[Chefelf]

'Master' and 'slave' computer labels unacceptable, officials say
Wednesday, November 26, 2003 Posted: 2024 GMT ( 4:24 AM HKT)

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Los Angeles officials have asked that manufacturers, suppliers and contractors stop using the terms "master" and "slave" on computer equipment, saying such terms are unacceptable and offensive.

The request -- which has some suppliers furious and others busy re-labeling components -- came after an unidentified worker spotted a videotape machine carrying devices labeled "master" and "slave" and filed a discrimination complaint with the county's Office of Affirmative Action Compliance.

In the computer industry, "master" and "slave" are used to refer to primary and secondary hard disk drives. The terms are also used in other industries.

"Based on the cultural diversity and sensitivity of Los Angeles County, this is not an acceptable identification label," Joe Sandoval, division manager of purchasing and contract services, said in a memo sent to County vendors.

http://edition.cnn.c...ster.term.reut/

My proposed names for the new configurations:

1.) Kind Boss Who Observes Proper Human Rights Conditions And Ensures Employee Safety

2.) Loyal Employee That Enjoys Working For His Kind Boss But Is Sleeping With His Boss's Wife Anyway

Thanks to Jordan for this one!

[looktothesky]

Oh boo hoo, the world is unfair. And again I say, "They're just figuring this out now"? Who hates whiners? I do! I do!

[Despondent]

I remember seeing those tshirts in the 1970s. and (related) how a 9th grade boy got ridiculed in the locker room for wearing (and not understanding) a tshirt that proclaimed "his"


this would be appropriate with my kind boss:


1) Stupid, and

2) I'm with Stupid

[civilian_number_two]

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Los Angeles officials have asked that manufacturers, suppliers and contractors stop using the terms "master" and "slave" on computer equipment, saying such terms are unacceptable and offensive.

That's brilliant, that is.

I have always said, employees with the time to initiate bullshit claims of harassment and ill treatment have too much time on their hands and obviously have not been given enoough work to do. Of course, I have also always said that by and large they are not paid enough, so they deserve to slack off.

I was in a comic book store (I think I can get away with admitting that, here) and they had for sale one of those life-sized cardboard stand-up pictures of a Star Trek character. You know the ones. You see them in a store and they're so big and pointless you figure they have to be a display, not a product available for purchase. So this comic book store owner made a cardstock cartoon bubble that he had coming out of the character's mouth saying "Yes, I'm for sale!" to make sure any real hardcore idiots with loads of space at home would know that, for $15, they coud take this bastard home with them.

Well, to make the point clear, the character was Jordie LaForge. So I'm standing around lokking at, I don't know, Ninja Turtle Dolls (sad), when this black lady starts screaming to the girl at the cash counter (who happened to be a friend of mine) that she finds that cut-out offensive. See, apparently, there was a period in history, more than a hundred years ago, when black people were traded as slaves, and the actor playing Jordie, Lavarr Burton, is a black man (he also starred in ROOTS).

It actually took a moment for my friend even to realize what the woman was screaming about, since of course it made no sense whatsoever (we never even had a slave trade in Canada), and this gave the lady time to get worked up into a righteous fury. So much so that all of the following were ignored:
a) "We put that text bubble on all the STAR TREK figures, including the white people;
If that connection had ever occurred to us, do you think we'd have done this?;
c) Your screaming is making me very uncomfortable; and
d) This is a conversation you should be having with my manager.

It was becoming pretty obvious that this woman was not from Vancouver.

I was getting really worked up just watching it happen, but I thought the girl was really holding her own, despite massive ignorance, and I didn't want to jump in and undermine her authority. Or worse, make it worse. Besides, she was a friend of mine, and I thought management might know this, so anything I said might be held against her. Meanwhile I could see the store manager, standing about ten feet away, not moving. He waited until the lady walked out, waving her arms, proclaiming she'd never shop there again, that she'd tell all her friends, and that this girl (not even the store, or the figure, but the girl!) had ruined her day. Then he sauntered up and asked "what was that all about?" to which my friend said "That woman just wanted to tell you that it's time for my break. You're on cash now." And she walked out and we ate lunch.

Some people.

PS: BTW, she still works there, from time to time, in between PA gigs.

[Ninja Duck]

That takes quite a stretch of the imagination, to think "I'm for sale!" means the actual person and not the figure that represents them.

[Despondent]

Maybe they could have a cut out of the roots character saying "beam me outtahere already"

or, Levar from Reading Rainbow could say "might I interest you in another bookstore?"


(not a slam. I love comic book shops. ps I "read" the bible through a 6 paperback comic book set a few years ago and learned some things I would not have otherwise.)



I live in a hotbed for race relations, and found your story kinda funny (once I saw the unintentional connection) It would make the news around here.

[Jordan]

Who really takes an offense? Joe Sandoval is just a PC thug. He does this sort of thing to feel like a good guy.

[Enhasa]

This reads like something out of The Onion.