Joseph W. Brown

@josephwb

Comp. evol. biol., fake ornithologist, LFHCfs, Luddite, CSH I get down methodically Without regard to my soul tinyurl.com/G00gleSch0lar HHGG bot: @whalepetunias.bsky.social pfp: Chickens exposed to natural beard hair on a mannequin hdr: socks & sandals

474 Folgt2.611 Follower3.685 Posts

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Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· 23d

Two individuals of the species "Voth" (an anagenetic descendant of hadrosaurs).

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· 23d

Reminds me of perhaps the silliest technobabble in all of Star Trek (from the Voyager episode "Distant Origins"). Janeway: "Computer. Run a genome projection algorithm. If the hadrosaur had continued to evolve over the last 65 million years, extrapolate the most probable appearance."

Scene on the holodeck of the starship Voyager. Janeway and the Doctor are facing towards each other; between them is a holographic recreation of a hadrosaur. Janeway is about to invoke the "genome projection algorithm." From the episode "Distant Origins".

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· 23d

This is a stupidly-satisfying phrase, right?

Passage from a book. Underlined in red is "There is the frightening creak of thick metal offering vain resistance,"

From Colony (2012) by Rob Grant.

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· Jul 12

Image of a gravestone with the text:

Here Lies Academia

1088-2025

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· Jul 10

As a parent, I feel it is _vitally_ important that we instruct our kids in fiscal responsibility.

Picture of a table on which we see a bag of 6000 black perler beads. Above it, there is a hand written note which reads:

INVOICE

PERLER BEADS . . . . . $ 1 MILLION

TO BE PAID _IN FULL_

[In larger font]: I BREAK LEGS!!!

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· Jul 3

jfc...

Screenshot of a gd AI chatbot from THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT?!?

Text: "Hi! I am the Canada Revenue Agency's GenAI chatbot. Select the icon or press Ctrl+Shift+H to start a chat."

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· Jul 1

In case the reference was missed.

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· Jun 30

From @xkcd.com www.xkcd.com/3265/ "Paleontologists have long worried that the dinosaurs blasted into space 6 million years ago will on day complete their orbits and fall back down" :P

Cartoon picture of the Earth with a target in the Indian Ocean.

Text:

DIRE NEWS: AN ASTEROID IS ON COURSE TO HIT THE EARTH EXACTLY _OPPOSITE_ THE YUCATÁN PENINSULA, BRINGING _BACK_ THE DINOSAURS.

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· Jun 29

Kudos to Tidal on this AI policy: everything tagged, no impersonations allowed, no monetization.

Our stance on AI-generated music
Hi,
AI music generation tools are changing how music is created and distributed. As this technology evolves, Tidal is introducing platform standards to protect artists, their craft, and inform listeners.
Here are the highlights of our new AI Policy:

Tidal will identify and tag AI-generated music in our app. Listeners will see an "AI" badge next to music we detect as wholly AI-generated.
Tidal will not tolerate AI-generated music that impersonates an artist or group, or that facilitates fraudulent activity. We're implementing automatic tools to remove these releases immediately and on an ongoing basis.
Tidal will not allow music that is 100% AI-generated to be monetized. No royalties will go to such releases, nor will AI-generated uploads be eligible for direct-to-fan sales.
We will expand these policies to music that is substantially AI-generated when AI detection technology is sufficiently reliable to do so.

You'll start seeing these changes from July 15.
Check out the full policy here. To learn more, please visit our FAQ.
For the music,
The Tidal Team

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· Jun 25

Will something like this work? (This is the SO example). labelsX=parse(text=paste(10, "^- ", abs(seq(-8, -3, 1)), sep="")); Screenshot contains code to replicate.

labelsX=parse(text=paste(10, "^- ", abs(seq(-8, -3, 1)), sep=""));
plot(-100:-50, 50:100, type="n", xlab="", ylab="", axes=FALSE);
axis(1, seq(-100, -50, 10), labels=labelsX);
axis(2, seq(50, 100, 10), labels=labelsY);
box();

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· Jun 24

Waiting for the cluster...

Kanji for "Long time, lasting". The pictograph shows a person sitting with their legs crossed, head resting on their hand, bored out of their gourd.

Example text: I've been waiting a _long time_.

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· Jun 21

Just LOOK at the whimsy of this person crossing a bridge, mind completely blown, with arms raised as if saying "Bridges! Who'da thunk it? What a world!"

Kanji for "Bridge". The pictograph shows a person walking across a bridge with their arms in the air like they cannot believe that something as amazing as a bridge exists.

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· Jun 20

Picked up this _amazing_ used Kanji book for $4 today, and it is just about the greatest thing ever. The pictographs are so charming. Here are 4 random ones. I _just might_ only post these from now on.

Kanji for "Summer". The pictograph shows a person miserably hot under the branch of a tree.

Example text: Inescapable _summer_ heat.

Kanji for "Age". The pictograph shows a person wearing a hat, bent over a cane, standing beside a tooth that is as tall as they are.

Example text: The _aged_ man ordered some new teeth,

Kanji for "Government, Official". The pictograph shows the roof of a building overtop some buttocks

Example text: _Government officials_ in the House are asses.

