Morning folks! It's Friday once more in the Land of Ian. Today I'm going to show you some sites that I've been volunteering for on a daily basis since I can't really get out and volunteer in my neighborhood. There's all kinds of sites out there, from weather to sea kelp to animals. I've been focusing on the animals because I find them relaxing; and looking at storm systems not so much considering the State I live in.
As you can see by Itzl's concerned look, this group gives Kossacks a safe place to check in, a daily diary where we can let people know we are alive, doing OK, and not affected by such things as heat, blizzards, floods, wild fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, power outages, earthquakes, or other such things that could keep us off DKos. It also allows us to find other Kossacks nearby for in-person checks when other methods of communication fail - a buddy system. If you're not here, or anywhere else on DKos, and there are adverse conditions in your area (floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, earthquakes etc.), we and your buddy are going to check up on you. If you are going to be away from your computer for a day or a week, let us know here. We care!
IAN is a great group to join, and a good place to learn to write diaries. Drop one of us a Kosmail and ask to be added to the Itzl Alert Network anytime! We all share the publishing duties, and we welcome everyone who reads IAN to write diaries for the group! Every member is an editor, so anyone can take a turn when they have something to say, photos and music to share, a cause to promote or news!
We do have a diary schedule. But, when you are ready to write that diary, either post in thread or send FloridaSNMOM a Kosmail with the date. If you need someone to fill in, ditto. FloridaSNMOM is here on and off through the day usually from around 9:30 or 10 am eastern to around 11 pm eastern.
Monday:
BadKitties
Tuesday:
ejoanna
Wednesday:
Caedy
Thursday:
art ah zen
Friday:
FloridaSNMOM
Saturday:
Siris
Sunday:
loggersbrat
So recently I've been doing some online volunteer work with zooniverse. They are a group of websites where online volunteers help classify and/or identify photos taken in scientific research.
One of my favorites is Snapshot Serengeti (even though they don't have new photos up quite yet, they have a lot you can practice with for when the new ones come in). This is done through trap cameras, and in most shots you get three photos taken a few seconds apart, so you can tell what the animals are doing. One thing I've discovered with this site is, you can save the photos onto your computer, and they make excellent desktop backgrounds. Here are a few of the pictures that I've saved:
Elephants just moving along.
A Warthog having some lunch.
Some Wilde-beasts, the one in the middle is a baby.
Another cool site is Chicago wildlife Watch. This is just what it sounds like, you identify animals moving through Chicago parks, brush areas, etc. I've found deer, rats, cats, dogs and lots of humans (which are more rare on the other sites). Part of the purpose of noting humans is to help identify what impact they are having on wildlife in these areas.
I also count penguins on penguin watch (All the penguin fun of the penguin house at the zoo... without the smell!). Right now they also have a sweepstakes up for a trip to the Antarctic to do some real penguin watching, so I make sure I at least count enough to qualify for the day. But I'd be counting even if they didn't have the sweepstakes going, I'm addicted. You count adults, chicks, eggs and 'other'. The "other" category includes things like birds, ships, and other human sightings. (My daughter says this with a Ferengi accent as the "rare hu-man sighting".)
It's a fun and easy way to spend an hour or two a day, especially for those of us who are mostly house bound. And, you're contributing to scientific research as well as seeing some very cute animals! I mean... look at that face, who could resist that??
Grant's Gazelle