firecat

Photos in the park

Sun, 14 Jul 2013 09:36:53 GMT

I should be working on processing the photos I took in Alaska, but there are 14,000 of them and mine and the OH's are all mixed together. So instead I went to a shoreline park in Alameda with bastette_joyce and a new-to-me camera and took these pix of birds, boats, grass, and freighters.

( one photo )
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cat-and-dragon/sets/72157634627559881

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Peninsula Humane Society helping to fight illegal wildlife trading

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 01:04:56 GMT

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/Wardens-Go-Undercover-to-Crack-Down-on-Trophy-Animal-Sales-203101781.html
Excerpt:

Online marketplaces such as eBay have made it even easier for international sales of exotic animal parts such as ivory, rare animal skulls, horns, and other items banned for sale under state, federal and international law because they threaten endangered species.

To address the problem, the Peninsula Humane Society partnered with eBay to train volunteers to identify, report, and help investigate these illegal sales. In the first year, more than 2,000 items were removed from eBay after being identified by volunteers. In the first 3 months of 2013, some 1,300 products have been flagged.

Job description: http://phs-spca.org/volunteer/positions.html#InternetExaminer

I can see this program making a difference by watching the way the wording of ebay auction descriptions changes as sellers try to get further under the radar. For example, elephant ivory is illegal to sell on ebay, so sellers advertise real elephant ivory as "faux ivory" (but if you look at the pictures, plenty of the faux ivory is real).

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Linkspam Sunday

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 20:29:48 GMT

I failed to record the sources where I found these, but many are from andrewducker and moominmuppet

http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112661209/young-gorillas-observed-dismantling-poacher-snares

http://www.buzzfeed.com/lyapalater/30-awesome-behind-the-scenes-photos-from-old-movie
"Old movies" are now movies made in the 70s and 80s, and in a couple of cases, 90s. Ghod.

http://boingboing.net/2012/07/23/eagle-scouts-stand-up-to-the-b.html
Some Eagle Scouts are returning their medals in protest of Boy Scouts of America homophobia and religious intolerance.

http://www.igda.org/why-crunch-modes-doesnt-work-six-lessons
Complete with equations! Now to get medical schools to also realize that days-long shifts aren't a good idea.

http://vimeo.com/28457062
Video of lightning captured at 7,207 images per second

http://www.salon.com/2012/07/21/paranoid_parents_kill_cities/
This is about how in the US and some other cultures, children are no longer allowed outdoors unsupervised.

"In the Sydney Morning Herald, a writer recently marveled at seeing children wandering unchaperoned all over Tokyo. When she worried to her Japanese colleague about the lack of adult supervision, he responded, “What do you mean, no adults? There were the car drivers, the shopkeepers, the other pedestrians.” In Japan, 80 percent of kids between 6 and 12 walk to school grownup-free."

Note: I don't judge any parents. But I wonder about the consequences of a culture where children are not allowed to have any time to themselves outdoors.

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/07/geeks-guide-ursula-k-le-guin/all/
Interview with Ursula K. Le Guin. Includes the cover of an SF Masterworks version of The Dispossessed that strikes me as the most awesome bookcover ever. This interview also links to an article Le Guin wrote for Harpers in 2008 about reading:
http://www.harpers.org/archive/2008/02/0081907

http://www.buzzfeed.com/whitneyjefferson/dc-and-marvel-superheroes-as-manatees
MANATEE SUPERHEROES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/happiness_is_about_respect_not_riches
Yes I agree, but that doesn't mean people who have survival needs going unmet are happy. So I hope no one uses it as an excuse to continue suppressing the minimum wage and promoting other underpaid work.

http://www.npr.org/2012/07/12/156664337/stereotype-threat-why-women-quit-science-jobs
How Stereotypes Can Drive Women To Quit Science

And can I just say that I'm disgusted people are criticizing the body of a female swimmer who has won multiple gold medals? (Leisel Jones of Australia). I'm not linking to any of the news articles about it because they quote body hatred, but you can quack it.

http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/fluoride-lowers-your-iq-b.s.-headline-week
Fluoride lowers IQ, or does it? (How science is misreported, especially by people with an agenda.)

http://darkarchive.wordpress.com/2012/07/26/de-gendering-academic-dress-at-oxford/
I approve.

http://scienceinmyfiction.com/2012/07/23/science-fiction-fails-immunology/

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/britain-flooded-with-brand-police-to-protect-sponsors-7945436.html

Olympics organisers have warned businesses that during London 2012 their advertising should not include a list of banned words, including "gold", "silver" and "bronze", "summer", "sponsors" and "London", if they give the impression of a formal connection to the Olympics.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/national-affairs/pot-legalization-is-coming-20120726
Interesting article about the ramifications of various ways to legalize and regulate marijuana.

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san francisco zoo and bay photos

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 18:28:50 GMT

Recently I dug out my pretty-old-by-today's-standards camera (a Pentax Optio S4, which fits into an Altoid's tin) and took myself to the San Francisco Zoo and, on a day with interesting clouds, to Marina Park in Emeryville, which has great views of the bay and three different bridges. Photos are in the San Francisco set on my Flickr page. A couple of my favorites under the cut.
( two photos )

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(SF BAY AREA LOCALS) Signal boosting for Peninsula Humane Society

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 22:57:05 GMT

I volunteer for Peninsula Humane Society, which has built a spiffy new center at 1450 Rollins Rd., Burlingame, CA

Here are some services that PHS offers at the new center:

Microchip Mondays --$20 microchip for dogs and cats, no appointment needed.
Group Tours -- M-F, 10:30 am- 5:30 pm. Contact Scott Delucchi at 650/685-8510 or delucchi@PHS-SPCA.org
Kids' B-Day Parties for ages 6-12, Sundays, beginning soon. Contact Katy Schwarz at 650/340-7022, ext. 308 or kschwarz@PHS-SPCA.org.
Meeting Space for Local Groups and Companies. Hold your next meeting, team-builder or brainstormer at our Lantos Center, Mondays and Fridays, 2-5 pm. Meeting space looks directly into a cat condo! Suggested donation of $100. Contact Scott Delucchi at 650/685-8510 or delucchi@PHS-SPCA.org.
Furchandise Retail Store. Proceeds benefit shelter animals.
40-45 cats and kittens available for adoption.
Watch staff and volunteers working with shelter dogs in our Dog Training/Exercise Park with a retractable roof and water fountain.

In addition:

Wing for rabbits, small animals, birds and non-traditional pets
Viewing windows for the public to observe our Kitten Nursery and Wildlife Treatment
Dog obedience classes

Here are services still offered at the PHS center at Coyote Point:

Owners looking for lost pets
Owners surrendering unwanted pets
Spay/Neuter Clinic and vaccination clinics

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