Today (March 24) is the anniversary of Ada Lovelace. On this day, we are asked to blog and celebrate the achievements of women in technology and science. Last year I blogged an ABC list: Allison, Brenda, and Courtney. Here’s this year’s three, my 2010 TAJ:
Tabitha Roder runs the New Zealand OLPC testing group, convening regular meetings in two cities where often non-technical volunteers use the OLPCs and the latest versions of the software to find bugs. She’s articulate, passionate, and informed about education and the role of technology in creating healthy, powerful, and prepared citizens. She’s an inspiration to everyone who works with her, and one of the lingering images from Kiwi Foo 2010 for me was seeing her getting the NZ Deputy-Prime Minister, Bill English, fired up about OLPCs.
Amber Craig is a gadget fiend and extremely capable coder. She works for Telecom New Zealand on mobile phone projects, and develops in Drupal. She’s built something in two months of part-time hacking that I’ve laboured over for two years of part-time hacking!
Julie Starr ran the integration of the Daily Telegraph‘s digital and print news desks, and teaches the next generation of journalists. She has a new startup, All About The Story, which is a marketplace for quality stories. She’s tapping into the trends of thinning newsrooms and struggling journalists, using technology to create a way to connect writers with publishers. Being at the startup stage, it’s still a hard slog but she’s loving it. I admire her courage, insight, and persistence.