Google Santa Tracker Is Back

theodp writes: Google Santa Tracker is back, notes the Official Google Blog, and kids can brush up on their computer skills there with new coding games throughout the month. If they want to explore more Google coding projects, Santa Tracker advises kids to visit Made With Code, where they can learn how to "design a ZAC Zac Posen dress that turns heads and lights up a room." Made with Code, Google explains in its FAQS, is part of the company's $90M mission to creatively engage girls with code. Last year, Made With Code teamed with the National Park Service to make the lighting of the White House Christmas trees a girls-only coding project.

Comments

Girls only

[Anonymous Coward]

Boys graduate college at much lower rates than girls, get locked up at much higher rates (and for longer on average for the same crime), usually lose their kids and have to pay alimony and child support in a divorce (even if the women initiates and even in cases where she cuckolded him),
work longer hours (that's largely where the wage discrepancy comes from), and are still socially obligated to pay for things for their women
But yeah, girls need another advantage. Because girl power! And if you disagree with this you're sexist. And a rapist. And that's guilty until proven innocent on that rape charge, and even if it's proven innocent, your reputation is still tarnished. Girl power!

Re:Girls only

[Anonymous Coward]

It's less about giving an "advantage" and more about encouraging women into an industry that has become seen as a boys club for no good reason, go back 30 years and it wasn't quite the same. Look at the proportion of women in Computer Science degrees in the 21st Century - hell, I had more female professors than classmates 10 years ago.

There are plenty of code clubs for boys to attend, this doesn't take away anything from them, it simply makes for a more comfortable entry point for girls to experiment with computers, like female-only motorcycle trackdays, for example

Re:Girls only

[Anonymous Coward]

It's also a fact that there is a lot of inequality between men and women in the tech industry, and really across STEM fields in general. Just because men are treated unequally in some areas and have their own issues that need to be addressed doesn't mean we can't also address the issues that face women. Many of the issues you discussed like rape, sentencing, alimony, child support, and child custody are failings of the legal system. Google isn't in a position to address those, but it doesn't mean that others aren't trying to do so. With respect to child support, men have a surprising ally, the National Organization for Women, who argues that men should be able to decide during a woman's pregnancy that they no longer want to father the child or be responsible for the child. It's called a male abortion, and NOW supports it. Businesses are starting to offer paternity leave that's equivalent to the maternity leave allowed for women. There are definitely efforts to address men's issues. Of the issues you raised, the only one that Google could really do anything to address is the lower graduation rates for men. It is a real problem, but he fact that the problem exists is not a reason to ignore women's issues.

Re:Girls only

[Anonymous Coward]

One of my old comments: http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=6255067&cid=48513473

“We thought it would be great if girls could use computer science to own that space and design unique trees,” said Google spokeswoman Samantha Smith. Boys can participate, too, she added, but the emphasis is on girls, because they’re so underrepresented in computer and engineering careers.

Re:Girls only

[AmiMoJo]

The point about graduation rates is not percentages, it's that everyone who wants to has an opportunity to do so. It seems like boys could do with a little more encouragement in some areas, but then again so could girls in others. It's too complex a subject to be boiled down to a sentence.

If you feel socially obligated to pay for stuff, then why not push back? I don't subscribe to that and I don't have any trouble on dates (although I'm in a long term relationship now). Maybe it's because I'm an interesting person and am not just looking to get into the girl's pants by "paying" for sex with an expensive date.

You should push for better working conditions for men too. It's one reason why I'm a feminist - you could accurately describe this stuff as "men's rights", but that term has turned into such a shitstorm that it's better to just say you are a feminist because those are the actual values and philosophy you are following. I won't do long hours and discourage others from doing them, and will argue strongly against anything that rewards people for screwing up their work/life balance.

Re:Girls only

[Anonymous Coward]

I have never in my life seen any coding course or "club" that banned women. I really doubt you have, either, because if anyone tried something like that, they'd get crucified.

Re:Girls only

[Anonymous Coward]

Funny "feminists" never offer to pay, and if they're with someone equiped with a penis, they expect them to pay for the meal, holiday, car, et al.

Count the number of women that pick up the tab when going out using their own card (not the other half's), and how many pay for vacations, or buy their chap a vehicle. Come on, how many. Now look at the reverse.

Re:Girls only

[Anonymous Coward]

Yet clearly the dropping numbers of women entering tech show that it's an intimidating environment for young girls to get into. What's wrong with encouraging that?

