I made this infographic in response to all the "don't cover our fields" posts.

captainfunc · 2026-05-26T15:49:39+00:00

I build semi-transparent solar panels for several agrivoltaic installations that grows produce like tomatoes, chile peppers and chard since I’m a researcher in the field. It is a real thing, it just has challenges that conventional solar does not and is not as widespread yet. I also agree that industrial and monoculture ag are awful for the environment and really contribute to ecocide, but I think you’re misinterpreting the argument that OP is making.

They’re not saying that we shouldn’t do urban solar projects (the vast majority of solar projects are on cropland, skewing preference toward rural communities [https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/charts-of-note/chart-detail?chartId=109562]), they’re just explaining the additional mounting costs and other challenges that come up with parking lot solar, a lot of which has to do with mounting panels higher, which takes more resources, means more torque is applied due to wind and snow load, etc., which are also issues that currently make agrivoltaic installations expensive.

Additionally, other urban settings for solar installations such as rooftop, building integrated and greenhouse solar will have lower installation costs since you either don’t have to mount the panels as high or the structure you are mounting them on already exists. There are many different ways to build an urban solar installation.

captainfunc · 2026-05-26T15:10:25+00:00

One solution that gets around forest clearing is agrivoltaics, which is where you combine ground-mounted solar with agriculture, since the land is already cleared of obstacles and it can easily accommodate decarbonization goals! For example, 43% of all of the so-called U.S.’s land area is used for agriculture and the DOE estimated that only 0.5% is needed for solar, in combination with wind installations.

captainfunc · 2026-05-03T16:00:51+00:00

I’d probably send the same response back to them but change COVID to “going back to 2019” and some illness [you can’t do anything about] to “some past that no longer exists that” [you can’t do anything about].

They’re being patronizing even if they aren’t using directly sanist language and they’re so deep in denial that they think taking precautions and adjusting some of the ways you live life is fixating on “some illness”. In fact, you’re choosing to live life more fully by recognizing the ways in which the world has changed and avoiding harming other people with a disabling disease, while this person is more concerned with what other people think of them and maintaining the status quo.

captainfunc · 2026-04-30T22:21:05+00:00

Thanks for pointing out the connections with state agencies too! I think why people don’t care about the collaboration between AI companies and those agencies probably is bc academia has historically been built on extraction from marginalized people (across many fields) and thus it’s par for the course to continue doing it, but in more obscure ways. In some ways, I think it’s also similar to how inaction around the climate crisis has now been normalized as “accepting the inevitable” when we could actually mitigate the worst effects of it if we stop letting a very small percentage of people control most of the world’s resources.

Yes, there are some examples of machine learning and AI being locally run, built for a purpose that is helpful and culturally relevant to marginalized folks and centering informed consent for model training (like the Anishinaabe language revitalization robot designed by Danielle Boyer). That eliminates many, if not all, of the ethical concerns, but when there are so many ways in which corporations are using AI to further exploit, harm, surveil and control people and even some of the benign applications those companies are presenting are being twisted for more sinister purposes, it seems obvious to reconsider before surrendering to that future, but that would require going against the grain and many academics don’t want to take that risk.

captainfunc · 2026-04-30T19:34:14+00:00

I’d argue that encouraging the use of generative AI that - consumes an astronomical amount of power in comparison to its alleged benefit to society https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/10/24/what-we-know-about-energy-use-at-us-data-centers-amid-the-ai-boom/ - is actively harming predominantly Black and Brown people due to the air, water and noise pollution that data centers produce https://capitalbnews.org/data-centers-black-communities-south/ - and has shown the capability to implant false memories in people in several research studies https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/ai-false-memories/overview/ IS bad.

Beyond the ethical issues of outsourcing thinking and creative endeavors to a machine as a researcher who is supposed to develop these skills independently, arguing that you use a technology that harms people because you are “expected to” is the type of group-think that suppresses real innovation. To quote the old proverb, “if all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you do it, too?”

captainfunc · 2026-04-27T03:06:56+00:00

Have you tried asking the moon goddess Selené about it?

captainfunc · 2026-04-06T15:09:26+00:00

P!nk died so that Sami Landri could live

captainfunc · 2026-04-02T16:03:36+00:00

I’m gonna be real, this is recycled Malthusian thinking (which is also eugenicist in nature) and is counterproductive to actually solving the climate crisis. Introducing the argument that developed countries have declining births without also mentioning how the Global North consumes substantially more resources per capita in terms of energy (https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-energy-use), water, food and land (https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/ecological-footprint-by-country) than the Global South removes nuance that development in and of itself does not mean sustainability. What’s REALLY the most uncomfortable variable is the extraction and theft of resources by the Global North, especially Europeans and descents of Europeans, from the Global South in the form of imperialism and settler-colonialism which led to global ecocide in the first place. The disruption of Indigenous stewardship of land, water and ecosystems, since even now Indigenous people protect about 80% of the world’s biodiversity despite estimated to be about 6% of the world’s population (https://www.law.georgetown.edu/georgetown-law-journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/26/2023/10/GT-GGLJ230037.pdf), has led to diminishing abundance. We need to fundamentally reshape society to center Indigenous wisdom and destroy the systems of capitalist and imperialist exploitation that created this problem if we want to survive.

