Terms of use

The short version: use this site, enjoy it, don't break it or steal from it. I've written these terms in plain English because terms nobody can read protect nobody.

Who runs this

Annette Thompson at annettethompson.com is run by Annette Thompson, in Boulder, Colorado. When these terms say "I" or "me", that's who they mean. When they say "you", they mean whoever is reading the site.

By using the site you're agreeing to what's below. If you don't agree with it, the honest answer is to close the tab; there's nothing here that requires you to accept terms you dislike.

What this site is

This is my personal site: my writing, my projects, and how to reach me. Nothing here is a product and nothing here is for sale.

Using the site

Do the ordinary reasonable things. Specifically, please don't:

  • Scrape, bulk-download, or republish the content here as your own.
  • Try to break, overload, or get into parts of the site that aren't public.
  • Use the site to harass anybody, or to do anything illegal.
  • Pass off anything here as written by you.

If you do any of that I may block you, and for anything serious I'll take it further.

The writing is mine

The words, photographs, layouts, and data compilations on this site are mine unless credited to somebody else, and they're protected by copyright.

You're welcome to quote a paragraph or two with a link back. That's what the internet is for. You're not welcome to copy a page wholesale, feed the site into a scraper to rebuild it elsewhere, or reuse the content commercially without asking. Ask me, and the answer is often yes.

What I don't promise

I put real work into keeping this site accurate and useful, and I fix things when I find them wrong. But I'm one person, not an institution, and I have to be honest about the limits:

  • The site is provided as it is. I can't promise it will be available, uninterrupted, or free of mistakes.
  • I can't promise the information here is complete or current at the moment you read it.
  • Following something you read here is your decision, and the outcome is yours too.

Nothing in this section takes away rights you have under law that can't be signed away. Some places don't allow certain limitations, and where that's true, this doesn't apply to you.

Limits on what I owe you

To the extent the law allows it, I'm not liable for indirect or consequential losses arising from your use of this site, and my total liability to you for anything connected with the site is limited to what you've paid me, or one hundred US dollars, whichever is greater.

That's the standard clause, and it's here for the ordinary reason: a free website can't carry unlimited financial risk. It isn't an attempt to escape responsibility for something I actually did wrong.

Links to other places

This site links out, often. Those places are not mine and I don't control them. A link isn't a promise about what's on the other end of it, and once you leave, their terms and their privacy policy apply, not mine.

Which law applies

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Colorado, in the United States. If we ever end up in a formal dispute, it belongs in the state or federal courts in Boulder County, Colorado.

If any part of these terms turns out to be unenforceable, the rest still stands.

If these change

I'll update this page and change the date at the bottom. If something material changes and you're on my list, I'll tell you rather than quietly editing the page.

Getting hold of me

Write to [email protected]. A real person reads it, and that person is me.

Last updated 2026-08-08.