Stories from the WIT Trenches: Ann Millspaugh | SoftArtisans, Blogged

Posted by claire on Feb 15th, 2012 in WIT | 0 comments

[This is the seventh in a series of posts exploring the personal stories of real women in technology. Every woman in tech overcame at the very last statistical odds to be here; this blog series aims to find out why, and what they found along the way. Like a number of our interviewees, Ann Millspaugh (t|ln) entered the tech world after college. In less than two years, the former Luddite went from reluctant Drupal admin to passionate advocate of STEM education for girls. She?s currently the Online Community Manager for the EdLab Group. If reading her story inspires you to share yours, please feel to email me.]

1)????? Can you take us back to your ?eureka!? moment?a particular instance or event that got you interested in technology?

To be honest, I don?t think I can claim to be a ?woman in technology?. At best, I?m a woman learning technology, and probably more importantly, how to think about technology. For a lot of people, especially ?Millennials? and ?digital natives,? there?s something almost noble about being adverse to technology ? there?s an attitude that ?I haven?t submitted myself to this trend yet? or ?I?m grounding myself outside of this consumer-driven society.? I?m not saying this as a condescending outsider ? I used to feel that way.

Do I feel like I?m now a tech guru who is going to invent the next Linux system? No. But, I do feel like I can be a contributor, and for me, that feeling of empowerment is critical to the way people use and adapt to technology. It?s not about seeing technology as old or new, good or bad, but comprehensively seeing technology for what it is? the resources creating the product, the labor assembling the product (if you haven?t heard already a great podcast on Apple iPad factory Foxconn), the ingenuity and creativity in software development, and the behavioral trends in the actual usage of these products rather than a cold, static piece of materialism. For me, it?s been fascinating to begin thinking about technology as a tool to improve, analyze and assess behavioral patterns, and that?s what began to get me interested in technology.

2)????? Growing up, did you have any preconceived perceptions of the tech world and the kinds of people who lived in it?

Yes, I undoubtedly had preconceptions about the tech world. I started out as one of those people who saw technology as an inhibitor of real-world interaction. Computers were draining, for those anti-social types. I was pretty extreme ? I even had a phase in college where I refused to be in pictures because I thought they were too distracting. I think technology can be seen this way ? as a way to be self-indulgent and unnecessarily inconvenienced, a byproduct of a consumer-driven society.

It becomes an either-or: either I?m a technology person or I?m not. I think it?s important to realize that just because you don?t dream about coding or you don?t want to eat, sleep, and breathe at a computer doesn?t mean you can?t enjoy computer science. Somehow technology never enters into a realm of moderation; it?s a binary of hacking 24/7 or waiting in line for the Geek Squad. Science and technology fields are like any career ? there are people who are obsessed, but there are also plenty of people who live a balanced life.

3)????? When did you first start working with tech? Was it by choice?

I was always interested in writing, and over the course of several jobs, realized that writing (as well as many of the arts) is now completely intertwined with technology; it?s almost impossible to pursue those fields with having at least a basic technological background. For me, it was a begrudgingly slow progression over to the tech-side. But, that mindset ultimately came from a lack of understanding. For example, I?ve always liked learning languages, and learning HTML and CSS was just like learning another language. It never occurred to me that the skills I already had could be translated into a STEM field, and that I would actually like it!

4)????? Did you experience any personal or systemic setbacks at any point of your academic or professional career?

Like I said before, I started working with technology by accident ?I never saw myself as someone interested in technology, or even particularly apt in technology. In fact, when I was in college, computer science classes were at the bottom on my list, for no particular reason except for my perceptions about computer science. I read an interesting book: Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computer Science, that talked about the implicit socialization processes that drive women away from CS, and technology at large (having a computer in your son?s room versus your daughter?s room; taking your son to fix the car with you). These small actions create superficial gender associations that build and become a heavily weighted reality over time. In a lot of ways I feel like the epitome of those socialization processes ? I was never bad at science or math, and in retrospect, I?d have to say it was the accumulation of unconscious decisions and stereotypes that drew me away from the field. I would say that was my biggest setback, that I didn?t explore the field until after college.

5)????? Whom do you look to as mentors and/or sources of inspiration in your field?

The open source development communities have been incredibly inspiring to me. Everyone is so authentically collaborative: people work together for the sole purpose of making software easier and more accessible to people ? for free. And most people do this in their spare time! You can post a question and have a response with seconds, find tutorials and rank suggestions. It?s this incredible network that continually expands through connective curiosity; you rarely see anyone pitching their company or bragging about their latest contribution. There?s a ?we want to keep making this better? attitude that drives people to recognize how much more powerful collaboration is than siloed, individual production. No copyrights here!

6)????? Why do you think the rate of attrition for women in software engineering is higher than that of women in most other tech fields?

The perception of computer science and programming. There are lots of studies that women tend to be more emotionally-driven; technology, particularly software engineering, can have the perception of being cold, isolating, and distant from immediate applicability. I think it?s important to stop thinking about technology as a new, revolutionary entity. In my opinion, technology doesn?t revolutionize the way people behave. Fundamentally, people want the same things they?ve wanted for hundreds of years ? to communicate, connect, and understand ? and technology enables these things to happen at an increasingly accelerated rate. If we start to think about technology through this lens, I think many more people, men and women, will be drawn to the field.

7)????? Do you have any suggestions for how to get more girls interested in computers and computer science? Is this important to you?