Re:Girls only

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds like you're hanging out with the wrong women if that's your genuine experience, mate

Re: Girls only

[Anonymous Coward]

Premise 1: Coding courses aren't excluding women, and in fact many are going out of their way to recruit them or even exclude men
Premise 2: The number of women in tech isn't increasing
Conclusion: Women are choosing not to be in tech

Can't we just accept that men and women are different and enjoy different things? And before someone brings up that things are different in the 70s, remember that the environment was nowhere near as cutthroat or mentally tasking (60+ hour weeks) as it was back then. Different environment, and women are choosing not to enter it. More power to them.

Re: Girls only

[Anonymous Coward]

This isn't necessarily a bad thing, except now women are demanding men do half the childcare and housework as well.

Women, you have two choices: Either let your man work and pay for you and you support him through childcare, cooking, and cleaning, or he helps you with that stuff but you also pay the bill from time to time. Women want scenario three, where they still don't have to pay, but they also can offload half the housework to men (and once they get this, they will push for more). And the sad part is, men (white knights) are supporting them in this, thinking it will get them laid, when the women isnreally congratulating the white knight for his support and then going off to bang the alpha asshole around the corner.

Wake up men.

Re: Girls only

[Anonymous Coward]

Equality of opportunity, not equality of outcome. The first is a worth goal, the second is just insanity, forcing people to do things they don't really want to do. And we already have the first, with only very slight inequalities remaining.

Re: Girls only

[Anonymous Coward]

When challenged, absolutely NO ONE seems to be able to provide proof of a "brogrammer" culture that people seem to cite when they talk about the numbers of women in "tech".

But hey, it's easy to believe, right?

Re:Girls only

[Anonymous Coward]

But yeah, girls need another advantage.

Because dragging and dropping some pre-made code blocks on a web site to design a tree lighting pattern a year ago has clearly given those girls a HUGE advantage in life. I'm sure they'll be taking over the world and enslaving all the poor helpless men of the world any minute now.

Re:Girls only

[PopeRatzo]

Boys graduate college at much lower rates than girls, get locked up at much higher rates (and for longer on average for the same crime), usually lose their kids and have to pay alimony and child support in a divorce (even if the women initiates and even in cases where she cuckolded him),

See, but here's the thing about this Google Santa Tracker: Santa Claus isn't real. So the joke's on the stupid girls.

Re:Girls only

[Anonymous Coward]

Clearly the solution is to ban men from women-only coding clubs.

Re:Girls only

[Anonymous Coward]

I started to program at a age of 8-9. I think I was 6-7 when I first understood what source-code was for. I didn't learn to much at school regarding programming.

So now, tell me now, how a programmer that had no intrest of it what so ever and started at school cause they got recruited going to become a good programmer?

Cause I do not believe the slightest the intent is to target 6 year old girls.

Re:Girls only

[AthanasiusKircher]

The point about graduation rates is not percentages, it's that everyone who wants to has an opportunity to do so. It seems like boys could do with a little more encouragement in some areas, but then again so could girls in others.

It's also important to note that both sexes are graduating college at the highest rates EVER in the U.S. (See, for example, graphs here and here, showing percentages of young people with bachelor's degrees over the past few decades.)

It's true that the growth in women's graduation rates has gone up faster than men's, and now women do graduate at greater rates than men. But men are still graduating at higher rates than EVER before.

So, we can debate what these numbers mean and whether they are a disturbing trend. Maybe men need more motivation. Or maybe women realize that a pay gap still exists -- for whatever reason. Even if that pay gap is mostly because women don't tend to like to work ridiculously long hours and because they take off a few years from careers to raise kids or whatever... even IF that's the reason for the pay gap, women still have an incentive to try to earn more, and college degrees are known to help with that.

So, maybe both sexes are making rational choices here? Maybe men are going to college at greater rates than ever, because they realize the opportunities it provides. But perhaps more men are willing to have a go at a career without the degree, figuring that they can make up for it with long hours and hard work, etc. Whereas women have a stronger incentive to pursue the degree, since it allows them a better start and a greater chance of overcoming the pay gap (no matter what the cause of that pay gap is).

Maybe. I'm not saying this is the explanation, but it's one way to look at it. Or maybe we should be concerned about the fact that men's graduation rates aren't growing as fast as women's. But one thing we need to recognize is the BOTH SEXES are graduating at higher rates -- it's just that the men's growth is slower.

It's too complex a subject to be boiled down to a sentence.

