26 ms·

Robert Scoble and Me

733 points by strangeloops85 9y ago

ar813 9y ago
I admire the author's willingness to see possibilities for positive change here, including through restorative justice. It is especially admirable in the context of the fundamental violations and loss of trust that such harassment and assault continues to impose on so many women in their professional careers. I can also completely understand different reactions to this, including a deep sense of anger and betrayal. We must all do better, and continuously seek to do so. In the short term, there is clearly value to outing commonly-known 'secrets' such as this one, in this and many other industries.
- bertil 9y ago
  I too admire it. Denouncing someone hopefully willing to change to start that conversation is a good idea. More importantly, it is necessary. Going on a creep witchhunt has too many risks of blowbacks.
brlewis 9y ago
Not sure I get this part: I realized I was part of the problem that night — a woman’s safety in her career environment shouldn’t require credible threats of violence. I could understand saying she wasn't part of the solution, but to me "part of the problem" makes a non-zero contribution to the problem. What she did was at worst neutral, no?
- wiredfool 9y ago
  What she's saying is that there's really no reasonable way that a threat of violence should be part of a professional interaction in the tech field. (or any, outside of boxing and perhaps hockey) It's similar to what I teach the kids: He started it doesn't make it right, you know it's not ok to hit your brother. What she did was what she felt like she needed to do at the time. What she's doing now is second guessing it, and trying to turn it to a generally more positive approach on all sides in the future.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - aaron-lebo 9y ago
    The threat of violence is an appropriate response in any situation to someone drunkenly groping you and refusing to back off.
    - rhizome 9y ago
      Which also shouldn't be a part of a career environment.
      - floatingatoll 9y ago
        Among others!
      - icebraining 9y ago
        I don't think anybody is disagreeing with that.
- duncan_bayne 9y ago
  > What she did was at worst neutral, no? At worst. I'd argue it was strongly positive. http://www.catb.org/esr/guns/gun-ethics.html http://www.catb.org/esr/guns/gun-ethics.html
  - mixologic 9y ago
    The fantasyland that ESR lives in is such a wildly inaccurate representation of reality that it borders on offensive.
    - DonHopkins 9y ago
      Thank you. Links to catb have no place in a rational discussion. Gun nuts, racists and men's rights activist should troll somewhere else.
      - duncan_bayne 9y ago
        > racists and men's rights activist should troll somewhere else. There are definitely many of those in the comment threads on Eric's blog. But are you saying that ESR is himself one of those? Because I've seen no evidence of it myself. [Edited to remove the 'gun nuts' bit, because ESR proudly self-identifies as same; it was the racist / MRA thing I was questioning.]
        DonHopkins 9y ago
        There are many racists and men's rights activists at Trump rallies, but (gasp!) are you saying that Trump is himself one of those? Maybe he's actually an upright ethical human being with extraordinary leadership abilities, who simply panders to racists and men's rights activists, but doesn't actually believe any of the words he says to wind up the crowds at rallies? The best evidence is all over his blog and Google+ account, but I refuse to link to it. Google for "esr", "Is the casting couch a fair trade?", "low IQ" and "Blacks are lazy" yourself. You're probably going to want to take a shower afterwards. ...Unless that kind of stuff appeals to you.
- ksenzee 9y ago
  I understood it to mean that she was setting a bad precedent, making things just a bit more dangerous for the next woman who comes along and doesn't have her self-defense ability.
- Mz 9y ago
  I understand where she is coming from, but I don't know that I can explain it effectively. Even trying to do so tends to get me accused of blaming the victim. To attempt to explain it: One of my criticisms of Cheryl Yeoh is that her BATNA wrt to sexual harassment was that she has a black belt. So, I think she did not feel compelled to try all that hard to make sure to avoid trouble and misunderstandings. She felt safe, even if the worst came to pass. I think that was a contributing factor to the incident in which Dave McClure sexually assaulted her. * That does not make Dave's behavior okay. It in no way excuses it. But if you take the position that women are simply victims who have no power at all to influence the social environment in which they participate, I think you do more harm than good. Most discussions of "rape culture" assume that only men can do something about it. It assumes that only men create "rape culture" and only men can work to stop it. This is an incredibly disempowering way to view women. I think it actively reinforces the problem in insidious ways. That said, I am totally okay with Quinn Norton successfully enforcing her boundaries with Scoble by stating clearly and unequivocally that if he touched her again, she would break his nose. He was drunk. She had just met him. He was in the midst of trying to rape another woman, then sexually assaulted Quinn at first introduction in spite of witnesses. This was not a situation where more polite, respectful measures were going to work. But I also understand her mixed feelings about expressly seeking permission from the organizers to break his nose, should push come to shove. (Edit: In case you did not know, I am female and very open about being a rape survivor.) * https://cherylyeoh.com/2017/07/03/shedding-light-on-the-black-box-of-inappropriateness/ https://cherylyeoh.com/2017/07/03/shedding-light-on-the-blac...
  - glangdale 9y ago
    Having a black belt in some random martial art won't mean much if you are a small woman having a non-sport-type self defense situation with a much larger man.
    - Mz 9y ago
      I don't think whether or not that is true is relevant to the point of her own statements about her own mindset about the matter. My point speaks to mindset and how that influences choices leading up to the incident. I blogged about it. I can point you to that series of posts if you are interested. I don't intend to rehash it at length here.
xutopia 9y ago
I'm really happy this was written... It's almost as if there could be a positive way forward with all we are learning about consent.
- jasonmp85 9y ago
  Wait what? “all we are learning about consent”? We aren’t learning a damn thing about consent. We are learning there is a huge segment of men who flagrantly don’t care about it.
  - jochung 9y ago
    Really? Cos in the story, there's two people who are drunk who are making out, but only one is responsible for their own actions. If Scoble is scum for getting blackout drunk and getting frisky, why is the same standard not applied to the chick who's equally or more shitfaced? Unless he slipped her a roofie, she put herself in that position. A sane response would be to observe they both had drinking problems. But instead we get a paternalistic concern for women, in the name of equality.
- fgjjgutjvnu 9y ago
  Huh, I think it has been common knowledge for quite a while that drunk people usually can not consent?
thebiglebrewski 9y ago
Wow, I'm sorry this happened to you. That's really messed up. The recent, "Me too" movement has made me realize even more how pervasive this type of behavior is. Hoping I can be part of the solution and not the problem. Thanks for writing this.
desireco42 9y ago
I was hoping this article is not "me too", but it is. And it is more serious then I could imagine. It pains me to read this about him, but don't doubt it. However unpleasant (to put it mildly) we need to go through this process and clean our act. I always saw tech as a forefront of human thought, so clearly we need to be better people. That is all.
- tekjenitalor 9y ago
  You have no personal judgement and no idea on how to deal with bad situations? If you have no umbrella do you sit in the rain? No. You choose your company and make good decisions. It's on you.
camus2 9y ago
Ouch, Robert Scoble, the guy that has a podcast on Techcrunch? or somebody else?
- minimaxir 9y ago
  Scoble never had a podcast on TechCrunch, but he was a contributor on the Gilmor Gang (and left after things got political) He was mostly an evangelist for Rackspace. His biggest claim-to-fame is the infamous Google Glass Shower pic: https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/15/4333656/larry-page-teases-robert-scoble-for-nude-google-glass-photo https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/15/4333656/larry-page-teases...
nichochar 9y ago
I never liked Scoble, I always got a really weird vibe when I saw him live or in videos. I'm really sorry to hear that this happened to Quinn, and many others apparently. I believe sanctions should be very strong. I really hope they are, it seems to me like this man should go to jail.
matt4077 9y ago
I never understood why the banality that Scoble produced was so popular? It's been a long time, but I seem to remember most of his articles had the vibe of "I tried 25 methods to format my USB stick and <this one> is two seconds faster". Anyway, I hope Quinn Norton gets all the support, kindness and apologies, she deserves. And that Scoble finds the catharsis he needs.
- aaron-lebo 9y ago
  Seems like he had a major drinking problem. Groping someone you just met at a professional meeting isn't normal behavior, seems like he couldn't control himself - alcohol being the issue. It's possible he's a decent guy but the demons come out with drink, like a Mel Gibson. He's apparently stopped drinking so hopefully he stays sober.
