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The Great Stink

Laurie Penny has some advice for men in the current cultural moment, and it is good advice. This passage, near the end, caught me right where it was aimed:

>Suck it up and let go. Let go of your resentment at women’s lack of patience, let go of your wounded pride, let go of your useless shame, and let go of the idea of being a “good guy.” “Good” is not a thing you are, it’s a thing you do, or don’t do. The world is not neatly divided into good and bad men. It never was, and we need to let go of the idea that it ever was, so that we can finally be better to one another, finally learn to deal with our shit like grown-ups in this strange new cityscape we’re crawling through together, trying to find our way to the light. That’s the only way we’re going to move from a place of holding abusers to account, into a future where abuse is less likely to happen.

Suck it up and let go.

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Why AeroFS offers parental leave

[10 weeks paid maternity and paternity leave at 100% salary, up to 8 more at 50%. It’s not perfect but it’s a start.][link]

One of the reasons they mention for enacting this policy is to attract more senior-level candidates. I hope more tech companies follow their lead. Good on them.

[link]: https://www.aerofs.com/blog/parental-leave-at-aerofs/ “Why we offer parental leave | AeroFS”

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Jocks .vs. Nerds

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Noisebridge will close down in July UNLESS YOU READ ALL OF THIS EMAIL

[Noisebridge][wiki] is probably the most well-known and completely insane hackerspace in America. Not even the inmates run the asylum, and it is *amazing*. Everyone from vector math geniuses to government spooks hang out there. For free. [Now they need some help.][link]

I gave ’em my $10. [Pledge yourself.][pledge]

[link]: https://www.noisebridge.net/pipermail/noisebridge-discuss/2013-March/035494.html “[Noisebridge-discuss] Panic! Noisebridge will close down in July UNLESS YOU READ ALL OF THIS EMAIL (Part 1 of many)”
[wiki]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noisebridge “Noisebridge on Wikipedia”
[pledge]: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1yRlgvlzjlst3RMI40UQXTgXuZbJxbQyo_Pcb8L5Y-Pk/viewform “Save Noisebridge!”

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“The Next Steve Jobs Will Totally Be A Chick”

[Comedian Louis C.K.][link]:

>The next Steve Jobs will totally be a chick, because girls are No. 2–and No. 2 always wins in America. Apple was a No. 2 company for years, and Apple embodies a lot of what have been defined as feminine traits: an emphasis on intuitive design, intellect, a strong sense of creativity, and that striving to always make the greatest version of something. Traditionally, men are more like Microsoft, where they’ll just make a fake version of what that chick made, then beat the shit out of her and try to intimidate everybody into using their product.

I agree, except she won’t be the next Steve Jobs. She’ll be the first and only whoever she is. via [Daring Fireball][df].

[link]: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/161/louis-ck-on-female-culture “Louis C.K.: The Next Steve Jobs Will Be A Chick | Fast Company”
[df]: http://daringfireball.net “Daring Fireball”

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Some People Can’t Read URLs

[Serving as a follow-up][link] to the “[Facebook login Quandry][boon]”. Also by the same author: [A tutorial level for the internet][tut]. He uses Metroid as an example, so I am bound by law to link to it. (Via [Shawn Medero][shawn])

[link]: http://jonoscript.wordpress.com/2010/02/18/some-people-cant-read-urls/ “Some People Can’t Read URLs « Not The User’s Fault”
[boon]: http://extrafuture.com/2010/02/11/the-facebook-login-quandry/ “The Facebook Login Quandry”
[tut]: http://jonoscript.wordpress.com/2009/12/14/a-tutorial-level-for-the-internet/ “A Tutorial Level For The Internet”
[shawn]: http://shawn.medero.net/2010/03/02/daily-brief-march-2nd-2010-morning-edition/ “Shawn Medero’s Daily Brief, 2 March 2010”

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Steven Frank on New World Computing, the iPad, and Generational Shift

The [newly-Americanized][newly] Steve [knocks it out of the park][link]. There is a big shift happening under the layers we walk on, and most people won’t see it for a few years yet.

[newly]: http://www.panic.com/blog/2010/01/steve-american/ “Steve American”
[link]: http://stevenf.tumblr.com/post/359224392/i-need-to-talk-to-you-about-computers-ive-been “stevenf.com – I need to talk to you about computers. I’ve been…”

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Bruce Sterling’s State of the World 2010

[Sterling is, as always, a funny-but-teriffying doom-prophet][link], but without the thin hope for mankind that Bill had in his heart.

>Okay, you’ve treated your future as an “unpredictable lurching thing…” and now you’re all morose about that… You and your generation CREATED that situation! Ever heard of “disruptive innovation,” “disintermediation,” “offshoring,” “small pieces loosely joined,” “de-monetization,” “plug and play,” “the network as a platform”? Of course you’ve heard of all that crap, because you’ve been tub-thumping it your entire adult life, but what the hell did you think that was all about?

There is much more at [the link][link].

