Disqus - Latest Comments for PurpleCar

Re: Yes, Philly’s tech scene does have a sexual harassment problem

PurpleCar — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 17:15:55 -0000

Jackie, actually women were over 40% of computer tech/IT workers up until the 80s. We don't know why the drop happened, but theories exist. This article speaks to the gender makeup in computer science college majors but there are other articles that document the female mainframe operators, cobol programmers, et al. who were a good chunk of the workforce before the decline. http://www.smithsonianmag.c...

Re: Yes, Philly’s tech scene does have a sexual harassment problem

PurpleCar — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 13:43:46 -0000

Thank you, Briana! This is a great response.

I so relate to the "proof" part of this. Video with good audio of these incidents would ... help? Perhaps. But the bigger issue is why do we, as women, need more "proof" to convince Philadelphia that harassment in the tech sector is vicious and ubiquitous? I'm sure you received more than one direct message on Twitter after the first article came out, as did I, as did other friends. We women know about this and have experienced it, yet it was a MYSTERY to the one media outlet dedicated to all things Philly tech. I know quite a few talented women in Philly who won't set foot in another tech meetup event. Being hit on, groped, propositioned, laughed at, and not believed is marginalization we have no time for. And frankly, not worth it. Why get yet another job in tech when all this crap will just happen again, ad infinitum?

I call on Technically Philly to become a leader in this space by:

*Lobbying for the implementation of, if there is yet to be one, an independent Ombudsman office in the city government to address harassment issues in the business sector. Yes, any such office will be overwhelmed and free of influence, but that's not the point. The point is for women to have one place in the city to report feeling marginalized at work. *Building a women-in-tech beat that consists of a network of reporters across its other markets
*Construct a diversity training vertical to offer along with its tech events/services income model
*Bring more awareness to its tech meetups and events by offering safe space volunteers, safe space policy posting, etc.

There's more, but that's a start. Thanks for stepping up, Briana. You're one of our best and brightest. You inspire others, men and women, to dare imagine a welcoming and (therefore) fiercely competitive Philly tech scene.

Re: Commentary: Philly journalists, keep chats with pols on the record

PurpleCar — Sun, 16 Oct 2016 09:53:51 -0000

I find the lack of comments on this article disturbing. Does no-one care to discuss this?

Re: Closing Aperture

PurpleCar — Fri, 06 Mar 2015 12:06:35 -0000

I'm kicking myself I didn't buy Lightroom when I was trying to decide JUST LAST YEAR. RRG.

Re: Mom records her two kids covering Hero

PurpleCar — Wed, 04 Feb 2015 12:22:00 -0000

Aw! This made me cry, it's so beautiful, so simple and fun but breathtaking. Thank you very much for sharing this.

Re: The Post-Blogging age

PurpleCar — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 10:50:13 -0000

Lisbeth Salander is a great example of a cyberpunk character gone mainstream, to support your point about the general adoption and ubiquity of the trope. Any online writer is Lisbeth now, isn't she?

Re: Media startup PhillyVoice.com is staffed by these ex-Philly.com staffers

PurpleCar — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 11:14:39 -0000

Ms. Reyes & Technical.ly Philly: This article and all the added value via links is great reporting. As a 20+year veteran of the digital space and as a Web and Internet specialist, I don't fully understand the controversy in our local newsrooms, like the recent developments at philly.com, the Inky & DN, @thephillyvoice and Billy Penn. This kind of reporting, with its update of new information mixed with the background information via links, is exactly what I need in order to catch up. Thank you.

Can I ask for a little op-ed to help make sense of it all? Is this all just a battle between the old vs. the new? Are the Inky & DN failing because of Old White Guy Syndrome? Is the basic lack of understanding of how web advertising works at the crux of this? How much "bad blood" is at work here, between Norcross, Tierney, Lenfest and the journalism community? I realize I'm asking for what can be constituted as gossip, but I feel like everyone's walking on eggshells and being rather obtuse about the whole Philly news arena. Politics abound, I get it, but is there no-one to add a voice of reason to this melee? Other cities seem to have commenters who critique their news communities in constructive ways... Perhaps I'm just missing it. If so, please direct me. I feel a distinct need to grasp what is going on here in Philly, as it is simply a microcosm of what is happening with every industry, every individual, and every brand online. Thanks.

Re: $100 campaigns

PurpleCar — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 14:00:58 -0000

That's like the start-up world's "Minimally Viable Product" ... sometimes those aren't such a great idea. Does this mean we writers/journalists should always blog for major outlets for free? To "try out" a column idea?

Re: A Third of You Have Done Things Just to Talk About Them on Facebook

PurpleCar — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 13:58:18 -0000

We don't have any pre-web baseline info here. I'm sure Boomers and GenXers remember being goaded into doing something with "Oh, C'mon, at least it'll make a great story." I'm not a fan of perpetuating this illusion that social tech elicits new behaviors. We are human, our behaviors are human, we are simply using new tools. We have ALWAYS done things for the sole reason of telling someone else after, or making someone else do it too, etc. etc.

Re: #selfie culture

PurpleCar — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 13:48:48 -0000

I doubt this is a fad. (Sorry for my late reply)

Re: #selfie culture

PurpleCar — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 11:47:06 -0000

Sigh. I suppose art like this has to be made if we are to process the social changes. But this is media hype. #selfieculture isn't a thing, it doesn't exist. Just because people take selfies doesn't mean it's a phenomenon poised to take over decency. These are the same old industrial revolution fears we see EVERY. TIME. Go back and look at the writings about the Guttenberg press, how book reading was feared as the destruction to all things societal. I personally cannot WAIT until the Boomers (and some Xers) are done hemming and hawing about online communications like this. It's truly disgusting.

