Suspicious Rook Is Suspicious

Or, "Rooks have a remarkable aptitude for using tools, scientists have found."

Image thanks to the BBC.

Being open about our interest in crows has begun to pay off. Whenever our family and friends see anything corvid-related, they think of us. Even better: they buy it, or take a picture of it, or make a note of it, and send it to us.

Thus this article I just received from my dad, about tool use among ravens in captivity. Apparently they don't use tools in the wild, but in the lab, they're more creative than we thought:

Tests on captive birds revealed that they could craft and employ tools to solve a number of different problems.

The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, came as a surprise as rooks do not use tools in the wild.

Despite this, the UK team said the birds' skills rivalled those of well-known tool users such as chimpanzees and New Caledonian crows.

Crowspotting Developments

In Which We Are Probably Some Kind of Bad Neighbors

Okay, so the thing about liking crows is you want to see them walking around in your front yard, doing all kinds of hilarious crow things.

The solution: Peanuts.

We have a strict rule. Crows only get peanuts if they are either a) around to see us put the peanuts out, or b) hang around outside our house making lots of noise to get our attention.

I'm not sure they know they're getting our attention, but hey. We figure, crows are smart. They should figure it out pretty quick: caw = people = peanuts.

Of course, even though crows can totally outrun (outfly?) us, they're kinda skittish. I guess they figure we might be some kind of previously un-reported teleporting human or something.

So we put out the peanuts, and then go inside and fire up the webcam in the front window. Much hilarity ensues as crows come onto the lawn and crack open peanuts and stalk around and other crowy shenanigans.

I keep waiting for our neighbors to complain that we're spying on them.

It's just the crows, I swear!

In Other News

Or, I Have A Confession To Make

Okay, this is kind of embarassing: I've never customized or compiled my own Linux kernel. I understand that a lot of people have never done this. However, a lot of people aren't Systems Administrators. I know, right? I can't believe I'm actually admitting to this.

Anyway, as a sysadmin, I'm waaay overdue for a walk around the Linux block. So on the advice of a friend, I picked up O'Reilly's Understanding the Linux Kernel. The concept was, I'd download a Linux distribution, customize it this way and that, and learn as I went along. All I really needed was some kind of Getting Started or DIY guide.

Understanding the Linux Kernel turns out to be a massive frickin' tome. Thicker than any other O'Reilly book on my bookshelf. Massier than my Database Systems textbook. And so far it's looking like a pretty deep dive into the internals of the operating system. Certainly deeper than I've ever dived before, and I'm still only in the Introduction.

It's been quite an emotional rollercoaster, let me tell you.

The book arrives: What have I gotten myself into?

The intended audience: "anyone who's interested in learning more about the Linux kernel." Hey, that sounds like me. Right on!

The prerequisites: "There are no prerequisites..." Sweet! Perfect for a kernel beginner like me!

"... except familiarity with the C programming language, and maybe an assembly language." Familiarity with C, assembly a plus? Those are some pretty serious prerequsities!

Anyway, it's a book, so I can't help but read it. I think it's going to work out really well, actually.

In Other News

In other news, tomorrow's itinerary looks something like this:

4:30 AM: Get up. Our coffee-robot should have coffee made for us. Mrs. C. rides the motorcycle down to the park, to get some nighttime riding hours in. I drive the chase car.

5:00 AM: At the park. Attend the levee of the local crows who roost there in their thousands.

6:00 AM: At the park. Put in some time doing low-speed, tight-maneuver riding in the parking lot. This is a critical motorcycle-riding skill, and one that requires a lot of practice to really master.

8:00 AM: Ride home. I'll put in some cruising time, and Mrs C. will drive the chase car.

8:30 AM: Get more coffee from our friendly neighborhood coffee shop (stimulate the local economy!).

9:00 AM: Go to the local shipping joint, send off my laptop to get repaired. I've been putting this off for over a month, because I have an emergency backup laptop, and I hate paperwork and bureaucracy. Also, send my mom her birthday present, and my dad his mother's day gift. Or the other way around. I'm not sure. Mrs. C. keeps track of all that stuff.

10:00 AM: Return home. Turn on the new server we just ordered, install VMware ESXi, and get to work on "understanding the Linux kernel". I'll let you know how it goes.

Crowspotting: Crow in Flight

Or, Action Shots Are Hard

Crowspotting: The Park At Dawn

Or, 4 Crows 1 Bag

Sweet! You check it out, I've got your back!

Hey guys, what's up?

Oh, hey, a bag! Can we get in on that?

Totally! Bag for everybody!

Crowspotting: Seattle

Went to Seattle recently. Found some crows on the beach. These guys were seriously unconcerned about people, and let me get incredibly close to them while they crowed about doing crow stuff. I think the robot did a pretty good job recording them.