Fortune Cookie Wisdom

Posted March 7, 2008 at 8:38 PM | Tagged as: Quotations | Comments Off

Of personal relevance: Keep true to the dreams of your youth.

Of professional relevance: Set the right example. It will inspire others.

I went to Bryn Mawr, if you know what I mean

Posted December 4, 2007 at 10:21 AM | Tagged as: Bryn Mawr, Quotations, WTF? | Comments Off

Delaware Senator Joe Biden was recently asked why he wears an American flag pin, by, as Biden put it, a “very attractive woman who looked like she just finished a sociology course at Bryn Mawr College, if you know what I mean.” According to the Washington Post, most of his audience clearly didn’t know what he meant.

Even David Karen, chair of sociology at Bryn Mawr, doesn’t know what he meant: “I don’t know what the senator means. But if Senator Biden is implying that sociology students at Bryn Mawr College are ‘very attractive’ and more liberal than he is, I wouldn’t spend any time trying to disabuse him of that notion.”

I’d guess that Biden was referencing the antiquated notion that Mawrters are so engrossed in their books and studies that they are unaware of what’s going on in the rest of the world. But hey, at least he understands that attractive women attend Bryn Mawr, so that’s progress, right?

Cute as a <button>

Posted February 14, 2007 at 1:35 PM | Tagged as: Geekout, Quotations, Web Stuff | Comments Off

My Valentine’s day gift to you… a geeky tee that you can buy for yourself or your sweetheart!

Ah, the button element. Overlooked by some, but loved by those that know it and use it. With the power of button, you can make style great-looking form buttons in any browser. I was introducing someone to its awesomeness yesterday, when the idea for this tee came to me.

Get one now!

Why? BECAUSE (in plaintext)

Posted January 4, 2007 at 2:32 AM | Tagged as: Quotations, Women! | Comments Off

Via Feministing/jerseygirl80, originally known as the Women’s Rights Manifesto…

Because woman’s work is never done and is underpaid or unpaid or boring or repetitious and we’re the first to get fired and what we look like is more important than what we do and if we get raped it’s our fault and if we get beaten we must have provoked it and if we raise our voices we’re nagging bitches and if we enjoy sex we’re nymphos and if we don’t we’re frigid and if we love women it’s because we can’t get a “real” man and if we ask our doctor too many questions we’re neurotic and/or pushy and if we expect childcare we’re selfish and if we stand up for our rights we’re aggressive and “unfeminine” and if we don’t we’re typical weak females and if we want to get married we’re out to trap a man and if we don’t we’re unnatural and because we still can’t get an adequate safe contraceptive but men can walk on the moon and if we can’t cope or don’t want a pregnancy we’re made to feel guilty about abortion and…for lots and lots of other reasons we are part of the women’s liberation movement.

I’d also add, “…and if we’re working in science or technology and we’re not ugly and totally geeky we must only be in it because a man helped us get there…” — because that’s sometimes how you’re perceived when you’re a smart and beautiful woman in science/tech. (Men are just so catty sometimes!)

Owning It and Appreciating It

Posted July 12, 2006 at 7:46 AM | Tagged as: Computing, Meeeeeeee, Quotations, Technology, Women! | Comments Off

I am a geek, a computer nerd, a technologist, a computer scientist. Since a young age, I’ve been good at tinkering with mechanical and electrical things. I always loved math and computers, writing programs, playing games, and helping people achieve their goals through the use of technology.

I was good at other things too, and when people discouraged me from pursuing my interests in math, science, and technology, I focused on those other things. But, thanks to a liberal arts education (in which I realized my true strengths) and good people who helped reignite my interest in computers, I eventually came back to technology, and have made a career of my passion.

In 2003, just 29 percent of Computer Scientists were female. As Katha Pollitt (and many other feminists) would have me say, my presence here is a victory for the women’s movement!

I will not be scared away by statistics of dwindling numbers of women in the field, or by sluggish job prospects. I will not be intimidated by men in the field, nor will I be swayed by “opt-out feminists” who would want me to believe that my true calling is in the home by my husband’s side. Many women have gone before me, and I will seek to include more young girls and women in the field, and to support them as they traverse this rough and bumpy road.