I bought myself a new t-shirt from Cafepress the other day and it arrived this week.
This is what it looks like
This is what it looks like on me
It looks nice on me, don't you think??
Asli Bilgin sent a note about a wonderful initiative which will be a pre-conference activity at the PDC this year.
WomenBuild... inspiring career paths in technology
In this workshop, attendees will participate in an environment of rich, interactive experiences by modeling real-life business challenges and solutions with LEGO® Bricks as part of the LEGO® Serious Play Program (LSP). WomenBuild will open your minds to exciting and inspirational ideas on how to be a thought leader in the technical field. We will work together in small groups to brainstorm and problem solve in a collaborative and productive way. You will work with people in various responsibility areas in teams. This way each role can impart their own unique perspective to the group, while collectively creating shared understandings that direct future activity effectively. The WomenBuild program incorporates a hands-on process that draws on the power of creative thinking to shift group conversation from talking heads to focused minds. Each team will be run as a facilitated conversation with physical Lego brick constructions that will powerfully shift a group to more productive outcomes by accomplishing a deeper mining of the diverse wisdom within the group and a clearer shared conclusion on inspirational career paths for women in the technical field. Through this workshop, attendees will share real life experiences, discuss challenges, network & build on-going relationships with other women who are attending the conference. Ultimately, attendees of this workshop will find ways to unleash their creative thinking and transform ideas into concrete concepts.
In this workshop, attendees will participate in an environment of rich, interactive experiences by modeling real-life business challenges and solutions with LEGO® Bricks as part of the LEGO® Serious Play Program (LSP). WomenBuild will open your minds to exciting and inspirational ideas on how to be a thought leader in the technical field. We will work together in small groups to brainstorm and problem solve in a collaborative and productive way. You will work with people in various responsibility areas in teams. This way each role can impart their own unique perspective to the group, while collectively creating shared understandings that direct future activity effectively.
The WomenBuild program incorporates a hands-on process that draws on the power of creative thinking to shift group conversation from talking heads to focused minds. Each team will be run as a facilitated conversation with physical Lego brick constructions that will powerfully shift a group to more productive outcomes by accomplishing a deeper mining of the diverse wisdom within the group and a clearer shared conclusion on inspirational career paths for women in the technical field.
Through this workshop, attendees will share real life experiences, discuss challenges, network & build on-going relationships with other women who are attending the conference. Ultimately, attendees of this workshop will find ways to unleash their creative thinking and transform ideas into concrete concepts.
How cool!
Asli - How can I help???
The covers came off the PDC2008 site and registrations are now open.
The Microsoft Professional Developers Conference (PDC) will be held on October 27 – 30, 2008 in Los Angeles, CA
And there's PDC2008 goodness all over the interweb
Now, I just need to find a job for myself so I can be in LA in October!
The past week saw Remix08 happening downunder in both Sydney and Melbourne.
The chatter on twitter was good, as were the blogs and the flickr photos
My old team did me proud. As David Lemphers said, in a totally unsolicited email - "They rocked!"
More from the folks on the ground
Shane Morris
Excerpt from New York Times Article:The Alpha Geekshttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/23/opinion/23brooks.html
In 1950, Dr. Seuss published a book called "If I Ran the Zoo." It contained the sentence: "I’ll sail to Ka-Troo, and bring back an IT-KUTCH, a PREEP, and a PROO, a NERKLE, a NERD, and a SEERSUCKER, too!" According to the psychologist David Anderegg, that’s believed to be the first printed use of the word "nerd" in modern English
The next year, Newsweek noticed that nerd was being used in Detroit as a substitute for "square." But, as Ander-egg writes in his book, "Nerds," the term didn’t really blossom onto mass consciousness until The Fonz used it in "Happy Days" in the mid- to late-1970s. And thus began what you might call the ascent of nerdism in modern America.
At first, a nerd was a geek with better grades. The word described a high-school or college outcast who was persecuted by the jocks, preps, frat boys and sorority sisters. Nerds had their own heroes (Stan Lee of comic book fame), their own vocations (Dungeons & Dragons), their own religion (supplied by George Lucas and "Star Wars") and their own skill sets (tech support). But even as "Revenge of the Nerds" was gracing the nation’s movie screens, a different version of nerd-dom was percolating through popular culture. Elvis Costello and The Talking Heads’s David Byrne popularized a cool geek style that’s led to Moby, Weezer, Vampire Weekend and even self-styled "nerdcore" rock and geeksta rappers.
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I had my hearing tested this week at a local clinic. My wife made me do it. She says I never hear what she says to me.
Here's the summary of the hearing test.
Seems I have trouble hearing high frequency sounds and the general conclusion is that it's genetic.
We will do another test in 12 months and see what changes.
I got an email the other day from a dear friend - Harvey Sanchez.
Harvey and I started around the same time at Microsoft. (I started before he did, but for some reason, he always forgets that piece of information).
Harvey is one of the coolest and passionate guys I know. He's Spanish, which helps explain all that.
And isn't he a snappy dresser!
Harvey's been blogging recently on http://blogs.technet.com.
Interestingly his first post was *after* I left Australia. Not sure what to make of that, but let's just say it's a coincidence.
Some of his recent posts give you a sense of what he is working on:
Harvey - I love you like a brother and I really look forward to seeing you soon!