Anonymous is an interesting and problematic group. I often agree with their aims and goals. I have a much more varied reaction to their tactics and methods — their street protests have often been masterpieces of surrealism, and also quite effective at lampooning their targets, but their online intrusions and DDoSes annoy me with their legal […]
Author Archives: Kagan MacTane
How Did I Do This Year?
Saturday, December 29th, 2012 – 5:18 pm
At the end of last year, I published a blog entry called “A Failed Goal“, in which I talked about how much of my writing had dealt with gender issues, and how I wanted to increase that percentage. The year’s rolled around, and now it’s time to take stock again. Last year, I ran 2 gender-tagged […]
The Place Where Flow Goes to Die
Monday, December 10th, 2012 – 9:58 pm
My employer has multiple offices in different places, so people who I’ve worked “with” for months can still be newcomers to my physical work environment. A visiting co-worker recently said, “From your Twitter feed, I assumed this office would be, like, the loudest place ever.” Am I really that sensitive? I started wondering. I started keeping […]
Why Are We Abandoning Menus?
Sunday, November 25th, 2012 – 2:46 pm
A while back, Ubuntu’s Mark Shuttleworth posted a blog article called “Introducing the HUD. Say hello to the future of the menu.” Shuttleworth mentions how a menu is “the M in WIMP and has been there, essentially unchanged, for 30 years.” The clear implication, of course, is that the time for a change has come — […]
“That’s So… TwenCen”
Saturday, October 27th, 2012 – 4:23 pm
A couple of weeks ago, on my way to work, my attention was caught by the SF Examiner‘s headline, about a local political scandal. It seemed like something out of The Front Page. Alternative weeklies still seem to have a place (though I can’t put my finger on why), but I suddenly looked at the institution […]
Let’s Hear it for Ms. Mayer
Tuesday, October 16th, 2012 – 7:19 am
One of the biggest names in science, tech, engineering and mathematics (STEM). One of the biggest names in modern American business. One of the biggest newsmakers of the year — Forbes magazine said: “Her move to the top spot at Yahoo was one of the most hyped appointments of 2012.” Marissa Mayer is breaking all kinds of […]
“Fast” Is the Enemy of “Good” — And “Accurate”, and “Deep”, And…
Sunday, August 26th, 2012 – 9:24 pm
Wanna see a perfect encapsulation of what’s wrong with journalism, and particularly online journalism, these days? Just take a look at this piece by TechCrunch’s Ryan Lawler. Pay particular attention to the parts where he says: I would be following someone else’s story half a day later, and no one wants to do that. I wrote […]
Portable Computing UI Redux: Editing Photos While Walking Downtown
Saturday, April 21st, 2012 – 11:50 am
One thing Instagram’s done for me (or to me): It’s made me much more prone to editing images on my phone. Which means I now have more data on the real-world equivalent of Charles Stross’ speculative incident in the beginning of Accelerando: [Manfred is] standing in the plaza in front of the Centraal Station with […]
Is It Getting Better? Or Do You Feel the Same?
Monday, April 9th, 2012 – 8:23 pm
I don’t normally want to “harp on” gender issues in tech by doing two posts about them in a row, but I’ve gotta write about this while the news is still kind of current. In my last post, I wrote about the Geeklist fail and the Sqoot/Boston API Jam fail. At the end of my […]
What to Do When the Tech Failboat Sails
Wednesday, March 28th, 2012 – 7:51 pm
The tech world is no stranger to occasional outbreaks of Sexism!Fail, but the past two weeks have seen a rare double instance of it. Naturally, I’ve got to speak up. By the way, for anyone who missed the events, here are a pair of quick recaps: Boston API Jam’s Marketing Problem Oh Hai Sexism And now, […]