I love how affectionate this comic is. I’m really feeling for the old laptop, but I’m feeling the appreciation and understanding from the human

What it’s meant to mean is “yay us! We’re doing inclusivity!”

What it actually means, to me, is “we will make a show of valuing disabled people, but we won’t go so far as to actually include them in the design process, thereby making this bench an artifact to our own self congratulation, as well as making wheelchair users feel excluded in a far more insidious way than they already did”.

And I feel like an asshole to say it like that, but it’s so annoying to see well intentioned people fall at literally the first hurdle. Like, if they truly do see us as people who have intrinsic value that means we are worth including, then they also need to see us in our full personhood and include us in the process. The alternative is that their enthusiasm will just cause more money to be pissed down the drain on symbolic gestures that don’t fulfill their intended purpose

I can appreciate the thought, because as a part time wheelchair user, it does often wear me down when I feel like I’m perpetually perched on the periphery of any conversation.

However, like you say, this is just far too impractical for most people. I have a small, active wheelchair, and even that would probably put me in front of friends sitting on the bench beside me.

However, I can totally believe that this was made in earnest. I’ve seen some ridiculous “accommodations” that are ostensibly for disabled people that just show that the able bodied designer just didn’t involve any disabled people in the design process at all. And that’s why “nothing about us, without us” is a long used slogan used by disability rights campaigners.

If anyone wants to see an example of good accessibility design, I love how they designed the packaging for the Xbox Accessible Controller. They included lots of people with varied needs across multiple stages of the design process, and it really shows. And the end product is so elegantly functional. I like this quote from Solomon Romney, a “Microsoft Retail Stores retail learning specialist”:

"The whole thing sort of blossoms open in this really beautiful, fluid way. The package just sort of opens and hands you the controller. What’s wonderful about it is the effortlessness.”

Everyone reacts differently, and I’ve known people who don’t find medication helpful, but personally for me, they saved my life. I was going through some real bad depression at the time, but being medicated felt like a big boost to my mental wellbeing. It was much easier to do all the things that they say that depressed people should do to get better, such as personal care, dragging oneself out of the house, and engaging in hobbies.

It wasn’t a miracle fix — and I did need to work at developing new skills to ensure that I wouldn’t forget to eat, or spend an entire day organising my music library rather than anything I’d actually want to spend that much time on. So be cautious about expecting a miracle. Medication didn’t solve any of my ADHD problems, it just transmuted them into easier to manage forms. It was like a ladder dropped into the pit I was in, but climbing that ladder still took a lot of work

Something that feels notable to me in your comment is “will they help me read books again?” “Again” sticks out to me, because if you used to be able to read books but now no longer can, then it might be something in addition to ADHD that’s blocking you — burnout, for example. If you are struggling with burnout, then be careful because if you go into meds with the wrong mindset, you could do yourself more harm. Like, if the meds help you to be more productive at running yourself into the ground, that would not be good. My sympathies if this is indeed where you’re at. Personally, I would find it hard to recover from burnout without being on my meds, because they help me to focus on things that I want to do as well as the things I have to do, so they definitely do help overall. I just need to work hard to be kind to myself, and that’s easier said than done

It’s a shame it’s a secret, because this looks delicious!

If you can’t divulge the recipe, perhaps you could share a general tip or two for someone trying to make something similar?

Seconding the coffee shop recommendation. When I found a place near me that was nice and not overwhelming, I really enjoyed being able to be a regular there. There were days when I was not well and knew that it would help me to get out of the house at least once, and it was nice to have a place like this that could act as an achievable goal.

Even on good days, I find it useful to have somewhere I can go and exist and feel safe in a place that’s not my home. I find I get more work done this way sometimes, so I’ll often take my laptop, my headphones, and just spend an entire day working in a café. My regular place had a few tables that were sort of tucked away in a nook, and had a plug socket nearby, so it was great.

Windows update will frequently reenable OneDrive. Microsoft systematically undermines people ability to understand and control their own device.

I would probably step out of the way of the trolley, but I admit that I would hesitate.

If you saw my hesitation and if I was doing okay, I would say that I’m doing as well as I can be, under the circumstances. I am fortunate to have good people in my life. When things get to be a lot, connections with people I care about helps keep me grounded.

