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Back when I was at university, we had a computer graphics course. Each week we got new assignment that we needed to program, write to a floppy disk (it was befo

Back when I was at university, we had a computer graphics course. Each week we got new assignment that we needed to program, write to a floppy disk (it was before Internet became widely available) and give it to the prof next week. Dithering was one of the assignments. We were required to implement black-white quantization and then Atkinson and Floyd-Steinberg. We were given the freedom to choose our own images. During development at the dorm my favourite picture to debug on was pretty racy (think along the lines of full version of "Lena"). I totally did not intend to put it to the floppy disk... Not only I got the 10 - the highest number of points for this assignment, I got +2 on top of that with the comment from prof: "for the choice of test images in the best tradition of the field".

startling 10y ago
Gross.
- mynegation 10y ago
  I understand your sentiment. I did not mean to glorify objectification of women with this story. Just something mildly funny that happened almost two decades ago, in a country without a strong tradition of feminism, to a 17-year old me who did not know any better then.
  - xiphias 10y ago
    How can an virtual object (a photo of a woman seen on a monitor) be objectified? The model meant that photo to be used as an object (looked at). If she wanted people to understand her personality more, she would have just written a book.
    - spiderfarmer 10y ago
      Exactly. It's strange that in a country where lots of girls, by choice, pose near nude for Instagram selfies, a couple of programmers feel the need to excuse themselves for looking at a picture of a professional model. This brand of feminism forgets that men have dicks that they want use, and that women generally like the idea that they have the power to create some bulge.
    - startling 10y ago
      These are the kinds of things, specifically, that gross me out about this story: (from http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Sexualized_environment http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Sexualized_environment) * In geek contexts, they are usually a way for heterosexual men to bond over their common attraction to women. This is othering for anyone who is not a heterosexual man, including, obviously, women, and contributes to their invisibility in the field. This sensation of exclusion is very visceral when in a small minority, as women can be in geek settings. * There is a long tradition of sexual images, suggestions and approaches being used to shame, scare, harrass or brutalise women. This is common enough that most women will have had personal experience of it. Therefore many women are unable to sensibly assume good faith on the part of unknown men seeking to make a situation sexual and feel mentally uncomfortable at best and physically intimidated often. * While in many areas this restriction is loosening, women are stigmatised as well as celebrated for being too sexual. This traps women into a double bind when responding to sexualized environments, because even by getting the joke they may reveal themselves as too sexual. Keep in mind the commenter received extra points for this.
      - derefr 10y ago
        > This is othering for anyone who is not a heterosexual man Except, you know, for bisexual men and women, lesbians, heterosexual trans-men, and so on. A lot of people could theoretically bond with one-another over a shared attraction to a given gender. (Not making any point to the spirit of your argument; just poking at the letter of it in hope that you refine it.)
        startling 10y ago
        > A lot of people could theoretically bond with one-another over a shared attraction to a given gender. OK? That's not what's happening here.
        derefr 10y ago
        The point you were making wasn't about what was or wasn't happening here, though; it was about what such statements "usually [serve to do] ... in geek contexts." Geek contexts involve a lot of the types of people I mentioned. (For example, according to a recent survey of LessWrong members, there are actually more transwomen than ciswomen in that community.)
- mozumder 10y ago
  Completely inappropriate comment.
- bitshiftthis 10y ago
  Is this a joke post lol? Grow up kid. This isn't even remotely offensive.
Mz 10y ago
I am curious if you knew about the Lena photo and history. It seems likely this remark by the professor was inappropriate, but given that context, provided by joshvm https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11888153 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11888153, I think that muddies the water.
- Mz 10y ago
  Oh, never mind. I see now that you did know. Excuse my derpy question.

startling 10y ago

Gross.

mynegation 10y ago
I understand your sentiment. I did not mean to glorify objectification of women with this story. Just something mildly funny that happened almost two decades ago, in a country without a strong tradition of feminism, to a 17-year old me who did not know any better then.
- xiphias 10y ago
  How can an virtual object (a photo of a woman seen on a monitor) be objectified? The model meant that photo to be used as an object (looked at). If she wanted people to understand her personality more, she would have just written a book.
  - spiderfarmer 10y ago
    Exactly. It's strange that in a country where lots of girls, by choice, pose near nude for Instagram selfies, a couple of programmers feel the need to excuse themselves for looking at a picture of a professional model. This brand of feminism forgets that men have dicks that they want use, and that women generally like the idea that they have the power to create some bulge.
  - startling 10y ago
    These are the kinds of things, specifically, that gross me out about this story: (from http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Sexualized_environment http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Sexualized_environment) * In geek contexts, they are usually a way for heterosexual men to bond over their common attraction to women. This is othering for anyone who is not a heterosexual man, including, obviously, women, and contributes to their invisibility in the field. This sensation of exclusion is very visceral when in a small minority, as women can be in geek settings. * There is a long tradition of sexual images, suggestions and approaches being used to shame, scare, harrass or brutalise women. This is common enough that most women will have had personal experience of it. Therefore many women are unable to sensibly assume good faith on the part of unknown men seeking to make a situation sexual and feel mentally uncomfortable at best and physically intimidated often. * While in many areas this restriction is loosening, women are stigmatised as well as celebrated for being too sexual. This traps women into a double bind when responding to sexualized environments, because even by getting the joke they may reveal themselves as too sexual. Keep in mind the commenter received extra points for this.
    - derefr 10y ago
      > This is othering for anyone who is not a heterosexual man Except, you know, for bisexual men and women, lesbians, heterosexual trans-men, and so on. A lot of people could theoretically bond with one-another over a shared attraction to a given gender. (Not making any point to the spirit of your argument; just poking at the letter of it in hope that you refine it.)
      - startling 10y ago
        > A lot of people could theoretically bond with one-another over a shared attraction to a given gender. OK? That's not what's happening here.
        derefr 10y ago
        The point you were making wasn't about what was or wasn't happening here, though; it was about what such statements "usually [serve to do] ... in geek contexts." Geek contexts involve a lot of the types of people I mentioned. (For example, according to a recent survey of LessWrong members, there are actually more transwomen than ciswomen in that community.)
mozumder 10y ago
Completely inappropriate comment.
bitshiftthis 10y ago
Is this a joke post lol? Grow up kid. This isn't even remotely offensive.

Mz 10y ago

I am curious if you knew about the Lena photo and history. It seems likely this remark by the professor was inappropriate, but given that context, provided by joshvm https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11888153 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11888153, I think that muddies the water.

Mz 10y ago
Oh, never mind. I see now that you did know. Excuse my derpy question.