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Just so everyone is aware, the argument that blog post makes is extremely tenuous at best, and blatant disinformation at its worst. The argument is, basically,

Just so everyone is aware, the argument that blog post makes is extremely tenuous at best, and blatant disinformation at its worst. The argument is, basically, 'someone on reddit was doing stuff in China, then stopped a few years ago. A few years ago, Naomi Wu a.k.a SexyCyborg started using reddit.' Here's that same argument again: Isaac Asimov wrote a lot of stuff, then he stopped. Around the same time he stopped, I started writing a lot of stuff. Therefore... To the more pointed criticisms given by 'Brianna Wu' or Timaz or whoever, I'm just going to disclose I'm an editor for Hackaday, I know Naomi, and all that entails. So: "The grammar and formatting are well beyond a lot of even native English speakers" -- Yes, because we edit her posts (top link to this submission and [0]). Additionally, Naomi has said she has a team (maybe of expats?) that edit her work for grammar and idioms. Also, if you follow her twitter, she's really locked in on Internet culture, which would give her a leg up on the memes and idioms. "While we are talking about China. The Chinese government blocks sites like YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram." -- Yes, and the Chinese government also blocks Hackaday. Luckily, our readers in China are the type who know how to get around that. Which gets into the next point... "Strange that she doesn't have the same online presence in her home country as she does in the West. " -- I'd keep a low profile in my home country if I were her. "How much do you think this stuff cost? RE: her lab" -- it's actually pretty cheap. Her lab is in Shenzhen, so I'm assuming the price for tools would be even cheaper than what Harbor Freight is selling them for. Additionally, it's not that much gear. It's a 3D printer, and I think a miter saw. Not expensive equipment, even in the US. And especially attainable if you're working remote, which Naomi is. I'm just going to tell you, OP, and everyone who agrees with you right now: fuck off. There's nothing inexplicable about a woman being able to use tools. The fact that your comment was voted up to the top in this Hacker News submission says a lot about Hacker News itself. Go feel shame, because you deserve it. [0]:https://hackaday.com/2017/03/28/source-parts-on-taobao-an-insiders-guide/ https://hackaday.com/2017/03/28/source-parts-on-taobao-an-in...

