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League of Legends' first pro female player weighs her options
"I just want it to be known that I accomplished my goal for real, and I accomplished it for me, my teammates, and girls in eSports. That's it. No one else. Don't fucking put me on some LGBT agenda or some bullshit." That's part of the statement that Maria Creveling, known as "Remilia" on the gaming stage, posted to Reddit this morning, following her team's explosive victory in the North American League of Legends Challenger Series last night. The win bumped her team, Renegades, into the League of Legends Championship Series, meaning all of its players are now officially pro -- and making Remilia the first professional female player in League of Legends Championship Series history. However, she may choose to leave the LCS without ever playing a pro game.
Microsoft and Netflix help diversity by offering more parental leave
There are a few ways to increase the number of women working at tech companies. Intel is offering referral bonuses, for example, while other firms are trying more inclusive hiring policies. However, many companies don't do much to accommodate parenthood -- how are you supposed to feel welcome when you might have to take unpaid time off (or worse, quit) just to raise your newborn child? Microsoft and Netflix are clearly aware of that problem, though, as they're boosting the level of paid parental leave offered to both mothers and fathers.
EA puts women on the cover of 'FIFA 16' for the first time
Back in May, EA announced that FIFA 16 would feature 12 national women's soccer teams, making it the first major sports franchise to focus on women's sports. Today marks another milestone: FIFA 16 is now also the company's first major sports title to feature a female athlete on its cover. Three of them, actually -- depending on where you live.
'Deus Ex: Mankind Divided' has something new: female combatants
Among the upgraded abilities, new weapons and winding metal passageways in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, there's one important, yet subtle, change to the series: women in combat roles. There were of course women in the previous game, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, but they were largely removed from battles, producer Olivier Proulx tells Engadget at E3. "They had some social functions in the game world, but actually going into stealth and playing against them in combat, you didn't see that," he says. "It was just guys all the way through."
Tim Cook says diversity is the future of Apple
Tim Cook has pledged that Apple's future won't be as white and male as it has been in the company's past. The CEO sat down with Mashable in advance of the WWDC keynote to say that diversity is the "future of our company." It's not just hand-wringing that has prompted his attitude, since he believes that "the most diverse group will produce the best product." The executive has added that the tech community needs to work a lot harder to show women that the industry is "cool" and "how much fun it can be."
'FIFA 16' will feature women soccer players for the first time
If you're entitled to play a sport in real life, then it's only fair that you can do so from the comfort of your couch. That's why it's good to see EA Sports announce that FIFA 16 will feature women's soccer teams for the first time. Now, users will be able to play as one of 12 international teams that include the USA, England, Brazil and France. It's a big step, too, since while you can get a licensed WNBA title from 2K Games, this is the first time EA has included a women's roster in one of its team-based games. In fact, the only woman we remember appearing in one of these games up to this point is Ronda Rousey in the UFC spin-off title.
'Minecraft' finally has a free girl character
Lots of girls play Minecraft, but you wouldn't know it from the default character options. Unless you've been willing to pay up or install a mod, your only real choice so far has been Steve, the game's male mascot. At last, though, things are opening up -- Mojang is giving builders the choice of a free girl character, Alex. She's been around before as a randomly assigned character in the computer version, but the move will help female players on all platforms sculpt their dream worlds using a character they can identify with. PlayStation and Xbox gamers will get Alex as of April 29th, while mobile users playing the Pocket Edition should see her this summer.
Security conference effectively bans booth babes from its show floor
The issue of booth babes -- scantily clad people attempting to lure unsuspecting buyers towards second-rate products -- has once again reared its head within the industry. This time out, cryptography and information security gathering RSA has effectively banned them, mandating that all attendees will wear clothing that's appropriate for a professional environment. According to a statement released to TechTarget, people will be unable to display "excessive cleavage," and won't be able to wear tank tops, tube tops, miniskirts or minidresses. RSA go on to say that any scantily dressed people found on the show floor would be asked to put on a sweater or leave.
