Katie Fenn
@katiefenn.bsky.social
She/her from Sheffield. Talks about tech and trans rights. Former NPM, Monzo, Canonical. Train, car & bike geek for ending car dependence. Greens for HS2 and LGBTIQA+ Greens. Co-organiser Front End North.
Pinned
Katie Fenn
@katiefenn.bsky.social
· Oct 10
Not only that, but we managed to interrupt a movie playing in the screen next door with the volume of the demo. It certainly woke us all up before heading off to the social. It sounded incredible! Watch the talk and find out more here:
heypresents.com/talks/around...
heypresents.com/talks/around...
Around the wwworld: Web MIDI, Web AUDIO and what the web does best
So, you don't use the Web Audio and Web MIDI APIs in your day job - does that mean they have nothing important to tell us about the nature of the Web? Think again! Katie Fenn takes us on a tour of the...
heypresents.com
Hey #WDC2025, if you want a talk to watch on the way home, my talk from @heypresents.com was published today!
I make some Daft Punk with a MIDI controller and a web browser.
I make some Daft Punk with a MIDI controller and a web browser.
Reposted by Katie Fenn
Labour leadership loathes democracy
"Coronation": the latest thinking on how to overcome the fact the Labour membership would never choose Wesley.
November 26, 2025 at 7:04 AM
Labour leadership loathes democracy
Reposted by Katie Fenn
My latest work project is the calculator in this, we're starting to do more of these smaller custom component projects and it's really exciting. Kudos to everyone for how quickly this came together.
Britons brace for highly uneven impact of Rachel Reeves’ ‘stealth tax’
[FREE TO READ] Use the FT’s interactive calculator to understand how a further freeze to income tax thresholds could affect you
on.ft.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:19 AM
My latest work project is the calculator in this, we're starting to do more of these smaller custom component projects and it's really exciting. Kudos to everyone for how quickly this came together.
Not a movie.
I'd force Alton Towers to build the cross-valley terrain coaster they had planned at one point.
I'd force Alton Towers to build the cross-valley terrain coaster they had planned at one point.
November 25, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Not a movie.
I'd force Alton Towers to build the cross-valley terrain coaster they had planned at one point.
I'd force Alton Towers to build the cross-valley terrain coaster they had planned at one point.
To any journalists who have their name in bylines reporting on trans issues:
Your name will be against those bylines forever. Your professional conduct will either make or stain your reputation for the rest of your careers.
I hope you can live with that.
Your name will be against those bylines forever. Your professional conduct will either make or stain your reputation for the rest of your careers.
I hope you can live with that.
November 25, 2025 at 6:23 PM
To any journalists who have their name in bylines reporting on trans issues:
Your name will be against those bylines forever. Your professional conduct will either make or stain your reputation for the rest of your careers.
I hope you can live with that.
Your name will be against those bylines forever. Your professional conduct will either make or stain your reputation for the rest of your careers.
I hope you can live with that.
Reposted by Katie Fenn
In the span of a hour, they stealth edited the article from trans woman to "biological male who identifies as a woman." The BBC isn't fit for purpose.
It looks like that BBC page has been updated in the last few minutes, so that's no longer the last sentence. I think part of it has been moved to this paragraph in the middle of the article, and the age is no longer mentioned:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
November 25, 2025 at 1:36 PM
In the span of a hour, they stealth edited the article from trans woman to "biological male who identifies as a woman." The BBC isn't fit for purpose.
Look - I agree that, broadly, the BBC is a force for good in this world, and privatising it or losing it would be a net loss for us all.
And then I see performative cruelty done in the name of the public interest, and I just do not give a fuck.
Fix it. Then we’ll talk.
And then I see performative cruelty done in the name of the public interest, and I just do not give a fuck.
Fix it. Then we’ll talk.
Truly grotesque that the BBC chose to describe the *victim* of Graham Linehan's *crime* for which he was *convicted* in these terms. I can only conclude that this is now standard BBC editorial practice for referring to trans people, regardless of context. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
November 25, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Look - I agree that, broadly, the BBC is a force for good in this world, and privatising it or losing it would be a net loss for us all.
And then I see performative cruelty done in the name of the public interest, and I just do not give a fuck.
Fix it. Then we’ll talk.
And then I see performative cruelty done in the name of the public interest, and I just do not give a fuck.
