Category: Uncategorized

We had a go with the telescope for the first time yesterday! It was a lot of fun. It turns out that distant stars are still tiny pricks of light even through a telescope, go figure, but you can see a whole lot more of them. We looked at Vega, Arcturus, the Beehive Cluster, the Double Cluster, and we think we saw a UFO – to be confirmed.
Reading a bit more on [[Climate Action Plan for Councils]] via [[Climate Action Plan Explorer]]. I like the checklist of actions they have for councils.

Also reading up on the upcoming [[Changes to councils in Cumbria]].

And finding a few climate-oriented organisations in Cumbria, like [[Cumbria Action for Sustainability]] and various local XRs. Need to look at it in a bit more detail but [[Zero Carbon Cumbria]] seems to have a checklist similar to the one from Climate Action Plan for Councils.

Apple have published their latest environmental progress report – [[Apple 2022 Environmental Progress Report]].

[[Restart]] have launched our [[Fixing Factory]] in Brent.

[[decentralised manufacture]].

Had a nice chat with Dan about [[org-roam]], [[zettelkasten]], and brainstorming a way to publish a collaborative [[digital garden]] he’s working on.

Attended the [[social.coop Spring 2022 Strategy Session]] which was nice.

On the personal side, I’m trying to get in the habit of doing morning pages in a handwritten journal. It’s going well so far – a good mental health practice.

Reading leaflets from local councillors for the [[2022 Westmorland and Furness Council election]].

+ A good chunk of my notes were [[climate change]] related.
+ [[The People vs Climate Change]], [[The Insect Crisis]], [[People like wind power]].
+ I’m starting adding notes from day-job related readings to my digital garden. e.g. [[The era of fixing your own phone has nearly arrived]].
+ It’s interesting to see some developments around [[manufacturers and the right to repair]]. Recent announcements from Samsung and Google on spare parts.
+ There is mention of [[repair and reuse in the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report]] part 3. I feel happy that my day-job is in an area that is part of the picture of mitigation of climate breakdown.
+ Despite what I’d read in previous summaries, there is more to the report than just "renewable energy, electric vehicles, low-carbon technology." Reducing consumer demand and changing industry practices is included for example.
+ I liked learning about [[energy storage]]. It seems key to a green future.
+ I liked learning about [[Climate Action Plan for Councils]]. I feel a local, municipal approach holds great promise for effecting change. It obviously needs to join to a national and global effort too.
+ E’s birthday was successfully orchestrated. We had a lovely weekend away in [[Ambleside]].
+ I’m still reading [[Cybernetic Revolutionaries]]. Need to type up some notes – maybe today.
I was on holiday this week and went to visit E’s family in North Norfolk. It has big skies and lovely beaches and salt marshes.

Lots of binocular action. Involved lots of sitings of birds. Starting to recognise a few more. We saw seals which were amazingly cute and comical from a distance.

Learned a little about using solar panels for the home.

I read a fair bit about the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, part 3. Laying out what needs to be done. In essense: renewable energy, electric vehicles, low-carbon technology. "This report is essentially a manifesto for ending the fossil fuel age". We have the knowledge and the means, it just needs putting in to action.

In tandem, read about and learned that the UK energy strategy is terrible. Focusing on nuclear, ignoring onshore wind, even pushing fossil fuels.

I didn’t read much about Ukraine while away, but on return see that it is getting increasingly grim and on course to escalate further.

I’ve been reading a bit more of Cybernetic Revolutionaries. Interesting to contrast the Chilean version of a planned economy to the Soviet one. Chilean seems much better.

Next week is still Easter school holidays, and also it’s E’s birthday, so spending time on that.

+ Participated in a roundtable on [[citizen science]] and [[digital action]] run by UCL Extreme Citizen Science (https://www.geog.ucl.ac.uk/research/research-centres/excites) lab, as part of [[Restart]].

+ Put in for a place on the Data Leadership Cohort (https://aspirationtech.org/programs/leadership/data) that [[Aspiration Tech]] is running, related to our work on [[open repair data]]. Got me thinking about [[data commons]].

+ I’ve noticed that I like writing [[technical documentation]].
+ I’ve always had a predilection for [[maintenance]] rather than the creation of shiny new things. I feel like writing docs is in keeping with that affinity.