2026-08-20T09:37:36Z https://nostr.now Paddy Duke https://nostr.now/npub1sr2ygeane0ut5dqgguqe9pee2qkreewvtvyr2qyg4kgvcpqaee2qdylx2x https://files.mastodon.social/accounts/avatars/000/482/754/original/b4d8bd5a2698408b.jpg https://files.mastodon.social/accounts/avatars/000/482/754/original/b4d8bd5a2698408b.jpg https://nostr.now/nevent1qqsw7vymeddg44r7605n3c3jwzwjj933mvc5d5g7xxg2ph282yv3mtqzyzqdg3r8k09l3w35pprsry5889gzc089e3dssdgq3zkepnqyrh89gs5lsej So much “advice” I’ve received over the years, from teachers, colleagues, employers, family, has functionally boiled down to some variant of these:<br/><br/>“Just be less autistic.”<br/><br/>“Just be less ADHD.”<br/><br/>“Just be more well-adapted to the society you were born into.”<br/><br/>“Just care more about things you don’t care about, and less about the things you do.”<br/><br/>“Just do the things you find hard, that I don’t. It’s easy!”<br/><br/>#ActuallyAutistic #ADHD 2026-08-24T10:50:52Z https://nostr.now/nevent1qqst99qft4gkncwsf4sv5ey7msgamewrmt5usuxr9vjjk4wkac8sy9qzyzqdg3r8k09l3w35pprsry5889gzc089e3dssdgq3zkepnqyrh89gma90sl In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqs9jwelnuxh6tkseljcc9l2k995c5m6dn0kvla7jtlxkzs7txdzaagnaekfg'>nevent1q…ekfg</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>Half the people I know in tech are actively looking for a way to get out of the industry. It’s in a death spiral.<br/><br/>I still love making websites, but nearly every good aspect of working in tech either turned out to be a mirage (social missions, progressive politics) or has mostly disappeared now (good pay, lots of job options, relaxed environment, interesting and engaging work). 2026-07-22T16:17:50Z https://nostr.now/nevent1qqs0xqel085gazxj9rrvgxngk35c4xr6d7jj8dglj3lzd2unmf5xkkszyzqdg3r8k09l3w35pprsry5889gzc089e3dssdgq3zkepnqyrh89g4x5x83 In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqs9ads9y5qsrqdsm6f69s2cdn4nr38q80c3tuvh5jume0fsj57fjfchum7wv'>nevent1q…m7wv</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>Once again, these people being banned or hidden ARE verified, and using a well-known donation platform.<br/><br/>They’ve had video calls with team members of @gazaverified and link to that verification from their bios.<br/><br/>If you’re suspicious about an account, check with the Gaza Verified team via <a href="https://gaza-verified.org/team/">https://gaza-verified.org/team/</a><br/><br/>Beyond that, you’re asking for an unreasonable level of verification from people in a war zone, often living in tents, with limited internet access. 2026-07-13T19:02:09Z https://nostr.now/nevent1qqsylzn22z4q2sywpxvyq5af7lvl40y4se6n0vpsnlhwg5mlykn9t7gzyzqdg3r8k09l3w35pprsry5889gzc089e3dssdgq3zkepnqyrh89gg6tfvy In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsz4n5rljcnyftwpvd60hpl97srht75x3vh8j5u2d63k524eyy0mlslna7fg'>nevent1q…a7fg</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>But Aral, someone who’s given it less than a minute of thought has decided “no-one has the tools to verify” Gazans are who they say they are.<br/><br/>That’s surely the matter settled. No?<br/><br/>You going out of your way to actually verify these people are who they say they are, specifically to help with this exact problem, doesn’t soothe my conscience when I ignore them.<br/><br/>Won’t somebody think of the real victim here? Me, in my intact home, terrified of getting scammed out of £25. 2026-07-13T17:46:51Z https://nostr.now/nevent1qqsgn8juvsg4qlv307jug2jm955d4mrd95u6gqln3vapnsgfnzjnllqzyzqdg3r8k09l3w35pprsry5889gzc089e3dssdgq3zkepnqyrh89g3ljc9g In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqszdl9v9ge2wc5u8frwslx3utezsplsfg0crxhugwxvgedkdd8z9wq8guhkf'>nevent1q…uhkf</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>Suggesting any kind of disclosure agreement should be grounds for immediate and permanent rejection of any planning proposal and any future proposals from the same organisation(s).<br/><br/>If these companies have nothing to hide, as they claim, then they have nothing to fear from a transparent and public process. 