively they are far too English to know how to tell the neighbour this. So if you've recently moved to Exeter and cut down a crab apple tree maybe consider getting some bathroom blinds so my poor parents can use their living room after dark.

When we visited the world's biggest claw machine was operated ...

2026-06-11T17:57:36+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…ehtr
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When we visited the world's biggest claw machine was operated by an extremely tolerant bloke called Ashley, who very good naturedly answered all our questions while trying to get on with his job. A couple of people told him he had the coolest job in the world, to which he replied that it had been for the first six hours or so but after that it got a bit boring.

Waste is then collected from the pit using this giant claw and ...

2026-06-11T17:54:07+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…estg
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Waste is then collected from the pit using this giant claw and dropped into the hopper feeding the kiln

So starting at the beginning of the proccess, waste collection ...

2026-06-11T17:48:51+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…gq7e
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So starting at the beginning of the proccess, waste collection lorries drive in and drop residual waste into this great big pit that may or may not have a giant space octopus at the bottom

Here's a schematic of the process. ...

2026-06-11T17:37:42+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…unx4
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Here's a schematic of the process.

The Marsh Barton facility isn't actually owned by the ...

2026-06-11T17:27:24+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…gehv
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The Marsh Barton facility isn't actually owned by the council, it has a contract with company Viridor which it pays to operate it. This is all utterly insane and probably Margaret Thatcher's fault.

The plant takes residual waste from mid Devon where I live, so ...

2026-06-11T17:25:47+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…lcpg
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The plant takes residual waste from mid Devon where I live, so some of my illegible scrawls may have been illuminated by photons generated from my very own household's cat turds and plastic films. It doesn't take all the University's waste, which not including specialist chemical and biological waste generated by the laboratories is managed by three separate subcontractors. The student accommodation blocks are managed by two separate contractors, who contract out their waste collection to different contractors, and the non-accommodation buildings have another separate waste collection contract. Very illogically waste doesn't go to the nearest disposal facility, it could be trucked across the country to the one the cheapest contractor has a contract with.

The Exeter plant produces 24,000 MWh/year. I've written down ...

2026-06-11T17:19:23+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…53c2
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The Exeter plant produces 24,000 MWh/year. I've written down that it consumes 75 somethings for its own operation and exports the rest to the grid, but this will be amended with the correct more legible figure when I get a copy of the presentation.

The Exeter and Plymouth plants incinerate residual waste (ie ...

2026-06-11T17:12:10+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…64se
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The Exeter and Plymouth plants incinerate residual waste (ie what's left over when everything recyclable or compostable has been removed) and generate electricity. There were plans to use the generated heat of the Exeter plant for a district heating system but they never came to fruition. The Plymouth plant does run a district heating system which heats the neighbouring Royal Navy barracks and dockyard, and I'm honestly not sure how I feel about the fact we can manage to implement the most sustainable solution, but apparently only in the service of waging war more efficiently

So the Exeter energy-from-waste facility, along with another one ...

2026-06-11T17:04:05+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…yzd8
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So the Exeter energy-from-waste facility, along with another one in Plymouth, opened for operation in 2015. Before that Devon recycled 55% of its waste and sent the remaining 45% to landfill. Now it recycles 56% (not a massive improvement in that time!), sends 43% to EFW and only 1% goes to landfill.

Managing closed landfill is still a massive logistical and financial operation for Devon County Council, which has responsibility for 58 of them, some of which date from before 1950 when records began so they don't even know what's in them. I didn't realise how much ongoing maintenance they need, but methane has to be flared off periodically and leachate has to be cleaned up before it can contaminate waterways.

You'll be relieved to know (or maybe not) that I stopped ...

2026-06-11T16:54:58+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…6x5y
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You'll be relieved to know (or maybe not) that I stopped posting because the tour started, not because I touched something I shouldn't have and blew up the entire Marsh Barton industrial estate. It was an extremely cool tour. I took some notes but apparently the presentation is going to be emailed to us later so I'll go back and add any facts and figures I missed.

They have now put me in a room with coffee to await the rest of ...

2026-06-11T11:04:32+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…zspv
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They have now put me in a room with coffee to await the rest of the tour group and instructed me not to touch anything, so I'm back on Mastodon to distract me from the irresistible urge to touch everything

I ended up parking my bike in the covered racks at the newly ...

