Nice! I also went for a bike ride, with one of my kids (7yo). About 10km, so they did really well!

Anyone do anything good for Matariki?

I’ve written the draft of the census results. One thing that is clear from the census results is that I need a proof reader. Any volunteers to proof read the draft?

As the article mentions, many of the things not able to be put in kerbside recycling can be collected and dropped off at collection centres (different things depending on where you are in the country).

Not mentioned is Terracycle. Various stores or companies that sponsor this have dropoff points, or you can collect up your toothpaste tubes or razors or whatever else is supported and send them in using prepaid shipping labels.

For things not covered under a sponsorship, Terracycle let you to pay to have it recycled. But for lack of a better term, it’s fucking expensive. A small all-in-one box (put anything in it that they accept - which is almost anything) will set you back $315.

One big problem is that while many things are technically recyclable, but it’s not a long term plan. Most plastics are no longer useful after being recycled a couple of times, glass and metals are much more recyclable. However, they are also heavier, so e.g. glass may end up using more oil overall because of the extra weight that needs to be transported. Aluminium is super recyclable and also light, we should use it more, though mining it is not cheap.

Really what we need is closed loop systems. Instead of making stuff from the cheapest product available then asking how to recycle it, we should work out what is the most reusable or recyclable and then make stuff out of that.

I guess non-Dave’s are acceptable. I’m actually curious that you moved from the US to the EU and are now using more cash. I always think of the EU as being more digital on the finance side, not sure why, I’ve never been there.

There are more possible chess moves (estimated at 10^120 for an average game) than there are atoms in the observable universe (estimated at 10^80). That is to say the number of possible chess moves has 40 more zeros on the end than the number of atoms in the observable universe.

Can you point to some souce showing how modern hardware can work these out easily?

It’s interesting that some people find that to be the case. Personally I download transactions from my back account at the end of each month and track what money was spent on. Cash is untraced and free to spend!

Also, after some bank greed we now have 2% surcharges at most places for tap to pay (we call it paywave), and credit card transactions in general. Knowing this goes straight to the bank, it’s basically “would you like to make a donation to the bank?”. No thanks, I’ll insert my card and pay that way.

I carried no cash for years, but more recently I have cash now so I can give some to the kids to go buy stuff.

I know in Wellington the Mojo coffee chain doesn’t take cash anymore, which started with the pandemic.

I don’t know what’s up with the downvotes. This article is not saying all these things can’t technically be recycled, it’s saying that you can’t put them in your kerbside bin because of new government rules that standardise things across the country.

It will be interesting to hear if this actually helps our recycling rates (because of less contaminated recycling), or if it hurts them (less stuff allowed in the recycling bin).

Nah, this is a relatively new public holiday that we’ve only been observing since 2022. It’s called Matariki. Here’s the summary:

Historically, Matariki was usually celebrated for a period of days during the last quarter of the moon of the lunar month Pipiri (around June). The ceremony involved viewing the individual stars for forecasts of the year to come, mourning the deceased of the past year, and making an offering of food to replenish the stars. Some Māori use the rise of Puanga (Rigel) or other stars to mark the new year.

Celebration of Matariki declined during the 20th century, but beginning in the early 1990s it underwent a revival. Matariki was first celebrated as an official public holiday in New Zealand on 24 June 2022.

It was originally proposed to replace our Queen’s Birthday public holiday, but in the end we got both.

Plus, salads can be calorie dense too!

If you’re not drenching it in home made cheese sauce, then you have given it a real try.

Wow, New Zealand too! Except our extra day was Friday, and we live in the future, so back to work already.

It’s not that they are heading towards the moon. The overhead moonlight tells them that towards the light is up. They aren’t trying to head towards the light, I think one of the articles mentioned insects facing their back to the light. No matter how far they travel, the ground is dark and the sky is slightly lighter, so they can keep themselves level.

With an outdoor light, if they come near it then moving a metre away drastically changes the direction of the light. If they try to keep their back to the light, they end up curving up and around and back towards the light.

It’s just a primative orientation system getting messed up by something that wasn’t around when they evolved.

Stardew Valley is casual, low stress, with heaps of content.

For quick few minutes I’ve recently been into Pirate Solitaire which is on F-Droid.

With my grandmother is was gradual over a really long time, but I’m curious about the anti cholesterol medication which she was almost certainly on. I’m learning about this a decade too late though 🫤

This is the Manawatū River Loop, which I’m only just realising is some weird side loop that comes off the river and back on. It passes next to Foxton, and the photo is taken from near the River Loop Reserve Playground, which I’m told has the best slide in the world, but that was just one kid’s opinion.

I will attempt to link to the place on Open Street Map, hopefully this works: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/1296553394

If only I could draw!

Thanks! It seems this is the same study. It seems the specifics are that insects are not directly attracted to the light, rather they expect a diffuse light source overhead (such as from the moon and stars) and use this to orient themselves. Their primative light detection can’t tell the difference between this light and artificial light.

I would say this is more an explanation of how insects confuse artificial lights for moonlight, I wouldn’t say it disproves the idea that insects confused artificial light for moonlight.

I find this bit a bit confusing.

Contrary to myth, nocturnal insects do not fly around artificial lights because they confuse them with the moon or stars. Recent research, filming moths with high-speed cameras, found they use moonlight and starlight to differentiate between “up” and “down” as they fly.

Their erratic flight around your outside light is actually due to them trying to orientate themselves to a nonexistent horizon.

I don’t quite get the difference between insects confusing lights with the moon and stars vs using them to orient up and down, which presumably is due to them being like the moon or stars so they can tell which way is up.

It would be nice if they actually described how this research identified what makes them confused, or explained it a bit more.

Also, do inside lights affect insects when curtains are shut (which largely block the light), or is it mostly outside lights and street lights?

Here’s a photo I took recently:

I think we should make themes optional so if you have a pic you want to post that doesn’t fit, you still can, what does everyone else think?

I think this is a good idea. Got something cool to share? Just share it. Prefer the challenge of a theme? We got you covered.