And now for something completely different: [Becky Stern]’s musical tour of her favorite tools around the Adafruit factory is the best holiday tune we’ve heard since The Waitresses’ “Christmas Wrapping”. Of course, good tools are near and dear to us as well, and we found ourselves nodding frequently in agreement and smiling as broadly as [Billie, Ruby, and Gus], the anthropomorphic LED backup singers.
In other Adafruity news, it looks like their new Samsung SM482 pick and place machine was given the gift of eyes as big as pizza pies. What tools would you like to see under the tree, leaning against the Festivus pole, or all wrapped up a safe distance from the menorah this year? Do tell.
Dat Lady…
I agree.
Smashing!
Dat idiot that leaves a similar post on every single HAD post that involved a woman.
Fun fact! Fabric scissors have a bit of play in the joint. This is so that you can angle them and increase the friction between the cutting edges for cutting thin or slippery fabrics.
They’re also only to be used on fabric and any person who uses them with paper.
+1 <3
I used to work with various composites (carbon fiber, kevlar, etc.) and we had specific scissors for each type. And if you used the wrong scissor on the wrong material, you were not going to have a good day.
lol, There is no scissor in composite manufacture. Her “scissors” are shears.They are called shears because of one big hole and small hole and being over 6 inches in length. Generally serrated and able to cut things like Kevlar if they are sharp and not dulled on things like cardboard, e-glass/s-glass, paper.
You can also buy ceramic scissors. A bit expensive and will be ruined if you used them on metal but they stay sharp for a very long time, which is nice if you are using them exclusively on fabrics. They also do not corrode or conduct electricity. Great for fighting off electric eels while performing underwater fabric cutting, I guess.
Holiday greetings to warm the heart of any geek!
I think I’m in love….
Those Samsung instruments do look nice.
And, oh my god, is that a laser cutter after those beautiful pick-and-place machines? I’d dance in front of those as well!!
Who says work can’t be fun? (Other than my previous employer)
Why did one of the pick and place machines have scissors taped to the side in the video …
To have it nearby when you need to cut some parts or empty piece from a reel?
(I’m betting on magnets, not tape)
Becky, marry me !
HA! Great Job!
Why is it impossible for a woman to do something tech related, without getting marriage proposals from random assholes ?
Shoo shoo stupid feminazi.
Jealous?
I’m sure that type of gentle public overture is well-intentioned, but it’s essentially the same thing as catcalling: singling a person out for objectification. I think it’s humiliating to everybody involved.
Well said.
+1
With you there
Great song and singing tho
Although I agree it is rude to do so, it is nothing like cat-calling. The purpose of the catcaller is usually not intended to end in marriage.
Also, I think there is at least something to be said on saying that someone is extremely attractive because of who they are and what they do with their life instead of what they look like when they are walking down the street.
Thanks for the distinction. I wanted to say the same thing but didn’t want to be accused of ‘mansplaining’. No one was commenting on the purely physical attributes of a stranger on the street- many of us have been following Becky’s career for years and appreciate her intelligence and creativity. That said, for those of us who remember her days at Make: TV, it’s obvious that there has been an effort to make herself more traditionally attractive. How is acknowledging the success of a process that she initiated humiliating or objectifying? If we really wanted to go down the feminist rabbit hole (and I definitely do not) why are we not criticizing her for eschewing the t-shirts, chunky glasses, short hair and less make up for her new heteronormative, more mainstream appearance? Why isn’t Jezebel pillorying her for using ‘sex’ to sell women in tech? (No, I don’t think that’s what she’s doing!) Personally, I think Becky Stern has always been an awesome force in the maker movement, but the mental gymnastics of the new feminism makes my head spin.
First off it is exactly the same thing as cat calling. I have personally witnessed catcalls where the catcaller said ‘marry me’ and obviously didn’t expect the woman to agree on the spot and marry him. This is no different. No reasonable person expects that a marriage proposal left in the comments section of hackaday is going to result in any sort of relationship with the person it is directed at, let alone a lasting, loving one resulting in marriage.
Second, creepily “acknowledging the success” of a “process” is dehumanizing and insane. I’m a guy. My look has changed over the last decade. Not once has anyone said to me “Hey Dude, you’ve really succeeded in your process to change your look” because that would just be weird, especially if they brought up all the things they liked about my previous look while they were doing it and then went on to say “way to be more mainstream.” Because then it’s both weird AND backhanded.
Look you don’t have to do any mental gymnastics here, all you have to do is comment something along the lines of “This is a great video” boom done. You shouldn’t bring looks into it.