Fix it. Then we’ll talk.
Reposted by Katie Fenn
Help us go out with a bang and join on a journey through new techniques, accessibility, web animation, and human connection in a world of increasingly weird and wonderful AI.
ti.to/hey-presents...
ti.to/hey-presents...
November 25, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Help us go out with a bang and join on a journey through new techniques, accessibility, web animation, and human connection in a world of increasingly weird and wonderful AI.
ti.to/hey-presents...
ti.to/hey-presents...
Introduce yourself with four spaceships.
November 25, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Introduce yourself with four spaceships.
Watch them use this to justify raising the minimum age for transition to 32.
At some point, the minimum age is gonna overtake me.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
At some point, the minimum age is gonna overtake me.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Four pivotal ages in your brain's development revealed in new scientific study
Brain scans on thousands of people reveal the dramatic shifts the brain goes through between birth and death.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 25, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Watch them use this to justify raising the minimum age for transition to 32.
At some point, the minimum age is gonna overtake me.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
At some point, the minimum age is gonna overtake me.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Katie Fenn
it is really astonishing that npm has not even publicly acknowledged the potentially ongoing credential-stealing worm attack. what is going on in there
November 25, 2025 at 10:19 AM
it is really astonishing that npm has not even publicly acknowledged the potentially ongoing credential-stealing worm attack. what is going on in there
Reposted by Katie Fenn
I'm speaking at @frontendsheff.bsky.social this Thursday evening with my 'Ulysses versus The Very Hungry Caterpillar' talk that I recently presented at TechMids. Come and join me to learn the impact our code has on the brain using two literary classics as analogies.
Last (non-drinky) #FrontEndSheff of the year THIS WEEK(!): www.meetup.com/front-end-sh...
Jack Carey & @andycarter.dev bringing the noise with web components, code quality and… caterpillars? 🐛 #Meetup #Sheffield #WebDev
Jack Carey & @andycarter.dev bringing the noise with web components, code quality and… caterpillars? 🐛 #Meetup #Sheffield #WebDev
27th Nov '25: Standards, Web Components & Quality Code with a Hungry Caterpillar, Thu, Nov 27, 2025, 6:15 PM | Meetup
Same room as last month: 12.5.08 at the **Charles Street Building**, Sheffield Hallam University, 120 Charles St, Sheffield, S1 2NE
Look for the FES signs up into the lift
www.meetup.com
November 24, 2025 at 10:50 AM
I'm speaking at @frontendsheff.bsky.social this Thursday evening with my 'Ulysses versus The Very Hungry Caterpillar' talk that I recently presented at TechMids. Come and join me to learn the impact our code has on the brain using two literary classics as analogies.
Reposted by Katie Fenn
Last (non-drinky) #FrontEndSheff of the year THIS WEEK(!): www.meetup.com/front-end-sh...
Jack Carey & @andycarter.dev bringing the noise with web components, code quality and… caterpillars? 🐛 #Meetup #Sheffield #WebDev
Jack Carey & @andycarter.dev bringing the noise with web components, code quality and… caterpillars? 🐛 #Meetup #Sheffield #WebDev
27th Nov '25: Standards, Web Components & Quality Code with a Hungry Caterpillar, Thu, Nov 27, 2025, 6:15 PM | Meetup
Same room as last month: 12.5.08 at the **Charles Street Building**, Sheffield Hallam University, 120 Charles St, Sheffield, S1 2NE
Look for the FES signs up into the lift
www.meetup.com
November 23, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Last (non-drinky) #FrontEndSheff of the year THIS WEEK(!): www.meetup.com/front-end-sh...
Jack Carey & @andycarter.dev bringing the noise with web components, code quality and… caterpillars? 🐛 #Meetup #Sheffield #WebDev
Jack Carey & @andycarter.dev bringing the noise with web components, code quality and… caterpillars? 🐛 #Meetup #Sheffield #WebDev
Reposted by Katie Fenn
“Have they given up? Are they just deciding to build up herd immunity by watching us die? The government has given up, hasn’t it? They are throwing us into the slaughterhouse.”
It’s not hindsight - we knew this at the time @drrachelclarke.com writes:
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
It’s not hindsight - we knew this at the time @drrachelclarke.com writes:
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
I’ll never forget the horror of the Covid wards | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 23, 2025 at 10:02 AM
“Have they given up? Are they just deciding to build up herd immunity by watching us die? The government has given up, hasn’t it? They are throwing us into the slaughterhouse.”
