Weekly Assemblage for 2023 Week 12

Weekly Whaaa…?

Patterns for VS Code

The last couple of weeks I’ve been helping some faculty members create more accessible data tables. That kind of repetitive structure is a great candidate for a code snippet—so I made a few!

Here’s the surprisingly long VS Code Snippets note I just wrote explaining how I use snippets, and annotating a few examples I think others might find useful.

Auroras Unseen

There were notable aurora in the sky one night this week, but our local conditions were drizzly or overcast, with a side helping of snow flurries.

However, we’ve got a new plan in place for the next time the conditions are favorable! Last time we tried to see them, we drove out to Bruneau Dunes State Park, which is lovely for seeing the night sky. However, for aurora, we’d probably want to head north of Boise, so now we’ve got an updated destination in mind that won’t take nearly as much driving time.

Executive Function as a Public Good

As I wrote on Mastodon, I recently found out that our local Ridge to Rivers trail system has started posting QR codes that link to an interactive trail map.

I’d found myself out exploring and absentmindedly had the impulse “let’s go up,” even though if I’d taken a second to consider, I’d have realized that our drizzle and snow flurries had been perfect weather for muddy trails.

So I appreciated how bluntly this sign reminded me to check the trail conditions, before accidentally contributing to the gouges, ruts, and other damage the trails have suffered in recent years. I certainly don’t want to have those guilty feet I’ve heard described in song!