Highest Canadian nerd achievement UNLOCKED I'M SO EXCITED!!!!
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Just got an email from a astronomer colleague who got asked by their local CBC station to do an interview tomorrow. "Do you know anything about Reflect Orbital?"
Hahah, sorry dude, it's sort of my fault that you have to talk about it. The campaign to reach out to journalists to educate the public about how terrible Reflect Orbital is is definitely working!
Going to add some pretty things to this thread.
Because today is Quirks and Quarks interview day(!!!), and at this point I'm about equal parts INCREDIBLY EXCITED to be on that show, and SUPER PISSED OFF that instead of getting to talk about cool astronomy research, I have to talk about a fucking stupid terrible techbro idea.
We're in a time when one tiny awful company in California can change the night sky for everyone in the world. The only tool I have to fight this is public opinion.
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Going to add some pretty things to this thread.
Because today is Quirks and Quarks interview day(!!!), and at this point I'm about equal parts INCREDIBLY EXCITED to be on that show, and SUPER PISSED OFF that instead of getting to talk about cool astronomy research, I have to talk about a fucking stupid terrible techbro idea.
We're in a time when one tiny awful company in California can change the night sky for everyone in the world. The only tool I have to fight this is public opinion.
The FCC has explicitly stated that they plan to approve everything https://www.satellitetoday.com/government-military/2025/10/28/fcc-kicks-off-proceeding-to-overhaul-satellite-licensing/. There is no way to stop stupid fucking mirrors from being launched into orbit by US companies.
So, my fellow Canadians (and other non-USians), I need you to get really, really angry about this. Write to MPs, space agencies, senators, to anyone who will listen about this company wanting to shine light on us.
The sky is amazing! We have so much to learn! And it's just right there if we can keep it dark.
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The FCC has explicitly stated that they plan to approve everything https://www.satellitetoday.com/government-military/2025/10/28/fcc-kicks-off-proceeding-to-overhaul-satellite-licensing/. There is no way to stop stupid fucking mirrors from being launched into orbit by US companies.
So, my fellow Canadians (and other non-USians), I need you to get really, really angry about this. Write to MPs, space agencies, senators, to anyone who will listen about this company wanting to shine light on us.
The sky is amazing! We have so much to learn! And it's just right there if we can keep it dark.
And yeah, oh my goodness, there are SO MANY THINGS to fight against right now. Pick one and talk to your government reps about it! If you love the sky, pick this fight. If you love something else that's being destroyed, focus on that. If you have no spoons left, be yourself and fight by existing and thriving!
I'm happy to lead this fight. I hope it works. Thanks for reading and appreciating how incredibly fucking stupid space mirrors are.
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And yeah, oh my goodness, there are SO MANY THINGS to fight against right now. Pick one and talk to your government reps about it! If you love the sky, pick this fight. If you love something else that's being destroyed, focus on that. If you have no spoons left, be yourself and fight by existing and thriving!
I'm happy to lead this fight. I hope it works. Thanks for reading and appreciating how incredibly fucking stupid space mirrors are.
Do I need to practice saying "Znamya" just in case I get asked about it? (Because Russia already tried the fucking stupid space mirror thing decades ago and it didn't work: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Znamya_(satellite))
I have never said this before, but I kind of wish I had more meetings this morning to distract myself from overthinking the Quirks and Quarks interview...
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Do I need to practice saying "Znamya" just in case I get asked about it? (Because Russia already tried the fucking stupid space mirror thing decades ago and it didn't work: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Znamya_(satellite))
I have never said this before, but I kind of wish I had more meetings this morning to distract myself from overthinking the Quirks and Quarks interview...
According to Wikipedia the spot traveled at a speed of 8 km/sec (5 mi/sec), that is 28800 km/h.
Pretty useless. -
Do I need to practice saying "Znamya" just in case I get asked about it? (Because Russia already tried the fucking stupid space mirror thing decades ago and it didn't work: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Znamya_(satellite))
I have never said this before, but I kind of wish I had more meetings this morning to distract myself from overthinking the Quirks and Quarks interview...
Here we gooooo
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Here we gooooo
Ok interview done! Will be on Quirks and Quarks this Saturday! (Feels like that was not my best interview ever, they had rather restrictive questions...hopefully they edit it well! And hopefully lots of people will be angry about this)
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Ok interview done! Will be on Quirks and Quarks this Saturday! (Feels like that was not my best interview ever, they had rather restrictive questions...hopefully they edit it well! And hopefully lots of people will be angry about this)
Tomorrow I have an interview with the New York Times about that fucking space mirror company. Also an interview about Dark and Quiet Skies in general for the Supermassive podcast https://www.izzieclarke.com/supermassive
Wowee. I need a nap after that adrenaline let down (but meetings and afterschool kid things are not going to let me do that...)
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According to Wikipedia the spot traveled at a speed of 8 km/sec (5 mi/sec), that is 28800 km/h.
Pretty useless.@GustavinoBevilacqua @sundogplanets Yeah, and even if they steered the mirror (which wouldn't be hard, earth observation satellites can track a point on the ground), a satellite in low orbit could only keep the spot aimed at a particular patch of ground for minutes at a time before the satellite disappears below the horizon
An actually usable mirror satellite would need to be in GEO, and that would necessitate a much larger mirror to get a useful spot size
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Tomorrow I have an interview with the New York Times about that fucking space mirror company. Also an interview about Dark and Quiet Skies in general for the Supermassive podcast https://www.izzieclarke.com/supermassive
Wowee. I need a nap after that adrenaline let down (but meetings and afterschool kid things are not going to let me do that...)
