Slashdot Mirror
Help EFF Test a New Tool To Stop Creepy Online Tracking
An anonymous reader writes "EFF is launching a new extension for Firefox and Chrome called Privacy Badger. Privacy Badger automatically detects and blocks spying ads around the Web, and the invisible trackers that feed information to them. You can try it out today."
Here is an example of what you said:
A company called Dice Holdings now owns Slashdot. Whoever wrote the code for the corporate governance part of the Dice Holdings web site borrowed some JavaScript from a web site called dynamicdrive.com. That unnecessarily complicated code displays very poorly in some browsers and browser configurations, including the ones I normally use.
I'm guessing that most web sites are made by young women who fancy themselves to be graphic designers who use junk Javascript they found somewhere. Or, made by people who want to use company time to practice using Javascript so they can get a job as some place at which they would actually like to work.
Anyhow, many web sites are amazingly complicated. I would like to understand the sociology of how that happens. Obviously, the top managers are not providing managerial overview. I'm guessing that they have no knowledge of HTML or Javascript, and just let things happen.
True, except I think that ignores an important underlying piece of evidence.
I didn't express myself fully or carefully enough; it was a Slashdot comment and I was very busy. I certainly did not expect off-topic support for the wacky idea that women can't be criticized but it is okay to be extremely hostile toward a man.
My underlying idea is on-topic. How could the top management of Dice Holdings fail to see the mistakes made on the Dice Holdings web site? What is the sociology behind that? I try to make theories that are supported by the information available.
(This issue is also relevant to this Slashdot story about the EFF Privacy Badger browser add-on. Notice that the EFF Privacy Badger web page nests DIV tags 5 levels deep. Maybe there is some reason for that I don't understand, but it seems to me to be poor design. I list 7 other problems below.)
This subject is extremely important because Dice Holdings may destroy Slashdot and thereby may cause severe damage to its other businesses. The new format for Slashdot called "Slashdot beta" is an amazing example of Dice Holdings management being extremely out of touch. The main business of Dice Holdings is job listings for technology companies. Imagine the business impact of thousands of Slashdot readers saying extremely negative things about the new Slashdot. Wouldn't that tend to severely limit acceptance of anything Dice Holdings does?
Slashdot readers are very verbal. They like to communicate; that's shown by the fact that they spend time commenting on Slashdot. If they are unhappy with Dice Holdings they will definitely make that known throughout their companies.
My theory is that whoever writes HTML for Dice Holdings must be extremely socially disconnected from management. A 30-year-old inexperienced male would likely be noticed by management and evaluated, possibly leading to management noticing the man's lack of ability. A 30-year-old male might want to move up in the company and want to become known to management.
So, whoever does HTML for Dice Holdings is apparently distant from socializing with management. I try to theorize what kind of person that could be. I guess, and it is just a guess based on my experience, it is a young woman who has no interest in being part of the company, but who just wants to experiment with HTML and learn more about what interests her. She definitely isn't interested in good communication; apparently she is interested only in her own vision of graphic appeal.
Why put so much time thinking about this? Because the problem of being out of touch with technology is so extreme that top managers are willing to risk losing their companies or their jobs. It isn't just the managers of Dice Holdings. I see the same issues with other companies, also.
Also, I depend on Slashdot for news about technology. I don't want anything bad to happen to Slashdot, even though the online conversations are sometimes very disfunctional.
Back to the off-topic issue: My experience is that, when I give women thoughtful, understanding criticism, that increases their interest in me. When was the last time I criticized a woman? Yesterday evening. She referred to herself as a "girl". I said, "You're a woman." That got a smile.
Last month in an email I told a woman who is an artist, a dancer, ways in which she could be more serious about her art. When I saw her, just before a performance started, she hugged me and said thank you for the suggestions.
I don't currently spend much time with young women who design web sites, but more than 10 years ago I did. One of them was extraordinarily professional. She and I often talked about other female graphic artists not being professional.
Even though this comment is lengthy, it is still only a very brief survey of important issues. Nothing is decided in this comment; it is only theories.