  - throwawaysml 9y ago
    Being drunk doesn't absolve you of your crimes, it means you should stay sober if you don't live alone on the moon. Especially if you know you will act a certain way. I hadn't heard of Scoble for years so I googled "scoble abuse", and the first result is something he supposedly wrote about being groomed and abused by his coach while he was a kid (http://archive.is/AN19H http://archive.is/AN19H). Can't find the Facebook post this suggests was written by Robert and I don't know anything about the website it was posted on. But if it's true, then it gives you a way to trace back how Robert Scoble became an abuser. It also reflects on his substance abuse issues and if true shows that society fails to help victims and puts them on a path to become future perpetrators.
    - rexpop 9y ago
      Abuse is no excuse. > abusers of all varieties tend to realize the mileage they can get out of saying, “I’m abusive because the same thing was done to me.” — Lundy Bancroft, "Why Does He Do That?: Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men"
      - 9y ago
dhruvp 9y ago
If there's one thing to learn I think it's that men can do far far more (like the intervening guys in the article) to step in and be far less tolerant of such grotesque behavior. Most men here (of which I'm one) have all probably witnessed some creepy comments and acts from our guy friends or colleagues and let it go. I think that has to come to an end. I know personally I can do better and would hope that if anything, we all demand more from each other.
- 0ioI0j-o 9y ago
  I 100% agree. I also felt compelled to mention that I've witnessed men making what I have felt are creepy comments / moves on women and they've actually worked (in that they received positive responses from the woman). Life is complex.
  - Mz 9y ago
    Abusive men often target women who have been previously abused. A woman who has been previously treated badly may not readily recognize a nicer expression of sexual interest. They still have sexual and emotional needs. So, they hook up with the men that they are able to comprehend as actively interested. Yes, it is complicated. But, the receptivity of some women mostly goes to show how deep the problem goes and how pervasive it is.
    - fgjjgutjvnu 9y ago
      So basically, you know better than those other people (women) what is good for them. Sure thing.
    - Yizahi 9y ago
      If you are attractive(1) and treat women badly vs. if you are not attractive and has "normal" personality - guess whom women will choose. :) (1) meaning whole person - physical appearance, voice, gestures etc.
  - Frondo 9y ago
    You see a guy making a creepy move, you call him out. Simple as that. You don't know if it's "working" because she's trying to keep him at ease til she can dash for the door, or why. See shitty, harassing, abusive behavior, call it out. For too long, we all let this stand. No more. Risk your job, risk short-term awkwardness, risk whatever because the women in the world deserve better than being targets while we stand around like cowards.
Spooky23 9y ago
Is this type of behavior more pronounced in tech than other areas? I have heard above incidents like this from women that I’m close to either by relation, personal friendship or professional relationship. But not from my accountant or teacher friends. Anywhere I’ve worked has had zero tolerance for bullshit like this, as in you will be put on leave and terminated or banished from the premises. Maybe that’s unique?
- justinlilly 9y ago
  It being stated that it's zero tolerance and "well, give him one more chance b/c he's a top performer" [especially in small orgs with young employees </bias>] aren't quite the same thing. People are willing to make exceptions for their implicit biases.
  - cwkoss 9y ago
    Stating zero tolerance and giving someone 'one more chance' is called being complicit.
- donohoe 9y ago
  My understanding is this happens everywhere. It happens when they walk down the street. You just hear about it more in some places than others.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- maxxxxx 9y ago
  I have worked as contractor at an insurance and and advertising company for a few months each. In both cases things were much worse than anything I have ever seen in tech. Bosses getting one of their workers pregnant, a clear vendetta after being rejected, sexual comments left and right, sending dirty jokes to mailing lists. It seems most of the known incidents in tech involve some very rich or famous people on a power trip, not lowly workers.
- vermontdevil 9y ago
satysin 9y ago
Also see this comment https://medium.com/@sarawinge/i-remember-that-night-17f5bf2a9227 https://medium.com/@sarawinge/i-remember-that-night-17f5bf2a... And this tweet from Tim O'Reilly https://twitter.com/timoreilly/status/921124414418182144 https://twitter.com/timoreilly/status/921124414418182144
- protomyth 9y ago
  Created a Code of Conduct? What the heck is wrong with these people? Full stop, you call the police immediately. You do not cover it up. Was he raised by a PR firm?
  - rtpg 9y ago
    Reading this just made realize how bonkers it is that we aren't actually calling the police. If some guy was smashing people's laptops, this would be an obvious option on the spectrum of ways to handle it. But here.... Granted, this also means attention to the victim, and given how society treats people making these claims it can be an extremely scary step forward to make for them, on top of the experience itself.
    - protomyth 9y ago
      The victim got enough attention without involving the police to commit suicide. Silence netted nothing and I would lay even odds that this wasn’t the last incident.
      - aptwebapps 9y ago
        That was a different victim and the way the story was related it seems that her identity was leaked to that particular community. Scoble's victim at the campfire has remained anonymous.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
  - smt88 9y ago
jacquesm 9y ago
She's also calling out either Frankston or Bricklin, kind of weird to leave it unspoken who it was but to accuse both of them at the same time. Either name the person or leave it unspecified at least so no shadow hangs over someone who you know didn't do anything.
- davedx 9y ago
  It was a public event, I'm sure plenty of people who were present remember who it was.
  - jacquesm 9y ago
    I'm sure there are orders of magnitude more people reading the blogpost who have no idea who it was and who will now have no choice but to suspect both.
    - firebones 9y ago
      There is at least one more name that could fit that description, depending on the breadth of your definition of creator. Regardless, oblique references serve the purpose of allowing victims to triangulate over space and time and connect with lower risk of having to go out on a limb alone, or to send a message in a bottle to other victims who might have been suffering thinking they were the only one, or thinking that they were going crazy.
- AlexCoventry 9y ago
  Are the references oblique? I don't see them mentioned. Perhaps they have been removed from the article.
  - dredmorbius 9y ago
    "At one of my first talks on body hacking, one of the creators of VisiCalc sat in the front row and yelled out sexually explicit questions at me while everyone, not just me, grew increasingly uncomfortable."
0xbear 9y ago
When I read these accounts they read to me like they’re from another planet. I’ve been in the industry for 20+ years, and not once have I been in a situation with my coworkers where such a thing would even be _feasible_, let alone acceptable. Maybe I don’t get invited to the “right” events? I don’t know. But all of this seems completely alien to all environments that I’ve ever worked in.
- donohoe 9y ago
  Assuming you are right (how can you be so sure?), you’re very lucky
- untog 9y ago
  I've spoken to a few of the women I've worked with about this before, and honestly you'd be shocked how much absolutely does go on, right under your nose, and you don't notice it. How did everyone get home from the last happy hour the team had? Who shared taxis? Do you remember who shared with who? I certainly didn't. I was pretty drunk and what does it matter anyway? Well, turns out that after one night one of the managers shared with a subordinate and made a totally inappropriate move on her. Turns out he has a habit of doing it. I had absolutely no idea.
  - 0xbear 9y ago
    I’m not saying it’s not true. I’m just genuinely wondering if I simply don’t get invited to the kinds of gatherings where such things could possibly transpire, and why that is. I don’t think I’m quite _that_ boring or unattractive.
    - pavlov 9y ago
      I don’t get it - are you saying sexual harassment happens to exciting, attractive people only? The point is that it happens to women everywhere, also (and perhaps even mostly) in ordinary settings where other oblivious men think it couldn’t possibly transpire.
      - 9y ago
cwkoss 9y ago
Scoble should be entirely blacklisted from attending any tech conferences. Boycott anything he touches. His entire livelihood is based on the fact that he has an audience and can promote things: he is very vulnerable to public opinion. Let's destroy his career. Everywhere he posts, remind people that he's a sexual abuser. Hopefully, if we can proverbially put his head on a pike, it will scare other potential abusers from committing crimes like these. EDIT: Wow, seems like this post is making the rape apologists feel insecure. It's raining downvotes.
- omegaworks 9y ago
