I’m not claiming that it’s a “new” idea, just an idea – but I’m thinking of getting some sponsorship together and creating some resource sticks to send out to get teachers loaded up with a range of basics at home. Examples include
A range of browsers (and links to the sites for the latest versions)
A range of free programming environments [BlueJ, Scratch, etc] (and links to the sites for the latest versions)
OpenOffice.org (and a link to the site for the latest versions)
List of free and useful apps on common mobile platforms
Links to the RethinkingICT Wiki, tutorial sites, Computing At School etc. with explanations as to what they are etc.
It is just a half-baked idea which I have a pretty decent idea of how to finance. Would this be of any use? Would you be interested in having one? Would a USB stick be more useful/memorable than, say, a website linking to the same (I’m thinking the USB storage element might at least keep it in people’s pockets/minds)?
I’d really appreciate some feedback on this idea 🙂 Thanks.
I’ve had a couple of rants on Twitter lately, regarding what I consider to be unhelpful (although well-intentioned) attempts to get more women into STEM areas.
The first one was the #GirlScienceThing storm on Twitter. The YouTube video which sparked it [link here] seems to be more like someone’s Film Studies project rather than a serious/credible attempt to get more women into science – and yet, it was comissioned and published by the European Commission [girl-science-thing site].
The profile videos, while a little better, still irk me somewhat. Marieke Huisman [profile video] who teaches Computer Science/Infomatics at the University of Twente tells us that maybe 3 out of her 50 students are female, that the perception of the subject is that it is full of “nerds” and then finishes by saying that studying a technical subject gives you a good opportunity to “meet some nice guys”. If I wanted to meet guys – I’d go out socially, not sign up to a 3-year (or more) degree course.
The second thing I started firing off about, was the @womenwhocode twitter account – who were advertising their women-only hack night. Face it ladies – if the event was reversed and was exclusively for men instead – you’d be outraged. A couple of my tweets follow:
Personally think that the exclusion of men risks creating/promoting a Greer-esque superiority divide. Equality/balance surely can’t benefit.
I had a bit of a debate with Dr. Tom Crick on Twitter a few months ago about the relentless drive to get more “female programmers” and “female computer scientists”. I contended that gender should be completely irrelevant (that women CAN get into ICT/CS and if they don’t that’s their problem, not the industry’s), and I didn’t understand why I had to be a “female programmer” when all I wanted to be was a “programmer” like the rest of my coursemates. He then gave me the first sensible answer I have ever had, despite many similar discussions with others on the topic – that studies show that mixed-gender teams are more productive. The lack of women CS (and other STEM) graduates means that mixed-gender teams are harder to put together in industry and this therefore has a negative effect on productivity and efficiency. That one piece of information has soothed my raging annoyance and has helped me to accept that perhaps, for the time being at least, it is a necessary campaign rather one driven by political correctness.
For your amusement, another of my tweets:
Genuine convo at previous job. “Hi, I’m Kate, I’ve come to fix your phone” / “Oh wow! A female technician!” / “Nope – just an IT technician”
At the #RethinkingICT conference on Monday, along with various other observations, I voiced the idea that maybe we should be pitching ICT/CS as “creative” rather than “technical”. The perception of Computer Science, programming, etc. is that it is a cold, technical, mathematical, logical discipline – whereas in fact I find it a lot more like creating a sculpture or building something out of wood. The answers are not right or wrong. There are efficient and inefficient ways to do things, some simple, some complex, and some which don’t work at all. Websites, applications, mobile apps – why settle for what other people have made or paying someone a fortune to make what you need when you can write your own?
I don’t know how best to pitch this yet, but I’m going to start by getting a haircut and make some videos explaining why I’m doing a CS-based degree and what excites me about the skills I’m learning, the people I’m around, and the opportunities it is opening up for me already. The following video was taken at the BlackBerry10 Jam – World Tour developer conference in London, where I ended up doing a lightning pitch in front of around 500 BlackBerry developers and RIM staff. How many 1st year degree students (of any gender!) can say that?
Maybe my irritation grows (at least in part) from the fact that I am something of a solved problem. I did A-Level Computing AND AVCE ICT at college. I’m doing a CS-related degree now. I spent 8 years as a Technician in a Network Services department between the two. I own ties. I wear trousers with many pockets down the sides. Perhaps these things aren’t aimed at me, and maybe that is why I feel more patronised than I should?
I’m in a great mood. I got 98% in my programming exam, 88% in my Dynamic Web exam, BlackBerry10 Jam was a blast and has motivated me to use my Programming and Dynamic Web knowledge to good use and start building some apps already – and I’ve started eating properly again.
