Richard Littauer
@richlitt.bsky.social
PhD in CS at Te Herenga Waka, focusing on birds. Open source. Linguist and conlanger. eBird and iNat. SustainOSS and CURIOSS. He/him.
See https://burntfen.com for a list of things I did when I should have been doing other things.
See https://burntfen.com for a list of things I did when I should have been doing other things.
Reposted by Richard Littauer
GM: Charisma check.
Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]
GM: that’s a d6 how did you
Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊
Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]
GM: that’s a d6 how did you
Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊
February 7, 2026 at 5:01 AM
GM: Charisma check.
Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]
GM: that’s a d6 how did you
Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊
Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]
GM: that’s a d6 how did you
Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊
Reposted by Richard Littauer
Scotland has passed a law that all new buildings must install ‘swift bricks’ which are hollowed out bricks to help nesting swifts and other endangered birds! Swifts are especially endangered because so many chimneys now have chimney caps. Swifts return to the same nesting spot year after year.
February 6, 2026 at 3:01 AM
Scotland has passed a law that all new buildings must install ‘swift bricks’ which are hollowed out bricks to help nesting swifts and other endangered birds! Swifts are especially endangered because so many chimneys now have chimney caps. Swifts return to the same nesting spot year after year.
Reposted by Richard Littauer
Yup. This is also why I get annoyed when people start suggesting "golden age" science fiction titles to people who are new the genre and are asking for suggestions. You want to turn a modern 15-year-old off science fiction forever, recommend stories that were old when her grandparents were her age.
When people ask how to get into GA SF I always say that the right way is via some of those fat "Best Of" short fiction collections
February 5, 2026 at 11:19 PM
Yup. This is also why I get annoyed when people start suggesting "golden age" science fiction titles to people who are new the genre and are asking for suggestions. You want to turn a modern 15-year-old off science fiction forever, recommend stories that were old when her grandparents were her age.
Happy to have helped as the editor to bring this to publication.
Just published in JOSS: 'Ellip: An Elliptic Integral Library for Rust' https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.09386
February 3, 2026 at 5:54 PM
Happy to have helped as the editor to bring this to publication.
Reposted by Richard Littauer
A Black-capped Chickadee showcasing winter fashion by donning a snowflake accessory.
January 31, 2026 at 11:12 PM
A Black-capped Chickadee showcasing winter fashion by donning a snowflake accessory.
Hi friends. I am having an excellent time at #FOSDEM. I am not posting on BlueSky much while being here, because I find Mastodon an easier place to reach most of my OSS audience.
Hope that's OK. mastodon.social/@richlitt
Hope that's OK. mastodon.social/@richlitt
Richard Littauer (@richlitt@mastodon.social)
1.88K Posts, 386 Following, 590 Followers · #OpenSource #OpenScience #OpenAccess, #birds and #birding, #inaturalist #ebird #Latin, #languages #linguistics and #conlangs, hiking and mountaineering, tra...
mastodon.social
January 31, 2026 at 5:08 PM
Hi friends. I am having an excellent time at #FOSDEM. I am not posting on BlueSky much while being here, because I find Mastodon an easier place to reach most of my OSS audience.
Hope that's OK. mastodon.social/@richlitt
Hope that's OK. mastodon.social/@richlitt
This is an excellent photo of penguins. macaulaylibrary.org/asset/648954...
ML648954048 - Royal Penguin - Macaulay Library
Macaulay Library ML648954048; © JJ Harrison; Huon Valley, Tasmania, Australia
macaulaylibrary.org
January 30, 2026 at 2:32 PM
This is an excellent photo of penguins. macaulaylibrary.org/asset/648954...
Reposted by Richard Littauer
I've been a faculty member in #Linguistics at a high-profile US university for for over a decade now. Most years I've been involved in graduate admissions. As of this year I'm the Graduate Chair for my department. I thought it might be helpful to share some advice for grad applicants...
