Mars Buttfield-Addison
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themartianlife.com
Mars Buttfield-Addison
@themartianlife.com
1.3K followers 270 following 180 posts
Academic in radio telescope instrumentation by day, game dev tools + scicomm by night
📍 lutruwita/Tasmania
💚 Skeets as @yarnspinner.dev
Find me at https://themartianlife.com
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Went to work without bringing the pups today, so husband has of course bought them a roast chicken and is at home trying to by their love / unseat me as dog favourite ☹️
A man’s hand is holding a few chunks of shredded chicken breast. Approaching with eyes full of hope and licking their lips are two tiny chihuahuas, one black and one cream.
August 21, 2025 at 1:23 AM
themartianlife.com
Today, he has just been stepped down from his second-last medication, and it looks like a full recovery. It looks again like we have many more happy anniversaries ahead.

❤️ @hey.paris
The same two people are older, this time wearing rainbow accessories and are in front of a projector on a stage, presenting a science show called “West Coast Space”. The same two people are tanned this time, smiling widely in front of the space shuttle Endeavour as it hangs in a museum. The same man and woman are rugged up, holding steaming hot drinks in camping mugs, as they sit by a fire under string lights outdoors at night. The same two people are taking a selfie in front of a branded sponsor wall at a tech event. They are wearing lanyards and pulling kinda funny faces.
August 10, 2025 at 2:57 AM
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3 years ago today, I was off touring schools for National Science Week. He was at home, getting a sickness which would soon leave him with life-threatening issues for years to come, and make me face the possibility of life without my best friend.
The same two people are young again, smiling as they take a selfie on the street in birthday party hats. The same man and woman are sitting on each other in an armchair, this time wearing Christmas hats and jewellery. The same man and woman are dressed up as if to go to dinner, but they are wearing notable hints of green - a Swift parrot pin, malachite earrings, a west coast Wilds beanie, and a small “The Greens” pin. The same man and woman are standing either side of a real estate sign which is plastered in a large “Sold” sign. They are grinning madly and gesturing to it.
August 10, 2025 at 2:57 AM
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9 years ago today, I had spent the day playing board games with a boy I’d met less than two weeks before and had rapidly befriended. I kissed him for the first time and we started dating.

5 years ago today, we spent the day in escape rooms, then got married, surrounded by our closest friends.

…
A man and woman are young, thin, smiling. They are dressed up for some daytime event, and taking a photo under a tree as they leave their rural Australian hotel. The same man and woman are slightly older, slightly chubbier, dressed even more fancy. This is their wedding day. Standing at the altar, they are snuggling into each other and laughing at something out of frame. The same man and woman are in what looks like a small art gallery aboard a cruise ship. They are dressed in Original Series-era Star Trek uniforms, including the woman wearing a retro wig, earrings and makeup. They are snuggling and happy again. The same two people are outdoors in a rugged scrublands, surrounded by glassy rivers and rocky low mountains in the distance. They are smiling even though in serious outdoor gear and visibly suffering very poor weather.
August 10, 2025 at 2:57 AM
themartianlife.com
Saw a cool bottle of body wash. Was inspired to remake my website again, finally realising the monospace idea I’d had brewing for ages 💙
A large refill bottle of body wash is brand ThankYou 1L Sweet Orange. The back of the rectangular bottle is shown, where greyscale pictures of an orange slice and a single almond are framed by stark, often monospace text and line dividers between sections. The content is a lot of nonsense about how aromatic the body wash is, but the visual design is striking - evocative of old museum artefact guides. A snippet of a personal webpage is shown where elements of the style of the body wash have been incorporated - white body with black monospace text, lines divide sections, and a header picture of the site’s owner has been edited to greyscale on a flat background. Text reads “Mars Buttfield-Addison is a computer scientist and science communicator based in lutruwita slash Tasmania. Specialist in software development for scientific and high-performance applications. Day job in space instrumentation, side hustles in game tools and iOS apps, hobbies in signal processing and open source, proper polyglot programmer. Can definitely make your code run faster. Apathetic about modern web design. Overly enthusiastic about most everything else.” The main divergence from the bottle’s design is a thin border around the page where a colourful background image shows through, here featuring marbled inks in water of mixed shades of blue.
