web-goddess

Month: November 2017

  • Shared today on Twitter

    You may be a lot more interested in this talk when you discover it’s about a hackathon project solving 🚽 and 💩,. So many puns. 😂 @Hatchman76 https://t.co/dbocPXnIZk

    Sewing isn’t high tech at all, right? 🙄 (Automatic buttonhole feet are wonders of engineering!) https://t.co/1UiJhLKJIE

    Honestly, automatic buttonholers are the shit. And I don’t even have a fancy machine! ❤️

    DAMMIT. Do the fancy sewing machines warn you when the bobbin is about to run out? 😫

    @RedParrots Yeah, always do a few practice runs on scrap before I do the real ones!

    @minxdragon I actually like my non-computerised version because you can see exactly how it works. It uses springs! And levers! And gears! It’s a bodge, but one that works perfectly. It delights me.

    @ImeldaMarcos2 @RedParrots Haha, yeah, that was just a practice bit. You can see an aborted one on the left too in the video where I accidentally had stitch length on 0. 😂

    @Boltonvillista @drwitty_knitter Hm. Honestly, that’s my biggest pet peeve about this machine. You’re tempting me to think about an upgrade…

    @keptwench Hm. I’d probably play bobbin chicken too and still end up running out.

    RT @jchyip: The Pac-Man Rule at Conferences
    https://t.co/lSIsrpCVvb

    RT @hels: My take is: all 30 Under 30 lists should include disclosure of parental assets

    @yashints Ugh. I know. I have very little. 🙁

    RT @sydjs: https://t.co/4VLthxFxQN has opened RSVP for next Wednesday’s event. @ijayessbe @petronbot @web_goddess & @jsscclr Join us to be…

    @vicgasco You’re teasing me, right? 😂 This was my tweet: https://t.co/E3xF1yGbgu

    RT @WoodyZuill: Estimates and #NoEstimates workshop at YOW! Conf in Sydney Dec 5 https://t.co/8KvS5l9DLC

  • Shared today on Facebook

    Sewing isn’t high tech at all, right? 🙄 (Automatic buttonhole feet are wonders of engineering!)

    Early anniversary dinner! Lucky number 13. ☘️❤️ @ Firedoor

    Firedoor. Very, very good. @ Firedoor

  • Shared today on Twitter

    New meetup, Melbourne! https://t.co/GsXr1t09ee

    Hey Melbourne – you know what’s more fun than learning FP with @dibblego? Learning it with ME and @dibblego! Still spots available for the @yow_conf workshop Nov 29… https://t.co/5FfilwbTuQ

    @dibblego @yow_conf Really, I’m just trying to make sure there are enough people in there that my fumbling attempts at Haskell will go unnoticed…

    I got a new phone… and Airpods. (The Snook: “You look ridiculous.”) 😂 https://t.co/JPKXfCUFJL https://t.co/CQ0jF7Jj1p

    Kicking off #myobhackday! The vibe is AMAAAAZING. @MYOB @developerjack https://t.co/n2IOVJ63HB

    They hacked a teddy bear and poked LEDS in its eyes. 😱😂 #myobhackday https://t.co/8yg19uTId9

    Team Pub Lunch – making me hungry! (Nice cameo by a 🌈 @buildkite sticker!) #myobhackday @MYOB https://t.co/838auVgT0m

    Loving how teams incorporated the Lego imagery into their pitches! #myobhackday https://t.co/QH5Ac1tgNV

    I want this guy to give every tech talk. ❤️ “So Jason sends this thing to something… to the cloud…” 😂 #myobhackday @MYOB https://t.co/Yc19XsRIQe

    “Had anyone here ever been carded at a pub?” Of course THIS GUY raised his hand. 🙄 👶 #myobhackday @developerjack https://t.co/yipVbN31oF

    @SaraJChipps I sent the link to her dad. 🙂

    Using Lego bricks and farm animals in a video game to teach basic accounting principles. “THE COWS ARE BUILDING UP!!” 😂 🐄 #myobhackday https://t.co/geSyAaXZ5d

    RT @developerjack: And the team who learned the most, with the “skill stretch” award… Was the office finder guru team! #myobhackday https…

    @johnbarton 😍

    Are your shitting me now there’s a FOURTH ONE https://t.co/fbsMqlI2xV

    @corduroy The other ones are red and yellow. Maybe this one is their baby.

