Internet Flaneur - September 7, 2023

[MW: Intrigued by concept of "cumulative cultural adaptation" & its implications for cultures of #disability]
Human beings have a unique evolutionary history. We are at the mercy of neither biology nor luck. We survive by learning from each other. Evolutionary biologist Mark Pagel tells us humans are successful because we are “wired for culture.” | Wired For Culture: Origins of the Human Social Mind by Mark Pagel is published by Norton.

TECHNOSENSUAL. where fashion meets technology will showcase dozens of garments equipped with electronics and other cutting-edge materials that “combine fashion and technology while expanding the possibilities of contemporary fashion design,” quartier21 says. That includes a dress that purports to increase intimacy between a wearer and those around her by using sensors to transform from opaque to ooh-la-la transparent; neck pieces that pump ink over absorbing fabric; and a slime suit whipped up in real time by Bart Hess, stylist for Lady Gaga.

Scott Lissner: “I have always felt history is important and September is a rich month of contrasts, the weather turns from summer to autumn, the academic year replaces summer break; both Elvis Presley (9/9/2023) and Star Trek (9/8/2023) broke into our national consciousness; President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation (9/22/1862) and President Eisenhower ordered the National Guard to enforce racial integration of schools in Little Rock, Arkansas (9/24/1957). | I want to highlight two events related to disability. The culmination of state sponsored eugenics programs with the initiation of Germany’s T4 Program that began eliminating individuals with genetic disabilities to so they and their potential children would not burden the state (9/1/2023) and the passage of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act which was the United States first step in guaranteeing civil rights for the disabled (9/26/1973). Below are summaries and resources surrounding these two events…”

[MW: I think the conclusion here is extreme, but it’s a gambit to get Facebook’s attention. I don’t think Facebook *hates* blind people – it just never thinks about them at all. I updated my FB app yesterday, hoping it would solve some of these accessibility issues. After reading this, I won’t be rushing to try it out. It’s a different world (accessible, too) on Twitter. Here that, Facebook?]
Kyle Buckley: “Facebook, though, seems to take the opposite way that other developers take. Each new version of the Facebook app seems to have less and less VoiceOver compliance. I know of several users who have complained to the Facebook team about the app’s blind-user unfriendliness. But Facebook doesn’t seem to care. Today was the tipping point for me. Facebook just released a new version of their app that is supposed to be faster, easier, snappier, less convoluted, magical, revolutionary, evolutionary, fantastically wonderful, and filled with pure awesomeness! I downloaded it on the iPad, opened the app which is filled with wonder and magic, and was not at all surprised to find that it is even more blind unfriendly than before. Why? Why can they not devote just a little bit of time to have a blind user test it out so they can make their app screenreader friendly? I came to one conclusion: Facebook hates blind people.”