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Afternoon off

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I had to take an afternoon off today. We’ve an unfortunate gap in our childcare arrangements. As if I don’t get enough of it in work, we’re interviewing a couple of people over the weekend. Fingers crossed we’ll have it sorted.
So I’m making the most of it: we have a classmate over which, as a family with two parents in full time work, is a rare occurrence. While Nipper 2.0 and his chum are off building something glorious with Lego, I’m fitting in some daylight crochet. I blogged about this top before and have since ripped back the two side panels, removing the beetroot stain in the process, and redid them. It’s turning out much better this time.

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Bootie call

A while back I did an advanced crochet course in Springwools . While I wouldn’t consider myself half as advanced as some of the women (and of course they were ALL women in the class) I was made very welcome indeed. I looked forward to the class every week and knowing that someone would be able to untangle any knots I got into I became more adventurous in my choice of patterns.

One of my classmates had a bit of an obsession with booties; converse style ones in particular. She made all sorts but recommended this pattern in particular. I have now made two pairs and this is the second below. I hope this pair actually get to the lucky child before he/ she is too bug for them. The last pair will make a nice Xmas tree decoration. Oh well.
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An bhfuil Quora againn?

Tá giolla nua sa ghairdín a bhfuiltear ag tabhairt an ’Facebook nua’ air. Tá an clú sin tuillte aige toisc an chosúlacht idir a sheirbhís agus “Facebook Questions”. Níl an tseirbhís sin ó Facebook ar fáil ar fud an domhain go fóill, ach tá seirbhís Quora i ngach cearn a bhfuil an t-idirlíon ar fáil. Séard atá i Quora ná ceisteanna curtha, freagartha agus coiméadta ag an bpobal atá in úsáid. Is léir gur thuig bunaitheoirí Quora go raibh daoine ag úsáid an idirlín chun ceisteanna a fhreagairt agus ba léir ó leithéidí Twitter agus Facebook go raibh siad ag cur níos mó muinín i bhfreagraí ó dhaoine in ionad a chur sna freagraí a fuair siad ó chuardach Google.

Is céim nádúrtha i dtimthriall cuardaigh iad Quora is a mhacasamhail. Thosnaigh cuardach le leithéid Yahoo a bhailíodh ábhar spéisiúil agus a choimeádadh é ar a son siúd a bhí ag cuardach eolais. Ach d’éirigh an tIdirlíon i bhfad rómhór, róthapaigh agus cruthaíodh Google. Ach anois tá an-iomarca tuisceana ar algartam Google agus tá an t-inneall seo faoi ionsaí ag na seoltóirí turscair is na scrábaire scáileáin agus is minic nach bhfaightear aon eolas feidhmiúil go dtí an dtríú nó an ceathrú leathanach.

Tháinig ar an saol mar sin, ní hamháin Quora, ach na céadta seirbhísí eile atá ag déanamh iarracht an t-eolas a choimeád in ord agus in eagar don bhrabhsálaí idirlín. Tá ar ndóigh, Yahoo Answers ann ach tá an suíomh seo truaillithe nuair nach bhfuil córas ceart coimeádta air. Féach mar shampla an bailiúchán seo de cheisteanna is de fhreagraí dochreidte. Bí cúramach – tá an t-ábhar seo NSFW mar a deirtear in acrainim Béarla (“Not Safe For Work”).

Níos Deisiúla Fós

Tá neart suíomhanna téacs agus meáin saibhre ann a mhíníonn conas rudaí a dhéanamh is a fhreagraíonn ceisteanna VideoJug, About, WikiHow agus fiú YouTube agus Wikipedia ach tá cúpla rud ann a chabhraíonn le Quora:

