Notices by Ethan Marcotte (beep@follow.ethanmarcotte.com), page 4

@danhon before i started a boss fight this week with a necromancer-type dude, i was painstakingly click-throwing piles of skeleton bones off the edges of a nearby precipice

so yes please

@eaton oh my god eaton

The NLRB finds SpaceX guilty of illegally firing workers who engaged in federally protected activities; in response, SpaceX files a lawsuit arguing that the NLRB’s enforcement mechanisms are unconstitutional.

the whole thing would be hilariously tim curry bellows at sky dot gif, if it wasn’t so horrifying

https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/4/24025712/spacex-nlrb-lawsuit-constitutional-violations-elon-musk

#labor #USlabor #1u

And joining these horrorclowns in the “labor regulators are unconstitutional, actually” case is [checks notes] trader joes https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-26/trader-joe-s-follows-spacex-in-arguing-nlrb-is-unconstitutional

#labor #USlabor #1u

And now [looks at camera] Amazon would *also* like the NLRB thrown out. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/amazon-joins-spacex-trader-joes-in-challenging-us-labor-board

#labor #USlabor #1u

“the simple existence of the Don’t Sell Chainsaws To Toddlers federal oversight board represents a terrible infringement of our constitutional rights,” alleges BabySawzCo™

I’ve been on Mastodon for a minute, and I had *no idea* I could scope notifications to people I follow.

(Thanks to the friend who mentioned it.)

#FediTips

🦊

A prominent Silicon Valley investor is excited about collective bargaining. That made me excited! (Probably for very different reasons.) https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/collective/

#YDATUbook #unions #techUnions #1u

I am a web designer in my twenties. I’m wondering why the industry is designing for one browser, and for a handful of screen resolutions.

I am a web designer in my thirties. I’m wondering why the industry is designing for one browser, and for a handful of screen resolutions.

I am a web designer in my forties. I’m wondering why the industry is designing for one browser, and for a handful of screen resolutions.

I am a web designer in my fifties. I’m wonderi

oh my goodness: an interactive U.S. map dedicated to “uncovering, documenting and mapping thousands of New Deal public works and artworks around the country”:

https://livingnewdeal.org/map/

@eaton 🤓🫱🏻🦋 is this atomic design?

that’s a real nice map you got there, be a real shame if it was mistaken for the territory

“The human web, the one made by regular people, is resurgent.”

@anildash’s piece for @RollingStone is just as good as everyone’s saying, and very much worth your time:

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-commentary/internet-future-about-to-get-weird-1234938403/

If you, like me, have been working to figure out your position on the whole “Threads on fedi” thing, Erin Kissane’s latest post is clarifying, and worth your time: https://erinkissane.com/untangling-threads

(Heck, I think it’s worth your time even if you’ve sorted out your perspective on the matter.)

@anildash @clive @blogdiva anil i just stood up and did the most awed slow clap

PEOPLE OF BOSTON! Work in tech? Curious about unions? Let’s have another meetup about it!

On Monday 18 December at 7pm, join me and veteran labor organizer Rand Wilson at Aeronaut Brewing. I’ll be talking a bit about YOU DESERVE A TECH UNION, but just a bit: it’s an evening for us *all* to connect, and discuss the role of organizing (and unionizing) in our industry.

✨ RSVP here! https://tinyurl.com/ydatu-aero

#BostonMA #CambridgeMA #SomervilleMA #unions #TechUnions #UnionizeTech #1u

New from me over at WBUR: I wrote about the workers’ letter that likely saved Sam Altman’s job at OpenAI, and my complicated feelings about it. https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2023/12/06/artificial-intelligence-tech-workers-collective-action-sam-altman-ethan-marcotte

#TechLabor #CollectiveAction

The letter is a tremendous show of worker power, one that happened in an industry producing software that is, almost by definition, anti-worker. I’m grateful to the team at WBUR’s op-ed section for giving me space to think through how I feel about it.

The Washington Post union is striking on Thursday, 7 December, and they’re asking people to not cross the picket line:

“For 24 hours, please do not engage with any Washington Post content. That includes our print and online news stories, podcasts, videos, games and recipes. Instead, share information about our strike and send a letter to Post leaders in support of the people who make this institution run.”

More info here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LY2jViybLQPsgsm7hVo75V8aHNu5DUEZXB8vwc60YZo/edit

@eaton I started looking over some of my early freelance work (like, ~2002–2004), and I had honestly *completely forgotten* some of these websites.

(uh this is not a “ooh i did so much work ooh” flex, so much as it is an “oh god i’m so old and my memory is basically cheesecloth” statement)