Victoria Doronina
@vickidoronina.bsky.social
Biologist, science communicator, wikimedian
November 20, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Flowers of the #carnivorousplant #butterwort sandersonii.
November 20, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Flowers of the #carnivorousplant #butterwort sandersonii.
victoriadoronina.substack.com/publish/post...
Book review: "Probably Overthinking It" by Allen B. Downey
Book review: "Probably Overthinking It" by Allen B. Downey
November 18, 2025 at 9:43 AM
victoriadoronina.substack.com/publish/post...
Book review: "Probably Overthinking It" by Allen B. Downey
Book review: "Probably Overthinking It" by Allen B. Downey
Read The Dark Diamond (Asher). Strong worldbuilding, but characters feel like “James Bond in space” with women mostly as male-coded bodies or sites of damage. Lots of tech, little emotional depth. Makes me miss Iain M. Banks’ humanity in the Culture novels.
Book review: “The Dark Diamond” by Neal Asher
As a woman, I’m not the target audience for The Dark Diamond by Neal Asher, but hard SF of this kind has been in short supply lately. I’m willing to accept a “James Bond in space and time” narrative, provided the worldbuilding is convincing — and Asher remains very good at that. The Polity universe has always read to me as the…
doroninavicki.wordpress.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Read The Dark Diamond (Asher). Strong worldbuilding, but characters feel like “James Bond in space” with women mostly as male-coded bodies or sites of damage. Lots of tech, little emotional depth. Makes me miss Iain M. Banks’ humanity in the Culture novels.
Ryan McGrady in TechPolicy: "... As the... open knowledge platform, #Wikipedia blurs the lines between media, scholarship, public discourse, digital commons, and popular culture. [It] provides a unique barometer for a state's attitudes towards free expression." www.techpolicy.press/what-attacks...
What Attacks on Wikipedia Reveal about Free Expression | TechPolicy.Press
Ryan McGrady writes that you can learn a lot about a state's view on free expression by how it treats Wikipedia.
www.techpolicy.press
May 19, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Ryan McGrady in TechPolicy: "... As the... open knowledge platform, #Wikipedia blurs the lines between media, scholarship, public discourse, digital commons, and popular culture. [It] provides a unique barometer for a state's attitudes towards free expression." www.techpolicy.press/what-attacks...
Reposted by Victoria Doronina
📜 Did you know Wikisource was originally called Project Sourceberg? A playful nod to another digital archive, Project Gutenberg, it launched in 2003 as a home for freely available texts to support Wikipedia articles. 🧵⬇️ (1/3)
May 14, 2025 at 1:32 PM
📜 Did you know Wikisource was originally called Project Sourceberg? A playful nod to another digital archive, Project Gutenberg, it launched in 2003 as a home for freely available texts to support Wikipedia articles. 🧵⬇️ (1/3)
Reposted by Victoria Doronina
It's only small right now. But if you're a Brit and you'd like to see more Brits in your feed then give this post a like and a share.
In a hysterical world a bit of stiff upper lip might help us get through it. 😀
go.bsky.app/CaM1eem
In a hysterical world a bit of stiff upper lip might help us get through it. 😀
go.bsky.app/CaM1eem
March 23, 2025 at 12:47 PM
It's only small right now. But if you're a Brit and you'd like to see more Brits in your feed then give this post a like and a share.
In a hysterical world a bit of stiff upper lip might help us get through it. 😀
go.bsky.app/CaM1eem
In a hysterical world a bit of stiff upper lip might help us get through it. 😀
go.bsky.app/CaM1eem
#wikipedia #wmf Indian courts doth make strange bedfellows: The Wikimedia Foundation is the second major tech platform, following X, to become embroiled in Indian court battles over orders to take down content in recent years. www.reuters.com/world/india/...
Wikipedia operator appeals Indian court's order to remove content, sources say
The operator of online encyclopaedia Wikipedia has challenged a New Delhi court's order to remove statements from its page that the court said defamed a domestic news website, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Monday.
www.reuters.com
April 8, 2025 at 10:41 AM
#wikipedia #wmf Indian courts doth make strange bedfellows: The Wikimedia Foundation is the second major tech platform, following X, to become embroiled in Indian court battles over orders to take down content in recent years. www.reuters.com/world/india/...
