nataliepo

You are Not a Userpic.

Did you get a visit from the Google Feature Fairy yesterday?  I did, and some lovely new colors appeared in the top navigation bar.  I saw some changes on the Grand Ol’ Search Engine page, too.  Then, a curious little bubble hovered in the right sidebar of my Gmail inbox, reminding me of the userpic connected to my account.  I got the hint: Google is going to use my picture in more ways than it used to.

Hmmmmmmmmm. Forgot about that picture I'd chosen.  It’s a photo of me (this picture, actually) with too much flash and some curly, straggly bangs in my old office.

It’s not too bad in the right size, like the medium 200x200 size above, but this is what it looks like when it’s really small.

So, I’m thinking, as I often do, in the middle of my intense internet-checking and app-coding days, do I really want that picture, possibly that small, associated with every single email that I send?  

Hmmmmmmmmmmm (with more m’s).  No, I don’t think I do.

This got me thinking about all the folks out there who haven't committed to a picture, icon, or doodad to represent them online.  Ever sign up for a new site only to find that their default userpics (or avatars or Profile Pictures, what have you!) look a bit...similar? 

 

Yes, these are how community members in the Year 2011 are actually represented until they change their picture to something else.  I know what you're thinking: Crikey, the sexism! So much blue and gray and crew-cutting! Reader, I’m with you, and so are others.  But, today, I’m going to give these services’ cloudy-weather theme a break.  We shall travel deeper.

Even on xojane.com, the comments are provided by a service called Disqus, which powers the discussion for whole lot of great online communities with a light technical footprint.  Despite the femme vibes on the site (with frisky colors like #B71B3B Pink and #FFF000 Yellow), all of us commenters have got the same default look.

WHAT A HUNK.   

Lots of communities, some built particularly for female audiences and some not, stray away from even the head-and-shoulders look to go for something completely different.  I looked around the web and rounded up a few great ones. Let us take a look at them!

 

Ground Control to Major Owl: You are NOT MODCULT MATERIAL.

from finn via markpasc on mlkshk.

Best Tip Ever.

Thanks, Mayor Wayne.

BBG Cherry Blossoms Status: Chilly Calm Before the Bloom Storm

ATTENDEES: Tracie, myself.  

WEATHER: B-.  Extremely sunny, but chilly. Borderline winter-coat weather.  Very windy. 

CHERRY BLOSSOM STATUS: It's our first visit of the season, and the BBG really made a strong showing for us.  We've got significant bloomage in the northwestern corner of the promenade area, and, as usual, the northeastern edge along the pond flowered as the earlybirds again this season.  The promenade was pretty sleepy overall.  The wind of the day scattered petals so much that they just remained suspended in the air for most of our visit.

ANIMALS? I think that there was a male robin convention at the BBG.  We saw so many jumping and chirping at each other, many picking at grasses to help build their nest, and some just warbling shamelessly and beautifully.  Turtles looked happy sunning on the rocks.

...BUNNIES?? No.  I blame the monster-truck grounds crew -- probably scared 'em off.

NOTABLES: The magnolia trees near the water lily ponds were incredibly beautiful.  Yellow, pink, and vivid shades of my favorite purple really shocked us.  The tuilp collection lining the lily ponds were very impressive, though because the flower breeds are planted in blocks, the blooms came in patches, since some breeds are natural late-bloomers.  We received a narrated tour from a 9-year old boy through the Natural History exhibit, as he explained that the first hut was the living room, the second was the kitchen, and the third was the library.

OFFICIAL BLOSSOM STATUS MAP:

I disagree with this map.  Most of the pond had not bloomed, and the corridor between pond and promenade didn't strike me as this active.  

Can't wait 'til we go next week for PEAK BLOOMIES!

Cats and Crawdads: NOT MODCULT MATERIAL.

Welcome back to the nataliepo blog, Finn.  

