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More Stressed Chameleon

@mark-nicol.bsky.social

Working on being a calmer chameleon - but it comes and goes. East Lothian dad and software engineer - working at the UK ATC (Likes dad jokes, old computers and space. Would like to write better docs but never seem to have the time)

173 Followers  |  550 Following  |  80 Posts  |  Joined: 16.11.2024  |  2.074

Latest posts by mark-nicol.bsky.social on Bluesky

πŸ”ŠCalling #Edinburgh! One of the world's largest telescopes twinned with the world's biggest camera is about to embark on a 10yr mission to survey the Universe! Join us in Dynamic Earth's Planetarium as we unveil the 1st Rubin imagesπŸ₯³πŸ”­πŸ΄σ §σ ’󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

πŸ—“οΈ: 23rd Jun@15:30-17:00
£5🎟️ dynamicearth.org.uk/event/rubin-...

14.06.2025 08:32 β€” πŸ‘ 61    πŸ” 17    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 3

The amazingly talented photographer @tomduffinphotos.bsky.social and I turned my #StrawberryMoon skeet-thread into a piece for the 🏴󠁧󠁒󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 #Edinburgh Reporter. Check out Tom's many superb photos and don't forget, #DoLookUp tonight! πŸ”­

πŸ—žοΈ: theedinburghreporter.co.uk/2025/06/look...

11.06.2025 19:31 β€” πŸ‘ 40    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

You have my empathy on that one. Last one of those I listed to had curious pauses and ways of pronouncing the text - including what sounded like 'In Tranent' based services

09.06.2025 16:59 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Seems a bit pointless restricting it to EEC. The subset of people who will bother to change browser for searches can't be that significant - or else Microsoft are doing a lousy job of convincing people to choose Bing/Edge given what a low bar Google search is nowadays.

04.06.2025 16:28 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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That is one of my favourite all time Bloom County jokes.

Have you heard about the Corduroy Pillows?
....
They are making headlines

30.05.2025 08:26 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Yellow portacabin on the back of a lorry being carefully moved into place behind the lodge at the ROE.

Yellow portacabin on the back of a lorry being carefully moved into place behind the lodge at the ROE.

What if we containerised the teams rather than the software?

New portacabin arrives on site.

30.05.2025 06:57 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Sign on the side of a skip that says "Level Load and then on a separate line "No Fires"

Sign on the side of a skip that says "Level Load and then on a separate line "No Fires"

Work goals for today

30.05.2025 06:41 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

πŸ₯³ This is proper EXCITING people!! Mark June 23rd in your diary for the world wide release of the first images from the wonderful and amazing Vera Rubin Observatory. πŸ”­πŸ§ͺ

Join the celebration at a Rubin Watch party near you!
πŸ‘‰: rubinobservatory.org/news/rubin-f...

23.05.2025 16:27 β€” πŸ‘ 98    πŸ” 25    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1
Cappuccino with two dark patches that look a bit like cursed or haunted eye sockets.

Cappuccino with two dark patches that look a bit like cursed or haunted eye sockets.

Thanks coffee, I couldn't have summed up my work mood any better.

22.05.2025 09:01 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

A long read and a rewarding one. How the Business Idiot culture has messed up everything about work and life in pursuit of sound bites and vibes.

22.05.2025 06:34 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

She is that! And then some

17.05.2025 11:27 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Fresh breakfast muffins made by my lovely wife - loves x
What a lovely way to start the weekend.

17.05.2025 08:09 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Blue sky seen through an archway the inscription on the arch reads:

"THIS ARCH IS ERECTED 12th SEPTEMBER 1888 TO COMMEMORATE THE WORK & CHARACTER.OF GEORGE HARRISON Kt. MP. LLD WHOSE LIFE WAS DEVOTED TO THE PUBLIC GOOD BORN 1812 : DIED I885"

Never realised the beatles were that long ago.

Blue sky seen through an archway the inscription on the arch reads: "THIS ARCH IS ERECTED 12th SEPTEMBER 1888 TO COMMEMORATE THE WORK & CHARACTER.OF GEORGE HARRISON Kt. MP. LLD WHOSE LIFE WAS DEVOTED TO THE PUBLIC GOOD BORN 1812 : DIED I885" Never realised the beatles were that long ago.

This run of nice weather really is lovely. Hope it lasts through the weekend.

