Ethan Marcotte

https://follow.ethanmarcotte.com/@beep

Designer. Started that responsive design thing. Writes a bit, or tries to. Spends a normal amount of time thinking about The Locked Tomb series.

*A perfectly normal amount of time.*

My latest book is YOU DESERVE A TECH UNION! You can purchase it from my bio, or just about anywhere books are sold.

(📸 Profile pic by https://www.elainanatario.com)

pronouns: he/him
website: https://ethanmarcotte.com
portfolio: https://ethanmarcotte.com/work/
my latest book: https://youdeserveatechunion.com

Public Key

npub1qggnytqrld8cv730hs6m2ppwnf47nlyn6989adrd2pelgx9z5ums000ptl

NIP-05 Address

beep_at_follow.ethanmarcotte.com@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsqyyfj9splknux0ghmcdd4qshf56lfljfaznj7k3k4qul5rz32wdcpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsrvp5w3

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1qggnytqrld8cv730hs6m2ppwnf47nlyn6989adrd2pelgx9z5ums000ptl

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Last Notes

2026-05-14 20:44:03 UTC

“The story is that a specific kind of executive, the one who needs a progressive headline every quarter, has been running an uncontrolled experiment on your workforce. The data on that experiment is now in, and it is not flattering.”
This is good: https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2026/05/14/the-ai-layoff-bill-is-coming-due-and-ctos-are-going-to-pay-it-twice/

2026-04-16 16:18:47 UTC

Over at Unbreaking, we’re starting to write about the design and technical work that goes into the project. And I loved @npub17zl…mwlk’s writeup of how and why we introduced sidenotes to our issue pages: https://unbreaking.org/blog/tech-note-sidenotes/
The events we’re chronicling are overwhelming, but the reading experience shouldn’t be.

2026-04-09 16:50:20 UTC

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(it IS)

2026-04-09 16:45:18 UTC

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(sorry @npub12kp…xvml i had to)

2026-04-09 16:45:05 UTC

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A joke reply, but many have already made the same joke.

2026-04-08 13:17:32 UTC

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“In support of the 24-hour work stoppage, the union is asking readers and audiences to not visit ProPublica, click on stories, or otherwise engage with ProPublica content on other platforms and partner organizations.” — https://www.theverge.com/news/908401/propublica-union-strike-negotiations-ai-layoffs

2026-04-08 13:16:30 UTC

ProPublica’s union is ON STRIKE https://www.theverge.com/news/908401/propublica-union-strike-negotiations-ai-layoffs

2026-04-01 18:52:31 UTC

“Your choice isn’t between risk and safety but different kinds of risk: choose well.”
I really needed to read @npub1vud…pqdp’s thoughts on finding our way out of workslop; maybe you do, too. https://everythingchanges.us/blog/mouthwords/

2026-03-30 19:04:39 UTC

someone recently noted that twitter launched twenty years ago this month, in case you’re wondering why i’ve been staring into the middle distance for the last several days

2026-03-18 14:53:25 UTC

I’m winding down with two excellent clients I’ve been working with since January, which means I’ve got some availability for new work coming up soon.
If you need a designer who thinks deeply about systems and teams, and who will ooh and/or ahh over an especially pretty serif, I’d love to chat with you!
Here’s more about me, how I work, and some work I’ve done: https://ethanmarcotte.com/work/

2026-03-16 18:05:25 UTC

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gosh annalee, you’ve just had a string of GORGEOUS covers 🤩 congratulations!

2026-03-15 18:37:32 UTC

1. I will watch the ever-loving hell out of this
2. They really should’ve taken me up on my pitch, which was to declare the movie non-canon and to push Jayne off some kind of space cliff. Twice
3. see #1
https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/firefly-revival-animated-series-nathan-fillion-1236688529/

2026-03-14 21:05:44 UTC

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oh damn

2026-03-13 17:24:16 UTC

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IAN I KNOW

2026-03-13 17:04:36 UTC

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Ach I haven’t seen it yet! Need to fix that, maybe this weekend

2026-03-13 16:00:38 UTC

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come on 2026 i medically need to hear this
https://cdn.masto.host/followethanmarcottecom/media_attachments/files/116/222/698/210/670/313/original/16106231e8e9d5ac.jpeg

2026-03-13 15:57:50 UTC

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you just know he’d somehow turn timothee chalomet into the purest thirteen syllables you’d ever heard
like a fucked-up sound bath that instantly heals everything that’s wrong with you

2026-03-13 15:56:26 UTC

look if matt berry doesn’t Laszlo-ify every single name he announces at the oscars, we riot

