I just donated a website to Slutwalk DC. Because sluts say yes, and no means no.

Background on SlutWalks.

A software development project that has kep me busy lately: Progressive Erotica. Expect a launch in mid 2011.

Neal Pollack published an utterly sexist post on Salon.com about his experience at a yoga class above his level, involving a talk on ethics. During the talk on ethics, he threw a temper-tantrum because he thought the yoga instructor was dumb and brainwashed. This is how he described her:

You've had many yoga instructors who've looked like her, except that she was hotter by a degree of ten.*

Why does Neal Pollack think the yoga teacher's rating as a sex object is the important detail for the readers' understanding of this interaction? His weblog post about her, which he chose to title Die, smug yoga teacher, die, doesn't offer many hints.

Her "hotness" was mentioned just once more in the post (which is only an excerpt from, regrettably, an entire book Neal Pollack decided to write on yoga, fart jokes, and gender dynamics), in the context of her teaching assistants:

[F]or the love of Krishna, if you're a sexy Manhattan broad at the height of your powers, don't pawn your extra vinyasas off on underlings!

Those "underlings," as Neal Pollack is sure you are wondering, “looked kind of like massage therapists” to him.

Shorter** Neal Pollack:

I got stoned, went to a yoga class, stared at the yoga teacher's tits, and found her intellectually lacking. To counter her anti-intellectualism, I yelled bullshit and stormed out. After engaging in self-examination for about six months, I realized that yoga teacher was a smug, preachy bitch.

* I think Neal Pollack meant a factor of ten.

** The ‘Shorter’ concept was created by Daniel Davies and perfected by Elton Beard. I stole the concept from Roy Edroso. This is my first attempt.

Update: a review of Neal Pollack's book, Stretch.

Patent Absurdity is a film I just finished watching about software patents. The film is overflowing with topics that I have long planned on exploring on this very weblog, including:

• the concept of patenting mathematics and algorithms
• the impacts of software patents on individual software developers
• the vampire like nature of companies who buy software patents, don’t build software, and sue software developers

After watching Patent Absurdity, I now plan on adding this item to that list:

• the problems with the open source movement’s leadership being dominated by elitist white men and an examination of the voices excluded

Patent Absurdity was funded and created by the Free Software Foundation (FSF), an organization whose work I have consistently admired. A representative from almost every organization linked to under the heading 'Free software advocates' in the sidebar of this very weblog was featured.

Why, given the diversity of the open source movement, did the this coalition produce a film made up of white men lecturing the viewer? The list of narrators consists of over a dozen white males, only one woman (Karen Sandler, of the Software Freedom Law Center, who rocked it by the way), and not a single person of color. In addition to the exclusion of women and people of color, there was not a single software developer affected by a software patent showcased, despite us being the individuals most affect by software patents.

I would much prefer this to be a post about how open source software was used for all the post-production work of the film, highlighting the maturity of open source software, yadda, yadda, yadda, instead of a post about the lack of diversity of the open source software movement. But, well, the lack of diversity is perhaps the biggest patent absurdity I learned about from the movie.

Seven and a half years in, betting on perpetual war seems pretty safe.

Inner File Software, my company, dedicated to levelling the technological playing field for organizations working for justice, is pleased to announce the launch of the DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence's new website. The website is powered by open source software from the operating system, Linux, to the content management system, Drupal, and everything in between. You can read the details of the project here.

Because domestic violence sucks ass, yo.

Great news: The DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence (DCCADV) just hired my company, Inner File Software, to rebuild dccadv.org using Drupal. I appreciate the work of DCCADV, and other organizations supporting survivors of domestic violence, and am honored to be able to work with them. The rebuild has two primary goals.

More resources for survivors and advocates

The DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence maintains a database of organizations that assist victims and survivors of domestic violence. This database is not just used by individuals seeking help; it is also a great resource for social workers and other advocates who need to provide targeted referrals for their clients. The database is phenomenal, and clearly represents the culmination of a lot of work, but has serious limitations: it runs on a proprietary software platform that requires a CD based installation and an internet connection. This, in my mind, is the worst of both worlds and, despite the requirement for an internet connection, new updates are only pushed out periodically. Information is currently entered into an Excel spreadsheet, which must be sent off to a third party every time the database gets updated. Thanks to the power of custom Drupal content types, those resources will soon be available over the web, in their most up to date form, to anyone with an internet connection. And thanks to the flexibility of Drupal's user roles, advocates of member organizations (it is, after all, a coalition against domestic violence) will be able to log in and view additional resources not available to the public due to security or other concerns.

Tools for staff to update the website

THE DCCADV does not currently have a content management system. The database is updated through Excel spreadsheets and the website is updated through Dreamweaver. The database is not available through the website and the staff only has limited ability to edit and create content through Dreamweaver. The staff has no control over the menus or structure of their website. With a Drupal install, and just a few contributed modules, DCCADV will have complete control over the content, menus, and paths that make up the site. Adding new sections, pages, or resources will be a breeze. The database will be seamlessly integrated into their website. All pages and blog posts will be editable using the intuitive CKE editor (formerly named FCK), which makes editing the website as easy as editing a Word document. The initial site will launch with an events calendar, a public and private resources library, web pages, a blog, and a contact form for each staff member. A significant step up from where they are now and it will all be powered by proven, free, open source software. Expect another notice here when the site launches.