7 ms·
The first hack at TechCrunch Disrupt's hackathon is called TitStare.
- jpinkerton88 13y agovideo seems to be unavailable
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- cjdavis 13y ago...and, video not found 11 minutes later.
- estel 13y agoThey posted a screenshot to Twitter: https://twitter.com/HateYouCards/status/376735190434840576 https://twitter.com/HateYouCards/status/376735190434840576
- mcantelon 13y agoDisrupt: Junior High School Edition.
- rmrfrmrf 13y agoGotta love an inclusive environment.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- jaredsohn 13y agoA few notes from someone who watched this streaming live: * The headline is wrong (according to my memory, haven't been able to confirm yet); this was roughly the 68th hack (minus no-shows) since they made a joke saying that the next act was #69. The headline text has been tweeted a bunch (and reported by Valleywag :)), though, and probably came from there. * There was laughter during the presentation and applause afterward. A few hacks earlier was an adult-themed hack called CircleShake (http://www.aol.co.uk/video/circle-shake-demo-at-hackathon-sf-2013/517925667/ http://www.aol.co.uk/video/circle-shake-demo-at-hackathon-sf...) which might have set the mood for the audience a bit. * They had a break a few minutes later and after they came back the announcer mentioned that hack presentations need to meet a certain professional standard and that they wanted to have a better tone going forward. * TechCrunch has apologized via Twitter ("We apologize for two inappropriate hackathon presentations earlier today. We will more carefully screen from now on.") and on their site (http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/08/an-apology-from-techcrunch/ http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/08/an-apology-from-techcrunch/) * Here is a mirror of the video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ausf5taq1vy4g04/AOL.co.uk%20-Video%20-%20Titstare%20Demo%20at%20Hackathon%20SF%202013.mp4 https://www.dropbox.com/s/ausf5taq1vy4g04/AOL.co.uk%20-Video...
- jlees 13y agoPretty sure it was 68. I'm in the audience and presented my back earlier. Although the hack was ridiculous, I think it's important to keep the facts straight. There was also a pretty awful 'asl' hack pitch later on, given by a woman. It definitely says something about TechCrunch that folks think this behaviour's OK at their event, but it was not their Disrupt keynote as some folks are seemingly interpreting! (It'll still hurt them a lot, though.) The 9 year old girl (who went later) is far more worthy of the coverage. :-)
- smtddr 13y agoAh, our friendly reminder that we still has a few immature boys who think the tech scene is their private bachelor party.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- whbk 13y agoUgh. One of the things Twitter's blowing up about is that this occurred after a 9 year old girl presented her hack. I'm one of the 'privileged young white males' people love to talk condescendingly about, and as someone fairly new to the tech scene I had thought all the sexism hand-wringing was a little blown out of proportion, but...really? Blows my mind that there really are people who think this is okay/funny and that the adults in charge didn't serve as an (unfortunately necessary) line of defense against this asshattery.
- rpicard 13y agoThere is a lot of sexism out there for sure, but is this app doing any more than poking fun at men who were caught looking at womens' breasts? Are men out there really going to say that we never sneak a peek at a woman's cleavage? Is that sexist? I understand that there are a lot of different perspectives though, so maybe some women out there could explain what I'm missing.
- glesica 13y ago"Sneaking a peak at women's breasts" is fundamentally different than "presenting an app related to staring at women's tits at a tech conference to an audience of mixed gender and age, with widely varying sensibilities". Checking out an attractive individual in a non-aggressive manner? Totally fine, carry on. Making as ass of yourself and possibly offending a ton of people? Not fine, GTFO. This isn't about checking out attractive members of the opposite sex, it's about being potentially offensive in a totally inappropriate setting.
- rpicard 13y agoI don't see how there's anything fundamentally offensive about it. Maybe immature, but harmless from my point of view.
- glesica 13y agoFrom your point of you, yes, that's exactly the problem.
