Tag Archive for "Technology"

Posts Tagged Technology

Wednesday Weigh-In: What do you want from an Equal Pay App?

Last week, the Obama Administration launched the Equal Pay App Challenge, inviting software developers to help women ensure that they’re being paid fairly.

I’m excited to see what developers come up with. In my mind, there are so many ways that technology could help women achieve pay equity. The app could publish a list of position levels and careers with average salary figures, for the sake of comparison. Or, it could offer tips for negotiating. What about a women’s “bill of rights” to use should an employer try to deny you your fair share? The possibilities seem pretty endless!

This week’s Wednesday Weigh-In focuses on technology and the pay gap. So weigh in!

How could ...

Last week, the Obama Administration launched the Equal Pay App Challenge, inviting software developers to help women ensure that they’re being paid fairly.

I’m excited to see what developers come up with. In my mind, ...

By Miriam • 12 years ago

Smartphone internet policy gap widens digital divide

Whenever we talk about online feminist activism, the digital divide is brought up. And understandably! If feminism moves online, anyone who is not in our spaces–anyone who may not have access to the internet–loses out.

Vanessa mentioned this in the What We Missed yesterday, but I think it deserves a more airtime, especially since our website, well you know, is all about online feminist activism.

It’s clear by now that the internet is fundamentally changing the world, and activism as well. But in the last five years, the issue of addressing the digital divide has seen promising shifts, primarily because of the advent of smartphones and their wide usage even among low-income communities and communities of color.

Cell phones reach across economic groups ...

Vanessa mentioned this ...

By Maya Dusenbery • 12 years ago

Apple’s Siri is suspiciously clueless about reproductive health

It seems the iPhone’s new interactive app Siri isn’t all that helpful when it comes to women’s health. Here are the answers that a commenter at the Abortioneers got to some pretty basic questions.

Q: I am pregnant and do not want to be. Where can I go to get an abortion?

“I’m really sorry about this, but I can’t take any requests right now. Please try again in a little while.”

“Sorry, [my name], I can’t look for places in Tanzania.”

“I don’t see any abortion clinics. Sorry about that.”

Q: I had unprotected sex. Where can I go for emergency contraception?

“Sorry, I couldn’t find any adult retail stores.” This was repeated every time.

Q: I need birth control. Where can I go ...

Q: I ...

By zerlina • 12 years ago

White House announces iPhone apps to address sexual abuse

And to think I thought the plot point on last week’s episode of “The Good Wife,” where they mentioned a “rape app” that allowed the investigators to establish the timeline, was just wishful thinking!

Nope, it’s real! This week, after a few months of a development contest set up by the Department of Health and Human Services and promoted by Vice President Joe Biden and The White House of Office and Technology, the administration announced today Apps Against Abuse.

The apps “Circle of 6” and “On Watch” are the two winning apps out of 30 submitted applications.

While women of any age can be targets of this kind of abuse, young women aged 16-24, experience the highest rates of ...

Nope, it’s real! This ...

By Samhita • 12 years ago

Tech problems: Fixed!

If you haven’t noticed, half our menu is missing. We are aware of the problem and are working on getting it fixed. But it may take most of the day. Fixed!

In the meantime you can access the community site and the campus blog by going directly to these links:

Community

Campus

Don’t worry, tech kitty solves all tech problems.

If you haven’t noticed, half our menu is missing. We are aware of the problem and are working on getting it fixed. But it may take most of the day. Fixed!

In the meantime you ...

By Chloe Angyal • 12 years ago

Yet another sexual violence scandal at the Australian Defence Force Academy

Earlier this year, as you might recall, a scandal broke at the Australian Defence Force Academy: several male cadets were disciplined for filming a consensual sex act between two of their peers and distributing, without the consent of the woman in question, via Skype.

Today news broke of yet another sexual assault or harassment scandal at the ADFA, and this one involves technology, too. The Herald Sun reported today that “ACT Police were called to the academy late on Thursday night after a 21-year-old female cadet found a mobile phone hidden in a vent above her shower cubicle. The phone’s video camera had been filming her.”

The Australian reported that the cadet has been charged with “an act of ...

By Lori Adelman • 12 years ago

Can technology help prevent sexual assault and dating violence on college campuses?

The White House is hoping so.

They’ve launched a challenge in coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services and Vice President Joe Biden encouraging developers to create a smartphone app that will help prevent sexual assault and dating violence on college campuses. Acknowledging the high rates of sexual assault among young college-aged women in particular, (nineteen percent of women report experiencing sexual assault while in college), the “Apps Against Abuse” challenge is meant to result in an app that will “offer individuals a way to connect with trusted friends in real-time to prevent abuse or violence from occurring.”

I think this is generally a good idea, and I’m glad to see the White House acknowledging how rampant problems of ...

The White House is hoping so.

By Katherine Mullen • 12 years ago

Social Media Pregnancies – Where to Draw the Line?

If you’re like me, chances are by the age of 28 that you’ve had a few female friends announce on Facebook that they’re pregnant by posting early sonograms, a progression of baby bump photos and enthusiastic updates for nine months. And let’s not forget about the eery 3-D sonograms showing a nearly full-term baby weeks away from being born.

It’s been almost a year since three fuzzy-looking sonograms from three different female friends appeared unsolicited on my Facebook NewsFeed within a week, generating a strong response from me that was somewhere between sincere congratulations and “This is too much to share on Facebook” and “I really don’t want to see her unborn fetus and into her uterus.” I hadn’t seen or spoken ...