Mike O'Brien
@obrien.page
Full-stack fish ecologist. Richmond, VA culture leech living in Eastern Henrico. Small farm dabbler.
https://obrien.page
https://github.com/mhpob
https://obrien.page
https://github.com/mhpob
I hate these things.
18 people sent to the hospital after mobile lounge crashes at Washington D.C.-area airport trib.al/k1GKqi1
18 people sent to the hospital after mobile lounge crashes at Washington D.C.-area airport
A vehicle transporting passengers at a Washington, D.C.-area airport hit a dock at the building Monday afternoon, sending 18 people to the hospital, according to officials.
trib.al
November 11, 2025 at 1:27 AM
I hate these things.
For those in the East End RVA, the city is holding 4 meetings in the next month regarding a planned solar farm on the former E. Richmond landfill (3800 E. Richmond Rd). A $500k community benefits agreement will be steered in part by those at these meetings, so stop by!
East End Solar Farm Community Engagement Sessions
Join the City of Richmond to discuss transforming 25-30+ acres at 3800 East Richmond Road into a sustainable energy hub and pollinator garden. Attend one of three community sessions for feedback and i...
www.eventbrite.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:31 PM
For those in the East End RVA, the city is holding 4 meetings in the next month regarding a planned solar farm on the former E. Richmond landfill (3800 E. Richmond Rd). A $500k community benefits agreement will be steered in part by those at these meetings, so stop by!
Reposted by Mike O'Brien
Midwifery should be taught in the same course with fencing and boxing, riding and rowing.
November 9, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Midwifery should be taught in the same course with fencing and boxing, riding and rowing.
Reposted by Mike O'Brien
every generation loves Rumours. it’s fucking Rumours
November 9, 2025 at 2:55 AM
every generation loves Rumours. it’s fucking Rumours
Reposted by Mike O'Brien
Still can’t believe they did this
I still don’t understand why they thought this would be good to use in an attack ad in Virginia
November 8, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Still can’t believe they did this
Reposted by Mike O'Brien
The sandwich chucker beat the wrap!
November 6, 2025 at 10:06 PM
The sandwich chucker beat the wrap!
Reposted by Mike O'Brien
All very well and nice, but this is meaningless unless combined with a serious attempt to address the cause of the rising seas. It’s just addressing the symptom not the illness.
A decade after Dutch engineers helped Hampton Roads rethink how it handles rising seas, local and international experts gathered this week in Norfolk to mark the 10th anniversary of the Dutch Dialogues and plan for the future.
The ‘Dutch Dialogues’ changed Hampton Roads’ relationship with water. Ten years later, what’s next?
Local officials are gathering in Norfolk this week to mark the 10th anniversary of the landmark event.
www.whro.org
November 7, 2025 at 6:37 PM
All very well and nice, but this is meaningless unless combined with a serious attempt to address the cause of the rising seas. It’s just addressing the symptom not the illness.
Reposted by Mike O'Brien
I too like this technique. I think it works esp well if you use the same colors for your dots as the heatmap. Here's an example I made a while ago for how to do this in Ultra: overpass-ultra.us/docs/Example...
Interactive heatmaps that fade away to reveal points on zoom - a useful technique for handling dense spatial data.
Learn how to do it: walker-data.com/posts/mapgl-...
Learn how to do it: walker-data.com/posts/mapgl-...
November 7, 2025 at 1:52 PM
I too like this technique. I think it works esp well if you use the same colors for your dots as the heatmap. Here's an example I made a while ago for how to do this in Ultra: overpass-ultra.us/docs/Example...
Reposted by Mike O'Brien
Remarkable to see @dannyavula.bsky.social to go to the mat for raises for city execs making at least 2x RVA's AMI (and often much more), to allow those high-level employees to live outside the city, to maintain one of VA's highest property-tax rates...then fight a $20/hr min wage for city janitors.
November 6, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Remarkable to see @dannyavula.bsky.social to go to the mat for raises for city execs making at least 2x RVA's AMI (and often much more), to allow those high-level employees to live outside the city, to maintain one of VA's highest property-tax rates...then fight a $20/hr min wage for city janitors.
Reposted by Mike O'Brien
Quickest method, throw it out and replace with Linux arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025...
How to declutter, quiet down, and take the AI out of Windows 11 25H2
A new major Windows 11 release means a new guide for cleaning up the OS.
arstechnica.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Quickest method, throw it out and replace with Linux arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025...
If you made $45 million/year, you would have had to start working during the last glacial maximum to make this much money.
There is no reason anyone should ever have anything near this amount of money.
There is no reason anyone should ever have anything near this amount of money.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk scored a resounding victory on Thursday as shareholders approved a pay package of as much as $878 billion over the next decade, endorsing his vision of morphing the EV maker into an AI and robotics juggernaut.