Whatever you are doing today as George says "it is going to take patience and time to do it right" πŸ˜€

16.05.2025 07:28 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
An infographic with information on what to do if you find a baby bird.
Is it visibly injured? If yes, contact an animal welfare organisation. If no: does it have feathers? If yes, it’s a fledgling. If it’s in immediate danger, move it to a sheltered spot nearby. If no, do nothing.
If it doesn’t have feathers, it’s a nestling. If you can see a nest, put it back in the nest. If not, contact an animal welfare organisation.

An infographic with information on what to do if you find a baby bird. Is it visibly injured? If yes, contact an animal welfare organisation. If no: does it have feathers? If yes, it’s a fledgling. If it’s in immediate danger, move it to a sheltered spot nearby. If no, do nothing. If it doesn’t have feathers, it’s a nestling. If you can see a nest, put it back in the nest. If not, contact an animal welfare organisation.

It’s the time of year when you might find a baby bird and want to help. Most often (and slightly counterintuitively) it’s best to do nothing. Here’s a useful guide.

15.05.2025 15:06 β€” πŸ‘ 649    πŸ” 302    πŸ’¬ 21    πŸ“Œ 9
Screenshot from merlin app showing western house-martin as the spotted bird

Screenshot from merlin app showing western house-martin as the spotted bird

Sure is a mighty fine place to be ...

15.05.2025 08:17 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Achievement of the day. I've been limited to one dad joke per team meeting.
If I'd known I wouldn't have wasted it on a crack about quantum computing working and not working at the same time.

14.05.2025 16:49 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Ask not for whom the bell tolls

13.05.2025 05:34 β€” πŸ‘ 18    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Some disappointingly mild cheese crisps in an orange packet and a plastic tupperware of pistachios

Some disappointingly mild cheese crisps in an orange packet and a plastic tupperware of pistachios

Doing our best on weak cheesy puffs and pistachios in the shadow of Hailes castle

11.05.2025 14:34 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thats lovely - Seems like a good system to me. 😊 Far easier to remember than the current one.

09.05.2025 08:04 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Picture of the dome of the Royal Observatory Edinburgh. Most of the photo is a blue sky with mackerel clouds.

Picture of the dome of the Royal Observatory Edinburgh. Most of the photo is a blue sky with mackerel clouds.

Morning. Good skies on the way to the office. Almost makes up for the climb.

09.05.2025 07:42 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

It feels like a Taskmaster prize task ...

Alex Horne voice "Tonight the contestants were asked to bring the best thing that fits inside a shopping trolley and the lucky winer will go away with 5 things that they can take home in a shopping trolley"

08.05.2025 08:14 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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A US Navy aircraft carrier in the Red Sea fight just lost a third Super Hornet. The $60 million jet went overboard on landing. The F/A-18 tried landing on the USS Harry S. Truman but went overboard after the arrestment failed, a defense official said.

Has anyone done the "not so much super Hornet as sub Hornet" dad joke yet?

www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-airc...

08.05.2025 06:36 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

#Astro-bluesky I am talking to 11-13 year olds next week about astronomy-related careers. If you have a cool picture of you doing your job (especially from women) be it in science, engineering, IT, business support, project management etc. I would love to have a picture to show what we do. πŸ”­πŸ§ͺ

07.05.2025 10:30 β€” πŸ‘ 24    πŸ” 16    πŸ’¬ 7    πŸ“Œ 0

That is a good view. Hope you keep beating the curve for a while yet John.

05.05.2025 21:13 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Happy Astronomy Day to those that observe.

03.05.2025 16:36 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
A glass of what is surprisingly a non alcohol pims substitute. After all it is work time for another hour.

A glass of what is surprisingly a non alcohol pims substitute. After all it is work time for another hour.

Evidently, Friday starts here. Have a good weekend folks.

02.05.2025 14:26 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Wow awesome stuff @anywaythewind.bsky.social get you! It is a lovely picture.

02.05.2025 14:14 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I'm glad they clarified. The British and American versions could be quite different - and neither of them great for the 124/X4 πŸ™‚
#NoPantsDay

02.05.2025 07:17 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

I dunno man. Years of unsuccessfully chasing a pigeon without leadership support and with a team ill-suited to the challenge will screw you up. I think you have put some of the blame on the system. Through all the failures he kept his team together and tried to keep them motivated.

02.05.2025 07:01 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Tiny signs you're making progress (even when it feels like you're not) All wins are good wins!

The 'after burnout' series of articles by @kvlly.com are just lovely and thoughtful and human - well worth a read:

"Progress doesn’t always feel like winning.
Sometimes it feels like not quitting.
And that counts, too."

modernleader.is/p/tiny-signs...

02.05.2025 06:20 β€” πŸ‘ 12    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

@mark-nicol is following 20 prominent accounts