Tootfinder

Still as cis as ever, but I thought I'd show my support by posting an interesting transition metal compound from my lab inventory.
Here's a solution of tantalum chloride in ethanol/methanol, intended for sol-gel deposition of tantalum pentoxide thin films. You spin coat it on a substrate then heat in air; the chlorine swaps with an oxygen in atmospheric water vapor and you get HCl gas evaporating and Ta2O5 on the surface.

In news related to the "oh crap this disk seems to be failing" issue, my mini PC is now running Ubuntu 26.04. Had to do `do-release-upgrade -d` to get it, and I wouldn't run 26.04 on a production server just yet. But I figure toying with it on a very standard piece of kit would be fine.

So. J.D. Vance: right-wing nut or right wingnut?
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/30/jd-vance-alien-ufo-are-demons?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Good concise overview of #Meshtastic vs #Meshcore and how to choose when to use which one...
https://www.

MeshCore or Meshtastic: Which one is better? - Latest News from Seeed Studio
The LoRa mesh community is buzzing right now. If you’re following this trend, you’ve likely

Sadly couldn't join myself (wife wasn't feeling good and wanted me to stay home and help parent while she napped) but my SAR team participated in a great inter-agency training this past weekend.
It's always nice to practice alongside volunteers from other teams that we work with on real incidents and get to know each other without the pressure of a real emergency.
One note: I half feel like there should be a CW on this post for mentioning law enforcement in a positiv…

When asked what it means to be a good news consumer, 20% of US adults mention being discerning, 17% following the news, 13% getting news from quality sources (Elisa Shearer/Pew Research Center)
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/20

What Americans think it takes to be a good news consumer
One of the most common things Americans associate with being a good news consumer is a sense of skepticism or discernment.

Estland is voor Nederland al zo'n 15 jaar lang een voorbeeld als het gaat om digitale overheid. Talloze werkbezoeken zijn er ook al geweest. Zonder iets af te doen aan Estland. Met het continue noemen van Estland als "voorbeeld" wordt het in Nederland niet beter. Het is niet dat we niet weten of snappen wat we moeten doen, we doen het vaak gewoon niet..... #verzuchting

Nieuwe kabinet kijkt naar Estland om dienstverlening verder te digitaliseren
In Estland kan al jaren bijna alles digitaal, sinds vorig jaar zelfs scheiden. Nederland moet nog flinke stappen zetten, daarom kijkt het nieuwe kabinet naar het Estse systeem.

I've used some questionable pit toilets in my day but I've never worried about falling in.
"This is not the first time accidents involving pit toilets have happened in Australia.
In July 2024, firefighters had to pull apart one such toilet in Indigo Valley in the state of Victoria after a man got stranded in it."
#Australia #PitToilet #Outhouse

Geologists on the silver screen—the sequel: #movies, too ...