Tag: Geek Chic
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In the Blog
Guest Post: Make Math Class Your JAM #tooschoolforcool
by vaneSSa vakharia Okay, so school’s back in full swing and the excitement of new classes, shiny school supplies & first-day-back outfits is starting to lose its lustre. That whole idea you had in your head of getting straight A’s this year is starting to crumble under the mountains of homework you have (already!) and your math teacher has moved well past last year’s review and is now throwing some serious curveballs. You’re one more equation … READ MORE
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In the Blog
A week with Girls Learning Code
During March Break from March 12th to the 16th, 40 girls attended the first Girls Learning Code camp in Toronto, a technology program aimed at getting girls interested in the tech industry by teaching them to create and influence technology as a means of self-expression, instead of merely consuming it. The camp was created by the tech-savvy leaders of Ladies Learning Code, a not-for-profit Toronto group that provides women with a supportive space to comfortably hone … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Where Do You Draw The Line When It Comes To Where You Are Online?
“Are you online?” I was watching You’ve Got Mail the other night and smirked a little at this particular line. To these characters (from just 10 years ago), being online meant having an email account and apparently visiting chat rooms. That was it. Now, if you’re online, chances are, you’re more than one place online. Chances are, you’re plenty of places online. Myself, I have a website and a blog. I’m on Twitter, Facebook, and though I … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Shameless is Off to WAM!
A number of Shameless staff members are off to the Women Action Media conference this weekend in Boston. We’re looking forward to meeting up with fantastic feminists from all over North America in a three day media/feminist geek out. Check out the WAM! homepage to see who is liveblogging the conference, or follow the #wam09 hash tag on twitter to get all the updates! … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Ada Lovelace Day: Ursula Franklin
A couple of months ago I pledged to blog for Ada Lovelace Day, an initiative put forth by Suw Charman-Anderson, digital rights activist, journalist and blogger. The initiative seeks to challenge the notion that women are absent from science by shedding light on women who have excelled in science. I have chosen to look at some of the achievements and theories of Governor General’s Award winner, U.N. Pearson Peace Medal Honouree, award-winning physicist and metallurgist Ursula … READ MORE
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In the Blog
My kind of gal - Ada Lovelace
Attend via FaceBook. As Jayme Poisson tells us in “Mothers of Invention” (Shameless, Fall 2008), Countess Ada (Nee Byron) Lovelace was one of the world’s first computer programmers. In fact, her programs, written for friend Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine, pre-date the existence of the machine itself, since Babbage died before it reached completion. Both a bleeding edge technician, and the purveyor of Romantic-Era vaporware, Lovelace was a pioneering expert in the novel field of computation … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Did people get this worked up about rollerskates?
For those of us involved in youth media or technology, the last few weeks have been all about the results of a 3.3 million dollar research project, funded by the MacArthur Foundation called Kids’ Informal Learning with Digital Media: An Ethnographic Investigation of Innovative Knowledge Culture. The project was carried out by investigators at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Berkeley. The purpose of the research? To discover and learn about … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Free as in freedom
Before I get to commenting on the Women in Linux HOWTO, I think it is ten past overdue o’clock that I get up a post on free software, open-source, closed-source, and maybe just a teensy bit on why people hate Microsoft. This could go on and on and on: the arguments and positions are complex. Each one of these subheadings could easily be a whole post, or book (and they are). I’ve been warned that … READ MORE
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In the Blog
I am a victim of H8
I am a Victim of H8 is a Facebook photo album created by Gary Shay. Each of the images is of the same slogan, and the idea is that people should tag the images with the names of everyone they know who is negatively affected by Prop 8. Presumably this includes self-tagging. I am still trying to decide if I should tag myself, since as a Canadian I am not directly affected by the new legislation. … READ MORE
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In the Blog
You write like a dude Shameless
It’s true, “GenderAnalyzer” told me so. I even took a pic of the form results so there is proof. Next time anyone accuses Shameless of being say… a harpies nest of left-wing feminist reactionaries, we can easily fire back with “yeah but we write like men, so whatever, talk to the pen!” Apparently I also write like a man, or pick manly topics, or use manly sentence structures, or have a masculine vocabulary? Who really knows (sigh). … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Private parts vs. private places
Good morning to all you Saturday surfers . Today I’d like to bring some attention to this troubling article from yesterday’s Globe and Mail - Faceless no more: Social networking comes with a price. The basic premise is one we are familiar with: “Young Canadians share too much information online and they don’t understand the risks involved - or care about their privacy.” “During a two month-long investigation, The Globe and Mail tracked more than a … READ MORE
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In the Blog
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In the Blog
Math is fun!
