No new ESPN content this week other than Klawchat; I’ve been working on my top 50 free agents ranking, which goes up some time after the World Series ends, and there’s a 2015 draft ranking in the editing queue up in Bristol.
Lots of links this week…
- Isaac Asimov was my favorite writer when I was a kid; I devoured his Foundation series, and taught myself algebra from his now out-of-print Realm of Algebra book, which is probably still sitting in the library of my junior high school. MIT Technology Review has a previously unpublished essay he wrote in 1959, asking how people get new ideas.
- A delightful BBC News piece commemorating what would have been the 100th birthday of mathematician, writer, and puzzle-master Martin Gardner, including ten puzzles for you to tackle.
- Last week’s Saturday five included some links to stories about the #GamerGate imbroglio, and reader Liz F sent along another story, from TechCrunch, that tries to look at the story as two separate controversies under one banner.
- From a Rwandan Dump to the Halls of Harvard. Of course, the headline could have just said “Harvard,” but “the Halls of Harvard” sounds so much more Norse-mythological.
- Via Richard Deitsch on Twitter, a powerful post from writer Jeff Benedict on getting his sister out of an abusive marriage. Not for the faint of heart.
- Economist Paul Krugman takes aim at Amazon’s monopsony in e-book retailing. I sort of agree, and I sort of disagree. It’s a complicated question because there’s not much evidence Amazon is harming consumers, which is usually the standard for evaluating anticompetitive practices.
- Vegas Watch summarized my perplexing Twitter conversation with RJ Bell, where I couldn’t seem to get an answer to my question about whether record against the spread (ATS) has any predictive value. (It doesn’t.)
- Biochemist and food writer (and frequent Good Eats guest star) Shirley Corriher talks food science with NPR’s The Salt.
- The Verge looks at how crappy “satire” sites are spreading Ebola panic. Read it if only to learn what sites you should blacklist from your own posts.
- And finally, a very clever commercial, from Finland, that spoofs the country’s tradition of death-metal artists to sell … well, you’ll see.
At least Krugman waited until the end to get to his major bone of contention – Paul Ryan’s book is receiving favorable treatment from Amazon.
I have to ask, why did you link to that particular gamer gate article? I ask because I wonder if you’re seeing something that I’m not. I read it through (which admittedly turned to skimming) and I came away kind of unimpressed by the thoughts and logic. I decided to go back and try again as I could be a “victim” of the people that want to just represent gamer gate as an anti-feminist crusade. I still can’t find the “good” in the Tech Crunch (TC) essay.
The TC essay has a link behind the words “contempt and fear”. It leads to this:
http://www.kotaku.com.au/2012/05/hitman-absolution-the-army-of-girls-that-will-change-gaming/ .
(As an aside, check out the link in that essay under “‘sexy’ unboxing” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMMVNQUptnE .) I watched the video. I won’t say the Kotaku essay doesn’t have judgements within its paragraphs, but it is correct in showing sexualized versions of women against a non-sexualized man. Is it wrong to ask why the women can’t wear a nice pantsuit instead of skintight vinyl/leather to go up against a man in a fine suit?
“role model” links to this: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/vivian-james . I found this essay on Vice by Allegra Ringo that responds to the character – http://www.vice.com/read/meet-the-female-gamer-mascot-created-by-anti-feminists-828 .
Here is the link under “shame and browbeat” – http://orogion.deviantart.com/journal/Save-the-Boob-plate-380891149 . My favorite part of that link is the straw man regarding two pieces of art – http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3503/3207130262_c0a322b372.jpg and http://gowfactorfiction.host56.com/images/Concept%20art/kratos/Kratos.jpg
I will say that “censorship” section may have an interesting point or two, but that has as much to do with journalism as Richard M. Nixon did with journalism in the 70s.
I think my response has already gotten a bit long. However, and I’m not saying this to be an asshole, I want to know if you see something that I don’t. I’m trying to see a second side to gamer gate, but I keep thinking its like a second side on immunization or global warming. I could be wrong and those examples could be false equivalencies with gamer gate.
PS – I enjoy the Feminist Frequency (http://www.feministfrequency.com/) videos. I highly recommend watching them and trying to find what is offensive. This link provides a good starting point – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZPSrwedvsg&feature=player_embedded
PPS – I get sick to my stomach every time I click on one of the “response” videos in the similar lists to the side that say she is “destroyed” or “busted.”
Sorry to bother again. I keep thinking about this (one of the aspects of my depression – when I get “sidetracked” by an idea, how I think of it, and how I respond, I can’t stop it from entering my thoughts again and again) and I did find a comprehensive look through the lens of the eyes of Popehat.
http://www.popehat.com/2014/10/26/ten-short-rants-about-gamergate/