Re: Twitter's head of news out after a year

PurpleCar — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 07:25:01 -0000

I just saw Vivian Schiller speak 2 weeks ago at the Online News Association conference, and of course she made no mention of a reorganization at Twitter. What's behind this? And what do you think the trend is?

Re: Online News Association Conference: Paper Apocalypse 2014

PurpleCar — Mon, 06 Oct 2014 18:06:18 -0000

Slowly but surely, let's hope. I'll take slowly rather than not at all...

Re: Love in the time of SHiYA

PurpleCar — Tue, 09 Sep 2014 15:13:43 -0000

i saw what u did thar

Re: Myers-Briggs=Horoscope

PurpleCar — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 16:24:08 -0000

Validation bias works like this: A supposed authority tells you random traits. They tell you these traits are associated with you. You adopt this as fact, and focus on those traits in you as dominant and identifying, even if the traits seemed less prominent in your personality prior to this interaction. So yes, it applies as soon as you get your MBTI results. It also applies when you are getting your palm read or you're reading your fortune cookie insert, or looking up your horoscope or "what your name says about you" sites.

The real fact is that anyone can display any trait at any time. You have habits, of course, but even those are constantly changing and influenced by our environments and pliable world views. If the MBTI says you're a procrastinator, that doesn't mean you are. No-one *IS* a procrastinator. People procrastinate, but that doesn't mean it isn't a changeable behavior.

Tests like the MBTI are dangerous in that they limit people. They are dangerous in the same way an evil fortune-teller is. What if a fortune-teller told you your family was going to die? What if you believed it? Your behavior would most certainly change. The same goes with MBTI and validation bias. If you think, "Oh, I'm a Feeling person and I can't possibly be coldhearted, so taking this candy from this baby is really OK," then we're in dangerous waters.

If you'd like to go deeper into self-examination, I suggest daily journaling. Like all things, good things only come with work. A few hours' spent on a test is a false promise of a quick-fix for a deeper issue.

Re: Myers-Briggs=Horoscope

PurpleCar — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 11:07:53 -0000

I understand that it seems accurate enough. But that's a common validation bias (subjective validation) that works the same way with horoscopes. Lots of research indicates that the MBTI is garbage for personality assessment. It makes sense that it is, it's based on Jung's research-less kookiness. Garbage in, garbage out, as they say. More on subjective validation - the process behind horoscopes seeming "so real!" https://en.wikipedia.org/wi...

Re: Newsroomers, mainframers, and the missing hashtag life

PurpleCar — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 13:35:12 -0000

oh. oops. I wish I'd known the "off the record" tradition of the space. That being said, though, Mac, I have found a lack of social tool use amongst journalists, especially the traditional ones. It's a cultural issue, surely, and the debate around it continues.

Re: What to do when someone corrects your grammar

PurpleCar — Mon, 18 Aug 2014 09:30:15 -0000

We aren't speaking about kids in a classroom with their teacher. We meant to discuss adults correcting other adults.

Re: On social media and collective mourning

PurpleCar — Tue, 12 Aug 2014 08:44:02 -0000

And then there's the curmudgeon who uses social media to grumble about how other people respond on social media... ;)

Re: Thoughts and data on proposing to get married and then sharing online

PurpleCar — Tue, 29 Jul 2014 17:33:07 -0000

The level of hilarity (and joy!) of this post: HIGH. Congrats!

And no worries. Any future offspring will blow your engagement stats out of the water...

Re: What to do when someone corrects your grammar

PurpleCar — Mon, 28 Jul 2014 11:53:44 -0000

Excellent advice.

Re: Saying No… to Myself: A GenXer with a Dream

PurpleCar — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 11:45:33 -0000

I am feeling a bit better since I posted this. I'm working on an op-ed I hope gets accepted somewhere. Still, it isn't what one would call "personal" work. I think I'm just going to have to give up writing publicly about personal things.

Re: Saying No… to Myself: A GenXer with a Dream

PurpleCar — Mon, 23 Jun 2014 08:45:42 -0000

Thanks, anon! Yes, no one can push me anywhere but the Fates, and even they have only temporary influence (Death on the other hand...). Writers are basically lonely people until they've written and published quite a bit. I just don't know if it is a good way to spend my time. Honestly, I'm afraid it'll be a mistake in the end and I will have wasted the last of my good earning years. It's a practical decision as well as a dreamy one.

Re: What to do when someone corrects your grammar

PurpleCar — Sat, 21 Jun 2014 07:03:30 -0000

Well, sure, but this is more like editing in a professional context.

Re: What to do when someone corrects your grammar

PurpleCar — Sat, 21 Jun 2014 07:03:03 -0000

Thank you, Alexander, for this note. I am so happy my article helped you. Yes, people are incredibly cruel online but it is my hope this will change, as our behavior online will reflect on our real-life identities.

Type-ahead and auto correct also make mistakes in type, especially in the your/you're distinction. You are quite astute to notice that correcting someone's grammar is a weapon used to demean and silence. A good question that arises from your observation, good to ask of the corrector: "Oh, did a minor mistake throw you off? Are you not capable of parsing meaning from context? Then perhaps this level of argument isn't for you."

Best of luck, Alexander, and thank you for spending your time and energy learning English. I know it isn't easy. I'm happy you and I can communicate easily.