Or it would be if I was doing it on a Curta Mechanical Calculator. (Damned newfangled electronic calculators have no personality.) Summary description of the Curta from Dark Roasted Blend: * Entirely mechanical, no electricity or batteries involved. * Designed by Curt Herzstark in 1938 and perfected inside a concentration camp. * Considered to be the most efficient portable calculator (until electronic calculators came in the 70s) * Simply a thing of beauty, stunning piece of engineering art. Click the link … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Drupal or DIY
I’ve been building this site for the upcoming Pan-Canadian Young Feminist Gathering, Waves of Resistance/Toujours Rebelles, using “brand new to me” Drupal. In less techie terms, Drupal is an open source content management system (CMS), with the benefit being that non-professionals can learn to use this tool to build dynamic websites that they have full control over and can allow others to access the process with them. It has definitely been a steep learning curve … READ MORE
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In the Blog
iTunes U
The iTunes franchise has quietly launched a totally free new section in their store, nestled between Podcasts and iPod Games. It’s called iTunes U, and it contains (free) video and (free) audio courtesy of major universities, PBS and cultural institutions (like MoMA), effectively allowing you to sit in on classes and conferences all over the US. University of California Berkeley in particular has a huge selection of lectures posted. Meet iTunes U. It might be the robber baron … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Little what?
So this is a new charitable organization called Little Geeks: “Little Geeks is a philanthropic organization and registered Canadian charity that collects, refurbishes and re-distributes donated home computers to children in need.” How about that graphic design - like Toys R’Us on poppers. I feel like Joe Matt must have done the illustrations since no-one has eyeballs. Seriously though, “Little Geeks”? I can’t say I like it. Though it may seem harsh to take shots at … READ MORE
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In the Blog
What you watch when you’re not watching anything
Until I get off (on?) my ass and see some movies, I really should get myself removed from the Film Friday rotation. For popcorny movies I have a big backlog of last-in-a-series movies to see. Like the most recent Bourne Identity and the most recent Bond. Then there’s the new stuff that I’ve been waiting for, like Kung Fu Panda and Wall-E (hello? Short Circuit? Anyone?). When I do want to curl up (who am … READ MORE
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In the Blog
If my ringtone had a haircut it would be a fauxhawk
This is one day late for Wired Wednesday, maybe we can call it post-Thursday? For all you Electro fans out there, check out toneShared, it’s a library of ringtones by Electro artists available for free. Yeah that’s right, dump Rihanna and go for Caribou, or if you’re feeling experimental maybe Chris Herbert? … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Save Our Net Party
The Save Our Net coalition and Campaign for Democratic Media are hosting an event this weekend to discuss net neutrality and to strategize ways to prevent the internet from being tightly controlled by telecommunications corps, which are trying to limit what information we can access online. Steve Anderson, national co-ordinator of the Campaign For Democratic Media, will speak about the issues, including: how these companies have already been caught throttling or slowing internet traffic to businesses … READ MORE
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In the Blog
The curious inoffensiveness of Grand Theft Auto
Naomi Alderman finds something to love about the new Grand Theft Auto in The Guardian today, debunking claims that it is “horrifically violent, verging on pornographic, and that a majority of the gameplay is taken up with finding creative ways to murder prostitutes.” Her own enjoyment of the game, she says, come from the incredible graphics and the quality of the gameplay. Okay, fair enough, but the object of the game is still to shoot people … READ MORE