index.md (4339B)
1 --- 2 title: "Weeknote for 2025-W15" 3 description: "Alt text, useful offline computing tools, and fed news" 4 date: 2025-04-07T08:59:00-07:00 5 draft: false 6 categories: 7 - Weeknotes 8 --- 9 10 ## The whys and hows of alt text 11 12 This piece nominally targets journalists posting to social media, but it does a 13 great job of explaining why alt text is important and has guidelines for 14 composing good descriptions. I could do a better job myself of composing alt 15 text for the data graphics I’m called to produce[^slides], so I’ll be referring 16 back to this for guidance. Joe’s a pro at this game! 17 18 [Joe Murphy --- Social media alt text for journalists](https://joemurph.com/article/detail/social-media-alt-text-for-journalists/) 19 20 ## Tinker WriterDeck OS 21 22 I had never heard of a “WriterDeck” before I came across this project, which 23 bundles a simple, beginner-friendly terminal text editor with Debian Linux to 24 enable the installation of a “distraction-free writing experience” on most 25 laptops. [The announcement 26 thread](https://infosec.exchange/@tinker/114275612808527606) has more great 27 resources, such as this [list of of WriterDeck friendly 28 software](https://www.writerdeck.org/writerdeck-software.html). I don’t do 29 enough writing to have a great need for something like this, but it’s 30 delightful to see. 31 32 Because here’s the thing: Microsoft has already announced that they will stop 33 releasing security updates for Windows 10 in October this year, which is 34 currently running on a lot of old and cheap computers that won’t be able to 35 upgrade to Windows 11. This EOL will create a glut of unused 36 computers[^insecure] that are perfectly capable of useful tasks that don’t 37 require Windows, and I would rather see these computers get put to any use than 38 get sent to a landfill (or sit in a basement or garage for ten years and then 39 get sent to a landfill). Single-purpose distros like this might help folks milk 40 more years of service out of these. 41 42 [Tinker Writer Deck](https://tinker.sh/) 43 44 ## Trail Sense for offline navigation 45 46 Speaking of offline things, I also recently learned about the Trail Sense app. 47 Designed for hikers and geocachers, it seems generally useful for anyone who 48 wanders around outside. It’s open-source, doesn’t collect personal data, and 49 may even save your life if you find yourself lost without signal (although its 50 primary use case is for preventing you from getting lost in the first place). 51 52 I haven’t had the chance to take it on a hike yet but I put it on my phone 53 right away. I appreciate that its offline-design means that it should work in 54 airplane mode. I usually turn my phone off when I’m hiking to conserve energy; 55 if I get into trouble---and happen to have signal---I don’t want to be low on 56 battery. Heck, it might be worth keeping this on an old SIM-less phone; another 57 great way to extend the useful life of older hardware. Be sure to check out 58 [the list of recommended companion 59 apps](https://kylecorry.com/Trail-Sense/guide?id=tool_recommended_apps) 60 61 [Trail Sense](https://kylecorry.com/Trail-Sense/) 62 63 ## What’s new in federal government 64 65 My unnamed agency is among those which saw mass layoffs[^rif] on 66 Tuesday---April Fools’ Day. My immediate group was spared, but I’m grieving for 67 the hard-working colleagues who are having their livelihoods threatened. The 68 scope of my work will be impacted by this and the [recently announced cuts to 69 contract 70 spending](https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/04/03/g-s1-58145/hhs-fda-cdc-cuts-spending), 71 which arrive just as we’re undertaking major infrastructural improvements. The 72 long and short of it is that (as long as I don’t get caught up in one of these 73 mass-firings) I will likely spend much of the next couple years bringing folks 74 who use older proprietary technologies up to speed on Python, Spark, and newer 75 proprietary technologies (that I won’t name lest that be considered a lapse in 76 ethics). 77 78 [^slides]: Yes, you can and should add alt text to slide decks! 79 80 [^insecure]: It will also create a glut of insecure computers, so look forward 81 to more and bigger botnets! 82 83 [^rif]: Everybody in the office on the news refers to these as _RIFs_ (for 84 “reduction in force”), but I think we should push back on using a cutesy 85 name for something that will cause unknowable damage to many people’s lives.