  That's exactly the opposite of what the author of the article hoped to accomplish: >I’m very mixed on this. I believe if we don’t provide paths of redemption for badly behaved people, we enable abusers as much as we do by remaining silent. I also believe we need to talk about these things plainly, and we need to seek to help and elevate the victims. >The demonization of either rapists or victims is what makes the subject unapproachable, and doesn’t let anyone intercede to get abusive people the help they need, much less the victims.
  - cwkoss 9y ago
    I appreciate the author for writing this article and respect her courage, but I disagree with the proposed solution. I think fear is the only emotion sexual abusers will be deterred by. If the treatment of Scoble doesn't make other powerful sexual abusing sociopaths fear for their livelihood, they won't change their behavior. Total scorched-earth ostracism seems like it would have more impact than any other option.
    - _mhr_ 9y ago
      The problem is to assume that he's a sociopath, but I'm inclined to think not, particularly in light of this comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15512398 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15512398. It's possible to have empathy for someone whose actions are disgusting. The world isn't black and white.
Mz 9y ago
She was propped up between two of my friends, walked away from the scene, and looked after for the evening. Both of those guys will have my undying respect for what they did that night. Yes, this. The antidote to bad men is good men. It doesn't help to tar all men with the same brush for simply being male. Once she was outed as a victim, the hate mail, the barrage of nasty questions, the endless accusations took, such a toll on her. Eventually, she took her own life. She’d just never been able to put it all back together after that. This is one reason a lot of women stay silent: to protect themselves or other innocent bystanders, not the perpetrator. The demonization of either rapists or victims is what makes the subject unapproachable, and doesn’t let anyone intercede to get abusive people the help they need, much less the victims. This is an excellent piece and I am so glad she wrote it. My utmost respect for this incredible lady.
- mercer 9y ago
  > Yes, this. The antidote to bad men is good men. It doesn't help to tar all men with the same brush for simply being male. I'll add that there are plenty of otherwise good men who might do bad things when shitfaced or on drugs, and I can't help but worry that separating men into bad and good doesn't acknowledge the very real risk of good men forgetting that they can do bad things too. (of course this applies to people in general, not just men)
  - Mz 9y ago
    Thank you. I agree. Pithiness and nuance are not friends. My preference overall is to focus on good vs bad behaviors, plus best practices, without drawing larger conclusions about individual moral worth.
  - samastur 9y ago
    Not sure I would describe such people as good. Obviously not bad either since they can keep themselves in check otherwise, but goodness shouldn't be a description of you only under normal/advantageous circumstances.
  - guelo 9y ago
    Personally I don't put that much weight on the drunkenness excuse. I've done many stupid things while drunk but, even while black-out drunk, I've never raped, sexually harassed or even physically assaulted anyone besides a couple self defense instances when I was younger. In my experience asshole drunks are asshole sober people too.
ComputerGuru 9y ago
I knew Robert Scoble online 2004 - 2007 during his time as a blogger and an (unpaid/unofficial, if I'm not mistaken) Microsoft evangelist during the Longhorn beta days. I remember him as a bully who was not afraid to use his pedestal to call people out on personal whim and took great pleasure in his sense of power and fame. He often blogged out of ignorance on trending topics (TechMeme, anyone?) yet always got that traffic and those backlinks - one of those people that believed that if you spoke loudly enough what you said would magically both become important and true. It worked for him though, that I remember. He was a bully then and I'm not surprised to hear he still is one now, but presuming that this article is true I'm very sorry to learn that he didn't contain his behavior to online only. What I remember hating the most was just how successful people like him - and there are plenty - are at being popular. It just felt so unfair how this unintelligent bloke managed to con everyone into thinking his opinion mattered, got himself invited to all these exclusive events, and was somewhat of a mini-celebrity for no discernible reason at all. He wasn't someone you wanted to call out or cross because he never hesitated to fire back with all guns at anyone who gave him any flack and you didn't want to be the person everyone woke up to find shredded to pieces in their RSS inboxes the next morning. I wisened up at some point and tuned him out. I stopped trying to blog about how his latest piece was inaccurate and unsubscribed from his feeds, realizing he simply wasn't worth it, and, to be honest, that it wasn't a game I could win. The thing about people like him is that they largely live in an echo chamber. They don't really matter. If you can tune them out and cut them out of your life, you won't be missing a thing. And if enough people do that, then they lost at their game. I imagine there are a lot of people that saw this headline and hadn't a clue who Robert Scoble even was - that wasn't the case 12 years ago. Bullies fade.
- AndrewKemendo 9y ago
  What I remember hating the most was just how successful people like him - and there are plenty - are at being popular. This is really what boggles my mind. There are so so many people who are "independent consultants or innovators or specialists" but don't code, don't do product management or sales or any other of the core things that businesses do. Yet people somehow listen to them as though they are experts - despite having no expertise or hands on. I'd love for someone to explain why and how these people get to be well known.
DonHopkins 9y ago
Eeeeeew, this didn't age well: Why Google Glass Will Be A Hit. The High School Girls Love Them. https://soundcloud.com/scobleizer/why-google-glass-will-be-a-hit https://soundcloud.com/scobleizer/why-google-glass-will-be-a...
- underwater 9y ago
  What's wrong with that interaction?
  - DonHopkins 9y ago
    Didn't South Park do an episode where Robert Scoble took a photo of himself wearing nothing but Google Glass in the shower, or did that really happen?
    - on_and_off 9y ago
      I vaguely remember the photo but not the South Park episode (it might exist though)
      - DonHopkins 9y ago
        Well I can also distinctly remember watching Bob Dylan and The Band performing Too Much of Nothing on the Muppet Show, but I couldn't find any proof it ever happened on google, so maybe I'm confabulating it, or google's covering it up.
    - minimaxir 9y ago
      Yes, it happened: https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/15/4333656/larry-page-teases-robert-scoble-for-nude-google-glass-photo https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/15/4333656/larry-page-teases...
avitzurel 9y ago
In case you are interested, he is going to make a statement about it : [1] [1] https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10155782918634655?comment_id=10155783150444655&reply_comment_id=10155783326114655&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R1%22%7D&pnref=story https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/1015578291863465...
- minimaxir 9y ago
  > I will make a statement about this at midnight tonight on live video here on Facebook Huh, scheduling your crisis management for maximum views (as opposed to getting out a statement ASAP to control the narrative) is a new one.
  - jasonmp85 9y ago
    If you’ve been exposed to him at all over the years you should expect nothing less.
- bertil 9y ago
  That link appears to point to a deleted comment.
  - forsakenkraken 9y ago
    Yeah, he's since deleted all the comments about the post on that thread. Wish I'd taken a screen shot now.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
KKKKkkkk1 9y ago
> At one of my first talks on body hacking, one of the creators of VisiCalc sat in the front row and yelled out sexually explicit questions at me while everyone, not just me, grew increasingly uncomfortable. Who is it?
hi41 9y ago
I am so to hear this happened to you. I used to follow Robert Scoble's blog on Google Reader, Rackspace videos, Google Plus. There was one incident that made me very proud of him at that time. I think he did not blog for one entire week to support Kathy Sierra who was harassed online. From your article, I now know that he himself harassed you and other women. I feel so sad that I held this man in such high regard. What I am trying hard to understand is human nature. How can a person protest online harassment and turn around and harass another person at a party? I think fame, alcohol and drugs change a person for the worse. Lot of things to ponder about in your article.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- SolaceQuantum 9y ago
  I feel it’s a lot easier to identify when someone other than you is harassing someone. If you are harassing someone you can justify those actions to yourself that you’re just trying to get what you want, they’re not that bad, the other person is overreacting, etc.
Fricken 9y ago
The Weinstein thing really opened the floodgates. There's a guy in my hometown, whom I've worked with in the past, he's a pretty talented and prolific playwright, actor and director who's been at the centre of the local theatre and filmmaking scene for about 20 years now, and he's also a sexual predator, as anyone who's worked with him can attest to. The day before yesterday he made a long Facebook post under the #metoo hashtag basically confessing to his sins apologizing profusely, and promising to never do it again. Today he got fired from everything that he's involved with. The apology was career suicide. The fucked up thing is that, just like Harvey Weinstein, everybody knew what he was up to, it had going on for years and while it made everyone uncomfortable people just looked the other way. Opening up about it is what ruined him. Honesty is the best policy something something.
