So I’m watching Daily Planet on the Discovery Channel and there’s a neat feature on these cool little microsatellites being developed at MIT’s Space Systems Lab under Dr. David Miller. Basically they’re like those little balls that float around space stations in Star Wars; very small and capable of highly precise motion. Anyway, they cut to the lead scientist, Alvar Saenz-Otero, and it caught my eye because he’s quite heavily pierced:
Among other things he’s got a bridge piercing, which is also known as the “Erl Piercing”, although that name is not that common these days. The name comes from the first person to popularize the piercing, Erl Van Aken, also known as one of the scientists that developed the lunar rover for NASA… Anyway, even if OfficeMax won’t hire visibly modified people, MIT and NASA (and in this case, DARPA) certainly don’t mind if you’re good at what you do. Personally I’d rather work for NASA than OfficeMax.
(My apologies for the terrible screenshots; I just took photos of my TV because I don’t have anything installed that can capture!)
Comments
154 responses to “Modified Scientists”
oooh, lovely
oooh, lovely
Its all about making yourself so damn good at what you do that people are forced to look past whats on your body and instead focus on whats in your head. Its good to see that he actually made it onto the t.v. though
Its all about making yourself so damn good at what you do that people are forced to look past whats on your body and instead focus on whats in your head. Its good to see that he actually made it onto the t.v. though
theres hope for me yet! yes!!!
theres hope for me yet! yes!!!
fucking awesome.
fuck office max anyway
fucking awesome.
fuck office max anyway
I get so excited when I see modified people working in intellectual fields. It just cracks open so many normative standards. Instead of featuring a guy with a bunch of piercings who happens to be a scientist, it’s a scientist who just happens to have a bunch of piercings in his face.
Hooray for capturing people’s multiple facets of identity!
I get so excited when I see modified people working in intellectual fields. It just cracks open so many normative standards. Instead of featuring a guy with a bunch of piercings who happens to be a scientist, it’s a scientist who just happens to have a bunch of piercings in his face.
Hooray for capturing people’s multiple facets of identity!
It makes me so, so happy to see that.
It makes me so, so happy to see that.
haha! i saw that last night too! =) and my mom yelled “OH MY GOD HE HAS PLUGS! there’s hope for you dear!”
i was recently hired as a software engineer and I have 1″ lobes and visible tats. not to mention i had a few job offers to choose from =) so yes, there’s hope for all of us! (but then again I’ll be working behind a computer not visible to the public anyway)
haha! i saw that last night too! =) and my mom yelled “OH MY GOD HE HAS PLUGS! there’s hope for you dear!”
i was recently hired as a software engineer and I have 1″ lobes and visible tats. not to mention i had a few job offers to choose from =) so yes, there’s hope for all of us! (but then again I’ll be working behind a computer not visible to the public anyway)
yup yup!
It makes me smile to see modded people working in the world, by which I mean other than as a body artist.
There is a postman around here with the latges stretched lobes I’ve ever seen in person, I’d guestimate at between 1&1/2 and 2 inches 🙂
yup yup!
It makes me smile to see modded people working in the world, by which I mean other than as a body artist.
There is a postman around here with the latges stretched lobes I’ve ever seen in person, I’d guestimate at between 1&1/2 and 2 inches 🙂
Zerstoerte, I 100% feel what you feel here. Life can be good occasionally huh 🙂
Zerstoerte, I 100% feel what you feel here. Life can be good occasionally huh 🙂
this is such an inspiring entry. thank you for this!
this is such an inspiring entry. thank you for this!
Yeah, thanks Corporate America for using long out-dated standards of “appropriate” appearance standards. I work at Office Depot, where it says in the employee handbook “the only piercings that shall be allowed are single lobes on females.” Apparently, this is the only thing that is socially acceptable. Luckily, my store manager says as long as customers don’t have an issue with it, she doesn’t either. Just those of us with heavily pierced ears (like me) or a lip/eyebrow piercing (like a coworker) have to hide when the district manager is in town.