'Cards Against Humanity' expansion benefits women's STEM scholarship
Cards Against Humanity, the naughty fill-in-the-blank card game, today launched the $10 Science Pack, an expansion offering 30 cards written in collaboration with Bad Astronomer Phil Plait and Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal creator Zach Weinersmith. But that's not the coolest part: All proceeds raised by the Science Pack will be funneled into the Cards Against Humanity and SMBC Science Ambassador Scholarship, which offers full tuition coverage to women seeking undergraduate degrees in science, tech, engineering and mathematics. Applications will go live soon for the fall 2016 school year, and each one will be reviewed by a panel of more than 40 women working in STEM fields, including at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Harvard Medical School and the Smithsonian Institution.
Uber wants 1 million women as drivers by 2020
To put it mildly, Uber's reputation for supporting women is less than stellar -- it's not hard to find women who refuse to be passengers, let alone drivers. However, the ridesharing service just took a significant step toward gender equality: as part of a collaboration with the United Nations, it's vowing to create 1 million jobs for women as Uber drivers by 2020. Just how it'll accomplish this isn't mentioned, but the hope is that the initiative will give women economic power they won't otherwise have. Uber is promising updates on its progress, so you'll likely know how well it's doing well before those five years are up.
Smart Kegel exerciser can hurt women as much as it helps
If men can have a fitness device for their nether regions, women certainly can, too. Minna Life has released the kGoal, a $149 "smart Kegel exerciser" that helps you work your pelvic floor muscles (read: the vaginal area) in order to both improve your sexual performance and fight disorders like incontinence. It provides real-time feedback through sound, touch and visuals, and you'll know you're on the right track through a companion smartphone app that gauges your progress. If all goes well, kGoal should take the mystery out of Kegels -- you'll build strong muscles by developing a proper technique and setting achievable goals.
Bellabeat Leaf activity and health tracker can also monitor reproductive cycle
There was a time when "gadgets for women" were silly novelty items or pink-colored, Swarovski-covered versions of existing devices. Well, OK, those still exist, but at least there are now decent gadgets for women with features we actually need, like Bellabeat's Leaf. The Leaf isn't even available yet, but the huge pre-order sales (where Bellabeat earned $1.2 million in revenue) prompted the startup to add a new feature: the capability to track your reproductive health. Leaf will be able to monitor and notify you about your ovulation, contraceptive intake and incoming period, making it a valuable tool for those who want to conceive (and those who don't). A lot of existing apps out there can already do those, of course, but if you're already thinking of getting this device, that's a nice plus.
Intel pledges to hire more women and minorities
It's not all chips and wearable sensors at Intel's CES press conference. CEO Brian Krzanich just announced a far-reaching diversity initiative, promising to hire, promote and retain more women and underrepresented minorities. In particular, he said the company intends to invest $300 million in diversity initiatives, with the goal of reaching "full representation" at all levels of the company by 2020. It remains unclear how exactly Intel will determine what the appropriate ratio is, or what number of employees in a specific demographic might indicate success. Intel simply said in a statement that it "full representation" means "representative of the talent available in America."
Recommended Reading: a brief history of female superheroes
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. Suffering Sappho! The Tortured History of Female Superheroes by Molly Lambert, Grantland With the truckload of recent comic book movie announcements, female superheroes are poised to make a big splash at the box office in the years to come -- including Gal Gadot (above) as Wonder Woman. However, previous female-led efforts in the genre haven't done well, and the biggest films continue to have dudes as the lead actors. Grantland takes a look at the troubled history of female superheroes as both Marvel and DC Comics prep to give the ladies another shot at Hollywood glory.
There's a new way to report harassment against women on Twitter
While the power of anonymity the internet provides guarantees that everyone can be a target of harassment, women seem to be attacked more on social media. Those attacks have escalated these past months on Twitter, in particular, that's why non-profit org Women, Action and the Media (WAM) has joined forces with the microblogging site to address the issue. Now, anyone who's experiencing gendered harassment can use WAM's new Twitter Harassment Reporting tool to submit a detailed complaint. Through the tool, a complainant can make sure the website knows exactly what kind of abuse she's experiencing, such as impersonation, racism, sexism, (homophobic/transphobic) hate speech, doxxing, rape/death threats, and revenge porn among other things. And yes, all these happen in real life -- just look at these vitriolic tweets Buzzfeed compiled for starters.
