Esme Povirk @madewokherd@computerfairi.es

Pedestrians, it should be our right to be distracted. It should be our right to walk and listen to music / look at the sky / cute dogs / snowflakes and not worry about getting killed. Nothing about that is dangerous except for CARS. Don't let them make you believe you are the problem.

“History will ask: What did you do to stop the Israeli genocide of Palestinian people? Have an answer.”

—Rabbi Alissa Wise

Out of our own heartache and rage—and so many more feelings in between—my dear co-organizer of the Jewish Anarchist Salon and I pulled this simple, one-sided, 8.5x11 flyer together for downloading, printing, and sharing.

It is obviously incomplete, as is the work of ending occupation, settler colonialism, and fascism, or the powerlessness so many of us feel to be able to halt the bombing of Gaza and end the Israeli government’s genocide of Palestinian people. But as Jews and anarchists, we’re leaning into what we can do, such as humbly offering solidarity toward the aspiration of a world without borders and states, without Islamophobia and antisemitism, and especially a world shaped by collective liberation and freedom.

This flyer focuses on some of the funds that seem to be going far more directly and as mutual/material aid to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, along with the powerful grassroots effort of Israelis refusing to do military service and the ongoing BDS campaign.

Personally, as an anarchist and Jew, I hope we can think and engage through the lens of our ethics of direct action, self-organization, rituals of resistance, mutual aid, abiding solidarity, and rebellious love—until all are free, toward the sacredness of life.

Feel free to share this infographic widely and freely. Once I get figure out how to upload the PDF to some website, I’ll then share that link in my bio. (DM me if you’d like the host the PDF on your website!)

#SolidarityIsOurBestWeapon
#AnotherWorldIsPossible

the funniest thing about Apple is the last version of MacOS features "video reactions" where if your camera sees you do a thumbs up or heart symbol with your hands, stuff happens behind you like fireworks in ANY video app you are using BY DEFAULT.

A friend was in an online therapy session, describing his trauma so the therapist asked if he was alright and he did a thumbs up and then HUGE FIREWORKS BEHIND HIS HEAD.

It's so bad that online therapy sessions now start with a warning dialog!

@theropologist Aptly summed up in this cartoon. #history

Jewish Voice for Peace statement on #Israel vs. #Hamas: "There is only one way to end violence: to address its root cause, 75 years of Israeli military occupation and apartheid. We must end U.S. complicity in this systemic oppression." https://www.commondreams.org/news/jvp-congress-gaza

World leaders swiftly express their solidarity when Israeli civilians are killed.

But when Israel calls Palestinians “human animals,” silence. When Israel cuts off fuel, food, water, and medicine, silence. When the bombs fall on Gaza, silence.

Link: https://www.jphilll.com/p/the-world-ignores-palestinian-civilians

Facebook targeting ads by age, gender violates Calif. anti-discrimination law

"Shocking" ruling could have "devastating effects," tech law expert warns.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/10/facebook-targeting-ads-by-age-gender-violates-calif-anti-discrimination-law/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

i have outright deleted a major patchset i wrote for a project under freedesktop.org stewardship, which someone else is probably going to write again in a year or two, because i realized the project had a real-name policy, and decided it wasn't worth it. i then lost motivation for the cool thing i was working on that needed me to write that patch

this is not the intended effect of a "real-name" policy, but it is the actual effect. and, as the cool kids say, "the system is what it does".

there is no such thing as a "real name". the concept of a "legal name" is fraught, and most certainly is not what you think it is, or what you are looking for, if you are a software developer. many assumptions you have about what a "legal name" is probably are not true.

consider this: the name on my birth certificate is different than the name on my drivers license, and that is different from the names i am called by my friends. those names are all different from what is likely to be on my passport when i get it, and all of those are different than the name i publish my open source projects under. all of these, in different jurisdictions, might or might not be something you could consider a "legal name". which one do you want me to use when i submit a major feature to your library? are you going to turn me away if i try to submit it as "linear cannon"? why? if i have a website and contact information under that name, why does this matter? how is it substantially different than an author of fiction novels publishing under a pen name? does it change if i produce a piece of government-issued documentation with that name on it? why, or why not?

if your real name policy does not answer these questions adequately, then there's a very good chance i'm just going to assume that you're going to turn me away, as has happened to me several times already

getting fired from apple for printing out little pieces of paper that say ".DS_Store" and leaving them everywhere

please boost for reach! 🙏

I'm volunteering at my daughter's elementary school by teaching a "coding club" for 5th graders during their lunch and afternoon recess.

It mostly went great, except I left nearly in tears...

One of the kiddos that joined is blind, and I discovered that the coding programs for kids don't appear to be accessible *at all*.

First we tried Swift Playgrounds, but that didn't seem to work with VoiceOver. Then, he said that he's liked ScratchJr. in the past, and he got frustrated with that because he couldn't get his cat to move.

I'm kinda at a loss for how to help him. He left crying because he thinks that he can't get it, but I'm sure he can. Does anyone have any advice?

Thanks!!

#coding #swiftplayground #blind #accessibility #apple #ipad

We now know how cats purr—why they purr is still up for debate

Studies of excised cat larynxes reveal role of connective tissues embedded in vocal folds

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/10/we-now-know-how-cats-purr-why-they-purr-is-still-up-for-debate/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social