February 2012
Men who explain things →
Classic article by Rebecca Solnit on the societal construct when men explain things to women. Worth a re-read if you’ve read it before; a must-read if you haven’t.
Most women fight wars on two fronts, one for whatever the putative topic is and one simply for the right to speak, to have ideas, to be acknowledged to be in possession of facts and truths, to have value, to be a human being. Things...
On getting people to the point of finally...
Daniel Nye Griffiths wrote a good post. And then, in a comment to it, The Girl wrote something (even more) powerful:
Frankly, having thought a fair amount about this topic too, I don’t think it can be skipped. One of the more damaging aspects of the way that our society sets men as the ‘norm’ is that (as well as female experiences / women in general being devalued) when women...
January 2012
1 tag
As [status=STEALTH] draws to a close…
…I am starting to sweat something really important.
Something really important. Something that will determine the face, the identify of the years to come in my life.
I need to name my startup.
Oh, sure, I’ve had names. Working titles. Titles that stuck because they were kind of great. Titles that stuck but weren’t particularly fitting in line with what I’m up to.
But now...
Fun Size Bytes: Apple responds to factory worker... →
tj:
Actually it’s a much longer list than you could fit on Twitter. According to Wikipedia, here’s a list of all of [Foxconn’s] customers. I’ve crossed out the ones which have addressed the situation:
Acer Inc. (Taiwan)
Amazon.com (United States)
Apple Inc. (United States)
ASRock (Taiwan)
Asus (Taiwan)
Barnes & Noble (United States)
Cisco (United States)
Dell (United States)
EVGA...
3 tags
“Gamers get hella uncomfortable over male sexuality too. Can you imagine a...”
– SomethingAwful forum poster “Frest” in a surprisingly excellent discussion thread on sexism in games.
2011 In Review: Startups, Modernizr and Equality →
2011 has come and gone; parts of the world are already tiredly and tirelessly living in 2012, whilst some, like myself, are wrapping up the day in preparation of tonight’s festivities. 2011 has been…
December 2011
Gamification Fatigue →
In his recent piece entitled “Gamification sucks”, Brent Simmons attempts to break down why “gamification” makes for bad software. He arrives at more or less the right conclusion, but not as a…
The View from Nowhere →
Jay Rosen:
American journalism is dumber than most journalists, who often share my sense of absurdity about these practices. A major reason we have a practice less intelligent than its…
“It looks like a human was involved in choosing what went where,” Marissa told...”
– Marissa Mayer addressing Google designers, as quoted in “In The Plex” by Steven Levy (via buzz)
——
This explains so much.
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So today I wrote a thing… →
It took me most of the entire day, in inner rewriting and finding the right tone and voice for everything.
I think it was worthwhile though.
False Equivalence →
Excellent comic by David Willis on the sexual objectification of female comic book characters. Short URL: http://farukat.es/p630
Questions for the Republican Candidates →
Anil Dash’s list of questions to ask Republican Candidates is nothing but stellar. E.g.:
What Sharia laws do you support other than criminalizing homosexuality, shaming assault victims &…
On Hating Gay People →
Rob Delaney:
So far, the greatest quote I’ve heard in my 34 years is this: “Hatred never ceases by hatred in this world. By love alone it ceases; this is eternal law.” Gotama the Buddha said that…
1 tag
The Threat Against the Web →
Last week, Marco Arment wrote a small piece about Firefox’s uncertain future, a result of Google ostensibly reconsidering their partnership terms that provide roughly 84% of Mozilla’s income; then…
‘No Crazy Chicks’: Eight Red Flags I Learned from... →
Jill Filipovice for GOOD magazine:
In my two years on OkCupid, I’ve gone on a handful of dates and been treated to hundreds more hilarious, offensive and often bizarre messages. I’ve noticed the…
The $7 Trillion Secret Loan Program →
Former N.Y. Governer Eliot Spitzer:
If ever there was an event to justify the darkest, most conspiratorial view held by many that the alliance of big money on Wall Street and big government…
On Girls/Boys Novelty Kits →
Edmund Scientifics, after receiving negative feedback over the gendered nature of certain products:
Our original intent was not to project gender bias, but to organize our product selection in a…
2 tags
“A court in France has ordered a man to pay €10,000 ($13,500) in damages to his...”
– Husband ordered to pay wife for lack of sex
Withholding sex from your spouse can lead to financial ruin.
(via thunderdolt)
But honey, which came first? The financial ruin or the withholding of sex? (Trick question because nobody is coming, ever!)
——— Faruk: ———
Interesting role reversal; in...
November 2011
“Possibly the Most Beautiful Ad for Marriage... →
Powerful. Short URL: http://farukat.es/p620
Micro-payments And The Web →
Regular readers of this blog will know that I regularly write about the “web vs. native apps” debate, in which my position is that the Web needs a better micro-payments ecosystem to be as…
Combating Stereotype Threat in the Wild →
A 2007 report regarding Stereotype Threat: the effect where demographics that have a stereotype about them will perform worse simply by being reminded of it. Though dated, the report is just as…
The #MenCallMeThings Round-Up →
Sady Doyle:
What matters is not which guys said it: What matters is that, when you put their statements side-by-side, they all sound like the exact same guy. And when you look at what they’re…
On the difference between Good Dogs and Dogs That... →
Sindelókë:
Having privilege isn’t something you can usually change, but that’s okay, because it’s not something you should be ashamed of, or feel bad about. Being told you have privilege, or that…
Four Ways Men Stunt Women's Careers... →
Perfect correction to a highly flawed Harvard Business Review article. Short URL: http://farukat.es/p615
October 2011
Invest in us. →
One of the ideal times to start a company is when you’ve come up with an idea for a product that has the potential to really scratch an itch that people have in both work and play; an itch that some…
Invest in us. →
One of the ideal times to start a company is when you’ve come up with an idea for a product that has the potential to really scratch an itch that people have in both work and play; an itch that some have today, but that you know many more people will have in the years to come.
I believe I have a great product in the making just like that.
Yours truly is embarking on a new adventure.
The left was ready for a black President. The...
kontroversydotorg:
The more I think about how things have developed, the more I suspect that Hillary Clinton would’ve been a better outcome for the U.S. than Obama was.
Don’t get me wrong: I disagreed then with a number of Clinton’s policies & plans that she had in the election year, and I still disagree with them now. But she was hardly all bad, like McCain was. Conversely, I disagreed...
luxuryluke:
Wait… don’t important people pass in threes?
No, that’s celebrities.
Celebrities are not necessarily important.
1 tag
The Tumblr tag “knee high socks” is my kryptonite. →
I’m so lucky my girlfriend likes knee high socks as much as I do.
4 tags
Steve Jobs, 1955–2011 →
Thank you, Steve. Short URL: http://farukat.es/p611
September 2011
Yours Truly on The Big Web Show →
It’s been a long time coming, and after umpteen attempts to make it happen today was finally the day: I was a guest on the Big Web Show with Dan Benjamin and Jeffrey Zeldman, talking about Modernizr…
August 2011
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So I Played With a Chromebook →
The other morning I had some time to kill at SFO, waiting for my flight to start boarding, and I decided to seek out the Google Chromebooks that were on display at Terminal 2. I’d been meaning to…