DOGNAMEDJESUS.

I am extremely disturbed and disappointed to be living here.

Jan. 19th, 2012 - 4 months ago - Reblog - 5 Notes

Siri Failures, Illustrated

stfuconservatives:

jumblejo:

stfusexists:

keepyourboehneroutofmyuterus:

amaditalks:

The recent illustrations of Siri, the iPhone 4S voice-recognition based assistant, failing to provide information to users about abortion, birth control, help after rape and help with domestic violence has gotten a lot of notice. Yesterday’s post with screenshots from a Twitter conversation I was a part of has netted 200+ notes the last I looked.

There have been a number of arguments, three of which compelled me. The first was “why aren’t there screenshots?” Here, you have them, in spades. The second two:

  • “It’s just a phone, why do you expect it do all this?”
    Siri can answer a lot of health related questions perfectly well, why shouldn’t we expect it to be able to answer reproductive health related queries too? Why treat reproductive health as a walled-off garden that the general public can’t or shouldn’t be exposed to? It’s not simply that in some places Siri has sent people to distant anti-choice fake clinics when they’ve asked where they can get abortions (and there are providers near to them) it’s also that in some locations (including mine) Siri refuses to disclose abortion clinic locations at all. Watch:

    Siri can't find an abortion clinic or even define the word.

    So even though there’s a clinic less than 3 miles from where I was sitting at the time, Siri couldn’t find one. Nor could Siri even define abortion. And note what’s missing: no offer to search the web. Usually when Siri can’t find an answer, there’s an offer to search the web for you, as I found when I asked about abortion counseling

    Siri offers to help me find abortion COUNSELING

    So Siri won’t help me find where to get an abortion or search the web for me about it, but will search the web for me to find someone who will talk to be about abortion. Huh. Odd.

    But what if I know the name of the clinic I’m looking for? What does Siri do then?

    Siri can't find Allegheny Reproductive

    This particular clinic’s name is unique, so much so that if you simply Google “Allegheny Reproductive” you find it, first result. (The website is alleghenyreproductive.com) But Siri is stumped. Not so with other businesses that you provide a full name for, such as:

    Siri knows hardware, not healthcare

    South Hills Hardware isn’t actually the name of the Hardware store, it’s South Hills True Value Home Center. But that didn’t stop Siri!

    But how about if we get a little more specific? City names, or even street names attached to the full and proper names of the other abortion providers in Pittsburgh?

    Siri still can't find Allegheny Reproductive



    Siri can't find Allegheny Women's Center



    Siri can't find American Women's Services either

    Well, maybe the problem is that Siri just doesn’t have a good index of locations in Pittsburgh? No, I don’t think so.

    Siri can't find an abortion clinic, but can find numerous purveyors of donuts.

    And as has been discussed elsewhere, it’s not just abortion. It’s birth control. You know, that stuff that 99% of American women will use in their lifetimes. (More common than gyros for certain.)

    No birth control clinics

    No birth control clinics to be found. Okay, two questions are raised: why is Siri’s response to the keywords “birth control” mapping to a search for birth control clinics to begin with? Second: why, again, is there no option to search the web? If you search the web, incidentally, for “birth control clinic Pittsburgh” guess what you get?

    Google knows Planned Parenthood has a birth control dispensing clinic, why can't Siri figure that out?

    And if you search, more meaningfully, on Google for your express need, it’s simple to see where you should go:

    Google helps when you need birth control

    Siri can’t help in a situation where you need emergency contraceptives, either, a situation that is very time sensitive and when a person might want the app that’s being used to sell their phone, branded as a convenience device that’s meant to save your time, energy and provide what you need at the speaking of a sentence, to be able to help. Here’s Siri’s take on EC:

    Siri says if you need EC go to the ER

    Now it might be reasonable to think that “emergency contraceptive” means “emergency room” because that’s where emergencies go. But it’s not helpful. EC is available over the counter to adults, at any pharmacy (that’s willing to stock/dispense it). You don’t need or want to go to an ER for it. So while the thinking is clear, it’s wrong. And what happens if you ask for EC by it’s more colloquial name?

    Siri is incredulous about a need for EC

    And what if you ask for EC by its brand names?

    Siri can't find Plan B

    Siri can’t recognize “Plan B.”

    Siri thinks Plan B One Step is a company stock

    And Siri believes that “Plan B One Step” is a company, and provides a stock report. I’m not sure what PLB.AX is but it can’t help me to not get pregnant.

