Thoughts on a Transatlantic Commute

In addition to the refreshed content on my main website, I also added a new piece. It's about repeatedly crossing the Atlantic Ocean for a taxing job while your friends assume you are skiing. #expatriate #employment #misunderstandings #businessclass

039 : travel : Europe : Thoughts on a Transatlantic Commute

My "ten month" special project rotation finally ended, merely five years after it began. Looking through the diaries I filled, photos I took, and raft of business activities I completed, now that I FINALLY know it is behind me, I thought about the element of this that is LEAST understood by my friends.

Website Tools: Embedly

As I am using Blogger, which doesn't support the sort of fancy link previews that Google+ offered, I need a tool to make things NICE. Thanks to the Google+ Exporter, I was introduced to Embed.ly, which generates the interface I expect. It's a great tool! #worldwideweb #blogger #linkpreview

Embed Code Generator | Embedly

Enter a URL and Embedly will generate HTML you can embed in your site or blog.

Website Tools: Why No Padlock (SSL checker)

Now that I've finally gotten SSL for one of my sites, this tool is also fabulous. I especially appreciate how it points out mixed content (where you link or pull images from a non-secure site). This has saved me hours of hair-pulling. #worldwideweb #ssl #validator

Why No Padlock?

Why No Padlock? - Why is my SSL web page insecure? Find the culprit!

Website Tools: CSS Validator

On the same theme, I also rely on this CSS validator, as CSS is still not a natural thing for me. #worldwideweb #css #validator #w3c

The W3C CSS Validation Service

Check Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and (X)HTML documents with style sheets

Website Tools: the W3C Validator

I love the Validator! If you are a web author, it can help be sure your HTML is legit, and finds errors you may have missed. I recommend it heartily. #worldwideweb #w3c #html

The W3C Markup Validation Service

W3C's easy-to-use markup validation service, based on SGML and XML parsers.

My personal website, teahousehome.com, has been refreshed

We could all use to be refreshed now and then, right? I now have an SSL certificate, plus added code for mobile/tablet-friendliness. I've also revised some of the core content, and updated some of the newer features.

teahouse home

personal website of Arlene Graves of San Francisco, California

Supersense: One Instant packfilm kickstarter funded and underway

I'm happy to have backed Florian (Doc) Kaps' new project, which is "One Instant" peel-apart pack film for Polaroid-type Land Cameras. Yes, of course I still have a Land Camera. What kind of fanatic do you think I am? I like the cleverness of the project generally. For example, they tried to recreate the complex, accordion-fold package that pack film used to have, and it's a logistical nightmare. So, they decided to skip that, and make recyclable paper holders for single shots instead. Which is SO SENSIBLE. Here's their new website. With the Kickstarter funded, they'll hope to produce film and get it out mid-year-ish. #instantfilm #polaroid #landcamera #supersense

One Instant

ONE INSTANT is based on a new, radical concept. It's not a classic packfilm but a next generation type 100 instant film that doesn't even dare to compete with the classic film legends of packfilm history.

The EAT Lancet Commission's Dietary recommendations for health and the planet

If human and planetary health matter, this scientific approach to solving well-documented problems with well-documented science is a great place to start changing our habits.

#health #humanity #environment #savetheearth

The EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet, Health - EAT

Can we feed a future population of 10 billion people a healthy diet within planetary boundaries? The Commission is delivering the first full scientific review of what constitutes a healthy diet from a sustainable food system, and which actions can support and speed up food system transformation.

Long walks along the coast are a delight in any weather, year-round...

I've enjoyed the recent storms, for their aesthetic value. :)
#sanfrancisco #clouds #pacificocean

2019.01.28 Cloudy Day, San Francisco

7 new photos · Album by A. Elizabeth Graves

What science has been saying for years, but is now saying loudly:

I know this, you know this, but it isn't happening on its own, so it has to be emphasized by scientists:

New plant-focused diet would ‘transform’ planet’s future, say scientists

#environment #health
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/16/new-plant-focused-diet-would-transform-planets-future-say-scientists?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

For my fellow postal geeks who haven't already seen these, the new USPS 2019 stamp releases.

For my fellow postal geeks who haven't already seen these, the new USPS 2019 stamp releases.

#uspostal #stamps #mail
https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2018/pr18_095.htm

Cloudy evening, January 3rd

Another day, another try at posting this. New Year's Day at Ocean Beach!

Another day, another try at posting this. New Year's Day at Ocean Beach!

#sanfrancisco #pacificocean #oceanbeach
https://photos.app.goo.gl/K1RL7yENVuNKVTFq5

The Vija Celmins show is one of the most compelling exhibits I’ve seen in years.

The Vija Celmins show is one of the most compelling exhibits I’ve seen in years. Her steady dedication to her subjects over time, and the depth and detail of her work, is remarkable.

Celmins is a Great Artist.

#vijacelmins #sfmoma
https://www.sfmoma.org/exhibition/vija-celmins/

Sunset with admirers

Overlapping waves

New Year, big sky

Echeveria abundance

I approve of the person who posted this message of love on SanFrancisco's Ocean Beach, which I observed today.

#sanddollar #sanfrancisco
https://photos.app.goo.gl/gqAjY26PezJTCiqA7

None of my friends who are afraid of spiders should read this.

This is an excellent superpower!

#spiders #spiderballooning #electricalfields

Originally shared by Adafruit Industries

Spiders Can Fly Hundreds of Miles Using Electricity #Science #Spiders @TheAtlantic
https://blog.adafruit.com/2018/12/31/spiders-can-fly-hundreds-of-miles-using-electricity-science-spiders-theatlantic/

Via Ed Yong for The Atlantic

On October 31, 1832, Charles Darwin walked onto the deck of the HMS Beagle and realized that the ship had been boarded by thousands of intruders. Tiny red spiders, each a millimeter wide, were everywhere. The ship was 60 miles offshore, so the creatures must have floated over from the Argentinian mainland. “All the ropes were coated and fringed with gossamer web,” Darwin wrote.

Spiders have no wings, but they can take to the air nonetheless. They’ll climb to an exposed point, raise their abdomens to the sky, extrude strands of silk, and float away. This behavior is called ballooning. It might carry spiders away from predators and competitors, or toward new lands with abundant resources. But whatever the reason for it, it’s clearly an effective means of travel. Spiders have been found two-and-a-half miles up in the air, and 1,000 miles out to sea.

See more!
https://blog.adafruit.com/2018/12/31/spiders-can-fly-hundreds-of-miles-using-electricity-science-spiders-theatlantic/
https://blog.adafruit.com/2018/12/31/spiders-can-fly-hundreds-of-miles-using-electricity-science-spiders-theatlantic/