Some mugs will believe anything – #geekgirl sets the record straight.

It must have been a slow news day when this piece
http://www.zdnet.com.au/claws-out-over-geekgirl-trademark-339303290.htm was published.

It was either that or a PR bull-terrier behind an item adorably titled,  ”Claws out over geekgirl trademark.”

Lads’ Mag slug aside, it was the content that really ticked me off.  While the piece has been edited many times since it appeared last Friday, it did initially paint me as a copyright thug.

In the hope of beating down this beat up, I elected to do the “no comment” thing.  I’m a feminist, for goddess’ sake.  The last thing I want to  do is add fuel to the flame of a “catfight” story.

But, I’ve had enough of staying quiet. I won’t repeat the threats and insults pelted at the geekgirl door. Let it suffice to say that they have  been loud enough to tempt me out of silence.

Since the piece first appeared, the editors have amended their words.  As the edits took place, I changed from a freedom-eating monster into an unwilling partner in a dispute I didn’t start.

I’m glad the reporters actually got their reporting freak on and bothered to change this PR spin.  In the meantime, though, I’ve become the target of some pretty outsize abuse.

In recent days, I’ve been drenched in the sort of bile you only find on the internet.  For a day there, I became a trending topic. For a week now, I’ve been the object of scorn from a number of prominent online commentators.

Enough. Let me set you straight.

In 1995, IP Australia awarded me trademarks for ‘geekgirl’; this was in large part due to my recognised contributions to cyber-feminism and in mentoring women in IT.

In April 2010, IP Australia rejected the January application by Sydney-based IT consultant Kate Carruthers for the same name.

Kate’s initial reasons for her January application are still unclear to me. What is clear, though, is she has been building a PR narrative in which I star as the Copyright Monster with Fangs.

In recent days, she has claimed in media and podcast interviews that all she really wanted to do was “liberate” the phrase “geek girl” for use in everyday speech.

I might be able to understand Kate’s public and private actions if I was, say Time Warner, or Oprah Winfrey instead of a cyber-feminist nerd running a small business. And, you might be able to understand them if there was clear evidence of me running around issuing cease-and-desists to everyone and their dog.  Which I wasn’t.  Which I wouldn’t.  Try me. Say “Geek Girl” in conversation now.  Anything happen? No.  Marvel as I do not beat down your door and demand an immediate retraction.

Of course, you could be forgiven for thinking that’s how I’ve behaved. Kate did, after all, do an A-Grade PR Number.  If you ever need some good spin, use her people.

What catalysed the hate-storm was Kate’s assertion, expressed in direct quotes to ZDNet, that I had told her directly not to use the Twitter hashtag #geekgirl.

WTF?  She has since retracted this statement and admitted it is not true.

I just don’t “get” this absurd situation. I don’t get why Kate felt it necessary to protect something I was never contesting.  I don’t get why she’s nominated me as this month’s bete-noire. I don’t get why she never thought to pick up a phone or a mouse to talk this through. Most of all, I don’t get the hate expressed by a handful of hatey haters.

Things can move at such high-speed.  It would be great if we could slow down just a bit and wait  for the truth to arrive before hitting ‘send’, ‘post’ or ‘tweet’. It might also be nice to remember that behind those avatars you’re tearing apart to make your important point about IP, mindshare, liberty or whatever, there are people.

To be clear: yes, I want a fair and reasonable control of IP that is demonstrably and legally mine.  While I acknowledge and understand the many arguments against ownership of any kind: seriously. It’s not like Leo Tolstoy has called me to task, here. No. It’s a person who lists Business Process Reengineering, e-Commerce and Strategic Planning among her professional specialties.

I suspect that Kate, with her impressive business résumé, understands trademark law. I suspect that Kate, with her impressive business résumé, has a fairly cosy relationship to capitalism. So, I also suspect that she’s being disingenuous when she says she wants to “liberate” and “share”.  It feels to me that what she may want to do is “take” rather than “share”; all the while building up the “online reputation” successful business people talk about in Digital Marketing workshops.

I am proud of the little virtual place I have built. I am proud to bursting of the women I have mentored.  I am proud of never having gone  to business school or writing the words “Business Process Reengineering” on my résumé.

