Shopping
Nov. 12th, 2025 02:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithHere is an interesting discussion about what it costs to buy kitchen equipment. None of this is how I'd go about it, unless someone handed me grant money earmarked for that purpose. (Fair disclosure: I could make a crude but usable knife by busting a rock, and I could cook on a flat rock or with sticks. Kitchen equipment is a beloved convenience for me.)
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Conservation
Nov. 12th, 2025 02:08 pmysabetwordsmithMassachusetts is turning retired cranberry bogs into natural wetlands. They’re on track to rewild 1,000 acres
In November 2024, the DER funneled $6 million in grants to the restoration plan. According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, more than 500 acres of retired cranberry bogs have already been converted into wetlands — with hopes of restoring 1,000 acres in the next decade.
“These projects will transform degraded former cranberry bogs into thriving wetlands that will provide habitat to important species, flood control in time of storms, and access for all to beautiful natural areas,” Governor Maura Healey said in a statement.
This is a brilliant plan that will provide tremendous benefits for wildlife, as wetlands are among the most biodiverse communities. It will be especially helpful to migrating waterfowl of the Atlantic Flyway.
In November 2024, the DER funneled $6 million in grants to the restoration plan. According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, more than 500 acres of retired cranberry bogs have already been converted into wetlands — with hopes of restoring 1,000 acres in the next decade.
“These projects will transform degraded former cranberry bogs into thriving wetlands that will provide habitat to important species, flood control in time of storms, and access for all to beautiful natural areas,” Governor Maura Healey said in a statement.
This is a brilliant plan that will provide tremendous benefits for wildlife, as wetlands are among the most biodiverse communities. It will be especially helpful to migrating waterfowl of the Atlantic Flyway.
Birdfeeding
Nov. 12th, 2025 01:52 pmysabetwordsmithToday is sunny and mild, a beautiful fall day.
I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches plus a fox squirrel.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 11/12/25 -- I planted 4 clusters of Egyptian walking onions.
EDIT 11/12/25 -- I filled a trolley with dead weeds and dumped it in the firepit.
EDIT 11/12/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 11/12/25 -- I did more work around the patio.
.
I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches plus a fox squirrel.
I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 11/12/25 -- I planted 4 clusters of Egyptian walking onions.
EDIT 11/12/25 -- I filled a trolley with dead weeds and dumped it in the firepit.
EDIT 11/12/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
EDIT 11/12/25 -- I did more work around the patio.
.
2025 November Magpie (not Monday)
Nov. 12th, 2025 10:10 amdialecticdreamerWelcome to the November of 2025 Magpie Monday!
Yes, it’s Wednesday. Yes, I’m “running late.” I’m very sorry about that. Life keeps kicking me in the shins, on Mondays! So, I’m turning that recurring nonsense into an actual theme!
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Yes, it’s Wednesday. Yes, I’m “running late.” I’m very sorry about that. Life keeps kicking me in the shins, on Mondays! So, I’m turning that recurring nonsense into an actual theme!
( Read more... )
CodeSOD: Historical Dates
Nov. 12th, 2025 06:30 am![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
the_daily_wtf_feedHandling non-existent values always presents special challenges. We've (mostly) agreed that NULL is, in some fashion, the right way to do it, though it's still common to see some sort of sentinel value that exists outside of the expected range- like a function returning a negative value when an error occurred, and a zero (or positive) value when the operation completes.
Javier found this function, which has a… very French(?) way of handling invalid dates.
Private Function CheckOraDate(ByVal sDate As String) As String
Dim OraOValDate As New DAL.PostGre.DataQuery()
Dim tdate As Date
If IsDate(sDate) Then
Return IIf(OraOValDate.IsOracle, CustomOracleDate(Convert.ToDateTime(sDate).ToString("MM-dd-yyyy")), "'" & sDate & "'")
Else
'~~~ No Date Flag of Bastille Day
Return CustomOracleDate(Convert.ToDateTime("07/14/1789").ToString("MM-dd-yyyy"))
End If
End Function
Given a date string, we check if it is a valid date string using IsDate. If it is, we check if our data access layer thinks the IsOracle flag is set, and if it is, we do some sort of conversion to a `CustomOracleDate", otherwise we just return the input wrapped in quotes.
All that is sketchy- any function that takes dates as a string input and then returns the date in a new format as a string always gets my hackles up. It implies loads of stringly typed operations.
But the WTF is how we handle a bad input date: we return Bastille Day.
In practice, this meant that their database system was reporting customers' birthdays as Bastille Day. And let me tell you, those customers don't look a day over 200, let alone 236.
For an extra bonus WTF, while the "happy path" checks if we should use the custom oracle formatting, the Bastille Day path does not, and just does whatever the Oracle step is every time.
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Cuddle Party
Nov. 12th, 2025 01:42 amysabetwordsmithEveryone needs contact comfort sometimes. Not everyone has ample opportunities for this in facetime. So here is a chance for a cuddle party in cyberspace. Virtual cuddling can help people feel better.