Agreed. And that goes for many of the issues in GP's rant. For example, regarding women getting custody of children in divorces, it used to be the case that there was something called the tender years doctrine where courts would award custody to women by default (particularly for young children).

But the vast majority of states have now passed laws requiring parents to be treated equally. The problem in most divorces is the same one GP mentions about "working long hours." Courts are predisposed to assure continuity for kids. If the mother has been the primary caregiver and the father has basically been absent except for a couple hours on weekends, it's harder to argue that the children should be forced to go with the father.

Is this "fair"? Maybe not in some cases. But there is a logic to saying that if a father hasn't been there for his kids for years, that expecting him to raise them by himself may be more difficult both on him and the kids.

So -- here's a bit of advice for fathers. I've seen a lot of bad divorces happen among friends, family, colleagues, etc. Spend time with your kids. Seriously. If you love them, take the time and do stuff with them while they're small. You may think that "if I just work a little longer tonight" or "if I just come in on Saturday" then you'll get the promotion and get more money and whatever. Guess what? Most kids just want to see their dad. The extra money you might get rarely makes up for being gone all the time.

And if you

Re:Girls only

[AthanasiusKircher]

Sorry to self-reply, but I messed up one of the links. Here's a link to another story with graphs that have more recent (and long-term) data on college graduation rates.

Re: Girls only

[Anonymous Coward]

Nobody here seems to be able to come up with examples of hordes of boys crying that they can't attend one of the very few girls programming clubs either, rather simply resorting to incoherent moaning about strawman SJWs

Re:Girls only

[Anonymous Coward]

If it didn't help then why keep doing it?

Re:Girls only

[Anonymous Coward]

Feminism will be viewed by historians 100 years from now as a ruinous influence on society.

Traditional male and female roles existed for very good reasons. The system worked.

Now, we have children raised in day care with both parents working full time jobs. This results
in some seriously messed up people. You are free to disagree, but like I said above, history will
be the final judge on this.

Re:Girls only

[ComputerGeek01]

Yet clearly the dropping numbers of women entering tech show that it's an intimidating environment for young girls to get into.

Or it could show that the women who finish college don't want to bother with an industry that is being saturated with H1B's. Or it could show that more women realize that they can make more money applying the same talents elsewhere. Or it shows that women are as interested in coding as men are in being hairdressers. Look, coding isn't anything like cooking, for example, where it's up to the individual to find their passion for it. It takes a certain level of raw talent that even most people in the industry severely lack. And even after your find that you have that talent, you must be willing to consign yourself to a job that pays far less than it is worth; while working hours that would send any sane person postal. Let's face the facts, efforts like these stem from hundreds of rooms full of lonely nerds looking around and saying "Why can't we have any hot girls in our office like the sales people do?".

Re:Girls only

[vel-ex-tech]

This topic again. I wasn't sure where I wanted to reply, but I'll put it here.

Here are my grievances:

1. My genitals were mutilated at birth, leaving me with horrific physical pain from puberty until I decided to take matters into my own hands. My GP at the time couldn't find any evidence of anything being physically wrong and believe that it could be I was experiencing the pain because of my female mind. Later, when I saw a psychologist, he decided that there was really no way to sort out my feelings about my gender from the physical pain I experienced.

2. I was nearly prosecuted for violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act after having run a computer club for a year and a half solely because I was assigned the male gender and the school district wanted to claim that their first computer club was founded by somebody assigned the female gender at birth.

3. At college orientation, it was explained very clearly that I was a rapist who had merely not been caught yet, and that the best thing for me to do would be to avoid interaction with women. I'm not attracted to women anyhow, but it was distressing that solely because of my assigned gender at birth I would be considered a violent criminal with access to illegal drugs and that any unsupervised contact with women would cause me to be suspected of criminal intentions.

4. Later on, in the "real world," I was accused of being part of a conspiracy to prevent women from learning programming. That was before this "SJW" (or whatever) crap started being A Thing on the internet. It hurt me deeply that somebody would seriously believe that my intentions were sexist based solely on the gender I've been forced to present as all these years. (This will change, all though I've no idea whether I'll die homeless in a gutter after it does change.)

5. I mentor women programmers. Do you? I have done everything one could reasonably expect of somebody who has barely managed a lower-middle class income to help women programmers. Have you? In fact, if not for the outright gender discrimination I experienced while in school, I might be making significantly more.