Might even go and join the nearby gym in the coming week…
*EDIT* Have joined the gym. I’ve even been a few times…
I got up at 05:00 yesterday to get on a train and attend BlackBerry 10 Jam World Tour in London with two of my teenaged overlords colleagues from C2 Development. The event was held at the Vinopolis – a stone’s throw from London Bridge station.
The keynotes were very interesting, and (as a BlackBerry newbie) I was surprised and enthused to find out about the number of different development routes which can be used to create apps for the PlayBook and for BlackBerry10. WebWorks, the new Cascades UI stuff, Java BlackBerry runtime, Java Android runtime, C/C++ Native SDK – the possibilities are limitless and there are really no barriers for any vaguely competent programmer from any background to get in there and start developing.
RIM have also announced that anyone who has an app ready for BlackBerry10 launch and has that app make at least $1000 in its first year of release – will have that made up to $10,000 by RIM! If that isn’t motivation – I don’t know what is! Big smiles all round on that one.
After that was lunch, which included after a short break – a series of “lightning pitches”. These were 3-minute slots in which one could pitch an app for BlackBerry 10 to the rest of the 500 developers and RIM staff in attendance. After a quick discussion with my overlords colleagues, we pulled a few notes together and I went up – alone – to pitch our real-time project management system. We got some great visibility out of it, and a lot of really positive feedback and interest from the other attendees. It’s clearly a project we’re going to have to take on beyond planning! While we were obviously nervous, we felt that it went well and I’m grateful to RIM for the opportunity to give that idea some air-space in that kind of environment.
We then nipped out for a McDonalds and came back for the Native track talks. Marmalade produced a great presentation for their software which helps developers to create cross-platform apps and particularly games, and looks like a really useful bit of kit. The full licence is $500 per seat – however, they also spoke about an “indie” platform-specific licence which is a bit cheaper. Once their website is back up – I’m going to check it out and might well go for it! While I’ve been more of a web person than a native person – I’m really excited about the range of options on this front – and the QML/Qt stuff along with the new Cascades UI looks really useful and will make for some quite sexy-looking apps.
At the close of the conference, they declared the winner of the lightning pitches – and we hadn’t won the “PlayBook, $500, and 30 minutes with an evangelist of your choice” which was a bit of a shame as we’d got our hopes up after all the killer feedback – but we were still really glad that we did it.
At the end of the event, I had to get in a long queue of people with “Q”s on our badges, provide photo ID, and sign a two-page form which forbids me from all sorts in order to get “seeded” with a BlackBery 10 Dev Alpha device. It’s worth it. It’s a beautiful thing – PlayBook-esque in design, phone shaped and sized, amazing display, feels robust as hell, 16Gb onboard memory. Frankly – I’m impressed and I’m looking forward to taking advantage of all of the available tools and support to develop loads of great apps for it! In fact I’ve been so impressed – I started today!
We met loads of interesting people and fellow developers, got lots of great ideas, smashing feedback on our existing ideas, and came away feeling inspired. We’re really excited about the possibilities for BlackBerry10, and it marks the start of what will be a epic summer of work!
In a highly unusual week for me, I’ve sent the car in for its (and my) first ever insurance claim, taken delivery of a 17 year old, bought a BlackBerry PlayBook, done a full day’s work in the library and sorted out guardianship /chaperone papers to be responsible for a bunch of lads at possibly one of the swankiest events I’ve ever booked to go to.
I’m now a WebDev and Business Administrator for C2 Development – and the oldest member of the company by nearly a decade. I don’t mind, and they don’t mind, and frankly – they’re all a dammed sight better at all this than I am, so I hope to learn a lot from them. If there was ever an example of why age should be an irrelevant factor in business, these guys are it. Before I even arrived they had formed a cross-continental, multi-disciplined, organized company and done some fantastic work for real-life clients – yet not one of them is of an age to be at University.
Seeing as I’m in an arty mood – here’s some hand-drawn frame-by-frame animation I did during the summer. Not the most impressive thing in the world – but I was pretty pleased with how it came out!
Geek Central (aka. my work room!) has gone through a series of upgrades. New laptop (Tosh 850 with 1Gb nVidia dedicated graphics, 8Gb RAM and dual 2.3GHz i3 chip) and a 24” Goodmans LCD telly bolted to the wall on a swingy arm, usable as a second monitor in 1900×1080 resolution. Also got ProSound USB microphone, my ancient but reliable Saitek gamer mouse, and new whiteboard.
I might have accidentally have bought a new laptop, as the graphics chip on my regular one has fried. It runs Unreal Tournament 3 in lovely mode without hiccups. His name is Hesperos – named after the Roman deity which represented “the brightest star in his environment”. Janus (Netbook) is out on loan, Salus (laptop) is slowly graphically dying, Norman is old but sturdy (desktop), and Hesperos has now come home 🙂
