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infrapink.mastodon.ie.ap.brid.gy
Infrapink (he/his/him)
@infrapink.mastodon.ie.ap.brid.gy
26 followers 5 following 1.1K posts
I am a guy who is mostly on the left. I know more about calendars than most people.

https://justmytoots.com/@infrapink@mastodon.ie

🌉 bridged from ⁂ https://mastodon.ie/@Infrapink, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact
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infrapink.mastodon.ie.ap.brid.gy
Historians sometimes put their own opinions into their papers. I honestly like this. It really shows how enthusiastic they are. I wish they would let scientists do that.

Jacobus, Helen. “Greco-Roman Zodiac Sundials and their Links to a Qumran Calendar […]

[Original post on mastodon.ie]
The texts describe the moon's daily waxing and waning phases in fractions of half-sevenths (the equivalent to one-fourteenth, a lunar fraction used in other Qumran calendars (Jacobus, 2013)). As discussed below, scholars dispute whether this fraction represents time periods of lunar visibility between sunset and moonrise, or moonset and sunset and other phenomena. It also lists the daily moon rises and moon sets in a numbered “gate” in a formulaic way. In the column of one fragment covering three consecutive nights, 4Q209, fragment 7, column 3, discussed below, the scribe notes when the sun rises in one numbered “gate” and when the moon rises in other portals, as the moon moves at a different speed. The repetitive formulaic style is a fascinating stream of ancient computer-tickertape. It is pure data.
December 15, 2025 at 2:38 PM
infrapink.mastodon.ie.ap.brid.gy
First mince pies of the year! They're good!

#baking
A batch of mince pies, fresh out of the oven.
December 7, 2025 at 3:47 PM
infrapink.mastodon.ie.ap.brid.gy
God damn.

(Image is posted twice because the alt text ran over the limit)

#ai #generativeAI
A social media post by Jesper Myfors, entitled Artists Against Generative AI A message to people flirting with the idea of cosplaying as an artist through AI: I am an artist, I have also been art directing off and on for over 30 years. I guess I am best known for art directing Magic: The Gathering for its first release and many expansion sets afterwards. I work primarily in gaming. I am friends with many art directors who still work regularly. We talk. I can assure you that the general thinking on the matter is that if you present a portfolio with AI images in it you will not be hired. You will in essence be blacklisted and lose any opportunity to work in the industry. As I said...we talk. We do not want to waste our time with someone who thinks that they can skip cultivating a personal artistic style. We do not want to deal with the headache of accepting work that cannot be copyrighted. We do not want to offer jobs to people who think stealing from our peers is an OK way to do business. And it only takes one image to sink your future. Only one. If you are hired and turn in AI work you can kiss any thought of a future in illustration goodbye. I know a lot of AI bros are out there telling people it's the Future, what they are not saying is that using AI to replace a skill you should already have insures (sic) you will have no future (continued on next image) (continued from previous image) People who respect art and artists look on AI as a joke and an insult. When you include it in your portfolio you are mocking people who spent years learning a skill and collecting influences and a unique way of translating the way they see the world into 2d images. Nobody wants your crappy machine made theft collage. If that is all you have to offer then you are offering less than nothing. You are litter on other people's career paths. You are a distraction and a great waste of tine. You are clutter. Think really hard before you decide to pass AI off as your "artwork". Many, many eyes are watching. You will be judged and in a market where there are already so many great real artists why would anyone want to waste their time on your cheap shoddy goods? The answer is that they won't and they will let their friends in the industry know to avoid you. Those are the facts.
November 28, 2025 at 6:19 PM
infrapink.mastodon.ie.ap.brid.gy
Hey @ghostlyash is this you?

(Image source: https://triciacopeland.com/water-dwelling-fantasy-creatures/)
From a smooth, placid lake, illuminated by the silvery light of a full moon, a beautiful woman rises. She is wearing a diaphanous white gown. Red hair tumbles from her head in waves down to her knees. She is wearing a garland of lillies. Her skin is pale and ashen; whether this is because she is cold, or because she is dead, or it's just the light is impossible to tell. Two similarly-dressed figures cavort in the background.
October 31, 2025 at 3:19 PM
infrapink.mastodon.ie.ap.brid.gy
Still being traditional, I made soul cakes.

#halloween #baking
A tray of nine soul cakes, just a few seconds out of the oven.
October 31, 2025 at 2:16 PM
infrapink.mastodon.ie.ap.brid.gy
Going traditional this year.

