Posts by Elisa

Blokey atmos drives women away from sci/tech

Where the Boys Are

Workshop or home-Ec? That's how I got into engineering in the first place. Taking Workshop in high school. And got major harassment from most of the boys. But I was GOOD at it, and my teacher noticed. And while 30 years later the professional environment is much less hostile, in a semi-professional situation, the boys still prefer to show off their dicks while the men are busy chatting up the boffinesses.

I've enjoyed engineering but as a female it takes a tough skin and a tougher mind.

As for the acoutrements of technical work -- it's remarkable how many of may male co-workers shy away from my five-foot slide rule. I guess it's biggest one in the building!

World leaders meet to tackle global warming

Luddites?

I've been watching the GW commentary in the The Register for a while. For an audience of so-called technologists and problem solvers, why all the moaning?

It seems to me that GW, real or imagined, means lots of interesting work for those that want it.

As for the cost? Our governments flush lots of money on things with little or no return. At least the money spent on GW has potential for a return. Any technologies developed to address GW issues would have market value regardless of the GW status.

Maddy: TV torture for the ADD generation

Not New

Not even the 24-hour coverage of limited information. Floyd Collins, a spelunker, got trapped in a cave in Kentucky, US, back in 1925. It was a 24-hour news event then. Evidently a reporter actually visited him in the cave and interviewed and fed him but could not free him. Here's a link http://www.bluegrassgrotto.org/floyd-c.html

I'm sure at that time plenty of miners were trapped in caves with no hope of rescue, with no where near the publicity, similar to how many children disappear but Madeliene gets the attention.

I think stories of this nature become large when circumstances align.

--- The victim(s) are attractive and sympathetic -- easy to identify with

--- The central characters are flawed and complex -- ambitious, selfish, or poor judgement

--- The public is personally uneasy -- uncertain economic times, war, or crime

When I see a story take on a life of it's own, I've come to wonder what's really bothering people. Are they worried about their jobs? Do they think their government has lost its mind? Are they worried about their kids' future (more than normal)? I also wonder about the possible institutional motives for distracting the public.

On the whole I don't blame the press. They're doing their jobs -- informing and entertaining for profit. It's the public that rewards the press.

And I don't really blame the institutions (gov, biz, church, etc) for avoiding scrutiny by capitalizing on a distraction.

And while it seems there's nobody left to blame but the public, maybe they *should* direct all that irrational uncertainty toward a sensational story so it doesn't get channeled into policy. (a la Patriot Act and Iraq War)

I might rather more substantive news had priority but if the majority/vocal minority is so willing to be sucked in, maybe we ought to be thankful and wait for everybody to calm down.

Elisa

Apple slashes iPhone prices

Price Drops Happen All The Time

With IT it's just part of the environment.

The real insult is announcing the 30% decrease at a big press conference.

No matter what the business, part of staying in business is keeping your customers sold. Apple would have done better to keep their mouths shut and discreetly lower prices as is generally done by the IT industry.

Top judge: put everyone in UK on the DNA database

What about equality under the law?

It looks like there are a lot of raw British nerves these days regarding efforts to keep the citizens "safe". Most of the comments seem to be reacting to the heavy handed, overreaching actions of the government. In the US we have our own overreaching, heavy-handed government and I agree that it needs to be challenged.

But I also think the judge's remarks are consistent with an EQUAL and JUST society. If the law-enforcement tool of a DNA DB is going to used then then the criterion for how it is populated should be consistent with an equal society. Right now it's populated with both convicted persons and those persons who have had the unhappy circumstance of attracting police attention but have not committed a crime. By virtue of being in the DB, the unconvicted people are lumped into a single group (possible future criminals) and are treated differently than the unconvicted people who managed to escape police attention.

If the government is not willing to give up any data, the only way to equalize the situation is to collect ALL data, thereby diluting the stigma of being in the DB. When everybody is a potential suspect, nobody stands out. With a few well-publicized wrongful arrests the DB won't be such a panacea.

Personally, I find the concept of the DNA DB disturbing for a number of reasons, many of which have already been discussed here. But the current method for populating it has a capricious aspect to it that is also disturbing. The threshold for attracting police attention is getting lower with every "threat" which means the DB holds more non-criminals every day.

I think the judge is right to present this argument to the public. It's well past time data collection critera are publicized and questioned. I hope every one of you will write a letter to your elected representatives, whatever your opinion.