    But maybe the issue is that Siri just doesn’t understand the names of medication or where one goes to get medication. That could be beyond Siri’s programming. That’s possible, right?

    Siri knows Viagra!

    Nope.

    Overall, Siri is really limited here. There is no legitimate reason that inquiring about a business by name and with the name of the street on which its located (to a device that can pinpoint your location within meters and can use it as a starting parameter for a search) should get a response of “can’t be found” with no option to search further. There’s really no reason why it should be handling birth control requests the way that it does, and no reason why the same keyword searches on these topics give results on Google (or any other general search engine) and nothing on Siri at all.

  • Another objection I saw was along the lines of “Why would you use Siri if you were raped or beaten by your husband?
    This is pretty obvious to me: maybe because if you’re hurt badly, all you might be able to do is hold down one button and say what happened to you. Nevertheless, if Siri can understand “I broke a tooth” and direct you to a dentist:
    Siri offering a listing of dentists
    Or knows what to do if you’re simply “hurt”:
    Siri knows that hurt means go to the hospital
    Then there’s no excuse for her to be a smartass about serious violence:

    Siri is incredulous that you've been a rape victim

    At least somewhere in the mix of rape-related inquiries and resultant snark, Siri did sneak in an offer to search the web for me.

    How nice, search the web as you mock.

    Note, however, that Siri does know what rape is, as demonstrated by this query and response:

    At least Siri knows that rape is a form of sexual abuse.

    Why the programming treats that inquiry that way (and can’t find PAAR which is 1.5 miles from where I sit) I do not know. This would be a great time to list those ERs, or perhaps even law enforcement, but apparently rape is just sexual abuse, never a medical or legal issue? I can’t begin to understand this thinking.

Is this the most terrible programming failure ever? No. Is this worth a boycott of Apple? I don’t think so. What it is, however, is a demonstration of a problem. Especially when certain topics seem to be behind a black wall where information that’s readily available online is not being “found” or presented. This is something that Apple and/or Wolfram Alpha need to address and rectify.

Here is Apple’s contact page (lower right is “Feedback”). Let them know about this problem so the iPhone 5 is better about all of this. 

Sorry to spam everyone’s dash with this, but I thought it would be interesting to shows a visualization of the failures.

Sorry but I’m not sorry.

Nov. 29th, 2011 - 6 months ago - Reblog - 4179 Notes

subtlecluster:

prolongedeyecontact:

Inconvenience? You hear that people capable of getting pregnant? This is all merely an inconvenience:

Normal, frequent or expectable temporary side effects of pregnancy:

  • exhaustion (weariness common from first weeks)
  • altered appetite and senses of taste and smell
  • nausea and vomiting (50% of women, first trimester)
  • heartburn and indigestion
  • constipation
  • weight gain
  • dizziness and light-headedness
  • bloating, swelling, fluid retention
  • hemmorhoids
  • abdominal cramps
  • yeast infections
  • congested, bloody nose
  • acne and mild skin disorders
  • skin discoloration (chloasma, face and abdomen)
  • mild to severe backache and strain
  • increased headaches
  • difficulty sleeping, and discomfort while sleeping
  • increased urination and incontinence
  • bleeding gums
  • pica
  • breast pain and discharge
  • swelling of joints, leg cramps, joint pain
  • difficulty sitting, standing in later pregnancy
  • inability to take regular medications
  • shortness of breath
  • higher blood pressure
  • hair loss
  • tendency to anemia
  • curtailment of ability to participate in some sports and activities
  • infection including from serious and potentially fatal disease
    (pregnant women are immune suppressed compared with non-pregnant women, and
    are more susceptible to fungal and certain other diseases)
  • extreme pain on delivery
  • hormonal mood changes, including normal post-partum depression
  • continued post-partum exhaustion and recovery period (exacerbated if a c-section — major surgery — is required, sometimes taking up to a full year to fully recover)

Normal, expectable, or frequent PERMANENT side effects of pregnancy:

  • stretch marks (worse in younger women)
  • loose skin
  • permanent weight gain or redistribution
  • abdominal and vaginal muscle weakness
  • pelvic floor disorder (occurring in as many as 35% of middle-aged former child-bearers and 50% of elderly former child-bearers, associated with urinary and rectal incontinence, discomfort and reduced quality of life)
  • changes to breasts
  • varicose veins
  • scarring from episiotomy or c-section
  • other permanent aesthetic changes to the body (all of these are downplayed by women, because the culture values youth and beauty)
  • increased proclivity for hemmorhoids
  • loss of dental and bone calcium (cavities and osteoporosis)

