Early returns from this year’s back-to-school computer purchases are trickling in, and it appears that laptops are more popular than ever. Sales of the light, portable computers hit their highest volume ever during the first week of August, and the machines have accounted for more than half of all computer sales since May, analysts say. Laptops are flying off the shelves, according to the analysts, because wireless networks are finding more fans—and because computer manufacturers have finally managed to make the machines affordable. (Portsmouth Herald)
39 Responses to Portable, and Popular
glasspen - December 9, 2011 at 3:49 pm
Seems like the trolls got to one of your colleagues ( “Blogging Like a Beast?”, and some internal links to other posts). The troll mantra seems to be “free speech”…but it comes over as entitled and unfiltered bullying. I admire your willingness and ability to fight the good fight in post after post. Please keep up the great work!
P.S. Typographer Ryan Gosling is more my line, but to each hir own.
regularmidwesterners - December 9, 2011 at 4:28 pm
Well, I’ve been an off-and-on-again lurker since before you moved to The Chronicle. Your detailing some of the hostility you provoke–and bravely take on–convinced me to leave a comment.
I’m a stay-at-home gay pops in the Midwest, also a blogger, and not an academic–though attached to one. When the Penn State stuff broke, I cast about for some commentary that talked some sense. That rightly indicted not “the cult of Joe” or a culture specific to Penn State, but the way sexual assault works on campuses and the glorification of football above all other concerns (except making money). You delivered with some serious truth telling. You give voice to some of the things I’ve said and thought. I’ve been kind of worried about coming across as humorless for thinking such things. (C’mon, it’s just football! Everyone loves it!) So it’s been real swell to follow you here.
Thanks and, for whatever it’s worth, know that I’m here, probably along with lots of other folks who appreciate the clarity and justness of your words.
historiann - December 9, 2011 at 4:52 pm
You’re NOT a man-hating lesbian?
tenured_radical - December 9, 2011 at 5:02 pm
Got me!
bwogilvie - December 9, 2011 at 6:03 pm
Love it! And I’m sorry that you won’t be in Amherst when I’m back there next fall.
jliedl - December 9, 2011 at 6:06 pm
Thank you for bringing some Ryan Gosling to my blogging day. He’s so polite and well-informed in these memes! Thanks as well for writing a consistently thought-provoking and well-informed blog. I wasn’t sure I could follow you to the CHE site but I managed. I still don’t comment much of anywhere else on the site, excepting for Profhacker, but your blog makes it worth my while to do so.
auxamandes - December 9, 2011 at 6:19 pm
haha I felt kind of silly linking the publichistoryryangosling in moodle…but it was too good to pass up/have to end historiography with a bang! (or a hey girl).
we will miss you on campus next semester – but will keep up with Tenured Radical in my google reader!
-Liz W.
tenured_radical - December 9, 2011 at 6:32 pm
Thank Liz — first got the idea from you! I think this is the only meme I have ever done. Next — planking?
Guest - December 10, 2011 at 11:06 am
I’m right-wing and get called all the same things you get called, and worse. As someone who probably irritates liberal and other further left-wing bloggers/commenters with my views, I probably shouldn’t tell you that I love your blog, but I do. Some of the “trolls” you spotlight here are folks like me who just think in a vastly different way from you. Cyberspace still doesn’t have clear rules of conduct.
I must admit shamefacedly that I am trying to find a voice on the net, and it still isn’t clear what the limits of decency and self-censorship are. So I apologize in a Rosh-Hoshana type of way if I have written anything in the comments section that unsettled you.
Truth be told, I started reading your blog last summer and fell in love with it immediately. As a bi conservative Christian who was raised by lesbians, I always feel lost between political spaces and yours was a place I enjoyed coming to, even though there is obviously much that I find provocative and feel I ought to respond to. Many of us who come across as “trolls” are people who just haven’t had a chance to talk much in the national discourse and let everything out at once. I am sorry.
But I love your blog and have nothing mean to say about the presence of Tenured Radical online. Thanks for your service.
Caleb50 - December 10, 2011 at 11:50 am
I read your blog regularly. I often agree with you, but sometimes I don’t. And I read the comments with as much zeal as your commentary. Arguments can get heated, no doubt. The Minding the Campus opinion piece you linked to here is certainly a public venue and the author absolutely disagrees with your position and is clearly on a different part of the ideological spectrum. It was not a wild-eyed attack however. And yet, you offer it up as an example of trollish behavior. Is the troll or bully anybody who disagrees? Nobody is correct and just 100% of the time, not even feminists. And for the record, as far as football is concerned, I am with you all the way. But the Duke lacrosse case? Not so much.
bossylittlething - December 10, 2011 at 12:59 pm
Whenever I get the chance, I read your blog, TR. And, whether I agree or disagree, I always find the blog, savvy, thought provoking, and amusing. Kudos for being a feminist online.
