Scientists finally solve the mystery of what triggers lightning

A Penn State-led research team has unraveled the long-standing mystery of how lightning begins inside thunderclouds. Their findings offer the first quantitative, physics-based explanation for lightning initiation—and a glimpse into the stormy heart of Earth’s atmosphere.

Youtube's new 18+ restriction thing

If you haven't heard: Youtube's gonna be rolling out a thing where they use AI to analyze the types of videos you watch to determine whether or not you're 18. If they think you're under, they're probably gonna limit what kinds of videos you can watch, and if they think you're 18 or over, you're gonna have to provide your ID. And if at any point Youtube has your age wrong, you're gonna have to provide some sort of ID anyways to rectify it.

I hate it all. Some people have posited that this being put in place is to protect kids, which on it's face sounds like a good thing. But having to give your ID to some online company, and Google no less... Not too long ago there was already another incident where an app intended for women only had it's database leaked, resulting in the leakage of several IDs (because this app used IDs to prove that its users were indeed women, a practice I have my own thoughts about).


Evil, but hardly a surprise.  So, think about how much you enjoy using YouTube, and if you start hitting barriers there, consider whether there is an alternative that would be less abusive.

Here is my card for the Crime Classics Bingo fest over in allbingo. The fest runs from August 1-31. (See all my 2025 bingo cards.)

If you'd like to sponsor a particular square, especially if you have an idea for what character, series, or situation it would fit -- talk to me and we'll work something out. I've had a few requests for this and the results have been awesome so far. This is a good opportunity for those of you with favorites that don't always mesh well with the themes of my monthly projects. I may still post some of the fills for free, because I'm using this to attract new readers; but if it brings in money, that means I can do more of it. That's part of why I'm crossing some of the bingo prompts with other projects, such as the Poetry Fishbowl.

Underlined prompts have been filled.


CRIME CLASSICS BINGO CARD

Excellent Intentions	Somebody at the Door	Still Waters	In Captivity	My Aunt
Underground	A Bookseller	On the Riviera	Family Matters	Not to Be Taken
In White	As If By Magic	WILD CARD	Before the Fact	The Village
A Lady	Settling Scores	He Who Whispers	Deep Waters	Silent Nights
The Black Spectacles	Someone from the Past	In the Basement	The Man Who Didn’t Fly	A Busybody

Today we went to the Effingham County Fair.

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Today is cloudy and mild.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches plus a pair of house wrens.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 7/31/25 -- I did some work around the patio.

EDIT 7/31/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 7/31/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

A few fireflies are out.  I saw a bat.

As it is now dark, I am done for the night.

I made blackout on my 7-1-25 card for the Western Bingo Fest. \o/


B1 (Bad Girls) -- "Provoking Change by Bringing Nature" (standalone)
B2 (Close-knit Community) -- "Incompetence, Sloppy Thinking, and Laziness" (Frankenstein's Family)
B3 ("Put me down!") -- "A Stronger Woman" (Polychrome Heroics: Fortressa)
B4 ("I tried being reasonable. I didn't like it.") -- "The Pleasure of Escaping the Responsibility" (One God's Story of Mid-Life Crisis)
B5 (Black Hats / White Hats) -- "Upholding It, Wherever Found" (Polychrome Heroics)

I1 (Resist Oppression) -- "Happy Instruments of Salvation" (Peculiar Obligations)
I2 ("He's all hat and no cattle") -- "No Such Thing as Finished" (Polychrome Heroics)
I3 (Dodge) -- "A New Twist" (LIFC)
I4 (Firefly) -- "Something Elusive and Mysterious" (standalone)
I5 (I'll Get My Revenge) -- "The Well-being of All Our People" (Clay of Life)

N1 ("The Wayward Wind") -- "Maho Shoujo" (standalone)
N2 (Buffalo) -- "Legs of Grass, Feet of Flowers" (standalone)
N3 (WILD CARD: Clean Up the Town) -- "Indicative of the Extent" (Polychrome Heroics: The Big One)
N4 (Defenestration) -- "In Effigy" (Frankenstein's Family)
N5 (Independent Woman) -- "But an Empty Shell" (Polychrome Heroics)

G1 (The Harder They Fall) -- "Always Surprised by Consequences" (Polychrome Heroics)
G2 ("Cool Water") -- "Beautiful, Damn Hard, Increasingly Useful" (Polychrome Heroics: Kraken)
G3 (Redemption Story) -- "The Future by Consequence, the Past by Redemption" (Frankenstein's Family)
G4 (Immigrant) -- "Fed from So Many Sources" (Frankenstein's Family)
G5 (Sunrise / Sunset) -- "Strong, Competent, Capable" (Frankenstein's Family)

O1 (Captive / Slave) -- "Four Marks of True Repentence" (Polychrome Heroics)
O2 (Gambling) -- "Finding the Gold in the Spirit" (Polychrome Heroics: Shiv)
O3 (Silver / Gold) -- "The Bee Tree's Gift" (standalone)
O4 (Horse) -- "Nuwneek" (The Bear Tunnels)
O5 (Emotionally Constipated Man) -- "New and Innovative Approaches" (Polychrome Heroics: The Big One)

This poem is the freebie for the July crowdfunding Creative Jam. It was inspired by himejoshiheart. It also fills "The Wayward Wind" square in my 7-1-25 card for the Western Bingo Fest.

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Today is partly cloudy, humid, and hot.

I fed the birds. I haven't seen much activity yet.

EDIT 7/30/25 -- I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 7/30/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 7/30/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 7/30/25 -- I picked 2 red cherry tomatoes and a Cherokee Purple tomato.

Some of the goldenberries and ground cherries have little fruit lanterns on them. :D

EDIT 7/30/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 7/30/25 -- I potted up 2 white peach and 2 white nectarine seeds.

EDIT 7/30/25 -- I took a few pictures around the yard.

Cicadas are singing.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

Shanidar 1 is probably the most famous disabled person in history: missing an arm, blind in one eye, hard of hearing or deaf, mobility impaired, and more. He belonged to a Neanderthal family who exerted maximum effort to keep him alive, far beyond the typical lifespan of the time. Because he strove to survive, and they helped, his story lives on through his bones -- concrete proof that compassion, not brute force, is part of what made us human from the very beginning. The ability to care for each other, and to value people for themselves, not just for what they could contribute, made a difference in our survival.

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