2026-06-29T11:10:56Z https://nostr.now/nevent1qqsr233thspxdvr7w4f8lajy56fradt32qja750xfcgqxhuun9seatgzyzqdg3r8k09l3w35pprsry5889gzc089e3dssdgq3zkepnqyrh89g60sasv In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqszf24svkcc068x8p4m888avdlv8sgerq8z6pspjxdqkaxw79lgevge6vrvh'>nevent1q…vrvh</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>It’s fucking exhausting to watch though.<br/><br/>“BigBadCo has lost its way (now that I can no longer ignore all the evil shit they do that I always thought I was immune to because of my race/class/gender/job)!” 2026-06-13T10:17:15Z https://nostr.now/nevent1qqszf24svkcc068x8p4m888avdlv8sgerq8z6pspjxdqkaxw79lgevgzyzqdg3r8k09l3w35pprsry5889gzc089e3dssdgq3zkepnqyrh89glmesma In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsgqkvtj4scfr03vy20yh064r672uq72qygnxr0e4vq9tfh6w37gjgu6wskk'>nevent1q…wskk</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>It’s always easier to pretend that terrible people and companies have only suddenly become that way, rather than admit you weren’t paying enough attention to the people warning you earlier, or you didn’t care until now. 2026-06-13T09:56:10Z https://nostr.now/nevent1qqsfs4r47fxq7pey22eufztlzsz7e8ygeypkjgwpe94qu5cmxsnmg5czyzqdg3r8k09l3w35pprsry5889gzc089e3dssdgq3zkepnqyrh89gd2c65t Any time I arrive on a website where all the content is animated into view, I immediately leave. It&#39;s a sure thing that the content itself is pointless garbage if it&#39;s sliding in one line at a time.<br/><br/>The internet must be an absolute nightmare just now for anyone with a vestibular disorder that is affected by trying to navigate web pages where everything is constantly swimming around. 2026-06-12T10:41:59Z https://nostr.now/nevent1qqsf7z83k84jpsc4egzkwmgca08n5gvqyz7akfvvgn3lvnu8tfehstgzyzqdg3r8k09l3w35pprsry5889gzc089e3dssdgq3zkepnqyrh89grdq70x Please, please stop using AI-generated alt text.<br/><br/>It’s universally terrible and even in the absolute best cases requires significant editing to remove unnecessary rambling and add crucial context.<br/><br/>👉 Here’s an easy way to write really good alt-text:<br/><br/>Describe it out loud as though your post is part of a phone conversation with a friend and they can’t see the image.<br/><br/>Then just write that down. That’s almost certainly better than 90% of alt text in the wild. 2026-05-24T13:54:48Z https://nostr.now/nevent1qqsqaaf4xpumjzf9ch4apgl2mn98cm9u433hwfpx6t32qsusrz000sszyzqdg3r8k09l3w35pprsry5889gzc089e3dssdgq3zkepnqyrh89gf55far RE: <a href="https://fosstodon.org/@penpot/116397570912332824">https://fosstodon.org/@penpot/116397570912332824</a><br/><br/>Just Penpot completely misreading the room by excitedly asking Mastodon users which apocalyptically destructive garbage generators are their favourites, accompanied by a meme that would make a Facebook boomer cringe.<br/><br/>I take from this that Penpot is now very likely being significantly vibe-coded, so that’s seriously dampened my previous enthusiasm for it. What a waste.<blockquote class="border-l-05rem border-l-strongpink border-solid"><div class="-ml-4 bg-gradient-to-r from-gray-100 dark:from-zinc-800 to-transparent mr-0 mt-0 mb-4 pl-4 pr-2 py-2">quoting <br/><span itemprop="mentions" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Article"><a itemprop="url" href="/note1sh6w474azwkzyy0yqtrqx284fqcjqfjfpyvqdmw2sm456npcw5wqh49zxd" class="bg-lavender dark:prose:text-neutral-50 dark:text-neutral-50 dark:bg-garnet px-1">note1sh6…9zxd</a></span><br/> </div> AI tools are becoming part of everyday workflows but usage usally depends on your role<br/><br/>We’re curious:<br/>Which AI tool are you currently using the most? 👇<br/>💬 Drop your role in the comments and let’s see how it varies across teams<br/> <img src="https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/116/397/570/151/931/775/original/8fa3d8aa4e40642a.jpg"> <br/> </blockquote> 2026-04-13T15:02:56Z https://nostr.now/nevent1qqszrjnnnmq58nrze03lw2x3fkdql38dwx5d7q9yfnj7v83ukjhxh8szyzqdg3r8k09l3w35pprsry5889gzc089e3dssdgq3zkepnqyrh89g94nxdd I just recommended these two woman-fronted punk bands in a reply, but really everybody should know about them. They&#39;re awesome.