It’s not hindsight - we knew this at the time @drrachelclarke.com writes:
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
It’s not hindsight - we knew this at the time @drrachelclarke.com writes:
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
A movie that takes place where you’re from
(Princess Bride was filmed in Derbyshire)
(Princess Bride was filmed in Derbyshire)
November 23, 2025 at 7:57 PM
A movie that takes place where you’re from
(Princess Bride was filmed in Derbyshire)
(Princess Bride was filmed in Derbyshire)
Listening to the @whatthetrans.com interview with Your Party, and disappointed that when asked how YP compares to other parties, they said that YP will be trans inclusive and member led, and then went on to draw comparisons to Labour.
As if there wasn’t already a trans-inclusive, member led party 🫤
As if there wasn’t already a trans-inclusive, member led party 🫤
November 23, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Listening to the @whatthetrans.com interview with Your Party, and disappointed that when asked how YP compares to other parties, they said that YP will be trans inclusive and member led, and then went on to draw comparisons to Labour.
As if there wasn’t already a trans-inclusive, member led party 🫤
As if there wasn’t already a trans-inclusive, member led party 🫤
Reposted by Katie Fenn
The UK editor of ITV news here saying he has no influence over The News Cycle, which is, let's be very clear, 100% "what newspaper editors are choosing to cover."
Again: if your job is to read the Mail and put whatever they say on your program, why is it not just minimum wage?
Again: if your job is to read the Mail and put whatever they say on your program, why is it not just minimum wage?
It’s a sign of how insane the news cycle is these days that this historic failure of government policy got just one day of news coverage this week.
Not saying that’s right or wrong, but it’s astonishing how quickly the agenda moves on these days.
Not saying that’s right or wrong, but it’s astonishing how quickly the agenda moves on these days.
BREAKING: UK’s response to Covid was “too little too late”. Acting faster could have saved 23,000 lives in England according to the public inquiry.
Boris Johnson presided over a “toxic, sexist, chaotic culture” in No10, where rule-breaking seriously undermined public confidence.
Boris Johnson presided over a “toxic, sexist, chaotic culture” in No10, where rule-breaking seriously undermined public confidence.
November 23, 2025 at 2:19 PM
The UK editor of ITV news here saying he has no influence over The News Cycle, which is, let's be very clear, 100% "what newspaper editors are choosing to cover."
Again: if your job is to read the Mail and put whatever they say on your program, why is it not just minimum wage?
Again: if your job is to read the Mail and put whatever they say on your program, why is it not just minimum wage?
Fuming at the state of the bike industry.
My new bike has been supplied with tubeless-ready tyres that I cannot shift off the rims (yes, I’m using tyre levers, and yes, I’ve seated the bead in the centre channel). The tolerances are now so tight that the skills I already have don’t work anymore.
My new bike has been supplied with tubeless-ready tyres that I cannot shift off the rims (yes, I’m using tyre levers, and yes, I’ve seated the bead in the centre channel). The tolerances are now so tight that the skills I already have don’t work anymore.
November 23, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Fuming at the state of the bike industry.
My new bike has been supplied with tubeless-ready tyres that I cannot shift off the rims (yes, I’m using tyre levers, and yes, I’ve seated the bead in the centre channel). The tolerances are now so tight that the skills I already have don’t work anymore.
My new bike has been supplied with tubeless-ready tyres that I cannot shift off the rims (yes, I’m using tyre levers, and yes, I’ve seated the bead in the centre channel). The tolerances are now so tight that the skills I already have don’t work anymore.
Reposted by Katie Fenn
You have to laugh. Prime Minister proudly boasting that Lincolnshire is equipping high speed rail lines. The catch? For Turkey, not Manchester
£35m British Steel rail contract to create new Scunthorpe jobs
British Steel says the deal, to be announced by Sir Keir Starmer, will
www.bbc.co.uk
November 23, 2025 at 9:05 AM
You have to laugh. Prime Minister proudly boasting that Lincolnshire is equipping high speed rail lines. The catch? For Turkey, not Manchester
Fascinating podcast on the design life of bike frames, looking at carbon versus aluminium, titanium and steel.
