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culture
Women and Linux
Every now and again whilst trawling my linux feeds, I come across the question ‘Should there be a linux distro for women?’
What a ridiculous question. I can’t imagine why anyone would want or need this, and as a woman myself I find the concept more than a little patronising. Can women not use the regular distros? Of course we can! I’m living proof of that. I’m no linux guru by any means, but I manage perfectly well, just as my male counterparts do. The last thing I would want is to be told by some guy ‘Here you are, here’s a dumbed down version, just for you!’. I imagine they’d want to put in a pink GUI to go along with the stereotypes too.
While we’re at it, why not propose a distro for gays and lesbians, or blacks, or….you get the idea. I mean hey, these ‘minorities’ obviously aren’t capable of using anything the rest of the tech world is.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for helping people where it’s needed, but why must we segregate in this way? I’ve heard the argument that women find linux an intimidating field to get into. I sympathise with that to a point, but generally that’s crap. I’ve had no problems finding help and information. There may be the odd occasion where women feel intimidated, but this isn’t limited to linux and certainly doesn’t justify this idea. Women are under represented in the linux world (as they are generally in technology), but stupid proposals like this honestly don’t help. A support group for women I can understand, this I can’t. I mean you don’t walk into a store and ask for a TV for women do you?
Seriously, get a grip people!
Now I’m off to play with my new Ubuntu installation under VMware Fusion (which incidentally didn’t have to be coloured pink for me to use).
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Dickens World
Apparently a new Charles Dickens theme park is about to open at the end of next month.
I’ve been a lifelong fan of Dickens (I remember reading Great Expectations at the age of 11, and still read his books now), and have always been fascinated in the history surrounding his works, so I can’t wait for this! The entry fee is a very reasonable £12.50 for adults and £7.50 for kids, so not too expensive either. At least if you don’t factor in the travel costs to London from the north of England anyway.
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Jesus on a dogs butt
Steffen pointed out a humorous blog post to me today over gtalk, concerning what appears to be an image of jesus on a dogs rear end. It’s actually quite uncanny, you should go take a look.
The picture itself isn’t what prompted this post though, it’s the comments that follow it. Apparently, the mere mention of ‘jesus’ and ‘dogs butt’ in the same sentence is enough to bring out a whole coach load of what I can only describe as christian nutjobs. A few sample comments are below.
Quote 1:
That picture makes me sick! Jesus died for your sins and your saying He resembles a dogs butt! I feel like throwing up but whoever posted that I just want you to know that I’ll be praying for you and He will love you no matter what you’ve done. Thats why He died such a brutal death. For your sins. Please have that taken off the web though. I’d appreciate it sooo much. Thanks
Quote 2:
I dont know what your see there but jesus cannot and i mean cannot be on a dogs but your a sick person. ill be praying for you.
Quote 3:
i am sick to the bone about this picture. i will praye and praye for you. i hope you dont go to hell for this even though you most likely will because your an idiot. you should be so lucky to have someone in your life lovee you like Jesus does. all i can say is repent your sins. as far as i’m concerned you are both the devil and judas them selfs.
I realise that not all christians are such idiots, and there are some more reasoned comments from those with more intelligence on that post. But what is it with these fanatics? Do they really lack that much intelligence? I have absolutely nothing against faith, but blind faith and plain idiocy is something else entirely.
Also, I’m pretty sure that jesus wouldn’t really give a damn if he was able to be seen on a dogs arse or not.
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I’m a twit
Yes, apparently I am now a Twit. Not in the traditional sense of being stupid (though that’s often an apt description too!), but meaning somebody who uses Twitter. You may have noticed my little Twitter widget on the sidebar over there, if you actually visit here and don’t read my blog via RSS.
I’m not really sure what came over me. I’ve spent weeks wondering what on earth all the fuss was about, thinking it was probably just the latest “web 2.0″ trend and it’ll likely disappear if I ignore it for long enough. Then I had a mad moment and thought I’d try it out. I’ve been hooked ever since.
It’s turned into something of an addiction. I now have twitters coming through my browser, my IM client, through Twitterific, and even my mobile phone. It has a strange addictive quality that’s not easily explained, one of those ‘you have to try to understand it’ kind of things. I do see now why it’s so popular. For a start, it’s a great tool to keep in touch with friends. You can keep track of what they’re up to, and join in the conversation at any point (or not). I’ve also found it good for discovering new geek toys - whenever somebody posts a link to something that sounds interesting I’ll go investigate.
All in all, I can now see me being a Twit for quite some time to come. And I don’t care who knows it either!
Should you be interested, here’s my Twitter profile.
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