I am also proud to launch the new line of my merchandise, starting with:  ”Some mugs will believe anything” Buy now

*hugs* geekgirl

hashtag-geekgirl-mug

2010 Emerging Writers Festival – Friday 21 – Sunday 30 May #Melbourne

Venues: The Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas Melbourne Town Hall ● State Library of Victoria ● City Library ●Federation Square  

Bookings:  www.emergingwritersfestival.org.au

New Festival Director Lisa Dempster is thrilled to announce the the program for the 2010 Emerging Writers’ Festival, Australia’s only literary event dedicated to writers of all ages and styles.

2009 saw 6000 people attend the festival’s 15 sell out events with 300 writers, performers, publishers and mentors contributing to the event. In 2010, the EWF will double in size, curating 30 events and featuring 350 writers and artists as the festival stretches the definition of writing styles to include song writing, copywriting, poetry, prose fiction, comedy, writing for video games, journalism, screenwriting, theatre, experimental writing forms, memoir, blogging, opinion, comic writing and more.

2010 Emerging Writers Festival highlights will include:

First word – BMW Edge Theatre, Federation Square, 7.30pm, Friday 21 May
The Emerging Writers’ Festival burst into life by presenting the best of the festival – exciting new works by emerging writers, a Call to Arms by romantic fiction writer Toni Jordan, and a comic debate asking  ‘Love Vs Angst – what makes a better writer?’ Come and feel the love!

Zine Bus – various locations, 11am to 5pm Saturday 29 May NEW EVENT 
All aboard the world’s first mobile zine fair! Travelling the streets of Melbourne and culminating in a guerrilla zine market  at Federation Square, the zine bus will be fully stocked with independent emerging zines, with the most innovative displays of art, creativity and DIY ever to take to the streets!

Twitterfest – twitter.com/emergingwriters – May 24 – 28 , 2pm daily  NEW EVENT
Taking the Emerging Writers’ Festival to the world. Daily throughout the festival, Twitterfest will host discussions and interview writers… on Twitter! It’s social media mixed with literary debate – jump online to join the discussion. Hosted by writers from across Australia.

Wordstock – BMW Edge – 7.30pm Thurs 27 May
New work inspired by the songs of AC/DC. With songs, comedy, short plays and performance pieces, rock n roll will be given a different sort of spotlight. A one night only event and a performance highlight of the Emerging Writers’ Festival, Wordstock will reveals a whole new side of AC/DC. It will blow your mind (like dynamite.)  Hosted by iconic Melbourne rocker Clem Bastow.

You Can’t Stop The Musing: Disco Lecture – Horse Bazaar, 397 Little Lonsdale St Tues 25 May, 6pm NEW EVENT
Everybody knows disco is fun. But is it good for you? Now that Disco is back (trust us, it is), the time has come to determine, once and for all, whether it’s part of the problem or part of the solution. *Triple J’s Craig Schuftan *presents the case for and against in You Can’t Stop the Musing – the world’s first Disco-lecture. Expect to hear from The Silver convention, The Chic Organisation and the Frankfurt School

48-hour play generator – Malthouse Theatre – 5.30pm, Sunday 24 May
Six (somewhat) rehearsed readings. Six emerging playwrights are given just two days to write a new play each. Teamed with an established director and team of actors, the results are presented on a Sunday evening of madcap and totally raw theatre. Previous 48 hour plays have developed into full length works.

In the Pub series – 26 May 7.30pm, The Workers Club Fitzroy
I Write What I Want, When I Want. We lift the shroud on the mystery of freelance writing. Our freelance experts talk about their journeys as freelancers, the ups and downs as well as their secrets to success. From journalism to comedy, our panellists will entertain and enlighten. Panellists: Chris Flynn, Ben Pobjie and more. Hosted by Joanna Brookfield. 

The Page Parlour – The Atrium @ Federation Square, 12 to 5pm, Sunday 23 May
Featuring over forty stalls selling everything from posters to books, literary journals to hand-crafted stories – all the good stuff that you won’t find in Borders. The Page Parlour is an independent press fair gathering the undiscovered, the underground, the obscure and the amazing all in one convenient market location.