2026-06-11T10:55:48+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…hx5x
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I ended up parking my bike in the covered racks at the newly built (2023 it turns out, but it still feels new to me) Marsh Barton station and walking back. See we can invest in infrastructure if we try!

I cycled here and am stupidly early because I was (justifiably as ...

2026-06-11T10:31:02+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…r5ap
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I cycled here and am stupidly early because I was (justifiably as it turns out) worried about bike parking, so you're just going to have to entertain me till 9:45, sorry folks. The back of the building is actually much more interesting than the front, I spotted it from a distance not just by the chimney but the flock of swifts swooping overhead, presumably catching flies drawn to the rubbish.

Good morning Mastodon! Remember when you were in primary school ...

2026-06-11T10:27:30+02:00

Good morning Mastodon! Remember when you were in primary school and went on school trips to places teachers though were important or free, and retained nothing from them except for who was sick on whom on the way there? Now you're older and nerdier did you ever think "Actually it might be really interesting to visit a major piece of civic infrastructure and learn how it works?" Just me? Well I was in luck today because the University sustainability team has organised a tour of #Exeter Energy Recovery Facility in #MarshBarton, where all our non-recyclable rubbish ends up.

https://www.viridor.co.uk/energy/energy-recovery-facilities/exeter-erf/

which is why as well as just verifying fundraisers I think it ...

2026-06-11T07:40:24+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…yzya
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which is why as well as just verifying fundraisers I think it would be helpful if you all worked together instead of duplicating effort, to share seeds, resources and expertise which seems to be what many of these accounts are asking for

You're also setting yourself a bit of a social challenge here ...

2026-06-11T07:38:31+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…qnc5
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You're also setting yourself a bit of a social challenge here beyond the coding. Gaza Verified is personal or family fundraisers for people in Palestine who are trying to survive while being bombed, so all it needs to prove is that the people are genuinely in Gaza. But most of these accounts seem to be trying to grow food or teach children agriculture rather than just people trying to survive, so you have another level of verification that people are actually doing what they say they are as well as just being in Uganda.

I don't really have the technical expertise to help here ...

2026-06-11T07:25:54+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…j0pw
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I don't really have the technical expertise to help here I'm afraid. I'd recommend reaching out to Aral Balkan (npub1p09…m5vl) or Fabio Manganiello (npub1xw9…75ln) who built Gaza Verified, they may be able to advise you on some of the logistical issues as well as the technical ones

@npub15yt…yftt you mentioned that you were interested in making ...

2026-06-09T11:53:20+02:00

Ethan Timothy 🇺🇬 (npub15yt…yftt) you mentioned that you were interested in making a Uganda Verified list. Here are the Ugandan accounts I've come across just recently who all say they're working in sustainable agriculture, if they're genuine it might be a good idea if you all connect and start working together. Apart from anything else a lot of these accounts keep asking for advice, and as someone in the UK with a completely different climate and soil type I don't really feel qualified to offer any.

Environmental Conservation (npub1eec…rknr)
farmerchiefy (npub1lvw…f6f4)
Joshua Kevins (npub1gzf…l5sx)
MUGISHA PHOCIT (npub15nu…n829)
Nuwagaba Gift (npub10rq…t35v)
nzayisengaismael (npub13k5…hhgx)
Pacific Byiringiro 🇺🇬 (npub1cp2…pmk8) (who I think you work with already)
Samuel Kaweesi (npub19r9…4njw)
Ssentamu1234 (npub16dq…24rk)
Timothy Swallehz (npub16sf…w9t0)

Today I went to the ...

2026-06-07T19:28:53+02:00

Today I went to the [@exetercycling.bsky.social](https://bsky.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/exetercycling.bsky.social ) meetup and learned that some very good dogs will happily ride on bikes, that you can buy specialist goggles for them and that these are called doggles.

#DogsOnWheels #DogsOnBikes

"A retired GP who took part in animal cruelty and climate ...

2026-06-06T12:50:56+02:00

"A retired GP who took part in animal cruelty and climate change protests has had the suspension of her medical licence extended by 12 months.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) reviewed the fitness to practise of Dr #SarahBenn, whose current suspension was due to end on 20 June after an animal rights demonstration. She was previously suspended for #JustStopOil activism."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn5p5l64n6ro

#RightToProtest #DirectAction

Does anyone have a handy quick reference article clearly stating ...