The world often feels so awful that I feel hopeless. I also often feel awful, sometimes due to the world, sometimes due to brain weasels scurrying around in my head. But in the end, I figure that if I am someone who is able to see all the bad stuff that’s happening as bad, then that suggests that I am probably a force for good, however small that may be. At least I can see the problem.

If I died, there would be one less person who understands that things need to change. My resolve is weak and weary, but it endures. As long as it does, I would step off the tracks and give the gun to someone responsible asap.

Edit: I know that the meme is a commentary on the recent murder of Renee Nicole Good. I was just waxing poetic on my own mostly-managed despair, which certainly is relevant to the topic of ICE’s crimes. It’s an interesting contrast: ICE would shoot the driver, whilst the rest of us are left to battle the dread that causes some of us to contemplate willingly falling to the trolley. That’s why I’m trying to stick around — because if I let myself die, then that’s just another injustice in the world.

Yeah, she’s pretty cool. She’s studying crabs or something on a remote island somewhere. Living her best autistic life

The thing with Trump is that he has no reason to want to kill the heads of organised crime. He benefits from cartel violence because it helps him to rhetorically justify US imperialism, so he has no reason to eradicate them.

If the US invades Mexico, the cartels will scatter like cockroaches to take shelter from the action, and then in the aftermath, they will leverage their efficient organisational infrastructure to cement their power even further. If the US invades Mexico, there is no way that this ends well for the Mexican people.

To Trump and his ilk, you look the same as any cartel member — except you’re a lot easier to kill.

I linked it in a top level comment, but if you’re someone who likes watching long, thoughtful video essays, this is an excellent one on the precise topic of your comment, from one of my favourite science communicators

Ooh, an opportunity to share a video from one of my favourite science communicators, the inimitable Dr Fatima (an ex-astrophysicist): “Einstein Was a Socialist; Should We Care?” (Duration: 1h16)

Your rage makes me feel seen. I share your feelings.

No no, don’t you see, the act of the killing is how they identify people as guilty. It’s like wave function collapse in quantum physics — or “Schrödinger’s criminal” to put a pithy spin on it. Because the police only kill bad people who deserve to die, then anyone who is alive could be good or bad, but we don’t know for certain until the police kill them. If the police accidentally shot at a non-criminal, then they’d be fine — the non criminal body has ways of shutting that whole thing down

(I really should have to say this, but the internet is dark and full of bootlickers, so /s)

Indeed, and non-citizens aren’t entitled to due process, apparently. And I can’t imagine how many citizens must’ve been deported due to being denied the opportunity to show that they are citizens. Lawyers have been finding it super difficult to stay in contact with the clients even when they’re being held in detention in the US. It’s fucking terrifying

It might depend on how we define “good faith”, but I think some of them are probably posting in good faith — though good intentions don’t negate the harm they do, of course. I get the sense that some of the people trying to incite violent action are feeling overwhelmed and powerless due to being so far away from what is happening. I say this as someone who isn’t an American, and thus can only spectate with horror as American politics continues going to hell, with ripple effects on the rest of the world.

It’s easy to rile people up when it’s not your neck on the line though. However uncomfortable it is to be spectating what’s happening in the US, you guys have it much worse. It would be nice to imagine that this is the kind of thing that could be solved through one, big push of violent resistance, but with how deep MAGA cronies have gotten their talons into US politics, resistance will necessarily require thinking of the long game. Violent resistance, when deployed unwisely, can end up serving the ends of the oppressor.

I hope that you never find yourself opposite an asshole cop who doesn’t care whether you actually pose any danger to them.

There is indeed an identical part — it seems that the balance control for amplifiers often has a “dual ganged” potentiometer

Linear behaviour is something that I had managed to conclude also, so it’s reassuring that you confirm this.

Do you know what the “H” in 200KBH means? That’s one of my big remaining puzzles. I agree that it seems likely that we’ll be best served by replacing it with something that is able to fulfill the same function due to not being able to find the specific part, but I’m not sure whether this could be something important.

There’s 6 pins on the part in question, which I think means it’s a dual ganged potentiometer. The arrangement of the pins seems to be a big issue for other people online wanting to replace this part. I’ve added images to show what I mean in my main post.

The big thing I’m nervous of is not knowing that the other parts of “200KBH” means. 200K is resistance, and B seems to mean linear response, but I have no clue what “H” could refer to

Thanks for your comment. I feel like I learned a lot from it. I didn’t know about the Hukou system, for example.

For what it’s worth, I’m glad you exist.