Occasional complications and side effects:

  • spousal/partner abuse
  • hyperemesis gravidarum
  • temporary and permanent injury to back
  • severe scarring requiring later surgery (especially after additional pregnancies)
  • dropped (prolapsed) uterus (especially after additional pregnancies, and other pelvic floor weaknesses — 11% of women, including cystocele, rectocele, and enterocele)
  • pre-eclampsia (edema and hypertension, the most common complication of pregnancy, associated with eclampsia, and affecting 7 - 10% of pregnancies)
  • eclampsia (convulsions, coma during pregnancy or labor, high risk of death)
  • gestational diabetes
  • placenta previa
  • anemia (which can be life-threatening)
  • thrombocytopenic purpura
  • severe cramping
  • embolism (blood clots)
  • medical disability requiring full bed rest (frequently ordered during part of many pregnancies varying from days to months for health of either mother or baby)
  • diastasis recti, also torn abdominal muscles
  • mitral valve stenosis (most common cardiac complication)
  • serious infection and disease (e.g. increased risk of tuberculosis)
  • hormonal imbalance
  • ectopic pregnancy (risk of death)
  • broken bones (ribcage, “tail bone”)
  • hemorrhage and
  • numerous other complications of delivery
  • refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease
  • aggravation of pre-pregnancy diseases and conditions (e.g. epilepsy is present in .5% of pregnant women, and the pregnancy alters drug metabolism and treatment prospects all the while it increases the number and frequency of seizures)
  • severe post-partum depression and psychosis
  • research now indicates a possible link between ovarian cancer and female fertility treatments, including “egg harvesting” from infertile women and donors
  • research also now indicates correlations between lower breast cancer survival rates and proximity in time to onset of cancer of last pregnancy
  • research also indicates a correlation between having six or more pregnancies and a risk of coronary and cardiovascular disease

Less common (but serious) complications:

  • peripartum cardiomyopathy
  • cardiopulmonary arrest
  • magnesium toxicity
  • severe hypoxemia/acidosis
  • massive embolism
  • increased intracranial pressure, brainstem infarction
  • molar pregnancy, gestational trophoblastic disease (like a pregnancy-induced cancer)
  • malignant arrhythmia
  • circulatory collapse
  • placental abruption
  • obstetric fistula

More permanent side effects:

  • future infertility
  • permanent disability
  • death.

In addition, there’s the risk of losing one’s job and, by extension, home; pregnancy/childbirth triggering traumatic experiences due to rape, molestation, or partner/spousal abuse; body or gender dysphoria; missing or dropping out of school; the potential trauma of choosing adoption; suffering from pregnancy related job discrimination; the economic toll of pregnancy and raising a child; and not being able to continue taking important medications or exacerbating pre-existing conditions.

Here’s some statistics:

Tl;dr So in case that wasn’t clear: pregnancy is always life threatening and never merely an “inconvenience”.

[ETA: I wish beyond all belief this edit wasn’t necessary, but I guess it is. This post isn’t meant to vilify pregnancy or the people who choose it. As I’ve said in a reply and an ask, pregnancy is always a valid reproductive choice for those who choose it. As a prochoicer, I support all reproductive choices including birthing ones like advocating for the choice to have VBACs, home births, and the right to say no to unwanted c-sections. I will fight as hard for those rights as I do for the right to an abortion. I don’t think birth is bad for those that want to do it, but some of us would literally rather die. This isn’t meant as a scare tactic against fellow people who can get pregnant. This is about the flippant manner in which cis men like to dismiss people’s concerns that pregnancy is more than an “inconvenience.” The last time I checked people don’t regularly die from inconveniences. For more see: this reply and this ask, which I also made rebloggable on request.]

Being preggers ain’t fancypants shit.

(via ladyatheist)

ladyatheist:

Abortion IS NOT murder.

Abortion (Noun)

  1. The deliberate termination of a human pregnancy.
  2. The expulsion of a fetus from the uterus by natural causes before it is able to survive independently.
  3. The arrest of the development of an organ, typically a seed or fruit.
  4. An object…

(via riotgrrrljacksonville)

Sep. 30th, 2011 - 8 months ago - Reblog - 13 Notes

fracturedrefuge:

Note: This was written in reaction to the “Mommy, I am your baby” post that is currently circulating around Tumblr. Thought it was about time we hear from the person who is actually self-aware and not just the clump of cells residing inside of them.