2026-06-03T11:09:40+02:00

Does anyone have a handy quick reference article clearly stating that most people hate AI generated images, it's not just me? I need something I could use to convince a local community group I'm involved in not to go down the AI generated graphics route. The people involved are perhaps slightly older, discovering the ability to make flyers with any image they want on and think it's great, I need to be able to say it's not just me being a perfectionist, this is going to alienate more people than it attracts. TIA.

just out of curiosity did you every study flies or something that ...

2026-06-03T10:45:31+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…w589
_________________________

just out of curiosity did you every study flies or something that you would find on decayed carrion, and did you find the prospect of what you might find on there quite exciting? I mean yes, evolutionarily, finding the smell of something that could make us sick good is a bit of of a bad move, but I have definitely found the evolutionarily deep wired stuff that's supposed to keep us away from stuff that smells like it would harm us can definitely get overridden if that smell gets associated with something fun or exciting

Manchester cafe owner says police tried to recruit him to spy on ...

2026-05-31T11:18:24+02:00

Manchester cafe owner says police tried to recruit him to spy on #PalestineAction, promising him they'd overlook his speeding tickets if he did
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/may/30/manchester-police-tried-recruit-spy-palestine-action

Also somewhere in the replies a man asked me what a needle ...

2026-05-30T22:48:23+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…t3uh
_________________________

Also somewhere in the replies a man asked me what a needle threader was and I explained and now I feel like tracking down the library guy, waving my phone in his face and going "Look at that! You see how easy it is to take a genuine interest in something sewing related and ask a question in a perfectly normal way about it! LOOK HOW EASY IT IS NOT TO BE A CREEP!"

Popped up to the #CommunityGarden for the afternoon ...

2026-05-30T20:42:05+02:00

Popped up to the #CommunityGarden for the afternoon https://exetercommunitygarden.co.uk/ which was having an open day for Hospicecare https://hospiscare.co.uk/support-our-work/fundraise/open-gardens-2026/

#Exeter

Also it's 2026, women want pockets enough to make them ...

2026-05-30T18:43:07+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…8fuz
_________________________

Also it's 2026, women want pockets enough to make them ourselves FFS. Clothing companies take note

I decided it would be easier to sew the new pockets to the ...

2026-05-30T18:39:35+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…ujxa
_________________________

I decided it would be easier to sew the new pockets to the existing ones by hand, so this is my accountability thread to make sure I actually do that before it gets too cold to wear them. But yes, Exeter Library's sewing machine service: highly recommended. Creepy men: do not recommend.

Anyway after I finally got the attention of the librarians at the ...

2026-05-30T18:37:36+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…c7ud
_________________________

Anyway after I finally got the attention of the librarians at the desk and got him to fuck off I managed to finish the pockets.

7/🧵

Because I know someone will say it, I would have had no issue ...

2026-05-30T18:35:45+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…ukhm
_________________________

Because I know someone will say it, I would have had no issue with showing someone if I thought they were genuinely interested in learning to use a sewing machine, I think it's important to pass these skills on. But it was clear what he wanted wasn't to learn to sew, it was access to me.

6/🧵

The only part of the experience that wasn't great was when a ...

2026-05-30T18:33:22+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…hpqr
_________________________

The only part of the experience that wasn't great was when a man interrupted me in the middle of the first pocket and asked me to teach him how to use a sewing machine, which is the sort of thing that unfortunately happens all too frequently while Being A Woman In Public. I waved the threading instruction sheet at him, told him he was in a library and suggested he get a book, told him to look for YouTube videos and suggested he ask any older female relatives he might have because there was a good chance they might know. He responded by asking if I would come back next Saturday and he would pay me to teach him.

5/🧵

So I cut some slits in the existing useless pockets and made some ...

2026-05-30T18:24:54+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…amw8
_________________________

So I cut some slits in the existing useless pockets and made some new ones.

4/🧵

I do actually have a sewing machine of my own, but some parts ...

2026-05-30T18:21:27+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…j3dc
_________________________

I do actually have a sewing machine of my own, but some parts went rusty when I used to live in an extremely damp flat and I haven't managed to have the time and money at the same time to get it fixed since.

3/4

Fortunately #ExeterLibrary offers an extremely cool service where ...

