Martin Ferris
@mtferris.bsky.social
270 followers 290 following 51 posts
Genetics of immunity; nap afficionado; mammal wrangler (professional and recreational)
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mtferris.bsky.social
Lovely time hosting some friends for our SAGA-lite game of the Northern Crusades this weekend. Life has made it hard to get a game in at my place for quite a while, but felt good to break these figures out again and roll some dice (please excuse the garage mess).
28mm Mongols vs Teutons in a messy garage 28mm Mongols vs Teutons in a messy garage
mtferris.bsky.social
In a few weeks, TSS (Triangle, NC) will be hosting their annual historical miniatures con, Southern Front.
www.trianglesimsociety.org?page_id=546

Would love to see people who are in the hobby come game with us. If you're in the triangle and just curious, pop in and introduce yourselves to us too!
mtferris.bsky.social
HW can be described in ~20 minutes. It's an incredibly useful null that should be used to pique ppl's interest in something nique happening. Teach to ppl early as a way to spark curiosity!
mtferris.bsky.social
Someone else commented, but FB marketplace is big. There's also a lot of local neighborhood groups that use it for easy, specific communication. Lastly, there's a TON of hobbying interest groups that share files, ideas, etc (I just joined one for HeroQuest with dozens of homemade scenarios).
mtferris.bsky.social
We might be facing very serious changes to federal funding/academic research. But we will never lose the culture of reply-all debacles.
mtferris.bsky.social
"Changes". Cool milquetoast headline. At least you had the courage to be clear in the article.
Reposted by Martin Ferris
numb.comfortab.ly
People tend to forget to add alt text. To help with this Bluesky has a setting. Go to Settings > Accessibility, and turn on "Require alt text before posting." And you will never forget to add alt text again. 5/7
Bluesky accessibility settings with "Require alt text before posting" toggle turned on.
Reposted by Martin Ferris
elbrodie.bsky.social
US students. Looking to apply to graduate school? Had an offer rescinded recently? The University of British Columbia in Canada will re-open the application portal in some departments for US students from April 14-18.
Details: www.grad.ubc.ca/us-applicant...
#ubc #AcademicSky #PhDSky #ScienceSky
US Applicant Week
www.grad.ubc.ca
mtferris.bsky.social
Looking forward to reading this! Congrats Davide!
mtferris.bsky.social
This is a failing of the NIH/SciCom, but you can see funded grants out of NIH via reporter (reporter.nih.gov/advanced-sea...). You can see how many grants, which institute funded them, etc.

Nto be brief now, but happy to answer more. System is obtuse, but it's actually pretty transparent.
A bar chart showing the number of projects each NIH institute manages, from the NIH Reporter site
mtferris.bsky.social
OD has historically funded resources that span the institutes. It's not just their office building...
mtferris.bsky.social
I love the Jackson LotR movies, but they certainly skewed color palettes in a major way. Once I'm back with my paints, I need to recapture this vibe.
mtferris.bsky.social
I've been burned many, many times by collaborators who had different versions of endnote, open source things deprecating, etc. I use zotero currently, but i keep a backup so I can print out a grant, highlight, and put in references from a .txt I keep if needed.
mtferris.bsky.social
Mark, you're missing the point. Most of the faculty in the SOM are fixed term (all soft money). Most promotion guidelines are focused on getting funding. UNC can make policy changes to buffer these folx during this time that have nothing to do with federal policy. Would be nice to see something.
mtferris.bsky.social
Yes, will be devastating. Waiting for Institutions to stand up on this. Unsurprisingly, not happening.
mtferris.bsky.social
Congrats, looking forward to checking this one out!
mtferris.bsky.social
Nice! Hundred Years War?
mtferris.bsky.social
Didn't know it started at the Forge. I remember seeing a copy of Hero Wars at the local game store when I was a broke grad student, and wanting it because I'd read reviews on RPGnet. Recently picked up a copy 2nd hand, and was very happy. Such a cool system, thanks mate!
mtferris.bsky.social
Great paintjob. What company are these...mantic?
mtferris.bsky.social
I was invited to be a part of a roundtable with the On Patrol podcast to share a little about wargaming clubs and the hobby as it exists in the US. It was a fun conversation hearing how people go about growing and maintaining this hobby.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYII...
Episode 22: Wargaming Clubs in North America: Successes & lessons learned.
YouTube video by On Patrol Podcast
www.youtube.com
Reposted by Martin Ferris
hodagrpg.bsky.social
Know someone looking for B/W interior art for their game by an ENNIE AWARD WINNING ARTIST?

FOR FREE?

Please share far and wide! I'll select from all pitches on 3/1/25. :)

And if you're aprehenisive, I am personally inviting you, yes, you, to pitch! 🫵
Hodag's sword or science big game scholarship
Ends 3/1/25
Send 500 word or less pitch to hodagmag at Gmail dot com
2 winners will be chosen. 
Half packages are the offer
Please share far And wide
mtferris.bsky.social
Great idea, there's so much that DOGE is "discovering" that is literally available on legally mandated and publicly funded federal sites it's infuriating.
mtferris.bsky.social
Curious as to what I missed about Mearls? I've seen him hocking his patreon a lot recently, but wasn't aware there was something more controvertial.
mtferris.bsky.social
Congrats! Wonderful engine and excited to see it out for new gamers.