If you’re a software company developing programming languages and you have ads in airports, I am suspicious of you.

↪ Apr 30, 2013#programming#quote4 notes

Idiots, the Whole Lot of ’Em

I’d like to talk about how idiotic this is. Ignore the trademark symbol for now. I’ll come back to that.

TSA PreCheck

How the fuck do I type this shit? I’m assuming (correctly, as it happens) that the check symbol is U+2713 CHECK MARK (✓). But it could just have easily been the visually similar U+2714 HEAVY CHECK MARK (✔) or U+221A SQUARE ROOT (√). (I’ll stop here before devolving into the madness of BALLOT BOX WITH CHECK or NOT CHECK MARK or WHITE HEAVY CHECK MARK.)

Programming Languages as Fashion Labels

Left to right, top to Bottom: C is simple and elegant, like a classic Chanel suit; C++ is more evocative of the tacky and overwrought Versace; Java is the stodgy, conservative Hermés; Ruby is modern and sophisticated, like a meticulously crafted Issey Miyake piece; Python resembles the innovative and expressive style of Dries Van Noten; Io’s reductionist philosphy parallels Jil Sander’s ascetic minimalism; with JavaScript, as with Walter Van Beirendonk, I don’t even know where to begin.

Hat tip to @zackwurst for planting the seed of this analogy.

↪ Mar 29, 2013#programming#fashion#humor9 notes

Crude, Sexist, and Televised

I still don’t know what to say about last night’s Oscars show that the critics haven’t already pointed out. (Amy Davidson puts things much more eloquently than I could in this New Yorker column.)

The few moments of good fun hardly made up for MacFarlane’s crude humor. It’s easy to focus the lens of criticism on the show’s host, but we must remember that his behavior was a reflection of our culture at large. We were watching ourselves on that stage, and it’s heartening to know that some of us were mortified by what we saw.

What continues to strike me is that Michelle Obama had three and a half hours to refuse to support of such overt sexism, and yet she chose not only to present the award for Best Picture as planned, but also to remain silent regarding the evening’s mean-spirited tone. Her implicit approval of MacFarlane’s antics undermines the promise our President made in both his Inaugural Address and the State of the Union to promote women’s equality. I’m disappointed to say the least.

We have a lot of work to do if we want to promote greater equality in our culture. I see people pointing out shortcomings in my own corner of industry almost every day. I hope we can direct some of the outrage back towards ourselves and do what we can individually to put an end to a disgusting trend.

↪ Feb 25, 20131 note