In this blog I tell of some of my encounters, how computers have evolved over time, share stories about tech with women in mind, review amazing books written by or about women in tech, share inspirational stories of leadership and success, discuss challenges facing women and girls in STEM.
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Once Upon a Prime
What an amazing book! I was so excited when I read about ‘Once Upon a Prime’ by Sarah Hart in the Guardian. It coincided with Celeste my 9 year old granddaughter asking ‘Grandma, what is a prime number?’ I replied with the usual explanation: ‘It’s a number that can only be divided by itself and 1’ though I… Read more
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How many robots does it take to empty a waste bin?
It’s good to know that robots with all their artificial intelligence are not too high and mighty to empty the waste bins. Of course being intelligent, they don’t just empty the bins. Oh no, they analyse what is in there, categorise it, list it and sort it out. No more emptying the whole lot into… Read more
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Archives of IT
Feeling honoured to be included in the Archives of IT – a digital database of media and interviews from leading people associated with the UK IT and Telecoms industry. The archive aims to help understand and encourage the study of the industry and how it has changed our lives. It certainly changed my life! See… Read more
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Is my every thought being monitored?
I first came across keystroke monitoring in the mid eighties when researching the design of user interfaces. Before the internet existed but at a time of wide spread use of computers by office workers. Our goal was to examine whether an individual user would perform better with one interface design than with another. Psychological tests… Read more
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Do I need an AI Advisor?
I’m troubled, truly troubled by the endless talk of AI. We don’t even say Artificial Intelligence anymore. ‘AI’ has taken on a life of its own. ‘Oh it’s the AI’ ‘It’s all decided by AI’ ‘they are AIs’ Do I need help? I read recently that the Pope has an AI Advisor. If such an elevated… Read more
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10 years at CoderDojo
In case you don’t know, CoderDojo is a programming club for young people aged 7 to 17. The Manchester Dojo celebrated its 10th anniversary in Dec 2022 with almost 50 children (ninjas) and 20 volunteer mentors (including me). I was asked by fabulous organisers Claire McDonald and Lisa Chan Brown to make a 90sec video… Read more