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International Women's Day

It’s fair to say that, historically speaking, women have gotten the short end of the stick. Though they have contributed no less than men to the construction and functioning of our civilizations and cultures, they have typically been deprived of any just compensation for their contributions–or even the most basic agency. Things are somewhat better in 2016, depending on who you are and where you live. The world is, overall, a better place for women than it was in 1908, when women marched in New York City for voting rights and better treatment.

Subtle Sexual Harassment

Geobiology professor A. Hope Jahren recently had an article in the New York Times about sexual harassment in the world of academic research. The problem seems all too commonplace: Since I started writing about women and science, my female colleagues have been moved to share their stories with me; my inbox is an inadvertent clearinghouse for unsolicited love notes. Sexual harassment in science generally starts like this: A woman (she is a student, a technician, a professor) gets an email and notices that the subject line is a bit off: “I need to tell you,” or “my feelings.

Keep it Short

This will be my shortest post ever! Basically, I have nothing to report. Nothing about this site has changed in the past week. I had a terrible week otherwise, but at least this place remains constant! I also haven’t missed any posts. I’m still determined to make it to a year with this thing, and maybe beyond. We’ll see. Have you ever played Cookie Clicker? You should play Cookie Clicker. Although you don’t really play it.

Link Roundup: March 5, 2016

Another week, another set of links. You know the drill. Politics * [Big Mother is Watching You: Hillary Clinton](http://titsandsass.com/big-mother-is-watching-you-hillary-clinton/) -- What's Hillary Clinton's record like with regard to the treatment of sex workers? Not good. * [Travis County GOP apoplectic over new chairman](http://www.texastribune.org/2016/03/02/newly-elected-gop-chair-texas-capitol/) -- Notorious scumbag Robert Morrow somehow got himself elected chair of the GOP in Travis County, Texas. Poor Republicans. * [Why Bernie Sanders won Super Tuesday](http://www.

Take Cybersecurity Seriously!

This week seems to be all about my ranting. Oh well. Here’s another one. I was notified today that a human resources employee at the company where I work unintentionally gave personally identifiable information to a phishing scammer. The scammer impersonated the company CEO via email, and the HR staffer didn’t check the address to ensure it was legitimate. Upon the scammer’s request, she handed over information from employee W-2s for 2015: names, Social Security numbers, and wage and salary information.

Fuller House is a Weird Show

If you grew up in the US during the ‘80s and early ‘90s, there’s a good chance you remember ABC’s TGIF (Thank Goodness It’s Friday) programming block, which aired Friday evenings during prime time. One of the sitcoms in that block was Full House. Now, over 20 years since it went off the air, Netflix has put out a sequel spinoff, starring much of the original cast. Like the title says: it’s weird.

Child Support Debit Card Nightmares

Normally, I would avoid going on a personal rant, but it turns out my issues are only the tip of the iceberg. Synopsis: EPPICard, a debit card program used for unemployment, child support, alimony, and other cash payment programs by 23 states, is a terrible system rife with problems, and is incredibly customer-hostile. Back in 2009, I had an EPPICard for unemployment. I lived in Indiana at the time and I’d just lost my job.

A Primary Primer

What better day to talk about US Presidential primaries than Super Tuesday? “Literally any day before Super Tuesday,” the crowd shouts back. Too bad; I’m doing it today. In truth, I’m writing this because somebody asked for it. How primaries work is like second nature to me at this point, but it is probably a bizarre, senseless rituals to others. This is a good opportunity to demystify it. What is a primary, anyway?

When the Web was Free

In 2005, Facebook only allowed college students. Twitter didn’t exist, and neither did tumblr. The iPhone hadn’t been created yet–nor the iPad. The idea of there being a mobile app for everything would’ve seemed bizarre. Oh, how times change. A bit over 3 years ago, Anil Dash wrote The Web We Lost, which described how the Web and the Internet had transformed over the preceding years. His points could be summarized thusly:

Still Going

Yup, this blog is still here, surprisingly! There’s no special number to this post. It is post number 142. There’s no anniversary or occasion to celebrate. But here I am, almost to the end of February, and this blog is still going. I continue to find myself fascinated by what posts people read and which ones they don’t. Whitesplaining Berniebros remains my most popular post, which I would not have expected at the time I wrote it.