Or... not necessarily that *you* care, but you recognize it has an effect on others, and changes *their* perception and treatment of you. I.E. It matters.
For example, if I wanted to wear my more revealing clothes at work, I might not really care that others would take objection to it, but it would be very naive of me to think it doesn't affect me.
It's more of a concious thought as to what the unwritten rules of society are.
(Here's a kicker: in the summer, when cycling, I usually wear a low cut dress (with bike shorts underneath). Drivers treat me nicer and give me more space on the road. It changes drivers' perception from a generic "f*n cyclist" -> "don't hit the pretty girl on the bike")
Referencing yourself as "girl" when it can be linked to your real self is not the wisest thing to do from a professional standpoint.
"geekgirl" just doesn't inspire an image of professional capacity to me. The use of the word "chick" in the username bugs me for the same reason. Why are these women fighting for its use when it's related to their professional context?
Sometimes identifying oneself as female in a username comes off as begging for attention (or maybe just acknowledging it), but it can also be used purposefully (i.e. indicating to people on a forum that yes, really, there are women here). I tend to avoid its use, and when I do use it, it's certainly not "girl" or "chick".
Take the webmaster of LJ, for example. She feels the need to use "webmistress" and use an avatar of a blonde in black leather S&M gear... with her real name beside it. What does that do to her professional credibility, and how well do you think other professional women appreciate it? What does that do to men's attitudes about women in IT?
I encountered the same issue, was naive enough to figure proving my scenario would mean something to them. (I had a cell phone which had no coverage where I lived - in a large city 0.5 km away from the largest university).
In the end, what did work was going to Visa and making a claim to refund charges on the basis that I was a sold a service and device that didn't provide the services and work anywhere near as advertised. Despite a "blah blah blah we can't guarantee 100% coverage clause" in the cell phone contract, I didn't get much argument from Visa. I had informed the cell phone company what I was doing and why, and I had plenty of documentation to back me up, so they realized pretty quickly it wasn't worth fighting me tooth and nail about it.
Hell, banks, cell phone, and cable companies change their service and fees all the time, and we put up with it.
I'm not saying we should put up with it... but bait and switch has been working so long, it's not really a surprise that others do it too. It really makes you wonder why we let it slide when it costs us more money for fewer services than what was originally agreed on.
I have six or seven keys on a lanyard, which makes them easier to find in my backpack or purse. They always have a specific pocket they go in, there. I also take them out of the backpack and leave them hanging around my neck (sometimes in my jacket or shirt) if I am about to take groceries home (50m walk), or biking and stopping short distances for errands, or am coming home later at night to my apartment. I don't want to have to go digging for them.
When I arrive home, they always get hung up on the doorknob.
I'm going to need a leatherman tool in four months, and I hate wearing belts (they cut into my skin in some spots), so my whole process may have to change. Something carabiner-oriented might be a solution.
"but in reality those bigger companies give the new guys the shit jobs while the senior guys do the fun stuff"
This happens in any field. The first job might not be what you want. That's why it's your *first* job.
I think a lot people come out of school expecting they're immediately get some rock star high-paying job in the field they just trained in (because they're so awesome and talented). That rarely happens. Newbies need to put in their time, then with a year or two of experience under their belts, they can move on to something better.
The point (on here) is that Steve was really proud / pretentious / narcissistic that they do exactly that. He takes a swipe at others for being lowbrow.
(This whole thread is going to be a "shades of grey" argument, anyways.)
Or finding out some woman you don't know has three friends in common with you, all three of which don't know each other, two of which each live in different cities (and were previous boyfriends). This woman looks similar enough to me that we could be sisters. Cool and creepy, all at the same time.
I also found out one of my cousins (who I don't know that well) is a friend of one of my best friends.
I go dancing a lot, so once I start meeting more dancers and adding some of them, I get a whole list of other people I see but don't really know. I've met a few industry contacts that way, and found people who were into the same (other) hobbies I was. It is a great tool for meeting more people. Knowing you have something in common with someone makes it easier to break the ice with someone.
I also use facebook and my blog as a means of advertising my skills and interests. Personal marketing.
First and last step of advice: go out in the real world instead of playing games all the time.
Not trolling, I'm serious. One of my friends used to play WoW every waking hour he wasn't working, and used to complain he didn't have a girlfriend. I guess he just expected one to knock on the door and jump him? He already made the choice to not have a girlfriend by avoiding the circumstances for getting one, but that didn't occour to him.
