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goldensaucer

269 karma · joined September 16, 2011

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goldensaucer··on Twitter Bootstrap with themes, enhancements, and other goodies
Themes with Twitter Bootstrap are a double-edged sword. On one hand, the themes add diversity to the visual design of bootstrap sites, which tend to rely on the default styles. You can frequently spot a bootstrap site a mile away because it features the black gradient header bar and Helvetica for the body copy. On the other hand, themes provide more options for being lazy with your site's look, as opposed to taking the time to tailor styles to your match your product/brand/content. Bootstrap is supposed to help you get a decent site up faster, but it shouldn't do all of the styling for you.
goldensaucer··on I Can Be Just As Capable. Let Me.
Your analogy doesn't work. The student locking their computer is a preventative measure, not a reactive. Williams couldn't have prevented others' attitudes towards her. She did nothing to invite the behavior. This is more akin to telling the student they should've had a better lock when they had already locked their computer, but had it stolen anyway.
goldensaucer··on I Can Be Just As Capable. Let Me.
She didn't write this article to complain about not getting to play games. The point is that there is a common problem amongst male game employees, and people should know about it. I'm saying that it's legit to want to take on the macro over the micro, and that she has no obligation to address the latter. I believe in picking your battles.
goldensaucer··on I Can Be Just As Capable. Let Me.
Yes, but there are a lot of factors that play into that communication. We make assumptions that the other party is amenable to change, or that the offended is an effective communicator in these one-on-one scenarios. I think it's unfair to think that these ideal conditions are in place for all of her interactions.

The article shares an experience of being marginalized, and we're focusing on what she could've done to feel more welcome where she felt unwelcome. By continually suggesting that she stand up for herself, we're creating an atmosphere that basically says, "It's on you," which further marginalizes her. Despite best intentions, it's treating her like a problem and distracts from the greater problem of condescension towards women in games.

goldensaucer··on I Can Be Just As Capable. Let Me.
I'm finding a lot of the responses to this article disheartening. There's a common trend of "she should've said something," and while many here disapprove of the PR guys' treatment of the writer, they're still quick to defend his innocence or obliviousness. Focusing on how the author could've done better to defend herself against sexism is pretty problematic and indicative of this brand of derailing the conversation: http://www.derailingfordummies.com/education.html
goldensaucer··on I Can Be Just As Capable. Let Me.
It's offensive because, even if you're on her side, you're displacing responsibility from the offender. It's not her job to individually confront and educate every condescending PR rep. That's a grind, and also only effective on a micro-level. By writing another piece on sexism at E3, she contributes to the ever-growing pool of them; the more the community is aware of such behavior, the better equipped they are to recognize it when it happens.
goldensaucer··on Here Are The Women of Y Combinator And They Are Awesome
I can understand the feeling. It'd be great to see these women acknowledged on HN separate from the "women in tech" angle, but it's rare to see their female-oriented areas of business highlighted here. Sincere question: would the men of HN upvote a standalone article on 99dresses? If such a thing is a frequent occurrence, I'd be more than happy to see examples and be proven wrong.

For now, I'm okay with these types of lady showcases if only because I get comfort from seeing almost any example of female leadership in this corner of the internet. It's unfortunate that focusing on gender's the most surefire way to get these women on the front page, but stories like this and articles on female struggles in the tech world are mostly the only times I get a sense of female camaraderie around here. It feels less condescending when it's so much more difficult to get acknowledgment in a community of male-dominated interests.

goldensaucer··on Bootstrapping Design
I'm a designer learning to code, and I'm all for devs learning design principles—I just wish that all these design guides for programmers wouldn't offer themselves as a replacement for an actual designer, or downplay the value of a designer.
goldensaucer··on Google+ Opens to All
You can host Google Apps on your own domain, like s.archer@isis.org, but you can't register for a G+ account using that email address. You can only use gmail addresses, and not everyone uses or wants to use a gmail address as their primary account.
goldensaucer··on Google+ Opens to All
Why is there even a set number of invites left for each G+ user? I see that I still have 94 Gmail invites even, and in both cases, I'm not seeing the point.