2026-03-11 21:24:52 UTC

I enjoyed @npub1y3x…zlg6’s essay on becoming a “generative AI vegetarian”, and for a few reasons: it’s a great read, first and foremost, but also my GOODNESS is this well-sourced. Sean pulls together many, many threads here; always grateful for a map like this.
https://sboots.ca/2026/03/11/generative-ai-vegetarianism/

2026-03-09 18:52:06 UTC

“The power loom, as we know, is inevitable, preordained by God, who works His miracles through the hands of rich and wise inventors. It’s foolish to resist it. We can’t possibly imagine a different social order—we just can’t! God decreed that George should be king and the power loom should replace handicraft, and anyone who says otherwise is just wasting their time.”
welp https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/being-a-luddite-is-cool-and-all-but-have-you-seen-the-hilarious-tapestries-these-new-looms-are-making

2026-02-26 18:17:38 UTC

Just want to raise up the design of this “AI kill switch” in Firefox, and say how much I like it: it’s a top-level preference, and the design and content are both *very* clear in communicating the different levels at which you’re making decisions.
I would *love* to see more product companies roll out something like this for their en-LLM’d features.
https://cdn.masto.host/followethanmarcottecom/media_attachments/files/116/138/302/280/582/804/original/13b958d03b3545a4.jpeg

2026-02-25 22:41:18 UTC

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Maple ESPECIALLY.

2026-02-25 15:36:42 UTC

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we do NOT discuss my disgraced evil twin in polite company

2026-02-25 15:18:29 UTC

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what i’m hearing here is: perhaps all three

2026-02-25 15:16:13 UTC

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See here I was thinking Wilberforce, but you raise an excellent point

2026-02-25 14:42:05 UTC

my password manager has started autofilling my name with my middle initial, and this is the first time any software’s ever made me sound like an ol’ country lawyer

2026-02-24 15:20:46 UTC

A group of organizers at Meta are circulating a petition with two demands: safety for Meta employees targeted by ICE, and disclosure of the company’s dealings with the agency.
If you’re a Meta worker, current or former, feel free to sign: https://tally.so/r/7RWNyL

2026-02-22 21:55:35 UTC

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these are lovely!

2026-02-21 16:27:59 UTC

day four: the other books suspect nothing
#CatsOfMastodon #Caturday
https://cdn.masto.host/followethanmarcottecom/media_attachments/files/116/109/559/581/753/778/original/f9e305537dd3bca5.jpeg

2026-02-09 18:31:26 UTC

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nobody’s gonna render myself unhireable if i don’t do it

2026-02-09 18:20:18 UTC

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i think that i shall cause problems* on purpose**
* post this on linkedin
** on purpose

2026-02-09 18:03:30 UTC

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I deeply hate to quote myself, but here’s me back in September: “…the technology’s real value isn’t improving productivity, or even in improving products. Rather, [“artificial intelligence” is] a social mechanism employed to ensure compliance in the workplace, and to weaken worker power.” https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/against-stocking-frames/
These platforms are not for you and I, and never were.

2026-02-09 18:00:58 UTC

Whatever the output gains promised by LLMs, their initial productivity surge is erased over time, and replaced by heavier workloads—and that leads to workers experiencing “cognitive fatigue, burnout, and weakened decision-making.”
All this from research out of the notoriously pro-worker rag [checks notes] Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2026/02/ai-doesnt-reduce-work-it-intensifies-it

2026-02-06 14:13:36 UTC

my phone and laptop have been gradually ratcheting up prompts to ✌🏻upgrade✌🏻 to liquid glass
and i swear if one more Helpful Alert pops up i’m switching to windows 95

2026-02-04 17:40:39 UTC

The members of @npub1fwm…qlu4 are preparing to strike to win their first contract: https://www.propublicaguild.org/updates/the-propublica-guild-is-ready-to-strike-for-a-fair-contract

2026-02-02 13:40:06 UTC

“As I learn how to work with AI coding agents, know that I will be thinking ill of you the entire time. Not because I don't get to write `for` loops, but because you have made yet another part of the economy impossible to engage with ethically.” — @npub1ast…8ly3, https://www.garfieldtech.com/blog/selfish-ai

2026-01-28 17:43:18 UTC

TECH WORKERS: There’s a petition calling on our leaders to get ICE out of our cities, and to cancel all contracts with the agency. Sign and share the petition at https://iceout.tech/, and then look for ways to get organized at work.

