Monthly Archives: March 2009

On the Value of Twitter

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In the past, I’ve never quite grokked the whole deal about Twitter. Now that I’m using it, I still don’t quite grok what other folks use it for, nor why it’s as popular as it is. It strikes me as a fun toy (that’s losing six figure quantities of money every month), but not really a useful tool most of the time.

However, I will say this: I’m a wordy bastard, and I appreciate that Twitter enforces a very strict limit on brevity. Learning to say what I want to say in 140 characters or less has been…interesting. I find that if I have an idea I want to Twitter about, I usually have to edit it multiple times to bring it down to 140 characters. It’s good writing discipline.

A recent example: “Between having a brain optimized for finding patterns (even if they don’t exist) and confirmation bias, it’s amazing we understand anything.” Number of characters: exactly 140. Number of edits to fit it in that space: 3. Brevity is hard, but sometimes squeezing out the extraeneous stuff makes the idea more accessible.

Whew! Just did a major update to the interactive map

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The interactive version of the Map of Human Sexuality has been largely re-written; I’ve fixed a number of PHP error messages, added two new options (“tried and didn’t like,” “like in fantasy only”), updated the map itself to the current version, made the pins smaller so they don’t obscure as much, and made a lot of behind-the-scenes database changes that’ll help things out going forward. And all this without breaking the display of existing maps.

The one thing I most need to do, make the ability to remove a pin you place by accident, still isn’t done. I’m working on it! If/when I get that one licked (I know surprisingly little PHP and JavaScript, when all is said and done), I’ll add an option where you can enter a username and a password when you save your map so you can go back and edit it later. Whee!

And now to see if I can go see Watchmen.


Find out where I’ve journeyed
on the Map of Human Sexuality!
Or get your own here!

Call to the Lazyweb

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So I want to start selling posters of the Map of Human Sexuality wholesale to sex toy stores and places like that, and I’m trying to get a feel for places that might be interested in carrying it. dayo suggested approaching the The Museum of Sex in NYC (and how cool is it that there IS a museum of sex?). I was thinking of cool, indie placesike Blowfish.

So, any ideas out there in LJ-land? Thoughts? Suggestions?

Engrish: It’s what’s for breakfast

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Over the past year or so, a goodly amount of the avalanche of spam that ends up in my inbox every day has been from companies in China that sell cheap, knock-off sex toys at wholesale prices.

Not too hard to figure out why. I’d be willing to bet that anyone who owns a Web site that talks about sex toys, or sells sex toys, gets ’em. They’re invariably from companies in China that want to sell me ripoffs of the Jack Rabbit vibrator and stuff like that, in bulk, at pennies on the dollar for the real thing. Their Web sites typically stay up for a few months and then disappear. (Got one of these spam emails in my mailbox today for a company whose Web site really inspires confidence: they have a hit counter on the front page, and as of right now the hit counter is at 4.)

That’s not the funny part, though.

The funny part is the Web sites themselves. They’re invariably written in Engrish, the particular variety of badly-translated English common amongst Far Eastern businesses who want to save money by not hiring professional translators.

The question I have, though, is does this approach work? How safe am I supposed to feel placing a $3,000 order for sex toys, when their Web site says things like “We are a professional and experience manufacture of condom products, lingerie, and sex toys for male uses and the female use. We have certificate for the condom. We have established the friendly relation with customers in USA. If you are interested in it, please don’t issue to contact us.”

Long List o Linky-Links

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Since my Web browser currently has a zillion pages open (and is consuming mass quantities of RAM as a result), and since I can’t use the browser on my iPhone because the maximum possible number of pages is open, it’s time once again to share the wealth and post another Grand List of Linky-Links.

In today’s assortment, we have a wide variety of links for your edification and viewing pleasure.

Ready? Here we go!

Society & Politics

New Scientist: Conservatives are biggest consumers of porn

Not that it’s really a surprise to anyone. I’ve long suspected that many social conservatives fall into one of two broad camps: closeted self-loathers, and people who are really only concerned with the appearance of propriety rather than with actual propriety.

Business Week: Portland, Oregon is America’s unhappiest city

Uh-oh. And I’m planning to move there shortly!