2026-05-30T18:17:39+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…rxkv
_________________________

Fortunately #ExeterLibrary offers an extremely cool service where people with library cards can borrow a sewing machine to use in the library. It comes with a lamp, box of accessories including black and white thread and a seam ripper but not a needle threader so I'd recommend bringing your own) and instruction sheet for threading it. Threading an unfamiliar machine is often a bit of a logic puzzle but I actually found it harder to get the unfamiliar iron working, which you can also borrow for pressing. This is all free btw.

2/🧵

#Exeter #Devon #SharingEconomy

A couple of weeks ago I bought a great pair of shorts from a ...

2026-05-30T18:09:46+02:00

A couple of weeks ago I bought a great pair of shorts from a charity shop, then wore them for the first time and immediately realised why someone donated them in the first place.

1/🧵

#SlowFashion

Hit me with your #depaving tips Mastodon! This is our garden. ...

2026-05-27T10:42:12+02:00

Hit me with your #depaving tips Mastodon! This is our garden. It's pretty shit, and especially shameful given that I grow plants for a living. We want to take the tarmac up but don't really know how to start. Also my brother's friend tried taking up the tarmac in his garden and hit a sewage pipe, so we're a bit scared as the whole point of the exercise is to give us less shit to deal with not more literal shit.

Indians protest over ‘forever chemicals’ after relocation of ...

2026-05-26T09:18:41+02:00

Indians protest over ‘forever chemicals’ after relocation of scandal-hit Italian factory

"The factory left behind the contamination of one of Europe’s largest aquifers, affecting more than 350,000 people across the provinces of Vicenza, Verona and Padua through the drinking water. Miteni’s workers were worst affected, with one former employee showing one of the highest concentrations of Pfas ever recorded in human blood....

The factory’s equipment was dismantled, shipped and reassembled in Lote Parshuram, south of Mumbai. Its purpose remained the same: producing Pfas, often referred to as “forever chemicals” because of their persistence in the environment."

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/may/26/india-pfas-production-forever-chemicals-protests-italian-factory

#Pfas #ForeverChemicals #Colonialism #Racism

#Exeter and #Devon folks, protest against the new EHRC guidance ...

2026-05-24T15:43:44+02:00

#Exeter and #Devon folks, protest against the new EHRC guidance in Bedford square on Sunday the 31st.

#UKTransphobia

I bet this is the week they're filming the chocolate episode ...

2026-05-24T15:20:37+02:00

I bet this is the week they're filming the chocolate episode of Bakeoff isn't it.

#UKHeatwave

you start out by assuming good intentions the first time you ...

2026-05-24T13:06:33+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…3rl5
_________________________

you start out by assuming good intentions the first time you interact with someone. If subsequent interactions repeatedly demonstrate that they don't you change your opinions accordingly.

I was just talking about this in another thread actually, I do believe the number of genuine arseholes out there are a very small minority but the way we structure our societies tends to mean they rise to positions of power https://social.coop/@afewbugs/116628620785889118

I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this, just ...

2026-05-24T12:39:47+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…4vmz
_________________________

I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this, just thinking out loud, but I think it generally makes life more pleasant if you start out assuming everyone has good intentions but their brain may work in a completely different way to yours.

My wife once went up to a family in a hotel restaurant and told ...

2026-05-24T12:34:44+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…7ntt
_________________________

My wife once went up to a family in a hotel restaurant and told them how polite their child had been at the buffet in front of the child and I was absolutely horrified - if I'd felt that someone had been observing my behaviour as a child and gone back to report to my parents I would probably have never spoken to anyone again, but she would have been really pleased if someone had told her parents how well behaved she had been. A friend and I realised we had completely opposite strategies and both thought we were being as kind as possible to supermarket checkout attendants - she tried to be chatty and friendly, I tried to be as efficient and to the point as possible to let them get through their job faster.

2/🧵

Something I've been pondering a lot lately is how we all ...

2026-05-24T12:30:23+02:00

Something I've been pondering a lot lately is how we all think so differently you really have no way of knowing other peoples' intentions or how what you intend to be helpful will land. I saw a post on here from someone saying that she hates how craft tutorials always mention the brand of products they use, that it feels so commercialised and like they're trying to sell you something for commission. Whereas I like it when people are specific about which precise product they're using and always try and do it myself, not because I want people to go out and buy it but in case they want as much information as possible about replicating a particular step.

