Follow the Ironic Link

Some interesting articles sponsored by O'Reilly, oddly enough, on women in technology. I can't wait to dig into these, especially Shelley's article, "So What?" because I always enjoy reading Shelley. So THAT'S what you've been up to, Shell!

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Well, Imagine the Confusion!

A little clarification from the U.S. News & World Report.

"The source of my inaccuracy was this post on Sierra's own website, which to me was unclear about Locke's website's association with the posting.... Sorry to get bogged down in details." --Bonnie Erbe


PESKY, PESKY details. Good thing bloggers love us some details.

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women's best friend

There is no faster way to silence a man than to publicly put into question the genuineness of his respect for women. At some level, the unspoken threat of voice castration makes the men who continue to write personally about women online braver and more vulnerable than the subjects of their words.

The tragedy is that many men opt for silence rather than risk the de-balling. I can't blame them. The treasure is that some of them keep writing anyway.

In comments I was reminded about one treasure who continues writing, whose words touch women in nearly every post. Thanks, Shakespierce.

From Tony Pierce...

....its hard to be intimidated by a waitress chick at dennys in LA, but i noticed that there were two types of girls who id end up asking out more than once. one were the girls who made me feel super cool and handsome.

but unfortunately the ones i ended up liking the most were the ones who made me nervous and made me feel ugly and disgusting. maybe its because i know im pretty damn disgusting.

also, i like being nice, and the girls who made me feel gross usually ended up on the nicer dates. whereas the sweet librarian types usually got their hair pulled harder and far more kinkier things ending up in their mouth and asshole than the other girls.

ive also been known to whisper some pretty foul things in the ears of shocked lass. but theyre always creative. and some are even possible.

the other night i had this girl tied up real good, face down because she was bad, i forget what she had done. oh yes, she had forgotten her plaid skirt. whore. and everything was going fine and she was still tied up and i was all is everything ok over there, and i lit a cigarette for her and she said yea and i put the cigarrette in her mouth because her arms were still tied to the bedpost you see.

and i said what do you wanna do next and she said tony i will do anything with you.

and if that doesnt make you feel like a handsome devil with a footlong cock then youre in deep trouble.

so i blew out the torch and got her worked up and she was a loud one which usually distracts me but ive been working on it. and i was whispering some shit and she was saying yes to everything and moaning and yelling and i whispered im gonna call your sister and let her hear you moan and she said please dont but she moaned it confusing me, which isnt to say i wasnt a bit worked up too, and we had drunken all that straight rum and something was smoked

and i was all, ok does she really not want me to dip into her purse and grab the phone and... or what? and i said im gonna put this phone in a very bad place and then call it with my phone and she said mmmmm and i said then im gonna sell it on ebay and she said mmmmm and i said and im gonna sell the video ive been making of this whole thing and she said mmmmm and i wondered if she heard me so i said and i will sell the dvd of what we just did for an hour and she said mmmmm and i realized that her phone had been on vibrate the whole time

and youd never guess when youre little who you wouldnt call back when youre older.

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giving it a go, diversity, the red button, and anil.

So many women over so many years around these so many parts have endeavored so often and so passionately to describe the problem with diverse voices being excluded from tech events, tech conferences, and the tech economy--heck some would wish we'd shut up altogether--that there is hardly anything left unsaid.

And yet, the same types of people keep spewing the same types of stupid arguments the same way about the same topic (linking to the same one anothers in doing so) to try and shift the blame anywhere other than their own two shoulders -- it makes me want to push the red button on this whole damn social experiment. As if i had a button.

It's crazy making. it really is.

Today the men are talking about it again, and I am pointing it out so that others can go there and talk about it with Anil, whose post is right on in explaining why monoculture is not only NOT a good thing, but why diversity is a business must that will pay off. (In other words, hurry, there's money involved.)

I haven't always agreed with Anil. In fact he's pissed me off several times over these many years. He's also very smart. This is a good post and a good discussion. Thank you Anil for having it.

Writing the Personal, Writing Personally, And Who Are You Online?

Toby's got a cool discussion going on about the ins and outs of sharing the personal on a professionally-geared blog, and vice versa. We're continuing it tomorrow at SoCon.

Questions -- Can you write 'personally' without sharing details from your personal life? Can a professional blog be personal and professional too and still be 'weighty' enough to matter?

What are the risks of integraing or separating your "selve(s)" online. And what about other social spaces--profiles on myspace, orkut, friendster, facebook; professional connections on linkedin, 'personalities' on second life; photos on flickr; videos, podcasts and everything else Media 2.0? Are we becoming more dissociated or more integrated?

How much of you are you willing to share, how personal are you willing to get, and at what cost?

And what about gender -- are women willing to go where guys fear to tread in the personal department? Is it true that male bloggers tend to separate their professional writing from their more personal posts (men who come to mind: mike arrington's "techcrunch" vs "crunchnotes"; stowe boyd's /message vs ambivalence; and scoble's -- oh wait, I guess scoble blogs like a girl).

:-0

eh? eh?

GOOBER ALERT: Jeff Jarvis Outraged Over Moms Ensnared in Advertorial Slavery Ring!!

I've watched the video of Jeff Jarvis explaining his issues with Pay Per Post; I've followed Jarvis' odd blog crusade to save children from their mothers, and the moms from themselves. I know he is one of the loudest voices calling for a halt on PPP's paying bloggers to make advertorials, an advertising mechanism as old as dirt. (Hey Jeff, ever send a mom to Davos in your place?) I've read comments and blog posts by Robyn -- Jarvis' newly-appointed "poor clueless mom of the day" -- and seen the actual video that won her her HP Camera Kit and $1K in cash; I have blogged about PPP before myself; hell, I've even watched Ted Murphy's obnoxious rockstartup videos of PPP's adventures.

All of this has led me to one conclusion: I want a little ticker tape to put at the top of my blog that sends out "GOOBER ALERT!" messages.

I want this ticker tape to work in the same way cable broadcasters use the public broadcasting system warn us of alarming events in our local area by scrolling scary words across the screen, and in the same way the Department of Homeland Security saves us from Terrorism by playing with primary colors.

My "on-topic" opinion is that while Ted Murphy has some annoying qualities, Jeff Jarvis tips the obnoxious scale by a long shot with his continual techmeme-gaming pseudo-rants that serve to boost his own ad revenue. PPP will either stand or fold based on the corrective nature of the Internet, not on anything Jarvis says or doesn't say, no matter how many mothers he claims to be trying to save in the mean time.

PPP, keep paying bloggers to make advertorials as long as they say that's what they're doing. (And just because I agree with the business model doesn't mean you aren't annoying in the truest sense of the word). Robyn, keep making your videos. (Tell your kids to use plastic bats next time.) BTW, I thought you looked great and laughed at your postie patrol blog introduction--LOL if you get my drift. One other thing: I'm not sure what you're doing with SEO and exclamation points, but girlfriend, stop it. You can write and still make the scratch. And finally, to you Mr. Jarvis, one day your righteous-prick shtick is going to wear thin on the wrong people.