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« First, insisting that the computer is just a tool is a defense against the experience of the computer as the opposite, as an intimate machine. It is a way to say that it is not appropriate to have a close relationship with a machine. Computers with their plasticity and malleability are compelling media. They have a psychological 'holding power.' Women use their rejection of computer holding power to assert something about themselves as women. Being a woman is opposed to a compelling relationship with a thing that shuts people out. »

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« To take an analogy from the world of the computer's second cousins, the video games: it is almost impossible to learn to-play a video game if you try to understand first and play second. Girls are often perceived as preferring the 'easier' video games. When I have looked more closely at what they really prefer, it is games where they can understand 'the rules' before play begins. Both Lisa and Robin crave transparent understanding of the computer. For example, although both apologize for their behavior as 'silly,' both like to program the computer to do everything they need to build their larger programs, even when
these smaller, 'building-block' procedures are in program libraries at their disposal. It makes their job harder, but both say that it gives them a more satisfying understanding. They don't like taking risks at the machine. What they most want to avoid is error messages. »

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« I ask Robin to talk to me about her relationship with her piano, a machine, but she insists that it was a completely different thing. The piano took her away from people, but then it brought her closer to them. The involvements of her male peers with the computer only shut people out. »

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DID I RE·FIND THAT ONE 80s ARTICLE ABOUT GENDER IN COMPUTING THAT I THINK ABOUT CONSTANTLY?!?! stay tuned

just uncovered a fuckton of quotes from MVC jotted down in a notebook so guess those are getting added to my ✨Fortune✨

unless you think God had an enormous schlong for some reason

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isn’t the common interpretation that Adam was made in God’s image, and thus sexless, prior to the introduction of Eve

i also found Six Records of a Floating Life by Shen Fu, which is definitely a book i forgot even existed, much less in my ownership

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friend every random piece of muzak went hard in 2006

the good news is that i’ve rearranged my desk so that it can fit a monitor; the bad news is that i now have no fucking place for all my empty journals

signing a card with initials because you haven’t figured out a name yet

petty reasons for disliking ICE: Form I‐9 physical presence requirements

« May we all be blessed with the perspective and optimism of Lily Thomas’s therapist. »

some of my favourite articles are talks which people then took the time to write down

but if you’re not gonna write it down i’m gonna assume that you don’t actually think it was that important of a talk

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📟🐱 GlitchCat

A small, community‐oriented Mastodon‐compatible Fediverse (GlitchSoc) instance managed as a joint venture between the cat and KIBI families.