Quickies

Quickies: GamerGate, Heating Pads, and Stink Labs

  • 5 Things I Learned as the Internet’s Most Hated Person – “I made the mistake of dating a guy who would later go on to write a several-act manifesto about my alleged sex life and post it to every forum he could create a handle for. Normally, this would blow over with little more than a “whoa, check out THAT guy,” but since I work in an industry that has very strong feelings about women, it quickly mutated from a jilted ex’s revenge-porn to one of the most intense scandals in recent gaming history.” An excellent piece on Cracked about GamerGate. From Paul.
  • Phil Robertson’s Despicable AIDS Argument Should Be the Last Straw – “The ‘Duck Dynasty’ star says that AIDS is God’s punishment for immoral conduct. But who will punish him for such ignorance?” Probably the same people who watch Duck Dynasty due to political reasons will continue to support these douchebags.
  • How Do Fictional Poisons Stack Up To Real-Life Ones? – “In books and movies, poisons are basically magic. It’s kind of a letdown to read about deliciously evil poisons and then realize they’re not nearly as potent in reality as they are in stories. Here are some myths about poison from pop culture — and the less impressive reality.”
  • After Saying Women On Medicaid Should Be Sterilized, Russell Pearce Resigns From Arizona GOP – ” ‘You put me in charge of Medicaid, the first thing I’d do is get [female recipients] Norplant, birth-control implants, or tubal ligations,’ Pearce said, according to the Phoenix New Times. ‘Then, we’ll test recipients for drugs and alcohol, and if you want to [reproduce] or use drugs or alcohol, then get a job.’ “
  • Farewell, Heating Pad: Physical Therapists Say It Doesn’t Help – “Heat therapy, electrical stimulation, ultrasound and other ‘passive physical agents’ almost never help, according to a list released Monday by the Choosing Wisely campaign. Instead, they siphon time and money away from what you really want from a physical therapist — an exercise program that will restore strength and mobility.”
  • Adapting Listerine to a Global Market – “In the stink lab in New Jersey, it takes a team of scientists to create new flavors and varieties that will “kill germs that cause bad breath,” as its longtime slogan goes. The team collects 20 to 30 milliliters of saliva — about two full bottles of nail polish worth — twice a week from employees who work in the building. (Ms. Goodrich said that the employees were paid for their fluids, but declined to say how much). The lab is kept between 91 and 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit to resemble a real human mouth where bacteria can flourish. Linger inside, and the smell can stay on one’s clothes for hours.” (For such a boring headline, this article was pretty interesting.)
  • Marine Biologists Release Incredible Video Of A Borg-Like Sea Creature – “The creature is not just one organism, but several that collectively serve various functions such as locomotion and even preying for food.”

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Mary

Mary Brock works as an Immunology scientist by day and takes care of a pink-loving princess child by night. She likes cloudy days, crafting, cooking, and Fall weather in New England.

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7 Comments

  1. Holy crap the borg thing. I saw that on my facebook feed but didn’t click. Yay, new thing learned and it only 9:30am.

    I didn’t follow the Zoe Quinn thing in depth because it was too upsetting but I am glad to have read her take on it. It’s horrible that she can be so violated but then the harassment of her friends and family as well is sickening. It’s too bad I can’t support her in some meaningful way.

    But . But. I love my heating pad…especially in winter. ;) Rats.

    1. FWIW, I’ve been trying to avoid the Zoe Quinn thing too. I find the whole thing…distasteful. And it’s really bad because there are actual issues with videogame reviews; videogame reviews have a history of ass-kissery. Somehow 4chan doesn’t care about those, though. (And of course, videogame reviews aren’t the only place where this happens, and are really my lowest priority in terms of journalistic integrity.)

    2. I didn’t even know about GamerGate until I read that article! I am shielded from a lot of the internet outrage because I don’t use social media all that often. I can’t believe those people actually called up her dad…ugh.

      Also, you can still use your heating pad in the winter! It just won’t help anything that needs to be treated with physical therapy. I really enjoy taking hot baths in the winter :)

  2. The Zoe Quinn article is beyond amazing. To go straight for the jugular of her enemies like that… and kudos to Cracked for publishing it. They’re far from perfect, but when they get it right, the good they can do in demolishing shitty thinking is huge.

  3. That Gamergate article in Cracked seemed to highlight something I’ve noticed recently. The internet seems to be an ideal place for mob-mentality. People just lose their shit over things that have absolutely nothing to do with them, then move on to lose their shit over the next thing that they come across. It’s like all rational thought just spills out the ears.

    Would any of these people who raged over this give a rats ass if other people weren’t raging too? Do we really care whether a couple we never met broke up because of infidelity? Why?

    1. This isn’t people losing their minds or “mob mentality”. Didn’t you read the article?

      This is an intentional campaign of harassment. These people do not want the status quo to change. They don’t like women and don’t want them participating in this industry. It’s kind of like racism in that nobody actually admits that’s what they believe but that doesn’t change the fact that these people exist.

      It’s a real political goal, and if you share it, the most rational thing to is to find the people that are already working toward that goal and ask how you can help. They’ll point you at the loudest woman in the gaming industry and tell you to harass her. Which is a pretty smart strategy. It’s one that has worked before.

      If you don’t like writing rape threats, you can just make posts legitimizing their arguments or muddying the water. Claim to be a girl that’s just as mad about this “corruption” as the misogynists are.

      But the most important thing you want to do if you want to keep this thing going is to talk about it like your side isn’t an organized threat but rather is a bunch of individuals that individually decided that whatever the target of the day said was so offensive that they all organically made the same decision to send a rape threat. If their goals aren’t yours, though, don’t do their work for them. Don’t do whatever the equally awful opposite of losing your shit is and assume that these people are just mistaken or confused by their anger.

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