August 4, 2025 at 12:42 PM
themartianlife.com
And again 🥃 #TasPol #PoliTas
News article headline reads "LIVE: Tasmanian premier Jeremy Rocklifff faces no-confidence motion" and was posted by ABC news political journalists 6 hours ago. Byline shows Adam Holmes, James Dunlevie and Madeleine Rojahn. Cutt off at the bottom of the screenshot is a partial photograph of the Premier in question looking irritated in the chamber.
June 4, 2025 at 6:53 AM
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Sitting at my desk, reading papers, working on my thesis, minding my own business, being watched by little office busybodies 👀
A cluttered office is shown from the point of view of a person sitting at a desk in front of multiple laptops. One shows a text editor, but the content is not visible. Their desk also has a lamp, mug, e-ink tablet, and colourful desk pad. Their office has a bookshelf full of mixed reference books spanning fonts of science fiction to digital signal processing and the astronomical almanac, and is topped my Lego model rockets and spacecraft. There are plants around the room and a large, comfy armchair. On the armchair is a dog bed, in which a tiny black chihuahua is curled up and looking quizzically at the camera. Atop the chair, an even smaller cream chihuahua looks to camera guiltily, as if she were about to jump down onto her sister before she was busted by the camera-wielding human.
May 13, 2025 at 6:27 AM
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It’s my birthday tomorrow and I have TWO meetings scheduled to argue with university peers/leaders about AI.

But tonight I got a glass of cider, early access Revenge of the Savage Planet co-op with the husband, a quick game of the new Citizen Sleeper solo-TTRPG before bed, and snuggly lap friends ❤️
Two tiny chihuahuas sit on a colourful rug. The larger one is black-and-tan with brown eyes and tall ears, looking shyly at the camera. The smaller one is cream and white with green eyes and slightly longer fur, looking confused at the camera.
May 6, 2025 at 1:05 PM
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How I (Comp. Eng./quantitative) view my husband's (Informatics/qualitative) research methods versus how he views mine
2D artwork shows a suit-and-tie-wearing man relaxed and asleep at his desk with a sleep mask on his face. A caption in large friendly letters over the image says "Vibe Coding". A shot from the TV show Severance shows Helly looking exhausted at her desk as the stares at inscrutable numbers moving around on a computer screen.
May 6, 2025 at 12:24 AM
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Procreate Pocket sketch of my just-woken-up husband doing his best “look how ugly I am” face/pose because he wouldn’t let me take a photo 🩷
Simple flat-coloured line drawing of a soft-looking man in a black t-shirt, track pants, round glasses and old man slippers. He is hunched over with his arms forward, accentuating his little pooch belly. At the same time, he is grimacing terribly and tucking his chin in to form many neck rolls. His curly dark hair is unkempt in full mad scientist slash bed hair mode. A heart has been drawn beside the man by the artist.
March 17, 2025 at 11:42 PM
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Sleep Saturday morning
February 28, 2025 at 10:00 PM
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They have nice crates for feeding in or if they get overstimulated or need to be kept out of the way for a bit, but at night time if they’re not allowed in bed they cry. Ruby was the only dog we’ve ever gotten as a puppy and it was just so sad her crying every night in a box. I was weak; I gave in.
A cardboard box beside a bed is secured with zip ties such that it is always open at the top. Inside, within a tiny padded bed, a tiny tiny black puppy is curled up. Around her is a heartbeat toy (fluffy hot water bottle with a ticker in it, to replicate the feeling of sleeping with their litter), a normal dog toy, a fluffy blanket, and a pee mat. Though her face is not visible, the little scroll is tucked into a corner and looks sad.
February 5, 2025 at 8:56 PM
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My custom chihuahua table arrived.
Two tiny chihuahuas - one black and one cream - are curled up in a fluffy blanket on a fluffy dog bed that appears to be up off the ground on a piece of furniture whose form is not fully visibly in frame. The same dog bed from the previous image is now shown without the dogs and blanket and in wider field of view, such that its context is evident: the mattress sits atop a bedside table where it is surrounded by a lip which would stop the pups tumbling off it. Extended out the front of the table is a pull-out ramp covered in non-slip carpet. A mockup slash blueprint shows the plans for the table from the previous image, seen from above (the mattress has a small lip at the wall side such that it can still hold bedside table items like phone chargers), the front (showing it has a drawer and cubby hole that are obscured when the ramp is out), the side (showing it has made use of all internal space with hidden cupboards), and multiple angled perspectives both with the ramp extended and not.
