From Salon

This three-way e-mail conversation about technology, the changes it's working on our lives and how those changes affect women in particular was held at the request of a national magazine. Later, the magazine decided the discussion would "go over the heads" of its readers. Perhaps its editors were also confused when so little of the conversation amounted to what we dubbed "whining at the gates" -- that is, the familiar complaint that women have been excluded from the world of high technology. To us, the debate about the role of computers in our lives has moved on from those early days.

Instead, we felt at home enough to question the more fundamental ways high technology is reshaping our world. If more and more women are practicing "multi-tasking" as a way of life, is that liberating or maddening? Do computers concentrate or decentralize authority? Does the World Wide Web give users more power or less? Can machines ever be considered "intelligent"? Our conversation might indeed go over the heads of the shrinking ranks of the resolutely unwired -- but for everyone else, we think it goes right to the heart of the matter.

From New York Times

If people want to choose their baby's sex before pregnancy, should doctors help?

Some parents would love the chance to decide, while others wouldn't dream of meddling with nature. The medical world is also divided. Professional groups say sex selection is allowable in certain situations, but differ as to which ones. Meanwhile, it's not illegal, and some doctors are already cashing in on the demand.

From Alternet

A record number of female candidates are poised to change the face of Congress. And technology is a big part of the reason why.

The new millennium has ushered in a "Connected Age" powered by social media -- digital tools such as Web sites, cell phones, chat rooms, personal digital assistants, iPods, and other gadgets and gizmos that are inexpensive and easy-to-use. Unlike last century's Information Age, power in the Connected Age comes from letting information go, intentionally pushing power to the edges through social networks, and freeing supporters and peers to work side-by-side to develop strategies and organize locally without top-down, command-and-control structures.

From Gothamist

The pseudonymous Lux Nightmare burst onto the alt porn scene as a college student at Columbia where she launched the naked-guy-and-girl site That Strange Girl, featuring stills and video of herself and numerous other models who looked like they could be her fellow classmates. At a time when Suicide Girls and Burning Angel were coming to prominence, That Strange Girl (who, full disclosure, this interviewer posed for) was a homegrown, indie entry in the genre. Cut to the present, where Nightmare has since folded her XXX business and is a member of Gotham Girls Roller Derby, teaches sex ed to teenagers in East Harlem, and runs the smarty-pants sex site Sexerati, where she conducts interviews, explores Dating 2.0, and explains terms like "the pink ghetto." (Warning: many of the links in this interview are NSFW.) Currently, the "non porn star" is working on a book proposal about her time in the alt porn trenches.

From Gaywired

Reproductive technology has evolved to the point that it can now cleanse sperm of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) but current law prevents would-be parents, in cases where the father is HIV positive, of taking advantage of these advances. In an attempt to lower the likelihood of HIV transmission during conception, State Senator Carol Migden has introduced SB 443 to allow couples to receive assisted reproduction under certain guidelines.

From Findlaw

Social networking sites, online dating services, and even matchmaking sites have been around for some time now, but recently, they've become more and more popular. Accordingly, states are growing increasingly wary about the risks of Internet dating - and are proposing laws to protect users from criminals or predators who may harm them.

From The Guardian

When do abusive blog comments become dangerous? Blogger Kathy Sierra, a consultant on design and programming, cancelled her appearance at the ETech conference in San Diego yesterday after receiving death threats on her blog.

From CBS Broadcasting

Many women who are waiting to have children are opting to put their dreams -- and their eggs -- on ice.

Freezing technology has been used to preserve sperm and embryos for decades, but some experts say freezing unfertilized eggs -- in a process called oocyte cryopreservation -- is a more delicate matter because eggs are filled with water.