Apparently “fanatical customer service” means “looking as bland as possible.”
*sigh*
Yeah, thanks Corporate America for using long out-dated standards of “appropriate” appearance standards. I work at Office Depot, where it says in the employee handbook “the only piercings that shall be allowed are single lobes on females.” Apparently, this is the only thing that is socially acceptable. Luckily, my store manager says as long as customers don’t have an issue with it, she doesn’t either. Just those of us with heavily pierced ears (like me) or a lip/eyebrow piercing (like a coworker) have to hide when the district manager is in town.
Apparently “fanatical customer service” means “looking as bland as possible.”
*sigh*
this is fantastic! i think that if NASA and MIT can get over the way people look if they do a good job, then so can Office Max. appearance is a stupid reason to hire/fire someone cause if theyre good at what they do… *sigh.
this is fantastic! i think that if NASA and MIT can get over the way people look if they do a good job, then so can Office Max. appearance is a stupid reason to hire/fire someone cause if theyre good at what they do… *sigh.
I hope to be an archaeologist when I’ve finished my degree. Thing is, mods are probably LESS acceptable now in that sphere, as most excavations are now paid for by businesses under ppg-16 or whatever it’s called (in Britain).
The only answer is, become so unbelievably overqualified for everything that there’s no way people can’t hire you… but guess what, normal people like me can’t afford to finance that many years of study! /rant
I hope to be an archaeologist when I’ve finished my degree. Thing is, mods are probably LESS acceptable now in that sphere, as most excavations are now paid for by businesses under ppg-16 or whatever it’s called (in Britain).
The only answer is, become so unbelievably overqualified for everything that there’s no way people can’t hire you… but guess what, normal people like me can’t afford to finance that many years of study! /rant
“Apparently âfanatical customer serviceâ? means âlooking as bland as possible.â?”
Ugh, how true. As unfortunate as it may be, my customer service skills are determined by my appearance. Which is why I was never able to get any mods while working. Money and living in a house came before anything else at that point in my life. I was basically told that I wouldn’t get a certain promotion if my piercings continued to get any larger/I kept my septum (ears were 6g at the time).
“Apparently âfanatical customer serviceâ? means âlooking as bland as possible.â?”
Ugh, how true. As unfortunate as it may be, my customer service skills are determined by my appearance. Which is why I was never able to get any mods while working. Money and living in a house came before anything else at that point in my life. I was basically told that I wouldn’t get a certain promotion if my piercings continued to get any larger/I kept my septum (ears were 6g at the time).
FUCKING DEADLY
FUCKING DEADLY
Working, as i do, for a large video-game company, i am surrounded by some of the best and brightest programmers, artists, 3d modellers, sound engineers, AI developers, and so forth /in the world/.
It’s difficult to find somebody that doesn’t have, at the /very least/, multicoloured hair and multiple ear-piercings. Tattoos, facial piercings, and other mods are quite common around here.
I guess our “corporate culture” is a little different from that of Office Whatever. 😛
Working, as i do, for a large video-game company, i am surrounded by some of the best and brightest programmers, artists, 3d modellers, sound engineers, AI developers, and so forth /in the world/.
It’s difficult to find somebody that doesn’t have, at the /very least/, multicoloured hair and multiple ear-piercings. Tattoos, facial piercings, and other mods are quite common around here.
I guess our “corporate culture” is a little different from that of Office Whatever. 😛
I agree with comment #5 in that it says the most when the person being featured just *happens* to have a bunch of piercings, and it isn’t the *point* of the whole segment…in fact, it’s just incidental.
I’m curious if they mentioned his appearance at all in the segment (although in this context I’d doubt it). I’d also like to say that Mr. Alvar Saenz-Otero is looking mighty fine. Modded scientists=sexy.
I agree with comment #5 in that it says the most when the person being featured just *happens* to have a bunch of piercings, and it isn’t the *point* of the whole segment…in fact, it’s just incidental.