January 28, 2026 at 9:06 PM
I've been a faculty member in #Linguistics at a high-profile US university for for over a decade now. Most years I've been involved in graduate admissions. As of this year I'm the Graduate Chair for my department. I thought it might be helpful to share some advice for grad applicants...
Reposted by Richard Littauer
Want to see something no one's ever seen before? (barring 160~ people who watched it live a few minutes ago)
January 28, 2026 at 1:42 AM
Want to see something no one's ever seen before? (barring 160~ people who watched it live a few minutes ago)
Reposted by Richard Littauer
Being a journalist is sick: I just contacted a pre-eminent jaguar conservationist in Argentine with a question that has been weighing on me for ages and he wrote back right away with an informed answer.
January 25, 2026 at 11:13 PM
Being a journalist is sick: I just contacted a pre-eminent jaguar conservationist in Argentine with a question that has been weighing on me for ages and he wrote back right away with an informed answer.
Reposted by Richard Littauer
A lot of the Male Loneliness Epidemic can be traced back to the fact that most cis dudes don’t participate in communal logistics.
I think @sarahjeong.bsky.social said it's because they devalue women's labor and a LOT of this Scary Logistics stuff comes from people who don't understand that basically all of the civic life they enjoy is created with the help of free labor, largely by women.
Tho I will say, in his defense, he's not the first person to be confused by how quickly the romance authors & readers can whip up finely tuned logistics out of nothing. 😂
January 26, 2026 at 2:02 AM
A lot of the Male Loneliness Epidemic can be traced back to the fact that most cis dudes don’t participate in communal logistics.
Reposted by Richard Littauer
tomorrow, StandWithMinnesota.com will hit a million site visits and over 650,000 unique visitors.
i made it 10 days ago with $600 from you guys for hosting and cloudflare.
thank you. thank you.
i made it 10 days ago with $600 from you guys for hosting and cloudflare.
thank you. thank you.
Stand With Minnesota Donation Directory
Stand With Minnesota is a hub for supporting, learning, and taking action to support Minnesotans impacted by ICE and federal enforcement.
StandWithMinnesota.com
January 25, 2026 at 8:12 PM
tomorrow, StandWithMinnesota.com will hit a million site visits and over 650,000 unique visitors.
i made it 10 days ago with $600 from you guys for hosting and cloudflare.
thank you. thank you.
i made it 10 days ago with $600 from you guys for hosting and cloudflare.
thank you. thank you.
Reposted by Richard Littauer
It's #BurnsNight, so here's some #paleoart of one of Triassic Scotland's most famous inhabitants: Scleromochlus taylori. Exactly what Scleromochlus represents is still debated. Most think it's an early pterosauromorph, but not all. Like this image? Get a print @ www.markwitton.co.uk/product-page...
January 25, 2026 at 9:47 PM
It's #BurnsNight, so here's some #paleoart of one of Triassic Scotland's most famous inhabitants: Scleromochlus taylori. Exactly what Scleromochlus represents is still debated. Most think it's an early pterosauromorph, but not all. Like this image? Get a print @ www.markwitton.co.uk/product-page...
Reposted by Richard Littauer
Clergy are being arrested in Minnesota for peacefully protesting - 1/23/2026
January 23, 2026 at 6:47 PM
Clergy are being arrested in Minnesota for peacefully protesting - 1/23/2026
Would software patents that have a shorter timeline - 5 years - make more sense?
January 22, 2026 at 6:37 PM
Would software patents that have a shorter timeline - 5 years - make more sense?
Reposted by Richard Littauer
Reposted by Richard Littauer
Nice little structural ambiguity for the #linguistics feed
Yesterday it was cows using tools, today its penguins using satellite imagery.
January 21, 2026 at 7:24 AM
Nice little structural ambiguity for the #linguistics feed
Reposted by Richard Littauer
PLEASE SHARE! The submission period for the photos for the Southern Reach coffee table book ends after Jan 21. Keep them coming. You're taking some amazing shots! Like this one from Ottawa submitted by Anna Parks. Rules: www.jeffvandermeer.com/lighthouseph...
