I'm very disappointed in this law, and ashamed to be kiwi.
The three main things I'm against is:
a) The law goes against a basic principle of our justice system which is "innocent until proven guilty"
b) It was pushed through parliament by a process which circumvents most of our democratic protections
c) It still doesn't deal with the fact that account holder != computer != person
I was involved in the consultation for the first version of this law, and the process for the notices is a horrible convoluted pass-the-buck around ISPs due to the issues surrounding IP ownership vs the end relationship with the customer, which is further complicated due to our privacy laws.
I've always said that the law was akin to charging the owner of a car with a hit-and-run when they weren't the driver.
Shame on you NZ Parliament!
Individual songs are so cheap on iTunes I never pirate music and I'm extremely happy to pay. If I could get e-book rentals for two weeks, movie rentals a week, and episodes at the same time as they air in the USA for $1 I've give them even more of my money! Buying movies in iTunes for $5, and being able to buy them at the same time as they come out in the cinema for around $10 would be great too.
You actually get that?
I'm female and play WoW, and those episodes have been so few and far between it wasn't worth worrying.
Although my guild leader did want nekkid pics.
I know what to say. As a New Zealander I am ashamed of this law. We used to be one of the most democratic and least corrupt countries in the world. Every day, we move a little further away........
It's not just women with children that have their priorities straight.....
I'm a 24 year old childless woman who works as a programmer for a small IT company.
There have been situations when I have been required to work out of hours.
This is not something I have not enjoyed, and after being called every weekend for a couple of months, I finally spoke to my manager about it.
My reasons:
My partner, friends and family are more important to spend time with on the weekends than work.
Sleep is more important than work.
Having time at home to cook a meal, play WoW(self admitted addict), read a book and enjoy a movie is more important than work.
Three very simple reasons that I think you will find not only put women off being in IT but also some men, especially those in relationships. I know so many single guys in IT it's a running joke that they need to find a geek girl like me who might actually understand.
I believe that the industry itself must change all practices pertaining to on-call hours, with staff specifically dedicated to covering the graveyard shifts, or a rotating roster where when a person is on-call for the night/weekend they do not have to work during the day either.
Unfortunately, management never ever see it this way - when I decide to have children I will change to contracting in non-technical positions to work around my family. And then there will be yet another gap on the technical side that some other poor soul will have to fill.
Many high level languages do too much for the "programmer" hence creating monkeys that just speak a different language, not actual programmers.
I have found that assembly language gave me a unique insight into how cpus work...which has helped me with a low level understanding of how to improve my high level code, as well as giving me that extra edge for design and bug tracking.
I'm a New Zealander and I work in IT. It's pretty damn easy to find an IT job - especially if you are a Network Admin or Microsoft DBA or Developer. What will shock you is the pay though - I only earn about one third more than the average weekly wage. It's definitely a lifestyle decision, you will not make money to take home. The bank won't even loan me the money for a house.
The reason some people are worried about sexual harassment is because there IS sexual harassment. I've had to "accidentally" reply to the wrong email address to shame someone to stop asking me out!
But, if you want to avoid all that, here are four easy steps:
1) Remember - she's an I.T. geek. She probably loves her computer and her graphics card as much as you. Talk about this stuff and shy away from sex talk. 2) Make sure she's into gaming. If she's not, write her off as a lost cause. 3) Beer, beer and more beer. Or wine if she really really has to. But beer for you. No hard spirits. 4) Make sure she makes friends with one older, married person in the team and that they are part of social events. If she's feeling pressured, she'll cling to this person because she knows they don't want to bang her.
You can also stop having to deal with a gf/bf outside of wow.....i got my boyfriend into it so now our "us" time is mostly incorporated into wow. Life + wow = goodness
I'm a woman in IT. I'm a developer. And I think it's sexist. If I were in the USA, I might have applied, however i'm not, i'm in New Zealand.
Regardless, programs like this miss the point entirely. The main problem is not a lack of female applicants, its the lack of women in IT. This does not stem from a lack of funding or information - we all have access to the internet.
It stems from the basic belief that computers are a mans domain, and that even if a woman is a programmer extra-curricular activities concerning programming is taking it too far. The solution to this problem is to change peoples attitude toward technology-related sciences, not to throw money at it.
