I really hope the less evil billionaire wins against the more evil one.

In light of that New York Times article by the weirdo selling books entirely written by AI: Once again, the unapologetic push to use AI to “replace” creatives is not coincidental. It aligns neatly with far-right propaganda that frames labor, expertise, and human craft as disposable.

As a reminder Peter Thiel has long pushed the direction of Silicon Valley and tech. He’s the man behind JD Vance. He’s unforgivably cruel, hateful, and ignorant.

A desperate plea sent to me by a Minneapolis resident who's been on the front lines since the beginning of the ICE occupation:

Seeing green haired people and pink haired people and then there’s me with my blue hair on here The gods smile down upon on us tonight my friends.

More tech layoff context, tech companies: - used to get more tax credits for R&D, that changed in 2022 - are dealing with AI investment costs, because AI burns through computer faster than investment returns - are not really growing revenue and are trying to make investors still think they are

I’ve recently been investing in tech that isnt wifi connected or “smart.” In part because no matter what focus modes I use on my phone or laptop they are incredibly distracting. I too am tired of AI insertion and the overall lack of privacy in most operating systems. Anyways this is a Pomera

Layoffs in January were at levels not seen since 2009 btw

Some alternatives to substack: Buttondown Ghost Beehiiv I looked at all of these, each of them is fairly straightforward for newsletters/writing. Admittedly they aren’t all very good at accessibility (yet) except maybe buttondown? but that’s an issue for another day

When I see Donald Trump trending and check the feed, just to see it hasnt happened yet. 😞

A few months ago, I documented a long list of issues with the single-page America by Design site, and the agency itself. Now, with the Trump Rx site, we’re seeing the same pattern again: it’s riddled with accessibility failures and ultimately functions as little more than a propaganda site.

Saw a really cool hover effect and made this meme depicting me at work (I am goose)

My work has an RTO mandate taking effect soon and I think I’ve determined I’m just gonna let myself stim in front of people if I need to even though it’s not socially acceptable. My rocking back and forth ain’t hurting anyone

Another story for everyone whose dealt with being laid off and told they're being replaced by AI. We're being replaced by people who are paid poorly, and in awful working conditions. This is a problem for all of us, whether we're in the U.S. or the Philippines or any country.

They’re killing it over there on X, the CSAM app

Welcome to the white parade

This round of Epstein news is going to require a long Op-Ed called “What the actual fuck is wrong with these men”

AOC: We are going to have to reckon, as a country, with this time. And I hope that that reckoning includes prosecution of people who are involved with the lawbreaking and human rights violations they are knowingly engaging in right now.

Woke 2: I get pronouns in my bio and you get a stable democracy

El oh el Once again: autism is not a thing to cure. You weirdos.

Hey, remember that time I said that pointing out that AI is giving bad data to ICE is missing the point because ICE doesn't actually care if the data is good? Check out how right I am.

BREAKING: things are still horrible since the last time you looked at your feed

Since the Inclusive Design site went live yesterday, we've received a lot of amazing comments, bug catches, and helpful suggestions. All of it I appreciate very much! The team who worked on this was largely new to accessibility, and we did it in addition to their day-to-day product work. 1/

This morning as I do a little knitting, Im thinking of the IKEA effect. The IKEA effect is that people are far more attached to things they make themselves than they are objects they pay for. As I stare into this weird, beautiful knitting with many flaws, I know it’s true.

Elizabeth Zuna Caisaguano is a ten year old. A ten year old who was held in a detention center in Texas for a month. No child should ever be put through this. I swear I will force myself to live to see these day that this regime is charged for their crimes.

With the awful WaPo layoffs and the state of journalism more broadly, if it's useful for any writers and reporters considering going indy, @molly.wiki, @xoxogossipgita.bsky.social of Aftermath, @jasonkoebler.bsky.social of 404 Media, @edzitron.com and me will do a little workshop next week.

