Attending ONCWIC

It’s been a while since I updated this blog, and as I have just had a GREAT weekend meeting and listening to some of the most exceptional women in computing, I thought it might be time for a blog update.

This weekend, I attended ONCWIC, the Ontario Celebration of Women in Computing, modeled after the famous Grace Hopper Celebration that takes place in the States every year. ONCWIC is a regional conference that brings together Ontarian women in computing, providing inspiring talks, workshops, and a space for them to meet, learn and have fun! This year’s conference was held at the Waterloo University. It was my first time attending (and first time in the city of Waterloo!).

Learning how to use breadboards

So I just started a new (and my final!) school year and one of the courses I’m taking is Computer Organization. The course itself focuses on digital logic and design, microprogramming and (of course) computer system organization. The content – especially digital logic – reminds me very much of the circuits we had to draw in Grade 12 Physics.

So you want to be a developer?

I came across this series on YouTube today. It takes an animated (pun intended) approach to helping students figure out if a career in development is for them.

This is my no means an exhaustive explanation of what being a developer really is like, but it’s a good place to start.

You can check out the rest of their videos here.

(app review) Blekko

Blekko home page

Never heard of it? I hadn’t either. I came across the company while reading this article on MobileSyrup. Founded in November 2010, the company aims to be a Google alternative and uses “slashtags” to curate their searches.

Their website states:  “At Blekko, our mission is to create a differentiated search experience by delivering high quality, curated results and organizing content into categories.”

Anyway, so the article peaked my curiosity and since I’m always up to try something new (and because their website looked very clean and minimal), I decided to review it!

Here are my findings:

(tips) How to extend the battery life of any android device

So I recently got a new nexus 7 (review/pics coming up soon!), and while surfing the net to find some relevant tips, I found this one.

“What the internet is doing to our brains”

One of the things that often comes up for students like me (and for people who work primarily with the internet) is the great distraction it poses to “real life” and “real work”. Suffice it to say, there are many arguments against this phrasing, but the fact remains that the internet can be as great a distraction as it can be an aid.

HBO’s creative new advertising

Anyone who knows me knows I love Game of Thrones. The books are amazing – pick up a copy at your local bookstore.

The companion show is coming back for its third season this weekend, and HBO has kicked off a creative new web campaign to promote it.

Divide and conquer your education

I was perusing one of the blogs I usually frequent today, and I came across this interesting “theory” on education that the author calls “The Cake Story”. It goes like this:

What you are about to learn is like a cake. A giant cake. It’s a knowledge cake. And you are given a tiny tiny spoon, for massive massive cake. Now here comes the best part. Somebody keeps slapping on stuff on the cake, new layers, more decoration (all eatable of course). It keeps getting bigger and bigger, faster and faster than you could eat it. How do you go about eating this giant cake? A spoonful at the time, right? But the way you eat it will define the whole experience, you just don’t know it.

Say there are two people, with a tiny spoon each. The first person takes a bit of the knowledge cake. This person is giddy, exited, about what has just been learned. The taste and effect is savored, motion is remembered. He or she shares this with everybody: “wow- look at what I can [do]. I can [eat] all this of this bite, and I will know all that when I take all those bites”.

The second person takes bite. Looks at the hole after the bite, then looks at the rest of the cake. Another layer is slapped on. The hole seems even smaller. The cake even bigger. The person thinks: “I know so little, and there is so much to learn. It’s impossible.”

… The second person [is] more likely to do worse and fail. The cake would win.

(some missing words filled in by me).

I think it’s an interesting way of approaching the success/failure rate of education based on the person’s attitude. No doubt, there is some truth to this. If you set out thinking “I am going to fail”, you will self-sabotage at some point and end up failing. Remember all those people telling you to “put out positive thoughts to the universe”? Well, they’re not completely off. Your attitude directly or indirectly affects the way you approach anything in life – be a problem, a relationship, or a new experience. If you set out with a “can do” attitude, you are less likely to get hung up on wonder “Can I do this???” and more likely to just push ahead and start searching for the solution. If you are constantly worried about your ability to do something, you will most likely never get to the point where you actually try doing whatever it is that you want to accomplish. As the quote goes “90% of success is just showing up”.

“I would rather be broke in a start up reinventing the world than anything else”

A great talk by LUXr founder Janice Fraser about her career path so far, and the life of an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley.

I love her little cartoon post-its! She’s like the Tina Fey of Silicon Valley, lol.