Slashdot Mirror
Going Pink For October
Matthew Oliphant is inviting anyone and everyone to turn their Web sites pink during October, which is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. Nearly 150 sites have done so as of this writing. And by the way, guys can get breast cancer too.
Imagine a month filled with pink fluffy ponies. Bring it on.
Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
A good reason to revert to OMG Ponies!
There is nothing so silly as other peoples traditions, and nothing so sacred as our own.
I redid mine last month ... but went with Brown. Oops. Who could've expected that pink would make a comeback? Ah well. Maybe I could put a ribbon-image on it instead ...
What color do I make my website for prostate cancer?
IT's funny how Slashdot will post the story, but not do the deed...
makes ya think...
First post?
OMG, Cancer!!!
//WR
So what's the #xxxxxx code for pink or do we just use 'pink' ( which is kinda dark ).
What else can we do?
BTW: guys, get your selves checked for prostate cancer!
Only 'flamers' flame!
Does slashdot hate my posts?
You can go pink, but don't be surprised if someone thinks it's for National Coming Out Day. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Coming_Out_D ay/
I'm all sypathetic for cancer sufferers of course, but I have to say I'm personally much more interested in non-cancerous mammaries. I vote we have a National Breast Awareness month (without the cancer) next month. Dunno what color we should turn our websites for that though, I would've said pink, but apparently it's been taken :).
Oh no... it's the future.
We should stop celebrating breast cancer awareness and start celebrating breast awareness. Millions of lives are tragically affected by unawareness of the full size and scope of these breasts. Failure to screen breasts early and often can lead to a rapid deterioration of sexy roles and a premature end to one's film career. Regular examination of breasts needs to be an important part of people's lives.
Don't forget to turn your websites black and white. Oh, you did already.
For the ultimate in both Breast Cancer awareness and just plain old awareness of breasts, be sure to visit this Fifth Annual Boobiethon (http://boobiethon.com/) - women baring their breasts for cancer awareness... not to be missed! You can say you helped out the fight against cancer when you donate to see all the wonderful boobies! :)
"The Hunt for Pink October"
A guy where I worked five years ago got breast cancer. He'd had some other cancer as well. Yes, men can get breast cancer, it's just quite rare.
...the future crusty old bastards are already drinking the Kool-Aid.
Men have breasts, they just don't develope in the same way. Women's breasts contain fat basicly, where as guys don't contain the same amount other wise we're identical. Men can even produce milk is correctly stimulated..
I like muppets.
I'm all for Breast Cancer Awareness, don't get me wrong, but how about we promote prevention instead of detection once in a while?
"Awareness" is organized complacency.
If you want to fight breast cancer, then do it in a laboratory or hospital setting - someplace where caring actually matters. (...and stick your "pink-website" concept back up your ass where it came from...)
I suggest you read Slashdot
Is there any woman still out there not aware that sometimes her boobs can develop lumps that will kill her? If such an utterly clueless person exists, is turning websites pink really the best way to communicate with her?
It's not like this is a contest. With cancer research, everybody wins.
I am not a number - I am a free man!
My first thought on reading the title was that there was some sort of marketing campaign starting for The Pink Panther series of movies.
Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
Netvibes' new Cinnamon release has a pink theme that looks pretty good.
Slashdot Classic
I lost a dear friend to breast cancer in 1998 but I think it's screwy to focus so much on it. Look at this PDF table from the National Cancer Institute. It shows that estimated deaths from digestive system cancers (136,180) will be more than triple the number of deaths from breast cancer (41,430) this year. Both figures are for both male and female deaths. Even when you look at just female deaths, digestive system cancers will kill half again as many women as breast cancer will (60,970 vs. 40,970).
Another example of misplaced public health priorities due to the publicity machine.
Insert witty sig here.
Maybe after October, we can have a bake-sale for the deficit!
Nothing disturbs me more about "charities" than the promotion of one disease over another.
Besides breast cancer, we all hear about AIDS constantly, and calls for donations. Yet, AIDS research already recieves a disproportionally large ammount of money, if you look at the number of people who die from it, and the ammount spent on other serious diseases.
