The usage of a 0-249 block also keeps that sense of fear for the user base of the service(s). A sort of government scare tactic, you could say.
If a service was allowed to say that they had 0 requests, perhaps more users would flock to that service as a less surveilled alternative to a competitor that is in the 1-249 bracket(or higher).
Great post. I have been trying to make this point here on HN this past week or so, only to be downvoted into oblivion. Thank you for putting it so eloquently.
Very observant... I wonder what Google would say about this. I would almost find this more egregious than their original offense due to the posts having nothing to do with lyrics.
Wow, although I guess Reddit with an AMA might be a better platform, didn't expect to see Reddit like comments :/ There's a lot of posts on here about women in tech (and the lack thereof) so she thought it may be pertinent and interesting. Men are always posting about their startups, and I don't see people saying they're "just trying to call attention to themselves".
Are those posts entitled Male Hacker-Founder AMA? I just don't see what new this brings to the table, other than perpetuating this silly conversation about the lack of x in y because of z.
go into a cpu design or fpga lectures at most universities. she doesn't just feel underrepresented. she is.
nonetheless this post imho is in the same category as i'm 15 and made a gazillion apps.
ok, you care about women? and their future in tech? go to educate parents in school for gods sake, not the people that already know that if you raise your kids to be pretty princesses, they will become pretty princesses instead of hackers.
I have presented in front of teen girls at events and mentored girls individually. The tech bug catches on best anywhere between age 8 and 14 when you see a role model for something fun you can enjoy doing that is an "gateway drug to CS". At that age parents don't matter but peers do.
When I was that age, just one of my classmates mocked me for trying, but a few other fellow tinkerers and I started competing in high-school tech competitions and that brought us together. Having other doers around made it even more fun and addictive. As a teen girl I was a minority in local hacker clubs/cafes at the time, but that actually meant I was getting hit on by the boys (mildly and jokingly, and I always brushed it off to keep tinkering), not really hindered.
there is no tech bug. there is a thing that you enjoy what you get good at(the dilbert author wrote about it too), no matter what it is.
also, as a person who caught on very early, i wouldn't advise people to study cs. for people that are really good at the stuff we're talking about here. cs without the right peers is one of the most disappointing experiences there is. imagine a professional heart surgeon having to go through basic medical exams for 4 years, that's why comparably few doctors are interested in migrating to the us.
but on a sidenote i don't really get the latter tbh. to me it seems like it would be great to share common interests as is the case for most other professions. yet, when it comes to hackers, being sexually interested in one another seems to be put down as douchebaggery. no wonder most of us stay alone, while douchebags like lawyers flourish.
I think you're entirely wrong. First off, lots of people don't enjoy things they're good at, and enjoy things they're not good at. Having sung in choirs, I've seen ample examples of both.
And "catching the tech bug" just relates (IMO) to the moment where you see computers as a source of almost limitless inquisition. And I agree with OP that that most often happens between the ages of 8 and 14.
Also, having studied CS in university and really enjoyed it, I don't share your pessimism about the degree.
Finally, lawyers date each other, as do other sorts of geeks (included CS geeks), but there isn't the extreme gender disparity in college that one sees in CS courses, so one woman is unlikely to be the target of so much unwarranted male attention. And also, lots of lawyers are nice people, just as lots of CS people (men and women) are douchebags.
Which streotype? That there are more male founders than female? I thought that's a fact, not stereotype.
Semi-related: I found it stupid to carefuly write "she" when refering to some hypothetical programmer in every other case. How about writing it 5 times of 100, to get more realistic representation? Unless you believe that probablicit reference is the cause of all evil and using "she" will magically attract more females to coding.
Why is it pg's job to encourage ANYONE to get into any given profession or area of study? How would you feel if, when you were a kid (or adult for that matter), someone came up to you and told you what you should or shouldn't be doing for a living. That one profession has less of your type so you should do that. Doesn't that seem a little ridiculous? There are plenty of jobs that have many more women than men. Do you see massive outrage because the workforce is lacking in those jobs? How about the hundreds of other fields that are male-dominated? Perhaps VC/Startups/Tech is an easy target because the field is so lucrative.
The world needs less belief and viewpoint shaping and more free-thinking. Where this nonsense arises is when we put people into groups or they put themselves into groups. Be yourself.
For starters, no one is saying it's pg's job. The interviewer asked him if he felt there was anything he could be doing to get more women into YC.
Second, "encourage" does not mean "order someone to do something." No one is going to up women, putting their hands on their shoulders, shaking them, and telling them they must be developers! Instead, they're creating spaces that are welcoming and friendly to women. They aren't forcing them through the door; they're opening it for them and showing them all the delicious cookies inside.
> There are plenty of jobs that have many more women than men. Do you see massive outrage because the workforce is lacking in those jobs?
Yes. There are plenty of initiatives to get more men into nursing, fashion, and teaching. Just because you didn't take the three seconds to search for them doesn't mean they don't exist. You don't hear about them because, what a shocker, you aren't part of those communities. It's almost like you're on a website dedicated to tech culture or something!
For starters, no one is saying it's pg's job. The interviewer asked him if he felt there was anything he could be doing to get more women into YC.
Of course this is just my opinion, but to me the tone of the interview sounds as though the interviewer was suggesting that pg should be doing more, himself, to get more women into the field.
Second, "encourage" does not mean "order someone to do something." No one is going to up women, putting their hands on their shoulders, shaking them, and telling them they must be developers! Instead, they're creating spaces that are welcoming and friendly to women. They aren't forcing them through the door; they're opening it for them and showing them all the delicious cookies inside.
I never said "order someone to do something." In fact I specifically used the word "encourage," but I guess you can twist my words to try and further your agenda. Stating that you want to create female friendly spaces is inherently sexist. I don't know, I think we just differ philosophically and I am more of the mind that people should be friendly regardless of what/who you are. I just don't think that we need special programs for every single "group" that is not interested in something.
Yes. There are plenty of initiatives to get more men into nursing, fashion, and teaching. Just because you didn't take the three seconds to search for them doesn't mean they don't exist. You don't hear about them because, what a shocker, you aren't part of those communities. It's almost like you're on a website dedicated to tech culture or something!
As someone who originally studied to be a male nurse, yes I am aware of those programs. Please try to not be so condescending.
If a service was allowed to say that they had 0 requests, perhaps more users would flock to that service as a less surveilled alternative to a competitor that is in the 1-249 bracket(or higher).