Community – Page 33 – Steven Savage

Link Roundup 11/18/2013

November 18, 2013 by Steven Savage

Quartz looks at how antibiotic resistant infections can change things – and how we got here. Actually the history of it is even more fascinating, and I didn’t realize the role China played. Science geeks, med geeks, and writers, pay attention . .
Also Quartz looks at ways to fix education. As you noticed, they’re one of my favorite new online mags. Anyway, good article for us educators, trainers, or those concerned with having a more educated world, which should bloody well be all of us.
We . . . may not be in a stock market bubble. Yeah, I’m surprised too.
Is Marvel building a new digital empire? Why not, they’re building a media empire. Marvel’s trying to be Disney and in a way Amazon.

– Steven “Quartzbuddy” Savage

Make It So: More Specific Career Panels

November 18, 2013 by Steven Savage

Awhile ago I spoke at Con-Volution, a new convention in the Bay Area (we are blessed with cons out here) that was very practically focused. It had a lot of panels examining things in depth, talking specific skills, and getting pretty deep into doing things. I of course took my usual career roadshow there becaus I’m me. You know me.

It also got me thinking. In depth panels? Skill-building workshops? People with career interests. Career Panels? Hmmm . . .

Right now there’s a lot of separate skillsets you need to do your job search and career building properly. There’s also specific things you have to do to get your career going that are also separate skillsets – making a good resume, for instance. Conventions, which often have “effectively doing stuff” events could have workshops and panels that address these various elements and skillsets. Not just a resume panel here or a website workshop there – instead have as many as possible that cover all aspects of careers.

Geek As Citizen: Tolerance As Part of Geekdom

November 15, 2013 by Steven Savage

In the last few years the question of tolerance in geekdom gets brought up. As of late it’s been the ridiculous obsession some members of the geek community have with ferreting out the mythical “fake geek” girl. Other times there are questions of racism, transphobia, and homobpobia. The issue over “Ender’s Game” raised this specter again, and after reading this thoughtful post at Lady Geek Girl, I felt I should address this again in a slightly different context than I have previously.

By that different context, I mean in the larger sense of citizenship – both in the large and as citizens of our own communities. Also with a bit less of some of the snark that I’ve used in some of my previous writings.

So, to state it simply – intolerance of others in the form of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and the like do not have a place in geek life nor identifiable geek culture. Furthermore I will argue that this is important to geeks as citizens, both in their community and in the larger communities – and that in some cases, we should fully understand the impact of bias and its negative effects.