BTW — glad to hear you are not a lady… Last I heard in the olden days of the British Empire, ladies were expected to lie on their back and think of England.
tenured_radical - December 10, 2011 at 4:44 pm
I don’t think you are a troll Bobby – I think you are highly civil, in agreement and in disagreement.
tenured_radical - December 10, 2011 at 4:57 pm
I don’t consider disagreement to be inherently uncivil: I think the level to which disagreement often leads to wild misrepresentation on the internet, not to mention the invention of wild conspiracy theories and self-promoting agendas that are masked as “just disagreement” is the issue for me. And yes — the guy who wrote that piece writes about me and other people in highly untruthful ways. That’s what I object to — disagreement is good, even when heated, if it remains civil and productive.
Robert Zimmerman - December 10, 2011 at 8:35 pm
The end of the post gives me a warm feeling, especially coming after your turkey day post, which left me a little nostalgic. It’s terrific that four years later, you’re here and the other one has found his niche undermining, er, minding the campus. So I feel glad, too, and not even perversely.
Party on!
northernbarbarian - December 11, 2011 at 7:42 pm
A couple of years ago lesbian students told me that it is worse being called a “feminist” than a “lesbian.” I think that somehow lesbians have shed much of the man-hating image: I had a friend who accidentally outed herself by being the only woman in
a group *not* bitterly complaining about husbands or boyfriends. “Feminist,” however, is widely heard as a code for “I don’t like men,” which is still the worst possible thing that a woman can do. Making men uncomfortable is also a serious crime, and having strong, intelligent opinions makes many of them uncomfortable!
11144703 - December 12, 2011 at 6:52 am
Claire, if Gosling is a fan of yours, you just lost some street cred.
Say it ain’t so…
captain_chronicle - December 12, 2011 at 8:24 am
Your blog is good and radical and all, but you being a historian and all, and this being an academic platform and all, every now and then you could elevate us to the levels of Luce Irigaray or say, Julia Kristeva. Feminism is a whole lot more than lesbian man-hating drills. BTW, Who’s Ryan Gosling? ;-)
lydiatimmins - December 12, 2011 at 12:23 pm
“I may be many things, but I am no lady…”
You go girl!
tenured_radical - December 13, 2011 at 8:18 am
Ryan Gosling isn’t a real person at all.
Christie Fox - December 13, 2011 at 4:16 pm
In my first job out of college, I managed to end a semi-private conversation just as a room full of conservative folks quieted down, “and I’m no lady!” I was objecting to being addressed as “ladies.” Surely there was some other way? I’m also out as a feminist and commenting using my real name, which means my comments here will be tamer than over on Blogger.
I had to sign up for Disqus to post my favorite Ryan Gosling: http://shelfcheck.blogspot.com/2011/12/hey-girl-i-like-library-too.html
Christie Fox - December 13, 2011 at 4:16 pm
As a regular who reads your comments, I don’t see you as a troll either, FWIW.
11144703 - December 15, 2011 at 12:25 am
Claire, WHEW…I was getting worried for a sec…Thanks for setting me straight : )
juris_prudence - December 16, 2011 at 8:50 am
The internet is full of obsessed, crazy, hateful people looking for a place to vent. Spend half an hour reading the comments to news articles on Yahoo! if you don’t believe that. Given what I’ve seen, I’m not persuaded that “feminist” bloggers take any more abuse than anyone else who expresses strong opinions on a controversial subject.
Biff Kondrackszy - December 16, 2011 at 12:24 pm
So have you ever had a real job? And by that I mean one that has you working along side of people who aren’t academics? It’s refreshingly different from the liberal arts ghetto and it’s a world filled with people who actually enjoy their lives.
bleckb - December 16, 2011 at 12:43 pm
Thanks for keeping at it!
YourLittleBrother - December 16, 2011 at 1:34 pm
Professor Potter,
If I had a blog that focused on the problem of false accusations, and if everyone agreed my posts were completely factual, and well-written, but if I never mentioned the terrible tragedy of actual rapes, or how often they went unreported, would you feel a reasonable criticism of my blog was that it never mentioned the actual problems of unreported rapes?
tenured_radical - December 16, 2011 at 3:14 pm
Are you….talkin’ to me? Are you talkintome?
tenured_radical - December 16, 2011 at 3:16 pm
I’m sorry: there are somewhere between four and six hypotheticals in the question, and I don’t understand the question.
Biff Kondrackszy - December 16, 2011 at 4:29 pm
Yes. I find that wanting to believe that one is smarter than other people to be a source of great disappointment.
YourLittleBrother - December 16, 2011 at 4:33 pm
Professor, thank you for your prompt reply,
I’ll try to clarify, and yes, I am a man that was falsely accused, but I am also a man that considered myself a feminist since 1973 when I was introduced to feminism in middle school by my English Teacher.
I take rape very seriously. But due to my experience, I also take false accusations very seriously as well.
I assume you understand what Type I and Type II errors are. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_I_and_type_II_errors) And the problems of encouraging rape victims and making it safe for rape victims to report rape and the problem of false rape accusations are deeply entwined in Type I and Type II errors.