Hi, Fetus,

My name is Bria and I am the person whose uterus you are currently residing in. I am 28 years old and I actually have beautiful brown eyes and brown hair. Like, right now. Not “will” in nine months or so, but have it currently. I already have one child. His name is Ryatt and he has my beautiful brown eyes and brown hair. He is three years old and loves Thomas the Tank Engine. You? You don’t love anything, because right now, you are really just a clump of cells that has no cognitive development. You can’t love anything. Not me, not Thomas the Tank Engine, not flowers and birdies and sunshine. You get all your sustenance from me and cannot live on your own outside of my uterus.

But enough about you, let’s talk about me. Like I already said, I am 28 years old. This puts me in the majority age range for people who get abortions. (People in their 20s account for more than half of all abortions; people aged 20–24 obtain 33% of all abortions, and people aged 25–29 obtain 24%.) Like I said, I already have one child to care for (like 61% of people who obtain an abortion) and I currently have no place of my own and am living with my mentally and emotionally abusive mother. I have no job and don’t even qualify for social services because I have not lived in the state I am currently residing in for over 3 months. This is also pretty common among people who obtain abortions - 42% have incomes below 100% of the federal poverty level and 27% have incomes between 100–199% of the federal poverty level. I am looking for a job, but the economy is tough and there is not a lot out there. It’s even tougher for me because I was forced to drop out of college due to mental health issues that I am still dealing with today. So I have no college degree, which qualifies me only for menial jobs in retail or food service. Because these jobs pay so very little, I would never be there to raise you and would have to rely on others. This would probably be a complete stranger at a second-rate daycare center, as I am unwilling to leave you with my mother, have no other family and I can’t really afford to put you in a fancy, bells-and-whistles daycare.

These are all actually pretty common reasons why people obtain abortions. Three-fourths of people cite concern for or responsibility to other individuals; three-fourths say they cannot afford a child; three-fourths say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or the ability to care for dependents; and half say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner.

Because I know when I am supposed to get my period, I knew I was pregnant almost right away. Turns out, this is pretty common, too, as over 61% of abortions are performed at less than 9 weeks from a person’s last menstrual period (which would be about 7 weeks from conception). At this point, you really have no thoughts or feelings because, remember when I said you were a clump of cells? I meant it. Those are pictures of what an abortion looks like when done between 5 and 6 weeks. Pretty stark contrast from the gory images that are normally shoved down your throat, huh, fetus?

And, fetus, while I may be a little sad after you are gone, a lot of really smart people have done a lot of really intensive studies and they have concluded that “post abortion syndrome” as a wide-spead occurrence is myth. Also, some more really smart people have assured me that abortion is pretty much one of the safest medical procedures I can undergo in the United States today and, that when performed in the first trimester, it poses little to no long-term risk to future pregnancies, should I ever decide to become pregnant again.

Fetus, as you can see, this is really the best decision for me and for the beautiful little boy who is sleeping with his arms curled around me. I want to go to school to become a sign language interpreter so I can hopefully get a place of my own and not have to rely on other people for my food and shelter. I want to provide a good, healthy, stable life for the child I already have and for any children I may have in the future. And I have thought about it a lot (because abortion is not something anyone enters into lightly) and I could not do that while caring for another child. I would apologize, but there is really nothing to apologize for. I am doing what I know in my heart is the absolute best thing for me and my son. You will not feel any pain, as you are not able to do that until about 24 weeks old, and you don’t even know you exist, so I doubt that you know that you are now gone.

Every abortion is just…

One more person exercising their right to bodily autonomy and self-determination based on what they feel is the best choice for them.

REBLOG IF YOU ARE PRO-CHOICE.

(All statistics, unless otherwise linked, have been provided by the Guttmacher Institute.)

(via repostsandmusingsandbears-deact)

Sep. 27th, 2011 - 8 months ago - Reblog - 1225 Notes

"

You cannot be a feminist and oppose a woman’s right to choose.

You can be a feminist and be uncomfortable with the notion of abortion. You can be a feminist and communicate that discomfort to third parties. You can be a feminist and choose never to have an abortion yourself. You can be a feminist and support greater rights and opportunities for young mothers everywhere so that fewer women will have to choose between pregnancy and their career. You can do all of these things and be a feminist. What you cannot do is stand in the way of any other woman’s moral and political right to reproductive self-determination.

