Shitposts Weekly

Medium articles neither rare nor well-done for the week ending 10th November 2018.

How to Configure Your iPhone to Work for You, Not Against You: A self-help booklet passes a long, wet fart about making your iOS device your bitch. Unfortunately, the advice given includes handing over your data to Google because they are somehow more trustworthy than Apple, as well as being extremely prescriptivist.

The Deadly Gamble on Super A.I.: A writer looks at so-called artificial intelligence. We can’t even write algorithms that aren’t guaranteed non-discriminatory, and often there’s no feedback loop to improve the algorithms we do use. I argue, therefore, that we shouldn’t be employing it for life-or-death scenarios without extensive testing.

Deterrence — and the Undeterrable: The writer from the above article assumes that technology is responsible for the rise of mass shootings. It’s not technology at fault here, but rather capitalism. Consider that the largest single factor among mass shooters is that they have a history of domestic violence, and that many of them are angry white men who issue death threats and harass people over social media. Consider, too, that Twitter has a long history of doing absolutely nothing about harassment and abuse which occurs on the platform. So, no. It’s not technology, it’s a lack of social responsibility among tech companies.

Why Do All Websites Look the Same?: A professor who should know better complains about the cookie-cutter nature of template-based design. Websites should be focused on interactivity and accessibility above all else; uniqueness tends to create bad user experiences, especially for non-visual users.

The End Is Near for Mobile Apps: A writer engages in wishful thinking. Mobile apps aren’t going to go away for the simple reason that companies are just creating containers around webapps, which takes away some of the problems the writer lists. More than that, the consolidation that is occurring isn’t going to make apps go away either, for much the same reason that iOS and Android coëxist in the US.

Rare articles which are well-done.

Relax, Ladies. Don’t Be So Uptight. You Know You Want It: A self-styled ‘town prude’ writes about the 80s, when men were men, boys wanted to be men, and women and girls had no agency. This whole article is a frank discussion of toxic masculinity and generational attitude absorption.

A Software Engineering survival guide: A webshit has career advice for the fresh-out-of-college crowd, namely interview tips, survival as a techno-drone insect in the gaping maw of open-plan offices, and self-improvement. I was prepared to wax sarcastic, but this shitpost is remarkably clean-smelling.

Top 12 Things That Destroy Developer Productivity: A webshit pens a listicle. There is, astonishingly, nothing to critique. I am nonplussed.

Why Women Leave: A well-known actress posts her acceptance speech.

Saying Goodbye to the Tomboy: A writer examines the tomboy stereotype, and the underlying racialized nature of the stereotype.

Can You Be Queer and Christian?: A journalist asks a stupid question, for which the answer is “yes, absolutely”, unless the person answering it is a moron who accepts the word of close-minded assholes who cherry-pick from the Bible to fit their prejudices. As an aside, the story of Sodom & Gomorrah appears in a heterosexual form in Judges 19; the lesson is supposed to be that rape and inhospitality are wrong, not that homosexuality is. In fact, Jesus Himself never spoke about homosexuality, and why would he? It was acceptable practice at the time. Note: Despite my commentary, this article is well worth reading.

Toward a Better Future for Transgender Health Care: A writer explores transgender healthcare, which is incredibly fascinating and I hope the techniques being explored pan out and become available for those who seek gender-affirming surgery.

AIDS and Ghosts: A professor of con artistry marketing takes a look at America’s response to the AIDS epidemic.