Web Stuff Blog Archive
Posted May 12, 2008 at 9:37 PM in Computing, Quotations, Web Stuff, Women! | Comments Off
Five ACM experts have contributed to the twelfth edition of Deborah Morley’s college textbook, Understanding Computers: Today & Tomorrow. One of them, Chandra Krintz, Vice Chair of the ACM Special Interest Group on Programming Languages, answered the question, Are programming skills necessary to be a Web site developer today?
Yes, more than ever. Web sites today are dynamic, interactive, complex, and highly adaptive to appeal to the specific and changing needs of the individual users and consumers that constitute today’s competitive commercial markets and popular Web communities. Programming languages have evolved to support existing and emerging Web technologies. Developers today must be able to use effectively a wide range of high-level programming language technologies, such as Java, AJAX, Ruby/Rails, Python, ASP.Net, and PHP, and to adapt quickly to new languages, frameworks, and practices. Programming expertise enables developers to implement efficiently dynamic Web page content, as well as the distributed and layered systems through which Web pages interact with databases and other back-end applications. In addition, strong and marketable programming skills today include team-based work styles and pair programming, test-driven program deployment, agile workplaces, and use of visual and interactive development environments. Programming skills are key to the success, productivity, and satisfaction of today’s Web developers.
Posted January 8, 2008 at 2:24 AM in Meeeeeeee, North Dakota, Web Stuff | Comments (3)
So, I’ve redesigned my site. The old design was up for over a year, and I got many interesting comments about its “pinkness” — funny, because to me it was mostly black text on a white background (with various hues of magenta for accent) — but that’s how people saw it. I guess it did serve to communicate that I have no problem with being seen as “girly” in the world of tech, but I didn’t set out to make any particular statement by it. (My apologies to anyone who’s disappointed by that statement, but I’ve got to be honest.)
This new design — or the color scheme, I should clarify — is very close to my heart. It’s the same set of colors I used to paint my house in North Dakota, and since that house is being put up for sale, I wanted some way of remembering it. Plus, I knew I wanted swirly things in a new design. It didn’t all come out exactly as I had imagined, but with tweaking over time it just might get there. The code certainly could use some work — I made a number of design changes in the process of putting things together and the code reflects that bit of schizophrenia.
Despite all of that, I’m happy to see something new. The start of a new year, after all, is all about getting a fresh start, right? Comments on the design are welcome.
Posted May 3, 2007 at 1:14 AM in GHC, Technology, Web Stuff, Women! | Comments Off
The new Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology site went live earlier today. Please check it out and let me know what you think!
The production of this site has been one of my labors of love over the past year and I’m so honored that the Institute, whose mission is near and dear to my heart, chose KimmieCorp to create their new Web presence. But I didn’t work alone:
- Phoebe Espiritu did all of the UI and Visual Design work, and without her efforts, this site wouldn’t look anywhere near as elegant and engaging as it does.
- Erica Rios, ABI’s Internet Project Manager, deserves huge kudos for persuading ABI to undergo this redesign, and for working so diligently to see it through.
- Eric Mason and Deborah Alexander, the ABI Communications team, were also key in giving design direction and in posting content.
Thanks to everyone above for their great work, plus to everyone else at ABI (including their volunteers) for their trust and cooperation!
Folks, here’s a public service reminder: There are plenty of other non-profit and volunteer organizations out there that need help and advice when it comes to creating a functional, usable, accessible and stylish Web site… so find one that you’re committed to and get to work! The organization will have a site that communicates their message in a compelling manner, and you’ll have work that you can be proud of. It’s great when doing good is a win-win.
Posted March 8, 2007 at 2:06 PM in Industry Events, SxSW, Technology, Travel, Web Standards, Web Stuff, Women! | Comments (1)
Alrighty folks, it’s SXSW time.
Come to the WaSP Annual Meeting where we’ll tell you what we’ve been up to, and where we’ll be Takin’ it to the Street on Monday, March 12 at 5 PM.
My AOL pals are doing another “How to Convince Your Company” panel, this time on embracing mashup culture. And Arun is also doing a browser wars panel, and I honestly can’t think of anyone else who’d be better at leading such a discussion.
I was surprised to learn that PayPal is also getting involved in SXSW, by sponsoring an evening event: the PayPal SXSW Showdown. I’m going to meet the organizer later today and find out what it’s all about. If you want to attend, be sure to RSVP!
Other stuff I’m looking forward to…
If you see me, stop me and say hello!
Posted February 27, 2007 at 8:54 AM in Web Stuff, Women! | Comments (7)
Wow. This whole gender diversity thing really took off, but I wonder if it’ll continue, or if it’s dying. If you haven’t gotten in on it yet, read Virginia DeBolt’s summary at BlogHer. Some opinions I’ve enjoyed on this topic come from:
I also thought more about Eric Meyer’s comment about publishing, and it took me back to the publish or perish concerns that many scientists and researchers have. Am I a woman scientist? pointed to this paper, which, while relating to the biological sciences, reiterates what I’ve learned about academic paper publishing both in general and in the computer science field.
There is a clear difference between men and women in science with regard to the quantity of their research output. On average, males publish more papers than their female counterparts, a trend that is consistent across scientific disciplines and exists even when obvious mitigating factors are taken into consideration. The causes of this difference are mysterious … However, it may also be a consequence of social factors.
I believe that all of the above is true of publishing in the Web world.
The study also goes on to state that while women produce fewer papers, their papers are generally rated as being of better quality than those produced by men, and are more often cited in other research. I don’t want to extrapolate this particular statement and apply it to the Web world, but it’s something to think about.
Getting back to quantity, however… if the bulk of publications are produced by men, one might assume that the tendency to publish is more male than female. And thus arises another concern that I have — that, in order for women to gain more prominence in our field, we’re expecting them to behave like men. Is this fair? Is it right?
Robert Scoble said on Shelley’s blog that one has to learn to beg [for links] via email and/or face-to-face meetings… men do this far far more often than women do. I also took issue with this, because, again, the expectation is that women should do what men do to get noticed.
I know it’s been done already, but I’ll again ask all of the people involved in this ongoing conversation to to stop and think not about what women can do to get noticed or be seen as an expert, but what they can do to help identify, encourage, and support women. The confidence to ask for links or the opportunity to publish or speak may need to be socialized more with women first — you can’t just expect them to be told to do something in order to see change.
And I’ll ask the women out there to think about what we can be doing to help raise awareness of what we do as individuals, about what we contribute to the field, and how we should be promoting these things to the industry. What can we do to promote opportunities to contribute, what opportunities can we create for ourselves, and how do we foster this ongoing dialog?
While it was a man who helped to reignite this discussion, I ultimately think that women need to own it. I don’t want to say that we’ve all been happy to take a back seat and be content with what we’ve got, because I know that’s not true… but unless we continue to fuel this discussion, and unless we take ownership of steering it and educating others, we won’t see many gains made.
Hi, my name is Kimberly Blessing. I'm a computer scientist, Web developer, standards evangelist, feminist, and geek. This is where I write about life, the Web, technology, women's issues, and whatever else comes to mind.