2026-01-27 15:45:19 UTC

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Sara! Congratulations! CSS Day made a WONDERFUL decision here, they’re so lucky to have you on the lineup 🎉🏆

2026-01-26 20:08:13 UTC

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“OpenAI’s co-founder and longtime president, Greg Brockman, didn’t just make a run-of-the-mill donation to the main pro-Trump super PAC — together, he and his wife Anna’s September 2025 donations equaled the largest of them all, totaling $25 million to ‘MAGA Inc.,’ per a recent filing. The Brockmans’ donations made up nearly one-fourth of the six-month fundraising cycle.” — https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/867947/openai-president-greg-brockman-trump-super-pac

2026-01-26 20:07:57 UTC

Every single tech advocate carrying water for OpenAI and their products should be thinking about who they’re giving publicity to. Because I sure am. https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/867947/openai-president-greg-brockman-trump-super-pac
#uspol

2026-01-26 17:40:49 UTC

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CUTE

2026-01-17 15:52:10 UTC

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Yeah, I’m holding off on updates too. Really hope they can unfuck the situation presently.

2026-01-07 16:01:13 UTC

“npm install our project dependencies. Download this 5GB file onto your five year-old laptop. Install docker. Build and start the containe—”
You bolt awake in the mountains of Carthage. You are not online. It is 217 BC. You are the general Hannibal, and you have changed your mind. The future cannot come to pass. Rome must burn.

2025-12-31 20:05:44 UTC

🦊
I don’t know how to write about a year like this one; whenever I tried, I kept thinking about flowers.
So I thought I’d start with flowers. https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/our-frail-thoughts/

2025-12-24 14:48:25 UTC

I wish I had the words to describe just how valuable @npub1sac…kcpe’s latest essay feels to me: https://www.wrecka.ge/landslide-a-ghost-story/

2025-12-12 15:53:31 UTC

id Software just unionized, we LOVE to SEE IT https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/id-software-devs-form-wall-to-wall-union-with-165-workers-at-doom-studio-the-latest-to-vote-in-favour

2025-12-05 19:44:58 UTC

It is that time of year, so I thought I’d mention that my book YOU DESERVE A TECH UNION is very much a thing you can buy for any tech workers in your life. Or yourself!
You can buy it just about anywhere books are sold, or ask your library to grab a copy! https://ethanmarcotte.com/books/you-deserve-a-tech-union/
#books #bookstodon #1u #YDATUbook
https://cdn.masto.host/followethanmarcottecom/media_attachments/files/115/668/673/700/526/336/original/9f1e7b9c4cb3734d.jpeg
https://cdn.masto.host/followethanmarcottecom/media_attachments/files/115/668/673/826/730/047/original/89e76f65757211d9.png
https://cdn.masto.host/followethanmarcottecom/media_attachments/files/115/668/673/912/054/293/original/97108564bfe2850d.png

2025-12-04 17:11:57 UTC

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realizing i just did the css version of
https://cdn.masto.host/followethanmarcottecom/media_attachments/files/115/662/409/919/390/131/original/4f89c0c4d3f6c592.jpeg

2025-12-04 16:19:16 UTC

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just got a call from the international space station, the astronauts love my new homepage

2025-12-04 15:58:58 UTC

turns out `font-size: 105rem` produces a dramatically different effect from `font-size: 1.05rem`
you know. in case you were wondering

2025-12-01 13:43:39 UTC

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“Three years into the generative-ai wave, demand for the technology looks surprisingly flimsy.”
Well. Yes.
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2025/11/26/investors-expect-ai-use-to-soar-thats-not-happening

2025-11-30 15:02:07 UTC

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Oh, this is tremendous — thank you so much for writing it. I love Obsidian, but sometimes struggle with not feeling like I’m organized enough with it, or “using it correctly.” That idea of a second subconscious is really lovely, and helpful.
Thank you again.

2025-11-29 16:12:27 UTC

slapping `reddit -ai` to the end of everything i type into the world’s most popular search engine, the tech industry is fine and cannot possibly be improved

2025-11-21 15:05:31 UTC

🦊
“Artificial intelligence isn’t going anywhere. It’s the future.”
I hear that line a lot. The thing is, futures are tricky.
https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/the-line-and-the-stream/

2025-11-19 18:28:58 UTC

This interview feels like a tremendous missed opportunity: it reads like an airing of talking points, rather than properly interrogating a billionaire donor who’s comfortable slapping some nice fonts on openly fascist policies: https://www.dezeen.com/2025/11/18/america-first-chief-design-officer-joe-gebbia-interview/
#uspol

2025-11-18 02:42:55 UTC

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No idea, man. I haven’t even upgraded to iOS / macOS 26, and all the apps that have updated their icons look like they’ve been hit with the Gaussian blur stick

2025-11-13 21:16:48 UTC

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Oh this is just TERRIBLE, I’m so sorry. Hope things quiet down a bit after NYC. (And/or that you have decent noise-canceling headphones.)