A few months ago I asked my city's transit if they would post pdfs of the schedules on the web page. They print route schedules/maps and provide them in malls, campuses, and larger public places all over the city. Online, they use Navigo trip planner, links to pdfs and gifs of route maps, and text links to the schedules. So obviously they have some graphic designer in a hole somewhere making this stuff, and probably with InDesign. Despite all the obvious cost in printed materials, and huge effort in the web site, apparently it's too much to ask to export & post a simple pdf of the indesign they used for the printed schedules. My options are to go through every route and print to pdf with their tables that print strangely, or scan the actual schedule (or carry them, but I really need to minimize the junk I carry with me). The other option is to use a data plan on a cell phone. However, this has not stopped them from offering a "hip" TXT service to relate to the youth of today. All I want to do is slap a copy on my desktop and laptop, and one on my Archos for good measure too.
My friend who works at a University had the job of going through archives of "important material" and scanning it in. This "important material" had virtually all come to the email of the computer technical support... as in, they received it digitally, printed it, possibly deleted the email, but now want to scan and possibly OCR it.
I'm breaking my back and backpack from trying to cram CCNA & MCSE books with a binder and a laptop with me. No, seriously, I had minor back problems, but now they are much worse.
I used to work at a print shop where the teacher's society wanted to see if we could scan in the annual reports of the last ten years. They were printed in a green and purple tone with had pretty much the same colour value. They wanted small files (i.e. greyscale). They did not have copies of the indesign/coreldraw/whatever file.
I understand the posted article has some merit with old books, but there are so many times I see at attempt to fix a problem that has solution in the first place. If something is created with a digital file, then use it, for crying out loud. It doesn't have to be this difficult.
I don't mind the brown so much, but a lot of people do. I switch up the theme every now and then with beautiful artwork.
That being said, you can use your computer work with ugly wallpaper, or you can use it for work with nice wallpaper. I know what option most of us would choose.
There's a whole discipline of environmental design, and for good reason. Environment and aesthetics do affect mood and productivity. Although many computer scientists wouldn't know good design if it bit them in the ass, there are UI classes that deal with this. The concept is not a piece of fluff pulled out of thin air.
I just went back to college and it's amazed me how many kids have a laptop. You're right, the vast majority are playing WoW, playing hockey highlights, watching movies, Facebook, twitter, texting on their cellphone while in class.
I've noticed in one of my more boring (MCSE) classes, I get fidgety and the urge to look at CCNA material or Linux Journal (digital copy subscription) while on the lab computers gets pretty high. However, as boring as class is, I will still miss something important if I look at something else.
I've got it in my head that having a beautiful LaTeX document for notetaking would be ideal, but in all honesty it's too much work, and the computer is distracting. I really think pen and paper notetaking is the way to go - it simply allows you to focus better.
As others have said, the quest for finding good pens has started.
I write my notes on regular bond, so they're easy to spiral or coil-bind after. I also have the option to take them to my last workplace and run them through the document feeder/scanner to make into a pdf.
I have considered that. I've never really had the urge and haven't had it recently, even though I'm now 31. I'm giving thought to the snip, well aware my wishes may change in the future, but pretty certain they won't. If that happens, there are other rewarding options like adoption, doing work in the community, spending more time with my nephews, coaching (I have a very athletic background). Last year I dated someone with a kid, so that's a possibility (but nothing I can really plan). If I make the decision, I have to be ok with it. Life often doesn't go as planned, but how I choose to deal with the experiences and hiccups is up to me.
I really think there are a lot more women like me than society lets on. There are also people who regret having children, which is a very taboo concept to discuss.
Admittedly, I am quite an odd duck female in so many aspects; my opinions might not be very indicative of the female population.
(The issue I had with the "mentor" was he told me I was "that age", childless, and *shouldn't go back to school* - i.e. put my life on hold, remain low-paid, go get a man ASAP, and have children when I don't feel I want them. That sounds like a stellar plan.)
And as a woman in a computer discipline, I can say:
1) There can be some vicious treatment sometimes, but it's not terribly often. Most of it is a immature junior-high remark, or getting excluded from a group. I have yet to encounter anything physically threatening, though (unlike my last job, which wasn't computing related). I can tell there are some people who don't know how to react to my presence, or get embarrassed if they technically slip on a PC issue. If the intent is well-meant, or if they're generally polite, I don't take offence.