  1. Tá sé simplí agus soiléir: tá an t-inneall cuardaigh ag an mbarr ar fad. Tar éis cuardach a dhéanamh, muna mbíonn do cheist curtha cheana féin romhat, is féidir do cheist féin a chur. Sula gcuirtear an chéad cheist, caithfear ceacht sciobtha a dhéanamh. Tá trí shampla den saghas ceiste atá muintir Quora ag lorg agus caithfidh tú an sampla ceart a roghnú. Rud beag teagascach b’fhéidir, ach is léir go luath go bhfuil foireann Quora dáiríre faoi chaighdeán an ábhair ar a suíomh.
  2. Agus ag caint ar fhoireann Quora: tá an feidhmchlár idirlín seo cruthaithe ag meitheal innealtóirí iar-Facebook, ina measc Adam d’Angelo an chéad phríomhfheidhmeannach teicneolaíochta ar Facebook. Seo dream daoine a bhfuil saineolas acu, ní hamháin ar chruthú gréasáin sóisialta, ach ar úsáid, mí-úsáid agus ar fhorbairt gréasáin sóisialta.
  3. Tuiscint agus taithí: leis an tuiscint agus taithí sin, thóg bunaitheoirí Quora gréasán a úsáideann an dá rudaí is tábhachtaí ar an idirlíon le deich mbliana anuas: sóisialtacht agus cuardach. Chruthaigh siad feidhmchlár leis an eolas seo a thit i lár na deighilte eatarthu. Is féidir an suíomh a chuardach ach is féidir cairde is comhluadar a leanúint nó is féidir brabhsáil trí ábhar nó amlíne. Ach mar bharr ar sin, tá Quora oscailte do chuardach Google; muna bhfuil spéis agat mar sin, tumadh isteach i Quora féin, gheobhaidh tú freagra ar do cheist ar Google ar aon nós. Chomh maith leis sin má tá foláirimh eocharfhocal socraithe agat ag Google.com/alerts, ba chóir go bhfaigheadh tú foláirimh ar an ábhar gur spéis leat ó Quora leis. Seo éagsúlacht bhunúsach idir Quora agus Facebook: tá Facebook, don chuid is mó, dúnta ó chuardaigh Google. Ar an taobh sóisialta de, tá Quora go hiomlán nasctha le Twitter, Google agus Facebook tríd a nApi-anna agus is féidir leat do chairde ar na gréasáin sin atá ag úsáid Quora a leanúint gan stró agus is féidir ceisteanna is freagraí a roinnt ar na gréasáin sin freisin.
  4. Daoine seachas ábhar; ábhar seachas daoine: Is minic a leantar daoine ar Twitter agus leathanaigh ar Facebook mar tá spéis agat san ábhar atá faoi chaibidil ag an duine nó ag an leathanach sin. Ag tógáil ar an mian sin, is féidir tosnú ar Quora trí ábhar a leanúint in ionad daoine. Is féidir cuirithe a chur amach chuig cairde ar leith agus sa chuireadh is féidir ábhar ar leith a lua leo. Mar shampla, nuair a thug mé cuireadh do mo mháthair, iarmhúinteoir Francaise, luaigh mé léi trí eocharfhocal a bhuail isteach go mbeadh sí abalta “múineadh” “An Fhrainc”, “Tuismitheoireacht” agus “Fraincis” a leanúint. Nó i mbéarlagair Quora féin “thug” mé ábhar di.
  5. Muinín: Ceann de na deacrachtaí is mó le Google, go háirithe anois ó tá sé go hiomlán “imeartha” ag na saineolaí optamú inneall cuardaigh ná nach féidir leat a bheith cinnte gurb iad na torthaí a fhaigheann tú na torthaí is fearr. Ar Quora is féidir vóta a chaitheamh ar son an freagra is fearr ar cheist, is féidir tráchtaireacht a fhágáil ar cheist agus fiú amháin, is féidir eagarthóireacht a dhéanamh, ní hamháin ar fhreagra ach ar an gceist féin. Chomh maith leis sin tá cnaipe chun buíochas a gabháil le freagróir ar leith. Mar sin, go háirithe ar na hábhair is conspóidí, d’fhéadfá a bheith cinnte go leor go bhfuil an pobal ag faireadh air.

Sásamh

Seoladh Quora i lár an samhraidh seo chaite ach bhí sé dúnta do chách seachas an dream a raibh cuireadh faighte acu. Osclaíodh é don saol mór le mí anuas, ach cheana, tá daoine mór le rá ar líne an-tógtha leis, An Scobleizer féin ina measc, a scríobh

“I’m really loving it. I have a hard time explaining why. I’m not the only one, either. Wow.”

Rabhadh amháin áfach: bí ar an eolas gur slogaide ama amach is amach é an suíomh seo agus níl aon nuálacht ag baint leis sin. Is féidir mise a leanúint ag http://www.quora.com/Roseanne-Smith

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Find your inner Ada

So my Ada Lovelace Day post is a lot late. Ironically it is because I was so busy looking after our own Ada! I have great hopes that in 30 years time I will be able to write about her on Ada Lovelace Day!

Today is Ada Lovelace Day and bloggers are encouraged to write about women in technology and science. As the holder of not one but two Masters (or Mistresses!) of Science I feel downright obliged to take up this challenge. However as one of those MScs has been described as a “MSc for drawing pictures” and the other is in the social sciences you will understand that my take on science and technology might be a little broader than most. Rather than writing about one woman in particular I have decided to write about all the women who have inspired scientific thoughts in my mind over the years.

