Bruce Lawson
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brucel.bsky.social
Bruce Lawson
@brucel.bsky.social
3.5K followers 36 following 570 posts
Web standards a11y lovegod who leverages synergies at Vivaldi browser. Musician. He/ him. Conversation on mastodon, at @brucelawson@vivaldi.net. Bluesky is broadcast-only, as I've been disappointed by non-Fediverse platforms before. Personal views. RT≠+1.
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brucel.bsky.social
Scenes from @vivaldi.com HQ in Oslo: here's glamorous QA Hunk, Ruari, on his unicycle. FYI, he's a Linux devotee.
A Norwegian man, wearing a Norwegian hat and Norwegian facial hair, on a unicycle (nationality unknown).
November 7, 2025 at 10:07 AM
brucel.bsky.social
75 years ago today, European nations signed this Convention, so the Holocaust could not be repeated. Beware those who want this to end.
Right to life. Prohibition of torture. Prohibition of slavery and forced labour. Right to liberty and security. Right to a fair trial. No punishment without law. Right to respect for private and family life. Freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Freedom of expression. Freedom of assembly and association. Right to marry. Right to an effective remedy. Prohibition of discrimination. Prohibition of abuse of rights. EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS 75 YEARS (1950 - 2025)
November 4, 2025 at 7:28 PM
brucel.bsky.social
Absolute scenes on Kuenssberg this morning
Photo of Nigel Farage and Laura Kuenssberg in a TV studio. Speech bubble from Farage reads "I was about 14 and it was over a photo of Eva Braun". Speech bubble from Kuenssberg reads "Erm…I asked you about the West Bank".
October 12, 2025 at 10:36 AM
brucel.bsky.social
AT #smashingconf, @tkadlec.bsky.social is reminding us that betting on the browser (rather than JavaScript abstractions) is our best chance of long-term success.
Tim Catnip on stage
October 7, 2025 at 5:40 PM
brucel.bsky.social
I'm in New York, which is a bit different from original York, repping @vivaldi.com and @browserchoicealliance.org who are sponsoring @smashingconf.com.
Me and Ashley in front of sponsor board listing Browser Choice Alliance (and Microsoft Edge!) Me in a NYC street
October 7, 2025 at 1:49 PM
brucel.bsky.social
Happy Anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street, to all decent people.
Plaque: Plaque "THE BATTLE OF CABLE STREET The people of East London rallied to Cable Street on the 4th October 1936 and forced back the march of the fascist Oswald Mosley and his Blackshirts through the streets of the East End. "THEY SHALL NOT PASS""
October 4, 2025 at 12:42 PM
brucel.bsky.social
Prolonging the life of another Windows 10 machine by installing Linux while keeping a Windows look and feel. Thanks, ZorinOS! Naturally, Vivaldi is available from the Software store, and LibreOffice is pre-installed. My 80 year old mum took very little time to feel at home with it.
ZorinOS 17 installation screen The software store started from the Start menu
October 2, 2025 at 4:44 PM
brucel.bsky.social
I'm reading some shocking misapprehensions about web apps in the Malaysian government's report into mobile competition - big PDF: www.mycc.gov.my/sites/defaul...
Native apps often offer offline capabilities and benefit from the security measures of their OS, making them faster and more responsive. These apps are generally preferred over web apps because they align more closely with current user preferences and trends, offering a more tailored and engaging experience. Furthermore, growing emphasis on cybersecurity makes native apps more appealing, as they typically benefit from the robust security features built into the OS. This ensures better data protection and user privacy compared to web apps, which can be more vulnerable to security breaches and may not offer the same level of control over user data. While web apps are device-agnostic, meaning they can be accessed across different platforms and devices through a web browser, they lack the credibility of native apps. This is because web apps are not listed in app stores, which means users cannot rate and review them, making it harder to assess their reliability and quality. Furthermore, due to the limitations of browser-based APIs, web apps cannot access many hardware functions, such as biometric authentication (e.g., Face ID or fingerprint recognition) or more advanced device capabilities (e.g., NFC, GPS). While basic features like camera access or geolocation can still be utilised, these restrictions can limit the user experience. Additionally, web apps are often considered less secure than native apps because they operate over the internet and can be more easily targeted by hackers. According to CyCognito cybersecurity company, an estimated 70% of web apps assessed have security gaps, including the absence of web application …
September 30, 2025 at 5:51 PM
brucel.bsky.social
Dinner at the Apple Canteen today is "Serf and Astroturf", served by ACT (The App Association) www.aei.org/technology-a...
Not-Steve giving a golden tribute to Trump, in the Oval Office
September 26, 2025 at 1:28 PM
brucel.bsky.social
Vivaldi 7.6 Desktop is out - customise *everything*, and no crappy AI browsing for you. It includes the new TTB - which stands for "Tyrannosaurus terrifies Bruce" (and also 'The Tab Button"). vivaldi.com/blog/vivaldi...
Photo of me in a jeep. Behind it there is a large animatronic t-rex.
September 18, 2025 at 8:53 AM
brucel.bsky.social
"Apple’s App Review process is fair, transparent, and necessary to protect users from harm."

Ha ha ha! Messrs Wriggle, Squirm and Weasel Esq., (Apple's lawyers) actually claim this! Even they must have found it hard to keep a straight face when they typed it. I'm crying with laughter.
Apple’s App Review process is fair, transparent, and necessary to protect users from harm The Roadmap proposes a set of interventions that would require Apple to review apps submitted for distribution through the App Store in a fair, objective, and transparent manner. Apple currently reviews all apps, app updates, app bundles, in-app purchases, and in-app events before these are made available on the App Store to help provide a safe and trusted experience for users, and the opportunity for developers to succeed. Apple makes every effort to ensure that apps do not undermine trust in its platforms, the safety of those platforms, or the high-quality user experience Apple offers. App Review is among Apple’s most effective means of performing this critical function.
