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1. non-tech people trash talking tech products that don’t function perfectly as though tech were easy
2. tech people trash talking tech products that don’t function exactly the way they want them to as though tech were easy
3. non-tech people citing Arthur C Clarke’s “sufficiently advanced technology” quote as an excuse for wilful ignorance about the technical systems they use
4. tech people citing Arthur C Clarke’s “sufficiently advanced technology” quote as a justification for hostility and contempt towards their users
5. non-tech people rationalizing bad product decisions as though tech being hard were an excuse for mediocrity
6. tech people rationalizing bad ethical decisions as though tech being hard were an excuse for perpetuating social harm
7. non-tech people thinking the latest brand new disruptive app will generate enough cover to distract from the labour-hostile late-stage capitalist systems they’ve built
8. tech people latching onto universal basic income because it absolves them of the massive inequalities they’ve perpetuated
9. the macbook pro touchbar

it is possible I am in the wrong industry

On January 20th 2017, the 45th President of the United States was inaugurated. On January 21st, millions marched around the world in protest. And within a week, it seemed, we started burning out on the sheer volume of garbage news that was being shoveled at us every day.

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I read 65 books in 2016. Some random numbers:

At least 1 female author: 54%
At least 1 PoC author: 18% (Yikes – I’ll have to do better about that)
Nonfiction: 29% (this is way higher than normal and I am v proud!)
Fantasy: 20%
Comic books: 14%
YA: 11%
Mystery: 11%
Sci-Fi: 8%
Literary: 8%

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Donald Trump is President-elect of the United States of America.

This was a shock, but it was also not a surprise. It is always a mistake to underestimate the depth of bigotry.

I have spent most of the day staring off into nothing. I have not gone more than half an hour without tearing up or outright crying. I am already sick and tired of reading postmortems but I cannot stop clicking them like a hamster on speed, looking for something that could have saved you, could have saved us. I am angry at everybody. I am angry at everything. I want to tear shit up and burn things down. I want to disappear.

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Bell Let’s Talk always makes me super uncomfortable for reasons I can never quite articulate. Part of it is because I dislike a company advertising for itself on the backs of advocacy for mental health awareness. I get that this campaign is more effective at raising awareness across the country than Bell just silently throwing a whole gob of money at CAMH, but the ads don’t have to be so damn branded. (Note: I have similar issues with the Dove Campaign co-opting feminism. You didn’t start the conversation, you’re just benefiting from it.)

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