  1. I’m going to kick off badly with an assumption and that assumption is that whoever decided to install two science labs (and only one Home Ec. room) in my secondary school was a woman. It was a convent run school with maybe 5 male teachers, none of whom taught science, so is it a fair assumption? These labs were large, bright and, I thought, well-equipped (although I had never been in any other science lab so…). They were probably very old-fashioned with their wooden worktops and rolly blackboards compared to the labs that many schools would have nowadays. But all the wood and the trees outside conjured up the kind of lab you could imagine Marie Curie hunkering down in for some serious experimentation.
  2. These labs would have been all for nothing if the nuns who ran the school hadn’t timetabled plenty of science. No matter what choice of subjects that was made for Inter or Leaving Cert you could always mix in some science subjects. Not only that but science was afforded the same hours as core subjects English, Irish, Maths & French.
  3. I was also lucky to have some great teachers. Ms. Stevenson taught me science to Inter Cert with a no-nonsense approach. She also went on to have the joy of teaching me Chemistry to Leaving Cert and I’m sorry to have let her down at the last hurdle with that D. Ms. Mee taught me Physics to Leaving Cert and taught us above all, especially in Science, it’s all about experimentation. Every week she would demonstrate an experiment in our single Physics before lunch and not one of her experiments ever worked.
  4. My lab partners in Physics and Chemistry to Leaving Cert kept me going through the more boring parts of Organic Chemistry. A big shout out to S & M, you know who you are! S, in particular said one of the nicest if nerdiest thing to me ever when we were in sixth year. Discussing electormagnetics she said, “I always remember cathodes are negative and Roseanodes are positive.” A description I have always tried to live up to ever since.
  5. My mother has always been a keen advocate of technology especially as a teaching aid. She purchased an IBM PC for the family when I was still in secondary school. Also some thanks must go to the eldest “girl” in my family who brought computers into our home when other families were just getting to grips with VCRs. My eldest brother Blaise won a ZX Spectrum in a Telecom Eireann Art Competition (weird I know) and the headline under the picture of him with his long hair and the two actually female runners up the next day ran, “Three schoolgirls win prizes…” My mother was and still is an early adopter when it comes to technology and was the first person to teach me how to use a PC. Mainly she just left us at it which is what it’s all about really. Except when the child is three (covering my own ass for giving out to Nipper 2.0 messing with my laptop.)
  6. Science and I then parted company for a while as I studied Drama Studies and Modern Irish. That said there was some study of semiotics, the science of signs, and linguistics, the science of language, but no noteworthy women popped up. However aforementioned S and I communicated by email throughout this time as her science career continued overseas. At the time students in TCD had to apply for an email account, with the blessing of a lecturer from their faculty, and it was very complicated because I had to explain to my tutor what email was. I also spent a year in Glasgow University who were a little ahead of TCD and this helped me really develop my use of computers and the internet for communication and research.
  7. My MSc in Multimedia Systems introduced me to plenty of inspirational women not least Ada Lovelace herself as part of our gallop through the history of computing at the very beginning of the course. Between my female classmates and some of our lecturers my love of popular technology developed and grew. However, try as they might, my actual technical abilities did not and the word Java still send shivers down my spine. It’s all coming out now. A particular shout out to my favourite physicist – you know who you are!
  8. Since then I’ve had numerous jobs but my ability to use computers and the internet has always been part of my success. When I read (online!) about a new online course in Social Research Skills I knew I could do it and that the online aspect would be a boon for me rather than an obstacle. I would like to thank the course director, Professor Síle O’Connor, for taking a leap of faith and allowing someone with no previous social science qualification to undertake the course. I hope the fact that I and two other women were the first to complete the MSc online proved her right. It was tough going at times as I had to learn a whole new way of thinking. I was particularly inspired by our qualitative research skills lecturer Wendy Saunderson who managed to communicate her passion for qualitative research methods across time and space. I was only sorry that when it came to my thesis I ran out of time to include a qualitative section to put some of her training to the test.
  9. Since I started working with the Irish Internet Association I have, of course, met many inspirational female technologists, innovators and early adopters. If I start naming names, I’ll leave someone out so I won’t. That said it has not escaped my notice that I tend to be one of only a handful of women at technology events in Ireland. (It also hasn’t escaped my attention that I feel like a bit of a techfaux at many of these events but everyone needs fans and hangers-on, right?) If I have been given the honour of speaking at a business event I will generally be the only female speaker. Coming from a completely different sector which, up to a certain level, is female dominated, it was very noticeable to me how few women were visible in the online/ internet/ technology sector. This is not a new topic but it is certainly one that deserves to be raised regularly. Of course, I don’t think women should only be asked to speak because they are women but I have been asked to participate in initiatives where the fact that I’m a woman is an added bonus. In other words I would not have been asked without my expertise but I am being asked rather than a man with the same expertise because I’m a woman and it’s essential that the initiative include the views of women. Honestly I don’t know how I feel about that. I know it’s wrong but generally I think the exclusion of women in hitherto male dominated sectors is still an issue that needs to be underlined.
  10. I mentioned that my take on science & technology might be somewhat broader than most. I am going to include two architects. Firstly Dublin-based Celie O’Connell designed our beautiful home which is full of light and space and is a joy to live in. Secondly Louise Sliney is an amazing architect based in Cork who has created a beautiful home for herself to which she welcomes our whole family at the drop of a hat. If you need an architect either of these women will treat you royally!