    @ClothoMoirai They’re bikes that you can rent and unlock with your phone. This is the fourth competing company that has appeared in Sydney in the past few months. They’re everywhere near my place blocking the sidewalk.

    @mmastertheone Same.

    @NicolaNaktarr That’s a good way of looking at it. I’m stuck on “irritated” whenever I see them.

    @NicolaNaktarr PS if I haven’t yet nagged you to consider submitting something for my miniconf, this is it! https://t.co/cdZhsnAPyG

    @NicolaNaktarr Some parts are! https://t.co/8z4EKUjvTX

    RT @yow_conf: If you missed the announcement yesterday, our #yowcto summit program for Melbourne is now up! Lots of great talks this year…

    RT @Ihnatko: Attendees at any conference: you don’t know how great it is to be a speaker and see positive Tweets about the talk you just ga…

    @unixbigot @TimReedMYOB It wasn’t a preso – a panel discussion. There was a live stream though so it may have been recorded! Check the #d61wit hashtag…

    RT @SalingerPrivacy: Everything wrong with capitalism based on data exploitation: “none of the share bike companies have a working business…

    RT @KloKlo: out of interest: plz RT if Johnny Depp’s presence in a film now actively discourages you from seeing it

    RT @shanselman: I refuse to feel guilty about my GitHub activity graph. You should too. https://t.co/U4OPHf10ey

    RT @candeira: Thread. https://t.co/EVkE5lydRR

    @rockbot Is this crafters.slack or something else?

    @rockbot Wait, I’m in WeSoCrafty too! 😂 Too many channels. I don’t log in enough.

    @rockbot I’ll sign in now. crafters.slack was started by @OphelieLechat I think; not sure if it’s very active.

    RT @i386: Hey @web_goddess want to create a startup that’s Uber for bikes but PLOT TWIST they all are blue with those little straw basket t…

  • Shared today on Facebook

    I’m speaking at this free conference on Tuesday in Sydney. The keynote speaker is from Pixar! 😳 Well worth attending if you can get the day off…

    I got a new phone… and Airpods. (The Snook: “You look ridiculous.”) 😂

  • I got a new phone… and Airpods. (The Snook: “You look ridiculous.”) 😂

  • Shared today on Twitter

    RT @AllThingsSmitty: I snuck this little #CSS gem into a project stylesheet to help the team remember #accessibility. 😎 #WebDev https://t.c…

    RT @danieljpeter: Let others know how awesome they are.

    😵 Goddammit LONGBOURN IS FOR SALE. And no, I certainly wouldn’t find the local society confined and unvarying. I’ll have you know I’d dine with all four and twenty families! – The house from ‘Pride and Prejudice’ is for sale https://t.co/ydkqnx5p7a via @Home_Beautiful https://t.co/fX2opNMBAD

    @JoeJoeKeys Like I wouldn’t notice you!

    @JoeJoeKeys If I could tell you how to do it, I would. Random chance, I suspect. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    @melissa_loh As someone with shitty veins, having an expert is important! (Hope you’re okay!)

    RT @yow_conf: 2 weeks to #yow17 Melbourne! Thank you PLATINUM sponsor @NAB! https://t.co/Oh1BIb0NjN

    Hey, it’s @sammy_lee12 with that fun robot whose name drives me batty! 😂 🤖 https://t.co/7zCf4wwm75

    @melissa_loh The Red Cross told me to stop trying to donate. They gave me official permission to just give up and donate money instead. 😂

    @JoeJoeKeys Awww, thank you 🙂

    @sammy_lee12 @yow_conf @YouTube I know @LareneLg said she found it scary to watch herself! I did too at first.

    @mandamonium @rosie_spragg This is amazing. I’d never seen it before. Thank you for sharing!

    I finally upgraded to a new phone yesterday. The Snook is very excited that I have a legit excuse to reply “NEW PHONE WHO DIS” to any text messages.

    RT @sarahmei: 1. This ad reinforces a long-standing and widely-believed trope in tech that is actually quite harmful: that code (“building”…

    @KenScambler @LukeSleeman @sammy_lee12 @yow_conf @YouTube @LareneLg For my recent @ignitesydney talk, I recorded it timed to the slides and then played it on my iPhone when I was on the bus, walking around, etc. That one was all about timing and memorisation!

