Mephtrix

Mephtrix

@mephtrix.bsky.social

Lesbiab Witchy-Sciencer Drone Whisperer Pilot Skunkette. Come for adventure/robots, stay for movie/music gush. Your nearest emergency exit may be behind you. She/Her🔞

662 followers618 following12.2K posts

Mephtrix
@mephtrix.bsky.social

Get these fucking charlatans, criminals, murders, and traitors out of my industry

Mephtrix@mephtrix.bsky.social

I know too many people out there making bank off of something marginally cool as stuff I actually did that the only reasons I'm not raking in is because I refuse to be evil and nobody showed me how to start something and once the economy rewards that kind of gumption lookout

Mephtrix
@mephtrix.bsky.social

If you use Windy.com you've been using weather modeled by METEOBLUE in Switzerland and they're nice people doing good stuff with big computers, so I'm in the Trust But Verify camp when it comes to ML WX.

windy.comProfessional weather forecast50+ weather layers, weather radar and satellite
Mark Ellinwood@markellinwood.bsky.social

For everyone in the replies: AI weather models are one of the good use cases (and I hate most AI). AI weather models take a small fraction of the computing power compared to traditional weather models (see: www.noaa.gov/news-release...). DeepMind's tropical forecast abilities are stellar.

noaa.govNOAA deploys new generation of AI-driven global weather modelsNOAA has launched a groundbreaking new suite of operational, artificial intelligence (AI)-driven global weather prediction models, marking a significant advancement in forecast speed, efficiency, and ...
Mephtrix
@mephtrix.bsky.social

In my roundabout way I was asking "why not do it in Alaska" and OH RIGHT ADD THAT TO THE LIST LOL

Mephtrix@mephtrix.bsky.social

TLDR I think its something he said to 1) Piss off the quiet property enjoyers of Montana 2) Make California jealous 3) Make loud defense noises in the direction of Alberta

Mephtrix
@mephtrix.bsky.social

He's pissed at Alaska, home to the largest UAS test range in the nation and admin of the Pan Pacific UAS Test Range. Which includes Oregon and Hawaii too! Thats Thats fucking funny

Mephtrix
@mephtrix.bsky.social

It came up at work that theres a proposed hypersonic UAS test range? In Montana? I'm a well-known UAS Test Range enjoyer, how have I never heard of a Montana test range? *searches* Oh. Its a thing Trump said at a rally. So its... a *proposed* test range. With a funded feasibility study.

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Mephtrix
@mephtrix.bsky.social

TLDR I think its something he said to 1) Piss off the quiet property enjoyers of Montana 2) Make California jealous 3) Make loud defense noises in the direction of Alberta

Mephtrix
@mephtrix.bsky.social

It came up at work that theres a proposed hypersonic UAS test range? In Montana? I'm a well-known UAS Test Range enjoyer, how have I never heard of a Montana test range? *searches* Oh. Its a thing Trump said at a rally. So its... a *proposed* test range. With a funded feasibility study.

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Mephtrix
@mephtrix.bsky.social

So while in theory the high altitudes and climate of Montana makes sense in a crawl-walk-run kind of perspective, I dont know that it makes a lot of sense to schedule hypersonic testing where if you get your math wrong a bit or linger another minute you end up outside the state.

Mephtrix
@mephtrix.bsky.social

Montana is only this big. The size of 1 Montana. Thats what, 6 and a half minutes at full trot from one end to the other? Thats where you want to go fast?

Mephtrix
@mephtrix.bsky.social

It came up at work that theres a proposed hypersonic UAS test range? In Montana? I'm a well-known UAS Test Range enjoyer, how have I never heard of a Montana test range? *searches* Oh. Its a thing Trump said at a rally. So its... a *proposed* test range. With a funded feasibility study.

View full thread
Mephtrix
@mephtrix.bsky.social

So if we break out our bar napkin math, the latest proven hypersonic activity covered between 165 and 275 nautical miles. Theyre being cagey about exact details bc what if someone else wants to go fast?

Mephtrix
@mephtrix.bsky.social

Thing about Mach numbers is theyre always an -ISH question bc the sound barrier is an atmospheric event and its driven by a number of factors including temperature and pressure and sea level is much easier to math out for testing purposes bc its closer to a standard atmosphere.

Mephtrix
@mephtrix.bsky.social

It came up at work that theres a proposed hypersonic UAS test range? In Montana? I'm a well-known UAS Test Range enjoyer, how have I never heard of a Montana test range? *searches* Oh. Its a thing Trump said at a rally. So its... a *proposed* test range. With a funded feasibility study.