Are there any organizations that you can donate to, that just tackle critical diseases at large, rather than having tunnel-vision on one single issue?
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
Men die younger, they have Prostate cancer to worry about, higher suicide rates, reckless activities, higher incidence of autism and are more likely to die in wars. After aout 70 years old, women outnumber men by so much it is not funny.
It is time to start taking care of men!!!
, because it usually isn't detected or diagnosed until it hits an advanced stage.
http://www.johnwnickfoundation.org/index.html
Remember "News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters"? Help make it a reality again! http://soylentnews.org
Jeanne Sather, a breast cancer survivor, at Assertive Cancer Patient says "Gag me with a pink ribbon: Where pink marketing really runs wild is in the for-profit sector. Retailers offer pink-themed merchandise, then donate only a tiny share of the profits to cancer research. I'm tripping over these products everywhere I go this month. At the pet store, a pink dog collar printed with pink ribbons sells for $9.99; the tag says 30 cents (30 cents!) from the sale of this product will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, the 800-pound gorilla of cause marketing." and more.
I'm a guy who three years ago had a lump-ectomy. (Mammograms are NOT fun, y'all. The girls can KEEP 'em!) Fortunately, it was benign.
That said, "pink sites" is a dumb idea. Or sites of any OTHER color to support a cause. Still, I support freedom of speech and all that. Anyone who wants their site pink because of breast cancer or panther fetishes or whatever, well, more power to 'em.
I still think it's stupid.
signat-url: http://www2.potsdam.edu/dctm/prescor/signat-url.h
http://www.johnnowak.com/
Exactly what the comment says - will slashdot turn pink for a great cause?
I noticed this last week while walking home from work, passing the Opera House (Sydney) down to the park it was illumiated in completely pink. It looks really cool.
::
This effort is global, cities around the world are getting involved in the cause.
I'm suprised nobody else has seen this, maybe most stay in underground server rooms not to notice?
http://www.globalillumination.org.au/
For Australia, "Porches in Pink will begin a day after the Global Illumination on Sunrise, with Australian porches remaining pink for the duration of October to show Australians' support for breast cancer research."
http://www.porchesinpink.org/
....Temporarily pretend you give a shit about something month/week/day.
God Be Gone
more women die of lung cancer than breast cancer? Isn't the goal to save lives? Most people already know what the pink ribbon means. Let's start reminding them about a worse killer.
"All the darkness in the world can not quench the light of one small candle."
I never knew guys could get breast cancer until a few years ago when I met someone who not only had it but had hasd a masectome (sp?). One nipple was kind of weird when he had his shirt off and yeah he had some scarring. He got lucky in that it was caught early enough that they were able to get it all.
Want unfair? Testicular cancer. I'll never forget being told about that in school during the last bit of senior year. They seperated out the boys and girls and then told each group about it. We guys were told that the rate of incidence was as high for men as breast cancer was for women and OBTW we had been susceptible for it for a year or two but the school district wouldn't allow them to teach us about it till we were nearing graduation. One guy actually turned GREEN and passed out. Never seen someone actually turn green but this guy sure did. The doctor will check you for this and mine always seems amazed that I'm actually aware of it as few men apparently are and he was even more amazed the school had actually told us something about it...
Build it, Drive it, Improve it! Hybridz.org
I've been making a spreadsheet to track all the various causes, charities, awarenesses, and other various things I have to observe in my life. Breast Cancer gets its turn then.
I'm fairly confident that everyone is aware of breast cancer. We certainly get it thrust in our faces enough. They're basically saying that people in general, and women in particular, are essentially stupid and ignorant and have to be reminded all the time of things they need to take care of like regular breast exams. If this is indeed an issue, they should look at the real reasons why people aren't getting regular breast exams (costs, lack of insurance, etc.) instead of just blindly assuming that people are stupid.
It's a very dark ride.
And by the way, guys can get breast cancer too
Yup, just like Ryan O'Reily
You just got troll'd!
