Author: Deano

Deano’s answer to: “Do porn stars enjoy their jobs?”

Posted on by Deano in Q & A

Well, do they?

(Detention again? But I’m 32! Photo courtesy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fil…)

For someone to be a “porn star” rather than a mere “porn actor”, I would say it would have to be enjoyable on some level, but that enjoyment may be based on any number of things:

  • comparatively high pay for low and/or flexible hours
  • many travel opportunities
  • attention and adoration of fans
  • chance to break social taboos
  • promoting positive attitudes towards sexual expression
  • great sex (rare, but possible) with a variety of thoroughly-STD-tested partners
  • working in a “startup atmosphere”, with a small, tight-knit community that is largely supportive and understanding of the work and negatives surrounding it


(Oh yeah, and invitation-only karaoke! Photo ‘courtesy’ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ps…)

And that’s just off the top of my head. Like any job, working in porn is not enjoyable 100% of the time, and sometimes the less bearable parts involve literally having sex with someone you dislike for money, or being treated poorly by directors/producers/crew. But, for those who do stick with it, it’s certainly not merely for the monetary consideration – there are other aspects of the porn industry business model or social subculture that are appealing.

This answer originally appeared on Quora: Do porn stars enjoy their jobs?

Deano’s answer to: “What went wrong with Google Wave?”

Posted on by Deano in Q & A

Google did a really good job of introducing a new modality and producing a reference platform for Wave… And a really terrible job in evangelizing to, and assisting/incubating a set of early developers in producing commercial products based on Wave.


(Don’t like it? Talk to the hand! Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/nia…)

In addition, the invite-only beta rollout really hampered things, since most non-Valley-tech-bubble folks, when they finally got access, usually logged in to find 0 potential collaborators… When you can’t play with the system and see how it works, you just give up and go on to something else.

In short, it was just complex enough that not enough non-techies “got it” out of the box, and no one stepped in with a “Wave version of Lotus Notes” or the like which would’ve made things more clear in the enterprise or Academia (which should’ve been the initial target(s) for Wave).

Finally, Wave does still exist, sorta – a lot of the upgrades to Gmail/Google Apps over the last several years have been what I would call “Waveisms”, and have generally been well-received within the context of Google Docs/Sites/Reader/Mail/Calendar/etc. Looking back on it, if Google had redone their entire suite as part of Wave first, I believe the reception would’ve been vastly different, and developers would’ve been jumping all over themselves to develop for it, not unlike the interest in all things Android currently.

This answer originally appeared on Quora: What went wrong with Google Wave?

Deano’s answer to: “Which Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle has the most physical strength?”

Posted on by Deano in Q & A

All of the turtles are, for their comic universe, quite incredibly strong, with additional “supporting strengths” of high endurance and physical durability.

That said, the most consistent references/occurrences of high physical strength and/or “overall strongmanosity” seem to be in favor of Raphael.

(Lookit those muscles! Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/zak…)

The combination of his rage/anger management issues, and propensity to lunge for the center of the fight, gives Raph more opportunities to use direct brute force/strength, instead of the more subtle, tactically-sound techniques of his brothers.

Still, barring Raphael’s strength stats in later TMNT video games, or various semi-official or fan-sourced expressions of the various turtles’ might in various RPG systems[*] there is very little hard data one way or another.

[* Like this: http://forums.thetechnodrome.com…]

This article originally appeared on Quora: Which Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle has the most physical strength?

Deano’s answer to: “Who was the first comic book superhero?”

Posted on by Deano in Q & A

This is a bit tough… Given the particular wording of your question, I’d go with Superman. He’s the first archetypical “superhero” who appeared in comic book form, at least in the US…

(This is actually just Christopher Reeve chasing me after I keyed his car…)

According to Wikipedia[*], the French once again beat us to the punch with a fella called the “Nyctalope”:

(My doctor says I have to stop eating Nyctalope for breakfast when I hit 40…)

As far as other possible “first placers”, you have all manner of costumed superhumans or “ultimate” humans –

  • The Phantom,
  • The Shadow,
  • The Spider,
  • Doc Savage,
  • Tarzan,
  • Zorro,
  • The Green Hornet,
  • etc…

– all of whom, if they magically dropped out of subspace in the Marvel or DC Universes, would be instantly recognized as “Superheroes”, or possibly “Super villains” in some cases.

Nevertheless, just about all of the other candidates appeared first in print books and magazines, comic strips, and radio dramas, and most did not take a strong stand in the comic book format until well after Superman had led the way as a groundbreaking title in the genre/medium in 1938 in Action Comics #1.

[* It’s actually a great Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sup…]

This answer originally appeared on Quora: What was the first comic book superhero?

Deano’s answer to: “What is the fashion like in the SFBA?”

Posted on by Deano in Q & A

Generally speaking, fashion in the Bay Area is a cross between:

  • flea market “high fashion”,


(Photo snuck quietly off http://www.fashioni.st/2011/04/t…)

  • utilitarian-outdoorsy,


(Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/vid…)

  • and flat-out laziness[*].

(Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/jus…)

Of course, there are many strata to the SFBA, and its fashion subcultures. Generally speaking, however, even the most refined “steampunk bdsm hipster“, “startup khaki cyclist” or “militant vegan go-go dancer“could be easily mistaken for some combination of the above three listed categories… And that doesn’t even include the masses of

  • tourists borifying the place up throughout the year:


(Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/eri…)

  • or the costumed revelers who attend neighborhood festivals and holidays:


(Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/drm…)

[* Frank Chu is on an amazing tireless mission, but let’s face it – he does not dress to impress. Admit it: without the sign, he’d blend in with the SOMA startup doofus crowd]

This answer originally appeared on Quora: What is the fashion like in the SFBA?