<br/><br/>Petrol Girls (UK): <a href="https://youtu.be/iMp4mgZbhA8">https://youtu.be/iMp4mgZbhA8</a><br/><br/>War on Women (US): <a href="https://youtu.be/hVi3KiEwfHE">https://youtu.be/hVi3KiEwfHE</a> 2026-04-01T13:51:48Z https://nostr.now/nevent1qqs2q9vsprhg472qn7nzafwvhvhuapml3gv9f6a78cm0k68yyzguyuczyzqdg3r8k09l3w35pprsry5889gzc089e3dssdgq3zkepnqyrh89gkhk35q In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsrpscrw7flvmxwnd8cgwt4f2xlg5ecfxld736tp284a80jt58fu5g5sclud'>nevent1q…clud</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>I was trying to put a small third party widget from a massive company on our website recently. They make you choose up front whether the widget is in dark mode or light mode. So they even went to the trouble of creating styles for a dark mode, but then didn’t think to provide a version that just reacts to the browser environment and uses the correct colour mode. It’s so shit. 2026-02-24T16:47:33Z https://nostr.now/nevent1qqsppv65zjq8scaevc3mlr28cn3u5rdez7mpu6jwadccqmyyuchqgsgzyzqdg3r8k09l3w35pprsry5889gzc089e3dssdgq3zkepnqyrh89gz2ez5a “But don&#39;t worry: you can&#39;t make the word-guessing program into a &#34;superintelligence&#34; by shoveling more words into it. That&#39;s like betting that if you keep breeding horses to run faster and faster, one of them will eventually give birth to a locomotive.”<br/><br/><span itemprop="mentions" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Person"><a itemprop="url" href="/npub1fdrpydz4n2dpgpy5xhsa6rjg8ytggn82mt0addw6sf93272nhhnqsjlvhs" class="bg-lavender dark:prose:text-neutral-50 dark:text-neutral-50 dark:bg-garnet px-1"><span>Cory Doctorow</span> (<span class="italic">npub1fdr…lvhs</span>)</a></span><br/>on the AI companies’ bluster about LLMs begetting artificial superintelligence.<br/><br/>From this thread: <a href="https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/115978392906108985">https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/115978392906108985</a> 2026-01-29T13:52:26Z https://nostr.now/nevent1qqs88vwqjgd008r4kmla988unxkq9um5yrlcye8kak2x5g7yypql7dqzyzqdg3r8k09l3w35pprsry5889gzc089e3dssdgq3zkepnqyrh89gsqev7p In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsy2dj5prvzefm3mdew8f5nyqknytgex947n6683hc6elmqptkgeaquy2fxt'>nevent1q…2fxt</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>Now only smashing European puppies! 2026-01-21T11:28:15Z https://nostr.now/nevent1qqstem6ayvpku8xrgaqkhu2wvqr5g4gn75lvef3u79n5vf3umpa9cggzyzqdg3r8k09l3w35pprsry5889gzc089e3dssdgq3zkepnqyrh89gwu9xr7 In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqswx46zr4430xz2nuzak879geults6au22pnaa03tt50gpgz3a8msqntwd0f'>nevent1q…wd0f</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>Yep. They seem to have a real knack for pursuing courses of action that are so obviously wrong-headed that there’s no way it wasn’t pointed out to them repeatedly. 2025-11-12T15:28:46Z https://nostr.now/nevent1qqsrt7hdvzrp07dmg4upts9rj3d8r67yxy8ku2vapamac0tk7vvc0lgzyzqdg3r8k09l3w35pprsry5889gzc089e3dssdgq3zkepnqyrh89gvphr5n In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsqexkjda60sjdxnxn44l8mptkep63fhwrtwyutppatkhcxwnwjyzqjpp94z'>nevent1q…p94z</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>Sometimes I think that could be the tagline of this government. 2025-11-12T14:12:49Z https://nostr.now/nevent1qqsrjxy59jfyxzfhvuqncc5t5dkw4k6yvfjufgk7hql5wkc0f93gfrszyzqdg3r8k09l3w35pprsry5889gzc089e3dssdgq3zkepnqyrh89ggzvvwt I’ll never understand the proliferation of Discord and Slack over traditional threaded forums for online communities and work.<br/><br/>They just bounced in with that VC money, like “Wouldn’t it be better if, instead of individual conversations being conveniently organised into dedicated threads, everyone just yelled over each other in a single, huge topic channel?” and everyone inexplicably agreed with them.<br/><br/>I can’t wait until someone raises $400 million in founding for reinventing phpBB but worse. 