[link]: http://www.well.com/conf/inkwell.vue/topics/373/Bruce-Sterling-State-of-the-Worl-page01.html “The WELL: Bruce Sterling: State of the World 2010”

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Jason Louv: Is 4chan the Future of Human Consciousness?

[He seems to think so][link], and it’s hard to argue with points like this:

>Yet what the media has failed to grasp is what 4chan can tell us about where we’re headed. The Chans aren’t the freak sideshow of the Internet. They are the *heart and soul* of the Internet.

via [Waxy][waxy]

[link]: http://hplusmagazine.com/articles/art-entertainment/lost-filth-simulacrum “Lost in the Filth Simulacrum | h+ Magazine”
[waxy]: http://waxy.org “Waxy.org”

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“We’re whittled down to aggregates, now.”

[Eliza Gauger][link]:

>I can’t get it out of my head, a comment Warren Ellis made months ago about the blog being, effectively, dead. The blog as a medium unto itself, that is. He may have been paraphrasing Bruce Sterling in turn, but I find myself agreeing.

[link]: http://elizagauger.com/gibberings/quote-by-were-whittled-down-to-aggregates-now-aggregating/ “Gibberings – We’re whittled down to aggregates, now.”

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TONIGHT: Dancing Bear Benefit for Lorraine in #Sweatshop

[Eliza Gauger][link]:

>The nose is all wrong, but this graceful creature is nonetheless my
friend Lorraine, who has just suffered a grievous accident in which
she fractured her spine. She is a dancer and a model and is now
bedridden, totally unable to support herself. Tomorrow I will be
running a tipjar marathon in which I paint portraits of her all day,
and collect donations on PayPal for her medical bills.

“Dancing Bear” means Eliza paints as long as people keep money in the tip jar. Seriously, she will paint forever if you keep giving her money. Once it’s going, you’ll be able to [watch/interact on USTREAM][ustream].

Top tippers will get one the paintings themselves, or one of two $50 gift cards to [Clockwork Couture][cc], purveyors of fine Steampunk wearables.

[link]: http://elizagauger.com/gibberings/lorraine-test-sketch-for-tomorrows-dancing-bear-benefit/ “Gibberings – Lorraine test sketch for tomorrow’s Dancing Bear Benefit”
[cc]: http://www.clockworkcouture.com/ “Clockwork Couture”
[ustream]: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sweatshop “ustream #sweatshop”

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Graffiti from Pompeii

[This is, apparently, not a joke][link]. Recall that these must all have been written before AD 79, when Pompeii was [covered by molten rock][rock] from Mt. Vesuvius. It is simply humanity doing what we do. Personal favorites include:

>II.2.3 (Bar of Athictus; right of the door); 8442: I screwed the barmaid

and

> If anyone sits here, let him read this first of all: if anyone wants a screw, he should look for Attice; she costs 4 sestertii.

I could go on, but I’ll leave the rest for you.

[link]: http://www.pompeiana.org/Resources/Ancient/GraffitifromPompeii.htm “Graffiti from Pompeii”
[rock]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii#Vesuvius_eruption “Pompeii on Wikipedia”

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Trust Art

>[Trust Art is a social platform that is commissioning ten public artworks over the next year. People are invited to become shareholders with $1, share with interested friends, and renew culture.][link]

[link]: http://trustart.org/ “Trust Art – Home”

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The Vanderbilt Republic Foundation: “Masters”

[The project to document and celebrate Cambodian artists][link] who survived the brutal Khmer Rouge regime has reached it’s $50,000 goal on Kickstarter. Crazy.

[link]: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/577582283/masters “The Vanderbilt Republic Foundation: “Masters” — Kickstarter”

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Jason Scott: Saving 4Chan

[Jason’s acquired about 5 years worth of expired threads][link] from the internet’s House of Awful Shit and Meme Factory, 4chan. Yes, this is culturally important. Just trust me.

via [Andy Baio][andy].

[link]: http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/2083 “ASCII by Jason Scott / Bump Not Sage: Saving 4Chan”
[andy]: http://waxy.org “Andy Baio”

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The lying down game

[“The sport of lying down in random public places to confuse people.”][link]

[link]: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5989617014 “Facebook | The lying down game”

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comix4sight

[Comics writer John Ostrander][link] has been fighting glaucoma for years, and needs your help.

[link]: http://www.comix4sight.com/ “comix4sight.com”

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IGN/GameSpy Shutting Down Classicgaming Fan Sites

[Woof, this is a big deal][link]. There is a lot of culture and history in these sites.

[link]: http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2009/06/igngamespy_shutting_down_class.php “GameSetWatch – IGN/GameSpy Shutting Down Classicgaming Fan Sites”

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Last Year’s Model

[Their tagline is “Saving the planet through sheer laziness,”][link] but I think “and not having tons of expendable cash” counts, too.

via, as it so often is, [Andy Baio][andy]

[link]: http://lastyearsmodel.org/ “Get Great Gadgets. And Keep Them. – Last Year’s Model”
[andy]: http://waxy.org “Waxy”