Paul Sutton @zleap@qoto.org

It’s been a minute since I have been in the #mastodon world.

I was diagnosed with stage 2 grade 2 clear cell renal carcinoma. I’m 32 years old and soon to be 33. I was given the “go home and don’t come back convo” from my oncologist which is great.

My first scans on May 31st were clean, and my next ones are October 31st. Would love to connect with other #cancer folks here if there are any.

If this doesn’t apply to you, that’s fine, but boost if you can ❤️👏🏻❗️

#cancer #youngadultcancer

“There are days when I am shocked that I am still alive. Like millions of disabled, chronically ill, & older people, I spend an extraordinary amount of effort just existing.” - Alice Wong.

I feel the exact same way. Keeping myself alive is a full time job - one that’s been filled with overtime since Covid.

As society decided to go full “you do you” and drop all Covid mitigations (and in many cases - dropped all reporting as well)… I found myself increasingly squeezed out of public spaces. I’m disabled and immune compromised and have been hospitalized from a cold - I’m not someone who can risk repeated COVID infections.

So I wear a respirator. Always. I endure the stares and hateful remarks from strangers and the quiet judgement from healthcare workers. I do what I need to do to survive. As long as people are knowingly spreading Covid people like me will never be safe. Masks are our single best accommodation tool.

Banning masks in public is wrong. It is absolutely a return to ugly laws and a blatant attempt to further erase and isolate disabled people. It will end lives.

The only question I have is whether the first deaths will be from forcibly infecting people with covid - or from brutality at the hands of people who feel empowered to harass and attack those wearing a mask.

There are many unknowns but one thing is for certain - we must push back. We must tell governments and lawmakers that we won’t stand for having an accessibility tool taken away from us. We won’t quietly be forced out of society any longer.

Disabled people have the same right to exist in public spaces as anyone else - and we’ve stayed home long enough. If you can wear a mask - now is the time. Help us normalize it as a medical device and push back against these bans. You may just save a life.

Read Alice Wong’s full mask ban article on Teen Vogue - I’m honoured to have made a small contribution to this incredibly important piece: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/mask-bans-disabled-people-protest

#CovidIsAirborne #CovidCautious #CovidIsNotOver #CleanAir #WearaMask #Disability #LongCovid #Ableism #Denial #CleanAir #Pandemic #PublicHealth #InfectionControl #Eugenics #SafeHealthcare #N95 #Respirators #MasksWork #MaskUp #Spoonie #Discrimination #Dysautonomia #mecfs #pots #mcas #communitycare #wearamask #chronicillness #keepmasksinhealthcare #maskbans

While it's very funny to watch The Metals Company whine about the deep ocean oxygen discovery they helped fund, I worry that this only the start. Climate tech startups want science to support their business case, but many are going to discover that science is about reality, not their bottom line
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Linux Mint 22 “Wilma” released!

https://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=4731

I’m here to tell you it can help, even if you can’t see or believe it in the moment. Please reach out for help when you are in despair. Please make it clear to your loved ones that it’s okay for them to reach out, and that there’s always hope in seeking help, even if they can’t see it. /7

New post: No copyright over simple colors and shapes used to annotate X-rays http://tushnet.blogspot.com/2024/07/no-copyright-over-simple-colors-and.html

#MastodonForHarris now has its own QR code. If we share it widely, we can make mobile giving easier.

Does de-platforming users who promote misinformation actually prevent the spread of untruths?

On Lawfare Daily, Quinta Jurecic spoke to David Lazer and Kevin Esterling about their recent paper on de-platforming, their findings, and more. https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/lawfare-daily--deplatforming-works--with-david-lazer-and-kevin-esterling

Remember: The recipe for economic growth isn’t tax cuts for the rich. It’s investment in our people — in health care, infrastructure and education — to build a strong middle class.

You don't grow the economy through trickle-down nonsense.

Optimization algorithm successfully computes the ground state of interacting quantum matter https://phys.org/news/2024-07-optimization-algorithm-successfully-ground-state.html #science

Every bloody stupid AI generated text, image, video or sound file should come with an estimated cost of its generation. You should now, how much energy and water you wasted just because you want to know how you'd look like if you were a fucking noir hobbit in 12th century south-east Asia. Or how your shopping list would sound if Cher sang it. Get a real hobby, you moron.

You can't change my mind.

#ai #genai

Fuck Yeah, Astronomy!

"Researchers at the University of Hull recently unveiled a novel method for detecting AI-generated deepfake images by analyzing reflections in human eyes. The technique, presented at the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting last week, adapts tools used by astronomers to study galaxies for scrutinizing the consistency of light reflections in eyeballs."

#deepfake #infosec

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/07/astronomers-discover-technique-to-spot-ai-fakes-using-galaxy-measurement-tools/

Making bigotry reasonable? Why the trans community in the UK is scared of Starmer

https://kierkegaardslunch.blogspot.com/2024/07/making-bigotry-reasonable-why-trans.html?m=1

A laser-based method for measuring particle size distribution during the grinding process https://phys.org/news/2024-07-laser-based-method-particle-size.html #science

The cost of special educational needs could sink local authorities – but there’s no need for that https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/07/25/the-cost-of-special-educational-needs-could-sink-local-authorities-but-theres-no-need-for-that/ The cost of meeting the needs of children with special educational needs and disabilities is growing and is apparently not in government budgets from 2026 onwards because it has been assumed that local councils in England will meet them from thereon. But many of them will go bust, so big is the cost. So, we need to tax wealth.