Another Rails Girls Ljubljana workshop also meant another lecture on how the internet works and the basics of programming. The goal was to ease in the participants, this time mostly high school girls, into the practical workshop that consisted of creating a web app for collecting ideas in Rails. I was pretty happy with the first version of the lecture I did for our very first workshop that used a cute story about GitHub's Octocat, who loves sushi, but doesn't eat fish.
It can be surprisingly easy to not notice things because "that's just the way it is". I have to admit I used to feel that way about the lack of women in tech. Just as a lot of women in the industry, I quickly started to think of myself as on of the guys and not even notice that I'm consistently a part of a minority at most tech events. In some ways, I was lucky that my mom was a geek even before that was a fashionable word and that I grew up without ever knowing computers were boys’ toys. But once you do start paying attention, it's impossible to turn the other way.
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| Self-driving cars will be on our roads soon, so why is it that seeing a large group of girls in front of a computer science faculty is still an exception reserved for Rails Girls events? |
I found myself in a bit of an awkward situation when I had to explain to my friends why I would be flying to Brussels this week. Sure, I knew the official answer. I have been selected as one of the 25 members of the "Young Advisors Expert Group on implementation of the Digital Agenda for Europe" (yeah, I had to copy-paste that). I suppose it looks nice on my CV. And I will be visiting the capital of the European Union for the first time.
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| Photo by Jordan Hatch |
One of the things I loved most about Evernote was its ability to keep all my notes synced across multiple devices. Sounds great, doesn't it? Yeah, except things don't "just work" anymore.
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| Over a hundred people at the first Rails Girls Ljubljana workshop! Photo by: Katarina Jazbec |
One of challenges of organizing Rails Girls Ljubljana was coming up with short lectures that would prepare the girls, absolute beginners, to understand the basic terminology of the web and what they would be working on.
Sure, there are some existing presentations online about what programming is and where Rails fits in the whole story, but I thought beginners could benefit from something a bit more simple, funny and thus memorable. Which is why I borrowed GitHub's mascot Octocat and sent him off on a journey to find sushi without fish on the web. Wait, what?
One year ago I first came across this strange website, 750words.com (thanks, Swizec!). Simple concept, simple instructions. Write 750 words. And come back again tomorrow, write at least 750 more. Rinse and repeat. 750 words. Each and every day in the past year. Now a total of 356,548 words, 367 days.
And there is a particularly interest aspect in the books for me: the slowness of communication and how utterly unaware most characters are about what's going on in the rest of the world. They don't have Twitter to cover the latest rumors about the dragons from across the sea. They don't have paparazzi following queen Cersei around King's Landing. They can't make threats to distant foes in a blink of an eye through SMS or email. They don't have people making "King Joffrey totally looks like his uncle Jaime" posters on meme sites.
There's a big shift happening in the world of consumer applications. The web is finally becoming a true visual medium. We are finally leaving the limitations of the early, text-based web and computers and embracing visual creative thinking.
Want some proof? Instagram. Photo sharing mobile app with artsy filters sold to Facebook for 1 billion USD. 50 million users, popular among teens. Pinterest. One of the fastest growing social web sites, centered around visual bookmarking, easily beats Google+ on engagement. Draw Something. Insanely popular mobile game, making millions of users finger paint with a childlike joy. Something is going on.
I've got a confession to make. There is a new website that is capturing an increasing number of spare minutes in life. It provides an endless stream of visual inspiration, and every time you use it, you can't help but feel a bit more creative. Yep, I'm in love with Pinterest, the latest over-hyped tech media darling.
I did try to resist it, I swear. When I saw the first blog posts about it, I thought I didn't need a service like that. I tried to convince myself that Tumblr and Instagram were enough for me. And I didn't want to fall into the whole "women love Pinterest" stereotype. But then, as the hype kept growing, I gave in to my curiosity and a professional dedication to trying out all the new cool social services in town. And I haven't looked back ever since. Why is that, and why does it matter?
I know it's super trendy to be anti-Facebook and looking for more "open" or less "evil" alternatives like Google+ or Diaspora. But after the massive changes announced at Facebook's f8 developer conference on Thursday, I feel like it's time I say this out loud: I love Facebook.
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| Facebook, one of my favorite web destinations |
I wouldn't really call Subjot a Twitter alternative. It actually works quite well with Twitter, and in a way provides a middle way between Twitter and Facebook, providing a public space for discussions based around topics user define themselves. Call me crazy, but I actually see Subjot as Google+ done right. Intrigued? I sure do hope so, because I think Subjot is a nice little gem with a lot of potential and a harbinger of a larger trend. Let me explain why.
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| Subjot: "Talk about your favorite subjects. Let your friends choose what to follow." |
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| Goodbye, old iWeb website! |
But apparently time had come to find a new home for my online hub; a journey, which ended up on Tumblr. So, read on if you want to know why I chose Tumblr and how I'm using this micro-blogging platform as my personal website.
And that's why I decided to put together an overview of some of the key trends in the mobile industry that are already influencing the way we study, work and socialize, and will probably be an increasingly important part of our day to day life. You can find the slides and the video of my lecture, as well as a text recap, in this post.
Now, imagine this setting: instead of hooking your classroom overhead projector to the painfully slow computer on the teacher's desk, connect it to the $99 Apple TV. And then use AirPlay Mirroring on your iPad to share presentations, your web browser or any of the 90,000 (!) beautiful apps for the iPad.
And the best thing? You're free to walk around the classroom and let your students interact with the apps.
In the previous post I highlighted some of my favorite presentations from this year's iMoot, a web based international conference dedicated to Moodle, an open-source learning management system. The 4 day event ran 24 hours a day to accommodate all time zones and was packed with 50+ speakers across 6 continents. So, how does it feel to attend such event purely online?
First of all, I would like to thank and applaud the iMoot organizers for putting together such an amazing event. Julian Ridden and his team worked hard day and night to make sure everything was running smoothly and everyone had the necessary support. And if you're wondering what it takes to orchestrate such an event, just take a look at Julian's "iMoot Control Room". |
| Basic options for every iMoot session |
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| Awesome dynamic schedule with all session links on the iMoot site |
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| iMoot 2011 conference lounge |
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| Adobe Connect during Martin's keynote |
I'm really glad I took the time to attend this year's iMoot, a web based international conference dedicated to Moodle, our beloved open-source learning management system. The 4 day event ran 24 hours a day to accommodate all time zones and was packed with excellent speakers and presentations.
According to last year's AdMod Mobile Metrics Report, nearly three quarters of Android users are male. Sure, other tech gadgets and smartphone operating systems do tend to show a slight male bias, but why is the percentage of Android female users so dramatically low? And can anything be done to make Android more appealing to women?
In part 1, I talked about my personal experience with three of the most popular operating systems for mobile devices of today and the future. In this post, I'd like to continue my analysis by looking at which OS has the biggest potential to become a hit product of our classrooms.