February 5, 2025 at 11:35 AM
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If you want all the mountain/beach combos of Scotland but with much, much less rain, then Tasmania is also here for you.
A rough road winds between olive-coloured button grass scrub towards a cold silver lake surrounded by rugged, snow-dappled peaks which reach upward into a foggy clouded sky. A helicopter shot looks down on a crescent-shaped beach with bright turquoise water, nestled between craggy grassy outcroppings. Looking out towards the hazy blue horizon, this hidden beach is just one of many in the landscape.
February 2, 2025 at 9:15 AM
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Mine was a gift from the husband bc I am super scared of planes but had to fly quite a lot for work pre-pandemic.

An AU-US flight is about the perfect length for a lot of indie games. Old faves like Filament (Beard Envy) and Afterparty (Night School) have kept me company on some horrible flights.
The same Nintendo Switch Lite from the original post is held up but now backwards, showing that on its backplate is stuck a handwritten post-it note which reads “for portable brain-calming” with a love heart.
February 1, 2025 at 11:31 AM
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Belly Rub Potato
Photograph of a tiny cream-coloured chihuahua with a fluffy white belly, laying on its back on a couch as if awaiting slash requesting a belly rub. However, the result js not graceful - she has one eye open and one eye closed and her paws are folded in front of her like a kangaroo and her head is kinda tucked into her neck like a person does when they want to jokingly show double chins. So the overall look is kinda derpy and her silhouette is strangely round. Still, you can see from features like her tiny nose and mouse whiskers that she’s normally cute as a button.
January 28, 2025 at 9:07 PM
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I enjoyed the Ingold piece* and the top-quality responses it has prompted** but this whole discussion just tells me:

1. Video games have so many ways to touch you beyond the words characters say
2. @mike.reuben.games had the right idea about basic media critique years ago
Screenshot of a tweet from user kurt russell fan club: “ Decided from now on I’m reviewing movies on a 2D axis: star ratings for whether I like it, A/B/C ratings for if I respect it. For example: The Thing, B+, five stars; Hereditary, A, four and a half stars; Endgame, C, four stars; The Room, F, five stars; Babadook, B, two stars.” Screenshot of a tweet from user kurt russell fan club: “Charting my opinions on movies and I’m even more sure this is the perfect film rating system.” Tweet image shows a 2D version lane graph where the X axis is enjoyment, the Y is respect. In the “do respect, didn’t enjoy” corner: Dead Man Walking, Babadook. In the “did enjoy, don’t respect” corner: Doctor Sleep, John Wick, The Room. In the “both respect and enjoy” corner: Steel Magnolies, The Shining, The Thing, Green Room, Avengers: Endgame. The remaining quarter is empty, presumably because those would be the disliked and non-respected movies you easily forget.
January 20, 2025 at 11:09 PM
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And the conclusion:
The two chihuahuas from the main post are visible, each passed out cold on a pile of cushions and blankets on each end of a couch. The black one has a toy near her head as if she brought it with her to play with but then was too tired.
January 12, 2025 at 4:45 AM
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Chihuahua beach day ☀️
A tiny black-and-tan chihuahua in a colourful harness is running along a beach at high speed away from the camera. The speed is evident by the fact that in this snapshot she has been captured entirely mid-air, with all four legs outstretched as if in a manic gallop. A tiny cream-coloured chihuahua in a colourful harness is running along a beach. She has been photographed side-on as she runs in bounds, here captured with her front paws off the ground as if mid-pounce. Her ears are up and back as if she is very focused on her destination. A tiny black-and-tan chihuahua is trotting along a beach toward the camera. She has a large stick in her mouth and looks very pleased with herself as she returns to her human with it - clearly she is playing fetch. A tiny cream-coloured chihuahua in a colourful harness is running along a beach at high speed toward the camera. The speed is evident by the fact that in this snapshot she has been captured in cheetah running pose, with all four legs coming together between bounds as if in a manic gallop. Her ears are back and her eyes look laser-focused.
January 12, 2025 at 3:26 AM
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Excellence must be recognised, rewarded.