- bbatsell 9y ago
  > Today he got fired from everything that he's involved with. The apology was career suicide. I'm obviously not familiar with the exact situation, but I'd be willing to bet money that he had received word that it was going to become public and the apology was an attempt to appear proactively remorseful and to circumvent the consequences resulting from the forthcoming publication. (In other words, the "apology" was not the precipitating action.)
  - Fricken 9y ago
    He was artistic director of a local theatre, and he came under fire from them, which is what prompted the public confession/apology, but then he was fired from his role as head writer and part time performer in a locally produced sitcom, booted out of an improv troupe he was in, and he had a couple plays lined up with different theatres that were cancelled. This all happened in less than 24 hours. If he hadn't made the confession I'm not sure he would've lost all of that.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - flargh 9y ago
gsteph22 9y ago
Holy shit, I was sitting around that campfire. I remember the whole making-out incident. Buried that in a dunken haze 7 years ago. Yikes. Foo Camp was fantastic both years I went, and the O’Reilly crew has worked hard to make things better. We still have a lot of work to do.
ForFreedom 9y ago
Another Woman Has Accused Robert Scoble of Sexual Harassment https://www.buzzfeed.com/doree/woman-accuses-robert-scoble-of-sexual-harassment?utm_term=.fpEv1XAQQ#.hlkWj6wvv https://www.buzzfeed.com/doree/woman-accuses-robert-scoble-o... I wonder how many more will come forward in the tech Industry. The Weinstein saga did open the gates.
tryingagainbro 9y ago
Adios Robert Scoble, our very own Kim Kardashian. As per sexual harassment, even after Weinstein most women will keep quiet. It's a much better career move, unless their attacker is on the ropes. (Unless he's outed he can not be in the ropes, I know). Many people with money and power do feel entitled to everyone, not to just those that go after such men.
chirau 9y ago
Robert Scoble has responded and said he will make a statement over the weekend after speaking to his wife. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10155783817434655&id=501319654 https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1015578381743465...
- minimaxir 9y ago
  ...and he deleted it, which is very uncharacteristic. Screenshot: https://twitter.com/minimaxir/status/921265767282221061 https://twitter.com/minimaxir/status/921265767282221061
  - mercer 9y ago
    Unless I misremember, there was a posted-and-then-deleted message even before OP's, or at least it was reworded.
  - chirau 9y ago
    Ha! You're Max Woolf! Awesome, I have heard good things about you. I might want to pick your brain on something one of these days :)
justinjlynn 9y ago
Well, that quickly went where I wasn't expecting it to go. I would, at the very least, appreciate a mention of the fact that the article linked has accusations and explicit descriptions of sexual harassment and assault in the title, please. Or, if that's not manageable, at least tag the thing NSFW.
handsomechad 9y ago
This is an extremely touchy subject but something always pops into my head when I read stories like this and I haven't seen it brought up. I'm hoping this doesn't get buried; I really don't have an axe to grind here, but I want to hear how people think about this dynamic. It is something that's hard and not PC to discuss publicly. Do women react to alcohol differently? It seems like our culture and our legal system treat an inebriated woman differently than an inebriated man when assessing a situation. It seems like if a woman is wasted and making out with a guy "consensually" she is being victimized because she cannot consent when she is drunk. But what if the guy is also inebriated and he cannot consent or decipher consent. I, for example (I'm male), would have to be extremely drunk to PDA like that in a professional setting. Even then it's hard to imagine. What if it's just two really drunk people hooking up? Is it one of those "I know it when I see it" situations? This is fine for me, but it seems like it is only applied with women being the victim and a man being the aggressor. Maybe that is because of the natural sexual dynamic of the onus being on the male to seduce the female. By saying that the woman had no control because she was inebriated, but Scoble did, aren't we denying the woman of her agency? Unless of course Scoble plied her with alcohol/drugs a la Bill Cosby? To be clear, and this goes without saying, I am NOT condoning Scoble's actions, I really don't know anything about Scoble other than this story but from what it sounds like he has a pattern of transgressions, including a completely inappropriate groping of the author in this story. I'm also not trying to deflect off of the serious issues at hand here, but the other comment threads are doing a good job of covering those. But I also don't think I am "victim blaming" either. Unless we grant that women inherently have less agency than men. Now this Scoble situation might have been a black and white case, but it seems to me there is a lot more grey area in these situations than we let on as a culture, and I am just wondering what the "rules" are.
- mercer 9y ago
  One analogy that might work is the difference between biking and driving drunk. At least here in Holland biking drunk is either not illegal, or tolerated within reasonable limits. Driving drunk, however, is outright illegal. In general, I'd say men are more like cars and women more like bikes. Whether nature or nurture, in my experience men are clearly more aggressive, and clearly stronger. They also seem to be more inclined to have and pursue a single obsessive goal (and perhaps especially when that goal is intercourse). But I'd say that's less clear and perhaps untrue.
youdontknowtho 9y ago
Scoble. Jeez. I never understood the appeal of this guy's writing. It sounds like drinking, along with being "a star" went to his head. That's the only way you do something like that and think it's ok. I think you will hear lots of women come out about this guy. I wonder how much of this occurred while he was married?
mcculley 9y ago
I’m a little bemused when people say this is a problem in the “tech industry”. It appears to be a problem in every industry. Tech people with blogs haven’t worked in other industries, apparently.
- anon1385 9y ago
  It is a problem in the tech industry. It's a problem in pretty much every other industry as well. It is worse in tech than most other industries because there are more men in positions of power? Maybe, but I don't think it matters to how we respond to it. We here on HN are nearly all members of the tech industry, not other industries. Any amount of harassment is intolerable and it doesn't matter if it's worse in Hollywood or some other industry. That's no excuse. As members of a community/industry we have a collective responsibility for what goes on; for our own behaviour, for the behaviour we let men get away with, and for supporting victims.
  - mcculley 9y ago
    There are more men in power in tech than in other industries? Real estate? Accounting? Hollywood? Construction? No. They just don’t have blogs.
    - jacalata 9y ago
      What are you arguing here? That the tech industry has fewer people than those others?
      - mcculley 9y ago
        I don't understand your second question. I'm not arguing that other industries have different numbers of people. I'm saying I'm not convinced that tech is more misogynistic and less meritocratic than other industries, especially entrenched industries with much fewer blogs and conferences where people get drunk around campfires.
  - mcculley 9y ago
skc 9y ago
Wow, there's a name I haven't heard in years, literally. Never understood his appeal, particularly because I felt he was pretty bad at whatever his job was. He knew just enough about the technology he covered to convince non techies that something was cool I guess. I know he's publicly stated before that he had a drinking problem and was seeking help for it at one time. Sad to see he's actually one of these toxic people.
Ensorceled 9y ago
A few years ago a read a good article about how sexism, homophobia, and racism is everywhere, is happening every day all around you. It pointed out that simply being aware and then saying something when you observe bad behaviour is helping but also will make you more aware of how often it happens. This was life-changing. I now simply say "That was inappropriate" when somebody says something discriminatory or "This is inappropriate" when there is something on going. I'm not an SJW, I don't make a big deal of it and I don't give speeches, I say the phrase and move on. But it's simple and powerful and, frankly a little depressing, because at some point you're saying it pretty often and realizing that, as a white guy, I don't have to deal with this crap. I was also kind of depressing to realize how much I had been marginalizing both the amount and impact of this behaviour that hasn't directed at me.
tekjenitalor 9y ago
History is pretty explicit sweetheart. It all seems pretty clear to me. If you want to honeypot then honeypot and make the money in court. If you want to get laid indiscriminately via alcohol then go to it and abort the outcome. Lot of this going around. No one wants the ugly but everyone wants a happy ending. Social warrior shit gets old. You may get a few bucks but you will never earn it.

