Sven Slootweg @joepie91@pixie.town

And to make this explicit, though I suspect it'd be implicitly understood by most: that means I want to learn more new things from women, non-binary creatures, Black folks, disabled folks, plural collectives, and so on, and so forth, everybody who tends to get drowned out of the Tech Discourse(tm).

When I was younger, I used to enjoy reading articles about web development. About new CSS or browser features, novel ways of solving issues, browser compatibility things, and so on. Most of the sites and blogs with these articles were maintained by enthusiasts. There was so much cool stuff to discover and learn!

Now the whole "frontend" (what happened to "web development"? Not everything is a damn app) world has been taken over by fancy VC-funded startups so hard that you almost can't read an article about anything "frontend" without it trying to goad you into some proprietary service or "pattern" that's tailored around a specific company's offerings - and I can't even link most resources to others without implicitly advertising some tech company with a higher body count than some governments.

And if you manage to avoid *those*, you then end up on the Deep Philosophical Thoughts of Very Smart Men who have never in their lives looked at anything from the perspective of anyone besides themselves. And they probably are working for those *same fucking companies*, too.

This fucking sucks. I want to learn new things from other folks with nothing up their sleeves again. From enthusiasts who tinker and discover. Who might have a different perspective. And who actually enjoy the process.

Yeah uh I don't think I'll be buying a Yubikey again, if this is the grade of support to expect, what the fuck

Man, the Yubikey software is some absolute hot garbage.

"Oh yeah to scan QR codes under Wayland you need to have gnome-screenshot installed [which doesn't work on anything other than GNOME] [because we couldn't be bothered to implement the screen capture protocol correctly]"

I've haven't heard a ton of people talking about this, so I wanted to spread it. The state of California has removed 4 outdated hydroelectric dams that were blocking the breeding ground for Chinook salmon. This removal unflooded 2200 acres of land, and in preparation for this removal Native American tribes have been collecting and breeding seeds of native plants. They took these seeds and planted them along the restored river bank, taking the first steps to restoring the area. https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/before-and-after-photos-show-californias-unprecedented-dam-removal/ar-AA1rMwPg

Edit: different link incase the first one doesn't work: https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/01/climate/klamath-dam-salmon/index.html

#LandBack

that's, upsetting.

company in melbourne appropriating the "spoony" label to try and get a bunch of disabled people to join their custom social network

it is VC-funded, and even if the people running it are disabled themselves this still strikes me as inherently bad

link is https://spoony.app, and it has very bad vibes all around

they also have very strange terms, like… you guarantee to be as authentic as possible and not "misrepresent" your age, identity, etc., which like. I have a feeling this is supposed to be a "don't pretend to be oppressed when you're not" rule, but it feels more like "we will very carefully scrutinise your identity and banish you if you don't follow our rules"

they also say they're moderated with "AI and humans" and given how they supposedly have less than 10 employees I have a strong suspicion that it's mostly not humans

"How bad were the billionaires?"
"Just one of them managed to ruin the sky for everyone. The sky."

it has been 0 days since i've been asked to agree to the- wait, what?

I called EMS once and police showed up before paramedics (paramedics were busy).

The first thing they said? “You don’t look sick.”

They waited for paramedics who took me to hospital - but that initial response stuck with me.

It’s why mask bans are dangerous. Police aren’t trained to make medical decisions. They shouldn’t be the ones deciding who can and can’t legally wear a mask.

Many illnesses are invisible - you wouldn’t KNOW we’re disabled to look at us.

Most of us have experienced gaslighting from friends, family and even doctors - people are quick to judge and decide you’re “not that sick.”

So are we really expected to risk criminal charges by wearing a respirator & just HOPE police will believe we truly “need it”?

Not to mention that medical exemptions leave behind anyone who wants to mask to protect and preserve their health - as well as caregivers and family of disabled people.

We rely on them to keep us safe - we NEED them masking in public.

I sincerely hope more people join the fight against mask bans soon - because if we don’t fight against them - more cities and states will pass them and more people will suffer.

A good respirator is excellent protection against covid & other illnesses.

We shouldn’t be further excluding disabled and high risk people from public - but that’s exactly what these ugly laws do.

Call your elected officials - tell them medical masks can not and should not be banned.

Don’t embrace escalating fascism and eugenics just because you don’t think it will impact you.

Don’t celebrate it because you hold a grudge about mask mandates.

It won’t stop with disabled people. Help us now & your future self will thank you.

My full article on mask bans, medical exemptions and how we’re witnessing (and even welcoming) escalating eugenics and fascism: https://www.disabledginger.com/p/we-are-witnessing-real-time-eugenics

#CovidIsAirborne #CovidCautious #CovidIsNotOver #CleanAir #WearaMask #Disability #LongCovid #Ableism #Denial #CleanAir #Pandemic #PublicHealth #InfectionControl #Eugenics #SafeHealthcare #N95 #Respirators #MasksWork #MaskUp #Spoonie #Discrimination #Dysautonomia #mecfs #pots #mcas #communitycare #wearamask #chronicillness #keepmasksinhealthcare #MaskBans #NoMaskBans #bullying #CleanAirClassrooms #UglyLaws

What I really want from technology these days is passivity. Physical buttons, and PASSIVITY.

No guessing, no anticipating, no predicting.
No autofill, no autocorrect, no autodrive and PLEASE God no autoplay.

Just be inert until acted upon!

NEW VIDEO - Goth Is White: Pallor, Prejudice and Purity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knrnIY8snKk

probably my nichest-sounding topic yet, but many of the concepts apply more broadly and relate to broader issues. should be something of value here for anyone with any interest in learning about power structures and race dynamics, however wh*te goths are obligated

even by my standards this one might get people’s backs up, so please approach with good faith and be ready for some potential discomfort

this has been a HUGE labour of love (and many other emotions). big thanks for all the encouragement when I was hesitating about it back in April or so, glad I did it in the end 🖤