Mid-October doomscrolling
I saw shit detrimental to my mental health. Now it’s your turn.
Die Grotesk design information, by Kris Sowersby, via Ethan Marcotte.
The Best CSS Unit Might Be a Combination, by Mia.
The Scale-free nature of the Web, by Tim, via Alan.
 
there is only now, by Winnie Lim, via Karl.
Dewaffling the tech industry, by Iris Meredith, via Baldur Bjarnason.
When code gets messy, there’s always someone who wants to start over. Throw it all out. Rebuild from scratch. This time we’ll do it right.
I’ve spent years arguing against the big rewrite. I’m (almost always) firmly Team Refactor.
Why? Because rewrites discard something precious: the accumulated wisdom embedded in the system. Every line of code represents decisions made, problems solved, edge cases discovered. Someone spent time… their creativity, their care, their effort… building solutions that work.
Organizations are the same. Years of relationship-building. Trust earned through reliability. Lessons learned from mistakes. Systems developed through trial and error. That institutional knowledge has real value, even when the current state feels messy.
The rewrite impulse assumes the problem is the thing itself. But usually, the problem is that we’ve outgrown the original structure without evolving it. The answer isn’t demolition. It’s thoughtful renovation.
Organizations face the same temptation. When things get complicated, there’s a seductive simplicity to “defund and rebuild.” Start fresh. New governance. New people. This time with clear rules.
But that’s disconnected from how organizations actually improve. You don’t defund your way to better governance. You iterate. You refactor. You acknowledge the human effort that built what exists, even as you work to make it better.
 
Cass Review does not guide care for trans young people, by Julia K Moore, Cate Rayner, S Rachel Skinner, Katie Wynne, Blake S Cavve, Brodie Fraser, Uma Ganti, Claire McAllister, Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz, Tram Nguyen, Anja Ravine, Brian Ross, Darren B Russell, Liz A Saunders, Aris Siafarikas, and Ken C Pang, published in the The Medical Journal of Australia, via EITM.
17-year-old trans girl’s suicide over NHS wait times was preventable, coroner rules, by Amelia Hansford, also via EITM.
Intersex rights framework adopted by Council of Europe in “watershed moment”, by Beatrice Fanucci.
Also by Beatrice: Activists call for non-binary gender recognition in Ireland as certificate applications fall in 2024.
Dans l’imagination américaine, c’est comme si les mots n’avaient aucune conséquence physique. Mais c’est une illusion.
 — Karl
Miss Major has died. I’m grateful that she Lived a Long, Beautiful Life (obit by Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya and Riese Bernard Hansen). 🏳️⚧️
Fenway Health will no longer offer hormones, puberty blockers for transgender patients under 19, by Marin Wolf and Sarah Rahal.
Supreme Court likely to strike down Colorado’s conversion therapy ban, by Chris Geidner. Conversion therapy is torture. People who inflict it on children are reprehensible.
Gavin Newsom vetoes gender education bill, hasn’t signed other trans protections, by Greg Owen, and Gavin Newsom Vetoes Important HRT Stockpiling Bill For Trans Californians, [yet] Signs Other Pro-LGBTQ+ Bills, by Erin Reed. With “friends” like these…
Also by Erin: Pew Survey: Only 31% Of Trans People Report Being Accepted By Their Parents. See also the rest of the survey results.
You Have to See This Mamdani Ad, by Katelyn Burns. How wonderful! It’s sad how unusual it is to see this level of support for trans people from a politician in America.
MIT Rejects Trump’s Bid to Institute Trans Bathroom, Athletics Ban, by s. baum.
CBP Enforces Binary Sex Codes and Enhanced US Passport Validation in APIS, by Ian Macdonald.
What If Same-Sex Marriage Is Overturned? Here Are 7 Legal Steps To Protect Your Family, by Yetta G. Kurland.
 
Saul Zabar, Smoked Fish Czar of Upper West Side, Dies at 97, by Clyde Haberman.
I don't understand why @alyankovic has never done a take on @electric6's "Gay Bar," with @ZabarsIsNY in the titular role
To Honor the King of Lox, Lots of Lox, by Jacob Bernstein.
Visit to the Casio Museum Tokyo, by Anthony Kable.
Ming Releases The World’s First 3D Printed Titanium Bracelet-Strap Hybrid With ‘The Polymesh’, by TanTan Wang. Whoa.
A big grab-bag of links, all via Eric W. Bailey:
- Hue shifting when you have to work in RGB, by Jim Kang.
- Comic Book Grammar & Tradition, by Nate Piekos.
- A relic of horny Hollywood: why The Mummy remains a classic bisexual awakening movie, by Jordan Prosser. It cites the also-worth-reading Everyone Is Beautiful and No One Is Horny, by RS Benedict.
- Phase behavior of Cacio e Pepe sauce, by G. Bartolucci, D. M. Busiello, M. Ciarchi, A. Corticelli, I. Di Terlizzi, F. Olmeda, D. Revignas, and V. M. Schimmenti.
- Indigenous Nations Plan a Tariff-Free Trade Corridor Across the US-Canada border, by Sonal Gupta.