Jean 🏳️‍🌈

Trump: "They cheated on a commercial. Ronald Reagan loved tariffs and they said he didn't. And I guess it was AI or something. They cheated badly. Canada got caught cheating on a commercial. Can you believe it?"

How a flawed idea is teaching millions of kids to be poor readers For decades, schools have taught children the strategies of struggling readers, using a theory about reading that cognitive scientists have repeatedly debunked. And many teachers and parents don't kno...

Well, this is shocking—apparently in the US many kids are being taught to “read” by guessing words based on things like the picture. I wonder if this bonkers theory has made it to other countries, or if it remains a largely US phenomenon
www.apmreports.org/episode/2019...

Jesus Christ.

A standing ovation — from Liberals too — for Charlie Kirk in the Canadian House of Commons.

You can (and should) oppose political violence without doing all this, you know.

I’m sure there are some good things somewhere. But they’ve sure done a good job hiding them

C-2 needs to be scrapped in its entirety

Does every Computer Scientist need to know Formal Methods?

Our post on why and how Formal Methods should be represented in Computer Science curricula from a special issue of Formal Aspects of Computing organised by the FME Teaching Committee

#FormalMethods #ComputerScience #SoftwareEngineering

Why should I write better when a machine can do it for me? Because actually no one can do it for you, because your voice is unique among all the people on earth. Siri never petted a horse's neck. Alexa has never been ghosted by the captain of the football team. But you have lived, your heart is beating, you have suffered, and you have something important to say. It's a human's job, to use words, and whatever job you give to a machine, that part of your brain goes dark. Maybe it's worth it when it comes to remembering phone numbers and directions, but when that part of your brain that uses words goes dark, that's a vast area that's very close to your soul. Don't let some internet platform convince you that what you have to say and create isn't worthwhile. Words are the echo of your soul. Honing that echo matters.

this iconic advertising copywriter named Kathy Hepinstall Parks died over the weekend and I wanted to share something from her website I thought Bluesky would like

Well, that’s just good parenting!

How sure are we that James Dobson is actually dead? Anyone check the secret compound where they are keeping Queen Lizzie?

Your inner child?

The ramblings of the secretary of state for science and tech are cheaper than therapy I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Hell, the statement is even more nonsensical than that. My rephrasing can be interpreted abstractly.

But no, he literally says:
“Verifying your age keeps a child safe.”

What child???

It’s wild how transparent they are being about that. “Verifying your age [instead of using a VPN] protects children.” Wtf, no it obviously doesn’t. It’s almost as if protecting children isn’t the goal

Smaug dies though

Wait. Two congressmen died and now their districts just have no representation?? Every time I learn something new about US democracy, it’s never good

Only the legal owner of a domain can claim it as a handle on Bluesky luckily. But it’s still a good idea, so people know this is an official account

They put her in the AI machine to improve the machine, it's never the other way round

Please stop putting Taylor Swift into the AI machine you can not improve her

Photo of Wes Streeting in front of the words “what they do not want to hear” engraved on a stone wall, posted to his official Instagram account. Accompanied by the caption: “Sometimes it’s a necessary part of the job.”

Commenter criticises Wes Streeting’s actions against trans and disabled people and he tells them to get a grip. His reply reads: “I'm opening new gender identity clinics to support trans people and put an extra £86 million into the Disabled Facilities Grant. Get a grip.”

Our health secretary, people

CW: ableism, transphobia

Despite the policy having such a ‘chilling effect’, Kathleen Stock still somehow managed to be so publicly transphobic as to cause widespread protests..?

I’d suggest not looking at comments on HN about the Apple board’s DEI recommendation if you care about your blood pressure

IMO, pretending that such language doesn't exist, or that rules aren't there to facilitate communication, actually hurts more than it helps. It leads people to believe that style is only for the chosen few. In fact, style—like any language—can be learned.

I recently saw someone on here say that such fashion "rules" are pretentious. But when I looked at their photos, they were dressed in a very clear subcultural language that communicated their identity—young, hip, countercultural. They, too, were using language governed by "rules."

Alt Text: What to Write Images are decorative, functional, or informative. Skip alt text for decorative. Describe the action for functional. Convey the message for informative.

Did you know that you should end your alt text with a period?

"End alt text with a period, even if it isn’t a full sentence. The period ensures that the screen reader pauses after reading the alt text."

This was a new tip for me. Glad to learn something new!

www.nngroup.com/articles/wri...

I wonder if preying on people with disabilities by not only failing to make accommodations for them but actively exploiting their differences for profit is a violation of the UK Equality Act 🤔 #FoodForThought

Last-ditch attempt to make the sale with a colourful illustration of a person looking out over a lighthouse in the distance. The pop over says, “You are eligible for 50% OFF”, an offer which expires in 9 minutes, 47 seconds. You are given an option to pay £15.99 for 2 months, which works out to £2.00 per week, the page helpfully explains. The text underneath warns that “if you exit now, you will not have access to this offer for the next 12 months.”

Sike! It now only costs £8 per month! I guess our employees don’t need to be paid after all ☺️

Maybe you think this is all so they can make the app available to people with a lower income. Then why do they need to pressure you with yet another scare timer?? (This time you only get 10 minutes!)

Countdown timer (this is shown above the Apple Pay button) with 14 minutes, 18 seconds remaining. The page explains, “Your custom plan has been reserved for the next 15 minutes.”

Maybe at this point you are reasonably thinking “I can’t afford a £16 per month subscription”, so you scrape together enough dopamine to resist the scare timer creating a false sense of urgency in your ADHD brain (good job!), and you try to close out of the request for payment…

Terms shown underneath the instant-pay Apple Pay button explaining that the trial will cost £14.41 while the subsequent auto-renewing plan will cost £31.99 every two months.

If you click through, you are told that the subscription will renew at £32 every two months. I’m no mathematician, but if it costs them £15 per fortnight to pay their employees, and I only pay them £16 per month, does that mean their workers go hungry two weeks out of every month?

Page titled, “Pay what you want”. The user is given three options for a two-week trial: 1. £0.89 2. £9.00 3. £14.41 The third option is highlighted in orange as being the “most popular”. The option is said to “help us support those who need to select the lowest trial prices” while also being the amount needed to “compensate our employees for the trial”.

When you answer all the questions (which are really just a thinly veiled list of reasons your life will be “better” after using their app), you are guilt-tripped into paying almost £15 for a two week “trial” (wtf) which supposedly is the minimum they need to pay their employees. (3/7)

Quiz asks, “Do you have ADHD or do you suspect you have it? Your answer helps us better understand your needs.” It then gives the following three options: 1. “Yes, I’ve been diagnosed with ADHD”. 2. “I think I might have it”. 3. “No, I don’t think I have ADHD”.

When you click through to do the quiz, the very first question you are asked is “do you have ADHD?”

Armed with this information, they then inundate their victims with dark pattern after dark pattern (they’re a behavioural science company, so that tracks)… (2/7)