published by Eugenia on 2009-11-04 03:43:51 in the "General" category
I had one of these good and sucky all in one days.
Good: Going to Google’s headquarters to shoot a video for a company. Then, I had a nice lunch with JBQ there. I spent most of my day editing that video today, since I need to have it ready ASAP for a presentation.
Bad: Cage the Elephant’s marketing staff got me a press pass for the band’s concert in SF after TWO weeks of having me “on the wait”, in order to review the performance for a music magazine that I very occasionally write for. But by some sort of miss-communication in the morning, they removed my photo/video pass request. I emailed them at 1 PM with the exact requirements, but they didn’t reply to that email. I emailed again, and by 4 PM they told me it’s too late to get authorization for photo/video (I requested a pass for a 1-minute video, nothing more than that). So I got pissed off, and I didn’t go to the concert. I mean, I wanted to go there to visually also show to readers how it feels to be there, it wasn’t for that 16 bucks the ticket costs. Thank God, I can afford these 16 bucks. I must say that in the 10 years that I am dealing with PR/marketing people of various software/hardware companies, I never had major problems with them. As much as engineers like to poke fun at their marketing people, the technology marketing people rule compared to the entertainment ones.
Good: While still thinking that I have a photo pass, and while at Google, I stumbled at Romain Guy, a software engineer (and serious photographer) who works along my husband on Android (read at the end of this article about the funny way I got to know Romain). He was trying to sell his (second) Canon 5D Mark-II, and I was in need for a good low-light camera for the concert tonight. So I bought it. It looks good so far, although its ergonomics are a bit schizophrenic.
Bad: I can’t put off that laundry anymore. I hate laundry.
Of course, the 7D is a better deal in terms of video, and I still suggest to all of you to go for the 7D instead of the 5D. I went with the 5D because the price was right (as a second hand unit), we have lenses that better suit the 5D, and because I needed the camera tonight for the concert (that I eventually didn’t go).
Ok, off to go watch “V” now. After I start off that stupid laundry…
published by Eugenia on 2009-10-08 23:46:26 in the "General" category
Please take the poll below and let me know if you would like me to continue re-posting my Twitter posts on this blog daily. You see, some of you already follow me on Twitter, and on Facebook (which my Twitter updates are also getting copied), so it might be too much of an annoying duplication for some of you. On the other hand, for the rest of the readers who don’t follow me on Twitter/Facebook, without these Twitter updates there isn’t much blogging going on (you might have noticed, I don’t blog small tidbits anymore, as Twitter has taken over that role). In any case, let me know.
Most influential cellphone
1. iPhone
2. Blackberry
3. Motorola RaZR
4. Nokia Communicator
5. Palm Treo
Best album
1. Cloud Cult – Feel Good Ghosts
2. Madonna – Confessions on a Dance Floor
3. Blitzen Trapper – Furr (3 free songs)
4. Longwave – Secrets are Sinister
5. AFI – Sing the Sorrow
Best TV show
1. Lost
2. Firefly
3. South Park
4. BSG
5. 24 (season 2 only)
Best movie
1. The Lord of the Rings (trilogy)
2. District 9
3. Equilibrium
4. X-Men (trilogy)
5. Iron Man
Coolest random stuff of the decade
1. Taking the lid off on global warming
2. An African-American President
3. The two Mars rovers
4. Smartphone revolution
5. Creative Commons
Worst stuff of the decade
1. Too many wars
2. Global warming
3. Terrorism
4. Recession
5. RIAA/MPAA against the People
published by Eugenia on 2009-09-11 20:18:14 in the "General" category
The rumors now say that 800m winner Semenya is a hermaphrodite. If that’s true, what should be done about her case? Should she compete with men, or with women?
I think that ultimately, biology should decide if Semenya is mostly a woman, or mostly a man. Her chromosomes should be analyzed, and a decision taken based on that. Chromosomes don’t fall in between, even if external examination reveals a hermaphrodite with both the sexual organs of a male and a female. Chromosomes can reveal if she’s biologically a woman, or a man, without an in-between.
No, this is not a case of discrimination, it’s about fairness to the other athletes. It’s about competing against others that bare the same biological characteristics as you are (no matter the personal sexual preference, and no matter the external organs). Since there is already a concrete scientific method at the biological level to recognize men from women, there’s no reason why not use that method.
Again, this is not about discrimination. In the case of gay marriage for example, it’s their business! No one should interfere with the sexual preference of other people! But in the case of competing against other athletes, it’s the business of these other athletes, as it has a direct impact on their careers. For example, usually only the first 6 of each competition get an extra prim (usually a few thousand dollars each). But if you happen to finish 7th, because the 1st place was won by someone who was biologically a man, sucks for you.
To my eyes, her body is mostly a man’s body btw. Even pro female athletes that have way too much muscle still look like women with muscles. Semenya on the other hand, she looks more like a man to my eyes. Look how she has no hips, something that it’s not possible to remove with body building (hips are required for easier birth, so it’s usually a tell-tell sign of a female, even among pro athletes). But that’s just external examination.
I hope she continues to live as a female, obviously this is her sex choice. But if her chromosomes tell another story, then she should compete with men. Nevertheless, this won’t be an easy decision for IAAF. It’ll be a PR disaster no matter which decision they take.
UPDATE: I just read on some AU newspapers that she has 3x the testosterone a female should have, because of internal testes, and she has no ovaries/womb. So basically she is a hermaphrodite, with female external reproductive organs, male internal, and male physic.
In my opinion, again, IAAF should rely on low level biology to determine the gender rather than what can externally be noticed by visual examination.
And if she?s found to actually be more of a woman rather than a man, then IAAF has no right to stop her from competing against women. Because in that case, she simply has a natural advantage, like some athletes are taller than others, or with longer legs than others, or with bigger lungs than others. She just happens to have more testosterone.
If IAAF bans *all* hermaphrodites off competition, even if there’s a scientific way to determine their gender at a biological level, then that’s a discrimination issue and they should be taken to court.