2025-10-04T10:33:45Z https://nostr.now/nevent1qqspjhagq8u76ex6xsx4e3z9uxe4rurlwxfhvzcfxpzyuzrt9kfyg2gzyzqdg3r8k09l3w35pprsry5889gzc089e3dssdgq3zkepnqyrh89gwymw39 In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsfyqafu66rh7j7dty9wfcf4xxc6e00x5nm3rdw45netczjd0yglvsde205u'>nevent1q…205u</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>I’m inclined to believe this is almost certainly not the reason.<br/><br/>For one thing, the odds of having a design team with no drivers in it are just pretty low. I work in tech, and in every design team I’ve ever been in I was the only non-driver. Most of the world is still too car-centric.<br/><br/>For a second thing, lots of good designers very often design for use cases which they themselves don’t share. You don’t have to be a pilot to design an aeroplane cockpit. 2025-07-09T11:55:41Z https://nostr.now/nevent1qqs0h26xmstu4vs9y22h9pawxy4vuck8ws0end38dg54aeneh2j00cqzyzqdg3r8k09l3w35pprsry5889gzc089e3dssdgq3zkepnqyrh89g3susd0 “Carbon capture” feels less like a technology and more like a description of the current state of environmental and energy policy making. 2024-10-23T10:56:02Z https://nostr.now/nevent1qqs86ff9xy3c3wxzppnm6qnsp4ax45elmqa4ag7q4y7hs0m8hfeu34szyzqdg3r8k09l3w35pprsry5889gzc089e3dssdgq3zkepnqyrh89g3kglpd Billionaires must be the most fundamentally unhappy people on earth.<br/><br/>If I somehow got even 1 (one) million pounds, I’d retire on the spot, pay off my mortgage, and spend my life doing anything else other than working.<br/><br/>I can’t even fathom the mind of a person who has that many millions of times over, and is still out there fucking up the world with their horrendous business practices. 2024-09-26T21:52:30Z https://nostr.now/nevent1qqsyekdxcjewn4mxvvkcx25lre5w7je5ykm226aezw7fusn9lnsaqeqzyzqdg3r8k09l3w35pprsry5889gzc089e3dssdgq3zkepnqyrh89gswkn6s Tried out <a href="https://kitten.small-web.org">https://kitten.small-web.org</a> today for a little tiny character sheet &#34;app&#34; I&#39;ve been working on.<br/><br/>It&#39;s really nice. It was super easy to set up and get started and the self-contained nature of everything was perfect for my needs.<br/><br/>Excellent work, <span itemprop="mentions" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Person"><a itemprop="url" href="/npub1p095l6jcegr5j3zz0zjg2zukf7aq34awuetvkkpc8z78qwlvwavs5hm5vl" class="bg-lavender dark:prose:text-neutral-50 dark:text-neutral-50 dark:bg-garnet px-1"><span>Aral Balkan</span> (<span class="italic">npub1p09…m5vl</span>)</a></span>! 2024-08-16T20:57:53Z https://nostr.now/nevent1qqsy64x7krgva2pyvvtkht8plwzumhnr2jmz009puds0kkn05r5jg7szyzqdg3r8k09l3w35pprsry5889gzc089e3dssdgq3zkepnqyrh89gq78qfu No, I don&#39;t want tracking cookies.<br/><br/>No, I don&#39;t want to subscribe to your newsletter.<br/><br/>No, I don&#39;t want a special offer if I check out in the next 10 minutes.<br/><br/>No, I don&#39;t want to sign in with Google.<br/><br/>No, I don&#39;t want to watch an unrelated video on top of the article I&#39;m trying to access.<br/><br/>No, I don&#39;t want a &#34;better experience&#34; in your app.<br/><br/>No, I don&#39;t want to sign in to read the article.<br/><br/>No, I don&#39;t want to read &#34;more like this&#34;.<br/><br/>No, I don&#39;t want to want to fill in a survey before I go. 2024-06-18T15:29:40Z https://nostr.now/nevent1qqspmra645cjzt2xnljm3hncc5akczt7gq7fcqnq45u4awhpuuqzpxgzyzqdg3r8k09l3w35pprsry5889gzc089e3dssdgq3zkepnqyrh89gcx47zv Capitalism is so laughably, comprehensively shite.<br/><br/>How is it still even a thing? 2023-11-04T12:43:02Z https://nostr.now/nevent1qqs887z750kguyc6f6v9w60jjdep50ml3xdde5vxlzmcgawdv9g2cmgzyzqdg3r8k09l3w35pprsry5889gzc089e3dssdgq3zkepnqyrh89gzq2x6w #introduction<br/><br/>I&#39;m Paddy (he/they). I&#39;m am an Irish designer, front-end dev and musician living in Edinburgh.<br/><br/>I spend my work days building tools to help people take their shitty bosses to court.<br/><br/>On here I boost a lot of posts about front-end dev, anti-capitalism, anarchism, ethics, accessibility, urbanism and (mostly punk) music.<br/><br/>Tags:<br/>#Design #Designer #FrontEnd #Accessibility #Ethics #Music #Punk #Edinburgh #Scotland #AntiCapitalist #Anarchism 2023-07-03T11:19:49Z