When I first showed interest in computers as a child, it was frowned upon by most of my family in a big way. Change it there, and there will be more openly geeky girl IT grads that will participate in the community without the need for extra money being thrown at them.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm very disappointed in this law, and ashamed to be kiwi. The three main things I'm against is: a) The law goes against a basic principle of our justice system which is "innocent until proven guilty" b) It was pushed through parliament by a process which circumvents most of our democratic protections c) It still doesn't deal with the fact that account holder != computer != person I was involved in the consultation for the first version of this law, and the process for the notices is a horrible convoluted pass-the-buck around ISPs due to the issues surrounding IP ownership vs the end relationship with the customer, which is further complicated due to our privacy laws. I've always said that the law was akin to charging the owner of a car with a hit-and-run when they weren't the driver. Shame on you NZ Parliament!
Individual songs are so cheap on iTunes I never pirate music and I'm extremely happy to pay. If I could get e-book rentals for two weeks, movie rentals a week, and episodes at the same time as they air in the USA for $1 I've give them even more of my money! Buying movies in iTunes for $5, and being able to buy them at the same time as they come out in the cinema for around $10 would be great too.
I'm just going to put your experience down to horde boys being more immature :-P
For the Alliance!
You actually get that? I'm female and play WoW, and those episodes have been so few and far between it wasn't worth worrying. Although my guild leader did want nekkid pics.
I know what to say. As a New Zealander I am ashamed of this law. We used to be one of the most democratic and least corrupt countries in the world. Every day, we move a little further away........
I'm a 24 year old childless woman who works as a programmer for a small IT company.
There have been situations when I have been required to work out of hours.
This is not something I have not enjoyed, and after being called every weekend for a couple of months, I finally spoke to my manager about it.
My reasons:
My partner, friends and family are more important to spend time with on the weekends than work.
Sleep is more important than work.
Having time at home to cook a meal, play WoW(self admitted addict), read a book and enjoy a movie is more important than work.
Three very simple reasons that I think you will find not only put women off being in IT but also some men, especially those in relationships. I know so many single guys in IT it's a running joke that they need to find a geek girl like me who might actually understand.
I believe that the industry itself must change all practices pertaining to on-call hours, with staff specifically dedicated to covering the graveyard shifts, or a rotating roster where when a person is on-call for the night/weekend they do not have to work during the day either.
Unfortunately, management never ever see it this way - when I decide to have children I will change to contracting in non-technical positions to work around my family. And then there will be yet another gap on the technical side that some other poor soul will have to fill.
Many high level languages do too much for the "programmer" hence creating monkeys that just speak a different language, not actual programmers.
I have found that assembly language gave me a unique insight into how cpus work...which has helped me with a low level understanding of how to improve my high level code, as well as giving me that extra edge for design and bug tracking.
I'm a New Zealander and I work in IT. It's pretty damn easy to find an IT job - especially if you are a Network Admin or Microsoft DBA or Developer. What will shock you is the pay though - I only earn about one third more than the average weekly wage. It's definitely a lifestyle decision, you will not make money to take home. The bank won't even loan me the money for a house.
The reason some people are worried about sexual harassment is because there IS sexual harassment. I've had to "accidentally" reply to the wrong email address to shame someone to stop asking me out!
But, if you want to avoid all that, here are four easy steps:
1) Remember - she's an I.T. geek. She probably loves her computer and her graphics card as much as you. Talk about this stuff and shy away from sex talk.
2) Make sure she's into gaming. If she's not, write her off as a lost cause.
3) Beer, beer and more beer. Or wine if she really really has to. But beer for you. No hard spirits.
4) Make sure she makes friends with one older, married person in the team and that they are part of social events. If she's feeling pressured, she'll cling to this person because she knows they don't want to bang her.
So does this mean someone is going to give me 800g for my epic mount?
You can also stop having to deal with a gf/bf outside of wow.....i got my boyfriend into it so now our "us" time is mostly incorporated into wow. Life + wow = goodness
Last weekend WoW sucked up 30 hours of my time....but it was well worth it. I had some good times with my guildies, and some good loot to boot.
I'm a woman in IT. I'm a developer. And I think it's sexist. If I were in the USA, I might have applied, however i'm not, i'm in New Zealand.
Regardless, programs like this miss the point entirely. The main problem is not a lack of female applicants, its the lack of women in IT. This does not stem from a lack of funding or information - we all have access to the internet.
It stems from the basic belief that computers are a mans domain, and that even if a woman is a programmer extra-curricular activities concerning programming is taking it too far. The solution to this problem is to change peoples attitude toward technology-related sciences, not to throw money at it.
When I first showed interest in computers as a child, it was frowned upon by most of my family in a big way. Change it there, and there will be more openly geeky girl IT grads that will participate in the community without the need for extra money being thrown at them.