Ptarmigan Gray

@[email protected]
11 Followers
37 Following
261 Posts

Expat from the Cotswolds, now in Florida.

Hiker, climber, runner, photographer, writer, cat owner, and occasional IT professional

he/him - straight ally - atheist

Profile picture is my favourite useless gate, found in Hidcote Bartrim, Gloucsetershire
Profile background is a photo of my cats

linkshttps://bardsworld.neocities.org/
pronounshe/him
Ptarmigan GrayNov 12, 2024
Butser Ancient FarmNov 12, 2024
Build update! We've finished thatching our late Neolithic roundhouse and have moved on to the walls. We normally don't know much about walling materials, especially from this long ago, but incredibly some of the wall from the original structure actually survived. From these fragments, we know the walls were made of wattle and chalk-rich daub, and may have been painted -- that plus the proximity to two henges makes us think this could have been very special indeed. A high-status home? A shrine?
Ptarmigan GrayNov 12, 2024
Helen ClaytonNov 12, 2024

Today has been ‘aaarrrrgggghhhh!’

Need trees, mountains, rivers, sheep and borbs again already.

Ptarmigan GrayOct 30, 2024
Micro SF/F by O. WestinOct 29, 2024

By entering the galactic scene by beating an Ikk'ii invasion, humans became known as fearsome warriors.

It became fashionable to have one on crew, and it emerged there were different kinds.

The most prized were polite, helpful, yet could intimidate even other humans: Librarians.

#MicroFiction #TootFic #SmallStories

Ptarmigan GrayOct 22, 2024
WinderfulOct 17, 2024
While you were sleeping, #windEnergy reached 32% of the National Grid's electricity demand. https://winderful.uk
Winderful - Wind energy is currently producing 7,450 MW.

That's enough to power 37,437,186 PS5s!

Ptarmigan GrayOct 22, 2024
This Is My GlasgowOct 21, 2024

I came across this unusual upside down T-shaped keyhole on the door of a Victorian townhouse in Glasgow today. It's for an Odell Night Latch Key, of the type shown on the right. Patented in 1792, they came in a wide variety of different shapes and you put them through the cross bar of the T and then lifted them up. They'd only open the latch if their shape fitted the inverse shape of the mechanism in the lock itself, which sat on the other side of the door.

Cont./

#glasgow #doorfuriture #keys

Ptarmigan GrayOct 22, 2024
Michele Feltman StriderOct 21, 2024
The hottest look of the season is an I Voted sticker on the same arm as your flu shot and covid booster bandaids
Ptarmigan GrayOct 16, 2024
Louise LocockOct 16, 2024
A new manager at Walthamstow ambulance station is trying to evict eldelry Defib the cat, who has lived there caring for the crews for many years.
#CatsOfMastodon
Petition here https://chng.it/7fpDyr6Gzs
Can you spare a minute to help this campaign?

Save Defib the cat. defib@savedefib

Change.org
Ptarmigan GrayOct 16, 2024
Remembering last week's adventure in Dorset.
#meerMittwoch #DurdleDoor
Ptarmigan GrayOct 16, 2024
Leontien TalboomSep 24, 2024

Last week, Tyler Thorsted, @archivist_Liz, Chris Knowles and I did a workshop on imaging obscure floppy disk formats at #ipres2024
As part of this workshop we produced a guide, which is available on Zenodo!

https://zenodo.org/records/13828372

A Guide to Imaging Obscure Floppy Disk Formats

Memory institutions are grappling with the challenges posed by digital carriers in their collections. While solutions for more recent carriers like hard drives, optical discs, and flash storage are readily available, the landscape becomes trickier when dealing with older formats such as floppy disks. It is becoming increasingly difficult to source the hardware, such as 5.25”floppy drives. There are many boards that can read flux streams, including the KryoFlux, and the Award-winning Archivist’s Guide to KryoFlux can help to get started. But KryoFlux is somewhat limited in the disk formats it can interpret and might be too expensive for smaller institutions. We came together as practitioners because we encountered disk formats that required additional efforts to read and extract files. We explored hardware such as Greaseweazle and using FluxEngine software to read less common disk formats. Sharing the knowledge we have gained, this tutorial and workshop present an opportunity for participants to delve into these formats, examining them from both hardware and formatting perspectives. The session will start with a tutorial designed to showcase various options and tools (FluxEngine, GreaseWeazle), demonstrating how to make aging equipment compatible with contemporary machines. At the end of the tutorial, participants should have the knowledge to build their own forensic workstation for 5.25”and 3.5”floppy disks. Commencing with case studies, the workshop in the second half of the session will unravel the complexities of dealing with obscure formats and share valuable lessons learned. Participants will be equipped with practical tips and tricks for identification and handling, including utilizing Hex Editors and using tools for specific obscure disk formats (such as WANG). The aim is to empower participants with the skills and knowledge needed to navigate the challenges associated with older formats.

Zenodo
Ptarmigan GrayAug 24, 2024
European CommissionAug 24, 2024

On Ukraine Independence Day, we reaffirm our full support to the people of 🇺🇦 in their existential fight against the Russian aggression.

So far, we have supported the people of Ukraine by:

🇪🇺 providing close to €114 billion of overall assistance from the EU and its countries;

🤝 giving shelter and access to jobs, training, housing, and healthcare to, more than 4 million people fleeing the war;

🛑 adopting 14 packages of hard-hitting sanctions against Russia to cripple its war machine.