6. I apparently no longer have access to a regular doctor because after my old doctor retired and by the time I sought out another doctor, a women's health initiative (I had essentially been forced to be a part of due to my employment and the failure of any cisfemale colleagues who actually were in customer-service roles to step up to the job) went under due to Obamacare. I believe what I'm facing is a combination of "religious objection!" and the idea that because I am forced to present as the male gender and currently program computers has sparked the conclusion that I want to control women's bodies and deny them healthcare.

So, AmiMoJo, how will feminism help me out here? I really want to know. I scrambled my old UID because a very bright young woman who had shown incredible talent with programming revealed to me that she was a feminist, hence giving me direct, first-hand evidence that my ideas of feminism had been tainted. This may lead to another grievance:

7. The increasing pressure on geeks like me, who aren't even heterosexual, who aren't even cisgendered, to do something! about the lack of cisfemale programmers, while I watch gaslighting asshole managers push women out of programming jobs. That feminist I mentioned was one woman who was chased out. Another was a personal friend. A third may be me, because when I begin living as the gender I was actually born as, I won't be in tech any more. Why is there no pressure on the gaslighting asshole misogynist managers.

I reported one for sexual harassment, and I encouraged one of those women to file a gender discrimination lawsuit that she may actually win. What have you done?

8. TERFs (trans-exclusionary radical feminists). They are also part of the reason I'm just going to leave tech. There are too many cisgendered women who will see me as an invader and metaphysical rapist and cause office drama when I do transition. I can't change what gender I was assigned at birth. I can change my line of work. So, I'm leaving.

Feminism is clearly many different things to many different people. Any help here?

Re: Girls only

[ranton]

Equality of opportunity, not equality of outcome. The first is a worth goal, the second is just insanity, forcing people to do things they don't really want to do. And we already have the first, with only very slight inequalities remaining.

Whether or not we have equality of opportunity is what's in debate here. While you have a right to your opinion, treating it as fact is disingenuous. And in my opinion, someone would really need to have their head in the sand to believe there is equality of opportunity. Leaving things to market forces free of overt discrimination is not the same thing as equality of opportunity.

I am a white male in his 30's, so I don't have to worry about any of this. But I see my female coworkers who cannot get a client to believe they are competent because they are women. I see their ideas attributed to the first man who publicly agrees with them (I have had to explicitly remind people in a meeting that an idea originated with a female coworker). I see similar cultural influences that tell African American men being smart isn't cool tell women that being nerdy isn't feminine. I also see women who have a hard time finding professionals they can identify within a workforce that is so heavily male dominated.

No one knows all the answers to fix these inequalities, but it is quite apparent that efforts must be taken to counteract the inequality of opportunity in many STEM fields. There are other fields with inequalities, but in my opinion none as important in fueling a modern economy as STEM fields.

Re: Girls only

[ranton]

When challenged, absolutely NO ONE seems to be able to provide proof of a "brogrammer" culture that people seem to cite when they talk about the numbers of women in "tech".

I am a white male in his 30's, so I don't have to worry about any of this. But I see my female coworkers who cannot get a client to believe they are competent because they are women. I see their ideas attributed to the first man who publicly agrees with them (I have had to explicitly remind people in a meeting that an idea originated with a female coworker). I see similar cultural influences that tell African American men being smart isn't cool tell women that being nerdy isn't feminine. I also see women who have a hard time finding professionals they can identify within a workforce that is so heavily male dominated.

I could go on, but it doesn't matter. If you still don't see the inequality of opportunity in the IT field towards women after years of the industry starting to come to terms with it, you are willfully trying to ignore the problem.

Re:Girls only

[AmiMoJo]

vel-ex-tech, your experience sound horrible and hard to believe in the modern western world (not that I don't believe you). Mainstream feminist theory is very clearly opposed to many of the thing you describe, in particular mis-gendering people and forcing people to present as a gender they are not based on prejudice and ignorance. I'm sure there are many feminist groups who would be happy to help if you took your story to them.

Personally, I have mentored women before, and always help where I can. Fortunately I've not experienced gender discrimination that couldn't be resolved any way other than a lawsuit, but I have been involved in dealing with it. I find that often people are unaware or just say something without really thinking, but there are cases were people are just misogynists.

I should also point out that feminists who try to exclude transsexual people are a minority, and one I don't agree with. Fortunately they are a minority, and I'm very surprised and disappointed that you would cite them as your reason for leaving tech. It seems you have been particularly badly affected, and feel that your experience reflects the views of the mainstream movement. I very much want to reassure you that it does not, and we will support you as much as we can.