My boy conveys the weariness of my soul

I swear day one on the job here I was like "so could we make those not be PDFs." 3.5 years later it's done

So I know a lot is going on right now, but I do want to share this: I’m excited to share the launch of the new Microsoft Inclusive Design website 💙 This project is my love letter to the community and practice that’s shaped my work for nearly a decade. inclusive.microsoft.design 1/

I wrote about some nuance involved with annotating focus order, following a conversation with @annaecook.com where we realized we'd both been running across the same well-intentioned behaviors. #a11y ericwbailey.website/published/yo...

Meta now forcing all employees to use AI tools and tying it to employee performance, according to @theinformation.com. HR said "this is not an activity tracker—it’s an impact-evidence starter" That's a fun way to rebrand workplace surveillance.

If you're not familiar with software development, seeing "lines of code produced" as a metric of quality is like paying a cook by the amount of salt they use.

I turned off the (many) toggles to see less AI in Pinterest. AI still shows up (annoyingly) but it’s better. I felt my heart lift in just seeing far more art that is made by people again.

LinkedIn just sent me a promoted post that starts with "READ THIS IF YOU'RE A HIGH-PERFORMING MAN WHO'S TIRED OF LOOKING AVERAGE" Someone help, I have the urge to comment on that with "HELL YEAH BROTHER"

Today I read a headline about ICE tear-gassing children. Then, almost instantly, I got a work ping that needed attention. That’s the pattern: witnessing something so destabilizing it shakes my faith in humanity then being asked to continue on as if nothing happened. Without pause. Indefinitely.

every time you press this button, it should automatically notify HR

This morning I sent out Focus State #2, featuring this article hot off the (digital) press. I also shared a short survey to help me understand where to focus my time so I can create content that’s most useful to you. Please help me figure out how I can help you! annaecook.com/content-surv...

ICE tear gassed a bunch of children on Saturday. This was a massive escalation of force. They were shooting tear gas at the back of the crowd, it took these unmasked people maybe 3-5 minutes in the cloud of tear gas to escape in without trampling. www.theverge.com/policy/87278...

I spent the past month examining how accessibility in design underpins digital infrastructure and how federal divestment creates brittle, inaccessible platforms. This backslide isn’t inevitable. We can reject it and do better in our work. I explain how in this piece annaecook.com/writing/2026...

Predicting that this week we’ll hear more conciliatory words from the Administration regarding Minnesota (since they’re starting to realize that ICE has become politically toxic) but everyone outside of Minnesota needs to know that nothing on the ground has changed.

Abolish ICE. There’s no reforming it. There’s no compromise. There’s only one way to rein in ICE’s terror campaign. Abolish it.

Historians, quick question. If I'm a wannabe dictator raising a paramilitary force to serve as a praetorian guard, am I supposed to make sure they get paid? Or is it payment enough that they are serving me, their glorious leader, and they will never betray me regardless?

The lady who does my nails said something I've been thinking about all weekend She said something along the lines of "Artists have so much power to move people politically. Its why they want to take our power by telling us AI can 'make art,' but AI can't move people." She is a great artist imo

"Anna you've worked with/on AI how can you be critical of AI" I've also worked in tech for the past 13.75 years and I've been critical of it this whole time. Two things can be true.

Another thing on "vibe coding:" So LLMs can help with some things, sure. But my persistent question is "are those returns enough to justify the real, currently unknown, costs?" Because as of now, most "vibe coders" are generally not paying for the real compute costs.

A thing that I've been thinking on: all of them, regardless of their left/right leanings are deeply wealthy and used that to hurt and silence people. Which I think we could take as a signal that many elected officials are likely compromised and upholding the same corruption, regardless of party.

I am a sicko and going “yes”

I’m sorry so like, looking at the released files today seems to irrefutably prove Trump is a pedophile, not just like maybe, but is. Am I actually reading this right? Like someone tell me I’m wrong here. We for sure see this right? And he’s just gonna…stay president?

every epstein file drop underscores how elite power operates through shared socio-economic networks, regardless of people's ideological differences, populist posturing, or public feuds