leinir @leinir@computerfairi.es

It's #BandcampFriday again! Bandcamp waives their fees and all proceeds go towards the artists today!

I haven't released anything new in a hot minute (been working on the Neon Roar OST), but if you haven't checked out my music I'd definitely appreciate it!

https://diym.bandcamp.com/

#furrymusic #synthwave #music #mastomusic

I want to share something I'm really proud of.

In late July, I came across a 2016 article from the Novo Nordisk Foundation. It discussed intersex women, including those with XY chromosomes, but the language was outdated, reductionist, and stigmatizing. It called them "genetically men," leaned on biological determinism, and framed their lives through a medical lens that undermined their dignity.

I couldn't let that stand, so I wrote to them. I explained why the language was harmful, pointed to current science and bioethics, and asked them to take responsibility.

To their credit, they listened. They replied quickly, acknowledged my concerns, and began reviewing the article. A couple of weeks later they sent me a revised draft. They had already removed the misgendering, replaced pathologizing phrases, and shifted the framing away from chromosomes as destiny. I suggested a few more adjustments to make the language even more accurate and affirming.

At the end of August, they published the updated article in English and Danish. The harmful wording is largely gone. The framing now centers human diversity, patient-centered care, and informed consent.

It may not sound dramatic, but these changes matter. Words shape how people see themselves, how they are treated by doctors, and how society understands trans and intersex lives. Correcting language in a piece like this helps chip away at stigma that has caused harm for decades.

Here's what this looked like in practice for me: I was assertive. I named where I disagreed. I brought factual evidence. I kept the exchange in good faith. I stayed open to change and supported it when it happened.

It is one article, one institution, one moment. Little by little, contribution by contribution, we are changing things. I'm proud that I stood up and made a difference here, and I'll keep doing what I can to push for a world where our communities are seen, respected, and affirmed. 💜

Link to the revised article: https://novonordiskfonden.dk/en/news/more-women-than-expected-are-born-with-a-hidden-variation-in-sex-development/

#Intersex #Trans #LanguageMatters #PatientCenteredCare

Mermaid's Message

#webcomic #krita #miniFantasyTheater

I just read a merge request on #KDE Invent. The author did hand sketches in their paper notebook and photographed it to describe something.
We need more of that.

Are you in the UK and opposed to providing ID to use social media in the coming weeks?

There’s an official parliament petition to repeal the Online Safety Act, and it’s already at 13,000 signatures and growing: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/722903

(Not UK? Please spread the word!)

If you're a desktop Linux user, would you mind answering this quick poll? It's for... a thing.

My desktop environment is

"I do not want to be exposed to LLM output at any time." is the money quote, as far as I'm concerned, from https://eev.ee/blog/2025/07/03/the-rise-of-whatever/ ; the whole post is worthy reading.

I see a bunch of "guys" discourse happening. Well, I talked with @Patricia (*seven* years ago already? OMG) at Foss North once, and she/they changed my mind about many things.

One of the things that came out of that sitting-at-a-bar was this lightning talk https://euroquis.nl/presentations/20191111-guys/#1 (like, a year later, at the Linux Application Summit).

So if you need a married, cishet, white, tall, blonde blue-eyed man to give a diversity talk, I'm your guy. Dude. Man. Whatevs.

I'm your Leonard Cohen fan.

That story about an AI startup collapsing after it turned out to be 700 Indian developers in a Trenchcoat? It was a made up story by a crypto guy that became clickbait, published unchecked by tech media everywhere. Read the real story behind Builder.ai here: https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/builder-ai-did-not-fake-ai/

Announcing: https://justaqrcode.com.

Tired of "free" QR code generators that are full of ads and trackers, that share your data, and that want to sell you something? Me too. Here's my act of resistance: I made a one-page site that works entirely in your browser to generate a simple QR code. And that's all it does. You can download the HTML page and run it locally, even. Read the source; nothing up my sleeves. Just a QR code.

My offer to you -- I will continue to pay for the domain name and web hosting for it, myself. If you find it valuable, you can pay it back by creating your own useful thing for the world and releasing it for free. Let's take back the friendly web, one vexingly-monetized utility at a time!

#QRcode #Free #FriendlyWeb #Resistance

I've signed this petition, " Apply for the UK to rejoin the EU fully - do not just 'reset' the relationship ".

Will the Government see it and go, "Oh, OK, we'll do that, then"?

No.

But it's all part of shifting the Overton Window. We need to gently but firmly keep pressure on to say "We made a mistake, let's just fix it".

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/726413