 

Oh, and he just emailed to say that I forgot his caption: "NICE TO MEET YOU."

My iPod Nano is just too small.

God bless The Apple for making us some seriously good goods, but, they've really got to keep their vanity in check.  As much as their slick, clean designs work for the majority of their users, there will always be a rebellious cohort, like myself, who can't wait to break in their beloved piece of equipment. 

That, amigos, is a quarter sitting on top of my iPod nano, which is just SO FRIGGING TINY.  It's cute, obviously, and packs a ton of sound as I would expect my nPod to do, but, seriously, it holds like zero weight into my ginormous purse, so I'm already expecting to forget it on the regular.  Plus, my headphone cord is literally heavier than the entire Nano device, so I sorta forget that it's tagged onto the end, making it feel really fragile.  :(  I can't use the white earbuds because they won't stay in my huge lady ears. 

But the real question is: how am I supposed to make this thing MINE?  I'm pretty big on personalizing my tech so that they scream "N-POD" and people will know that I've staked my claim damn clearly, but I'm having a tough time with this one.  AND SO, I TURN TO ETSY.

"Born This Way" Discussion, Inception-ified

If you haven't seen the movie "Inception" and have not seen Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" video, you should mosey on to the next post, hombre.  Otherwise I'mmabout to blow your mind across +6 dimensions that don't actually exist.

LEVEL ONE: Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" Video

Hells to the yes, Queen Gaga's "Born This Way" video is out.  Here it is, in all its glory!

 

And now, let us now discuss the influences in this video.  First: Space, as it pertains to the future of sexuality? Or the plane of thought for young people today?  Or, as it pertains to BOWIE?  ON A NEW TRIPPY INCEPTUAL LEVEL?

LEVEL TWO: Bowie and Space Oddity

Uhm, is THIS really Bowie's original video for Space Oddity?

Those space women are so gorgeous -- thank GOD (aka Nicki Minaj) wigs are back and not just in Baltimore.  A friend's response to this video is "wow, bowie has bad teeth in that video."  ....Foreshadowing, are we?

Back to Level I: BTW Video.

Another theme:  Rebirth.  Whoa, graphic depictions of stretched skin and possible mirrored fellatio/birth??  Did I just see something obscene or just some stretched plastic?  This theme isn't subtle, since the beginning calls out reincarnation.  This feels Madonna-Ray-of-Light-y....[ERROR: Cannot find entry point into Next Level of Inception. ]

Another possible theme: Mexican "day-of-the-deadish". Skeletons, macabre, people are dancing and sort of sexually want to eat you?  Zombies but not the new zombies, you know?  Celebratory mood -- sorta kinda on this theme?  

Oh, WAIT, did you hear that Gaga also dyed her hair?

LEVEL TWO (again): Striped and Skeletal

Is that a Daphne-Guinness stripe, or is that a Britney-style shaved spot?  This is also a pretty interesting shot of Daphne with the Gaga-style skeletal hand...

Also, do you know about this skeletor-obsessed artist named HR Giger?  [VAN BEGINS TO FALL]

 

LEVEL THREE: HR Giger

HR Giger makes all kinds of future-violent-gore art, and who even brought the Alien alien to (movie)reality.  It's all bones bones and guts and guns and glamour, actually. Totally makes sense.  Oh, and he worked on a few other movies, like, AH, LEVEL FOUR!  WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?

 

LEVEL FOUR: Killer Condom

[van is falling, a joke goes too far]

   
Or has it?  This movie is about the killer of male private parts, which is pretty reminiscent of the more recent [WHY IS THE VAN STILL FALLING]

 

LEVEL FIVE: Teeth

 

The themes of sexual liberation and self-hate are SO CONFUSING at this point.  I can't tell if Gaga is a lover of horror films or just likes the power she yields over frightened, uncomfortable people.  I've brought my boots for both camps, FYI, but, wait, what about that Gaga song....