    Lots of excitement as we kick off tonight’s #D61wit event at @Data61news! There’s apparently a live stream you can watch. https://t.co/Jpe3aoPxAX

    CEO of @Data61news Adrian Turner welcoming us and talking about the importance of diverse teams. #D61wit https://t.co/4uNylgmxbk

    Diversity goes beyond gender. It’s really about having a team of people with different experiences, says @TimReedMYOB. #d61wit https://t.co/dPn7yyRO5w

    The average age of a non-executive director on a board in Australia is… 63. 😱 The audience chuckled in shock. #d61wit

    RT @Data61news: If you’re just tuning in, our live-stream is here: https://t.co/filb7bBK1M #D61wit

    Question for the panel: what could a young woman do to prepare herself for a board role? What skills are most useful? #D61wit

    Interesting – @TimReedMYOB would rather put 3 women on an agile team together rather than split them up across multiple. Support is important. #D61wit

    Create your own personal Board of Directors, says @karenlawson2025. Find people who can give you good advice! #d61wit https://t.co/r4o2DQ5e8x

    MYOB’s #developHER program provides technology training to mature women looking to change careers. I met someone from the first intake – so inspiring! @TimReedMYOB #d61wit https://t.co/uDwcb6j924

    @allPowerde It hasn’t been asked yet. Hoping it will!

    The CSIRO used their own machine learning team to perform analysis on their historical salary data to address pay gap! #d61wit

    It’s so important for leaders to “LEAVE LOUDLY” when they take time off, go to pick up their kids, etc. Model behaviour for their teams. #d61wit

    @TheTonyHam IPhone 8.

    Hey, that’s my question!!! #d61wit

    Heh. @TimReedMYOB says we need women in executive leadership roles too. Making a plea for women to pause before going straight to board roles! #d61wit

    @LizlingC @Data61news I saw a tweet that you could, and it worked!

    Skills for board roles: public speaking and confidence, questioning, getting comfortable with difference between governance and DOING stuff. #d61wit

    Real talk as @TimReedMYOB tells a story about hearing a sexist remark in the workplace and how he dealt with it. Impressive. The standard you walk by is the standard you accept. #d61wit

    YASSSS. Too many Aussie tech companies just poach senior women from each other without supporting younger women in the pipeline. I’ve seen this over and over. Well said, Renee! #d61wit 👏

    @LizlingC 😂😂😂😂👍👍👍👍👍❤️❤️❤️❤️

    @MichelePlayfair Are you a writer, my friend?

    I’m a node. 🤓 #D61wit https://t.co/EEevUQiW7e

    @antday Nah, I use the cloud for all mine. I’m sure it works the same on both. It’s more just that it was a new phone. 😉

    @allPowerde 😂

    @OphelieLechat Oh god. @developerjack is the poster child for this.

    @SydneyPyLadies @pyconau Ahh, I wondered when I saw this week’s meetup got cancelled. Understandable.

    RT @SydneyPyLadies: Sydney Pyladies is going to be changing format. Rather than a regular monthly meetup, we are moving to occasional event…

    This is the miniconf I’m running – still looking for a few more proposals! #lca2018 https://t.co/Wf34XrUqkE

    The amazing talk with @SaraJChipps from @jewelbots where 8yo Clara from Brisbane live-coded in front of 150+ developers. (Clara’s bit starts at 12:30.) ❤️ @yow_conf https://t.co/6V2hsKkhuj

    @pwcc @DearEvanHansen I shall be listening to the soundtrack in envy. Have a wonderful time!!

    RT @janescowcroft: A lil bit of great end of week reading, hot on the heels of our @Data61news #D61wit women in tech panel https://t.co/Di5…

    @yow_conf I’m going to be a judge later this arvo… I should clearly aim to get there early so I can play! #myobhackday

    @yow_conf I’ll try and score/steal you some swag. 😉

    @mike_s_airey Only 6 though! Come on @DDDPerth. I want to show my Mom I did a real keynote. 😆

  • Shared today on Facebook

    It is a truth universally acknowledged that a young woman in possession of a great fortune must be in want of FRICKING LONGBOURN, PEOPLE. *brain melting*

    Thanks @Lucy Bain for pointing me to this. Maybe you, me, and @Elizabeth McKillop can all chip in and turn it into a timeshare?

  • Shared today on Twitter

    @gilmae Claim the spot and check a day or two ahead of time. You can always relinquish if there is a waitlist. (If it’s the one on Tuesday, men are very much welcome. Don’t hesitate at all!)

    @gilmae Ah, yeah, for that one I’m sure @lucykbain would be very appreciative if you give it up if there’s a waiting list. But there might not be!