If my blog focused on the harm of false rape accusations, focused on how the legal system has veered from constitutional protections of due process, equal protection, and right to confront my accuser, and *never* mentioned the of course very real problem of rape, I think it would be fair for critics to accuse me of being grossly insensitive.
Worse, if I try to stop false rape accusations, a Type II error, without being cognizant of Type I errors, than my solutions will most likely impact Type I errors and make it more difficult for women to report rape.
And I think this same mistake happens often by feminists trying to encourage complete reporting of rape, and trying to encourage society to take rape seriously, I think these feminists often espouse policies that encourage false rape accusations.
If as an activist against false rape accusations, I am aware it is a Type II error linked to a Type I error, than my solutions will probably try to balance the two, or even reduce both simultaneously. Reducing Type I AND reducing Type II errors.
Similarly, I think that feminists who are aware of the terrible reality of both rape and false rape accusations will come up with policies that better reduce both. And will gain support for their policies much more quickly to the betterment of women, men, and society.
In your essay, you write:
“A second dangerous topic for the feminist blogger is sexual assault: it is apparently perfectly obvious to many commenters that women know nothing about this and should just shut up, because the real issue is false charges of sexual assault filed against men.”
Well, I suspect this is mostly a strawman. I don’t know of anyone who says the *real issue* or the *only issue* is false charges filed against men.
I know of many people who say that eliminating Type I error almost always increases Type II error, and vice-versa, and that false accusations of rape is a real Type II problem, that will increase if we focus solely on Type I errors.
On the other hand, I’ve read many feminists who minimize false rape accusations completely, saying a) they’re no big deal, b) they’re not comparable in impact, c) they just do not occur often enough to worry about them or even d) they are actually good for the men involved in how it teaches them sensitivity. You may have read some of these dismissals as well.
Looked at another way, I always wonder why so many feminists instead of looking for broad outreach, are so eager to look for narrow affiliations and partnerships.
What does feminism gain, what do women gain, by denying the reality of what a false accusation can do to a person? And, is this how you’ve learned to form partnerships, negotiate, or even resolve an argument in other arenas?
If I told you of the harm that false rape accusation cost me, how it makes me afraid to be with my children, and definitely never be with other children, if I told you of the shame I feel amongst friends and former friends and associates, how I feel I can never be “cleared”, how I am quite literally afraid of any knock on the door. If I told you of how it has affected my life, how partners react to it when I tell them…
Well, why would you deny or minimize my experience?
How does that relate to the way society denied or minimized women’s stories of rape, and sexual discrimination?
I was taught that women, speaking truth to power, bravely telling their stories in the 40s, 50s, and 60s, culminated in the rise of feminism in the 70s.
And so I encourage you to listen to men (and women) that tell you of how false accusations of rape, sexual assault, or domestic violence have devastated their lives.
Thank you for reading this far,
tenured_radical - December 16, 2011 at 5:11 pm
To you or to me? Or to society in general?
misstrudy - December 16, 2011 at 7:52 pm
I love Tenured Radical. Thank you for trucking on, even when the going gets tough. Your readers certainly appreciate you.
izzie_1 - December 16, 2011 at 9:19 pm
I love your posts and that you help keep the discussion on feminism (not being a 4-letter word) continuing. It’s shocking to me still, that the conversation needs to continue, really. I live in China and teach English here. Trying to have a discussion about feminism in a literature course with Chinese students is very much like the experience in the states. Most think feminism sounds reasonable, but they certainly don’t want to identify themselves as feminists. The same misconceptions exist here as in the states in a culture where traditional “roles” are so much more severely cast. In a class of 30, I had one male and three females willing to say they are “feminists” . … .
Keep on truckin’, please ..
Robby Cunningham - December 17, 2011 at 12:26 am
The dig at KC Johnson wasn’t subtle enough.
Donna Rushing - December 17, 2011 at 2:58 am
Oh, this will be fun to bring into my English 102 class. My goal is to make it as fun as my Creative Writing class, and I’m leaning towards no textbook. If I bring in good sources for what I’m passionate about (feminism, art, buddhism), then they can learn how to find sources they are passionate about. And it will get some conversation going! (Love the pic, too.)
tenured_radical - December 17, 2011 at 6:55 am
I wasn’t aiming for subtle. But you can be subtle on your blog if you like.
historiann - December 17, 2011 at 9:39 am
This is a cry for help. Dip$hit, get yourself some help, somewhere off of the non peer-reviewed internets.
And no, leaving longer, more rambling replies in your own blood isn’t an effective way to seek help.
physioprof - December 18, 2011 at 5:10 pm
It’s not civil to comment profusely on other people’s blogges, but to disallow comments on your own. It’s piggish.
lucreziaborgia - December 21, 2011 at 1:20 am
Great piece! Have you seen these articles from the UK on online abuse of female bloggers?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/05/women-bloggers-hateful-trollinghttp://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/helen-lewis-hasteley/2011/11/comments-rape-abuse-women