In defense of the sanctimonious women's studies set || First feminist blog on the internet

Tag: Technology

Facebook for the Rich; MySpace for the Poor?

Earlier research showed that the social networking choice between Facebook, MySpace and Xanga was based on the users’ race, ethnicity, and education, with Latino students trending toward MySpace, white students trending toward Facebook, and Asian and Asian-American students trending towards Xanga. Interestingly, there were no discernable social networking trends for black students.

In the meantime, Danah Boyd discovered that white teenagers believe some social networking sites like MySpace are “ghetto” (their words), while others are “more cultured” (again, their words), which dictated why one SNS gets used more often than the next. Boyd explains,

It wasn’t just anyone who left MySpace to go to Facebook. In fact, if we want to get to the crux of what unfolded, we might as well face an uncomfortable reality… What happened was modern day “white flight.” Whites were more likely to leave or choose Facebook. The educated were more likely to leave or choose Facebook. Those from wealthier backgrounds were more likely to leave or choose Facebook. Those from the suburbs were more likely to leave or choose Facebook. Those who deserted MySpace did so by “choice” but their decision to do so was wrapped up in their connections to others, in their belief that a more peaceful, quiet, less-public space would be more idyllic.

Now a new consumer behavior analysis firm has completed additional research confirming that digital migration is taking place on SNS primarily along class lines.

Call me naive, but I always assumed the rise of Facebook usage, at least among my friends, had more to do with usability than any other function. MySpace was created as a band promotion site, not for individuals, whereas Facebook was created for individuals to connect. And to date, MySpace seems more design and tech clunky than Facebook does — that is, if I ignore all your invitations asking me to join your farm/restaurant/mafia ring. Nevertheless, the evidence appears to be stacking up in a way that reveals a new kind of digital divide, one in which social groups are choosing not to connect with or communicate with one another.

Thoughts?

What the DOE doesn’t want you reading

As I mentioned in my introductory post, I will be a senior at a public high school in NYC this fall. (As much as I’d like to forget all about school during these fleeting summer months, it still seems to be on my mind.) As far as public schools go, mine is pretty well furnished. We have a dedicated Parents’ Association that puts on impressive fundraisers, and most of our students come from families privileged enough to donate — though because of massive budget cuts (even worse than last year’s), all of the nifty electives our teachers planned for are simply not happening next year.

So we’re relatively well off, and that means we have quite a few computers: one in each classroom, mostly for teacher use; a few in our small school library; and around forty in a lab that’s available for us students to use during our free periods and afterschool.

The problem is that when you’re using a computer at school, finding what you’re looking for on the internet can be quite a task. You see, the New York City Department of Education uses Websense, a service that “provide[s] hundreds of organizations around the world with the latest security warnings on malicious Internet events including spyware, phishing, spam, crimeware and compromised Web sites.” In our case, the so-called “malicious” and “compromised” sites are identified by categories; if the program picks up on one of its trigger categories, the entire website will be blocked.

So what does the DOE consider “malicious” enough to block?

The category “personal networking” is blocked. This is ostensibly to stop students from logging on to Facebook, though I’m of the opinion that a little downtime on Facebook would make kids more relaxed and productive overall — but this also means that I can’t read Shapely Prose and some other blogs while at school.

The category “pro-choice” is blocked. This means that not only am I unable to use NARAL Pro-Choice New York’s Book of Choices to find a clinic where I can pick up free emergency contraception, I’m also unable to do research on abortion laws for an assigned project.

The categories “sexuality” and “homosexuality” are blocked. This means that not only am I unable to look up counseling resources from the Anti-Violence Project to use in a Gay-Straight Alliance club meeting, I’m also unable to find HIV/AIDS infection statistics in preparation for my school’s AIDS Action Day.

These are just a few categories that have given me trouble recently. I’m sure there’s a wealth of even-more-taboo keywords that are also blocked. Obviously there’s quite a lot of unbiased information that the DOE doesn’t want students worrying our silly little heads about.

Cross-posted at Women’s Glib.

I’m glad I have a Mac.

Dell makes a new computer — the “Della” — for us lady-folk. And it doesn’t just do boy-stuff like let you create documents and surf the internet and play games; it does girl-stuff, too, like helping you count calories and plan recipes!

According to the site the Della can change a woman’s life “Once you get beyond how cute they are, you’ll find that netbooks can do a lot more than check your e-mail.” Yes you can “find recipes online” and you can use them to”to track calories, carbs and protein with ease, watch online fitness videos, map your running routes and more.”

And they’re pastel-colored! Yay!

Thanks to Ryan for the link.