We have a cuddle room that comes with fort cushions, fort frames, sheets for draping, and a weighted blanket. A nest full of colorful egg pillows sits in one corner. There is a basket of grooming brushes, hairbrushes, and styling combs. A bin holds textured pillows. There is a big basket of craft supplies along with art markers, coloring pages, and blank paper. The kitchen has a popcorn machine. Labels are available to mark dietary needs, recipe ingredients, and level of spiciness. Here is the bathroom, open to everyone. There is a lawn tent and an outdoor hot tub. Bathers should post a sign for nude or clothed activity. Come snuggle up!
Thanksgiving is just around the corner, along with various other harvest festivals and feasts. :D Load up the table! I am putting out Delectable Turkey of Gratitude, Buddha's Hand Salad, Mashed Yams with Halva, Persimmon Crumble, and apple cider.
( Read more... )
We have a cuddle room that comes with fort cushions, fort frames, sheets for draping, and a weighted blanket. A nest full of colorful egg pillows sits in one corner. There is a basket of grooming brushes, hairbrushes, and styling combs. A bin holds textured pillows. There is a big basket of craft supplies along with art markers, coloring pages, and blank paper. The kitchen has a popcorn machine. Labels are available to mark dietary needs, recipe ingredients, and level of spiciness. Here is the bathroom, open to everyone. There is a lawn tent and an outdoor hot tub. Bathers should post a sign for nude or clothed activity. Come snuggle up!
Thanksgiving is just around the corner, along with various other harvest festivals and feasts. :D Load up the table! I am putting out Delectable Turkey of Gratitude, Buddha's Hand Salad, Mashed Yams with Halva, Persimmon Crumble, and apple cider.
( Read more... )
Glitch in the matrix
Nov. 11th, 2025 11:15 pmfayanoraOne of my submissions made it on an "As The Raven Dreams" video about glitches in the matrix! (The better of the two I submitted.) (Starting around 3:09) Story 7 is also mine!
Girl Genius for Wednesday, November 12, 2025
Nov. 12th, 2025 05:00 amgirlgenius_main_feedThe Girl Genius comic for Wednesday, November 12, 2025 has been posted.
November 12, 2025: Some SJG Favorites Of Mine Through The Years - Part 1
Nov. 12th, 2025 06:41 amdaily_illuminator_feed
The first of a three-part series detailing favorite projects that I had a significant part in:
For the first 18 months that I worked for Steve Jackson Games, I was solely a production artist. My earliest work was mainly Munchkin reprints and marketing ads. My first "big" assignment was doing all the artwork for the Munchkin Tavern(!!) at GenCon. After that, I branched into working on the design of other games and projects – the first of which was Chupacabra: Survive the Night. Another company originally published this in a boxed format; we brought it into SJG with a bit of finessing of the rules, and we updated it to a cup format similar to Zombie Dice. Chupacabra was my first toe-dip into designing a game's look. Little did I know it would turn out to be one of my favorite games, and one I continually reach for when I want a quick pick-up game with family and friends. A bit about my personal gaming preference – if I can read and understand a game's rules within 5 minutes or less, it's likely just my style.
The lore of the chupacabra (the "goat-sucker") is something I've known since childhood, so I knew that blood-red would have to be a big part of my color palette. The original game box was mostly black with red eyes. My design ended up with glowing yellow eyes on the can because red eyes didn't pop enough on the blood-red background. Bonus fact: The red lid on the cup of the game is the same red lid we use on the Zombie Dice cup. Since the chupacabra has been depicted in various ways over the years, there is no single interpretation of what it might actually look like. The silhouette of the chupacabra illustration on our version of the game was drawn in-house by Alex Fernandez – and interestingly enough, is just a cleanup of his first sketch. Sometimes you do get it right on the first try.
I do love that we kept the glow-in-the-dark dice from the earlier edition, but from first-hand experience, I can tell you that playing this chaotic dice-rolling game in the dark is not ideal. However, it is a super fun, quick-to-learn game that is suitable for most ages. My niece, at 5 years old, didn't really understand all the rules, but she enjoyed rolling the dice and constantly "winning" (cough, cough, cheating) every round. A couple of years later, she was waaaay better at understanding game rules, and she still brings this one out and plays with me every time we have a game night.
– Sabrina Gonzales
Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action
There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!
El Goonish Shive - falsekings-069
Nov. 12th, 2025 01:08 amegs_comic_feed
New comic!
Today's News:
Successfully compromising with a cat is honestly pretty impressive. They're not big on that.
- MEREOW (very next page)
- Concerns about Voltaire observing them
"Mist just said that you two can communicate with animals. You clearly asked the cat what forms were available."
I think angled panels can be fun at times, but they actually made me feel a little disoriented while inking parts of this page. I'd go so far as to describe it as a mild dizziness.
--
Aurora
Nov. 11th, 2025 11:03 pmysabetwordsmithSolar flares are causing auroras to appear in the northern half of the continental USA.
We caught a great show here in central Illinois. :D There was a large bright green blob to the northwest, a paler green streak just south of that, a larger red area just north of it, and some pink off toward the northeast. It's the most distinctive aurora we've seen -- previous examples tended to be solid sheets and less bright.
We caught a great show here in central Illinois. :D There was a large bright green blob to the northwest, a paler green streak just south of that, a larger red area just north of it, and some pink off toward the northeast. It's the most distinctive aurora we've seen -- previous examples tended to be solid sheets and less bright.
