Geekery

No sex please, we’re Apple

Posted on 24. Feb, 2010 by Jake.

App by app, Apple has spent the last couple of days embarking on a moralistic cleansing of their iPhone App Store. Porn fiends the world over wanted answers, and now. So, thanks to an article on Gizmodo.com, let’s here what the official word from Apple executive Paul Schiller is:

“It came to the point where we were getting customer complaints from women who found the content getting too degrading and objectionable, as well as parents who were upset with what their kids were able to see.”

Fair enough. What those who have come out strongly against the move have pointed out, though, is that those parents who have complained are not aware of, or simply aren’t using, the parental controls available to them that would restrict their kids from access to these apps.

Also controversial is the fact that Apple have retained two risqué, borderline soft-porn apps in the form of Sports Illustrated and FHM. Are these two allowed to remain because of the commercial clout of the companies they represent? And, if so, is Apples app purge aimed only at smaller developers, who need their products to remain in the App Store the most?

Schiller, when asked about Sports Illustrated, does not deny this: “the difference is this is a well-known company with previously published material available broadly in a well-accepted format,” he said. But, the idea that it’s fine to publish half-naked women as long as you’re famous is insulting.

And, many Apple-heads want their favourite brand to be cooler than the others. We want it to treat us like adults, and that is why the idea of the brand condoning a world in which we cannot choose which Apps we can and can’t to download is troublesome.

Are Apple in the right self-censoring their App Store at the expense of developers? Let me know below.

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Geek Goddess – Kari Byron

Posted on 30. Oct, 2009 by Jake.

Very seldom, but sometimes, Geek Gods also happen to be female and extremely hot. When this rare occurrence takes place one has to celebrate one of the only occasions on which nature has created a perfect balance between intellect and beauty. And Kari Byron from Mythbusters is undoubtedly one of the hottests geek in the world.

Anyone who watches the show today may get the feeling that Byron is a television personality who just stumbled into the geeky world of scientific experiments. However, proving her validity as a true Geek God, it’s actually the other way round. She used to show up one of the world’s leading special effects companies, Hyneman’s M5 Industries in the hope of getting a job there since she is a film geek who wanted to master the art of combining technology with art to create effects for film.

On her first day at work she was asked to help with a Mythbusters experiment, and since then her role in the show increased gradually until she was a regular. At first she felt uncomfortable on screen as she does not come from an entertainment background, but she got used to it, eventually becoming the cool, sassy Mythbuster we know today.

Byron is actually an artist foremost, and she showcases her sculptures on her website. Since her role on Mythbusters took off, though, she has made a decision to stop exhibiting, as she found that those who would attend exhibitions were mostly just interested in her because of the show.

She posed for FHM, as well as recreating the famous ‘diet coke and mentos’ explosion, which had also been performed on the show, and was voted into their sexiest woman list two years running, earning 68th and 69th place in 2007 and 2008 respectively.

She is married (sorry boys) and gave birth to her first child, a daughter, in February this year, meaning that she is officially now a MILF, as well as, obviously, a GILF. Ok, admittedly she isn’t of the intellectual calibre of most of the geeks in this section and will not be winning a nobel prize anytime soon. But for her rare and potent combination of brains, beauty and great breasts, she remains a true geek godess.

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