Might I suggest contacting some transfeminist groups and asking for support and advice? I know it's hard, but if you can affect change in your workplace it will help everyone who comes after you, and perhaps allow you to continue in a job you enjoy. If there is anything I can do, please just ask. I really mean that.

Re:Girls only

[Anonymous Coward]

You use the term cuckold, your opinion is invalid.

Re:Girls only

[Anonymous Coward]

You have a point about the National Park Service excluding boys--would anyone think it fine had it excluded, say, Jews? Left-handers?

But some of your arguments suck.

In divorce, men who fight for sole custody get it MORE often than do women: http://www.villainouscompany.com/vcblog/archives/2012/04/child_supportcu.html

Some couples go dutch, take turns, or pay bills proportionate to their income: Higher earner pays more or more often.

I'd go on, but then you'd say I was talking too much. Female systems analyst, here.

Re: Girls only

[vel-ex-tech]

Agreed.

I see this mostly from manager-types. I've noted elsewhere that I've watched two women, both who are very bight, get chased out of tech. I've had clients refuse to work with customer service and insist on coming directly to me, and I can only figure it's the "I need to speak to a man" phenomenon. The few men in other departments where I work will come to me with a completely inane question about the system that their female colleagues could have easily answered--or even more irritating when it's about something that's not in my bailiwick--and I can only assume it's because he just needs to "speak to a man."

One of those jerks in particular who "needs to speak to a man" and ask me about things I don't even really know for sure instead of going to his female colleagues who do know is a social justice bully-type, highlighting the complete hypocrisy of social justice bullies! The jerk even felt the need to "babysit" the first few training sessions I had with my current (female) apprentice.

It's hopeless. There's nothing that can be done. The Narrative has spoken, and it's my fault because I'm the programmer and an assigned male. I'm responsible for the actions and attitudes of others. The others are married or are women themselves, so they can't possibly be responsible for their own sexism. All I will ever be is a member of a grand cis het shitlord conspiracy to keep women down :(

I'm there with you, needing to remind people that some good idea started with a woman, not me or whoever. I give women everything I can think of to help them learn programming. But it's my fault if they fail or get sexually harassed by an asshole manager or get run out by a lying cocaine addict because I'm the cis het shitlord sexually frustrated misogynerd programmer, so I must have done something to make them fail and chase them out because I'm don't think women should be programmers :(

I may very well even have my current job because of male privilege. All the more reason to get my finances in order so I can leave tech asap and go into a field like commercial fishing that doesn't have this gender lunacy.

Re:Girls only

[rockout]

Or it could show that the women who finish college don't want to bother with an industry that is being saturated with H1B's.

So you're saying men are dumber than women when picking an industry?

Or it shows that women are as interested in coding as men are in being hairdressers.

It could be that men don't become hairdressers because there's inequality of opportunity in hairdressing; that is, it's dominated by women, so there's more women entering the field, as men are discouraged from entering it simply because they're men. But you know what? The inequality in that field is not something we care about addressing, because hairdressing isn't as important to a modern economy as STEM fields are.

even after your find that you have that talent, you must be willing to consign yourself to a job that pays far less than it is worth

You are being paid exactly what someone believes it's worth to pay you to stick around.

Look, coding isn't anything like cooking, for example, where it's up to the individual to find their passion for it. It takes a certain level of raw talent that even most people in the industry severely lack.

To be a professional cook, it absolutely takes a level of raw talent, along with dedication to it. I also have a feeling you're not much of a cook.

Let's face the facts, efforts like these stem from hundreds of rooms full of lonely nerds looking around and saying "Why can't we have any hot girls in our office like the sales people do?".

You are saying that. The people in high enough positions at Google to be directing these efforts have no problems finding a significant other, partly because they make more money than you, but mostly because they're not sitting around whining about their inability to function in society.

Re:Girls only

[vel-ex-tech]

Thanks for the reply. I thought about this through the afternoon. While there's isn't much one pseudo-anonymous person can do for another pseudo-anonymous person on the other side of the internet, I've been scratching my head trying to figure out where I'm going to relocate when the time comes.

I've done a few Googling sessions (the choice is still at least two years away, but it's a big choice). I haven't found much of use. Are there any reliable indicators or data available that could help me figure out how trans-unfriendly different big cities are?

My proximity to the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival might be a possible explanation for my experiences (about half a day drive--I'd probably do Camp Trans, but honestly I don't know why I'd want to get in anyway).