1/🧵

they're on here @npub1lpy…8wcz

2026-05-24T11:18:14+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…anrs
_________________________

they're on here Veggies Catering Campaign (npub1lpy…8wcz)

Let the record show that my darling wife just saw me wearing ear ...

2026-05-23T20:38:42+02:00

Let the record show that my darling wife just saw me wearing ear defenders and said "that's kind of hot actually, you look like a fucked up Princess Leia".

Like I knew lesbians and power tools was a thing, but it hadn't previously occurred to me that the PPE could be the hot part.

feel better soon! ...

2026-05-19T19:41:26+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…3n6u
_________________________

feel better soon!

"⁠One way to think about the climate crisis is that we are ...

2026-05-19T10:43:59+02:00

"⁠One way to think about the climate crisis is that we are systematically reducing the margin on which we live on this planet. There were always places where humans couldn’t live: the Antarctic, the centres of the great deserts, the high mountains. But now we’re systematically adding to that list, as places become dangerously combustible, or overrun by rising seas, or just plain too hot. We’re shrinking the board on which we play the sublime game of being human....

A way to look at the work we’re doing together is that we’re trying to build some margin back in....

We were born onto a world with lots of margin, especially those of us who are older. The size of the game board was expanding back then, as we learned new ways to grow and store food and the like. But through short-sightedness and greed we began to shrink that buffer, and now greed and short-sightedness have become the cornerstones of government policy, along with pure and undiluted racism."

https://billmckibben.substack.com/p/a-question-of-margin

"A couple have spent the past 20 years experimenting to ...

2026-05-18T13:42:55+02:00

"A couple have spent the past 20 years experimenting to perfect the practice of moulding trees so they grow into the shape of a chair.

Alice and Gavin Munro grow their creations upside down, in a process that they say typically takes between six and nine years, before each item is dried for a year.

The process involves training and pruning young tree branches as they grow over specially-made pieces of recycled plastic which help to shape the trees' growth."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg0yy3gp71o

Amazing work everyone and welcome to Europe Joy @npub1p09…m5vl ...

2026-05-14T14:29:08+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…0r9q
_________________________

Amazing work everyone and welcome to Europe Joy Aral Balkan (npub1p09…m5vl) Joy (npub1nv8…za59) River (npub12ga…u33r)

I love you Mastodon, I really do, but sometimes we need to be a ...

2026-05-14T09:02:50+02:00

I love you Mastodon, I really do, but sometimes we need to be a bit better at focusing on the important issues and ignoring the extraneous details you know? The EU Commission just posted about banning conversion therapy and the replies (that I can see anyway) are exclusively people having a go at them for using a url shortener, people having a go at them for how the post was phrased, someone being cross they didn't do this earlier and someone arguing that this is taking away the rights of consenting adults to have conversion therapy if they want it.

Like sometimes maybe we should dial down the Mastodonning a little, you know?

Why is there a row about an MSP's immigration status? "In ...

2026-05-13T11:57:18+02:00

Why is there a row about an MSP's immigration status?

"In 2024, the Scottish Parliament unanimously voted to extend election candidacy rights to non-UK citizens with limited leave to remain - which grants them permission to stay in the UK for a time-limited period.

That rule change allowed Manivannan to stand for election to the Scottish Parliament."

So basically they stood perfectly legally and the answer to the headline question is just racism then.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g82j03w94o

#UKpol #ScotPol #Immigration #GreenParty

I love horse chestnut flowers, they're so frothy and ...

2026-05-13T09:54:59+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…gvdh
_________________________

I love horse chestnut flowers, they're so frothy and exuberant and come out in May which is such an optimistic time of year. But until reading the blog post above I'd never actually noticed the different colour patches in them. It does make me wonder how much else I haven't noticed in the familiar because my attention hasn't been drawn to it.

From Ray Cannon's Nature Notes - flowers that change colour ...

2026-05-11T14:05:24+02:00

From Ray Cannon's Nature Notes - flowers that change colour after being pollinated.

https://rcannon992.com/2026/05/10/flowers-that-change-colour-when-pollinated/

and 2. at the end of filming everyone who had been involved went ...

2026-05-09T20:24:05+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…xzsh
_________________________

and 2. at the end of filming everyone who had been involved went out for a meal and he told this story about when he had been filming in Africa and they had visited a village where the chief was very keen to show off his beautiful, elaborately carved hardwood throne. Every night to protect it from termites they would hoist it up into the grass roof of his house on ropes and store it there. But one day the weight of it proved too much and it pulled the whole house down on top of them.

