Megan Ellis, Tech Valkyrie

Freelance technology journalist. Gamer, techie, living with fibromyalgia. She/her

Newsletter:

[Megan Ellis, Tech Valkyrie @Megg_Ellis]

@sarstax Hi there, how long does it take for SARS to follow up on an email query? I sent in a query over 2 weeks ago and still haven't received a response (just my case number). I emailed because the call centre agent told me I would need to email to resolve my issue.

[Megan Ellis, Tech Valkyrie @Megg_Ellis]

Here's what you need to know about the newly launched Honor 600 and 600 Pro smartphones in South Africa, along with the announcement of the Watch 6: https://t.co/Lj559tAHSZ

[Megan Ellis, Tech Valkyrie @Megg_Ellis]

As excited as I am about the launch of the Honor 600 series, I'm particularly excited about the company announcing that the Honor Watch 6 will launch in July. It will cost R4499, but interestingly has a 35 day battery life which I'm really eager to see in practice.

[Max du Preez @MaxduPreez]

I am an Afrikaner. I have all the freedom I want. The Bill of Rights in our constitution protects my rights. I am fully integrated in the South African nation. Demanding special treatment for Afrikaners is not in the interest of that group. Stop parotting MAGA

[Megan Ellis, Tech Valkyrie @Megg_Ellis]

@UppityVulcan @naledimashishi I get his frustration, but you can't deny that it is deeply traumatic to have slurs shouted at you when you're part of a discriminated group. A simple apology and acknowledgement of the effect, regardless of intent, could've gone a long way.

[Megan Ellis, Tech Valkyrie @Megg_Ellis]

@Lindyyay It's deeply disappointing. I think a lot of the storm could've been quelled if the harm was acknowledged. Cause having empathy for his disability does not exclude having empathy for what the presenters had to endure.

[John Oliver @iamjohnoliver]

Hello again! Here's our piece from Sunday about Twitter. Bye! https://t.co/KqA7EUY18B

[Mina, dat big cat babe @MinaLioness]

Is it a disability, yes. Did it perpetuate racialised harm onto Delroy and Michael, also yes. Can we recognise Tourettes are involuntary, still yes. Can we also recognise how truly violent it is to be in receipt of racial abuse even in diminished capacity, very much still a yes.

[Megan Ellis, Tech Valkyrie @Megg_Ellis]

@moanerleaser I still think the harm should be acknowledged. And I totally understand the distrust people would have (like when a certain someone's Nazi salute was blamed on autism).

It is a real disability, but I also think more should've been done to acknowledge the impact.

[Megan Ellis, Tech Valkyrie @Megg_Ellis]

@moanerleaser I'm not excusing the impact of his words. But his specific sub-type of Tourette's does include shouting the most taboo things possible, including things that could result in him being harmed.

https://t.co/9SmXyFapaQ

[ayo ♡ @l0velyay]

@LateefSaka a black woman with tourettes talked about the situation and I wish people would take the time to listen to what she has to say and educate themselves

[Megan Ellis, Tech Valkyrie @Megg_Ellis]

We do need more awareness around Tourette's and coprolalia. People who live with it shouldn't have to live in isolation and should be accommodated.

But you can raise awareness without ignoring the harm these outbursts can cause. It's not a zero sum game.

[Megan Ellis, Tech Valkyrie @Megg_Ellis]

You can be aware of how Tourette's can cause involuntary and vulgar/offensive outbursts, and still think that people who had to endure racial slurs should receive an apology.

Even if we don't intend harm, we should be accountable when our actions cause them.

[Megan Ellis, Tech Valkyrie @Megg_Ellis]

It's not ableist to not want people exposed to racism and slurs, even when those outbursts are the result of a condition.

And we can find ways to accommodate people without being expected to simply ignore the harm caused by those conditions.

[Hannah Robbins (they/them) @drhannahrobbins]

The way we need intersectional understanding. Causing involuntary harm (or not) is not consequence free. BBC and BAFTA should be held responsible for not safeguarding *everyone* involved and then, editing it to cause a media storm. Which perpetuates the harm and their mishandling

[Megan Ellis, Tech Valkyrie @Megg_Ellis]

@CampherDarren Hey wanted to find out more context about this, or if you could please link me to more reading? Did some cursory searching but it seems like Burghers were early Dutch settlers, whereas Afrikaner culture developed later?

[Megan Ellis, Tech Valkyrie @Megg_Ellis]

@Profmed_SA Hi there, I wanted to check how long it typically takes for a claim submitted via the app to be acknowledged and processed? I submitted a claim on 6 Feb and it still hasn't been processed

[Megan Ellis, Tech Valkyrie @Megg_Ellis]

@untetheredza Yeah I'm suspicious of high follower counts and views with a lack of engagement, but even engagement can be farmed with bots. I've also had a video reach crazy views on TikTok with relatively minor engagement (427k views, but 90 comments and 1600 likes), so there are some flukes

[Megan Ellis, Tech Valkyrie @Megg_Ellis]

@untetheredza Okay, so I logged in with a dummy email to get past the paywall.

For my site at least, Similarweb was greatly inflated. Almost 3x the traffic shown in Google Analytics. Funnily enough, GA is almost double the traffic that Jetpack shows me 😂

[Megan Ellis, Tech Valkyrie @Megg_Ellis]

@untetheredza I'm not sure how accurate the Similarweb stats are. But I've also not been keeping up with local web stats lately. I tried to check with my site, but got hit with a paywall. Though my blog might be too tiny to register 😂

[Megan Ellis, Tech Valkyrie @Megg_Ellis]

@SpotifyAfrica why does the Spotify app keep forcing me into smart shuffle on my liked songs playlist? I'm a premium subscriber but it has been doing this consistently for the past few weeks