Town Hall Program – Melbourne Town Hall, 9am to 5pm, May 29 – 30
A range of panels, interviews and conversations about the art, craft and business of being a writer.. Covers all styles of writing, from prose fiction, to song writing, theatre, video games, copywriting, poetry, comedy and more! Guests include: Michi Girl, Guy Blackman, Benjamin Law, Patrick Cullen, Jill Jones, Sean Riley, Julian Shaw, Katherine Charles, Declan Fay, Tom Taylor, Mel Campbell, Jeff Sparrow, Steph Bowe, Jan Sardi, and many, many more!

Bird Turd, Let the Bird Poop on Bad Tweets #poop

Bird Turd :: Let the Bird Poop on Bad Tweets

Bird Turd makes Twitter a game. In Bird Turd, YOU are the bird. And when you see a tweet you don‘t like, YOU CAN POOP RIGHT ON IT.!!

That‘s right, facebook doesn‘t have a dislike button, but now twitter does! So if you have a love/hate, or just a hate, relationship with twitter, you can show your dissatisfaction with Bird Turd

Tweeting Dog Collar Posts Your Dog’s Movements to Twitter

Mattel is about to launch a toy that will brighten the lives of some dog lovers — but act as a sign of the coming apocalypse for folks who aren’t so keen on cute pet gimmicks. It’s called Puppy Tweet, and it gives your dog the ability to send Twitter updates about what he or she is doing.

Well, sort of.

The collar detects when your dog moves or make a sound, then randomly selects one of 500 pre-written tweets to post to Twitter. Your dog has to be within a reasonable distance of the room with your computer in it, though; the tweets are sent wirelessly from the collar to a USB receiver that has to be plugged into a supported Internet-connected device.

More from Mashable

Streamflow Conditions and Timestamp. An online exhibition, 24 hours of networked #writing starts Dec 5, 09.

Streamflow Conditions
Charting a poetics of language, code, and networks
+
Timestamp
24 hours of networked writing

an online exhibition and live writing event launching Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009 @ Subito Press
http://streamflowconditions.subitopress.org

~Beacons~
John Cayley (CA)
Roderick Coover (US)
Ian Hatcher (US)
Mez Breeze (AU)
José Carlos Silvestre (BR)
Stephanie Strickland & Cynthia Lawson Jaramillo (US)
Rui Torres (PT)

code poetry ~~ code proper ~~ ghosts in the network ~~ river expeditions ~~ edges of chaos ~~ immersive horizons ~~ eco-poetics

TIMESTAMP: ONLINE LAUNCH EVENT DECEMBER 5th @ 4:35pm UTC-7 [MST]

Beginning at 4:35pm MST (sunset in Denver, Colorado) on December 5, 2009, the artists of the online exhibition, Streamflow Conditions, will perform online for 24 hours* through networked writing, live coding, streaming video, or other means.

Each artist will occupy a 4-hour shift, and the schedule is designed to facilitate audiences outside of the artists’ individual timezones. Writing or links to activity will be posted to the shared twitter account, “timestampstream” and intercepted at Subito Press. You are invited to follow along and respond.

The performances will end at 4:35pm MST on Sunday, December 6.

*see schedule of shifts at the end of announcement and use this link to translate into your timezone:http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

SITES: http://www.streamflowconditions.subitopress.org

+
twitter.com/timestampstream (follow/respond)

STREAMFLOW CONDITIONS: EXHIBITION & EVENT DETAILS

Streamflow Conditions** is an online exhibition of electronic literature and networked writing curated by Judd Morrissey at the invitation of Subito Press at the University of Colorado. Beginning with a site-specific consideration of the Colorado landscape and its engineered waterways, the selection of works examines discrete markers in the contemporary data-scape of writing within networked culture. The artists and works chosen each represent an innovative use of language in conjunction with code, data, or networked spaces. The exhibition as a whole engages the overflowing boundaries between presence, process, and object at a time when currents of digital literary practice meet the culture and corpus of writing online (& the imminent google waves).