Can you confirm whether or not my theory that there is something seriously rotten with feminism in the midwest is on to something?

The rest of this post is mostly tl;dr.

Basically, I realized that I needed to relocate. Being trans in flyover country is not a workable proposition, especially with internet pharmacies that don't need a valid prescription all but completely shut down these days. I don't even know why I tried or why it took me so long to figure this out. Maybe I let myself be deluded that if I were paid what I'm supposed to be worth by national averages with the cost of living here, I'd be able to afford all the plastic surgery I could stand by the time I was 30 (don't need much though actually). Well, that goal is long gone.

I also swore to myself that I'd never, ever be responsible for any computer system run by proprietary software again. Proprietary software and a vendor stuck in the 80s is what caused the whole situation at work to escalate to a full blown accusation of sexism. (Well, that, and the person who essentially "rallied the cause" has profound ignorance when it comes to computers anyway. We're talking somebody who buys into the "computer languages themselves are sexist" theory. Apparently, having "programmer" in one's job title means that support contracts and laws that prevent me from fixing bugs in proprietary software are nonexistent, not to mention the logistical nightmares I imagined when I was considering learning MSIL [have done some futzing around in assembler and didn't seem too difficult if I were determined] and binary patching the damned thing.)

If that were it, I'm sure I could stay in tech.

I know it's hard, but if you can affect change in your workplace it will help everyone who comes after you, and perhaps allow you to continue in a job you enjoy.

This is a good point in general. I doubt there's any changing my specific workplace, but as I indicated in another comment I just posted, it might be fun to stick around after I go full time just for the lulz. I don't want to burn the bridge down, but staying around for a month or two of drama might be fun and help me find new strategies for dealing with TERFs.

I'll see if the momentum behind the "misogynerd" theory changes and what exactly happens when the eventual quotas come, since if Brianna Wu is any indication, the quotas will be for "womyn-born-womyn" only or at least women rich enough to afford the right surgeries (or just lucky enough to be assigned that gender at birth). I'm guessing that if I started contributing to open source, I wouldn't have difficulties demonstrating my skill and finding a job doing open source programming.

Re:Girls only

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds like I am hanging out with the wrong men as this is not my experience. I am accustomed to taking turns paying for dinner, and no one has every paid for my holiday, or bought me a car!

Can you please advise me on what I should write on my Tinder profile to attract a man dumb enough to do any of those things? Would it help if I got a boob job? I had no idea I was doing this woman thing all wrong! I'd really like to see the Caribbean, if you are free next vacation.

Re:Girls only

[AmiMoJo]

My suggestion would be to contact some trans support groups (especially transfeminist) in areas you are interested in moving to, and ask them. I'm afraid I'm not in the US so I'm not all that knowledgeable about where the best places are. It certainly sounds like some areas have some serious issues though.

What I would say is don't let a few bad apples spoil everything for you. It's possible you can find some support closer to home. You can't be the only person experiencing this in your area.

It really sucks that there is no free medical treatment available to you. Thinking about it, have you considered moving somewhere like Canada or Europe? I'm no expert on Canada but most western European countries have good, free-at-the-point-of-use healthcare systems that would treat you. It would need some research but there are some very trans-friendly countries here. Language isn't too much of an issue either, as many companies work in English or will at least support you as you learn. Nordic countries like Norway and Sweden are cold but have the best quality of life in the world and are extremely progressive.

Re:Girls only

[Anonymous Coward]

If you feel socially obligated to pay for stuff, then why not push back?

Because that would be seen as a microaggression. Don't men know that women only get paid 77 cents to the dollar? It's sexist to suggest we all pay our share "equally"!

Re:Girls only

[vel-ex-tech]

Canada might work. I looked into it a few years ago, if I were looking at the right things all I'd need to do really is learn French and get an offer of employment to get enough points.

I've also considered Germany since I was nearly fluent in and shortly after high school, not so much any more, but I'm sure it'd come back to me. Actually, that would probably be the option if the "free tuition" I keep hearing about also includes room and board in a dorm and would be offered to somebody who went from straight As to completely burned out in college about a decade and a half ago trying to figure out why I should feel guilty when a woman chooses to wear high heels.

(It was very strange beginning transition while being called an oppressor of women in half my classes and a rapist, also stressful and a bit scary when I wound up doing a group work project with two cis women due to rape culture in a CS class that was also a requirement of the MIS/CIS/similar degree they were going for. On-campus feminist club were TERFs iirc.)

Anyway, thanks for the help.

Girls only coding project?