And then David Attenborough paused. And the whole table, who had been taking this entire anecdote completely seriously as something that he personally witnessed while filming, leaned in closer.

"So it's true what they say" he apparently said gravely with an entirely straight face. "People who live in grass houses shouldn't stow thrones"

The whole table had believed his Dad joke completely. Absolute legend.

I've also never met David Attenborough, but he filmed ...

2026-05-09T20:18:10+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…xvr0
_________________________

I've also never met David Attenborough, but he filmed something at Kew Gardens while I was working there and some people I knew met him. They all said he was lovely, and told two brilliant stories about him: 1. that he was apparently on some special diet for his kidney health and had salads for lunch every day, and didn't like having salad for lunch every day so would sneak backstage and steal sandwiches from the camera crew platters

I love that we've both learned something from this thread, ...

2026-05-09T20:07:58+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…d97j
_________________________

I love that we've both learned something from this thread, you about native bumblebees, me about the Wabanaki Confederacy

apologies for not knowing this, I looked up the Wabanaki ...

2026-05-09T19:45:52+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…07g2
_________________________

apologies for not knowing this, I looked up the Wabanaki Confederacy and I assume you're in Maine? If so there is some info on your local species here https://mainebumblebeeatlas.umf.maine.edu/

which country are you in though? This is for UK ground nesting ...

2026-05-09T19:42:56+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…gkh2
_________________________

which country are you in though? This is for UK ground nesting bumblebees, I don't know if your local species have the same requirements

I just used an old hosepipe from my parents' garage. I ...

2026-05-09T19:41:56+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…kaer
_________________________

I just used an old hosepipe from my parents' garage. I followed these instructions https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/diy/how-to-make-a-bumblebee-nest/

until the day we get a better electoral system than First Past ...

2026-05-08T17:02:01+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…gfg0
_________________________

until the day we get a better electoral system than First Past the Post I think our best bet is trying to replicate the South Devon Primary model and uniting behind one progressive candidate in each constituency https://www.bylinesupplement.com/p/the-peoples-primary-how-one-constituency

‘I’m mad at the people who could have solved the problem’: ...

2026-05-07T16:59:57+02:00

‘I’m mad at the people who could have solved the problem’: what kids told us about #EcoAnxiety
https://theconversation.com/im-mad-at-the-people-who-could-have-solved-the-problem-what-kids-told-us-about-eco-anxiety-278999

An environmental activist in her early twenties who I realised I ...

2026-05-07T10:28:10+02:00

An environmental activist in her early twenties who I realised I hadn't seen anything from in a long time just popped back up on my Instagram feed looking noticeably thinner and more tired than the last time I saw her stuff. Turns out she had a covid infection and now has type 1 diabetes from it. And we've just decided as a society to accept that this happens to a percentage of people haven't we? Like we could be masking and cleaning the air and offering free vaccinations, but instead we've just decided this is a normal thing that happens to people now.

#CovidIsNotOver

That caricature of Zack Polanski the Times published was far more ...

2026-05-05T16:31:55+02:00

In reply to nevent1q…5mua
_________________________

That caricature of Zack Polanski the Times published was far more antisemitic than anything the man himself has ever said, but the popularity of the Green Party threatens Labour's hold on their voters so they're going after them with everything they can get their hands on. The big issue mobilising protests today is Palestine, and protests are inconvenient for the government so they're trying to clamp down, but they'd be using other tactics and claiming to be protecting other groups if the big protests right now were anti monarchy, or police brutality against Black people, or Insulate Britain.

#UKpol

Antisemitic hate crimes are a huge problem in the UK. I have to ...

2026-05-05T16:25:38+02:00

Antisemitic hate crimes are a huge problem in the UK. I have to admit the size of the disparity on this graph surprised me, https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:codfx2epdduamfycuyi5fjpb/post/3mkzton2ruc2x and we could quibble about statistics and potential underreporting to a racist police force by other ethnic groups, but the fact remains it is a real problem. But what pisses me off about the way it's been weaponised by the government against the Green Party and the Palestine protests is that they're not actually doing it because they care about the safety or well-being of Jewish people, it's just a convenient means of attacking a political rival or suppressing protest.