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Personally I was hoping the cat-picture-meme would be a passing thing. I am allergic to the little critters and am not particularly fond of them. They carry parasites and bacteria which can be permanently harmful for us.

So, although I respect people wanting to have their own pets and take care of them, I (and many others) think it is tasteless to project this affinity to others in a professional setting.

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"Lazarus Lazaridis' personal blog with posts mostly related to programming and opensource. And cats." I agree completely that "cutesy" things don't belong in professional contexts (I like to make sensible exceptions occasionally to reassure everyone that I am, in fact, human), but these are his critters, so he is entitled to subject his readers to them (just like someone who posts pictures of their happy-smiley family). Also, you should be more concerned about humans, who carry parasites and bacteria (and viruses!) which are vastly more dangerous to you. :)

Although I vehemently disagree with you about cats, I feel pretty much the same way about the stupid dog gifs that my boss insists on putting at the top of our monthly report drafts, so I can see where you're coming from.

The thing is, it's not an actual cat/dog. It's not going to get dander or slobber or parasites on you. I just scroll past and forget about it.

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