Joelle Maslak
@jmaslak.bsky.social
260 followers 130 following 1.3K posts
Just another neurodivergent techie. Expect to see me talk about computer networks, feminism, human rights, and autism--and how they are connected. Delcared un-American by the US government.
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Reposted by Joelle Maslak
Randall Munroe once noted that more Californians than Texans voted for Trump and more Texans than New Yorkers voted for Harris.
Take note of all these people turning out for protests in small towns in red states.

Remember them the next time you’re inclined to write an area off because “they voted for this.”
Reposted by Joelle Maslak
No Kings Denver speaker Joe Salazar (fmr Dem state rep) tells me they estimate 25-30k gathered in Denver today, similar to the No Kings protest earlier this year. This view is from photographer Cheney Orr for the New York Times. #copolitics
Huge showing in Golden, CO! My wife can't do protests due to disability, but she had fun going for a ride in the car with me and waving at all the people who showed up today at the local No Kings protest! Thousands of people protesting in a 20,000 person town.
Reposted by Joelle Maslak
Guy in front of us at airport screening had a "Veterans Against Trump" shirt and the TSA guy complimented his shirt and he bellowed "YEAH I'M NOT A FUCKING MORON" loud enough for everyone to hear
My mother-in-law was nervous about wearing her #NoKings gear to the airport for her flight this morning, but she got *lots* of compliments. Even the TSA agent told her, "I like your shirt."
Reposted by Joelle Maslak
It's early in the day and the Villages retirement community in Florida is already showing up for the #nokings protests
I needed support to write as a kid. Medication likely would also have helped. But I didn't have that. So I failed.

We shouldn't go backwards. Don't listen to anyone who says labels are bad for kids. They can help a kid use all of their potential, when combined with the right supports.
I used to think I didn't know how to write. Turns out I'm a pretty good writer (hell, I've been published!). Why would I think I couldn't write? Because I did poor in high school, because I couldn't manage the stuff I needed to complete an assignment.
Labels opened up ways of dealing with these difficulties. I could find out how other people with my disabilities deal with the same struggle. That's a good thing! But I shouldn't have had to do it mostly on my own, after internalizing that I was lazy.
The ironic thing is that every report card I got from high school had the same comment: "Your child has more potential than he/she uses." I.E. I was lazy.

I believed it.

Turns out I wasn't lazy--far from it. I put in more work than most who didn't have a disability.

Labels...
Most of my schooling, I was treated as having no labels.

I graduated HS barely -- in the bottom 25% of my class. Not through lack of ability, but because of not knowing I have ADHD+Autism.

I just completed a B.A. (my second). I had a 4.0.

The change *WAS HAVING THE LABEL*.

Labels aren't bad.
Most of my schooling, I was treated as having no labels.

I graduated HS barely -- in the bottom 25% of my class. Not through lack of ability, but because of not knowing I have ADHD+Autism.

I just completed a B.A. (my second). I had a 4.0.

The change *WAS HAVING THE LABEL*.

Labels aren't bad.
I’ve worked to find other autistic people to be around most of my life at this point. Absolutely worth it.

I don’t get along with every other autistic, but seeing a group of autistic people get together in common space (virtual or physical) is magical.
Reposted by Joelle Maslak
Wikipedia Volunteers Avert Tragedy by Taking Down Gunman at Conference

By Andy Newman

At Civic Hall in Union Square, a man with a gun walked onto the stage at a Wikipedia conference.

Richard Knipel, CUNY's Wikimedian-in-Residence, jumped the gunman and, with others' help, saved the day. Gift link
Wikipedia Volunteers Avert Tragedy by Taking Down Gunman at Conference
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Joelle Maslak
Don't engage. Just block. They want to push their rage bait on here. Don't give them the satisfaction.

bsky.app/profile/did:...
Reposted by Joelle Maslak
Some people are on an entirely different level
"Academic Freedom" means you can go where the evidence takes you...as long as you bow down to the regime and accept they are the sole arbiters of truth. GOP is omniscient.

These universities should lose accreditation.
A Texas public university administrator's notes for a meeting with faculty.

"No daylight": faculty "cannot discuss or teach anything regarding transgender - only male and female." They must "scrub" syllabi for "transgender items."

And keep everything out of writing: "Don't email; talk directly."
He was whining that he was going through divorce and wanting to keep his kids. I suspect this will be exhibit A for the wife.
What's the best and worst looking datacenters you've seen (from the outside)?

My vote for best is 1950 N. Stemmons Fwy in Dallas. (it was modeled after the Crystal Palace)

Worst? So so so many choices.
So apparently some men will piss away $120,000 to talk to their trucks rather than booking an appointment with a therapist.
I'll note that the "average" teenager of course will have 50% of the sperm. Because girls can be teenagers too, and the "average" teenager would be 1/2 male, 1/2 female... But I'm dying over the "Our parents aren't having children."
RFK Jr: "Today the average teenager in this country has 50% of the sperm count, 50% of the testosterone of a 65 year old man. Our girls are hitting puberty 6 years early ... our parents aren't having children."
Reposted by Joelle Maslak
NEW: The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did.

We found more than 170 such incidents since the start of the second Trump administration. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes nearly 20 children, two of whom have cancer.
More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days.
The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And near...
www.propublica.org
Whoever is making product decisions at MS clearly has an office with a door.
This is the future of Windows. Microsoft wants to rewrite Windows to turn computers into AI PCs that you talk to. It's now bringing AI features to all Windows 11 PCs today, in a bid to convince you to talk to your PC and let AI control it. Full details 👇 www.theverge.com/news/799768/...
Microsoft wants you to talk to your PC and let AI control it
Copilot Voice and Vision are now rolling out.
www.theverge.com
Some rare positive updates for the Trans Travel Guide:

US Virgin Islands now allows legal gender change via executive order and dr approval. This was not previously allowed.

In addition, I missed a non-discrimination law that applies to public accommodations passed in 2022.

travelwhiletrans.com
Trans Travel Guide
A travel guide for trans people and our companions, with both a focus on the legal situation and on the interpersonal experiences of other trans people.
travelwhiletrans.com
Not everyone here is lesbian. There are straight women too… (not me, of course). ;)
I’ve found out that the way I deal with pain (turning inward) makes doctors feel I have adequate pain suppression for painful procedures. Not that doctors listen when I tell them it hurts.
Since Presidents can apparently take money allocated for one thing and use it for a completely different thing, I’ll vote for the a Presidential candidate who says they’ll take the money allocated to pay ICE and instead use it for transgender for everybody and translating all pop music into Spanish.