Mike Olson
@mikeolson.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Ex-Illustra, Sleepycat, Cloudera. Currently: Board member at Cityside. Working on: Climate. Politics.
Not a tech bro.
🌉 bridged from https://mastodon.social/@mikeolson on the fediverse by https://fed.brid.gy/
Not a tech bro.
🌉 bridged from https://mastodon.social/@mikeolson on the fediverse by https://fed.brid.gy/
This yard sign worked better than my Harris Walz Obviously yard sign.
November 6, 2025 at 5:57 PM
This yard sign worked better than my Harris Walz Obviously yard sign.
While I was walking around, taking my pictures, delighted by this remarkable piece of engineering, a Union Pacific train rolled up and crossed it!
5/
5/
October 30, 2025 at 5:20 PM
While I was walking around, taking my pictures, delighted by this remarkable piece of engineering, a Union Pacific train rolled up and crossed it!
5/
5/
When you're building a bridge across a river, you want to take advantage of it to move things besides trains. This one also has a large pipe to move water between Missouri and Kansas.
4/
4/
October 30, 2025 at 5:12 PM
When you're building a bridge across a river, you want to take advantage of it to move things besides trains. This one also has a large pipe to move water between Missouri and Kansas.
4/
4/
The truss structure that the roadbed gets lifted into has all kinds of access built in for people to move around, service it, keep it in good operating condition.
October 30, 2025 at 5:09 PM
The truss structure that the roadbed gets lifted into has all kinds of access built in for people to move around, service it, keep it in good operating condition.
If you look closely, you can see that there's a system of heavy concrete counterweights connected to steel cables that run over pulleys and down to the top girder along the roadbed.
This is a mechanical system for lifting the rail bed out of the way, so that […]
[Original post on mastodon.social]
This is a mechanical system for lifting the rail bed out of the way, so that […]
[Original post on mastodon.social]
October 30, 2025 at 5:08 PM
If you look closely, you can see that there's a system of heavy concrete counterweights connected to steel cables that run over pulleys and down to the top girder along the roadbed.
This is a mechanical system for lifting the rail bed out of the way, so that […]
[Original post on mastodon.social]
This is a mechanical system for lifting the rail bed out of the way, so that […]
[Original post on mastodon.social]
I was walking along the Missouri River this morning near downtown Kansas City and came across this magnificent railroad bridge.
You can see that the roadbed runs level across the span, above the water. On the near (left-hand) side of the span, there's a curious superstructure.
1/
You can see that the roadbed runs level across the span, above the water. On the near (left-hand) side of the span, there's a curious superstructure.
1/
October 30, 2025 at 5:06 PM
I was walking along the Missouri River this morning near downtown Kansas City and came across this magnificent railroad bridge.
You can see that the roadbed runs level across the span, above the water. On the near (left-hand) side of the span, there's a curious superstructure.
1/
You can see that the roadbed runs level across the span, above the water. On the near (left-hand) side of the span, there's a curious superstructure.
1/
“Supported devices” is kind of carbon-14 dating for user interfaces.
October 27, 2025 at 3:55 PM
“Supported devices” is kind of carbon-14 dating for user interfaces.
Drunk octopus wants to fight.
October 25, 2025 at 2:34 AM
Drunk octopus wants to fight.
October 18, 2025 at 10:01 PM
An eyeglass manufacturer has decided to get into the subvert-the-surveillance-state business. You need the IR-opaque lenses to be pretty big. They have to obscure your cheekbones to rob the algorithm of enough data to matter, I bet.
October 16, 2025 at 2:32 PM
An eyeglass manufacturer has decided to get into the subvert-the-surveillance-state business. You need the IR-opaque lenses to be pretty big. They have to obscure your cheekbones to rob the algorithm of enough data to matter, I bet.
Okay I know I said no more entries, but come on.
October 11, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Okay I know I said no more entries, but come on.
I love the look of anticipation and optimism in the face of this wire, gazing at electrons across the mysterious barrier (swiped the pic from the Nobel web site's announcement of this prize):
October 7, 2025 at 3:54 PM
I love the look of anticipation and optimism in the face of this wire, gazing at electrons across the mysterious barrier (swiped the pic from the Nobel web site's announcement of this prize):
Swiped this picture from a LinkedIn post by UC Berkeley chancellor Rich Lyons. Cal football has a new helmet sticker.
October 5, 2025 at 2:34 AM
Swiped this picture from a LinkedIn post by UC Berkeley chancellor Rich Lyons. Cal football has a new helmet sticker.
Thank you all for participating in the Elon Musk Remorse Contest. No new entries are being accepted; we have a winner.
October 4, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Thank you all for participating in the Elon Musk Remorse Contest. No new entries are being accepted; we have a winner.
Local magnitude 4.3 earthquake in Berkeley last night. Here's a screenshot from the plot generated by my Raspberry Shake seismometer in the basement.
September 22, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Local magnitude 4.3 earthquake in Berkeley last night. Here's a screenshot from the plot generated by my Raspberry Shake seismometer in the basement.
Blue heron fishing for breakfast off the swim dock.
September 17, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Blue heron fishing for breakfast off the swim dock.
Genius spider.
September 13, 2025 at 3:27 AM
Genius spider.
Pretty good earnings call for Larry -- $ORCL shares up about 35% on strong cloud revenue forecast.
September 10, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Pretty good earnings call for Larry -- $ORCL shares up about 35% on strong cloud revenue forecast.
I get such good affirmation from my electronic components supplier.
September 6, 2025 at 3:30 PM
I get such good affirmation from my electronic components supplier.
Dinner time downtown.
August 24, 2025 at 1:21 AM
Dinner time downtown.
Last night's full moonrise from the back deck with my iPhone and with my Seestar telescope. Taken low in the sky, a bit after 9:30, so the Seestar image is sill a bit red-shifted because the moonlight is filtered by so much atmosphere.
August 10, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Last night's full moonrise from the back deck with my iPhone and with my Seestar telescope. Taken low in the sky, a bit after 9:30, so the Seestar image is sill a bit red-shifted because the moonlight is filtered by so much atmosphere.
Moonrise on Table Rock.
August 9, 2025 at 1:59 AM
Moonrise on Table Rock.
Met this mushroom this morning.
July 18, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Met this mushroom this morning.
Blue heron fishing from the dock this morning.
July 7, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Blue heron fishing from the dock this morning.