[Orgasmatron]

Are these girls going to develop their own scripting language? Their own interpreter? Their own language and compiler for whatever language the interpreter is written in? Their own assembler? Their own CPU and object language?

Or are they just going to sign up girls up to use a huge stack of tools built by men?

Re:Girls only coding project?

[Anonymous Coward]

The first compiler was developed by a woman, Grace Hopper.

Thus spake Zarathustra.

[minkowski76]

"Made With Code teamed with the National Park Service to make the lighting of the White House Christmas trees a girls-only coding project." Discrimination is morally-justified when it's really just revenge dressed up as diversity.

Re:Thus spake Zarathustra.

[AmiMoJo]

"Made With Code teamed with the National Park Service to make the lighting of the White House Christmas trees a girls-only coding project."

That is untrue. The web site does not require registration, let alone entry of gender, to use. Boys are welcome, as are those with other gender identities.

The summary lies. Nowhere in any of TFAs does it say "girls-only".

Re:Thus spake Zarathustra.

[GrumpySteen]

Oh teh noes! Girls were allowed to design Christmas tree lighting patterns last year. What a heinous act of revenge against men! Men have suffered terribly over the past year due to this horrible tragedy!

Except it wasn't girls only. The Made With Code website is part of an effort to introduce more girls to coding, but it's open to kids of all genders. There wasn't any filter that prevented boys from designing tree lighting patterns and submitting them.

The 'girls only' BS is due to a bunch of butt-hurt MRA idiots who started frothing at the mouth and screaming about discrimination against men the moment they heard that something was designed to appeal to girls instead of boys. ...much like someone screaming about discrimination based on a summary without actually taking the time to check and see if the summary was BS (because /. summaries are always fact checked, right?).

Re: Thus spake Zarathustra.

[Anonymous Coward]

all genders

Found the liberal demoncrap!

Re:Thus spake Zarathustra.

[MobyDisk]

Didn't they change the program to open it up to boys at some point? While it doesn't say "girls only," every other sentence in Google's announcement page says something that amounts to "this is a program for girls."

Earlier this year, we introduced a program called Made with Code to inspire millions of girls to try coding...

...girls can use the introductory programming language...

Still, even as coding becomes more important, less than 1% of high school girls say...

Aha!
http://developers.slashdot.org...

Re:Thus spake Zarathustra.

[AmiMoJo]

As I pointed out back in the comments on that old story, it was manufactured bullshit because even then the programme was open to both genders. Sure, it was primarily advertised to girls and the teaching material was focused on how to help girls get into CS, but it was never exclusionary. Never. The school in question was always free to participate and run those courses, no "disobedience" required.

There is plenty of real sexism in the world, without anyone needed to manufacture some artificial outrage at non-existent discrimination.

Re:Thus spake Zarathustra.

[Anonymous Coward]

And as many pointed out to you back in the old comments, it's bullshit to have all appearances of being discriminatory, while falling back on 'but we don't actually technically discriminate!' when pushed. I believe parallels to how some people view the tech industry were drawn.

Not unexpected

[Anonymous Coward]

Google tracks everyone, even fictional characters that don't exist in real life. News at 11.

Even Santa can't escape Google's cookie tracking

[JoeyRox]

Rumor has it that Santa started using Ad Block this Christmas season.

Um google... you do know that...

[WaffleMonster]

Chicks don't dig stalkers and creeps... Getting your wish will be your undoing.

Re:Um google... you do know that...

[Anonymous Coward]

Chicks don't dig stalkers and creeps... Getting your wish will be your undoing.

They say they don't, but what you don't understand is that NO means YES.

i googled "where is santa"...

[Gravis Zero]

and i gotta say, the elves will not be pleased.

Santa isn't coming this year

[Anonymous Coward]

The liberals just raised taxes again on his corporation North Pole Inc. and forced him to provide Obamacare for his elves. They also sued him for giving coal to bad children, saying it that every child should be a winner and it was unfair to black kids who grew up in worse situations than whites, so therefore Santa's policy was racial discrimination. The fine was $400,000,000.

He is no longer able to make a profit and therefore had to declare bankruptcy. Sorry kids. ;(

Vote for Trump in 2016 if you want Santa to come back. Make America great again!

It's not very accurate, needs country based data!

[Anonymous Coward]

I wish they'd make the Santa tracker actually based on local culture, rather than doing an American-centric view. Different countries have Santa visiting on different nights all throughout December, and I think the Santa Tracker should reflect that.