#halloween
A turnip with an ugly face carved into it.
October 31, 2025 at 1:07 PM
infrapink.mastodon.ie.ap.brid.gy
Reading a bit of al-Birūnī's Chronology of Ancient Nations. The man was brilliant, but could still misunderstand his sources, as this passage from chapter 5 illustrated. For context, he is talking about how the Greeks measure time (ie, the Julian calendar).
The sum of the days of their year is 365, and as in all four years the four quarters of a day are summed up, they append it as one complete day to the month February, so that this month has in every fourth year 29 days. He who first induced people to intercalate the years was Julius, called Dictator, who ruled over them in bygone times, long before Moses. He gave them the months with such a distribution (of the days), and with such names as we have mentioned. He induced them to intercalate the day-quarters into them (the months) in every 1461st year, when the day-quarters had summed up to one complete year. So that (this intercalation) preserved these (the months, keeping them ia agreement with real time). This intercalation they called the "great one," after they had called the intercalation, which takes place every four years, the "small one." This "small " intercalation, however, they did not introduce until a long period had elapsed after the death of the king (Julius Csesar). A characteristic of their system is the months into weeks, for reasons which we have mentioned before.
October 27, 2025 at 4:40 PM
infrapink.mastodon.ie.ap.brid.gy
[IEpol]

Looked up my constituncy, and @CatherineGalway crushed it! :dancingpenguin:

Let's hope we can do the same for Dáil elections at some point.

#ireland #mastodaoine #iepol #catherineconnolly #Áras2025
Results from Tipperary South of 2025 Irish presidential election, from rte.ie. Turnout: 44.2% Electorate: 65957 Valid votes: 25239 Invalid votes:3889 Count 1 Catherine Connolly: 15563 votes [61.66%] Heather Humphreys: 7793 votes [30.88%] Jim Gavin: 1883 [7.46%]
October 25, 2025 at 6:01 PM
infrapink.mastodon.ie.ap.brid.gy
[Racism]

Fuck this headline.

RTÉ, do better. You don't need to copy PA verbatim.

Here is an accurate headline: "Manhunt continues in UK for sex offender released from prison by mistake"

https://www.rte.ie/news/2025/1025/1540519-kebatu-release/
Manhunt continues in UK for asylum seeker released from prison by mistake
October 25, 2025 at 9:01 AM
infrapink.mastodon.ie.ap.brid.gy
But it wasn't all rebellion and treachery. There was also some scary stuff.
Infrapink recoils in terror from a cadaver in a 17th-century surgical theatre. It is a dark, misty night in 18th-century Edinburgh. Thick fog covers everything within a metre of the ground. Wooden buildings lurch and creak ominously. Infrapink recoils in terror from something mercifully unseen.
October 9, 2025 at 9:11 PM
infrapink.mastodon.ie.ap.brid.gy
In fairness, I did try to overthrow the king.

But they found me guilty of witchcraft! Seriously? Come on, it the curse only caused impotence!
Infrapink, wielding an axe and a maniacal expression, leads a horde of Scotsmen with swords and shields across a rocky battlefield. A rampaging horde of brave Scottish warriors, led by Infrapink (who is Irish, but close enough) charges forth from a castle. A storm rages, and the English are trying to hold off the Scottish forces with a fire.
October 9, 2025 at 9:08 PM
infrapink.mastodon.ie.ap.brid.gy
I fucked around and found out.
A courtroom. In the midground stands Infrapink. He is a 39-year-old white man with unruly, shoulder-length hair and a short beard. Here, he us wearing a leather jacket. He has an expression of sullen defiance as he holds up a sign that says "Filthy Traitor". In the background, a judge wields a gavel. To the judge's right is a sign that says " By order of the Supreme Court, the Accused stands guilty of..." In the foreground, one hand gives a thumbs up and two others point accusingly at Infrapink. A public execution. In the foreground, we see Infrapink, looking exactly like he did in the last picture. Behind him, a crowd nays for blood. There is a wooden platform where the execution will tale place; the executioner wields an axe with a maniacal expression. Wait a minute, the executioner is also Infrapink!
October 9, 2025 at 8:52 PM
infrapink.mastodon.ie.ap.brid.gy
More Walter Scott!