2025-11-13 20:39:38 UTC

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this is…deeply relatable. https://follow.ethanmarcotte.com/@beep/115515383402064344
it’s gotten so bad, i honestly wonder if folks don’t look at the car they’re booking

2025-11-03 13:03:35 UTC

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i’m so sorry you had an upgrade forced on you!
haven’t taken the plunge yet because i KNOW this would turn me into the joker

2025-10-20 14:47:10 UTC

that’s a nice decentralized network you’ve got there, be a real shame if capitalism happened to it

2025-10-12 13:12:03 UTC

logging on
https://cdn.masto.host/followethanmarcottecom/media_attachments/files/115/361/364/193/819/938/original/cb2023354798c1c1.jpeg

2025-10-07 20:30:53 UTC

🦊
IN WHICH ONE AUTHOR tried to file a claim in the Anthropic copyright case, failed, got frustrated, then blogged about it while still pretty hot under the collar.
(it’s me; i’m author)
https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/a-right-to-copy/

2025-10-01 14:20:11 UTC

CWA just shared their research into the lives of the US-based data workers responsible for training and maintaining modern “AI” platforms. The findings are, in a word, grim: https://cwa-union.org/ghost-workers-ai-machine

2025-09-27 00:11:59 UTC

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oh no it’s perfect

2025-09-19 11:42:22 UTC

🦊
I’ve decided it’s past time I start describing “artificial intelligence” as a failed technology, and I’d like you to join me.
https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/against-stocking-frames/

2025-09-15 16:51:21 UTC

me: hey Video Call Software, could you please remember the audio settings i use literally every time i use you?
software: no :)
me: why not
software: do u like my ai button :)))))))
me: what
software: :))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

2025-09-10 14:14:58 UTC

Oh my goodness: my old friend Rob Weychert’s just redesigned his website, and turned it into a *tremendous* personal archive for (nearly) everything he’s ever written.
It is also: PRETTY AS HELL. The layout! The typography! The colors! The site architecture! Rob’s been working on this redesign for literal years, and it really, really shows. https://v7.robweychert.com/blog/2025/09/v7-launch-day/
yay websites yay friends
just: yay

2025-08-31 20:15:07 UTC

“…National Nurses United, the nation’s largest nurses union and professional organization, today called for […] the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to be fired […] or to resign.”
good afternoon ONLY to organized labor
https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/press/nations-largest-rn-union-time-for-dhs-secretary-rfk-jr-to-go

2025-08-28 00:33:00 UTC

“I am here to be rude, because [AI] is a rude technology, and it deserves a rude response.”
Gosh, this is good. https://anthonymoser.github.io/writing/ai/haterdom/2025/08/26/i-am-an-ai-hater.html

2025-08-27 16:31:18 UTC

🦊
I wrote about the administration’s “national design studio,” and how its shoddy construction isn’t a mistake. It’s a clear signal of priorities, and ones we need to actively, urgently rebuke. https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/a-notional-design-studio/
#uspol

2025-08-24 21:17:01 UTC

what an absolute and utter shambles this is, in just about every way https://americabydesign.gov

2025-08-20 00:29:44 UTC

Here’s the Authors Guild on the class action lawsuit against Anthropic, along with a link to contact the law firm representing the affected parties. https://authorsguild.org/news/anthropic-ai-class-action-important-information-for-authors/

2025-08-16 16:26:30 UTC

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“ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO DOWNGRADE? you’ll no longer be able to ask questions of The Faceless Gremlin That Always Lies”
well, if needs must

2025-08-16 16:22:41 UTC

a client project just wrapped, so i’m downgrading some software we’d been using down to a free account
confidential notice to All Product Companies: warning me i’ll lose access to “AI Features” is not the deterrent you think it is

2025-08-06 17:01:42 UTC

man anxiously, desperately trying to sell snake oil insists that the people who refuse to drink snake oil are the real weirdos https://www.businessinsider.com/github-ceo-developers-embrace-ai-or-get-out-2025-8

2025-08-01 19:45:44 UTC

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Dan this place looks INCREDIBLE, I applaud your ability to leave 😍 Thank you for sharing it!!

