- Steve Jobs painted as a “pro-life saint” while the ACLU steps in and controversy continues surrounding Apple’s virtual personal assistant Siri and its behavior around female sexual healthcare crises. Why the problem with Siri matters (Pulp Tech)
- Over the past decade, polyamory has gone from being a fringe trend to a bona fide scene to a relationship model that’s widespread enough to almost be socially acceptable. Plus it’s got celebrities like alt-weekly sex columnist Dan Savage, who coined the word “monogamish” and turned open relationships into a cause célèbre. Sex by Numbers (East Bay Express)
- Remember Zivity? In a move that surprises absolutely no one that has tried to sell sexual imagery since PayPal was bought by eBay in 2003 and stopped processing adult transactions, PayPal has stopped doing business with softcore website Zivity because it violates PayPal’s notoriously firm anti-porn Terms of Service. PayPal to Zivity: You’re Too Naughty! (NBC Bay Area)
- If the reports are correct, officials at Miami’s Federal Detention Center might want to install a stripper pole or two. It would certainly solidify its status as the nation’s premiere stripper prison. Miami Houses Nation’s First Stripper Prison? (Legally Weird)
- Teens sharing totally inappropriate naked photos on their phones: Sexting sounded so plausible, it just had to be true. But now, according to a new survey, it turns out that the vast majority of teenagers aren’t sexting at all. Teens Aren’t the Rampant Sexting Maniacs We Thought (NPR; iPhone image at right via canv.as)
- The story began last Friday when FHM India fired off a barrage of tweets on a December cover featuring Pakistani actress Veena Malik, fully nude and sporting an ISI tattoo in reference to Pakistan’s controversial spy agency. The Pakistani Twitterverse exploded. Nude Veena Malik cover stuns Pakistani Twitterverse (Foreign Policy, main post image via FHM India)
- Next year, Judith Hanna’s lap-dances-are-art argument will be part of an appeal before New York’s highest court. A stripper in heels is like a ballerina en pointe, she says, and her communication of feeling is no different than that of the New York City Ballet — and no less protected by the First Amendment. Lap Dances Find Academic Champion as Cities Rein in Strip Clubs (Businessweek)
- A lawyer for a male escort [Alejandro Rivera] found guilty of murdering a Bay Point man and stealing his solid gold flute in 2008 said Monday he will appeal his client’s conviction to the California Supreme Court. Male escort can’t escape guilty verdict for murder, theft of solid gold flute (San Francisco Examiner)
- On the latest episode of Saturday Night Live, Steve Buscemi was the star of a fake video promo for “Sex” Ed Vincent’s 1980s-style Couples Workshop Sex Intensive class. Watch Steve Buscemi as the ‘Erotic Chef’ on SNL (Eater National, via Tablehopper)
- In a terrible article that reads like a press release for .XXX and ICM Registry, we learn that all those .XXX URLS go live today. Over 100,000 XXX Domain Names Are Going Live Tomorrow At 11 EST (Business Insider)
@violetblue – My apologies. I read the first half, and you did discuss the link I supplied in the second half. I’m glad you came across it. Siri is beta — I’m loving it — and I’m sure Apple will get the kinks out of it. The point of the article is that search is not a trivial endeavor.
Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I just asked Siri “Where can I get a mammogram.” It wasn’t able to process that, though it did gamely ask me each time to ask again. (I then asked for the weather, and it had no problem.) You can blame the engineers, but as a rule they don’t know the first thing about women — or humor, for that matter. The “jokes” just aren’t that funny.
@Mario – sad to see you didn’t read the article :(
“Why Siri Can’t Find Abortion Clinics & And How It’s Not An Apple Conspiracy”
http://searchengineland.com/why-siri-cant-find-abortion-clinics-103349
I do feel the first link (on Siri) is a topic for debate and discussion, not least because the “in beta” line is as old as “I didn’t realise it was illegal” in terms of PC software, it’s marketed as a major feature and nowhere on UK advertising does it state it’s a beta service (though why it finds certain things that fit an anti-choice agenda and not one for women’s rights is a different issue). I wonder if there are other areas it has a stance on (like say evolution vs creationism)?
Unfortunately that article on ZDNet has descended into a load of anti-abortion types ranting on to each other about their view and clouding the issue that is key.
Yes women may not ask Siri after being raped but if they can ask “where can I buy an aspirin” then “where can I get a morning after pill” is just as legitimate and should not be hidden away. In a way, the rape / abortion thing has dominated this and a legitimate question as to why something like the pill cannot be located when say viagra can be is being marginalised by the strong views on abortion (someone even suggested the fact that 65 women per 100,000 in the US were raped is not a major issue because the rate of abortion (presumably including everything from a next day pill, right up to a last minute abortion to save the mother’s life) was 1,500 per 100,000 (no idea if those figures are right by the way).