View full thread
Mephtrix
@mephtrix.bsky.social

Now, its official US policy that we dont like going speed of sound over the contiguous US. Its outright not legal bc its too loud and too dangerous. So we still do it, we just do it over the open ocean. You take off from Edwards, past Vandenburg, point it toward Hawaii, and light the candle.

Mephtrix
@mephtrix.bsky.social

"Hypersonic" as a term is different from "Supersonic" bc Supersonic means "speed of sound plus .1 and above" Whereas Hypersonic means "starts at Mach 5." 5 times that. 3,300ish nautical miles per hour. As of the last hypersonic flight of the Talon A, the hypersonic regime was "3-5 minutes."

Mephtrix
@mephtrix.bsky.social

It came up at work that theres a proposed hypersonic UAS test range? In Montana? I'm a well-known UAS Test Range enjoyer, how have I never heard of a Montana test range? *searches* Oh. Its a thing Trump said at a rally. So its... a *proposed* test range. With a funded feasibility study.

View full thread
Mephtrix
@mephtrix.bsky.social

Quick explainer, there's one active hypersonic program right now and a handful more on the way, and I know this bc I made interview rounds for them. They are cool. They are also being flown with StratoLaunch and Scaled Composites support. Which means theyre in California.

Mephtrix
@mephtrix.bsky.social

It came up at work that theres a proposed hypersonic UAS test range? In Montana? I'm a well-known UAS Test Range enjoyer, how have I never heard of a Montana test range? *searches* Oh. Its a thing Trump said at a rally. So its... a *proposed* test range. With a funded feasibility study.

Mephtrix
@mephtrix.bsky.social

Which would barely be notable from a programmatic standpoint because, there's nothing there to note. At best its "I want one, maybe here." Its not out of the realm of possibility that Trump is just slapping his name on something thats already planned. He's done that before to *my* drones.

Mephtrix
@mephtrix.bsky.social

I think actually going to space and having the non-Kirkiest response to that experience was the final separation, you can draw a nice clean line between ST and Just Shatner.

Gail Simone@gailsimone.bsky.social

There was a time where you couldn't look at him and not think of Star Trek and Captain Kirk. He talked about how he couldn't escape it, made fun of it on SNL. But it was true. I think that phase is over. He's had a couple hit series in the decades since and is routinely a public spectacle.

Mephtrix
@mephtrix.bsky.social

Reading going from "the heck does that mean, isnt it already?" to "Oh shit, this should be everywhere"

Taniel@taniel.bsky.social

One of most interesting pro-voter maneuvers this fall: After facing years of attacks against popular initiatives, organizers in Missouri and Montana are pushing two measures this November that'd give their states arguably the strongest legal protections in the country for direct democracy:

boltsmag.orgTo Protect Direct Democracy, Two States Mull a New Approach: Name It As a Right - BoltsAfter years of attacks on voters’ power to take matters into their own hands, democracy advocates are going on the offensive in Montana and Missouri. They’ve placed constitutional amendments on... Rea...
Mephtrix
@mephtrix.bsky.social

Blow out the Rs and I dont care if it takes a year and a half to get something done if we can keep someone from fucking with the process

Mephtrix reposted

Ursula K. Le Guin Bot
@leguinbot.bsky.social

We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art, the art of words.

Mephtrix
@mephtrix.bsky.social

Here's the thread for the us of us who will never ever log into a NYT article

Francesca D'Annunzio@francescadnunz.bsky.social

Early this year, I visited Ingram, a TX town of ~1,900, to check out a tip. The area was starting to recover from its worst flood in a century. But as Latino workers drove to jobsites to help rebuild, the tipster said, a cop in a black Dodge Charger kept stopping them ... 🧵

Mephtrix reposted

Pubity {bot}
@pubity.xmirror.bot

An Illinois racoon got so fat that he got stuck in a sewer grate, forcing police to show up and free him. Images via the Zion Police Department

Mephtrix
@mephtrix.bsky.social

Gasp

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

Trump: "Murkowski is a DISGRACE to Alaska & our Country. You just don’t get any worse! I hope the Great People of Alaska understand what's happening. The Democrats are trying to steal this important Republican Seat &, if that happens, everything we’ve done for Alaska will come to an immediate hault"

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Mephtrix
@mephtrix.bsky.social

What the fuck did Murkowski even do, how is this her fault? I mean, I'm sick of her but they were beeeesstieess what did bestie dooooo

Mephtrix
@mephtrix.bsky.social

Gasp

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

Trump: "Murkowski is a DISGRACE to Alaska & our Country. You just don’t get any worse! I hope the Great People of Alaska understand what's happening. The Democrats are trying to steal this important Republican Seat &, if that happens, everything we’ve done for Alaska will come to an immediate hault"