Comments on: How much is that linkspam in the window? (13th December, 2009)

By: Mackenzie

Mackenzie — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:00:58 +0000

Hmm that was about a month ago. Didn’t see that, since it’s not on Planet Ubuntu. I tend to forget there are Ubuntu blogs that aren’t on either Planet Ubuntu or UbuntuWeblogs.org. Still, I think it’s important that “non-tech-savvy girlfriend” and not just “girlfriend” was the heading. It acknowledges that there are other sorts of girlfriends.

A friend got “that was sexist!” comments when he mentioned in a blog post that he always says his girlfriend is his perfect usability test-case. Well, he was referring to his last girlfriend…who was indeed not tech-savvy. He asked me what to do, and I told him to edit it saying “non-technical girlfriend” since that’s what he really meant. We both know that if he was dating someone like me (ie “technical”) his usability tester would change rather quickly (though really, I can find plenty of usability WTFs in normal KDE usage, even as a programmer/geek).

By: koipond

koipond — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 06:24:43 +0000

To paraphrase and modify an Eddie Izzard quote.

“What? Two types of geekdom in one head? No one can live at that speed!”

By: Mackenzie

Mackenzie — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 05:29:54 +0000

Some people are geeks about things other than computers. Maybe the assumption is that you might be geeky enough to like scifi, but no way could a girl also be a computer geek. Two types of geek, in one girl? Yeah right!

By: Xyzzy

Xyzzy — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 05:14:29 +0000

Excellent collection of links this time around, especially the PTSD-In-Fiction, which I found fascinating both as a writer and somebody with PTSD.

I wanted to drop the following link off for you here because it’s not really the kind of thing I’d normally bookmark. Note that UbuntuGeek is just posting a long excerpt from a corporate blog’s post, with a link to the full story:

http://www.ubuntugeek.com/is-ubuntu-ready-for-a-non-tech-savvy-girlfriend.html

I’m pointing to UG’s post because IMHO it says something very sad about the Linux community that UbuntuGeek (one of the larger blogs, I believe) offered no commentary whatsoever on how unbelievably wrong the assumptions involved are. I think it would’ve been far more interesting if they’d spent the post itself tackling the issue, since the original wasn’t all that exciting past making my blood boil.

By: Restructure!

Restructure! — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 05:02:12 +0000

Re: Never assume anything about a geek girl: I find it ironic that being stupid with computers is a stereotype of a "geek girl"... it makes absolutely no sense. However, it reminds me of a really annoying blog called Geek Girls Guide, which is actually a blog by geek girls, but the blog's name sounds like it's a blog for geek girls. The guide is for people who are bad with computers. One post is an answer to the question, "What is a web browser?"

By: Mel

Mel — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 18:27:53 +0000

Grr. I used to joke that if I had cable I’d never be able to pry myself from Discovery Channel and Animal Planet. Little did I know that, as a woman, I cannot possibly be interested in anything “exciting, smart, interesting, adventurous, and real” (the DC, real? Ahaha. If only educational TV programs were as accurate as I would like, with my dull, pedantic, accurate, reality-based ladybrain).

I’m really baffled by all these companies who are trying to sell their products to men by saying they’re not for women. Wouldn’t it be better to have a potential pool of customers consisting of 100% of the population and not less than 50%?

By: pfctdayelise

pfctdayelise — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 14:09:20 +0000

It's not really news as such, but I came across this store Mind Candy Clothing which has glittery-lettered women's t-shirts with geek-suitable slogans.