For example, in Holland it's the 5th December when he visits.

NORAD

[Anonymous Coward]

I've always liked the NORAD one http://www.noradsanta.org/

oy

[cascadingstylesheet]

I hate to break this to you, but Google is not eager to pay girls lots of money. They want to flood the market.

Bad News, Everyone! for Santa Deniers Everywhere

[TheRealHocusLocus]

Now that the Pope has mounted his Encyclical that has made some scientists uncomfortable (because it disagrees with their views) and has made other scientists uncomfortable (because it agrees with their views) and yet others jubilant (because for them it was never about science, it was only about getting their way)... there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Climate Summit in Paris this week as the final North Pole 'Cold War' barrier between science and religion is ceremoniously cut. Crews are standing by to tear down the wall between faith and empirical evidence that has symbolized the oppression of Great Ideas since the late Renaissance.

Santa Claus will preside over the ceremony, holding out a large golden scissors and when the ribbon is cut, "There will not be a soul left alive who can deny his existence!" said Mrs.Claus, whose role in traditional affairs has been confined to baking cookies. But now as her husband tends to his yearly duties, she has shucked the apron and is teaming up with a Silicon Valley PR agency to launch an Internet and Social Media campaign to shine the spotlight on what she calls The Wall Of Science.

"They call it an age of enlightenment, but it has been bad for us," she lamented. "The average age at which parents tell their children that "Santa doesn't really exist" has been dropping steadily, and there are even households where young children have always believed that their loving parents are behind it all. These children are being deprived of the wonder that arises from a belief in supernatural forces and miracles, and the essential idea that fountains of free money will flow your way if you elect progressively Socialist governments that tax big business and consolidate world governments. While we cannot easily legislate a belief in Santa Claus, we'll have to the next best thing --- get the United Nations involved in the issue, and prove Santa's existence by showing him on TV and Facebook."

The role of the UN is crucial. Santa Claus has long been considered a delegate from the North Pole in ex officio, but now between solstices he will take his new position as head the IMF. "The elves have been a labor problem for over 100 years and heating costs have skyrocketed. We've shut the factories and the elves have applied for 'climate refugee status' to Europe and the Americas. With IMF funds we will be able to out-source toy production to facilities in low-wage countries. Santa's bags will now be full UN investment capital, to be distributed to countries who get with the program. And everybody gets a lump of coal this year, in the form of a hefty Carbon Tax."

But what is this 'Wall of Science' Mrs. Claus has taken such a bead on? "It is the wall that divides us, that is all. In a world of unrestricted travel and electronic communication that crosses borders, we were desperately searching for something to tear down. You cannot start a grassroots campaign without tearing something down. Then some nice folks at the Vatican pointed us to the Wall, which they said separated persons who demand empirical evidence to build their positions from those who place faith and opinion foremost, then go looking for talking points to support their views. It had little to do with toys so at first we were skeptical, until they gave us a >wink< and said, you know, those of little faith do not believe in St. Nicholas... and after we heard that, we were all in."

"As you know," Mrs. Claus continued, "there has been a crisis in the Catholic Church. But at the same time there has been a breakaway group, the Gaians, whose personification an Earth writhing in pain under the threat of Corporate Man attained crucial 'faith' status some time back with the rise of the Algorians, whose scepters were hockey sticks. The Catholic Church has come to the conclusion that if it can draw in the Gaians, the combined numbers can effect real change in the world. Millennials reject symbols of office and velvet costumes, yet they respond well to activist causes, so long as you can wear jean

Santa Torrent Tracker

[Anonymous Coward]

TL;DR

Whats the tracker URL? Does it have anything worth downloading?

Elephant in the room:

[sabbede]

Christmas is a Christian holiday (at heart anyhow). Santa is the most visible symbol of the holiday. Therefore, Santa is a likely target for ISIS. Google is publicizing Santa's location.

tf: Google is putting Santa in danger!!!!

Re:Bad News, Everyone! for Santa Deniers Everywher

[bev_tech_rob]

Where did you copy/paste this horseshit from?

This story made my balls shrink

[DogPhilosopher]

..and my penis fell off.

I was going to joke about 'encouraging girls'

[Kellamity]

...but the summary beat me to it. Dammit! I was going to say something like, 'but what are they doing to get girls into coding?' I was going to be so witty. Then I saw that it's actually a real thing. Now I don't know what to knit-pick. Are they doing enough to encourage black people? Maybe they need a kwanza-bot tracker?