2) It's up to me to deal with it. In general, acting like a professional, keeping your cool, and politely letting people know where your boundaries are goes a long way. Picking your fights helps too - don't get uppity at the smallest thing - everyone, male or female, has pinches at their workplace. Nasty stuff like a company that hires you to do tech work and instead makes you their coffee bitch gets an immediate vote of new job hunting and my feet out the door ASAP. Actually, something like that happened to a coworker, and it was a big factor to me leaving... I'm not about to argue with several members of an old boys' club. What's the point, for any of us, if I stay there?
The summary basically is: crap happens, deal with it. Get a backbone, treat yourself with self-worth, quit acting like a victim, and you won't be as one.
(My favorite incident was a guy who told me I shouldn't go back to school because it would be difficult, and I was approaching 30, so I had better have children while I can because all women want children when they're around 30, and I'll regret it if I don't. This coming from a fat, balding, divorced, childless middle-aged guy. This could have "scarred me for life", but instead I decide to spend time with people other than him. Problem solved. n.b. - Taking a MCSE & CCNA college program starting in January. I guess I had better drop out now, because of some nasty things four people have said to me in the last few years.)
One of the folks in my Unix User Group gave a presentation on Request Tracker (RT). He had been using something else for a while, but was quite happy with how clean yet customizable this was. There's an O'Reilly book too, if you want to check it out.
Slashdot Mirror
... and how far from a fault line? Seems about one of the dumbest place to build one to me as well.
Or... not necessarily that *you* care, but you recognize it has an effect on others, and changes *their* perception and treatment of you. I.E. It matters.
For example, if I wanted to wear my more revealing clothes at work, I might not really care that others would take objection to it, but it would be very naive of me to think it doesn't affect me.
It's more of a concious thought as to what the unwritten rules of society are.
(Here's a kicker: in the summer, when cycling, I usually wear a low cut dress (with bike shorts underneath). Drivers treat me nicer and give me more space on the road. It changes drivers' perception from a generic "f*n cyclist" -> "don't hit the pretty girl on the bike")
Referencing yourself as "girl" when it can be linked to your real self is not the wisest thing to do from a professional standpoint.
"geekgirl" just doesn't inspire an image of professional capacity to me. The use of the word "chick" in the username bugs me for the same reason. Why are these women fighting for its use when it's related to their professional context?
Sometimes identifying oneself as female in a username comes off as begging for attention (or maybe just acknowledging it), but it can also be used purposefully (i.e. indicating to people on a forum that yes, really, there are women here). I tend to avoid its use, and when I do use it, it's certainly not "girl" or "chick".
Take the webmaster of LJ, for example. She feels the need to use "webmistress" and use an avatar of a blonde in black leather S&M gear... with her real name beside it. What does that do to her professional credibility, and how well do you think other professional women appreciate it? What does that do to men's attitudes about women in IT?
thanks; I hadn't poked in there for a while, and had forgotten about it
(mod parent up)
Unfortunately true.
I encountered the same issue, was naive enough to figure proving my scenario would mean something to them. (I had a cell phone which had no coverage where I lived - in a large city 0.5 km away from the largest university).
In the end, what did work was going to Visa and making a claim to refund charges on the basis that I was a sold a service and device that didn't provide the services and work anywhere near as advertised. Despite a "blah blah blah we can't guarantee 100% coverage clause" in the cell phone contract, I didn't get much argument from Visa. I had informed the cell phone company what I was doing and why, and I had plenty of documentation to back me up, so they realized pretty quickly it wasn't worth fighting me tooth and nail about it.
Hell, banks, cell phone, and cable companies change their service and fees all the time, and we put up with it.
I'm not saying we should put up with it... but bait and switch has been working so long, it's not really a surprise that others do it too. It really makes you wonder why we let it slide when it costs us more money for fewer services than what was originally agreed on.
I have six or seven keys on a lanyard, which makes them easier to find in my backpack or purse. They always have a specific pocket they go in, there. I also take them out of the backpack and leave them hanging around my neck (sometimes in my jacket or shirt) if I am about to take groceries home (50m walk), or biking and stopping short distances for errands, or am coming home later at night to my apartment. I don't want to have to go digging for them.
