By now many of you must have read about this story(the linked article has both pictures): the US version of a Microsoft IT ad features 3 people: an Asian guy, an black guy and a white lady. However, in the Poland version of it, the image has been altered (most likely by using photo-editing software) so that a white man's head is put in place of the black man.
Is this racism? Some say yes and some say no. To me, it looks unprofessional to edit the photo if all you want is localize your ad. Is it that hard to find some Polish folks to create a new ad? And having the variety in the US version is simply for political correctness anyway.
The most interesting point to me though, is that they choose to retain the Asian guy. Why? Some say it has to do with the stereotype that Asian guys are good at IT!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Tech of the day: User agent
I have been a long-time (paid) subscriber of a popular newspaper and I have always used HTTRACK (the open-source website copier, ideal for offline browsing) as well as my browser to read the PDA version (which has a real clean UI to speed up browsing) even though the "official" way to access it is thru another closed-source website copier iSiloX.
My ways of usage have been working fine until yesterday, when the newspaper's website started to refuse access from any client other than iSiloX. Of course it is implemented by checking the user agent. And of course, this is very easy to defeat: (1) for HTTRACK, just add the command line option -F "iSiloX/4.37 Windows/32" (2) for Firefox, just install the user agent switcher plugin and add the aforementioned user agent string.
Even though it is so easy to defeat, I'm still not pleased. As a paid subscriber, shouldn't I be allowed to access the information in ways that I preferred (and these are ways that won't jeopardize their profit a single bit)? It wouldn't be long until I decide to cancel my subscription.
My ways of usage have been working fine until yesterday, when the newspaper's website started to refuse access from any client other than iSiloX. Of course it is implemented by checking the user agent. And of course, this is very easy to defeat: (1) for HTTRACK, just add the command line option -F "iSiloX/4.37 Windows/32" (2) for Firefox, just install the user agent switcher plugin and add the aforementioned user agent string.
Even though it is so easy to defeat, I'm still not pleased. As a paid subscriber, shouldn't I be allowed to access the information in ways that I preferred (and these are ways that won't jeopardize their profit a single bit)? It wouldn't be long until I decide to cancel my subscription.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Stars of the day: Toronto Nationals
Congrat to the Nationals (not baseball's Washington Nationals) for winning the Major League Lacrosse Championship! I guess Toronto hasn't have a championship team for a while. The most recent I remember was the Blue Jays winning the world series 15+ years ago. They did it by beating the #1 seed so they certainly deserve every bit of the championship.
It also means that there won't be any pro lacrosse game until the end of the year when the indoor league resumes. Can't wait!
It also means that there won't be any pro lacrosse game until the end of the year when the indoor league resumes. Can't wait!
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