I admire the author's willingness to see possibilities for positive change here, including through restorative justice. It is especially admirable in the context of the fundamental violations and loss of trust that such harassment and assault continues to impose on so many women in their professional careers. I can also completely understand different reactions to this, including a deep sense of anger and betrayal. We must all do better, and continuously seek to do so. In the short term, there is clearly value to outing commonly-known 'secrets' such as this one, in this and many other industries.

bertil 9y ago
I too admire it. Denouncing someone hopefully willing to change to start that conversation is a good idea. More importantly, it is necessary. Going on a creep witchhunt has too many risks of blowbacks.

brlewis 9y ago

Not sure I get this part: I realized I was part of the problem that night — a woman’s safety in her career environment shouldn’t require credible threats of violence. I could understand saying she wasn't part of the solution, but to me "part of the problem" makes a non-zero contribution to the problem. What she did was at worst neutral, no?

wiredfool 9y ago
What she's saying is that there's really no reasonable way that a threat of violence should be part of a professional interaction in the tech field. (or any, outside of boxing and perhaps hockey) It's similar to what I teach the kids: He started it doesn't make it right, you know it's not ok to hit your brother. What she did was what she felt like she needed to do at the time. What she's doing now is second guessing it, and trying to turn it to a generally more positive approach on all sides in the future.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- aaron-lebo 9y ago
  The threat of violence is an appropriate response in any situation to someone drunkenly groping you and refusing to back off.
  - rhizome 9y ago
    Which also shouldn't be a part of a career environment.
    - floatingatoll 9y ago
      Among others!
    - icebraining 9y ago
      I don't think anybody is disagreeing with that.
duncan_bayne 9y ago
> What she did was at worst neutral, no? At worst. I'd argue it was strongly positive. http://www.catb.org/esr/guns/gun-ethics.html http://www.catb.org/esr/guns/gun-ethics.html
- mixologic 9y ago
  The fantasyland that ESR lives in is such a wildly inaccurate representation of reality that it borders on offensive.
  - DonHopkins 9y ago
    Thank you. Links to catb have no place in a rational discussion. Gun nuts, racists and men's rights activist should troll somewhere else.
    - duncan_bayne 9y ago
      > racists and men's rights activist should troll somewhere else. There are definitely many of those in the comment threads on Eric's blog. But are you saying that ESR is himself one of those? Because I've seen no evidence of it myself. [Edited to remove the 'gun nuts' bit, because ESR proudly self-identifies as same; it was the racist / MRA thing I was questioning.]
      - DonHopkins 9y ago
        There are many racists and men's rights activists at Trump rallies, but (gasp!) are you saying that Trump is himself one of those? Maybe he's actually an upright ethical human being with extraordinary leadership abilities, who simply panders to racists and men's rights activists, but doesn't actually believe any of the words he says to wind up the crowds at rallies? The best evidence is all over his blog and Google+ account, but I refuse to link to it. Google for "esr", "Is the casting couch a fair trade?", "low IQ" and "Blacks are lazy" yourself. You're probably going to want to take a shower afterwards. ...Unless that kind of stuff appeals to you.
ksenzee 9y ago
I understood it to mean that she was setting a bad precedent, making things just a bit more dangerous for the next woman who comes along and doesn't have her self-defense ability.
Mz 9y ago
I understand where she is coming from, but I don't know that I can explain it effectively. Even trying to do so tends to get me accused of blaming the victim. To attempt to explain it: One of my criticisms of Cheryl Yeoh is that her BATNA wrt to sexual harassment was that she has a black belt. So, I think she did not feel compelled to try all that hard to make sure to avoid trouble and misunderstandings. She felt safe, even if the worst came to pass. I think that was a contributing factor to the incident in which Dave McClure sexually assaulted her. * That does not make Dave's behavior okay. It in no way excuses it. But if you take the position that women are simply victims who have no power at all to influence the social environment in which they participate, I think you do more harm than good. Most discussions of "rape culture" assume that only men can do something about it. It assumes that only men create "rape culture" and only men can work to stop it. This is an incredibly disempowering way to view women. I think it actively reinforces the problem in insidious ways. That said, I am totally okay with Quinn Norton successfully enforcing her boundaries with Scoble by stating clearly and unequivocally that if he touched her again, she would break his nose. He was drunk. She had just met him. He was in the midst of trying to rape another woman, then sexually assaulted Quinn at first introduction in spite of witnesses. This was not a situation where more polite, respectful measures were going to work. But I also understand her mixed feelings about expressly seeking permission from the organizers to break his nose, should push come to shove. (Edit: In case you did not know, I am female and very open about being a rape survivor.) * https://cherylyeoh.com/2017/07/03/shedding-light-on-the-black-box-of-inappropriateness/ https://cherylyeoh.com/2017/07/03/shedding-light-on-the-blac...
- glangdale 9y ago
  Having a black belt in some random martial art won't mean much if you are a small woman having a non-sport-type self defense situation with a much larger man.
  - Mz 9y ago
    I don't think whether or not that is true is relevant to the point of her own statements about her own mindset about the matter. My point speaks to mindset and how that influences choices leading up to the incident. I blogged about it. I can point you to that series of posts if you are interested. I don't intend to rehash it at length here.

xutopia 9y ago

I'm really happy this was written... It's almost as if there could be a positive way forward with all we are learning about consent.

jasonmp85 9y ago
Wait what? “all we are learning about consent”? We aren’t learning a damn thing about consent. We are learning there is a huge segment of men who flagrantly don’t care about it.
- jochung 9y ago
  Really? Cos in the story, there's two people who are drunk who are making out, but only one is responsible for their own actions. If Scoble is scum for getting blackout drunk and getting frisky, why is the same standard not applied to the chick who's equally or more shitfaced? Unless he slipped her a roofie, she put herself in that position. A sane response would be to observe they both had drinking problems. But instead we get a paternalistic concern for women, in the name of equality.
fgjjgutjvnu 9y ago
Huh, I think it has been common knowledge for quite a while that drunk people usually can not consent?

thebiglebrewski 9y ago

Wow, I'm sorry this happened to you. That's really messed up. The recent, "Me too" movement has made me realize even more how pervasive this type of behavior is. Hoping I can be part of the solution and not the problem. Thanks for writing this.

desireco42 9y ago

I was hoping this article is not "me too", but it is. And it is more serious then I could imagine. It pains me to read this about him, but don't doubt it. However unpleasant (to put it mildly) we need to go through this process and clean our act. I always saw tech as a forefront of human thought, so clearly we need to be better people. That is all.

tekjenitalor 9y ago
You have no personal judgement and no idea on how to deal with bad situations? If you have no umbrella do you sit in the rain? No. You choose your company and make good decisions. It's on you.

camus2 9y ago

Ouch, Robert Scoble, the guy that has a podcast on Techcrunch? or somebody else?

minimaxir 9y ago
Scoble never had a podcast on TechCrunch, but he was a contributor on the Gilmor Gang (and left after things got political) He was mostly an evangelist for Rackspace. His biggest claim-to-fame is the infamous Google Glass Shower pic: https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/15/4333656/larry-page-teases-robert-scoble-for-nude-google-glass-photo https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/15/4333656/larry-page-teases...

nichochar 9y ago

I never liked Scoble, I always got a really weird vibe when I saw him live or in videos. I'm really sorry to hear that this happened to Quinn, and many others apparently. I believe sanctions should be very strong. I really hope they are, it seems to me like this man should go to jail.

matt4077 9y ago

I never understood why the banality that Scoble produced was so popular? It's been a long time, but I seem to remember most of his articles had the vibe of "I tried 25 methods to format my USB stick and <this one> is two seconds faster". Anyway, I hope Quinn Norton gets all the support, kindness and apologies, she deserves. And that Scoble finds the catharsis he needs.

