I was an invited speaker at the Confoo YVR conference in December 2017. I gave two talks, both on accessibility. I was the only speaker presenting accessibility-related topics. There was a dinner organized for all the speakers. I was precluded from attending that dinner because the organizers selected a venue on the second floor, with no elevators. There was no way for a wheelchair user to access the venue. I felt embarrassed, and angry.
RIP Net Neutrality. Patreon listens to critics, scraps new fees. How to fix media. Facebook is unfixable. Google Home Max unboxing. "Appsperiments" is our new favorite word. Tweetstorms are officially Threads. Don't download that baby poop video. Stacey's Pick: Alexa, Turn on Christmas Jeff's Pick: Tasty One Top Leo's Pick: Silicon Valley's Worst Apologies of 2017
https://youtu.be/Uh9jubxXOvQ
Lawmakers and aides are consumed by one question: Who's next?
“Most biased choices in the media arise from the preselection of right-thinking people, internalized preconceptions, and the adaptation of personnel to the constraints of ownership, organization, market, and political power. Censorship is largely self-censorship, by reporters and commentators who ...
“Block with abandon.” That’s Andy Baio’s New Year’s Resolution. “I spent far too many emotional cycles last year on people arguing with me in bad faith, diving i...
Sci-Hub, often referred to as the "Pirate Bay of Science," lost three of its domain names this week. The suspensions are likely the result of the lost court case against the American Chemical Society. Despite the setback, Sci-Hub remains resilient, pointing out that there are other ways to access the site including its own custom DNS servers.
How many more times do people have to get stiffed by a free web service that just bites the dust and leaves you bubkas? What follows is a monster post. You will find me ranting ar companies like St…
I made a point in this post inelegantly in a way that was easy to misunderstand, so I’d like to clarify it. I didn’t mean that we need to tolerate brilliant homophobic jerks in the lab so...
Earlier this year, I noticed something in China that really surprised me. I realized I felt more comfortable discussing controversial ideas in Beijing than in San Francisco. I didn’t feel...
In case you need a reminder of where all the main players were the last time we saw them...
Google FINALLY fixes their hamburger and beer emoji. Now they turn to the many fixes the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL need. Android 8.1 adds support for Pixel 2's imaging chip. Lens rolling out to Google Assistant on Pixel phones. Uber withheld evidence in Waymo case. YouTube's creepy kids' shows. Jeff Bezos worth $100 Billion. Cyber Monday was Amazon's biggest shopping day ever. Andy Rubin leaves Essential. Stacey's Thing: Senso Bluetooth Headset Mathew's Stuff: Cryptocurrencies are neat. Jason's Tip: How to enable Pixel Visual Core Processing
https://youtu.be/D2zm8IZ7Iio
Eddie Hinkle (eddiehinkle.com)As I’ve been doing my 100 Day of Reading Chapters challenge I’ve been thinking about my use of Goodreads and the various functions I use it for: Adding books I want to read. Prioritizing the next books I’m interested in. Typically these are rated as: “Next, High, Medium, Low, Someday”. Add...
It’s a bit of an unusual one. In all my time at TNW, I don’t think I’ve ever written a blog about a podcast I’ve been listening to, but hear me out. I’m a big fan of Gimlet Media’s StartUp podcast. This week, it’s been following StartupBus: a five-day hackathon on wheels, where coders build …
David Shanske (david.shanske.com)Unlike many of my posts, this one is not being syndicated to social media, as they automatically do. Some of you heard that Monday, December 4th, my grandfather passed away. I flew to Florida on the first flight the following morning to be with my family. While it was not unexpected that my grandfat...
Tech is already cynical about data collection, but the public is just starting to understand its implications.