Sen. Richard Blumenthal also weighs in on employer requests for Facebook passwords:

The Facebook password flap continued Friday as U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., pledged to slam the social network door shut on snooping employers.

[…]

Blumenthal on Friday morning appeared on WCBS 880 radio to say he would be pursuing legislation banning such activity, which is spreading across the country.

Yeah, this definitely won’t last much longer.

In a follow-up to the story that some employers are requesting passwords from applicants, Facebook weighs in:

As a user, you shouldn’t be forced to share your private information and communications just to get a job. And as the friend of a user, you shouldn’t have to worry that your private information or communications will be revealed to someone you don’t know and didn’t intend to share with just because that user is looking for a job. That’s why we’ve made it a violation of Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities to share or solicit a Facebook password.

Facebook also goes on to highlight how these employers aren’t considering the full implications of such practices. I can’t see this lasting much longer.

Charles Arthur presents a timely story that relates to yesterday’s linked post about subtle sexism in technology. His story documents how two male leaders respond to being called out. (spoiler: like children).

Hugo Miller, Bloomberg:

Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) has been ousted from the top spot for smartphone shipments in its home market for the first time, trailing Apple (AAPL) Inc.’s iPhone.

RIM, based in Waterloo, Ontario, shipped 2.08 million BlackBerrys last year in Canada, compared with 2.85 million units for Apple, data compiled by IDC and Bloomberg show. In 2010, the BlackBerry topped the iPhone by half a million, and in 2008, the year after the iPhone’s debut, RIM outsold Apple by almost five to one.

What a difference 4 years can make.

Katie Cunningham, Python/Django developer for Cox Media Group, on subtle sexism in the field of programming:

This industry is one of subtle sexism. I almost prefer outright sexism, because at least that you can point out. The subtle barbs are usually dismissed as something I need to not care about. It was a joke! Sheesh. Why are you so sensitive?! All I did was make a joke about you needing to be in the kitchen!

Lighten up.

Summary: Men, think twice about what you say. Your comments and the topics they address may seem small, but they are often part of a larger dialogue that women face.

I love hoodies. They are extremely warm and comfortable. In fact, I am wearing one today. It’s overcast outside, with a high temperature in the mid-50s - perfect hoodie weather.

Will you indulge me in a simple thought exercise? Imagine that the young man in the above photo - the one wearing the hoodie - left from his father’s girlfriend’s house during halftime of the NBA All-Star game. He walked from that house, located in a gated community, to a local 7-11 convenience store. There he purchased an iced tea and a bag of Skittles.

On his return home, he talked with his girlfriend on a cell phone. He noticed that a guy was following him and told his girlfriend. The guy confronted the young man. The young man asked the guy why he was following him. The girlfriend implored him to run. Some sort of scuffle ensued. The girlfriend heard the phone disconnect. Recorded phone calls to 911 seemed to capture the young man pleading for help, followed by a gunshot. The young man, the one in the photo above, was dead.

The shooter claimed he was merely acting in self-defense. The police believed the story and made no arrest. There is no in-depth investigation. This, despite the fact that he pursued the young man against a 911 operator’s instructions - he confronted the young man - he was armed with a 9mm handgun while the young man was armed with iced tea and Skittles. The young victim was simply laid in the morgue for three days, his family unaware of what happened.

Imagine now, that it is almost one month later. No arrests have been made, the shooter retains his gun while the family still hasn’t been given their child’s cell phone, and local police show no indication that they care. Justice is unserved and parents are left to grieve. Do you feel sad for the victim - the young man in the hoodie?

Let me ask you a question. Is that a caucasian in the photo above, or is it an African-American? Does it matter? Would it change your perception of the story? Would your internal gauge of personal safety be swayed if you knew? Would your sadness be affected? Apparently if you live in Sanford, Florida, answers to the above questions are “yes”.

That is me in the above photo, wearing my new hoodie. I am white. I have never been confronted as suspicious while wearing it. I get to enjoy it in complete freedom. Sadly, many do not.

I learned this week that 17-year-old Trayvon Martin shared my affinity for hoodies. He was an African-American. Unfortunately, he will no longer enjoy hoodies on a cool day. He was shot and killed.

Teachers referred to Trayvon as a bright student with college aspirations. His parents referred to him as a hero because he saved their lives in a fire in 2004. The man who shot Trayvon, allegedly referred to him as a “fucking coon”.

As I turn 28 years old today, I recognize that young Trayvon was robbed of the time that I have enjoyed beyond age 17 years and 22 days. In those 3,997 days, I have worn my comfy hoodie, bought plenty of soda and candy, and married my school sweetheart.

This story illustrates that our country still has a serious race issue. While we are busy patting ourselves on the back for the civil rights movement, minorities have been denied entrance at pools, confronted with nooses, dragged behind vehicles, and murdered for being a black wearing a hoodie.

Every time you wear a hoodie, I hope you will think of Trayvon Martin and the larger picture his story represents.

If you have an iOS device, grab Robin Sloan’s new app - Fish: a tap essay. Sloan looks at the difference between liking something on the internet and loving something on the internet. Take 15 minutes and read it.

Dave Copeland, ReadWriteWeb:

Perhaps the first thing you need to know is that after Friday, Facebook will no longer be calling it a privacy policy. The name is being changed to “Data Use Policy.”

And most importantly, if you “use or access” Facebook on or after Friday, you are agreeing to that name change, as well as all of the changes Facebook is making to its policy.

The full list of changes are found here. You have until Friday to comment on the changes.

Robert McMillan, Wired.com, interviews Linux creator Linus Torvalds. One interesting part concerns the first time Torvalds met Steve Jobs:

Jobs invited him to Apple’s Cupertino campus and tried to hire him. “Unix for the biggest user base: that was the pitch,” says Torvalds. The condition: He’d have to drop Linux development. “He wanted me to work at Apple doing non-Linux things,” he said. That was a non-starter for Torvalds. Besides, he hated Mac OS’s Mach kernel.

“I said no,” Torvalds remembers.

Makes you wonder how different things would be had he said yes.

Manuel Valdes and Shannon McFarland, Associated Press:

When Justin Bassett interviewed for a new job, he expected the usual questions about experience and references. So he was astonished when the interviewer asked for something else: his Facebook username and password.

Once again privacy lines are blurred because the desired information is online. What would you say if a prospective employer asked for your house keys to make sure you weren’t doing anything questionable? What about if they asked to look though your personal mail?

Asking for Facebook passwords is just as ludicrous. If an interviewer wants access to your personal and private accounts, politely tell them the password is “kiss my ass”.