Simple test: “Would you comment this way on a video featuring someone who you weren’t sexually attracted to?” If you answer no to that question your comment is inappropriate.
I’m tagging on to Feminist Guy and saying this is also the official Hackaday response to the, ‘very close to being creepers’ ITT
My reply to chuckstephensarts: Jezebel thinks 3D printing is fake. The actual quote is, “Some “experts” say that 3D printing is real, but I don’t buy it.” That’s some serious Poe’s Law, there. It loops from satire, to real, to satire, to real again.
I never said the comments being made here were acceptable, I just said it was different than normal cat-calling. I would also say that the term “objectification” cannot be used here because (for me at least) I think the reason people find Becky so attractive is because of WHO she is, not the fact that she has lady-parts. Liking someone for who they are, not for their sexual utility, is kind of the opposite of objectification.
And also, sexuality and attractiveness in general is a complicated thing, so lets not simplify it too much.
I guess I am not AS offended by people saying Becky is awesome and attractive because I am so used to society ignoring who someone is when they make those qualifications.
I guess you didn’t watch the catcalling video? Women complain about exactly that phrase.
Let’s keep it simple then. Asking strangers “will you marry me?” is akin to catcalling and not appropriate.
For what it’s worth, women, not men, still bear children and are the sex that statistically, more humans are at least partially attracted to. It may still be socially inappropriate but at least there is a bit of an explanation. That and the general or perceived rarity of women in the maker realm. I don’t think we should support harassment but on the same token, people generally experience some level of attraction to women generally irregardless of what they are currently doing. How people express said attraction should be taken into consideration but asking people to suddenly stop finding women attractive is like asking people to stop sleeping. It’s not going to happen anytime soon.
@ Trui: because this random asshole loves the combination of Beauty and Brains.
Also a sense of humor, and a good singing voice. Already a fairly rare combination of attributes.
Add in that she also happens to have two X chromosomes, and she falls somewhere on the rarity spectrum between Bald Eagle and Unicorn.
Finally, she is confident and secure in herself, enough to be willing to make herself the center of attention via a Youtube video. Adding that in virtually makes her a Unicorn. Who should reasonably expect – and is presumably able to handle – compliments on her combination of rare attributes gracefully. At least while actively drawing attention to those attributes, unlike a situation like a random catcall where attention may be drawn to someone who wasn’t trying to attract it.
While a jested proposal isn’t a very sophisticated or original complement, it’s questionable whether it’s actually offensive. So what’s important is whether the *recipient* considers it offensive. I don’t know how [Becky] actually feels about it. Likely none of the other commenters do, either.
In the absence of that info, one can attempt to predict how she feels; but this is done by projecting one’s own personal attributes and expectations upon her. If someone is insecure and easily offended, they’ll believe [Becky] is too, as some here have done.
And frankly, I consider that belief is far more offensive than [Trui]’s comment. I prefer to believe she’s better than that, and upon reading the comment, simply thought “nope” and forgot about it 500uS later.
Rant mode off. Loved the video. Me and my lady make up similarly silly songs, singing them around the house regularly. It’s great fun. It also reminded me I need a new pair of flush cutters, the hinge on mine is too worn and wobbly to cleanly cut a lead, much less a fingernail.
I’ve never heard those comments about a Bil Herd post.
Oh, never mind. I see the problem…
Maybe if he were to sing and daintily frolic around his workspace?
+1 The first song this year that actually put me in the holiday spirit!
Good she got rid of that nose ring.
Awesome video [Becky]! I’m thinking we need more Hacker/Maker musical montages! (Maybe I can drag Mike and Brian into one… )
no
I’m down. Let’s do this!
Will you be retrotacular in it? :D
Yeah, but I need to get some outfits together.
As a daily reader, I would agree. This sounds like a great idea. Can’t sing? Doesn’t matter, just auto-tune it.
I’ve been staring at hot-end PID settings too long, I momentarily forgot “autotune” was a thing you could do to music.
I see both sides of this. People will be attracted to people, for any number of reasons. Men to women, men to men, women to women, women to men. As much as we love to see ourselves as “not animals” – we are animals. But we don’t have to be creeps about it.
On the other hand its sad that the majority of these comments, now including mine, are about the fact Becky Stern is (allegedly?) a female who some of you are attracted to. And then some of you fed the whole thing by going on about how those people are bad.
It’s bad enough when people can’t stay on topic, but its worse that the self-righteous have to come out and shame them. It starts to feel a little fake. What are your motives exactly? I don’t know which is worse, the creeper types or the “knight in shining armor” types?
Sigh,
nice shop.
And I still hate the new layout of HaD.