When I arrive home, they always get hung up on the doorknob.
I'm going to need a leatherman tool in four months, and I hate wearing belts (they cut into my skin in some spots), so my whole process may have to change. Something carabiner-oriented might be a solution.
"but in reality those bigger companies give the new guys the shit jobs while the senior guys do the fun stuff"
This happens in any field. The first job might not be what you want. That's why it's your *first* job.
I think a lot people come out of school expecting they're immediately get some rock star high-paying job in the field they just trained in (because they're so awesome and talented). That rarely happens. Newbies need to put in their time, then with a year or two of experience under their belts, they can move on to something better.
The point (on here) is that Steve was really proud / pretentious / narcissistic that they do exactly that. He takes a swipe at others for being lowbrow.
(This whole thread is going to be a "shades of grey" argument, anyways.)
RFC 1149, or its contemporary, RFC 2549, would be better. Get with the times.
Or finding out some woman you don't know has three friends in common with you, all three of which don't know each other, two of which each live in different cities (and were previous boyfriends). This woman looks similar enough to me that we could be sisters. Cool and creepy, all at the same time.
I also found out one of my cousins (who I don't know that well) is a friend of one of my best friends.
I go dancing a lot, so once I start meeting more dancers and adding some of them, I get a whole list of other people I see but don't really know. I've met a few industry contacts that way, and found people who were into the same (other) hobbies I was. It is a great tool for meeting more people. Knowing you have something in common with someone makes it easier to break the ice with someone.
I also use facebook and my blog as a means of advertising my skills and interests. Personal marketing.
In other words, get rid of a vertical monopoly.
Regardless, it's moot after the fact, isn't it? There's also no guarantee a company you trust wouldn't do something unexpected, either.
The most valuable lesson I've learned in the last two years is you are your own marketing department :)
First and last step of advice: go out in the real world instead of playing games all the time.
Not trolling, I'm serious. One of my friends used to play WoW every waking hour he wasn't working, and used to complain he didn't have a girlfriend. I guess he just expected one to knock on the door and jump him? He already made the choice to not have a girlfriend by avoiding the circumstances for getting one, but that didn't occour to him.
A few months ago I asked my city's transit if they would post pdfs of the schedules on the web page. They print route schedules/maps and provide them in malls, campuses, and larger public places all over the city. Online, they use Navigo trip planner, links to pdfs and gifs of route maps, and text links to the schedules. So obviously they have some graphic designer in a hole somewhere making this stuff, and probably with InDesign.
Despite all the obvious cost in printed materials, and huge effort in the web site, apparently it's too much to ask to export & post a simple pdf of the indesign they used for the printed schedules. My options are to go through every route and print to pdf with their tables that print strangely, or scan the actual schedule (or carry them, but I really need to minimize the junk I carry with me). The other option is to use a data plan on a cell phone. However, this has not stopped them from offering a "hip" TXT service to relate to the youth of today. All I want to do is slap a copy on my desktop and laptop, and one on my Archos for good measure too.
My friend who works at a University had the job of going through archives of "important material" and scanning it in. This "important material" had virtually all come to the email of the computer technical support... as in, they received it digitally, printed it, possibly deleted the email, but now want to scan and possibly OCR it.
I'm breaking my back and backpack from trying to cram CCNA & MCSE books with a binder and a laptop with me. No, seriously, I had minor back problems, but now they are much worse.
I used to work at a print shop where the teacher's society wanted to see if we could scan in the annual reports of the last ten years. They were printed in a green and purple tone with had pretty much the same colour value. They wanted small files (i.e. greyscale). They did not have copies of the indesign/coreldraw/whatever file.
I understand the posted article has some merit with old books, but there are so many times I see at attempt to fix a problem that has solution in the first place. If something is created with a digital file, then use it, for crying out loud. It doesn't have to be this difficult.
Or my Dad, who has had a quad bypass, dual bypass, and now a pacemaker/defrib but still has retirement savings and a home?
Or my Mom, who had surgery for lung cancer and radiation therapy for the brain cancer, starting less than a month after she was initially diagnosed?
I had health issues last year, but none of it was life threatening, and all it took to fix was being a polite squeaky wheel.
I don't mind the brown so much, but a lot of people do. I switch up the theme every now and then with beautiful artwork.
