On meeting Naomi Wu

I had the distinct pleasure of meeting, eating dinner with, and having a long thoughtful conversation with Naomi Wu, aka the Real Sexy Cyborg, from Shenzhen China.  She was in New York City for the NY Maker's Faire, a convention of technical amateur/hobbyist builders; they call themselves "makers."

I have been following Ms. Wu's career online for a few years.  Because we have been in touch online, she invited me to a meet-up with her US supporters nearby my home,   She reserved a large table at a restaurant in a hotel in Queens, nearby the Maker's Faire, which was at the NY Hall of Science.

On the way, I wondered what I would talk to her about.  She works 100% open source; she shares all of her code and designs for others to use, improve upon, and adapt.  This is the reason for my particular enthusiasm for her work.  I am similarly dedicated to open source technology.

But I'm not really a maker.  I think it's cool that there's a prominent person in the maker community who is so passionate about open source.  I could tell her that, but I wouldn't be able to engage in much maker shop talk, so I was a little worried about awkward silences as I travelled to the event.

I had nothing to worry about.  We fell in like long-separated best friends.  She is one of the most passionate technologists I have ever met, and I have met a significant number of passionate technologists.  She told me about the problems with open source evangelism within China.  Their problems with adaptation of open source are both similar and completely different from the problems in western countries.

We talked about her awful situation with Vice media.  We laughed about what I call the "American disease:" the tendency of people raised and educated in this country to reason as if the rest of the world is just some off-kilter version of the US (some more off-kilter than others).  We teared-up a little about the way she is targeted for online bullying and abuse.

We closed down the restaurant.  At the end of the evening it was just me and the two guys that were travelling with her.   For all those stories you hear about meeting someone from online going wrong, take note of this one.  I haven't as enjoyed and been as inspired by meeting someone in a number of years.  She lives 8000 miles away, on the other side of the globe.  We met in person because of Twitter, YouTube and Patreon (her Patreon account is no longer active).

There's a disgusting conspiracy theory amongst the worst part of the Internet that she's not a real person.  While this kind of nonsense is laughable in this country, rumors that could be seen to be potentially damaging to the reputation of the Chinese people are not funny.  People go to jail for less.

I am grateful to Naomi as well as other friends from all corners of the globe for the perspective I have on these matters, despite having travelled relatively little of the globe myself.  I know a little about how Africans, Brazilians, Chinese, Japanese, Russians, Turks, Syrians, Yemini, and Europeans view the world because my friends in New York City and online have been gentle teachers.

Remember this the next time you're ready to write off social media because of the disgusting ways it is abused by some people in some situations.  Yes, some social media is evil, but it also made possible for me this evening with Ms. Wu.

Rain doesn't fall for the flowers, rain just falls.