#edinburgh
A bronze statue of Sir Walter Scott, atop a tall plinth cast with scenes from Ivanhoe. The statue and plinth have long since turned green. Part of Saint Gilles' Cathedral is in the background.
October 7, 2025 at 11:54 AM
infrapink.mastodon.ie.ap.brid.gy
Edinburgh is really fond of Sir Walter Scott. Is he the most Scottish Scot in all of Edinburgh?

#edinburgh
OK, wow. This is the Walter Scott monument in East Prince's Street Gardens, Edinburgh, silhouetted against a bright blue sky. And it's enormous. It looks like a Gothic cathedral, and when I say Gothic, I'm talking about the Germanic people who built impressive cathedrals, not chicas who like skulls and ravens. There are four arches formed by four pillars, each topped with a spire and crusted with all sorts of embellishments. Those four pillars support a massive central pillar, held up by flying buttresses. The central pillar rises stepwise; the corners of each layer have their own small spires, and the very top layer culminates in a truly massive spire. Throughout the structure are all sorts of decorative arches carved into the stonework. On a plinth in the center sits a statue of Walter Scott. The statue is literally larger than life, yet is still dwarfed by the monument around it. The statue of Walter Scott at the heart of the monument. It us made of white marble and shows Sir Walter sitting on a chair, wearing a flowing robe. His pose evokes a Roman philosopher or senator.
October 6, 2025 at 9:49 AM
infrapink.mastodon.ie.ap.brid.gy
That's not my cow.

#edinburgh
A wall with the back half of a cow sticking out. A sign underneath identifies it as THE TOON COOcillor (that makes more sense in a Scottish accent). Under that there is a sign warning if falling cows.
October 6, 2025 at 8:57 AM
infrapink.mastodon.ie.ap.brid.gy
I approve of the choice of flags to fly outside the Scottish Parliament.

#scorland #edinburgh
Four flags flying outside the Scottish Parliament. From left to right: the flags of the European Union, Scotland, United Kingdom, and Ukraine.
October 6, 2025 at 8:38 AM
infrapink.mastodon.ie.ap.brid.gy
Did you know the Scottish parliament has an entrance just for cyclists?

#scotland #edinburgh
A sign that says the following: The Scottish Parliament Pàrlaimid na h-Alba Restricted Passholder Access Cyclists with bicycles only
October 6, 2025 at 8:35 AM
infrapink.mastodon.ie.ap.brid.gy
So the next Fire Emblem game will have actual guns in it.

#fireemblem #fireemblemfortunesweave #nintendo
A still from the first Fire Emblem_ Fortune's Weave trailer. It shows Dietrich fighting an unnamed woman. Dietrich is a tall, goth-looking man with white hair down to his shoulder blades. He is wearing elaborate black armour and wielding a glowing magic sword, made from a dragon's corpse. His sword is curved like a sabre and has a bunch of wicked-looking spikes jutting off the blade. He overall aesthetic is highly reminiscent of Alucard from Castlevania, or Elric of Melniboné from the works of Michael Moorcock. His opponent is a woman wearing a flowing white dress and cape. Her dress has a high slit so you can see her legs. Most pertinently to this post, the woman is holding a handgun. And it's not even a flintlock pistol, it's a modern-looking gun that resembles an Uzi. This might just be a placeholder asset, but she also has a gun holster strapped to her shoulder, so whatever the final weapon is, it's definitely going to be a gun.
September 12, 2025 at 9:46 PM
infrapink.mastodon.ie.ap.brid.gy
Doing more stuff with blackberries.

Recipe here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/blackberry_bakewell_50327

Fuck these are good.

#baking
A batch of blackberry tarts. Some are pure pastry, others have a frangipan topping.
September 7, 2025 at 4:14 PM
infrapink.mastodon.ie.ap.brid.gy
Ah geez, even AP are using GPTs now?

Source article: http://www.africanews.com/2025/09/02/potato-powers-transformation-in-lesothos-agriculture-sector/

#ai #llm #gpt #news #journalism
A screenshot of an article on AfricaNews, viewed in Feeder (RSS still rocks!) "Copyright © africanews Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved Last updated: 2 hours ago Certainly! Here's the revised 250-word news article without em dashes, using commas or periods instead for smooth, clear flow: Once seen as a humble family staple, the potato has become a powerful symbol of agricultural transformation in Lesotho.
September 2, 2025 at 8:16 AM
infrapink.mastodon.ie.ap.brid.gy
[Fediverse, ATmosphere, meta I guess]

So this image is going around Lemmy. Original image is by @hal_5700X ; reposting here with alt text.