Lesbian Nation: Chronicles of the Lesbian Separatist Movement

In the seventies, a movement arose among lesbians who believed that the key to sexual and social freedom lay in withdrawing entirely from American society–including, in many cases, refusing to interact with or even speak to men. Battle too long, and you become the thing you’re fighting against.

Science

Will You Perceive the Event that Kills You?

My favorite link on the list. Will you even be aware of the thing that ends your life? The human sensory apparatus and nervious system are so slow that we are constantly living in the past–about 300-500 milliseconds in the past, to be exact. Many of the things that can kill you do so in less time than that. Interesting stuff, including a rundown of the sequence of events in a car crash, and how far behind your awareness of those events will lag.

Researchers solve mystery of deep-sea fish

Meet the barreleye–a fish with nostrils that look like eyes, a transparent head, and tubular eyes that swivel up and down entirely inside its head. Man, there is some seriously weird stuff in the deep ocean.

Natural selection: Darwin’s God-killer

Two centuries after Origin of Species and people STILL don’t actually know what evolution is. (Hint: If you’re thinking “survival of the fittest,” you ain’t really got it.) Is this idea really a “god-killer”? Of course not. But it does demolish one very specific notion of god–the idea that the world was created in six literal 24-hour days exactly six thousand, four hundred and some odd years ago.

Junkfood Science: Why we think overeating causes obesity

There are many things we all know are true that actually aren’t. Turns out that the notion that people are overweight simply because they eat too much is one of them. The history of a fascinating study on food and food deprivation, which probably would not be possible today ’cause it would violate ethical guidelines on human research.

Globe and Mail: Canadian researchers turn skin cells into stem cells

The new technique is easier and safer than previous techniques to coax mature cells back into becoming stem cells.

Mermaid Dream Comes True Thanks to Weta

Weta Digital, the company that did the special effects for the Lord of the Rings movies, has a lot of experience with advanced prosthetic effects. So when a girl with no legs approached them with the idea of making her a functional mermaid prosthetic, they said “Sure!”

2009: Shaping up to be a bad year for anti-vaccinationists

Everything under the sun has its conspiracy theorists. Terrorism has its 9/11 “truthers.” The space program has its moon hoax conspiracy nutters. Geologists have the flat-earthers and the young-earthers to contend with. And the medical community has, among others, the anti-vaccination nutters. Difference is, the moon hoaxers and flat-earthers don’t put other people’s lives at risk. 2009 looks to be a bad year for this particular breed of nutter.

Sex and Relationships

The Single Best Working Assumption for Drama-Free Relationships

Sometimes it’s the simple things that are most effective.

Control Tower: The Hot Bi Babe

Yes, I know it’s an old article, but Mistress Matisse lays it on the line about why those zillions of married poly-in-theory couples will not likely find that hot bisexual woman they’re looking for.

And finally, here’s an old video circulating YouTube about the evils of pornography, though it has an interesting historical footnote:

The footnote? The person who made this video is none other than Charles Keating.

Keating, for those who don’t remember him, was an anti-sex, anti-porn moral crusader for many years, and joined President Reagan’s Meese Commission on Pornography in an attempt to lobby for tough anti-porn laws.

He later went on to embezzle about $1.2 billion from Lincoln Savings and Loan, singlehandedly triggering the collapse of the entire S&L industry. To Keating, you see, porn = immoral, stealing the life savings from working families = perfectly moral.

Woo-hoo! Posters are here!

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Drafted my roommate into helping me roll posters and stick mailing labels last night; the first batch of the poster versions of the Map of Human Sexuality will be going out this afternoon (and just for the record, sixty mailing tubes is a lot to fit in a 2-seat car). Everyone who placed a pre-order should be getting their posters in the mail over the next few days! (Well, ‘cepting for those of you not in the US; delivery will take a bit longer, I reckon).

It turns out that whoever shipped them from the printers did have OCD, after all. They registered six UPS tracking numbers for one shipment. Weird.

Going to try to find a poster frame this evening, I think. I want one of these hanging on my wall; they look great!

Anyone who didn’t pre-order…sorry, you missed the pre-order price. Price is increasing this afternoon. Don’t let that stop you from ordering one, though!