theli0nheart 9y ago
> I'm just going to tell you, OP, and everyone who agrees with you right now: fuck off. There's nothing inexplicable about a woman being able to use tools. The fact that your comment was voted up to the top in this Hacker News submission says a lot about Hacker News itself. Go feel shame, because you deserve it. Regardless of what your opinion is of anyone on this forum, using profanity is inappropriate and uncalled for.
- wanderingjew 9y ago
  A comment that suggests women can't use tools gets upvoted to the top, but saying 'fuck off' is inappropriate. Get Wired or Vice or Gizmodo on the line, we got some Internet Drama™ brewin' here!
  - crush-n-spread 9y ago
    The comment suggests that Naomi Wu is a front for another engineer's work, and that it is insincere. It doesn't suggest that women cannot use tools.
- vacri 9y ago
  Profanity is not synonymous with abuse. People use profanity all the time here. Similarly, the mods will still take a dim view of you if you keep it clean while abusing someone.
  - theli0nheart 9y ago
    My comment doesn't imply that profanity and abuse are synonymous. The HN guidelines state clearly that you should be civil in your contributions. The OP's comment, profanity or not, was not. From the guidelines: > Be civil. Don't say things you wouldn't say face-to-face. Don't be snarky. Comments should get more civil and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive. > When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names. "That is idiotic; 1 + 1 is 2, not 3" can be shortened to "1 + 1 is 2, not 3."
timaz 9y ago
There's nothing inexplicable about a woman using tools. The main thing I take issue with is someone literally parading a girl around in less-than-underwear for their own profit. Low profile in their home country.. like showing your face and naughty bits on camera and attending conventions? Like I said, this really makes no sense when you add things up. Tools are cheap in China for the Westerner, but not for the average Chinese person (much less that of a girl). Do you know how much a "good" job makes in China? Someone working in a government position with a pension and all makes maybe less than $1000 USD a month. And a flat in ShenZhen of that size? Also really expensive for the average Chinese to afford. Edit: I'd love to be proven wrong on this by the way. Bucking this stereotype of Chinese girls all being face-deep in WeChat and food pictures is what China needs.
- vacri 9y ago
  I don't understand your problem with someone having a mentor. I've been a sysadmin for approaching a decade now and I have a mentor, and no-one's ever called me a fraud at any stage. So what if she has help from someone more skilled than her? She clearly does at least some of the work herself, from her time-lapse videos. Why is it that women in tech aren't allowed to have intermediate technical skills without copping shit for it? "What, you had help? Such a fraud!" > Bucking this stereotype... is what China needs Perhaps one way to buck it is to not try on every little excuse you can find to discredit someone, birther-style?
  - SexyCyborg 9y ago
    >She clearly does at least some of the work herself, from her time-lapse videos. I do ALL of my builds myself and keep cameras running from beginning to end to prove it. What other technical help I get is always disclosed in the presentation and build log. There is no proof I can offer that will be accepted and he harder I work, the more evidence I offer, the more I study and try, the angrier they get. Now this shit- I write a reasonable article and they jump in to try and discredit builds that are not even relevant to the discussion.
fiblye 9y ago
Christ, none of the issue is with women using tools. It's everything but that. The blog post's focus is clearly that someone as apparently young and busy as this isn't merely a jack of all trades, but a master. Gender isn't what is making people stop and think here. >I'm just going to tell you, OP, and everyone who agrees with you right now: fuck off. This kind of debate shutdown is better suited to Facebook political groups, not HN.
- Animats 9y ago
  Ever meet Jeri Ellsworth? She's usually in Silicon Valley and fairly visible. She can do both software and hardware. She made money selling a box with a joystick that connected to a TV and all the Commodore-64 games in it. She built race cars as a teenager. She's now working on augmented reality, while fooling around with ham radio. Jeri is one of those rare people who thinks things through from first principles. She does mods few people would think to try - changing the frequencies of crystals through vapor deposition, spin-coating her own wafers, and converting a satellite receiver to a radar transmitter by reversing a transistor in the low-noise amp.
  - bittercynic 9y ago
    I have, along with several members of her entourage. She seemed like a genuinely nice and generous person (on top of being an extraordinarily talented and productive engineer), who has surrounded herself with other awesome people. Her work is more geared towards education, and Naomi's is more geared toward entertainment. I think there's a place for both.
- novembermike 9y ago
  How is she a master? She looks like an amateur hobbyist, the main positive she has is that she looks fairly active and she's actually building stuff. Looking at her youtube I saw 3d printed bikini cups, what looked like her putting together some shelves and a skirt with lights under it. That's not masterful, but it does take a little dedication and maybe some nights or weekends.
Giorgi 9y ago
Hmm, I was skeptical after reading the article, but after your white-knight butt hurt comment, I am inclined to believe it was truth. What an asshole.
yorwba 9y ago
I don't know why you think that Hackaday is blocked in China, since I read the article just fine on a filtered connection. (As opposed to the Blogspot post, which I won't bother firing up a VPN for.) Of course the blocks don't always stay the same, and sometimes they depend on your internet provider, but from my point of view, it seems like you haven't stirred the ire of the regime yet.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
digi_owl 9y ago
> "The grammar and formatting are well beyond a lot of even native English speakers" -- Yes, because we edit her posts (top link to this submission and [0]). Additionally, Naomi has said she has a team (maybe of expats?) that edit her work for grammar and idioms. Also, if you follow her twitter, she's really locked in on Internet culture, which would give her a leg up on the memes and idioms. I can echo this. Over the years i have been taken as being American because of how i write. But back in school my english grades sucked. It was only after got online and thus had to regularly practice that my writing picked up. But if i have to try to speak the language, i will butcher it in a myriad of ways.

theli0nheart 9y ago

> I'm just going to tell you, OP, and everyone who agrees with you right now: fuck off. There's nothing inexplicable about a woman being able to use tools. The fact that your comment was voted up to the top in this Hacker News submission says a lot about Hacker News itself. Go feel shame, because you deserve it. Regardless of what your opinion is of anyone on this forum, using profanity is inappropriate and uncalled for.

wanderingjew 9y ago
A comment that suggests women can't use tools gets upvoted to the top, but saying 'fuck off' is inappropriate. Get Wired or Vice or Gizmodo on the line, we got some Internet Drama™ brewin' here!
- crush-n-spread 9y ago
  The comment suggests that Naomi Wu is a front for another engineer's work, and that it is insincere. It doesn't suggest that women cannot use tools.
vacri 9y ago
Profanity is not synonymous with abuse. People use profanity all the time here. Similarly, the mods will still take a dim view of you if you keep it clean while abusing someone.
- theli0nheart 9y ago
  My comment doesn't imply that profanity and abuse are synonymous. The HN guidelines state clearly that you should be civil in your contributions. The OP's comment, profanity or not, was not. From the guidelines: > Be civil. Don't say things you wouldn't say face-to-face. Don't be snarky. Comments should get more civil and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive. > When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names. "That is idiotic; 1 + 1 is 2, not 3" can be shortened to "1 + 1 is 2, not 3."