aaron-lebo 9y ago
Seems like he had a major drinking problem. Groping someone you just met at a professional meeting isn't normal behavior, seems like he couldn't control himself - alcohol being the issue. It's possible he's a decent guy but the demons come out with drink, like a Mel Gibson. He's apparently stopped drinking so hopefully he stays sober.
- throwawaysml 9y ago
  Being drunk doesn't absolve you of your crimes, it means you should stay sober if you don't live alone on the moon. Especially if you know you will act a certain way. I hadn't heard of Scoble for years so I googled "scoble abuse", and the first result is something he supposedly wrote about being groomed and abused by his coach while he was a kid (http://archive.is/AN19H http://archive.is/AN19H). Can't find the Facebook post this suggests was written by Robert and I don't know anything about the website it was posted on. But if it's true, then it gives you a way to trace back how Robert Scoble became an abuser. It also reflects on his substance abuse issues and if true shows that society fails to help victims and puts them on a path to become future perpetrators.
  - rexpop 9y ago
    Abuse is no excuse. > abusers of all varieties tend to realize the mileage they can get out of saying, “I’m abusive because the same thing was done to me.” — Lundy Bancroft, "Why Does He Do That?: Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men"
    - 9y ago

dhruvp 9y ago

If there's one thing to learn I think it's that men can do far far more (like the intervening guys in the article) to step in and be far less tolerant of such grotesque behavior. Most men here (of which I'm one) have all probably witnessed some creepy comments and acts from our guy friends or colleagues and let it go. I think that has to come to an end. I know personally I can do better and would hope that if anything, we all demand more from each other.

0ioI0j-o 9y ago
I 100% agree. I also felt compelled to mention that I've witnessed men making what I have felt are creepy comments / moves on women and they've actually worked (in that they received positive responses from the woman). Life is complex.
- Mz 9y ago
  Abusive men often target women who have been previously abused. A woman who has been previously treated badly may not readily recognize a nicer expression of sexual interest. They still have sexual and emotional needs. So, they hook up with the men that they are able to comprehend as actively interested. Yes, it is complicated. But, the receptivity of some women mostly goes to show how deep the problem goes and how pervasive it is.
  - fgjjgutjvnu 9y ago
    So basically, you know better than those other people (women) what is good for them. Sure thing.
  - Yizahi 9y ago
    If you are attractive(1) and treat women badly vs. if you are not attractive and has "normal" personality - guess whom women will choose. :) (1) meaning whole person - physical appearance, voice, gestures etc.
- Frondo 9y ago
  You see a guy making a creepy move, you call him out. Simple as that. You don't know if it's "working" because she's trying to keep him at ease til she can dash for the door, or why. See shitty, harassing, abusive behavior, call it out. For too long, we all let this stand. No more. Risk your job, risk short-term awkwardness, risk whatever because the women in the world deserve better than being targets while we stand around like cowards.

Spooky23 9y ago

Is this type of behavior more pronounced in tech than other areas? I have heard above incidents like this from women that I’m close to either by relation, personal friendship or professional relationship. But not from my accountant or teacher friends. Anywhere I’ve worked has had zero tolerance for bullshit like this, as in you will be put on leave and terminated or banished from the premises. Maybe that’s unique?

justinlilly 9y ago
It being stated that it's zero tolerance and "well, give him one more chance b/c he's a top performer" [especially in small orgs with young employees </bias>] aren't quite the same thing. People are willing to make exceptions for their implicit biases.
- cwkoss 9y ago
  Stating zero tolerance and giving someone 'one more chance' is called being complicit.
donohoe 9y ago
My understanding is this happens everywhere. It happens when they walk down the street. You just hear about it more in some places than others.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
maxxxxx 9y ago
I have worked as contractor at an insurance and and advertising company for a few months each. In both cases things were much worse than anything I have ever seen in tech. Bosses getting one of their workers pregnant, a clear vendetta after being rejected, sexual comments left and right, sending dirty jokes to mailing lists. It seems most of the known incidents in tech involve some very rich or famous people on a power trip, not lowly workers.
vermontdevil 9y ago

satysin 9y ago

Also see this comment https://medium.com/@sarawinge/i-remember-that-night-17f5bf2a9227 https://medium.com/@sarawinge/i-remember-that-night-17f5bf2a... And this tweet from Tim O'Reilly https://twitter.com/timoreilly/status/921124414418182144 https://twitter.com/timoreilly/status/921124414418182144

protomyth 9y ago
Created a Code of Conduct? What the heck is wrong with these people? Full stop, you call the police immediately. You do not cover it up. Was he raised by a PR firm?
- rtpg 9y ago
  Reading this just made realize how bonkers it is that we aren't actually calling the police. If some guy was smashing people's laptops, this would be an obvious option on the spectrum of ways to handle it. But here.... Granted, this also means attention to the victim, and given how society treats people making these claims it can be an extremely scary step forward to make for them, on top of the experience itself.
  - protomyth 9y ago
    The victim got enough attention without involving the police to commit suicide. Silence netted nothing and I would lay even odds that this wasn’t the last incident.
    - aptwebapps 9y ago
      That was a different victim and the way the story was related it seems that her identity was leaked to that particular community. Scoble's victim at the campfire has remained anonymous.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- smt88 9y ago

jacquesm 9y ago

She's also calling out either Frankston or Bricklin, kind of weird to leave it unspoken who it was but to accuse both of them at the same time. Either name the person or leave it unspecified at least so no shadow hangs over someone who you know didn't do anything.

davedx 9y ago
It was a public event, I'm sure plenty of people who were present remember who it was.
- jacquesm 9y ago
  I'm sure there are orders of magnitude more people reading the blogpost who have no idea who it was and who will now have no choice but to suspect both.
  - firebones 9y ago
    There is at least one more name that could fit that description, depending on the breadth of your definition of creator. Regardless, oblique references serve the purpose of allowing victims to triangulate over space and time and connect with lower risk of having to go out on a limb alone, or to send a message in a bottle to other victims who might have been suffering thinking they were the only one, or thinking that they were going crazy.
AlexCoventry 9y ago
Are the references oblique? I don't see them mentioned. Perhaps they have been removed from the article.
- dredmorbius 9y ago
  "At one of my first talks on body hacking, one of the creators of VisiCalc sat in the front row and yelled out sexually explicit questions at me while everyone, not just me, grew increasingly uncomfortable."

0xbear 9y ago

When I read these accounts they read to me like they’re from another planet. I’ve been in the industry for 20+ years, and not once have I been in a situation with my coworkers where such a thing would even be _feasible_, let alone acceptable. Maybe I don’t get invited to the “right” events? I don’t know. But all of this seems completely alien to all environments that I’ve ever worked in.

donohoe 9y ago
Assuming you are right (how can you be so sure?), you’re very lucky
untog 9y ago
I've spoken to a few of the women I've worked with about this before, and honestly you'd be shocked how much absolutely does go on, right under your nose, and you don't notice it. How did everyone get home from the last happy hour the team had? Who shared taxis? Do you remember who shared with who? I certainly didn't. I was pretty drunk and what does it matter anyway? Well, turns out that after one night one of the managers shared with a subordinate and made a totally inappropriate move on her. Turns out he has a habit of doing it. I had absolutely no idea.
- 0xbear 9y ago
  I’m not saying it’s not true. I’m just genuinely wondering if I simply don’t get invited to the kinds of gatherings where such things could possibly transpire, and why that is. I don’t think I’m quite _that_ boring or unattractive.
  - pavlov 9y ago
    I don’t get it - are you saying sexual harassment happens to exciting, attractive people only? The point is that it happens to women everywhere, also (and perhaps even mostly) in ordinary settings where other oblivious men think it couldn’t possibly transpire.
    - 9y ago

cwkoss 9y ago

Scoble should be entirely blacklisted from attending any tech conferences. Boycott anything he touches. His entire livelihood is based on the fact that he has an audience and can promote things: he is very vulnerable to public opinion. Let's destroy his career. Everywhere he posts, remind people that he's a sexual abuser. Hopefully, if we can proverbially put his head on a pike, it will scare other potential abusers from committing crimes like these. EDIT: Wow, seems like this post is making the rape apologists feel insecure. It's raining downvotes.

omegaworks 9y ago
That's exactly the opposite of what the author of the article hoped to accomplish: >I’m very mixed on this. I believe if we don’t provide paths of redemption for badly behaved people, we enable abusers as much as we do by remaining silent. I also believe we need to talk about these things plainly, and we need to seek to help and elevate the victims. >The demonization of either rapists or victims is what makes the subject unapproachable, and doesn’t let anyone intercede to get abusive people the help they need, much less the victims.
- cwkoss 9y ago
  I appreciate the author for writing this article and respect her courage, but I disagree with the proposed solution. I think fear is the only emotion sexual abusers will be deterred by. If the treatment of Scoble doesn't make other powerful sexual abusing sociopaths fear for their livelihood, they won't change their behavior. Total scorched-earth ostracism seems like it would have more impact than any other option.
  - _mhr_ 9y ago
    The problem is to assume that he's a sociopath, but I'm inclined to think not, particularly in light of this comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15512398 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15512398. It's possible to have empathy for someone whose actions are disgusting. The world isn't black and white.