Early detection wouldn't even be a problem if women weren't so damned sensitive about strangers groping their breasts. Every time I try to diagnose a girl at the local bar I get smacked and treated like a pervert.
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
Actually, men can not only get breast cancer, but they can also produce milk. Google for "witch's milk" for some descriptions of this in newborns. This happens in around 5% of newborns of both sexes, and normally stops within a week or two. But most of us no longer believe that it's caused by witches. It's now usually attributed to the mother's hormones that cross the placenta and affect the almost-born fetus.
Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
I can't believe this. A bunch of serious replies and a mod troll. Say it after me people:
HUMOUR
Have all the breast cancer awareness you want. Add prostate cancer to the mix too, raise all the money you like, but I am not fucking changing the colour scheme of my web site to something horrid that makes it unreadable so I can be politically correct.
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
This is a great idea so I've gone pink too.
Bradford L.
http://www.modemhelp.net
Well, posting on Slashdot has very little to do with being "manly" in the traditional sense. Quite the opposite, which is probably why we see nonsensical posts of rage through the veil of anonymity. *grin*
I'm currently undergoing radiation therapy for testicular cancer, and while it's certainly not a barrel of laughs, I can tell you that it responds very well to treatment and has a >90% cure rate. I'm very fortunate because mine was caught early and hadn't spread, so all I needed was basic surgery and a pediatric dose of radiation to be on the safe side. But none of this means anything if you aren't doing self-exams or you don't get treated if you find something. Left untreated, testicular cancer spreads to your brain, and that's no joke.
wasn't feb or mar or april Breast Cancer Awareness month?
... i've already lost my mom to breast cancer in my teens. i do contribute to medical distributed computing (mainly for showing off my ePenis on stats pages) but i guess i'm just too bitter to "contribute" or hang a ribbon around :P
call me bitter, but i don't support any of those "causes"
HUMOUR
...is subjective. It's best to remember that around here. Don't worry, the rest of us thought it was funny. Erm, what was the joke again? *grin*
I wonder what the creative artists at gOOgle could come up with for their logo for October....
I'd rather have someone respond than be modded up.
Great post.
It's all true, but it's very hard to get people "excited" about (or create a trend of support around) something that happens daily or that people REALLY take for granted.
Registered Linux user #421033
While I definately want to keep breasts where they belong, it occurs to me this is an opportunity for wee geeks to show how insensitive we can be.
A common joke in engineering circles is that engineers tend to use their personalities for birth control.
I expect programmers and web masters have this technique refined somewhat.
So if we are to support breasts and the idea of keeping them where they belong, then perhaps it behooves the primary beneficiaries to share the benefits with wee geeks rather than the jocks (jokes anyone?) in the crowd which urban lore would suggest are questionably more desireable?
Laugh all you want, but my Hard Core Setup Engineering blog has proudly gone pink today. After giving me two wonderful daughters, by wife has been diagnosed with stage 3 cancer. Cancer is serious stuff my friends. I hope you never have to find out personally.
Thanks for the awareness? How come there's no breast cancer prevention month? Wouldn't an attempt to educate people on how to spot the disease early on and get it properly treated be a better use of resources than some stupid pink theme? It's always walk for a cure, or some other crap like that. They NEVER talk about preventing breast cancer. They use mammograms for that. But with the way things are now you'd think you could stop breast cancer with a big smile and a long walk.
Yuck. But if the point of this is raising awareness "What's that pink ribbon for? Breast cancer awareness, hmmm, what is that about?" etc. then it's doing its job. If it's a campaign for awareness, the goal isn't money, it's getting the word out. I guess they could do more, like put big signs hanging from the dog collar (as an example), though I doubt that would be very practical.
So, nobody would know about breast cancer, except for the fact that web sites change to a pink color scheme for a month? Uh, yeah, sure.
Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
I'll give it 5 minutes.
No match for "CHECKOUTMYVAGINA.COM". >>> Last update of whois database: Sun, 01 Oct 2006 23:22:25 EDT
Sig: I stole this sig.