- untog 13y agoI'm going to throw out a wild theory here: you're not a woman, are you?
- rpicard 13y agoNo, but it's not just men versus women. I know plenty of women that would think it's funny. It seems like the thing here is that it was unprofessional, and some people don't like that. It's a valid opinion, but it's not along gender lines.
- jerrya 13y agoIs staring at tits sexist, or is it just a result of human evolution that affects us all, regardless of how sensitive we are to gender equality issues? https://www.google.com/search?q=hillary+staring+at+christina https://www.google.com/search?q=hillary+staring+at+christina https://www.google.com/search?q=sophia+loren+staring+at+jayne+mansfield https://www.google.com/search?q=sophia+loren+staring+at+jayn...
- pjc50 13y agoWhy can't it be both?
- jerrya 13y agoIf it happens to be a result of evolution, and I am not biologist, but if there are biological, evolutionary reasons for it, either because it helped program babies nursing, or because it was a replacement signal for buttocks when humans began to walk on two feet, then why call it the act of staring at breasts sexist? It would be like saying a buffer overflow is sexist, or ctrl-alt-delete is sexist. And calling the act sexist would serve to shame an activity that we all engage in due to primary biological programming. Compare it to the discouragement we have to "slut shaming". If tit staring is basic human programming, something wired in to our brains, what are the benefits of shaming that activity? And if it is just an neurological tick we all have, is it accurate to call it a sexist behavior that presumably men and women can be weaned off of?
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- glesica 13y agoWe are not evolutionary automatons, we can override our programming at will. If something that served an evolutionary purpose a million years ago is no longer an appropriate behavior in our complex, modern society, then we simple don't do it any more. I occasionally feel compelled to beat the living shit out of someone. This is probably an evolutionary impulse. Those who cross me in the jungle must be eliminated before they eliminate me, etc. But do I go around beating the hell out of people? Not a chance, absolutely never. Why? Because I don't want to live in a society where people solve differences with violence, and I don't feel violence on my part is necessary. That being said, I definitely "notice" attractive individuals of the opposite sex. I don't harass, stalk, or assault them in any way, but I do notice them. I don't believe this is sexist. However, going up on a stage in front of people and making a joke about "staring at tits" might very well be construed as sexist because it goes well beyond the act of "noticing", and involves a mixed audience who may not all appreciate the concept.
- benguild 13y agoZero fucks being given by these guys...
- marshray 13y agoQuick, monetize the trend! Someone make a Cowclicker spinoff called 'Teatstare'!
- cjdavis 13y ago- Women who wear clothing designed to show cleavage - Men who stare at cleavage Discuss. Wait, just to make it a little more useful: - Men who giggle like children about their project aimed at the above two groups
- kyledrake 13y agoMen that ridicule Men who giggle like children about their project aimed at the above two groups https://twitter.com/kyledrake/status/376821198488731648 https://twitter.com/kyledrake/status/376821198488731648
- tomasien 13y agoMaking something called "TitStare" or even starring at breasts aren't the worst kind of sexism. Making something called "TitStare" and then thinking it would be ok AND funny to give a presentation on it in public to an unsuspecting audience at a tech conference, and therefore deciding it was ok to make the women in the audience feel objectified and unwelcome, IS. This is just such a remarkably ugly and hateful thing to do, it makes me sick.
- andor 13y agoI think it's hilarious. At the same time, they make fun of stereotypical phone applications and people staring at tits. Also, I don't believe it actually exists. They only show a screenshot and the presentation is way too funny.
- __--__ 13y agoYou're right, it's his mistake to believe this event was going to be attended by adults instead of children.