There is a world of difference between being against abortion on a personal basis and supporting, or leading, movements to make the practice illegal. There are no good arguments for making abortion illegal, a policy which, where it has been tested in other nations, has been shown to lead directly to hundreds of thousands of adult women dying in horrific pain along with their unborn children following illegal backstreet terminations. Distasteful as you may or may not find it, women will always seek to terminate unwanted pregnancies. The very least we can do in civilised societies is make it safer for them to do so, along with facilitating access to contraception in order to reduce the number of terminations that need to take place…

"

Penny Red: Palin and the gender agenda. (via jerseyjezebel)

(via raspberryflavored)

Sep. 14th, 2011 - 8 months ago - Reblog - 839 Notes

powerpussysays:

[Image description: purple and black alternating diamond pattern in background. At the center is a pissed-off grey and white cat. Top text: “anti-choicers” Bottom text: “boldly going where every ignorant policy-maker’s gone before”]

"Like millions of Americans, I believe that innocent life deserves protection and I am deeply offended by abortion. It is unconscionable to me that fellow Pro-Life Americans are forced to fund abortion through their tax dollars. As a Congressman, I’ve never voted for any budget that includes funding for Planned Parenthood. Instead, I’ve introduced the Taxpayers’ Freedom of Conscience Act to cut off all taxpayer funding of abortions, so-called “family planning” services and international abortionists."

Ron Paul, commenting on his promise to ban all federal funding of Planned Parenthood if he is elected President.

What Paul failed to mention is that Congress already prohibits Planned Parenthood from using federal funding to provide abortions, except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother. Rep. Paul’s bill would strip Planned Parenthood of all federal funding in an effort to prevent taxpayers from paying for a service which they already don’t pay for.

(via manicchill)

Cool! I would like to invoke the Taxpayers’ Freedom of Conscience Act to cut off all taxpayer funding of killing brown people for oil. And ignorance-only education. And Mike Pence’s salary. kthx

(via tehsunshine)

Reblogging for the next time some libertarian doofus asks me why I don’t like Ron Paul.

(via stfuconservatives)

(Source: manicchill, via stfuconservatives)

Sep. 09th, 2011 - 8 months ago - Reblog - 469 Notes

kaitlynthevegan:

onmostsurfaces:

fowltalker:

Today a girl said abortion was fine and wasn’t a big deal … When I asked her how she would feel if a puppy was beaten she said that person Should be charged with abuse because its not right to beat dogs .. When I asked her how she felt about murder she said it was wrong … When I asked her the difference between murder and abortion she couldn’t answer

It’s sad we worry more about dogs than than the unborn .. A fetus is a live human being … It’s a life and when a life is taken it’s murder.

Reblog and give an unborn a voice

A puppy is born, autonomous, conscious and sentient. Of course torturing animals is worse than abortion, since they can feel while a fetus can’t. Of course murdering a born person is worse than abortion, since once again you’re harming a born,sentient and autonomous being. Can’t you seriously make the difference between an embryo and a human?

If you had the choice between stopping a woman from getting an abortion or stopping someone from going on a shooting spree, would you even hesitate? 

If you were in a clinic in flames and had the choice between saving a 2 year old kid or a dozen of frozen embryos, would you even hesitate?

It’s in no way hypocritical to be pro-choice and for animal’s rights. It would be if we were all for protecting animal fetuses, for instance. But even then it doesn’t really work as a comparison since animals can’t choose to abort and humans would be making that decision for them, unlike humans who can fully make decisions about their own lives and bodies.

A fetus is a life just like bacteria and plants are alive. A 3 day old embryo contains 150 cells while a fly’s brain contains 100,000.

I don’t even get why anti-choicers keep deluding themselves that their position is about anything else than religion, misogyny, ignorance and control of others.

^ This. Thank you.

(via hannahlachnit)

fuckyeahchoice:

A romantic comedy about an unplanned pregnancy, an abortion, and a great first date in an unlikely location.

This is Obvious Child. Someone recommended this to me last night, and it is very cute. 

Very cute.

(Source: vimeo.com)

Jul. 23rd, 2011 - 10 months ago - Reblog - 93 Notes

livingthegradlife:

Family Guy, “Partial Terms of Endearment” (a.k.a. the banned abortion episode) — Peter watches a pro-life video featuring Ziggy the Zygote.

(via riotgrrrljacksonville)

Jul. 22nd, 2011 - 10 months ago - Reblog - 5 Notes