timaz 9y ago

There's nothing inexplicable about a woman using tools. The main thing I take issue with is someone literally parading a girl around in less-than-underwear for their own profit. Low profile in their home country.. like showing your face and naughty bits on camera and attending conventions? Like I said, this really makes no sense when you add things up. Tools are cheap in China for the Westerner, but not for the average Chinese person (much less that of a girl). Do you know how much a "good" job makes in China? Someone working in a government position with a pension and all makes maybe less than $1000 USD a month. And a flat in ShenZhen of that size? Also really expensive for the average Chinese to afford. Edit: I'd love to be proven wrong on this by the way. Bucking this stereotype of Chinese girls all being face-deep in WeChat and food pictures is what China needs.

vacri 9y ago
I don't understand your problem with someone having a mentor. I've been a sysadmin for approaching a decade now and I have a mentor, and no-one's ever called me a fraud at any stage. So what if she has help from someone more skilled than her? She clearly does at least some of the work herself, from her time-lapse videos. Why is it that women in tech aren't allowed to have intermediate technical skills without copping shit for it? "What, you had help? Such a fraud!" > Bucking this stereotype... is what China needs Perhaps one way to buck it is to not try on every little excuse you can find to discredit someone, birther-style?
- SexyCyborg 9y ago
  >She clearly does at least some of the work herself, from her time-lapse videos. I do ALL of my builds myself and keep cameras running from beginning to end to prove it. What other technical help I get is always disclosed in the presentation and build log. There is no proof I can offer that will be accepted and he harder I work, the more evidence I offer, the more I study and try, the angrier they get. Now this shit- I write a reasonable article and they jump in to try and discredit builds that are not even relevant to the discussion.

fiblye 9y ago

Christ, none of the issue is with women using tools. It's everything but that. The blog post's focus is clearly that someone as apparently young and busy as this isn't merely a jack of all trades, but a master. Gender isn't what is making people stop and think here. >I'm just going to tell you, OP, and everyone who agrees with you right now: fuck off. This kind of debate shutdown is better suited to Facebook political groups, not HN.

Animats 9y ago
Ever meet Jeri Ellsworth? She's usually in Silicon Valley and fairly visible. She can do both software and hardware. She made money selling a box with a joystick that connected to a TV and all the Commodore-64 games in it. She built race cars as a teenager. She's now working on augmented reality, while fooling around with ham radio. Jeri is one of those rare people who thinks things through from first principles. She does mods few people would think to try - changing the frequencies of crystals through vapor deposition, spin-coating her own wafers, and converting a satellite receiver to a radar transmitter by reversing a transistor in the low-noise amp.
- bittercynic 9y ago
  I have, along with several members of her entourage. She seemed like a genuinely nice and generous person (on top of being an extraordinarily talented and productive engineer), who has surrounded herself with other awesome people. Her work is more geared towards education, and Naomi's is more geared toward entertainment. I think there's a place for both.
novembermike 9y ago
How is she a master? She looks like an amateur hobbyist, the main positive she has is that she looks fairly active and she's actually building stuff. Looking at her youtube I saw 3d printed bikini cups, what looked like her putting together some shelves and a skirt with lights under it. That's not masterful, but it does take a little dedication and maybe some nights or weekends.

Giorgi 9y ago

Hmm, I was skeptical after reading the article, but after your white-knight butt hurt comment, I am inclined to believe it was truth. What an asshole.

yorwba 9y ago

I don't know why you think that Hackaday is blocked in China, since I read the article just fine on a filtered connection. (As opposed to the Blogspot post, which I won't bother firing up a VPN for.) Of course the blocks don't always stay the same, and sometimes they depend on your internet provider, but from my point of view, it seems like you haven't stirred the ire of the regime yet.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

digi_owl 9y ago

> "The grammar and formatting are well beyond a lot of even native English speakers" -- Yes, because we edit her posts (top link to this submission and [0]). Additionally, Naomi has said she has a team (maybe of expats?) that edit her work for grammar and idioms. Also, if you follow her twitter, she's really locked in on Internet culture, which would give her a leg up on the memes and idioms. I can echo this. Over the years i have been taken as being American because of how i write. But back in school my english grades sucked. It was only after got online and thus had to regularly practice that my writing picked up. But if i have to try to speak the language, i will butcher it in a myriad of ways.