Earth-like biospheres on other planets may be rare

This is an interesting article on Science Daily. Seems that the conditions on Earth could be far rarer than we think. [1] So we are looking for Earth Like atmospheres, the JWST will really help push this research forward.

Please feel free to discuss further on discourse [2]l. I have also included a link to a infographc, on atmosphere composition in our own solar system [3]

Comment and questions on this.

I just wondered what the range of conditions could support life, for example is there a minimum and corresponding percentage range for Oxygen for example. The same would go for other gasses for example Nitrogen, $CO_2$ etc. Hopefully we can learn more about what is needed for life, so we perhaps increase our chances of finding possible habitable words. This, of course is assuming all life requires Oxygen We have found life in or near volcanoes on Earth, conditions are very hot, and inhospitable to humans generally, not to mention the Sulfur Dioxide and other toxic gasses.

I will try and look in to this further.

REFERENCES

1 Main Article 2 Discourse Discussion 3 Compound Chemistry – Solar System Atmospheres

TAGS

#YearOfTheFediverse,ScienceDaily,#Planets,#Atosphere, #Telescope,#JWST,#Exoplanets,#Life,#Composition

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International coalition calls for action against surveillance-based advertising

Interesting article, this fightback has now started, there is hopefully no going back and we will see an end to all this tracking, advertising and other unwanted nonsense.

**Groups in Europe and U.S. ask for action to end practices that threaten citizens’ rights. **

` Every day, consumers are exposed to extensive commercial surveillance online. This leads to manipulation, fraud, discrimination and privacy violations. Information about what we like, our purchases, mental and physical health, sexual orientation, location and political views are collected, combined and used under the guise of targeting advertising. You can read the full article at [1]. I have also included a link to a Discourse thread as well as a link to the Data Detox kit.

REFERENCES

1 Article 2. Discourse Discussion 3. Data Detox Kit

TAGS

#YearOfTheFediverse,,Report,#Threats,#Consumers,#Surveillance, #advertising,#Privacy,#Adverts,#Profit,#Digital,#Rights

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Particle Data Group

Just sent off for the latest report from the Particle Data Group [1], which has data on the various particles such as Quarks, Baryons, Leptons etc. Only sending for the shorter (286+ page one). Thank you to the Open University [2] Science forums for making me aware of this.

This is free and should be arriving within the next six to eight weeks apparently.

Should be really interesting to read, may also be useful for the Science study support group [4]

REFERENCES

1 Particle Data Group 2 Open University 3 CERN 4 Science study support group

Update

My Particle databook has now arrived

GRAPHIC

Graphic from : Wikipedia

TAGS

#YearOfTheFediverse,#Physics,#Data,#Particles

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Presentation : Chemistry

Reaction of Lithium metal with Water.

I am starting to make some videos on different subjects and using Big Blue Button to produce video presentations. This is actually my second attempt at the same video.

The presentation [1] discusses the reaction of Lithium with water. While the video below [2] looks at the element Lithium in more detail. I have included a link to periodic table of videos [3] so that you can check out the other elements in group 1.

REFERENCES

1 Presentation on Big Blue button 2 Lithium on Periodic table of videos 3 Periodic Vidoes

TAGS

#YearOfTheFediverse

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Scismic CV workshop

As I am looking for employment, I attended a Scismic CV workshop last night (6/5/2021). This took place at 6pm ET which made it 11pm UK time, nevertheless I attended and gained soe useful pointers. Workshop was presented via zoom.

Scismic [1] are a matching company, you create profiles with skills and you are matched to employer job profiles, so they are not a recruitment agency, employers are able to find you. Their primary focus is Biotechnology, again this is a workshop so was worth attending, it is good to work outside the box and take up of any help / advice available.

So, on to some of what was covered:-

How to structure your CV to match the job you are applying for, putting in your skills / expertise and then ensuring these are matched with your current or previous job roles.

Writing a personal statement that is specific to role, positive, impactful and highlights your strengths. Using the right vocabulary to increase effectiveness.

The purpose of the CV is to get you through the first stage, after which you are able to discuss about your skills / strengths further.

This helps to match you even if you don't feel you are a 1000% match, there are skills that can transfer over.

Keeping an industry CV to two pages, highlighting relevant skills.

Structure also included keeping fonts and margins consistent throughout the document, when to use tables (and the possible pitfalls of this)

Suggested CV sections include:-

• Summary
• Research Experience
• Education
• Skills / Techniques
• Publications
• Leadership experience

There is an excellent template at [2] which I am using myself. Even though I am not looking at Biotech jobs, I like the layout and format of the document.

The importance of connecting and networking with others, how to do this, who to perhaps follow on websites such as LinkedIn, Webinars and other events Also some tips on researching roles were topics of discussion.

So a very useful workshop, from which I now have 7 pages of notes. A useful item mentioned is a 'informational interview' which I am going to look in to, and in fact there is another workshop on this in about two weeks.

Workshop was about an hour, so 45 mins for the presentation and 15 minutes for questions and answers at the end.