TLDR: Carbon road bikes have very high performance but optimising so much industrial output around chasing carbon is probably not a good idea.
youtu.be/1gnj8X0r0HA
TLDR: Carbon road bikes have very high performance but optimising so much industrial output around chasing carbon is probably not a good idea.
youtu.be/1gnj8X0r0HA
This Carbon Expert Will Never Buy A New Carbon Bike
YouTube video by GCN Tech
youtu.be
November 22, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Fascinating podcast on the design life of bike frames, looking at carbon versus aluminium, titanium and steel.
TLDR: Carbon road bikes have very high performance but optimising so much industrial output around chasing carbon is probably not a good idea.
youtu.be/1gnj8X0r0HA
TLDR: Carbon road bikes have very high performance but optimising so much industrial output around chasing carbon is probably not a good idea.
youtu.be/1gnj8X0r0HA
Reposted by Katie Fenn
Some leaked (not verified) info on the puberty blocker trial linked here. In my own thread I will briefly highlight the two key measures they are prioritising. A short thread 1
A Substacker named Ben Ryan tweeted that "the long-awaited UK puberty blocker clinical trial protocol is out."
Shortly thereafter he deleted the post. I can't find a public version of the protocol but here's what I was able to salvage from the screenshot + post.
[A THREAD]
Shortly thereafter he deleted the post. I can't find a public version of the protocol but here's what I was able to salvage from the screenshot + post.
[A THREAD]
November 21, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Some leaked (not verified) info on the puberty blocker trial linked here. In my own thread I will briefly highlight the two key measures they are prioritising. A short thread 1
Reposted by Katie Fenn
Read this thread. The puberty blocker trial that has, somehow, gained ethical approval, is psychological and physical child abuse. Its being overrseen by conversion therapists with documented links to hate groups. Children will be harmed. Children will die. This is sickening.
The puberty blocker trial is about to start according to the BBC, led by Dr Emily Simonoff. The same Dr who spoke at a symposium organised by Segm, a group designated an anti trans hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Centre /1
organizers-congress.org/frontend/ind...
organizers-congress.org/frontend/ind...
C3-Konferenzzeitplan – 21st international Congress of the ESCAP 2025
organizers-congress.org
November 22, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Read this thread. The puberty blocker trial that has, somehow, gained ethical approval, is psychological and physical child abuse. Its being overrseen by conversion therapists with documented links to hate groups. Children will be harmed. Children will die. This is sickening.
I love Trashfuture, but spreading bonuses across two upgrade tiers and you’re not guaranteed which ones you get is a bit of a swiz.
(To be clear, I *have* paid up, but I’d prefer to give slightly more regularly than upgrading and then downgrading)
(To be clear, I *have* paid up, but I’d prefer to give slightly more regularly than upgrading and then downgrading)
November 22, 2025 at 1:20 PM
I love Trashfuture, but spreading bonuses across two upgrade tiers and you’re not guaranteed which ones you get is a bit of a swiz.
(To be clear, I *have* paid up, but I’d prefer to give slightly more regularly than upgrading and then downgrading)
(To be clear, I *have* paid up, but I’d prefer to give slightly more regularly than upgrading and then downgrading)
@antinoe.prettyfem.me Hi there, mentioning because you’ve quote tweeted me and turned replies off.
I think it would be okay to operate for profit if they wanted to, but I think it’s right to question what their model is, and how many people they’re treating for free, and how they decide.
I think it would be okay to operate for profit if they wanted to, but I think it’s right to question what their model is, and how many people they’re treating for free, and how they decide.
November 22, 2025 at 11:34 AM
@antinoe.prettyfem.me Hi there, mentioning because you’ve quote tweeted me and turned replies off.
I think it would be okay to operate for profit if they wanted to, but I think it’s right to question what their model is, and how many people they’re treating for free, and how they decide.
I think it would be okay to operate for profit if they wanted to, but I think it’s right to question what their model is, and how many people they’re treating for free, and how they decide.
Serious question:
Why does a “not for profit” trans healthcare service cost ~£100 a month?
Why does a “not for profit” trans healthcare service cost ~£100 a month?
November 22, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Serious question:
Why does a “not for profit” trans healthcare service cost ~£100 a month?
Why does a “not for profit” trans healthcare service cost ~£100 a month?