**gallery of works still under construction but please explore the site.

TIMESTAMP SHIFTS
[ use this to translate into your timezone:
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html ]

1. Dec. 5, 4:35pm MST: Mez Breeze

2. Dec. 5, 8:35pm MST: Ian Hatcher

3. Dec. 6, 12:35am MST: Rui Torres

4. Dec. 6, 4:35am MST: José Carlos Silvestre

5. Dec. 6, 8:35am MST: Roderick Coover

6. Dec 6, 12:35pm MST: John Cayley

Random Acts of Elevator Music want your building tips…

Random Acts of Elevator Music are preparing their itinerary and plan to bring productivity-raising muzaktronica to as many city office buildings as possible in Sydney and Melbourne.  Let them know if you want to experience these soothing oscillations and melodies in your elevator!

Email cityfreqs@akm.net.au or tweet to twitter.com/cityfreqs and we’ll put your building on our itinerary.  Leave a mobile number or email address and you’ll receive notification of when Random Acts of Elevator Music are about to come your way (and we won’t tell your supervisor that you gave us the inside tip…)

Melbourne office appearances: September 23^rd to October 2^nd

Sydney office appearances: October 5^th to 12^th

Random Acts of Elevator Music are back in 2009, performing live muzaktronica during office hours in buildings throughout the Sydney and Melbourne CBDs, helping to increase productivity in workplaces everywhere.

Random Acts of Elevator Music is the latest project from City Frequencies, a collaboration between Matt Adair and Nick Wilson, who work together on sound projects within the metropolitan environment.

For further information visit:   www.akm.net.au/cityfreqs

Freezly: Automatically Aggregating Giveaways

Do you spend hours trawling through the net looking for free stuff? If yes, then how about giving the Israeli web-based start-up Freezly a whirl. Freezly searches Twitter for free items or competition-giveaways: they seem to do a reasonable job of finding a large range of items:

“In general, Freezly monitors new tweets as they come in, analyzes their content, and filters out unwanted tweets using a proprietary algorithm. Once the system determines a valid giveaway, it is added to our database…Our method is not fool-proof, but we’re constantly working to improve our algorithm and deliver you legitimate content only. And hey, we’re still in Beta… please give us a chance!”

The Venn Diagram of Social Media

The Venn Diagram of Social Media

SYDNEYtwestival 2009 Tweet.Meet.Give

Saturday, September 12 is the date!

Hello, Sydney! Welcome to another round of Twestival; this time it’s for your favourite Australian charity.

Cities around the world are banding together in a new way, raising funds for local charities, and the call-out to nominate Australian charities starts now!

Earlier this year, SYDNEYtwestival raised a total of $1485. It was an amazing night, which resulted from the inspired effort of the many volunteers and supporters.  Plus, nearly a 100 people who turned up to make the night such a success.  So, now it’s time to do it all over again …

Nominations for a charity are open now and a vote will be held on Sunday, 30th August.

More info from SYDNEYtwestival

Australian students tweeted telescope takeover.

Students from three Melbourne high schools  took control of CSIRO’s famous Parkes telescope in NSW using the internet  and posted their results on Twitter.

This is the first time the social networking site has been used to report their findings and already they have attracted international interest with NASA scientists signing up to watch their efforts.

The students who drove the telescope from the Victorian Space Science Education (VSSEC) in Melbourne used it to make real observations of the small spinning stars called pulsars.

Scientists who use NASA’s Fermi space telescope to study pulsars work collaboratively with researchers using the Parkes telescope.

They are interested in what the students from Footscray City Secondary College, Braemar College and Strathmore Secondary College will find and have signed up for the Twitter updates.

The session is part of an ongoing program called ‘PULSE@Parkes’ that is giving students around the country the chance to do real science with a large, professional, radio telescope.

The program is an initiative of CSIRO’s Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF), which operates Parkes and other radio telescopes in NSW.

Up to 24 students can take part in an observing session.

Some days before the session they receive an introduction to radio astronomy, pulsars, and the nuts and bolts of observing.

During the actual session they talk to an astronomer present at Parkes via videolink and take full control of the telescope.

The students take real data and analyse it to determine, for instance, the distance of the pulsars they observe.

To follow future students on Twitter follow PULSEatParkes.