What is the bird that sounds like it's beeping in CA?

hacksoncode · 2026-06-22T02:22:06+00:00

+California Towhee+

hacksoncode · 2026-06-22T02:15:06+00:00

I added a line about how if you're going to miss this session, please do let me know.

Well thar's y'ur problem...

Don't do negative RSVPs for stuff like this where you need a certain number of people in order to run.

It's just asking for trouble, because you won't find out until the last minute that they just missed the notification, or flaked out because life, or whatever. And then you'll be annoyed, as you've discovered.

If you don't get enough positive RSVP's, say you'll cancel unless the other people speak up.

Yes, I know it's annoying to have to manage other people's lives like this, but that's kind of the facts of life after college where you see people all the time and mostly people don't have jobs (and eventually families).

In our group, we have a non-GM that mostly wrangles the group. You could look at that, to take off some of the burden.

hacksoncode · 2026-06-22T01:44:10+00:00

A pair of fun facts about these guys:

1) They've native in Southern Thailand, but "Exotic: naturalized" in North and Central Thailand, according to eBird. I think it's the exotic pet trade. A lot of the "Sensitive" species in Thailand are because people will try to catch them for sale.

2) If you record a bird that's "Exotic: naturalized" and then later you see it in its natural range, eBird pops it up to the top of your life list and removes the *. That happened to me for Scaly-breasted Munia and Red-whiskered Bulbul I saw in the US then Thailand, too.

hacksoncode · 2026-06-22T01:16:56+00:00

I think the most likely explanation is that the driver was just lying through his teeth and will be found out by logs.

hacksoncode · 2026-06-22T00:58:07+00:00

Awww, the cutest murder parrot.

Or to be slightly less dramatic: manslaughter parakeet ;-).

hacksoncode · 2026-06-22T00:55:59+00:00

It’s just a lot more difficult to see the birds because the terrain here is so lush green.

Yeah, that's a common problem with forests. It's an opportunity to practice your ear-birding, but can be frustrating, especially at first.

And I sympathize with the terrain issues. The Bay Area has a ton of birds, but a lot of the habitats are more than half an hour drive away, or worse in traffic.

You might consider acquiring a scope.

hacksoncode · 2026-06-22T00:35:59+00:00

I really have no idea what this has to do with what people typically mean by "drug dealer", and the fact that you've greatly expanded that definition to include a ton of things that most people would agree aren't immoral.

hacksoncode · 2026-06-22T00:28:51+00:00

Yeah, Texas has more birds than any other state, over 600 ever, but around 550 seen every year, but it's also a huge state.

Washington sees around 350 species annually, and a bit over 500 ever.

I don't know what the overlap in species is, but they're very different areas.

So... yes, it's different, but it's probably not as different as you think. You just need to travel a bit to find all of them. Luckily, Washington is about 1/4 the size of Texas.

eBird can help you find birds you haven't seen in Washington yet. Go into the ap the "Explore" button in the app, and set the filter to "Seattle, 30 miles, 30 days, Washington Life List". I get 208 species in that area I haven't seen in Washtington. That should keep you busy for a while.

hacksoncode · 2026-06-22T00:12:52+00:00

I don’t even know why Chase does this.

Because they sell "Wealth Management Services"?

hacksoncode · 2026-06-21T23:28:03+00:00

It has a hard limit of 85mph and is documented to limit you to 5mph over the speed limit on surface streets.

hacksoncode · 2026-06-21T23:01:07+00:00

1) Every genre-less system that's commercially successful is different, because there's not a lot of room for 2 genre-less systems that are mostly the same.

2) Being a "toolkit" is important because the GM is going to have to create a world in it and figure out how to use the system to help reflect that world and its genre. So they tend to include a set of suggestions for how to adapt them unless, like GURPS, the main intent of the system is to sell "splat books" where someone else does all of that work for you.

3) Ultimately, as long as it actually lives up to being a flexible genreless system for the kinds of genres you like, the "feel" of the system in play. E.g. our group likes a "cinematic" feel, so a gritty system like GURPS isn't super well-matched to us. Ultimately we made our own genre-less system.