That being said, you can use your computer work with ugly wallpaper, or you can use it for work with nice wallpaper. I know what option most of us would choose.
There's a whole discipline of environmental design, and for good reason. Environment and aesthetics do affect mood and productivity. Although many computer scientists wouldn't know good design if it bit them in the ass, there are UI classes that deal with this. The concept is not a piece of fluff pulled out of thin air.
I just went back to college and it's amazed me how many kids have a laptop. You're right, the vast majority are playing WoW, playing hockey highlights, watching movies, Facebook, twitter, texting on their cellphone while in class.
I've noticed in one of my more boring (MCSE) classes, I get fidgety and the urge to look at CCNA material or Linux Journal (digital copy subscription) while on the lab computers gets pretty high. However, as boring as class is, I will still miss something important if I look at something else.
I've got it in my head that having a beautiful LaTeX document for notetaking would be ideal, but in all honesty it's too much work, and the computer is distracting. I really think pen and paper notetaking is the way to go - it simply allows you to focus better.
As others have said, the quest for finding good pens has started.
I write my notes on regular bond, so they're easy to spiral or coil-bind after. I also have the option to take them to my last workplace and run them through the document feeder/scanner to make into a pdf.
My Archos 5 is multitouch (not sure about the 7). The iPad has 1/4 of the hard drive space for twice the cost of my Archos 5.
The other way of looking at their device is it's a touchscreen netbook. Wooo.
This doesn't really strike me as anything close to innovation.
But using "me" is funnier, especially in the context of your original post.
I have considered that. I've never really had the urge and haven't had it recently, even though I'm now 31. I'm giving thought to the snip, well aware my wishes may change in the future, but pretty certain they won't. If that happens, there are other rewarding options like adoption, doing work in the community, spending more time with my nephews, coaching (I have a very athletic background). Last year I dated someone with a kid, so that's a possibility (but nothing I can really plan). If I make the decision, I have to be ok with it. Life often doesn't go as planned, but how I choose to deal with the experiences and hiccups is up to me.
I really think there are a lot more women like me than society lets on. There are also people who regret having children, which is a very taboo concept to discuss.
Admittedly, I am quite an odd duck female in so many aspects; my opinions might not be very indicative of the female population.
(The issue I had with the "mentor" was he told me I was "that age", childless, and *shouldn't go back to school* - i.e. put my life on hold, remain low-paid, go get a man ASAP, and have children when I don't feel I want them. That sounds like a stellar plan.)
(Yes, I have watched the beginning of Idiocracy.)
And as a woman in a computer discipline, I can say:
1) There can be some vicious treatment sometimes, but it's not terribly often. Most of it is a immature junior-high remark, or getting excluded from a group. I have yet to encounter anything physically threatening, though (unlike my last job, which wasn't computing related). I can tell there are some people who don't know how to react to my presence, or get embarrassed if they technically slip on a PC issue. If the intent is well-meant, or if they're generally polite, I don't take offence.
2) It's up to me to deal with it. In general, acting like a professional, keeping your cool, and politely letting people know where your boundaries are goes a long way. Picking your fights helps too - don't get uppity at the smallest thing - everyone, male or female, has pinches at their workplace. Nasty stuff like a company that hires you to do tech work and instead makes you their coffee bitch gets an immediate vote of new job hunting and my feet out the door ASAP. Actually, something like that happened to a coworker, and it was a big factor to me leaving... I'm not about to argue with several members of an old boys' club. What's the point, for any of us, if I stay there?
The summary basically is: crap happens, deal with it. Get a backbone, treat yourself with self-worth, quit acting like a victim, and you won't be as one.
(My favorite incident was a guy who told me I shouldn't go back to school because it would be difficult, and I was approaching 30, so I had better have children while I can because all women want children when they're around 30, and I'll regret it if I don't. This coming from a fat, balding, divorced, childless middle-aged guy. This could have "scarred me for life", but instead I decide to spend time with people other than him. Problem solved. n.b. - Taking a MCSE & CCNA college program starting in January. I guess I had better drop out now, because of some nasty things four people have said to me in the last few years.)
A bit of personal commentary on him using it here (Jan 13 2009)
An important but sad lesson to be learned for *any* matter: legalities, rights, and law mean dick all if you don't have the money to fight for them.
There is also stress to consider. It's a difficult, long-term process likely to drive many people insane.