Screenshot shows an image composition program in which a gaudy clip art-covered retro-looking certificate is being made, along with icons and indicators which are to be cut out and presumably stuck onto it. The certificate reads "Dog of the Month" and has criteria for "obeyed most commands", "best at toilet", "calmest on walks", "friendliest to strangers", and "least screaming at dogs", each of which has a selection between a cartoon Ruby and a cartoon Crown. At the bottom is an empty box framed with the words "And the winner is..." and "Congratulations!". Cut-outs suited for this box are little headshot indicators for a black chihuahua labelled "Ruby" or a smaller cream chihuahua labelled "Queenie". Thus, the intent of the certificate must be to select the best at each criteria to determine an overall winner for the month and celebrate them. The certificate and indicators are all made of old Microsoft Word-style clip art and word art including streamers, balloons, star confetti, the word "wow" in 3D gold lettering, the works. All in differing illustration styles and fonts and clashing colours - a play on the corny style of office-made documents in that era when people were over-excited by the tooling but had no sense of style. But clearly in this case it is intentional.
January 9, 2025 at 9:44 AM
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We went to breakfast, window shopped real estate, went to the beach, went swimming, had a bath, explored the garden, went on a sniffari around the neighbourhood, and ran and ran and ran around everywhere. Played games, found cool bugs, ate snacks, everything. A perfect dog day. Now totally zonked 😴
Photo showing the torso of a woman laying down on a couch wearing a large fluffy hoodie. Lying on her and completely fast asleep in weird positions are two tiny chihuahuas. Their back legs are entwined, their front legs are outstretched in midair like little overturned tables, and their necks are bent as they are both sleeping on an incline - one up and one downward. This is very cute and gives the overall impression that they were very tired.
January 4, 2025 at 11:06 AM
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Drove five hours away to stay in a cottage in my favourite rainforest town. Got a yard for the dogs, rented a Starlink dish, brought some non-alc Tassie beers/ciders, downloading some sweet new Switch games. Living my best life.
A woman in casual clothes and messy hair sits in the grass in the shade of a tree up against the side of a low deck. Around her is a sunny garden of flowers. She is holding a Nintendo Switch Lite which is visibly downloading 1000xResist, and shows recently-played games Citizen Sleeper, Dredge, and Filament. Nearby sits an open can of Willie Smith’s cider, a clean wheelie bin with a Starlink dish sitting atop, and two to tiny chihuahuas sniffing around the grass.
January 3, 2025 at 1:32 AM
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And being a little robot laddie doesn’t hurt for outreach to school kids who think it’s cute!
A tiny robot telescope on a tripod emits a red glow as it sits on a dark jetty on an inky lake in the nighttime darkness. Overhead, a sky full of stars it must be gazing at. In the distance, silhouettes of wooded mountains.
January 2, 2025 at 8:31 AM
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One year ago vs today
A person laying down takes a photo down across their torso, where a tiny black-and-tan chihuahua puppy sits - ears still floppy, big puppy paws which her body is yet to grow into. Behind her is a patio scene with wrought iron chairs, an umbrella, and plants. A person laying down takes a photo down across their torso, where a small but fully-grown black-and-tan chihuahua sits - ears now upright, her now muscly body basking happily in the sunshine. Behind her is the same patio scene from the previous image with the wrought iron chairs, umbrella, and plants. The person is visibly wearing the same fluffy hoodie as last time too. A second chihuahua is also visible in the scene: a smaller, cream-coloured one that must have been added to the family since last year.
January 1, 2025 at 12:08 AM
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She was such a tiny bean! When she was born she was the size and weight of two chicken eggs, and now she has grown into such a proud little beast - clever and muscly and the fastest tiny dog we’ve ever seen. Knows loads of commands, and still so snuggly.
A tiny black-and-tan chihuahua puppy has fallen asleep in the hand/forearm of a person. She is curled up in a weird foetal position but clearly fast asleep. She is only twice the length of the person’s hand, if that. A man with dark hair and glasses is wearing a fluffy hoodie. Tucked in the neck hole is a tiny black-and-tan chihuahua, whose teeny tiny head is sticking up and licking the man on the nose. Her head is about the size of an apple. A tiny black-and-tan chihuahua puppy stands on a rug in the middle of a room. Behind her, a dog pen is visible with food, water, toys and beds. She is staring intently at a the tiniest dog bed you have ever seen, which is still too big for her. Based on the context of objects around, her body must be about the size of a hot dog bun. A man with dark hair and glasses is leaned sideways on a couch, fast asleep. On his lap is a tiny donut-shaped dog bed, in which a teeny tiny black-and-tan chihuahua puppy is tucked in a fluffy blanket - also fast asleep in a similar position.
December 30, 2024 at 11:57 AM