I was inspired by three different sources to give a talk at Barcamp this past Saturday.
First, I attended the inaugural Write/Speak/Code conference last year. During the Write day, we learned how to own our expertise and write op ed columns (something that’s on my short term goal list). The Speak day was all about the mechanics of drafting and submitting talks. (Pam Selle and I spoke on the Code day about feminist models for open source participation).
Continue reading Barcamp Philly 2014
I gave a workshop today at Barcamp Philly that heavily drew from Julie Pagano’s workshop and slides. I reorganized the time frame (her workshop is a whole day and walks you through many more steps of conference presenting) and made it fit in a 45 minute time frame.
Have a short deadline? Boss breathing down your neck?
Don’t start prowling github just yet! Work through the following steps first.
Sounds simple, but so often we skip this basic step.
When Women Stopped Coding is a (mostly) non-depressing look at what was happening in the 80’s and 90’s to contribute to the plummeting number of women in computer science. In particular, I hadn’t thought deeply about the emergence of computing have and have nots.
My parents didn’t buy a computer for the home. Luckily I had access to computers at my friend’s homes and was on the Internet pretty darn early via Tallahassee Freenet & BBSes in 1995. I went to nicer middle and high schools that had technology classes (though not programming, just typing). I often frequented the library to get online. I loved finally having 24-hour access to the computer lab in my dorm during my first year of college (1998).
tl;dr My favorite talk from the inaugural DroidCon in the United States was “Improving Facebook and Instagram in Emerging Markets.” A storify of my notes & tweets follow.
What can Van Gogh teach us about startups and technology? Here’s what I learned by visiting the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
You don’t have to be a master from the start, it’s always a process of growth. He started his artistic career late-ish at 27. He needed a perspective frame to flatten images on to the canvas, he used tracing and projection tools as well.
On Saturday, I wrote about my experience the First night.
Here’s the rest of the story from the keyboards of the participants themselves. Enjoy!
I was a mentor and project lead today the Women Techmakers + LadyHacks hackathon this weekend. LadyHacks follows the model of a civic hackathon, which emphasizes creating projects for the greater good. This event is a partnership between the Philadelphia GDG (I’m the organizer [grew out of the Android Alliance]) and LadyHacks for International Women’s Day!
LadyHacks is a community event for women of all skill levels to work collaboratively on projects using technology to provide solutions. Beginners, tech-curious, and experienced developers all attended and shared their knowledge and skills while working on projects that they are passionate about.
I just started Project Basho’s six month Inspiration and Vision photography course. I’m very excited to see where it will take my photography and self-expression!
I took their Foundations of Digital Photography course last year just after starting my sabbatical. It was a dedicated 6 weeks, but unfortunately it was during the winter (minus snow), so I wasn’t as happy with how my photos turned out. However, it made a huge difference when I set out for South America last February and has increased my technical and photo processing abilities.
Here’s a selection of my favorites, check out the full photoset on Flickr!
Philly Tech Week is a week-long celebration that unites technologist across varied disciplines. The events range from playing pong on the side of skyscraper to hacking space apps to the future of music and everything in-between. The events typically bring together a cross section of the local tech scene.
On Friday, I spoke on the panel “Native Apps, Responsive Web Development and the New Mobile Ecosystem” at the sold-out Mobile, Marketing and Ecommerce Trends event. In a two part series, I will share the questions asked and my thoughts on each. I’d love to hear your feedback and hope to see you at a future event.