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Comment Re:Pot calling kettle black? (Score 1) 227

Like many things, it's an all of the above strategy. People should invest their time, money, and effort in fixing the things they can have the biggest on. For instance, I may support a lot of causes, and within each cause I may support a lot of tactics -- but I invest in the tactics and causes where I can make a difference. If each of us takes that approach, we'll cover all our bases. For me, that means educating the non-technical on IP law, educating fellow WASPs on privilege blindness, and educating employers on how to write job descriptions that don't select for "ninjas" or "gurus" with egos the size of Mars (thereby scaring away most underrepresented people). What's most accessible to you?

Comment Re:I'm glad SOMEBODY finally said this (Score 0) 227

Why is there no media outrage at the low male attendance at fashion colleges? There's a pretty big one around here called FIDM, and all I saw walking around campus were females.

Shouldn't the diversity crusaders be making waves calling for more male enrollment in fashion?

Or should they STFU and accept the fact that males and females tend to like different things, and short of forcing students into majors they don't like, you're never gonna get perfect diversity?

Gender parity is important. But women are the one's who are truly disenfranchised. It's a matter of picking our battles -- if you ask most feminists, they probably see the lack of men at FIDM as an issue, too.

Comment Pot calling kettle black? (Score 4, Insightful) 227

I'm pretty sure research bears out that both education and hiring processes are deeply flawed when it comes to hiring underrepresented people. One issue may be more "root cause" than the other, but they're both important. I'm actually kind of surprised Code.org went on record saying this...

Submission + - Why Hollywood's Best Robot Stories Are About Slavery (popsci.com)

Submitted by malachiorion
malachiorion writes: On the occasion of Almost Human's cancellation (and the box office flopping of Transcendence), I tried to suss out what makes for a great, and timeless Hollywood robot story. The common thread seems to be slavery, or stories that use robots and AI as completely blatant allegories for the discrimination and dehumanization that's allowed slavery to happen, and might again. My analysis for Popular Science, including a defense (up to a point!) of HAL 9000's murder spree.

Submission + - Web cesspit 4chan touts '$20 bug bounty' after hackers ruin Moot's day (theregister.co.uk)

Submitted by mask.of.sanity
mask.of.sanity writes: 4chan's Moot has launched a bug bounty for the site after it was hacked, but is offering a meagre $20 in "self-serve ad spend" for all bugs. The bounty programme was launched after the website and Moot's Amazon accounts were hacked. The intrusion spelled the end for DrawQuest which was closed after Moot decided it was not worth spending money to ensure the unprofitable but popular drawing platform was secure.

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: How Do You Tell A Compelling Story About IT Infrastructure?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Every month we submit status reports to upper management. On the infrastructure side, these reports tend to be "Hey, we met our service level agreements ... again." IT infrastructure is now a lot like the electric company. Nobody thanks the electric company the lights come on but they have plenty of colorful adjectives to describe them when the power is off.

What is the best way to construct a compelling story for upper management so they'll appreciate the hard work that an IT department does. They don't seem particularly impressed with functioning systems because they expect functioning systems. The extensive effort to design and implement reliable systems has also made IT boring and dull. What types of summaries can you provide upper management to help them appreciate IT infrastructure and the money they spend on the services it provides?

Submission + - The Strange Death of Comet Ison

Submitted by KentuckyFC
KentuckyFC writes: Last year, astronomers announced that a small ball of ice and rock heading towards the inner Solar System could turn out to be the most eye-catching comet in living memory. They calculated that Comet Ison's orbit would take it behind the Sun but that it would then head towards Earth where it would put on a spectacular display of heavenly fireworks. Sure enough, Ison brightened dramatically as it headed Sunwards. But as astronomers watched on the evening of 28 November, the brightly flaring Ison moved behind the Sun but never emerged. The comet simply disappeared. Now a new analysis of the death of Ison suggests that the comet was doomed long before it reached the Sun. Images from several Sun-observing spacecraft that had a unique view of events, indicate that Ison exhausted its supply of water and other ice in the final flare-ups as it approached the Sun. The new study shows that all that was left in its last hours were a few hundred thousands pebbles glowing brightly as they vapourised in the Sun's heat. In fact, Comet Ison died in full view of the watching hordes of astronomers on Earth who did not realise what they were watching at the time.

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