Laura Kalbag

Prejudice, tech’s systemic issues and responsive images

The best bookmarks I saved in Week 11, 2019.

Prejudice

A new study finds a potential risk with self-driving cars: failure to detect dark-skinned pedestrians

By Sigal Samuel on Vox

“The list of concerns about self-driving cars just got longer.

In addition to worrying about how safe they are, how they’d handle tricky moral trade-offs on the road, and how they might make traffic worse, we also need to worry about how they could harm people of color.”

Article: A new study finds a potential risk with self-driving cars: failure to detect dark-skinned pedestrians

Reclaiming privacy: a feminist manifesto

On Privacy International

“So, what does privacy have to do with this? This question calls for another question: whose privacy are we fighting for when we say we defend the right to privacy? Talking about privacy in the abstract – as if we all benefit from the same rights, as if we are all equal – means taking the risk of defending the rights of only the most privileged ones in society – with privilege coming in different forms from having a voice to be heard to socio-economic status.”

Article: Reclaiming privacy: a feminist manifesto

“London-based angry feminists over 30”: why we need to talk about the sexism of online ad profiling

By Eva Blum-Dumontet on New Statesman

“We need to be clear that a data driven world – where artificial intelligence makes decision based on simplistic profiles about us – isn’t going to solve prejudices: it’s going to perpetuate them.”

Article: “London-based angry feminists over 30”: why we need to talk about the sexism of online ad profiling

These gaffes expose British politics’ real issue with race

By Gary Younge on The Guardian

“Racism is not about politeness – it’s about power. What is truly worrying about these blunders is that they have let the mask slip to reveal a political class that, at best, does not understand the racial dynamics of the country in which it operates and, at worst, is deeply hostile to them.”

Article: These gaffes expose British politics’ real issue with race

The gender wars of household chores: a feminist comic

By Emma on The Guardian

“The French comic artist Emma illustrates the concept of the ‘mental load’. When a man expects his partner to ask him to do things, he is viewing her as the manager of their household chores”

Comic: The gender wars of household chores: a feminist comic

Cartoon of a woman staring at a pile of clothes on the floor thinking “Oh no.”

Tech’s systemic issues

Mark Zuckerberg discovers privacy

By Taylor Hatmaker on Techcrunch

“But can Facebook reform its 15-year legacy as devourer of all things private with a single sweeping, underedited screed from its copycat visionary and dark-pattern technocrat? Fuck no, of course it can’t.”

Mark Zuckerberg discovers privacy

Why beating your phone addiction may come at a cost

By Oscar Schwartz on The Guardian

“as this burgeoning movement becomes an industry, some worry that the “wellness” approach and its emphasis on personal responsibility is whitewashing deeper structural issues within the tech industry.”

Article: Why beating your phone addiction may come at a cost

And responsive images…

Planning for Responsive Images

By Chris Nwamba on CSS Tricks

“This article aims at affording simple yet effective guidelines for setting up responsive images and layouts in light of the many—and potentially confusing—options available.”

Article: Planning for Responsive Images