Awww, after 50+ years Diego gets to go home:
Diego the giant Galapagos tortoise whose tireless efforts are credited with almost single-handedly saving his once-threatened species, was put out to pasture Monday on his native island after decades of breeding in captivity
Good read: Seven of Nine Was Always Queer: 📺 🖖 🏳️🌈
So much of what Seven does on Voyager is to break down the binaries that exist in Janeway’s and others’ minds. Seven is not good or bad. She is not Borg or human. She is both and she is neither. She is Borg, she is human, and she is one of the first of her kind: an xB.
The person who bought my old Fuji X-M1 camera body very kindly shared some links and tips about updating firmware on the newer Fuji X-T2 I now have. I never think about updating firmware on my camera, let alone the lenses!
I could see it was cold out (-2C) when I woke at 4.30. Dawn showed the frost that went with the low temps. Note too the very high pressure: 1038 mbar.
This good-looking fellow was resting his head on the fork of the tree beside him … until I took out my phone for a photo. Very handsome though anyway. 🐄
What would it feel like, I wonder, to scan the TV and movie listings in something like TV+ or Netflix, and to see 99% of the offerings showing predominantly women acting with agency, self-sufficiency, courage, … having adventures … dealing with issues … dreaming? 🤷🏽♀️
Ive been watching the TV+ series Dear… Its uplifting and inspiring. Each episode looks at the life of a well-known person, and interweaves extracts from letters from people whose lives have been profoundly changed by that person. So far: Oprah Winfrey, Stevie Wonder et al.
Just rewatched the 14 minute SciShow video There Are More Than Two Human Sexes which so clearly explains why XX and XY are just the extremes on a spectrum. There’s so much more to both sex and gender than we originally thought.
Niue The World’s First ‘Dark Sky Nation’ 🇳🇺
the International Dark-Sky Association … announced an important world-first … the tiny South Pacific nation of Niue is the first country to be formally accredited as an International Dark Sky Place.
This is perfect — I love Niue!
Geraldine farmers go to bat for endangered species
[farmers] planned to cut down a row of willows at their property near Geraldine until they discovered a colony of critically endangered long-tailed bats/pekapeka had made the old trees their home.
NZ’s only native land mammal…
Fungi at the beach — a benefit of driftwood. Sometimes I think Ive learned nothing about taking photos over the last decade. Then I realise in the past I would have taken this boring and useless top-down wide photo. Now I know to get in close and level. Pleased with it. 🍄
A huge downside to committing to learning a bunch of songs / waiata in the Māori language / Te Reo Māori: Ive had several of them in my head on a perpetual loop for at least 24 hours now. Combined with insufficient sleep and intrusive tinnitus I may well spontaneously combust!
Kiwi company Lanaco makes wool face masks, used in bushfires and for Covid-19. They even bred sheep specially, to get the wool just right. Now they’re off into space: 🇳🇿 🚀
the official suppliers for critical air supply filtration on [NASA]’s next mission to the moon and Mars
Warm fronts? Cold fronts? This 5.5 minute video from the UK MetOffice explains well: What are weather fronts?. 🌦
It was linked from a free course I’ve started working through: Come Rain or Shine: Understanding the Weather.
For Micro Monday let me recommend @dejus , a Kiwi living in the US who keeps us entertained with his wonderful photos: Flock Friday, Throwback Thursday, Caturday, his building projects, such as the vege garden and duck house, his bees and even more. 👍
What fabulous news for Aotearoa New Zealand re Covid-19 today: 🦠
active cases: Zero
28 February to 08 June 2020:
confirmed cases: 1154
total confirmed and probable cases: 1504
recovered cases: 1482
virus-related deaths: 22
(Not good for the 22 who died, of course. 😒)
Waiata #4 to learn: Ko Mātou
Ko mātou, te rōpū mahi e
Ko mātou, te rōpū mahi e
Ka papaki noa
Ka titiro noa
Ka tutuki noa
Ka kikini noa
Kei te aroha
Ki ngā taonga
Te iwi Māori e
In English:
This is our group
This is our group
Clasping
Admiring
Reaching out
And touching
With appreciation
The treasures
Of our people
Note: it's the same tune as "Yellow Bird".
We really enjoyed watching Netflix ☛ Space Force 📺
Space Force is a workplace comedy series that centers on a group of people tasked with establishing … the United States Space Force.
Hmmm, Feedbin has been down for hours now. I’m missing my RSS feeds…
Waiata #3 to learn: E toru ngā mea
E toru ngā mea
Ngā mea nunui
E kī ana
Te Paipera
Whakapono
Tūmanako
Ko te mea nui
Ko te aroha
In English:
There are three
Great things
That are spoken of
In the Bible
Faith
Hope
And the greatest of all
Love
This is an inspirational waiata about the importance of guiding your life by the principles of faith, hope, and love — aroha. Aroha means more than simply love — it can mean caring and sharing and also supporting people.
This waiata can be sung unaccompanied. It is in the call and response style and needs a strong singer to lead it. Alternatively, use two groups and then swap their parts.