Mz 9y ago

She was propped up between two of my friends, walked away from the scene, and looked after for the evening. Both of those guys will have my undying respect for what they did that night. Yes, this. The antidote to bad men is good men. It doesn't help to tar all men with the same brush for simply being male. Once she was outed as a victim, the hate mail, the barrage of nasty questions, the endless accusations took, such a toll on her. Eventually, she took her own life. She’d just never been able to put it all back together after that. This is one reason a lot of women stay silent: to protect themselves or other innocent bystanders, not the perpetrator. The demonization of either rapists or victims is what makes the subject unapproachable, and doesn’t let anyone intercede to get abusive people the help they need, much less the victims. This is an excellent piece and I am so glad she wrote it. My utmost respect for this incredible lady.

mercer 9y ago
> Yes, this. The antidote to bad men is good men. It doesn't help to tar all men with the same brush for simply being male. I'll add that there are plenty of otherwise good men who might do bad things when shitfaced or on drugs, and I can't help but worry that separating men into bad and good doesn't acknowledge the very real risk of good men forgetting that they can do bad things too. (of course this applies to people in general, not just men)
- Mz 9y ago
  Thank you. I agree. Pithiness and nuance are not friends. My preference overall is to focus on good vs bad behaviors, plus best practices, without drawing larger conclusions about individual moral worth.
- samastur 9y ago
  Not sure I would describe such people as good. Obviously not bad either since they can keep themselves in check otherwise, but goodness shouldn't be a description of you only under normal/advantageous circumstances.
- guelo 9y ago
  Personally I don't put that much weight on the drunkenness excuse. I've done many stupid things while drunk but, even while black-out drunk, I've never raped, sexually harassed or even physically assaulted anyone besides a couple self defense instances when I was younger. In my experience asshole drunks are asshole sober people too.

ComputerGuru 9y ago

I knew Robert Scoble online 2004 - 2007 during his time as a blogger and an (unpaid/unofficial, if I'm not mistaken) Microsoft evangelist during the Longhorn beta days. I remember him as a bully who was not afraid to use his pedestal to call people out on personal whim and took great pleasure in his sense of power and fame. He often blogged out of ignorance on trending topics (TechMeme, anyone?) yet always got that traffic and those backlinks - one of those people that believed that if you spoke loudly enough what you said would magically both become important and true. It worked for him though, that I remember. He was a bully then and I'm not surprised to hear he still is one now, but presuming that this article is true I'm very sorry to learn that he didn't contain his behavior to online only. What I remember hating the most was just how successful people like him - and there are plenty - are at being popular. It just felt so unfair how this unintelligent bloke managed to con everyone into thinking his opinion mattered, got himself invited to all these exclusive events, and was somewhat of a mini-celebrity for no discernible reason at all. He wasn't someone you wanted to call out or cross because he never hesitated to fire back with all guns at anyone who gave him any flack and you didn't want to be the person everyone woke up to find shredded to pieces in their RSS inboxes the next morning. I wisened up at some point and tuned him out. I stopped trying to blog about how his latest piece was inaccurate and unsubscribed from his feeds, realizing he simply wasn't worth it, and, to be honest, that it wasn't a game I could win. The thing about people like him is that they largely live in an echo chamber. They don't really matter. If you can tune them out and cut them out of your life, you won't be missing a thing. And if enough people do that, then they lost at their game. I imagine there are a lot of people that saw this headline and hadn't a clue who Robert Scoble even was - that wasn't the case 12 years ago. Bullies fade.

AndrewKemendo 9y ago
What I remember hating the most was just how successful people like him - and there are plenty - are at being popular. This is really what boggles my mind. There are so so many people who are "independent consultants or innovators or specialists" but don't code, don't do product management or sales or any other of the core things that businesses do. Yet people somehow listen to them as though they are experts - despite having no expertise or hands on. I'd love for someone to explain why and how these people get to be well known.

DonHopkins 9y ago

Eeeeeew, this didn't age well: Why Google Glass Will Be A Hit. The High School Girls Love Them. https://soundcloud.com/scobleizer/why-google-glass-will-be-a-hit https://soundcloud.com/scobleizer/why-google-glass-will-be-a...

underwater 9y ago
What's wrong with that interaction?
- DonHopkins 9y ago
  Didn't South Park do an episode where Robert Scoble took a photo of himself wearing nothing but Google Glass in the shower, or did that really happen?
  - on_and_off 9y ago
    I vaguely remember the photo but not the South Park episode (it might exist though)
    - DonHopkins 9y ago
      Well I can also distinctly remember watching Bob Dylan and The Band performing Too Much of Nothing on the Muppet Show, but I couldn't find any proof it ever happened on google, so maybe I'm confabulating it, or google's covering it up.
  - minimaxir 9y ago
    Yes, it happened: https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/15/4333656/larry-page-teases-robert-scoble-for-nude-google-glass-photo https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/15/4333656/larry-page-teases...

avitzurel 9y ago

In case you are interested, he is going to make a statement about it : [1] [1] https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/10155782918634655?comment_id=10155783150444655&reply_comment_id=10155783326114655&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R1%22%7D&pnref=story https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble/posts/1015578291863465...

minimaxir 9y ago
> I will make a statement about this at midnight tonight on live video here on Facebook Huh, scheduling your crisis management for maximum views (as opposed to getting out a statement ASAP to control the narrative) is a new one.
- jasonmp85 9y ago
  If you’ve been exposed to him at all over the years you should expect nothing less.
bertil 9y ago
That link appears to point to a deleted comment.
- forsakenkraken 9y ago
  Yeah, he's since deleted all the comments about the post on that thread. Wish I'd taken a screen shot now.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

KKKKkkkk1 9y ago

> At one of my first talks on body hacking, one of the creators of VisiCalc sat in the front row and yelled out sexually explicit questions at me while everyone, not just me, grew increasingly uncomfortable. Who is it?

hi41 9y ago

I am so to hear this happened to you. I used to follow Robert Scoble's blog on Google Reader, Rackspace videos, Google Plus. There was one incident that made me very proud of him at that time. I think he did not blog for one entire week to support Kathy Sierra who was harassed online. From your article, I now know that he himself harassed you and other women. I feel so sad that I held this man in such high regard. What I am trying hard to understand is human nature. How can a person protest online harassment and turn around and harass another person at a party? I think fame, alcohol and drugs change a person for the worse. Lot of things to ponder about in your article.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
SolaceQuantum 9y ago
I feel it’s a lot easier to identify when someone other than you is harassing someone. If you are harassing someone you can justify those actions to yourself that you’re just trying to get what you want, they’re not that bad, the other person is overreacting, etc.

