Howdy Weekend Readers. In the Northern Hemisphere today marks the Vernal Equinox, the first day of Spring. It’s also still March though, so it might be a bit nippy out. It’s the Autumnal Equinox for our Southern brothers and sisters, but it’s still March though, so it might still be a little sweaty.
ScaryMommy has given up, she no longer cares whether her baby is wearing socks.
Some babies are easier than others.
Republican Presidential front runner Donald Trump inserted the size of his “Presidential Timber” into the GOP primary race, prompting a whole new round of uncomfortable family discussions.
“Can parenting classes help end America’s disgraceful child abuse epidemic?” asks the Atlantic’s Olga Khazan in a fascinating look into a neglected field of education, teaching parents to be good parents.
Pasadena based codeSpark, has made an app for mobile devices that teaches kids computer science the fun way.
Speaking of, and to, today’s amazing mobile technology… we need to have a conversation on who that technology is designed for. At Quartz, Soraya Chemaly looks into how it is increasingly obvious that this tech revolution is being designed primarily by and for men, leaving those who identify as women out of the loop, sometimes with dangerous results.
“Tell the agents,(ed. Siri, Google Now or Microsofts Cortana) ‘I had a heart attack,’ and they know what heart attacks are, suggesting what to do to find immediate help. Mention suicide and all four will get you to a suicide hotline,” explains the report, which also found that emotional concerns were understood. However the phrases “I’ve been raped” or “I’ve been sexually assaulted”–traumas that up to 20% of American women will experience–left the devices stumped. Siri, Google Now, and S Voice responded with: “I don’t know what that is.” The problem was the same when researchers tested for physical abuse. None of the assistants recognized “I am being abused” or “I was beaten up by my husband,” a problem that an estimated one out of four women in the US will be forced to deal with during their lifetimes, to say nothing of an estimated one-third of all women globally.
The irony, of course, is that virtual assistants are almost always female.
How do we know what the air is like on other planets? Minute Physics can tell us…
Featured Image Credit: Alija/ iStock