 

LEVEL SIX: Lady Gaga's Teeth song

[Obviously, at this point in the movie, I'm lost at the absurdity of people who do the sleep-tripping thing "NOT TO SLEEP, BUT TO WAKE UP", so I'm fuzzy on the plot details at what actually happens in the movie I'm laughing so hard. ]

"Teeth" is one of my favorite Gaga songs because of its honest assertion that she does not want your money, she just wants your sex.  It's direct, I can tap my toe to the beat, and the vision of someone else showing me their "teeth" is a hilariously grusome metaphor for their thang...and it makes me giggle my entire way out of this post! 

[END INCEPTION JOKE]

I think my point is this: Both Lady Gaga AND Joseph Gordon-Levitt are sexual beasts, and they were born this way.  Baby.  

BONUS LEVEL:

 

 

Lightning Bolt is NOT Modcult Material.

 

 Finn sent this to me, so it's not making the modcult.org grade...OR IS IT? 

 

I, Lady Coder, will probably never go to a Hackathon.

Yeah, you heard me right: I'm a coder who has zero desire to ever step foot in events known as "Hackathons".  Jeffrey To's article has reminded me that some developers find it puzzling that female developers aren't going to these coding marathons, and he even goes so far as to entice their attendance by describing the dimensions of delectable and datable geeks for our enjoyment.  </eyeroll>

Pitchfork-wielding developer dudes, please! I'm not upset with you.  I'm actually pretty flattered that you'd like me to come to these events.  There's just little in it for me, while you guys get some good publicity with me and my fine lady coder friends in attendance while you take the obligatory geek girls are cute picture.  NEXT! 

This is the fundamental question that I have a hard time answering: what is appealing about coding in the same room with competitive (albeit friendly!) folks for hours on end?  

Hear me out here:

1. I like coders.  All of them.  By no means am I putting my lady-coder nose in the air to say we're on different social planes -- I think geek stereotypes are bullshit, and any marketer that references it is out of touch with the industry.
   
   
2. I love coding culture in New York City.  I can't speak for other cities, but I've found people to be extremely friendly and approachable at Meetups, and have regarded me in the same way.  Getting developers together to network and spark creativity is a good thing!
   
   
3. Coding is my day job.  I do this for a living, and I take it seriously.  I am a good problem solver, a clear communicator, and I really and honestly want to help.  (Gut check: This is not the part where I brag about how good my code.  Take my word for it. I'M PRETTY GOOD.)
   
   

It's really the prospect of spending a whole day of my personal time towards disposible code.  I know that some Hackathons' sole purpose is to introduce a new set of API's or an otherwise new framework, and I respect that; I just need to find a tangible motivator to make its investigation worth my time.  And other Hackathons offer rewards, and they're certainly full of fun people, but, seriously, coding isn't something I do on the side/in my free time/in a vacuum.   There's no amount of free t-shirts, pizzas, or temporal bragging rights that outweighs getting paid to solve real-life problems for people that I care about.  And, sheesh, these things go all day and all night!  FYI, you'll never see a late-night commit from me, let alone my eyes open after midnight.  But, the whole morning-person thing is just who I am; sitting in the same room with people for hours on-end feels more than a little like hazing to me (I was in a sorority, though we didn't haze, holla!).  Plus, I've got things to do, like volleyball. And chores and shit.  I live alone!

So, seriously, what I'd like the organizers of these Hackathons to do is to look to the future.  There will be people interested in your API's or your sparkly-unicorn-infested-Platform-X that not only aren't comfortable with coding for hours on end but actually do not want to.  Consider a workshop with a finite scope and timeline!  Title it something nifty and succinct, like "Make Your Own Ultra-Doodad through Platform X in 45 minutes!".  Treat it like a course where you expect people to pay attention and get something out of it.  This, of course, would mean you'd have to treat developers like adults, because, NEWSFLASH, that's my point.

 

Email of the Decade

Really, really warms my heart.