Tesla shareholders approve $878 billion pay plan for Elon Musk
Tesla CEO Elon Musk scored a resounding victory on Thursday as shareholders approved a pay package of as much as $878 billion over the next decade, endorsing his vision of morphing the EV maker into an AI and robotics juggernaut.
reut.rs
November 6, 2025 at 10:53 PM
If you made $45 million/year, you would have had to start working during the last glacial maximum to make this much money.
There is no reason anyone should ever have anything near this amount of money.
There is no reason anyone should ever have anything near this amount of money.
Reposted by Mike O'Brien
The detectCores() apocalypse is creeping up on us 👻🐛
As more people are getting access to 128+ CPU cores, code spinning up parallel cluster with detectCores() workers fails - not enough #RStats connections available
Friends, do *not* default to detectCores(), bc www.jottr.org/2022/12/05/a...
As more people are getting access to 128+ CPU cores, code spinning up parallel cluster with detectCores() workers fails - not enough #RStats connections available
Friends, do *not* default to detectCores(), bc www.jottr.org/2022/12/05/a...
Please Avoid detectCores() in your R Packages
The detectCores() function of the parallel package is probably one of the most used functions when it comes to setting the number of parallel workers to use in R. In this blog post, I’ll try to explai...
www.jottr.org
November 5, 2025 at 11:55 PM
The detectCores() apocalypse is creeping up on us 👻🐛
As more people are getting access to 128+ CPU cores, code spinning up parallel cluster with detectCores() workers fails - not enough #RStats connections available
Friends, do *not* default to detectCores(), bc www.jottr.org/2022/12/05/a...
As more people are getting access to 128+ CPU cores, code spinning up parallel cluster with detectCores() workers fails - not enough #RStats connections available
Friends, do *not* default to detectCores(), bc www.jottr.org/2022/12/05/a...
Reposted by Mike O'Brien
Tonight, voters made history in the Commonwealth. For the first time, every statewide office will be held by leaders who refuse money from Virginia's monopoly utilities, marking a turning point for millions of Virginians who have long paid the price for political corruption and monopoly control.
November 5, 2025 at 4:46 AM
Tonight, voters made history in the Commonwealth. For the first time, every statewide office will be held by leaders who refuse money from Virginia's monopoly utilities, marking a turning point for millions of Virginians who have long paid the price for political corruption and monopoly control.
Reposted by Mike O'Brien
in 2006 there was a big discussion about whether to delete the "vice presidents who have shot people" category which only had two people (cheney and burr)
November 4, 2025 at 11:35 PM
in 2006 there was a big discussion about whether to delete the "vice presidents who have shot people" category which only had two people (cheney and burr)
Poking around at extending the mapgl #rstats package with MapLibre plugins in R. SUPER thankful for this little {htmlwidgets} number in the Leaflet vignettes.
rstudio.github.io/leaflet/arti...
Almost a drop-in for mapgl, though I can't seem to make it work with "this" and need to use "el.map"
rstudio.github.io/leaflet/arti...
Almost a drop-in for mapgl, though I can't seem to make it work with "this" and need to use "el.map"
Extending Leaflet
rstudio.github.io
November 4, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Poking around at extending the mapgl #rstats package with MapLibre plugins in R. SUPER thankful for this little {htmlwidgets} number in the Leaflet vignettes.
rstudio.github.io/leaflet/arti...
Almost a drop-in for mapgl, though I can't seem to make it work with "this" and need to use "el.map"
rstudio.github.io/leaflet/arti...
Almost a drop-in for mapgl, though I can't seem to make it work with "this" and need to use "el.map"
Reposted by Mike O'Brien
From @theathletic.com: The All Blacks shirt has its own mythology. Players wear it with a sense of allegiance akin to that of a military or a religion. nyti.ms/3Xa13jN
November 4, 2025 at 10:25 PM
From @theathletic.com: The All Blacks shirt has its own mythology. Players wear it with a sense of allegiance akin to that of a military or a religion. nyti.ms/3Xa13jN
Reposted by Mike O'Brien
OTN's data team is busy with a workshop this week, so they're unable to host study hall on Thursday. Save your questions for next week!
November 4, 2025 at 3:43 PM
OTN's data team is busy with a workshop this week, so they're unable to host study hall on Thursday. Save your questions for next week!
Reposted by Mike O'Brien
happy 11th anniversary to this email sent to all staff at the School of Mathematics and Statistics
November 4, 2025 at 2:16 AM
happy 11th anniversary to this email sent to all staff at the School of Mathematics and Statistics
Reposted by Mike O'Brien
PSA from 404 Media: you can opt-out of a data broker selling your flight travel data to the government to be searched without a warrant. Here's how I did it. This is ARC, the data broker owned by major U.S. airlines like United, Delta, American, etc
www.404media.co/how-to-opt-o...
www.404media.co/how-to-opt-o...
