Elizabeth Ayer

Hi! I do civic tech, product, and org design, currently in government.

My happy place is down a rabbithole, occasionally ejecting content as a proof of life. Posts usually about software, with some politics, history and philosophy thrown in, but secretly still about software.

Based in #Tacoma, superfan of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and #infrastructure in general.

Pronouns: she/her
Countries: UK/US

#productmanagement #ProductLeadership #Leadership #SystemsThinking #TeamTopologies

Blog: https://medium.com/@ElizAyer
Website: https://elizabeth-ayer.com/

Last Notes

2026-03-15 15:09:59 UTC

"Technology is neutral," you say?
Counterexample: Ageless Linux.
It shines a glaring spotlight on other OSs and their acceptance of bad age verification law, enacted under a pretense of child safety. In fact, these laws normalize privacy-violation and consolidate power in corporate entities without protecting children.
Other OSs comply, but Ageless Linux is a brilliant example of the potential for civil disobedience via technology.
This page alone speaks volumes: https://agelesslinux.org/map.html

2026-03-13 11:23:21 UTC

On the plus side, at least future generations won't have the cognitive skills to judge us harshly.

2026-03-11 12:32:27 UTC

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It would be great if I could go a day without seeing an article that points to the need to unionize.
I'd rather not think about @npub1qgg…0ptl 's book at all, to be honest.
https://ethanmarcotte.com/books/you-deserve-a-tech-union/

2026-03-11 12:28:17 UTC

Oh good heavens, they really are trying to bring back the company store.
Tools as part of compensation are a long-standing labor issue.
https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-compute-compensation-software-engineers-greg-brockman-2026-3

2025-09-14 14:17:48 UTC

Talking to friends in software orgs recently, I've been struck by commonalities across countries and sectors:
Executives are driving "efficiency," by which they mean maximizing time spent on direct value-creation activities.
BUT there's a tacit, industry-wide assumption that writing code is the only value-creating activity and that all coding generates value.
It's like everyone has prioritized instantaneous boat speed and abandoned navigation and maintenance.
Such a reckoning coming...

2025-02-23 02:44:55 UTC

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yes, that seems better than the least they could do (ie nothing, or worse, spiking your future opportunities)!
Still, there's nothing as good as having someone who is, without any doubt, fully on your side. ❤️

2025-02-19 00:20:41 UTC

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Thank you for recommending this! Do you know of any good, accessible write-ups of the threat model behind this recommendation? I think folks are struggling all the time to figure out what online protections they need, in what order, and that might help?