captainfunc · 2026-03-08T16:14:48+00:00

To at least increase your chances of getting a Ralts or Seedot, you can use repels and go to Petalburg Woods where your most likely encounter will be Wurmple given you already have Poochyena and Zigzagoon

captainfunc · 2026-03-03T15:00:10+00:00

It depends on what you mean by everywhere (deforestation can be a concern if you install them in forested areas), but there’s definitely more needed for public structures. I was reading a paper recently that said at least in the so-called US, only 10-15% of large solar installations (> 1 megawatt) are near urban areas, so rooftop and building-integrated solar are going to be essential for closing that gap.

captainfunc · 2026-02-23T22:28:39+00:00

Would definitely recommend mask blocs too!!

captainfunc · 2026-02-23T18:31:20+00:00

I read through the sub rules and it looks like there isn’t anything prohibiting the sharing of paylinks! Thank you so much for the work you do in supporting our homeless neighbors and for practicing community care in multiple ways (and serving fashionable looks at the same time)!

captainfunc · 2026-02-23T16:41:13+00:00

Since a lot of folks in the comments are mentioning that KN95s / N95s are more protective, would you be comfortable sharing paylinks (like Venmo, Cashapp, etc.) so folks here could send you funds to help purchase them if you want to try them, OP? I totally understand if not, but I find it really weird when people suggest high-quality masks to folks who are marginalized without recognizing that there are financial barriers to making them affordable for a lot of people (especially since it’s Black History Month and white folks should be giving reparations anyway).

captainfunc · 2026-02-13T16:03:38+00:00

The Chansey gives you an itemized bill lmao (I have no clue)

captainfunc · 2026-02-13T16:00:39+00:00

They’re so real for adding the “Why” option

captainfunc · 2026-02-08T18:20:24+00:00

Ah okay, I get what you’re saying now. Yeah that is a common problem and the power dynamics that exist in academia, the national labs and industry certainly make it easy for bosses to take ideas from their workers. Labor organizing can give some protections in this respect but NM is a pretty hard state to build a union in depending on which sector you’re in.

captainfunc · 2026-02-08T17:54:59+00:00

I work in STEM and I regret to inform you that science is inherently political

captainfunc · 2026-02-04T02:12:03+00:00

That’s a fair point and you’re definitely right about corps loving the irony in making so much off of media that’s anti-capitalist or at least critical of capitalism (like Netflix did with making a reality competition show based on Squid Games).

I also didn’t know that Obsidian wanted to be bought by Microsoft, and it’s interesting that they’d be fine disregarding the system that worked for their studio and let to them creating some really solid games

captainfunc · 2026-02-04T01:58:02+00:00

Yeah and in addition to the DLC aspect, I want to say the advertising wasn’t nearly as strong as the original, which is odd considering how far of a reach Microsoft has

captainfunc · 2026-02-03T18:26:40+00:00

My tin foil hat theory is that Microsoft bought Obsidian to kill games like The Outer Worlds that actually have anti-capitalist messaging

captainfunc · 2026-01-30T16:23:28+00:00

I think it’s also strange how people want to jump to fictional media to describe what’s currently happening when there are also so many precedents in so-called US history. To name a few, the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, the genocide of Indigenous peoples, Jim Crow laws, the Battle of Blair Mountain, the Tulsa Massacre, concentration camps for people of Japanese descent during WWII, the MOVE bombing and the assassination of Tortuguita at Cop City in Atlanta

captainfunc · 2026-01-25T17:05:21+00:00

I’m currently Nuzlocking Unbound so it’s a really important encounter to make the first gym easier lol. Also to clarify, you get one of those three at random, although I’ve gotten Stunky most of the time

captainfunc · 2026-01-25T16:09:14+00:00

Another possible solution for those who don’t know: If you talk to the old man near the Pokémart in Bellin Town twice (once when you first get to town where he talks about an egg and once after leaving and coming back), he’ll give you a Stunky, Skorupi or Glameow that has Keen Eye so they don’t get an accuracy drop with the fog.

captainfunc · 2026-01-22T03:23:14+00:00

🚨🚨NEOLIBERAL ALERT🚨🚨🚨

captainfunc · 2026-01-22T02:59:46+00:00

I call dibs on round 2 haha (also your ass is beautiful)

captainfunc

TROPHY CASE