Warning: I'm not entirely emotionally rational on this subject. Please read the rest of my post with this in mind.
Look. I am a woman at extremely high risk for breast cancer. My mother had breast cancer. My father had cancer. Going back further, the family history I have of cancer borders on the ridiculous. Furthermore, I have extremely large breasts, which is another risk factor. (The more tissue, the more room there is for tumors to grow. Also, larger breasts make cancer harder to detect just by feeling it, which is your best chance of catching it early.)
At some point within the next five years, I'm probably going to have to undergo breast reduction surgery. I'm still young enough that it hasn't become medically necessary yet, but my doctor's been suggesting it since I was 16. I'm terrified of this. I hate surgery. I hate the risk that I'll lose all feeling in my breasts. I hate the fact that I probably won't even have the option to breast-feed. I hate the fact that no matter what, I'm going to end up with scars on my breasts.
But you know what? At some point, assuming they don't come up with a sure-fire cure for breast cancer, I'll go through with it. Because I'd rather have scarred, numb, tiny breasts than risk dying.
As such, as you might imagine, I am EXTREMELY supportive of breast cancer research. I try to do whatever I can to get those extra dollars in that might allow me to avoid having surgery. I try to attend those goddamn money-raising breast cancer things, despite the fact that I hate hate hate crowds. If I were any good at dealing with people, I'd organize one. Or several. I do do as much as I can within my areas of expertise to raise awareness. Because. Well. I watched my mother go through chemotherapy. I watched my father go through chemotherapy. I heard about my aunt, and my cousins, going through chemotherapy. And every last dollar that goes to breast cancer research is one more chance I have of not dying.
You want prostate cancer awareness to reach the level of breast cancer awareness? Then advertise it yourself. I'm busy.
This shit must infuriate people with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.
Your anger shines through in your original post and here as well. It serves only to undermine your credibility. Seek help; you have mother issues.
Yes, it is. Your original post was all about you and your disposition.
No, breast cancer is an issue because it's an issue, simple as that. Contrary to your fabricated little world, things do co-exist. Breast cancer isn't the only issue, but it is an issue, and deserves attention... more so than the Windows vs. Linux vs. Mac debates you post so feverisly about.
If YOUR position had any merit whatsoever, you wouldn't give a damn about what someone on slashdot thought of you or your opinion - fucked as it is. I question the validity of your claim that you have any "good name" whatsoever.
Beware of the Leopard.
I love slashdot. The answer to "both my sisters were just diagnosed with breast cancer; what can I do?" is "#ff99cc".
Since your journal entry about this appears to be closed for comments, I'll reply here.
Any woman insulted by the OMG Ponies gag is either not very intelligent, or has not seen MySpace. We are not laughing at women in general, we are laughing at stupid teenage girls. Just to make sure you don't miss this, I am referring to those teenage girls who are stupid, not implying that all teenage girls are stupid.
Note also that I do not speak for all Slashdotters, but I suspect many will back me up that the majority of the posts on April 1st were not anti-female in general, but as I said above, anti-stupid-MySpace-teen-girl.
Really, when we make fun of l33tsp33k and Counter-Strike players, when we make fun of Duke Nukem and Bruce Campbell steriotypes, or when we make fun of jocks, we are not making fun of men in general, but a particular breed of stupid men.
If the OMG Ponies really offends you that deeply, I suspect that it's got less to do with it making fun of women, and more to do with it making fun of something you like. Maybe it's the hearts, or the pink, maybe you like ponies but hate OMG, something like that. But IANAT (I Am Not A Therapist), so I don't really know. I do know it doesn't offend all intelligent women -- my mother thought it was absolutely hilarious.
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
I'm a woman. I've also got a grandmother, a great grandmother and several other women in my family that have had tumors (both benign and malignant) in their breasts.
I also agree with the grandparent. This breast cancer awareness bullshit is just that; bullshit. It's pretty much been reduced to the level of a cheap marketing gimmick and a way to boost PR within and without certain businesses. It's disgusting.
