Irene Zhang / is on Nostr

Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research. OS hacker. Cat wrangler. Shoe lover.

Website: https://irenezhang.net/
Instagram: @schemeprincess

Last Notes

2024-11-07 02:19:03

Pro-tip in these dark times: buy a cheap stethoscope and listen to your #cat purr.
We recently learned that our cat Max has a potential heart murmur so we got a stethoscope to see if we could hear it ourselves. This experiment was unsuccessful because he wouldn’t stop purring but we learned that listening to a cat purr through a stethoscope is amazingly soothing.
#catsofmastodon
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2024-11-03 18:42:36

We object to this concept of “daylight savings”. How do we speak to a manager??
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2024-10-27 03:09:10

We took Max and Pixel to the vet yesterday and Pixel insisted on getting into Max’s carrier and riding home with him. They were both more ok with this than expected. Happy #caturday!
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2024-10-26 16:28:23

In Seattle, you can buy cute tufty moss for your yard. I’m in love. #mosstodon
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2024-10-20 02:51:13

I’ve made an advancement in food technology. Cooking a meatloaf upside down (which I always do) *on top of baked beans* with a layer of bacon in between. Will report back on how it turns out but let’s be honest, it’s a giant meatball on top of a pot of beans, we all know how this is going to turn out.
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2024-10-05 22:11:20

Attention to my faculty friends: The University of Washington CS school is an unsafe environment for women, so as grad application season starts, please tell your students not to apply. There are at least 3 men in the systems lab that have sexually harassed numerous women and they continue to do so. More details below:
It has been 3 months since the women of the UW systems lab sent a letter detailing three incidents of sexual harassment and bullying. The university has bounced them from the Title IX office to HR with no resolution. There is an ongoing HR investigation with the women handing over dozens of incidents and pages of documentation (emails, text messages). At least one of the men has been documented to be physically violent, and he has sexually harassed women across the department, not just in the lab.
Despite this, the women of the lab have been forced to leave their coworking space, leaving them in a precarious position where they must risk interacting with violent men. The systems lab is still holding lab events with the men actively under investigation. The Allen School has become a place where women are AFRAID to go to work and at least three women have been driven out due to harassment. If you know women who are thinking of attending grad school, tell them to avoid UW, especially in systems. I’m happy to put them in touch with the women of the UW systems lab or discuss alternate options with them.

2024-09-26 21:47:21

Maybe @npub19mh…v9e6 conferences should make PC chairs and members attest that they are not under active Title IX or HR investigation?? I’d really love to not have to deal with sexual harassment when giving them my free labor.

2024-09-26 01:31:16

Wow, the UW systems and networking lab is literally in the middle of an HR investigation into harassment, and the faculty are back to business as usual with lab events WITH NO CHANGES. No code of conduct, no sexual harassment training, NOTHING. They’ve locked the women in a lab and continue to not provide a safe environment for them to learn or work. Meanwhile, the women are spending hours talking to investigators about emotional and painful memories (and documented incidents), while trying to get their research done and take classes. I’m speechless and deeply ashamed of my old lab.

2024-09-06 21:56:38

Every single response to my blog post on Hacker News. https://discuss.systems/@irene/113048820633211475

2024-09-01 05:23:26

- reply

I know but I’m EMBARRASSED about it.

2024-08-31 19:52:19

NOOO Seattle is ruined. I went to a fancy tasting menu and the table next to us kept talking about networking, virtualization, serverless and IPv6.

2024-08-30 03:21:47

If you don’t think tech is full of misogynistic men, then you might be one of them.
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2024-08-18 01:24:54

Pixel would like everyone to admire her fluffy belly on #blackcatappreciationday
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2024-08-12 14:20:48

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It’s the worst because I do think that it’s great that marginalized kids (trans, queer, whatever) can find their people online but so can the white supremacists.

2024-08-12 00:41:50

Can I just say again to everyone in tech doing DEI: It is immoral and unethical to recruit women to a fundamentally unsafe environment

2024-07-24 20:11:10

I wrote a blog post about what it is like being #womenintech within the framework of #moralphilosophy and ethics. #consistencyforthewin https://irenezhang.net/blog/2024/07/24/misogyny.html

2024-06-28 04:46:28

BIG STRETCH #cats #catsofmastodon
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