Picture of the cover of the book Kanji Pict-O-Graphix by Michael Rowley (1992). It shows the character SHI (tomaru, tomeru), together with a pictograph of a policeman halting traffic to convey the meaning "stop".

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· Jun 15

I made a display stand for my partner @rachelsb.bsky.social's #Muppets lego minifigures. Made from an old wooden tissue box. I think it turned out pretty snazzy, and just the right size.

Muppet lego minifigures on a three-tier wooden stand. Like bleachers? Why are they called "bleachers"?!? Weird. Anyway...

Top row: Gonzo, Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie
Middle row: Animal, Janice, Rowlf, Swedish Chef
Bottom row: Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, Statler, Waldorf

Side view of stand. Original crate had wording "CANADA" and :THIS SIDE UP", so I thought it would look neat to preserve them?

Top row: Gonzo, Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie
Middle row: Animal, Janice, Rowlf, Swedish Chef
Bottom row: Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, Statler, Waldorf

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· Jun 8

Which days did I fail to visit my local trails? Why, that's easy to calculate! JWB_birded <- !mourning_warbler_seen; (눈_눈)

Park checklist for which birds have been seen, zoomed in on the parulids. The Mourning Warbler was seen for the first 3 days and then not at all.

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· Jun 5

I apologize for casting derision upon a paper that just came out. _Not_ cool. Just crotchety. Post deleted.

Classic Simpsons newspaper clip "Old man yells at cloud". Newspaper shows image of Abraham (Grandpa) Simpson yelling at a cloud.

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· May 25

Blue-spotted #Salamander I found on my morning warblering.

Blue-spotted Salamander (Ambystoma laterale). Very tiny. Maybe 3 cm long, and maybe 3 mm wide. It is black, with tiny blue flecks.

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· May 25

As a baby undergraduate I went to an AOU (now, AOS) meeting where the grad students were stoked about the Nelgene water bottles included in the tote bag. Me: "What's so special about them?" Them: "They last forever!" Me: "Sure they do..." 2026:

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· May 23

You see, the most important aspect of a top-shelf matutfactured phoduit are the sodum (in ng, please), catbahydrate, and proteh contents (measured as % Daily Vidue, of course). Oh, and U calories, please. This clearly high-quality company is gonna get SO MUCH of my business ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶

A "picture" of the "nutrition label" on a "bottle" of hot sauce. It is AI-generated, and indecipherable. There is (expected) english and french, but also italian and gibberish?

Highlights include "Sodum", "Catbahhydrate", and "Proteh".

I'm sure this AI "information" saved the seller a _ton_ of time compared to, say, taking a fucking picture of an actual fucking bottle :/

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· May 23

Fake title card for a TNG episode. The USS Enterprise is shown/ In blue Star Trek font, above, is the title:

"Fist Full of Datas ,
But No Cluster Access"

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· May 19

This is my Russellian comic (not nearly as well-done or funny as @tomgauld.bsky.social's...)

Title: RUSSELL'S TEAPOT IS ACCIDENTALLY DISCOVERED
Two scientists (labcoats, of course! how else would you know?!?), one looking a giant telescope, the other holding a clipboard. The one looking through the telescope says 'Yes, there it is. It's... a teapot?!? And there is a tag afixed: "Property of B.R."?'
Off to the side is a person with glasses ripping out their hair. He says "FUUUUUUCK!". A sign, saying "Rhetorician", points to this person.

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· May 8

And the Soras showed up last night ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶ (📷 Ryan Yann)

Sora. A rail. Chicken-like, with green legs, bright yellow bill, short stubby tail. Grey underneath, black around eye, top/back has the warmest browns you'll ever see, striped with black and white. (📷 Ryan Yann)

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· May 6

Virginia Rails apparently showed up last night in northern Ontario (📷 Ian Davies)

Virginia Rail. Chicken-like bird with a reddish-orange bill, gray cheeks, and a cinnamon-colored neck. It is standing in shallow water with marshy vegetation. 📷 Ian Davies

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· Apr 24

I humbly nominate myself for this position :)

Screenshot from the paper. Highlighted text:

"To solve this issue, rather than putting the burden on
reviewers, adding to an often over-taxed peer review system
(Peng et al., 2015), we recommend that more journals onboard
a Phylogenetics Editor who can enforce standards regarding
the computational reproducibility of phylogenetic analyses."

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· Apr 23

How about combining two non-standard technologies? I made this once upon a time when @jopabinia.bsky.social was complaining about some form requiring fax numbers :P

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· Apr 22

Feeling blue? Feed a chickadee!

Black-capped Chickadee perched on a hand holding sunflower seeds.

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· Apr 22

This _has_ to be included, right?

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· Apr 18

A doctor guy apparently named 'Frank'. A Zappa moustache has been poorly gimped onto his face.

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· Apr 8

Desmatosuchus from UMMZ (now @ummnh.bsky.social ; no idea if it is on display anymore)

Desmatosuchus fossil. Think "a crocodile with bull horns." _Very_ metal.

Joseph W. Brown@josephwb· Apr 6

First Snow Bunting of the year on 6 April?!? Found by @rachelsb.bsky.social 📷 Mircea Costina