Report: Men play more MMOs, FPSes; women rule mobile, RPG
Men and women enjoy video games, but some genres tend to attract one gender over the other, SuperData Research finds in a 2014 US study provided to Joystiq. Women compose 57.8 percent of the mobile market, 53.6 percent of the RPG market and 50.2 percent of the PC market (including social games), the report says. The study finds that men make up 66 percent of MMO players, 66 percent of FPS players and 63 percent of digital console players. The data was collected in several separate studies in 2014, each with a minimum sample size of 1,000 respondents. SuperData defines its terminology and methodology here. This study comes on the heels of SuperData Research's 2014 MMO market report, which placed League of Legends as the No. 1 game in the company's MMO category, which included MOBAs, MMOFPS games, MMORPGs, online racing games, online sports games, online sci-fi games, virtual card games, social sims and virtual worlds. In that study, SuperData found that among US players 18 and older, 22 percent of players were between the ages 26 and 30, and 20 percent were between the ages 21 and 25. The average player salary was $55,000, and the overall gender breakdown was 60 percent male, 40 percent female.
NPR: '80s ads are responsible for the lack of women coders
Back in the day, computer science was as legitimate a career path for women as in medicine, law or science. But in 1984, the number of females majoring in computing-related subjects began to fall, and is now as low as 20 percent compared to those other three. It's a surprising trend that NPR's Planet Money has uncovered, and the show's latest episode seeks to answer a simple question: Why? According to the show's experts, computers were advertised as a "boy's toy," and combined with early '80s geek culture staples like the novel Hackers, as well as movies like WarGames and Weird Science, the knock-on effect was to exclude women. It wasn't long before those female computer science majors decided to switch programs to ones where they weren't made to feel inferior, and while there are now signs of recovery, you have to wonder if those same decisions aren't the cause of the current toxic environment for women in technology. If you'd like to hear the show, we've got it embedded after the break. [Image Credit: Quoctrung Bui/NPR]
What happened to all of the women coders in 1984
In 1984, women stopped pursuing Computer Science majors at American universities. From 1970 onward, women had composed an increasing percentage of Computer Science majors, but something happened in 1984 and that number began to drastically fall, an occurrence at odds with other tech fields. This trend has continued into the 2000s, and today women make up roughly 20 percent of Computer Science majors, as opposed to the 1984 high of about 37 percent. NPR's Planet Money team of Caitlin Kenney and Steve Henn dove into the data to uncover what went down in the mid-80s to drive women out of the field. "There was no grand conspiracy in computer science that we uncovered," Henn said. "No big decision by computer science programs to put a quota on women. There was no sign on a door that said, 'Girls, keep out.' But something strange was going on in this field."
Apple and Facebook will cover the cost of freezing employees' eggs
Apparently, Facebook has been offering to cover the costs of egg freezing for female employees since January 1st this year, and you know who's following in its footsteps? Apple. The iPhone-maker plans to offer the same service to its employees starting in January 2015. According to NBCNews, these two might just be the first employers willing to pay for the entire cost of egg freezing for non-medical reasons, which means everyone qualifies for the benefit, not just cancer patients for whom the procedure was originally intended. Most likely, employers hope to encourage female staff members to stay with them even during the last few years most women can conceive (late 30's to early 40's), as those are also the years one typically takes on senior positions. They're probably also betting on the move to save them recruiting and hiring costs in the long run, while keeping top talent around and promoting gender diversity at the same time.
Omate's Lutetia is a smartwatch that women may actually like
Samsung, Pebble, LG and others may have already released a good handful of smartwatches, but most are too bulky or masculine, and we've yet to come across one that's dedicated to the ladies. That's about to change thanks to Omate, whose team of women led the designing and engineering efforts on the upcoming Lutetia. Most notably, we're looking at a near-circular, always-on transflective LCD that's similar to the one featured on the Alcatel Wave, and it's covered with a curved, sapphire-coated glass piece. The body -- available in silver, rose gold and gold -- comes in shiny stainless steel with matching beaded wristband for a premium feminine look.