I’m curious if they mentioned his appearance at all in the segment (although in this context I’d doubt it). I’d also like to say that Mr. Alvar Saenz-Otero is looking mighty fine. Modded scientists=sexy.
I feel like printing this out and sending it to every employer in my city. I really do.
I feel like printing this out and sending it to every employer in my city. I really do.
Look the dude up on google, he has an INCREDIBLEY awesome resume. He’s my hero, for sure. Him and Erl.
Look the dude up on google, he has an INCREDIBLEY awesome resume. He’s my hero, for sure. Him and Erl.
mods + science = happiness.
mods + science = happiness.
fucking awesome! i love pics like these. give me a chance to show all the dumbasses around me that most of the people that have mods are very intellectual. thanx for the pic Shannon!
fucking awesome! i love pics like these. give me a chance to show all the dumbasses around me that most of the people that have mods are very intellectual. thanx for the pic Shannon!
#11 thats exactly how my old job was. only girls could have their lobes pierced and thats it. and anything you wore in them had to be smaller than a quarter. I told my manager once that I was going to stretch my ears to just under the diameter of a quarter and he didn’t appreciate it. but they really didn’t care as long as no one complained and the DM wasn’t around. if he showed up though it was a mad dash to the kitchen to take out ear/nose/lip rings and tuck in shirts.
hopefully when I’m done with school and get my enviro engineering job (wherever that may be) they’ll be accepting. I’ve heard that engineering is one of the more accepting professions.
#11 thats exactly how my old job was. only girls could have their lobes pierced and thats it. and anything you wore in them had to be smaller than a quarter. I told my manager once that I was going to stretch my ears to just under the diameter of a quarter and he didn’t appreciate it. but they really didn’t care as long as no one complained and the DM wasn’t around. if he showed up though it was a mad dash to the kitchen to take out ear/nose/lip rings and tuck in shirts.
hopefully when I’m done with school and get my enviro engineering job (wherever that may be) they’ll be accepting. I’ve heard that engineering is one of the more accepting professions.
this makes me happy – i’m training in biomedical sciences and am always hyper worried that my stretched ears and tattoos will get me overlooked for a job – i want to be myself, but i need a career!
this makes me happy – i’m training in biomedical sciences and am always hyper worried that my stretched ears and tattoos will get me overlooked for a job – i want to be myself, but i need a career!
The more modded people that get these types of positions, the more people who will get hired for lesser positions.
I haven’t gone to facial piercings because, frankly… I have sensitive skin and am always itching it. But I have a lot of interest in an anti-brow – if it wouldn’t migrate. Anyway, I’m a teacher and got my job with my long ass hair, industrial and 6 ear lobe junk (5x10g 1x12g) without even a blink. I actually think that if I had a facial, it wouldn’t have made too much difference… but as stated above, if you look good on paper and they see that first, it would take a real *fuckwad* to say no based on looks.
The more modded people that get these types of positions, the more people who will get hired for lesser positions.
I haven’t gone to facial piercings because, frankly… I have sensitive skin and am always itching it. But I have a lot of interest in an anti-brow – if it wouldn’t migrate. Anyway, I’m a teacher and got my job with my long ass hair, industrial and 6 ear lobe junk (5x10g 1x12g) without even a blink. I actually think that if I had a facial, it wouldn’t have made too much difference… but as stated above, if you look good on paper and they see that first, it would take a real *fuckwad* to say no based on looks.
Oh, and interestingly enough, an old raver/DJ friend of mine was the first person I knew large gauge stretching and some facial stuff. He came back to the uni last year… to run part of a research lab.
I guess when it comes right down to it, smart people aren’t afraid of modified people/looks.
Oh, and interestingly enough, an old raver/DJ friend of mine was the first person I knew large gauge stretching and some facial stuff. He came back to the uni last year… to run part of a research lab.
I guess when it comes right down to it, smart people aren’t afraid of modified people/looks.