    @koningwoning I’m literally not sure if you’re talking about “crafting” or “making” being a definition that’s been around for ages. I’m arguing that crafting has been around for ages, and it’s well wide enough to fit everything else in. 🙂

    @gilmae https://t.co/SB7iuoWuGZ

    @NicoleADonnelly Oh no. What happened?

    @NicoleADonnelly Ugh, that sucks. Sadly, the only thing that we’ve found that works in Sydney is charging $10. That takes us to 90% attendance, but it does introduce a barrier for some folks. 🙁

    @gilmae WAIT A SEC. It *is* on there. It’s the GGD event. So pbbbbbttttttt. 😝

    @gilmae Yeah, that’s weird. Google Calendar shows like 15 events that day. https://t.co/4FACgEZ1py

    Blog post: Viral. The past 72 hours on Twitter have been pretty weird for me, to say the least. https://t.co/QNBhd14MRS

    I really enjoyed this talk from @whalec from @yow_conf Connected in September! https://t.co/D33rakZIiu

    @webethel I know, right??! 😂

    Nicely done, @SpotifyAU. 😍 https://t.co/ofe8KbxRtF

    Yay for my old @canva colleagues Shipra and @jeamesbone! https://t.co/mvsgVHxFz9

    @anotherclive @DarrinLRogers @RoseRed_Shoes It’s not clear to me at all that it’s useful. I’m already a crafter who uses textiles, code, and electronics. The only thing calling myself a maker does is signify that I’m aligning myself with a brand and distancing myself from tradition.

    I went by today and someone had turned it around backwards. 😂 https://t.co/R6P3FxiQOo

    RT @LareneLg: My first conf talk on YouTube 😱 This year, it was my privilege to speak about coding inclusive apps at @yow_conf #YOWconnecte…

    RT @LareneLg: @yow_conf It’s so valuable to watch a recording to improve as a speaker 😳 but, gosh, I was way more nervous hitting ‘play’ th…

    @salcedony I’m so sorry no one ever told you that before. You have valuable technical skills. You do.

    How Nick Offerman Is Using Woodworking to Help Americans in Need https://t.co/bRHrCfQV6i via @menshealthmag // Best quote: “the world of craftsmanship doesn’t fall into neatly drawn gender lines.” (No mention of “makers.” Ahem.)

    @svthmc @NicoleADonnelly Sadly, the only thing I’ve found that works consistently is charging some nominal amount.

    @sassypants81 😡

    Really looking forward to the @Data61news #D61wit event tonight! If you missed out on a ticket, you can watch on the livestream. https://t.co/1IFQseNQ9g

    If you want to see @mipsytipsy in Sydney next week, you’ve got two options: Monday night with @SydTechLeaders (https://t.co/zZavRUboqk) or Tuesday night with @GGDSydney @WWCSyd @yow_conf (https://t.co/SB7iuoWuGZ)

  • Shared today on Facebook

    Blog post: Viral. The last 72 hours have been very surreal.

    Viral

  • Viral

    So as you may have gathered from my “favourite tweets” post of late, I had kind of a weird thing happen. One of my tweets went viral for the first time ever.

    Viral tweet

    It all started when a friend from Singapore shared a link on Facebook to this blog post. It’s about a recent controversy where the CEO of  Make magazine accused a Chinese maker named Naomi Wu of being “fake.” He endorsed an anonymous and sexist rumour that she was merely a front for a group. He’s since apologised, but the damage was done and Naomi is seeing the fallout amongst sponsors and advertisers. The blog post is an attempt to objectively talk about some of the biases at play in the community that led to this situation.

    In the comments — and I know, you should never read comments — I read this one from some MRA activist defending Dougherty and smearing Wu. Part of it reads:

    4) From Make’s own numbers, 80% of their audience are men. The “lack of diversity” that is complained about here, which we often hear about in STEM in general, is seen as axiomatic, despite now several decades of gender equal policy. Women do not seem as interested, even if nothing is stopping them from being interested. This is the myopic ideology of diversity uber alles, which ignores factual realities of the kind that got James Damore fired from Google.

    No. Just… no. Plenty of women are interested in engineering and fabrication and creating cool stuff, just as plenty of them are interested in technology and programming. They’re just not interested in putting up with the techbro bullshit that goes along with a lot of that. And 80%? In what universe? Only going by the narrowest possible definition of “maker.” What about the millions of women (and non-cis men and non-binary folks) sewing and knitting and embroidering and crocheting and cooking? Why don’t they count too?