That said, it's your body; whether you're male or female, it's your job and your responsibility to take care of it. If you honestly need reminders like these to use common sense and get annual checkups for whichever diseases you are at risk for, then you probably deserve whatever you get.
"He does look a bit Oompa like, even if his Loompa is a bit off-kilter."
I dislike it because women read that shit and then retaliate with the kind of 24/7 male bashing you see day in and day out on TV, newspapers, and in the movies.
It's all about do unto others as you'd have others do unto you and all that.
--- Grow a pair, liberals... stop letting the Republicans bully you!
More people get prostate cancer, but more die of breast cancer.
We could still use a PR campaign though - even if older men don't look good on posters.
Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others. -Groucho Marx
I would have us not be afraid to have a sense of humor, and yes, I'd have them bash male steriotypes. I'd have to be an utter moron to identify with one closely enough and say "Hey, that's me you're insulting!" It's like the Taco Bell Chihuahua...
Let's just say you need to watch a little more Carlos Mencia, and laugh, and understand.
Perhaps you could give me an example of this retaliation of which you speak? And maybe explain how any of it is directly a result of OMG Ponies?
Also, the headline in your journal calls it "utter mysogynism." This is obviously not true, as I said, to any intelligent woman.
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
Score: 5, Informative
Now I have to go check my boobs...
Something worth noting is that women have always been more social. Has anyone heard the metaphor that men hide in caves with problems whilst women socialize over their problems? Also, the stereotypical image of a "gossip" is almost always female.
Men just prefer to deal with their problems alone, while women will team up and fight them with synergy.
Just to start this off (if anyone wishes to continue the debate), prostate cancer (PC) is a somewhat more tricky thing to deal with at the moment. Tests (I'm thinking mainly about PSA here, which is fairly common for detecting PC) have quite a high false positive rate, and they're not all that sensitive. In many cases, by the time PC is detected, the only realistic options may end up being removal of the prostate or radiation treatment, which can result in a reduction of the quality of life of a person (those "leaky hose" analogies come to mind). In addition, PC tends to be more prevalent in older generations, and death by PC may not end up being that much earlier than death by other causes -- yes, it's not very nice to live with, but there's not really a magic bullet to make all people feel better after treatment. With the increase in life expectancy, and development of better treatments, this may change and allow a more positive PR campaign to be carried out.
Ask me about repetitive DNA
Creamy yellow (think about what this cancer affects first...)
Ask me about repetitive DNA
"And by the way, guys can get breast cancer too."
Perhaps we should make our sites pink and blue since this is not common knowledge in order to increase "awareness".
Are they showing more cross-sections of the President's prostate again? Ya know, fer my money, you can never have enough of that sort of thing.
--
"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
Perhaps something like:
G(.)(.)gle
(all in pink, of course)
Ok. I call your bluff. Show us one woman - any woman - who agrees with you.
I'll even hold my breath.
--- Grow a pair, liberals... stop letting the Republicans bully you!
I would also like to point out the hudge difference in results from treatment between breast and prostate cancer. A woman having a breast removed is mostly a cosmetic loss, and can be managed with an implant, while a man having his prostate removed will have difficulties with sex, and urination (controlling it) among other things.
Where's National Breast Awareness Month? Why limit it to just cancer? Sounds like discrimination to me.
I imagine it helps to run and operate a porn site. You're probably close to half way there already.
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
Hmm. Well, I'm all for the pink month, especially since it is very true that men can - and are - getting breast cancer.
But I must admit I'm far more concerned about women getting breast cancer, and think my feelings on the subject are those spoken in The Princess Bride: "There's a shortage of perfect breasts in this world."
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Why in the world is this tagged under "boobies"?
/.
Come ON
That's just WRONG!
Remember when Windows were washed, mice were trapped and UNIX guarded the harem?
That should be 'RACIST SHITHEADS' but I digress...
.
- aqk
F U
I thought most of the internet consisted of pink, breast-aware sites already?
Gah! Sorry about that (now that I'm days too late) always keep drunk people off your computers.
My rantings, only longer and with better spelling..