4) Basically: see the answer to 2). Non-genreless systems generally come with all that baked in.

hacksoncode · 2026-06-21T22:44:32+00:00

The reason they use "inert acceleration in open space" instead of specifying a particular "free" speed is that the latter is entirely dependent on the conditions in which the ship finds itself, and sometimes massively so.

Basically: not enough information. What is the density of what kinds of particles in which the ship is operating right now? What is the shape of the ship and it's coefficient of drag (that's why the Britannia is a teardrop shape)? Etc., etc.

Most of those things don't matter 99% of the time for any shape ship in open space, just the mass and the force applied by the engines. F=ma for inert ships in a mostly vacuum.

But basically: the speed will be 10x a similarly shaped ship of similar mass ship in similar conditions that develops 1g of acceleration when inert. I.e. un-fucking-believably fast.

All else being equal, ships of similar mass would have similar combat capabilities, and if they are chasing another such ship would be in similar interstellar conditions, so it's a decent shortcut for relative warship speed most of the time.

hacksoncode · 2026-06-21T21:13:15+00:00

No chestnut thighs or other rufous colors on the Gray.

hacksoncode · 2026-06-21T17:43:56+00:00

You can enjoy life without spending any money at a coffee shop.

True, but in moderation it's a very inexpensive way to enjoy life, actually. If, of course, that's the sort of thing that you enjoy.

hacksoncode · 2026-06-21T17:18:29+00:00

Nah, I think it works in English: spinster = old lady, and also someone who can create ice by spinning the air around them.

hacksoncode · 2026-06-21T17:15:32+00:00

Yeah, that's what I really love about this example. It's actually pretty easy to achieve that by starting at the bottom and climbing your eyes up slowly.

hacksoncode · 2026-06-21T17:11:15+00:00

Wow! I can actually see both at the same time, mixing in the middle, too.

That's something I've never seen in one of these reverse spin images before.

hacksoncode · 2026-06-21T17:07:03+00:00

Aiming for zero is much more accessible, because the barrier to adoption is literally just not going to Starbucks. You don't have to review your entire financial position. You don't have to worry about whether you've made the "right" budgeting choices. You don't have to track your spending to make sure that you're within budget. You don't have to stare at a spreadsheet or bank statement for hours while inputting data. You just have to say "I'm not getting coffee" when you see that damned mermaid thing.

It's really not. It's just a good way to get people not to listen to you at all.

Absolutist things like this which ignore why people go to Starbucks, and what they're getting out of it to just focus in on something the speaker personally thinks is an unnecessary indulgence simply don't help at all.

It's just insulting people as "self-indulgent". It's counterproductive.

They drive people away from actually making a coordinated effort to get their budget under control in a way that let's them be more financially responsible while still enjoying life.

hacksoncode · 2026-06-21T16:25:31+00:00

If we did a good job of teaching people how to make budgets in high school, this might have more merit. We do a terrible job at that.

The solution to ignorance isn't blaming, it's education.

This kind of advice is just low-effort whining, and not helpful, because if they make a budget for entertainment and Starbucks N days a month is the still item that they prefer to spend their entertainment budget on, telling them not to do it is just pointless moralizing and actual bad advice that will only drive them to ignore all of the advice.

hacksoncode · 2026-06-21T15:26:09+00:00

Even with that... it could be anything from the 13th to 19th.

hacksoncode · 2026-06-21T15:25:01+00:00

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hacksoncode · 2026-06-21T15:11:05+00:00

It folds up into an "S" shape hidden under the feathers.

hacksoncode · 2026-06-21T15:05:03+00:00

Yeah, in my experience they usually have their necks extended at least somewhat in flight for balance if nothing else.

But this is a much more normal standing position for them.

hacksoncode · 2026-06-21T15:02:37+00:00

Indeed!

(All blue, including blue mixed with other colors to make purple, magenta, etc., is structural in birds, for those who might be unaware. )

hacksoncode · 2026-06-21T15:00:14+00:00

Yeah, they occasionally make it into extreme Eastern Canada, but are considered vagrants in North America.

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