September 12, 2025 at 3:45 PM
brucel.bsky.social
Here's my copy of "This is for Everyone", next to my late grandma's 1930s copy of "Enquire Inside", a knock-off of "Enquire Within Upon Everything" - the Victorian encyclopedia after which @timbl named his precursor system to the WWW. (My grandma lived long enough to be fascinated by the Web.)
September 11, 2025 at 9:55 AM
brucel.bsky.social
We go live to Apple explaining to a Regulator that it has many browsers in its iOS App Store, so cannot possibly be thwarting competition.
An illustration of a medieval-style griffon-type creature with three "tails" on its back, each terminating with a different face. A traveller stands before it.
September 8, 2025 at 7:48 AM
brucel.bsky.social
The seven deadly sins of tech (as a service)
www.linkedin.com/posts/rubend...
▫️ Lust → Tinder ▫️ Gluttony → Uber Eats ▫️ Greed → Amazon ▫️ Sloth → Netflix ▫️ Wrath → X ▫️ Envy → Instagram ▫️ Pride → LinkedIn
August 14, 2025 at 10:26 AM
brucel.bsky.social
For some reason, I was thinking about the Roger Hargreaves kids' book character, Mr Tickle, who is bright orange with tiny little hands that he can't keep to himself, coming to Scotland.
A typically Scottish scene of heather and mountains, under a stormy sky. A cartoon orange blob with extremely long arms (and weird yellow hair) runs through the heather. In the foreground, a woman holds her nose in disgust, while another turns away with her hands over her mouth as if to vomit. Between the women sit two adolescent girls, embracing each other with fearful expressions.
July 25, 2025 at 12:01 PM
brucel.bsky.social
Too soon?
A crappy sentimental AI picture of Jesus in heaven saying "Don't do it!" to Ozzy Osbourne, who is poised to bite the head off a celestial dove.
July 23, 2025 at 3:42 PM
brucel.bsky.social
Apple to developers & regulators: "Web apps are an equal to our single-plaform App Store".

Apple to consumers:
To add to homescreen in iOS27, simply point your device at Alpha Centauri at the instant Saturn returns into Taurus retrograde, stroke the screen 19 times in the shape of a tesseract, and utter the incantation "Grxyrhyx ངན་པ Wankmuffin монополий पीडा བྱི་ལའི་མཆིལ་མ། ضرطة الجرذ נפיחה של חולדה ตดหนู ကြွက်ဖား चूहे की पाद installacadabra!" while doing the splits naked over a live lobster. Note: We were forced to allow Homescreen Apps by the pink commies of the European Union. Don't blame us if using Homescreen Apps gives you cancer.
July 16, 2025 at 10:33 AM
brucel.bsky.social
‘The vehicle suddenly accelerated with our baby in it’: the terrifying truth about why Tesla’s cars keep crashing www.theguardian.com/technology/2... "2,400 customer complaints about unintended acceleration and more than 1,500 braking issues… More than 1,000 crashes are documented."
Aerial view of crashed or burned Swasticars
July 5, 2025 at 11:08 AM
brucel.bsky.social
I'm watching the Apple DMA compliance workshop. Their chief lawyer, Kylie Andeers, is angrily attacking the EU people who politely introduced him for daring to try to regulate Apple. As usual, we're told that "hundreds of developers" have worked "measureless hours" to comply. I'm weeping for them.
A lawyer, furiously not wearing a tie.
June 30, 2025 at 8:21 AM
brucel.bsky.social
Has anyone else noticed the startling resemblance between newly-released Little Tommeh Ten Names, and Oddbod from Carry on Screaming?
On the left, we see Steven Yaxley-Lennon AKA Tommy Robinson, looking radiant in a lush beard, some rosary beads and a t-shirt. On the right is the comedy monster from the 1966 film Carry On Screaming
May 28, 2025 at 10:16 AM
brucel.bsky.social
Microsoft turns 50 years old today! Half a century of dark patterns, asphyxiating competitors, and ignoring user choice.
Do you think Microsoft understands what consent is? Select one answer Yes O votes 0% remind me in 3 days. 17 votes.
April 4, 2025 at 10:51 AM
brucel.bsky.social
Such an adorable kitten!
If you're reading this, you've been in a coma for almost 20 years now. We're trying a new technique. We don't know where this message will end up in your dream, but we hope it works. Please wake up, we miss you.
February 20, 2025 at 10:50 AM
brucel.bsky.social
Thanks for the hundreds of Valentine Cards, folks. Here's a Vivaldi-tine card from me. xxx
A grid showing different coloured 'love heart' sweets (candies), each with a heart on them. They read "tickle my tabs", "bookmark me, babe!", "httpYES!", "spank my speed-dial", "Bruce = Bae", " I heart Little Tech", "awesome Lawson" and "URL = you are lovely". In the centre is the message "Happy Vivaldi-Tine's Day"
February 14, 2025 at 4:14 PM
brucel.bsky.social
The tattoo studio that La Daughter set up with her mate Eva turned 2 years old!
5 young women and 1 man, all with tattoos, pose in front of prints of their art work.
February 5, 2025 at 6:17 PM
brucel.bsky.social
Just back from a meeting with Jess Phillips (Minister for Safeguarding, and my MP) to discuss the dangers of betting too much on AI, and the malign influence of Big Tech.
Me and Jess Phillips smiling while we have a beer in her office
January 31, 2025 at 5:58 PM