- dotBen 13y agoNot only is this offensive and misogynistic (and that point well covered here already) but it also sets a clear marker of the slow decline of hack days/hackathons. In addition to being disrespectful to women, this kind of "joke" hack is also disrespectful to hacker culture and the people that want to participate in hackatons. Time is wasted presenting this crap which could have been spent showcasing real innovation and real hard work spent producing meaningful hacks and projects. It pains me to link to Valleywag, but they have a video of both inappropriate demos, and unlike AOL (which owns TechCrunch) are unlikely to remove the videos. http://valleywag.gawker.com/techcrunch-disrupt-kicks-off-with-titstare-app-and-fa-1274394925 http://valleywag.gawker.com/techcrunch-disrupt-kicks-off-wit...
- untog 13y agoIMO this is exactly the kind of event that demonstrates the purpose of Valleywag.
- austinz 13y agoHear, hear. The sooner brogramming culture slinks back into the slimy, pus-covered hole out of which it originally crawled, the better. I'd like to think that, as technical people, we take pride in the quality of our work - its beauty, its innovation, its capability to make people's lives better in big or small ways (e.g. "meaningful hacks and projects"). Even if you set aside the misogyny (not that you should), is this something that the developer would be comfortable serving as a reflection of the sort of work that he does? Was his point presenting this to showcase innovation, cleverness, or execution, or was it to make people think he's a funny person? Stand-up comedy this certainly isn't.
- Aloisius 13y agoClearly a hack called Jackass that you run your presentation through to determine if you're a jackass or not is needed.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- feebar 13y agoHow is this HN material? But while we'ere here, can someone explain why the feeling of offence is something beyond the control of an individual, but is instead directly controlled by every other person on the planet? Is it completely illogical to suggest that someone (or a room full of people) can /choose/ not to be offended, because they fully understand the the idea of freedom of speech? Why is it always: Someone said something -> I'm OFFENDED BY THAT. AARRGHH!! Not: Someone said something -> I didn't agree/like it -> That's OK.
- diydsp 13y agoi wish i could sit down with you and a few beers and explain it cuz it would take all night. in a nutshell: we are conditioned to blame others to make us easier to control. This begins when we're children and for must of us continues through our working life until we're dead. A nation full of complainers is easier to ignore and run than a nation of people utilizing the nation's resources directly. (As Herman Hesse said, "A teacher would rather have a classroom full of donkeys than a single genius.") Just watch a group of grumbling work employees scatter when the boss comes around instead of grouping together to tell him/her how they really feel. however, some of us learn to take responsibility for our own reactions. I now no longer have anyone else to blame for my own negative feelings (since watching a Jack Canfield video about 5 months ago. I tried to find it on the 'tube for ya just now but there are too many). Many might think this is bad, but just as Jack suggests, my mind simply works toward improving my situations instead of bitching about them. Instead of bitching about crappy music, I design new instruments. I could go on and relate to you about all the screwed up examples of people I've seen, who set themselves up for the One Big Trauma they can milk for the rest of their lives for shallow sympathy for their con games, but I'm gonna take a sweet bike ride before the sun goes down and I've already given enough advice. peace, bastardus carborundum and all that.
- estel 13y agoFreedom of speech exists in the public, not private spheres. In this case, apps such as Titstare being presented at an event (aimed at all ages), such as this, only reinforce the perception that such events are boys clubs for 18-35 year old guys who like staring at tits. Presumably, you want that image to change: isn't it worth imposing restrictions to reduce the amount of "offence" caused to people in order to bring this about?
- collypops 13y agoSomeone is hacking Twitter accounts to defend TitStare: https://twitter.com/search?q=%23titstare%20is%20awesome&src=typd&mode=realtime https://twitter.com/search?q=%23titstare%20is%20awesome&src=... "#TitStare is awesome. Stop hating you feminazis (or whiteknights) and take a joke"
- batemanesque 13y agoin any case, the guys at Hacker News have now hidden this thread & the other one about TitStare, so we can all pretend the problem's gone away.
- Andy12 13y agoActually guys are much more likely to be staring at a womans crotch area. Tits are fun to look at but that's not where you want to go.