2025-07-30 15:42:18 UTC

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omg jessamyn
LITERALLY US SINCE WE BOUGHT A NEW FRIDGE LAST YEAR

2025-07-30 14:31:47 UTC

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YES. we’re out here with websites that can’t take a “remember this device” checkbox seriously, and the automation boys get handed another billion dollars to invent What If Liza, But Worse

2025-07-30 14:22:32 UTC

billions of dollars poured into data centers doing unspeakable things to our planet, and all modern recommendation algorithms still basically amount to
> YOU ENGAGED WITH PICTURE OF: CAT
> HERE IS FOUR MILLION MORE PICTURE OF: CAT

2025-07-16 18:14:42 UTC

“Today, the workers of Snopes.com won voluntary recognition of their union, the Snopes Guild.”
WONDERFUL NEWS https://newsguild.org/workers-at-snopes-com-win-voluntary-union-recognition/

2025-07-10 20:57:39 UTC

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KAROLINA
WHAT IF WE WROTE A JOINT BLOG POST

2025-07-10 20:20:52 UTC

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omg karolina YES, also boy do i have thoughts on how the last decade’s tooling has impacted our design practices

2025-07-10 16:56:46 UTC

percentage-based figma variables for line height when

2025-06-19 20:06:29 UTC

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fuck it; minimum viable link blog https://ethanmarcotte.com/stream/

2025-06-16 13:34:12 UTC

https://cdn.masto.host/followethanmarcottecom/media_attachments/files/114/693/298/533/604/138/original/a697bb8fe7ed62bf.jpeg
https://cdn.masto.host/followethanmarcottecom/media_attachments/files/114/693/298/645/185/490/original/607747ba88de5540.jpeg

2025-06-11 19:01:44 UTC

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an overton window makes such a distinct sound when it shifts

2025-05-29 23:15:29 UTC

hey #BostonMA folk, and those adjacent: if you’re not already aware, @npub16vf…2n9f pulls together a thread of interesting events in the area every single weekend, and it’s legit an act of public service. new cool stuff every week! just the best. https://toot.boston/@knizer/114593486117383417

2025-05-25 21:11:07 UTC

🦊
Responsive design turns fifteen today! WHAT IS TIME https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/responsive-design-at-15/

2025-05-21 13:00:48 UTC

hello!
if you use a static site generator for your blog, like #Eleventy or #jekyll, AND
if your blog has a links section,
could you share how you’ve structured your link posts? i’m adding bookmarks to my website, and i think i could use a little inspiration

2025-05-10 00:11:43 UTC

oh fine, just in my kitchen on a friday night crying tears of relief, hbu https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/bail-hearing-tufts-student-rumeysa-ozturk-detained-in-louisiana/3708999/

2025-05-07 19:00:32 UTC

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(ha, thank you. just doing a silly post, for my sins <3)

2025-05-07 18:16:36 UTC

our microwave: your food’s still cold. your food’s still cold. your food’s still cold. your food’s still cold. your food’s still cold. your food’s still cold. your food’s still cold. your food’s still cyour bowl of napalm is now ready.

2025-05-02 00:42:01 UTC

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can’t WAIT

2025-05-01 13:30:59 UTC

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As usual, @npub16sj…va89 has it right: much like the “return to office” push that preceded them, these “AI-first” corporate policies are performances for investors, and for other tech CEOs. A more sensible policy would empower workers to explore a technology’s benefits, not simply mandate usage. https://www.anildash.com//2025/04/19/ai-first-is-the-new-return-to-office/

2025-04-29 17:52:56 UTC

okay, yes, this entire approach to “ai” in the workforce is yet another instance of a tech CEO beclowning himself
at the same time: when a leader says human workers are a source of “bottlenecks”, and that automation is the source of “solutions”, pay very, very, very close attention
(and if you haven’t already, start getting organized with your coworkers)
https://www.theverge.com/news/657594/duolingo-ai-first-replace-contract-workers

2025-04-16 14:37:48 UTC

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Hi Eric, how’s it going?

2025-04-07 16:20:04 UTC

Today marks twenty-five years of @npub13wv…wezp’s “A Dao of Web Design.” It rewired the way I thought about designing for the web; it started me on a ~decade-long journey to eventually landing on responsive web design.
Still holds up, too. https://alistapart.com/article/dao/

2025-03-31 17:40:11 UTC

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oh no is this sam altman’s origin story
oh no

2025-03-30 18:52:18 UTC

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oh my goodness, what a busy thoroughfare!

2025-03-29 01:03:09 UTC

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Ordered a hoodie back in January. It just showed up today.
💜
https://cdn.masto.host/followethanmarcottecom/media_attachments/files/114/243/022/840/049/637/original/527300b3a3db6314.jpeg