REFERENCES

1 Scismic 2 Scismic CV Template TAGS

#YearOfTheFediverse

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South Devon Tech Jam May 2021

South Devon Tech Jam

Date Saturday 8th May 2021 Time 11am –> 14:00

Free signup via meetup

• SDTJ Meetup page
• Meeting page

Or if you prefer not to use meetup then you can e-mail info AT sdtj DOT org DOT uk for more information.

This is a virtual event, and will be hosted on a EU/UK based instance of Big Blue Button. Link and information will be sent out to attendees.

TAGS

#SouthDevonTechJam,#Event,#Virtual, #TechJam,#STEM,#Computing,#Engineering,#BigBlueButton,#YearOfTheFediverse,

CONNECTING TO THE SOUTH DEVON TECH JAM MEETING

I have made a new blog post with instructions to help people connect. This can be found here

TEST LOGIN

There is a TEST LOGIN here which may be useful to help test your set up works ok. THIS IS NOT THE MEETING LINK

LibreOffice Documentation April 2021

LibreOffice 7.0 / 7.x [1] documentation [2] is progressing nicely. Guides for :

Updated 12/04/2021 – Writer 7.1 guide is now available from the LibreOffice documentation page.

• Getting Started 7.0
• Impress 7.0
• Calc 7.0
• Math 7.0
• Writer 7.1

REFERENCES

1 LibreOffice 2 LibreOffice Documentation 3 Free Software Foundation 4 Free Software Foundation Europe

TAGS

#YearOfTheFediverse,#LibreOffice,#Office,#Writer,#Calc,#Base,#Draw,#Math,#GettingStarted

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Social media faces new regulator

BBC Tech news [1] has an article [2] on the new Digital Markets Unit [3] what what the implications will be for the big social media companies ( Google, Facebook and Amazon ). Tough regulation is long over due. So this announcement is most welcome.

Lets hope, the new regulator has the guts to stand up to big tech and remind them if they want to operate in the Uk they need to follow the rules.

Of course, people could simply switch to services such as Mastodon [4] which already have proper privacy, no tracking or advertising nonsense and you can follow who YOU want. If you self host, through services such as Masto Host [6] then you truly do have control.

Alternatives to google search would include searx [6] while disroot [7] have a really good range of services. PixelFed [8] is for picture sharing and PeerTube [9] can be used for video sharing. OpenStreetMap [10] for mapping. And much more is available. If you are using e-mail I would suggest also setting up OpenPGP to help with digital signing of e-mails and if needed encryption.

REFERENCES

1 BBC

2 Google, Facebook and Amazon face new UK regulator 3 Digital Markets Unit 4 JoinMastodon 5 Masto host 6 Searx 7 Disroot 8 PixelFed 9 Peertube 10 OpenStreetMap 11 OpenPGP 11a Email Self Defense

TAGS

#YearOfTheFediverse

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Microsoft accounts and GDPR

The UK / EU GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations) state that in the Information commissioners office website [1] upon request of data removal, data should be deleted within “An organisation has one calendar month “. [2] So why is it that upon recently deleting an old hotmail e-mail. it takes 60 days as per quote from their website.

To protect your account from accidentally being closed, we may ask you to prove your identity and intent. For example, if you forgot your account info and had to reset your security info, you must wait 60 days before closing your account. 


You can reopen this account, preventing the closure, by signing back in within 60 days. To reopen, you'll need to prove your identity using your current account security information.

This account becomes unrecoverable 60 days after you've closed the account, meaning that you'll be unable to reopen it.

Quote from website regarding time for data deletion.

One of the rather pathetic excuses seems to be that you may request this in error. To me this is just patronising. People are not stupid, big or small tech is not above the law, even though they seem to think that most of the time. Just delete the data within 30 days.

If I request my account is deleted from the Fediverse it gets deleted. Same goes for Gitlab repositories.

Another reason to avoid big tech. If you need e-mail, pads, collaborative editing and storage, then Disroot [3] is excellent as a service too.

REFERENCES

1 ICO 2 Your rights to get your data deleted 3. Disoot

TAGS

#YearOfTheFediverse,#GDPR,#data,#removal,#ico,#account,#deletion.

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Warzone 2100 4.0

Just spotted this on the Techrights irc channel. Warzone 2100 4.0 has been released. I have not played this much, but when i have I feel that it is a really nice game. Gaming on Linux

On a related note, there was a really good talk on GPU architecture at Libreplanet back in March from Alyssa Rosenzweig called Does your GPU work with free graphics drivers? which may be worth catching up if you are interested ensuring all your hardware is freedom respecting, there are some excellent options out there now.

REFERENCES

• Gaming on Linux
• Warzone 2100
• Techrights
• Vulkan
• Free Software Foundation
  • GNU
  • Libreplanet 2021

TAGS

#YearOfTheFediverse,#warzon2100,#Game,#RTS,#GPL,#FOSS,#Vulkan, #Graphics,#Techrights,#Libreplanet

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License