    I actually attended a panel that Dougherty was on during Maker Faire Singapore back in July. It was a small event just aimed at educators primarily, but they had an open Q&A at the end. I couldn’t resist directing a question at Dougherty. I said that I was personally uncomfortable claiming the term “maker,” because I came from a long line of women crafters. Why did he feel the need to come up with a new name for just doing what they’ve been doing for generations? To me, I said, it felt gendered, a way for men to distance themselves from “girly” pursuits. He smiled politely and answered that the “maker” umbrella was very large, and that knitters and sewers and everyone else I’d mentioned were all official makers too. He tried to spin it as inclusivity. But I wasn’t asking to be admitted to his club; I was trying to get him to admit why he didn’t want to be part of mine. He was very nice though. We connected on LinkedIn afterwards, where I messaged him about my motivations in asking the question. He sent a short response that he appreciated where I wanted to go with the question and wished me luck.

    So, anyway. I read that stupid comment on Sunday morning and it made me see red. So I dashed off an annoyed tweet, as I’ve done any number of times, and then got to work on my latest sewing project. The tweet got a couple responses from friends, and I noticed throughout the day that more and more notifications started coming through. By 5pm I’d hit 1000 likes, more than I’d ever gotten before. By the time I went to bed, it had topped 2000 and seemed to be picking up steam. I noticed happily that Ysolda Teague (a big name in the knitting world) had retweeted it.

    I woke up Monday morning to 10K+ likes and 440 unread Twitter replies. Some sort of critical mass had been reached and it just kept going and going. Several people thought they were being helpful by tagging Adam Savage, asking him to retweet or send a reply. By this point I’d also had a handful of responses from trolls though, and I started to get worried what would happen if it got more visibility. (Sadly, this is a reality of being a woman on the Internet.)

    By Monday afternoon it was over 20K likes and 5K retweets. Cory Doctorow retweeted it, which is the closest I’ve ever gotten to Boing Boing. I was amused to see Andy Richter had retweeted it too. (Quoth the Snook: “Are you sure it wasn’t one of his brothers?” 😂) Twitter Analytics told me that it had had over 1M impressions (aka views). I had several hundred new followers. A few of my friends who had replied early were getting tagged in heaps of replies as people read down the thread and chimed in. (Sorry Jane and Lindsay!)

    Many, many folks helpfully told me about Jacquard looms and how textiles had inspired programming. Yes, I KNOW. I pointed them to the various talks I’ve done that actually cover that. Many other folks expressed their support for including textile arts and traditional crafts under the “maker” umbrella, pointing out that their local makerspace has a sewing machine or proudly proclaiming that “knitters and quilters are makers too.” (Again, not really what I was going for, but I appreciate the sentiment.) A few folks connected the dots to the Make controversy and weighed in on that topic. Mostly it was hundreds of people saying, “Yes, this. Language matters.” in various forms. It turns out that a lot of us suspect the “maker” label only became popular as a way to market to men.

    There were only a handful of people who responded negatively – I’d say less than 25 overall. One guy thought I was clearly just jealous of men who programmed and were DISRUPTING THE WORLD with their COOL APPS and stuff. (He stopped responding when I pointed out I’d also been working in tech for 20 years.) Others were insistent that making and crafting were different, but none of them agreed on what the difference was. Making involves ENGINEERING and TECH, you see. Or crafting involves LOVE. Or it had something to with a level of craftsmanship. Maybe we should look up the definition from William Morris? And why was I trying to foment some sort of gender war anyway? Couldn’t we just embrace both terms, separate but equal? One guy insisted over and over that we needed both terms because how else would people know to direct their enquiries to him (a maker) or his wife (a crafter)? 🙄

    Replies have continued to trickle in over the past two days. One of my favourites came from David New, the son of noted knitter Debbie New:

    David New tweet

    72 hours after the original post, things seem to finally be getting back to normal. Activity has died down enough that my mentions on Twitter are usable again. I’ve picked up about 800 new followers so far. The tweet has been viewed more than 1.7M times, liked 28K times, received 500 replies, and been retweeted 8500 times. I’ve been invited to appear on a podcast about the topic in a few months. That’s all pretty cool! A lot of folks have sent me lovely comments about my knitting talk videos, and I especially liked when crafters would send me photos of their own projects. The whole thing’s been quite a ride!