Fricken 9y ago

The Weinstein thing really opened the floodgates. There's a guy in my hometown, whom I've worked with in the past, he's a pretty talented and prolific playwright, actor and director who's been at the centre of the local theatre and filmmaking scene for about 20 years now, and he's also a sexual predator, as anyone who's worked with him can attest to. The day before yesterday he made a long Facebook post under the #metoo hashtag basically confessing to his sins apologizing profusely, and promising to never do it again. Today he got fired from everything that he's involved with. The apology was career suicide. The fucked up thing is that, just like Harvey Weinstein, everybody knew what he was up to, it had going on for years and while it made everyone uncomfortable people just looked the other way. Opening up about it is what ruined him. Honesty is the best policy something something.

bbatsell 9y ago
> Today he got fired from everything that he's involved with. The apology was career suicide. I'm obviously not familiar with the exact situation, but I'd be willing to bet money that he had received word that it was going to become public and the apology was an attempt to appear proactively remorseful and to circumvent the consequences resulting from the forthcoming publication. (In other words, the "apology" was not the precipitating action.)
- Fricken 9y ago
  He was artistic director of a local theatre, and he came under fire from them, which is what prompted the public confession/apology, but then he was fired from his role as head writer and part time performer in a locally produced sitcom, booted out of an improv troupe he was in, and he had a couple plays lined up with different theatres that were cancelled. This all happened in less than 24 hours. If he hadn't made the confession I'm not sure he would've lost all of that.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - flargh 9y ago

gsteph22 9y ago

Holy shit, I was sitting around that campfire. I remember the whole making-out incident. Buried that in a dunken haze 7 years ago. Yikes. Foo Camp was fantastic both years I went, and the O’Reilly crew has worked hard to make things better. We still have a lot of work to do.

ForFreedom 9y ago

Another Woman Has Accused Robert Scoble of Sexual Harassment https://www.buzzfeed.com/doree/woman-accuses-robert-scoble-of-sexual-harassment?utm_term=.fpEv1XAQQ#.hlkWj6wvv https://www.buzzfeed.com/doree/woman-accuses-robert-scoble-o... I wonder how many more will come forward in the tech Industry. The Weinstein saga did open the gates.

tryingagainbro 9y ago

Adios Robert Scoble, our very own Kim Kardashian. As per sexual harassment, even after Weinstein most women will keep quiet. It's a much better career move, unless their attacker is on the ropes. (Unless he's outed he can not be in the ropes, I know). Many people with money and power do feel entitled to everyone, not to just those that go after such men.

chirau 9y ago

Robert Scoble has responded and said he will make a statement over the weekend after speaking to his wife. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10155783817434655&id=501319654 https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1015578381743465...

minimaxir 9y ago
...and he deleted it, which is very uncharacteristic. Screenshot: https://twitter.com/minimaxir/status/921265767282221061 https://twitter.com/minimaxir/status/921265767282221061
- mercer 9y ago
  Unless I misremember, there was a posted-and-then-deleted message even before OP's, or at least it was reworded.
- chirau 9y ago
  Ha! You're Max Woolf! Awesome, I have heard good things about you. I might want to pick your brain on something one of these days :)

justinjlynn 9y ago

Well, that quickly went where I wasn't expecting it to go. I would, at the very least, appreciate a mention of the fact that the article linked has accusations and explicit descriptions of sexual harassment and assault in the title, please. Or, if that's not manageable, at least tag the thing NSFW.

handsomechad 9y ago

This is an extremely touchy subject but something always pops into my head when I read stories like this and I haven't seen it brought up. I'm hoping this doesn't get buried; I really don't have an axe to grind here, but I want to hear how people think about this dynamic. It is something that's hard and not PC to discuss publicly. Do women react to alcohol differently? It seems like our culture and our legal system treat an inebriated woman differently than an inebriated man when assessing a situation. It seems like if a woman is wasted and making out with a guy "consensually" she is being victimized because she cannot consent when she is drunk. But what if the guy is also inebriated and he cannot consent or decipher consent. I, for example (I'm male), would have to be extremely drunk to PDA like that in a professional setting. Even then it's hard to imagine. What if it's just two really drunk people hooking up? Is it one of those "I know it when I see it" situations? This is fine for me, but it seems like it is only applied with women being the victim and a man being the aggressor. Maybe that is because of the natural sexual dynamic of the onus being on the male to seduce the female. By saying that the woman had no control because she was inebriated, but Scoble did, aren't we denying the woman of her agency? Unless of course Scoble plied her with alcohol/drugs a la Bill Cosby? To be clear, and this goes without saying, I am NOT condoning Scoble's actions, I really don't know anything about Scoble other than this story but from what it sounds like he has a pattern of transgressions, including a completely inappropriate groping of the author in this story. I'm also not trying to deflect off of the serious issues at hand here, but the other comment threads are doing a good job of covering those. But I also don't think I am "victim blaming" either. Unless we grant that women inherently have less agency than men. Now this Scoble situation might have been a black and white case, but it seems to me there is a lot more grey area in these situations than we let on as a culture, and I am just wondering what the "rules" are.

mercer 9y ago
One analogy that might work is the difference between biking and driving drunk. At least here in Holland biking drunk is either not illegal, or tolerated within reasonable limits. Driving drunk, however, is outright illegal. In general, I'd say men are more like cars and women more like bikes. Whether nature or nurture, in my experience men are clearly more aggressive, and clearly stronger. They also seem to be more inclined to have and pursue a single obsessive goal (and perhaps especially when that goal is intercourse). But I'd say that's less clear and perhaps untrue.

youdontknowtho 9y ago

Scoble. Jeez. I never understood the appeal of this guy's writing. It sounds like drinking, along with being "a star" went to his head. That's the only way you do something like that and think it's ok. I think you will hear lots of women come out about this guy. I wonder how much of this occurred while he was married?

mcculley 9y ago

I’m a little bemused when people say this is a problem in the “tech industry”. It appears to be a problem in every industry. Tech people with blogs haven’t worked in other industries, apparently.

anon1385 9y ago
It is a problem in the tech industry. It's a problem in pretty much every other industry as well. It is worse in tech than most other industries because there are more men in positions of power? Maybe, but I don't think it matters to how we respond to it. We here on HN are nearly all members of the tech industry, not other industries. Any amount of harassment is intolerable and it doesn't matter if it's worse in Hollywood or some other industry. That's no excuse. As members of a community/industry we have a collective responsibility for what goes on; for our own behaviour, for the behaviour we let men get away with, and for supporting victims.
- mcculley 9y ago
  There are more men in power in tech than in other industries? Real estate? Accounting? Hollywood? Construction? No. They just don’t have blogs.
  - jacalata 9y ago
    What are you arguing here? That the tech industry has fewer people than those others?
    - mcculley 9y ago
      I don't understand your second question. I'm not arguing that other industries have different numbers of people. I'm saying I'm not convinced that tech is more misogynistic and less meritocratic than other industries, especially entrenched industries with much fewer blogs and conferences where people get drunk around campfires.
- mcculley 9y ago

skc 9y ago

Wow, there's a name I haven't heard in years, literally. Never understood his appeal, particularly because I felt he was pretty bad at whatever his job was. He knew just enough about the technology he covered to convince non techies that something was cool I guess. I know he's publicly stated before that he had a drinking problem and was seeking help for it at one time. Sad to see he's actually one of these toxic people.

Ensorceled 9y ago

A few years ago a read a good article about how sexism, homophobia, and racism is everywhere, is happening every day all around you. It pointed out that simply being aware and then saying something when you observe bad behaviour is helping but also will make you more aware of how often it happens. This was life-changing. I now simply say "That was inappropriate" when somebody says something discriminatory or "This is inappropriate" when there is something on going. I'm not an SJW, I don't make a big deal of it and I don't give speeches, I say the phrase and move on. But it's simple and powerful and, frankly a little depressing, because at some point you're saying it pretty often and realizing that, as a white guy, I don't have to deal with this crap. I was also kind of depressing to realize how much I had been marginalizing both the amount and impact of this behaviour that hasn't directed at me.

tekjenitalor 9y ago

History is pretty explicit sweetheart. It all seems pretty clear to me. If you want to honeypot then honeypot and make the money in court. If you want to get laid indiscriminately via alcohol then go to it and abort the outcome. Lot of this going around. No one wants the ugly but everyone wants a happy ending. Social warrior shit gets old. You may get a few bucks but you will never earn it.