Amanda Unvarnished

This may be nothing (other than a clear need for ethics reform for SCotUS and a sign of how little we trust Thomas), but it certainly *feels* like there is a problem.

“Lawyers with supreme court business paid Clarence Thomas aide via Venmo”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/12/clarence-thomas-aide-venmo-payments-lawyers-supreme-court

—@aardrian

Apparently the Orcas are recruiting allies.
#orcas #seaotters #nature

Authorities issue warning after aggressive sea otter seen going after surfers in Santa Cruz https://abc7news.com/sea-otter-steals-surfboard-santa-cruz-west-cliff-drive-paddleboard/13490929/

—@WarnerCrocker

I have four invites to make your own web site, if anyone wants one.

—@zachleat

‘Hooray, the planet’s overheated so now you can sleep outside in the northern regions! While enjoying Instagrammabley pretty orange skies! Walk this way! Let us book your fossil fuel flights for you!”

It’s a meme come true. It’s this @jonesycartoons cartoon come true.

#ClimateDiary

—@CiaraNi

I wish we could make it mandatory that web developers use their very obtuse web design choices instead of using whatever tool works for them. I just, I just don’t know how web developers make some silly choices they make without using their own creation? Like, if you’re a #WebDev does it annoy you that you can’t copy and paste from your own website, for example? If it annoys you, why do it? I really wanna know. How do you deal with your own creation? Doesn’t it frustrate you when you can’t just copy and paste a password into your own password field you created? I genuinely wanna know!

—@weirdwriter

One day I would like to understand what kind of technical debt makes it necessary for Windows to restart three times during an update.

—@kianga

I am not sure if Nick Sousanis is here on Mastodon (I don’t think so) but his latest work around how to create comics accessible for blind and low vision readers is fascinating and an intriguing look at how to extend a visual literacy (comics) into the audio/text reader world.
More: https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/06/28/1074341/comics-beyond-sight/
And: https://spinweaveandcut.com/mitcomic/

—@dogtrax

“We fucked up, and conflated adding overhyped technology with community management. We’re also going to wait until the heat dies down to re-launch this, regardless of your concerns.” https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/blog/ai-explain-postmortem/

—@eric

New Low in the Accessibility “Industry:” Overlay Company Sues Globally-Recognized Accessibility Expert https://www.lflegal.com/2023/07/adrian-roselli-slapp-lawsuit/

—@Lynessence

NEW: A seven-month congressional probe finds tax-prep companies spent years sharing taxpayer data with Meta and Google in potential violation of federal law — data that in some cases was misused for targeted ads. Legal experts are calling it a “five-alarm fire” for taxpayer privacy: https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/12/tech/tax-prep-companies-taxpayer-data-google-meta/index.html

—@b_fung

📣 As a blind person, I’m deeply concerned about the proposed closure of ticket offices and reduction of station personnel in England’s train stations. This move would leave us with limited assistance and inaccessible services. Let’s voice our opinions and participate in the consultation to ensure our needs are taken into account. #AccessibleTransport #InclusiveServices

https://act.guidedogs.org.uk/page/131432/action/1?locale=en-GB

—@BlindGirlVlogs83

Accessibility companies should not be filing SLAPP lawsuits against accessibility advocates. (SLAPP = Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation). But in my opinion that is what is happening in AudioEye’s lawsuit against Adrian Roselli @aardrian for his writings and talks about the harms of accessibility overlays. I wrote about it here: https://www.lflegal.com/2023/07/adrian-roselli-slapp-lawsuit/ #Accessibility #a11y #SLAPP

—@LFLegal