January 18, 2026 at 2:57 PM
PLEASE SHARE! The submission period for the photos for the Southern Reach coffee table book ends after Jan 21. Keep them coming. You're taking some amazing shots! Like this one from Ottawa submitted by Anna Parks. Rules: www.jeffvandermeer.com/lighthouseph...
Reposted by Richard Littauer
Yesterday I was convinced I had probably found the type specimens of a bird. I hadn't. They were part of the same series taken by the same collector, but unlikely to be the syntypes I was looking for.
This morning, "The God Abandons Antony" revisited me.
poetryarchive.org/poem/god-aba...
This morning, "The God Abandons Antony" revisited me.
poetryarchive.org/poem/god-aba...
The God Abandons Antony - Poetry Archive
When suddenly, at midnight, you hear an invisible procession going by with exquisite music, voices, don’t mourn your luck that’s failing now, work gone wrong, your plans all proving deceptive—don’t mo...
poetryarchive.org
January 17, 2026 at 1:41 AM
Yesterday I was convinced I had probably found the type specimens of a bird. I hadn't. They were part of the same series taken by the same collector, but unlikely to be the syntypes I was looking for.
This morning, "The God Abandons Antony" revisited me.
poetryarchive.org/poem/god-aba...
This morning, "The God Abandons Antony" revisited me.
poetryarchive.org/poem/god-aba...
Reposted by Richard Littauer
if you haven't seen it, this also helps cut down on what you see drastically
bsky.app/profile/xblo...
bsky.app/profile/xblo...
bsky.app
January 17, 2026 at 1:38 AM
if you haven't seen it, this also helps cut down on what you see drastically
bsky.app/profile/xblo...
bsky.app/profile/xblo...
Today I fought fascism by going to my local Wikipedia meetup and talking about obscure Japanese ornithologists I want to write Wikipedia articles about.
Also bought produce at a farmer's market, and not from the state-enforced duopoly here in New Zealand.
Also bought produce at a farmer's market, and not from the state-enforced duopoly here in New Zealand.
January 17, 2026 at 1:35 AM
Today I fought fascism by going to my local Wikipedia meetup and talking about obscure Japanese ornithologists I want to write Wikipedia articles about.
Also bought produce at a farmer's market, and not from the state-enforced duopoly here in New Zealand.
Also bought produce at a farmer's market, and not from the state-enforced duopoly here in New Zealand.
I am going to start a policy of unfollowing people who boost screenshots of Twitter posts.
Don't be on Twitter at all. Don't give anyone there any air. It should not exist.
Don't be on Twitter at all. Don't give anyone there any air. It should not exist.
January 17, 2026 at 1:33 AM
I am going to start a policy of unfollowing people who boost screenshots of Twitter posts.
Don't be on Twitter at all. Don't give anyone there any air. It should not exist.
Don't be on Twitter at all. Don't give anyone there any air. It should not exist.
Reposted by Richard Littauer
Aotearoa could very easily transition to solar taking up all the energy production currently occupied by gas. Hydro is basically a huge water battery. The more solar we have, the less we need to use gas and hydro, and the more efficient the existing hydro gets.
Monopolies suck.
Monopolies suck.
🇳🇿 Yesterday wind power accounted for ~5% of New Zealand electrical power generation (5.5GWh). Solar power was ~1% (0.9GWh). Hydro power was ~64% (73.5GWh). Geothermal power was ~24% (27.8GWh).
Source: EM6
#NewZealand #windenergy #solarenergy #geothermalenergy #hydroenergy
Source: EM6
#NewZealand #windenergy #solarenergy #geothermalenergy #hydroenergy
January 16, 2026 at 9:07 AM
Aotearoa could very easily transition to solar taking up all the energy production currently occupied by gas. Hydro is basically a huge water battery. The more solar we have, the less we need to use gas and hydro, and the more efficient the existing hydro gets.
Monopolies suck.
Monopolies suck.