Breaking: Obama Overturns Ban on Stem Cell Research

I just watched it live on CNN.com!  Whoa!

The executive order is a reversal of an executive order issued by President Bush in 2001:

Because stem cells have the potential to turn into any organ or tissue cell in the body, research advocates say they could yield cures to debilitating conditions such as diabetes, Parkinson’s disease and spinal injuries. But because work on embryonic stem cells involves the destruction of human embryos, many conservatives supported the limits Bush imposed by executive order in 2001.

Dr. Harold Varmus, president of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and co-chairman of Obama’s science advisory council, said Sunday that Obama will “endorse the notion that public policy must be guided by sound, scientific advice.”

Obama’s order will direct the National Institutes of Health to develop revised guidelines on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research within 120 days, said Varmus, who joined Barnes in the conference call with reporters.

“The president is, in effect, allowing federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research to the extent that it’s permitted by law — that is, work with stem cells themselves, not the derivation of stem cells,” he said.

Obama also said that he hopes Congress will continue to support stem-cell research legislatively.  All of this is incredibly excellent news, and I cannot possibly express how very happy I am about the development.  It looks like we may in fact be moving towards a real “culture of life,” which values the lives of actual people.  Go President Obama!

h/t HollyOrd’s twitter

There’s a Reason I Don’t Like Having My Picture Taken

And the primary one is that once it’s out there, anyone can do anything to it.

One day, you’re exchanging promise rings, and the next thing you know, you’re prosecuting your ex-fiancé for putting photos of your boobs on MySpace. The perils of modern love! Richard Morgan delves deep into what he terms “Revenge Porn,” i.e., when men distribute pornographic images of their exes without consent, on Details.com, and it ain’t pretty. The most insidious form of revenge porn includes the woman’s name, phone number, and address along with the naughty video for ultimate public humiliation. The worst part of the whole thing? Revenge porn is notoriously hard to prosecute.

Eight or nine years ago, the asshole I was seeing did this to me.

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Lady Yahoo!

I don’t even want to do a full post on the new Lady Yahoo! site Shine — specially vamped to sell lady products via lady advertising — so I’ll just compile some of the headlines.

Whose Design Is It Anyway?
Does the man in your house have a say in the decorating, or is he just there to move the furniture?

That one alone made me choke a little, but then there’s this:

6 things that scare your man
Is a good husband the secret to a working mom’s success?
How old should a girl be before she should wear earrings?

Then my personal favorite:

Would you respect a stay-at-home wife?

The Onion already covered this, Lady Yahoo!. Marie Claire called, and they want their schtick back.

Space: The Funnest Frontier!

So, hey, Phoenix Mars Lander, anyone? Awesome, right? It landed on Mars! Well, I think it’s awesome.

For those of you who don’t spend your typical Saturday night watching NASA TV, the lander is on one of Mars’ polar regions, looking for ice. And by gum, it found some, my friends:

This picture is too big to embed!

Scientists know the white stuff is ice and not minerals because it sublimated upon contact with the atmosphere. WICKED COOL. Right now, the lander is taking soil samples to analyze under its microscope. I’m infatuated with the process: after the lander takes a sample, it shakes it into its ovens, cooks it up, and then uses it to make science. TOTALLY ACES.

But, okay, it’s not like there are women in the soil samples – unless we’re talking about microscopic proto-women, which I can assure you we are not – so why am I posting this on a feminist website?

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Boy Scrubbing for Fun and Profit?

Boy Being Scrubbed
That’s right, I said scrubbing. Scrubbing sweat off of underage boys in a locker room. It’s central part of a new game for the Nintendo DS called Duel Love, in which you play a female transfer student who ends up as the personal trainer for a secret “Fight Club” at her new high school. That’s right, the companies that brought you Pac-Man, Tekken, Power Rangers, Tamagotchi and many more now bring you… scrubbing down sweaty boys and giving them massages!

Romance comics for girls, often featuring delicate, beautiful boys who fall in love with the plucky or cipher-like heroine — or, just as often, fall in love with each other — are nothing new in Japan. It used to be that you could pretend this was just another Or in the United States; check the Manga section of your local Barnes & Noble. Dating games based in similar scenarios (often called otome, the Japanese word for maiden) are nothing new either, but they’re getting to be bigger and bigger-budget projects. And utilizing new technology as well… as you can see in the trailer below, you have to actually scrub back and forth with the Nintendo DS styles, and here’s a picture instructing the player to blow into the microphone to clear away the steamed-up shower stalls. Why, whatever on earth for?

Shower Stall Steam

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