How to Opt-Out of Airlines Selling Your Travel Data to the Government
The Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC), owned by major U.S. airlines, collects billions of ticketing records and sells them to the government to be searched without a warrant. I managed to opt-out o...
www.404media.co
November 4, 2025 at 2:05 PM
PSA from 404 Media: you can opt-out of a data broker selling your flight travel data to the government to be searched without a warrant. Here's how I did it. This is ARC, the data broker owned by major U.S. airlines like United, Delta, American, etc
www.404media.co/how-to-opt-o...
www.404media.co/how-to-opt-o...
$75mil spent on TV ads this cycle for one person to get a job: Gov. Of Virginia.
It's easy to lose sight of how big these numbers are.
The median income in VA is $45k/y.
If a working life is 50 years, a median Virginian would need to work over 33 lifetimes (1650 working yrs) to make $75mil gross.
It's easy to lose sight of how big these numbers are.
The median income in VA is $45k/y.
If a working life is 50 years, a median Virginian would need to work over 33 lifetimes (1650 working yrs) to make $75mil gross.
November 4, 2025 at 2:01 PM
$75mil spent on TV ads this cycle for one person to get a job: Gov. Of Virginia.
It's easy to lose sight of how big these numbers are.
The median income in VA is $45k/y.
If a working life is 50 years, a median Virginian would need to work over 33 lifetimes (1650 working yrs) to make $75mil gross.
It's easy to lose sight of how big these numbers are.
The median income in VA is $45k/y.
If a working life is 50 years, a median Virginian would need to work over 33 lifetimes (1650 working yrs) to make $75mil gross.
Reposted by Mike O'Brien
Your regular georeferenced maps from the SLV update – there's now 134! https://wragge.github.io/slv-allmaps/dashboard.html
allmaps_dashboard
wragge.github.io
November 3, 2025 at 7:36 AM
Your regular georeferenced maps from the SLV update – there's now 134! https://wragge.github.io/slv-allmaps/dashboard.html
Reposted by Mike O'Brien
i love winding the clocks back an hour. you get an extra hour of sleep and the only downside is several months of horrible despair.
November 3, 2025 at 12:01 AM
i love winding the clocks back an hour. you get an extra hour of sleep and the only downside is several months of horrible despair.
Reposted by Mike O'Brien
ID: /-#V.56.116.2120
Large Mouthed Black Bass
Date: 1910
Artist: American Tobacco Company
#V?rID=/-#V.56.116.2120&db=biblio&dir=VALARCH" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky">https://valentine.rediscoverysoftware.com/MADetailB.aspx?rID=/-#V.56.116.2120&db=biblio&dir=VALARCH
Large Mouthed Black Bass
Date: 1910
Artist: American Tobacco Company
#V?rID=/-#V.56.116.2120&db=biblio&dir=VALARCH" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky">https://valentine.rediscoverysoftware.com/MADetailB.aspx?rID=/-#V.56.116.2120&db=biblio&dir=VALARCH
November 1, 2025 at 4:25 PM
ID: /-#V.56.116.2120
Large Mouthed Black Bass
Date: 1910
Artist: American Tobacco Company
#V?rID=/-#V.56.116.2120&db=biblio&dir=VALARCH" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky">https://valentine.rediscoverysoftware.com/MADetailB.aspx?rID=/-#V.56.116.2120&db=biblio&dir=VALARCH
Large Mouthed Black Bass
Date: 1910
Artist: American Tobacco Company
#V?rID=/-#V.56.116.2120&db=biblio&dir=VALARCH" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky">https://valentine.rediscoverysoftware.com/MADetailB.aspx?rID=/-#V.56.116.2120&db=biblio&dir=VALARCH
RVA area peeps: @maprva.org will be leisurely cycling the new Henrico-Ashland portion of the Fall Line Trail next Saturday Nov 8.
We'd like YOU to join!
Plan is to meet behind the VCC Target ~11a, bike 7 mi to Ashland, eat, look at historic houses, and head back.
DM/reply for more details!
We'd like YOU to join!
Plan is to meet behind the VCC Target ~11a, bike 7 mi to Ashland, eat, look at historic houses, and head back.
DM/reply for more details!
November 1, 2025 at 3:21 PM
RVA area peeps: @maprva.org will be leisurely cycling the new Henrico-Ashland portion of the Fall Line Trail next Saturday Nov 8.
We'd like YOU to join!
Plan is to meet behind the VCC Target ~11a, bike 7 mi to Ashland, eat, look at historic houses, and head back.
DM/reply for more details!
We'd like YOU to join!
Plan is to meet behind the VCC Target ~11a, bike 7 mi to Ashland, eat, look at historic houses, and head back.
DM/reply for more details!