#wikimedia #WMF The bots are already outcompeting humans:
"Since January 2024, we have seen the bandwidth for downloading multimedia content grow by 50%. This increase is not from human readers but largely from automated programs that scrape the Wikimedia Commons image catalogue
"Since January 2024, we have seen the bandwidth for downloading multimedia content grow by 50%. This increase is not from human readers but largely from automated programs that scrape the Wikimedia Commons image catalogue
April 7, 2025 at 1:45 PM
#wikimedia #WMF The bots are already outcompeting humans:
"Since January 2024, we have seen the bandwidth for downloading multimedia content grow by 50%. This increase is not from human readers but largely from automated programs that scrape the Wikimedia Commons image catalogue
"Since January 2024, we have seen the bandwidth for downloading multimedia content grow by 50%. This increase is not from human readers but largely from automated programs that scrape the Wikimedia Commons image catalogue
April 7, 2025 at 1:41 PM
#carnivorous Flowering Mexican #pinguicula cv.Alfred Lau 13 (left) and ehlersiae
March 21, 2025 at 12:09 PM
#carnivorous Flowering Mexican #pinguicula cv.Alfred Lau 13 (left) and ehlersiae
#books2025 #bad_bug_bookclub "The Second Life of Mirielle West" is a historical fiction novel by Amanda Skenandore, inspired by the true story of America's only leper colony, Carville. Meticulously detailed but slow going.
March 20, 2025 at 12:55 PM
#books2025 #bad_bug_bookclub "The Second Life of Mirielle West" is a historical fiction novel by Amanda Skenandore, inspired by the true story of America's only leper colony, Carville. Meticulously detailed but slow going.
#book #recommend "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" by Gabrielle Zevin is a high drama & love shapes novel about the US gaming industry that is strangely addictive.
Apparently, GenZ is foregoing social media in favour of gaming.
Apparently, GenZ is foregoing social media in favour of gaming.
March 17, 2025 at 12:14 PM
#book #recommend "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" by Gabrielle Zevin is a high drama & love shapes novel about the US gaming industry that is strangely addictive.
Apparently, GenZ is foregoing social media in favour of gaming.
Apparently, GenZ is foregoing social media in favour of gaming.
#book #sf #recommend “Severance” (no relation to the AppleTV+ show) by Lyn Gma is a literary “coming of age” and “state of the US at the beginning of the XXI century” novel that masquerades as postapocalyptic fiction.
March 6, 2025 at 10:23 AM
#book #sf #recommend “Severance” (no relation to the AppleTV+ show) by Lyn Gma is a literary “coming of age” and “state of the US at the beginning of the XXI century” novel that masquerades as postapocalyptic fiction.
I've never seen a variegated flower on #Utricularia #subulata (right).
March 6, 2025 at 10:19 AM
I've never seen a variegated flower on #Utricularia #subulata (right).
Kiva is an easy way to make a real difference in someone's life. Will you join me in helping Ruth in Honiara to pursue their dream? www.kiva.org/invitedby/vi...
Kiva - Join Vicki on Kiva
Support women, entrepreneurs, students and refugees around the world with as little as $25 on Kiva. 100% of your loans go to support borrowers.
www.kiva.org
February 28, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Kiva is an easy way to make a real difference in someone's life. Will you join me in helping Ruth in Honiara to pursue their dream? www.kiva.org/invitedby/vi...
Mexican pinguicula cv Niklas
February 28, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Mexican pinguicula cv Niklas
Reposted by Victoria Doronina
I don't know how else to say this except for bluntly:
It is not normal to have outbreaks of preventable diseases in wealthy countries.
It is not normal to have children dying from preventable diseases in wealthy countries.
This is the first US measles death in 10 years. There should be none.
It is not normal to have outbreaks of preventable diseases in wealthy countries.
It is not normal to have children dying from preventable diseases in wealthy countries.
This is the first US measles death in 10 years. There should be none.
February 28, 2025 at 11:15 AM
I don't know how else to say this except for bluntly:
It is not normal to have outbreaks of preventable diseases in wealthy countries.
It is not normal to have children dying from preventable diseases in wealthy countries.
This is the first US measles death in 10 years. There should be none.
It is not normal to have outbreaks of preventable diseases in wealthy countries.
It is not normal to have children dying from preventable diseases in wealthy countries.
This is the first US measles death in 10 years. There should be none.
#book #fantasy Days of Shattered Faith by Adrian #Tchaikovsky is the 3d book in his Tyrant Philosophers series. Is the Empire falling apart? Will the trilogy become tetralogy?
February 21, 2025 at 11:30 AM
#book #fantasy Days of Shattered Faith by Adrian #Tchaikovsky is the 3d book in his Tyrant Philosophers series. Is the Empire falling apart? Will the trilogy become tetralogy?
I was honoured to participate in the #Wikimedia #Wikisource (free depository of digital sources) Conference 2025 in Densapar, Bali!
February 21, 2025 at 9:22 AM
I was honoured to participate in the #Wikimedia #Wikisource (free depository of digital sources) Conference 2025 in Densapar, Bali!
#Wikipedia is like democracy in the Churchill quote; replace "worst form of government" with "online information source":
"...No one pretends that [Wikipedia] is perfect... Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried..."
"...No one pretends that [Wikipedia] is perfect... Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried..."
February 7, 2025 at 2:12 PM
#Wikipedia is like democracy in the Churchill quote; replace "worst form of government" with "online information source":
"...No one pretends that [Wikipedia] is perfect... Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried..."
"...No one pretends that [Wikipedia] is perfect... Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried..."