Somehow getting to brag about being on Quirks and Quarks to the lady who works at my small town post office and always asks me space questions made me feel a LOT better about all of this.
(I bet dinner will make me feel even better! Time to get off the computer...)
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Somehow getting to brag about being on Quirks and Quarks to the lady who works at my small town post office and always asks me space questions made me feel a LOT better about all of this.
(I bet dinner will make me feel even better! Time to get off the computer...)
My dark and quiet skies interview for the Supermassive podcast got moved to next week (totally ok with that) but I still have an interview with the New York Times today about That Fucking Stupid Space Mirror Company.
Other than that, I need to write some things today! The weather is awful (high winds and rain/snow all day) so maybe that will encourage buckling down and writing...
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My dark and quiet skies interview for the Supermassive podcast got moved to next week (totally ok with that) but I still have an interview with the New York Times today about That Fucking Stupid Space Mirror Company.
Other than that, I need to write some things today! The weather is awful (high winds and rain/snow all day) so maybe that will encourage buckling down and writing...
New York Times interview done! Lovely journalist! She's planning to slowly put this story together over the coming weeks as we see what is going to happen with FCC approval (which will require the US government to not be shut down)...
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New York Times interview done! Lovely journalist! She's planning to slowly put this story together over the coming weeks as we see what is going to happen with FCC approval (which will require the US government to not be shut down)...
This post is deleted! -
New York Times interview done! Lovely journalist! She's planning to slowly put this story together over the coming weeks as we see what is going to happen with FCC approval (which will require the US government to not be shut down)...
I got one text from a colleague saying they heard me on Quirks and Quarks. I don't think I'm going to listen to this one... let me know how it came out (I hope they edited well, that wasn't my best interview ever... sigh.)
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I got one text from a colleague saying they heard me on Quirks and Quarks. I don't think I'm going to listen to this one... let me know how it came out (I hope they edited well, that wasn't my best interview ever... sigh.)
Ha, this totally sounds like compliment fishing, doesn't it? It's more just "this interview that I stressed out about all week just aired" and I don't want to listen to it because I'm stressed about it. But I want other people to listen to it!
...this is all just Impostor Syndrome again, isn't it? GAH.
Time to go back outside to my goats and dogs (and llama) who never have any impostor-y thoughts.
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Ha, this totally sounds like compliment fishing, doesn't it? It's more just "this interview that I stressed out about all week just aired" and I don't want to listen to it because I'm stressed about it. But I want other people to listen to it!
...this is all just Impostor Syndrome again, isn't it? GAH.
Time to go back outside to my goats and dogs (and llama) who never have any impostor-y thoughts.
Spent allll day outside, fixing things, cleaning up, getting the farm and house ready for Real Canadian Winter, and hanging out with my animals. It was pretty good.
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Spent allll day outside, fixing things, cleaning up, getting the farm and house ready for Real Canadian Winter, and hanging out with my animals. It was pretty good.
Picking up this thread for a little experiment you could run tonight with the nearly full moon: This will be most effective if you can get to a dark place with no streetlights, but even if you're in a city, you can probably find a dark spot and see your shadow from the moon.
Look around you, and notice what's lit up by the moon. You really don't need artificial light on full moon nights. The full moon is REALLY BRIGHT. It actually hurts to look at it once your eyes are dark adjusted.
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Picking up this thread for a little experiment you could run tonight with the nearly full moon: This will be most effective if you can get to a dark place with no streetlights, but even if you're in a city, you can probably find a dark spot and see your shadow from the moon.
Look around you, and notice what's lit up by the moon. You really don't need artificial light on full moon nights. The full moon is REALLY BRIGHT. It actually hurts to look at it once your eyes are dark adjusted.
Now imagine something 4 times brighter that the full moon, but a single point source, moving across the sky as fast as a Starlink satellite. It's so bright that it would definitely not feel good to look at, and would instantly ruin your night vision (for 20 min or so). But if you look at it with binoculars or a telescope, you could permanently damage your eyes.
This is what Reflect Orbital wants to do.
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undefined gubi@sociale.network shared this topic on
Gli ultimi otto messaggi ricevuti dalla Federazione
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@demofox anyways on the reversing a linked list challenge, I want to say that I asked them what the requirements would be eg context of its use and the interviewer was like :) no just come up with something impress us :) :) but I might be misremembering as that was ~10 years ago.
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@demofox tbh it was good to have bombed that one because it helped me realize I should brush up on my c++ before applying for any of the jobs I actually wanted
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@demofox a long long time ago last time I was unemployed and job hunting I had an interview with apple and they asked me to reverse a linked list. so I said I'd use whatever library function is available. interviewer said no, pretend there isn't one. then I gave them a naive O(N) solution and then the interviewer said it was no good because it used recursion and thus too much stack memory and what if the device didn't have enough memory?!
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@shanecelis lol I laughed in real life
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@demofox INTERVIEWER: Can you reverse a string?
ME, pulling a string from my pocket: Of course.
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@demofox Oh, that's easy. Just perform a complex valued DFT of the byte values twice in a row. It's O(n log n) so it's even *relatively* efficient.
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Claudio Grigolo. Un altro lutto nel Ticino libertario
@anarchia
Negli ultimi mesi abbiamo visto andare via compagni importanti, persone che con la loro presenza, la loro passione e il loro impegno hanno lasciato un segno indelebile nella nostra vita e nella nostra militanza. A poche settimane dal https://www.rivoluzioneanarchica.it/claudio-grigolo-un-altro-lutto-nel-ticino-libertario/
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@demofox I feel like anyone asking you to reverse a string has either a) not read your resume or b) has a completely broken hiring culture. Either way probably quickest to say a pleasant good bye then and there.