Original source: https://arewedecentralizedyet.online/

Use of HHI and Shannon Index make me raise my eyebrows, but the […]

[Original post on mastodon.ie]
A graphc comparing the concentration of user data on the Fediverse (Mastodon, Pixelfed, etc) and ATmosphere (BlueSky, WhiteWind, etc) are. The Fediverse is on the competitive side. HHI: 727 (lower is better) Shannon Index: 4.9015 (higher is better) Servers: 18592 Biggest server: 277461 users (24.87%) [Note: This includes both mastodon.social and mastodon.online] Rest of the servers: 838102 users(75.13%) The ATmosphere is very far on the concentrated end. HHI: 9911 (higher is worse) Shannon Index: 0.0379 (lower is worse) Servers: 1643 [most PDSes are lumped in with bsky.app on the grounds that Bluesky PBC runs them] Biggest server: 12261600 users (99.55%) Rest of the serverse: 55128 (0.45%)
September 1, 2025 at 6:10 PM
infrapink.mastodon.ie.ap.brid.gy
It's a great year for blackberries, so I had to find some way to use them up.

Recipe here: https://www.recipesmadeeasy.co.uk/blackberry-brownies/

I love that site because not only is it metric by default, but the imperial units are ounces, not cups.

#baking
A chocolate brownie topped with blackberries.
August 31, 2025 at 4:57 PM
infrapink.mastodon.ie.ap.brid.gy
I think my fortune cookie is sarcastic.
Get ready. Next week will be just great.
August 26, 2025 at 5:42 PM
infrapink.mastodon.ie.ap.brid.gy
TIL about Elasmotherium sibericum. Nicknamed the Siberian unicorn, it roamed the Asian steppes from 2.6 million to 39000 years ago. It was a relative of the rhinoceros with shaggy fur and a single enormous horn in the middle of its head.

It's a real shame […]

[Original post on mastodon.ie]
An artist's rendition of Elasmootherium sibiricum. It is an enormous quadruped, two metres tall and bulky, with legs that look proportionately short and stubby. It is covered in shaggy brown fur. It has a large hump above its shoulders, giving it a shape similar to a massive buffalo if that means anything to you. Its head is set quite low and is distinguished by a bloody massive horn rising from the middle of its forehead. Seriously, the horn is gigantic, bigger than the actual head. It overall looks pretty cuddly, but would absolutely mess you up if you tried to cuddle it.
August 10, 2025 at 2:32 PM
infrapink.mastodon.ie.ap.brid.gy
Decided to add a little Easter egg to my hobby project's source code.

#sourcecodesunday #fortran #futurama #easteregg
Some Fortran code. Hopefully it makes sense when read. select case(trim(planet)) case("Mercury", "mercury", "MERCURY") Ln = [38, 16, 10, 8, 6, 1] Bn = [14, 11, 9, 7, 2, 0] Vn = [13, 8, 7, 5, 0, 0] case("Venus", "venus", "VENUS") Ln = [24, 12, 8, 3, 3, 1] Bn = [ 9, 4, 4, 4, 1, 0] Vn = [12, 3, 3, 1, 1, 0] case("Earth", "earth", "EARTH") Ln = [64, 34, 20, 7, 3, 1] Bn = [ 5, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0] Vn = [40, 10, 6, 2, 1, 0] case("Mars", "mars", "MARS") Ln = [69, 46, 33, 12, 8, 2] Bn = [16, 9, 7, 4, 3, 0] Vn = [45, 27, 11, 6, 4, 0] case("Jupiter", "jupiter", "JUPITER") Ln = [64, 61, 57, 39, 19, 5] Bn = [26, 22, 14, 9, 6, 1] Vn = [46, 43, 36, 28, 15, 7] case("Saturn", "saturn", "SATURN") Ln = [90, 79, 63, 48, 27, 12] Bn = [34, 32, 29, 21, 12, 2] Vn = [44, 38, 32, 28, 23, 18] case("Uranus", "uranus", "URANUS", "Urectum", "urectum", "URECTUM") Ln = [91, 57, 35, 18, 4, 0] Bn = [28, 20, 11, 4, 1, 0] Vn = [59, 35, 18, 10, 2, 0] case("Neptune", "neptune", "NEPTUNE") Ln = [38, 18, 7, 4, 1, 0] Bn = [17, 13, 6, 4, 1, 0] Vn = [32, 15, 5, 1, 0, 0] end select
August 10, 2025 at 7:00 AM