The blogosphere is getting sucked into a vortex of discussion regarding top blogger Kathy Sierra’s decision to bail on a speaking engagement because of death threats she received on her blog, not to mention vile comments and photos posted about her on a couple of other blogs, which were backed by some well-known bloggers. Kathy has been subjected to shocking, degrading, sexually threatening and generally misogynistic statements and ugly photoshopped pictures of herself.
She’s clearly and justifiably frightened, so much so that she’s cancelled a planned tutorial and will bail on all future speaking engagements.
I have cancelled all speaking engagements.
I am afraid to leave my yard.
I will never feel the same. I will never be the same.
In protest of the vile treatment by what are generally anonymous bloggers, Kathy’s friend Robert Scoble is taking the week off. He thinks the Internet culture attacks women.
It’s this culture of attacking women that has especially got to stop. I really don’t care if you attack me. I take those attacks in stride. But, whenever I post a video of a female technologist there invariably are snide remarks about body parts and other things that simply wouldn’t happen if the interviewee were a man.
Just about everybody in the blogosphere (check out the massive number of blog posts on TechMeme) supports Kathy’s decision and so many people are extending their support. Not that it matters at this point, but I too extend my support. I just wish, however, that the reaction of both Kathy and the blogosphere weren’t so…fearful.
I understand just how truly shocking and scary it must be to see these twisted statements, these awful, sick images. But, that’s exactly what the freaks who posted this stuff want — for Kathy to be afraid, for everybody to be outraged.
They want to create a reaction, they want to have the power to disturb. They want TechMeme to be dominated by their posts and pictures for days. And they have gotten everything they want, it seems. (I even feel a little guilty posting this item because that only gives the bullies, for that’s what they are, even more ego gratification.)
They’ve even been able to muffle Kathy, the object of their derision. Now they’ve been able to muffle Scoble too.
In an ideal world, Kathy would carry on just as before, albeit in a slightly paranoid state. Because the only way to get bullies to back down is to stand up to them, not cower to them.
It’s easy for me to say this given that I’m not the person being targeted. And I know, believe me, that it’s never, ever safe to dismiss threats against women. I spent six years as a volunteer at a shelter for battered women in DC called My Sister’s Place, manning the hotlines and helping women find safety. I’ve heard live on the phone and seen first-hand what can happen when threats aren’t taken seriously.
But I also know that creeps like those who are threatening Kathy won’t stop unless nobody pays attention to them. I really sympathize with Kathy and I understand her fear and I don’t fault her one bit for being afraid to leave her yard. But a big giant “f—- you” to these petty people would probably shut them up faster and make them feel even smaller than they already feel.
Update: Of the ginormous crowd of bloggers weighing in on this issue, only Dave Winer takes up for the bad boys (and surprisingly, at least one bad girl). He basically says they’re louts and to pay them no heed. I agree.
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 11:43 AM | Print | Comments (0)WiMax is the last great hope for mounting competition to terrestrial broadband networks, but the high-speed wireless technology has been a pipe dream for so long that folks have forgotten about it. Sprint, however, is shaking up the CTIA Wireless show in Orlando with a big announcement of WiMax deployment plans this year.
The wireless carrier’s deployment of the broadband service (which, unfortunately, won’t reach much beyond 2 Mbps to 4 Mbps, still better than the 300 kbps to 700 kbps EV-DO delivers today) will begin in earnest during April, expanding out to at least nineteen markets by year-end (see table at end). Hopes are high: Sprint says it will reach 100 million people with its WiMax offering by year-end 2008. Sprint is working with Motorola, Samsung and Nokia to manufacture the handsets and Samsung will make the PC cards, ZTE will make other devices, while ZyXEL will make the modems.
Separately, Sprint announced a name for its joint venture with the cable industry — it’s called “Pivot,” which will be part of a co-branded (e.g. Time Warner Pivot.) Sprint is working with Comcast, Cox. Time Warner and other top operators to offer the fourth component, wireless voice, as part of a quadruple-play package, and to develop integrated service offerings. The cable ops and Sprint have already tested a co-branded Sprint voice service in eight markets and plan to expand the service to 40 markets by year-end.
| Sprint WiMax Markets for 2008 | ||
| Motorola | Samsung | Nokia |
| Chicago | Baltimore | Austin |
| Detroit | Boston | Dallas |
| Grand Rapids | Philadelphia | Denver |
| Indianapolis | Providence | Ft. Worth |
| Kansas City | Washington, DC | Portland |
| Minneapolis | Salt Lake City | |
| San Antonio | ||
| Seattle | ||
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