Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
Crash Override’s logo. Photograph: http://www.crashoverridenetwork.com/ A group of people targeted with online harassment have launched a support network aimed at helping others who find themselves in the same situation. The network, Crash Override, will go further than many previous attempts to help harassment targets, not only providing emotional support but also helping those affected interact…
Trigger warning for sexual abuse, stalking, rape, domestic violence and large-scale attacks by hate groups. Last Thursday, I criticized the Linux community for continuing to support and center a leader with a years-long, documented history of unrepentant abusive behavior, someone who has actively and systematically nurtured a hostile, homogeneous technical community, and someone who has…
In U.S. academia, fields that cherish sheer genius shun women By Will Dunham WASHINGTON Thu Jan 15, 2015 2:50pm EST Tweet Share this Email Print Graduates from Columbia University’s School of Journalism cheer during the university’s commencement ceremony in New York in this May 16, 2012 file photo. Credit: Reuters/Keith Bedford/Files WASHINGTON (Reuters) –…
Is anyone else sick of the jerk genius? You know the one. He’s unprofessional, lazy, selfish and rude, and even makes frequent sexist and racist remarks against the people around him, but that’s OK, because he’s a genius. He’s the best doctor/detective/scientist around, so everyone will put up with his jerkitude. Respect for others is the foolish pastime of…
I feel your pain, bitter, lonely, nerdy guys. I really do. It sounds corny to say it like that, but I don’t know how to say it and be believed. I know that because, having experienced this emotion from the inside for most of my life, I sure as hell resisted believing it when I…
This Is How We Forget History January 5, 2015 – Features I’m usually patient with new TV shows. I’m a Fringe fan, after all: sometimes it takes a few episodes or seasons for a show to find its legs. So like, I was skeptical about AMC’s Halt and Catch Fire, but willing to give it…
Pandagon is daily opinion blog covering feminism, politics, and pop culture. Come for the politics, stay for the complete lack of patience for the B.S. and bad faith coming from conservative leaders and pundits. No oppression is greater than having to speak to women before they will have sex with you. Oof. Laurie Penny has…
A few people have forwarded me MIT professor Scott Aaronson’s post about nerd trauma and male privilege (link here, it’s comment #171) It’s part of a larger discussion about sexism in STEM subjects, and its essence is simple. Aaronson’s position on feminism is supportive, but he can’t get entirely behind it because of his experiences…
Before you start limbering up your fingers to write NOT ALL WHITE GUYS before you even read the article, lemme just say this: I KNOW. The only reason I’m able to track the performative phenomenon I’m about to discuss is because it only occurs in a small subset of white guys. Since most white guys are…
In 1978, in a computer lab at Essex University, two brilliant young students invented the future of video games. Roy Trubshaw and Richard Bartle were the creators of the Multi-User Dungeon – or simply MUD – a text-based adventure that ran on a giant DEC PDP-10 mainframe. They programmed the game in their spare time,…