Hopefully by now, it?s evident that yes ? this is important to me! Working with the EdLab Group, I?ve been reading and researching how to make STEM fields more appealing to girls. There are a lot of ways to pursue this, one of the most cited examples being that girls enjoy contextualizing information in real-world examples. Rather than solving for a variable in an algorithm, ask girls, ?How can this algorithm be applied to make Georgia?s healthcare system more efficient??

While this is a successful strategy, I also think attributing certain characteristics to STEM competency can be a slippery slope. Bart Franke, a teacher at the Chicago Laboratory High School who boasts a female enrollment of 50% in his computer science classes, recently gave a presentation about his success, citing, ?I teach girls, I don?t teach to girls.? As soon as you make distinctions as a woman, a minority, a socio-economically disadvantaged person, etc? you cause people to self-identify in a way that can perpetuate certain stereotypes. Even though gender, ethnicity or socio-economic status is undoubtedly a significant individual and collective characteristic, there are times where this emphasis is appropriate and then there are times where it?s irrelevant and distracting.

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Source: http://blog.softartisans.com/2012/02/15/stories-from-the-wit-trenches-ann-millspaugh/

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German researchers create smudge repellent coating from candle soot

While they're working on the lack of feedback, and need for exposed skin problems for touch screens, that other gripe -- dirty smudges -- could soon be wiped-out permanently. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz obviously had enough of sleeve-cleaning their devices and created a coating that could usher in a smudge-free world. The discovery comes after the team applied candle soot to glass and then coated it in silica to keep it in place. The glass is then heated to a bratwurst-baking 600 ºC for calcination, which makes the soot transparent -- somewhat handy for screens. To test, different oils and solvents were applied, but the glass' superamphiphobic properties soon fended them off. A resilient coating sounds a little more straight-forward than what Apple recently applied to patent, but until either of these see the light of day, you'd better keep that Brasso close by.

German researchers create smudge repellent coating from candle soot originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 04 Dec 2011 14:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/04/german-researchers-create-smudge-repellent-coating-from-candle-s/

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Lady Gaga And Laurieann Gibson: The Way They Were

After meeting in 2007, creative director went on to put her stamp on many of the pop superstar's most memorable creations.
By Jocelyn Vena


Lady Gaga
Photo: Getty Images

On Monday (November 14), Lady Gaga and Laurieann Gibson confirmed their split, ending a creative partnership that dated back to the beginning of the pop star's career.

Gibson first teamed up with Mother Monster in 2007, when the choreographer helped her most famous Dream Warrior with a live routine for her Fame track "Boys Boys Boys." The two ladies shared a similar background, both drawing inspiration from the singer's hometown of New York City, where Gaibson had arrived many years before meeting Gaga, hoping to make it as a dancer. In August, Gibson explained to MTV News that Gaga's Nick Knight-directed "Born This Way" video was meant to pay homage to their love for the city.

"This was the place that we started. This was the place that birthed her. This was the place that birthed my dance," Gibson told us. "New York just has something so real about birthing something specific."

In the years since they first hooked up, the two women have forged one of the most close-knit, high-profile relationships in pop. Gibson has had credits on nearly every Lady Gaga video released so far, including "Poker Face," "Just Dance," "Telephone," "Alejandro," and "Born This Way." But she has also worked closely with the singer on her live performances and massive stage shows.

Among members of Gaga's elusive Haus of Gaga, Gibson is certainly one of the most public. Over the course of the past 12 months, the former "Fly Girl" rose to prominence thanks to her work as creative director for the superstar, starring in not one, but two, of her own reality shows: E!'s "The Dance Scene" and BET's "Born to Dance." And it was during this time that the duo showed the world what they could do as a pair, producing some of Gaga's most talked-about creations, including the clips from the Born This Way album, which was released in May.

"I woke up one night and I got it and I said, 'I got it: We have to birth a new race,' " she recalled to MTV News about the idea for the "BTW" clip. "As genius as [Gaga] is, she then begins to create all of these elements that make her Lady Gaga. When I saw the final edit, I, of course, was loving some stuff and then I was like, 'But oh, here we go.' It was brilliant. Nick is amazing."

While Gibson was outspoken when she disagreed about a creative decision the singer made, she seemed to be always by her side, working on projects like Gaga's Google Chrome commercial, which again pays homage to the star's Big Apple roots. The HBO special "Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour at Madison Square Garden" highlighted Gibson's work as creative director and earned Gaga five Emmy nominations.

Laurieann also co-directed the "Judas" video, which she told us had left her satisfied. "I was able to sit in the director's seat and fulfill our vision and see it all the way through. So at the end of the day, you saw how amazing she looks — beautiful — she's dancing again," Gibson said. "And it's just great because I was able to produce the next level: who she is, how many levels she can go and the idea that this artist is a real artist and capable."

Gibson was also onboard for the "Yoü and I" video, which was shot over the summer in Nebraska and features Gaga's male alter ego, Jo Calderone, as well as some interesting "mermaid sex"; the two ladies shared directing duties. She also worked with Gaga on her performance art piece at this year's MTV VMAs, where Calderone was on hand the entire night.

"The idea of her being a performance artist — and it's starting the performance on the red carpet and the idea that the performance never ends for her — is the first time I've experienced this with an artist," Laurianne explained at the time. "I love it. That's something that is specific to her, and the whole night was the performance, and it was important that Jo was a part of the whole night."

What's your favorite Gaga/Gibson collaboration? Share your picks on Facebook!

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1674375/lady-gaga-laurieann-gibson-history.jhtml

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Health care law to fund "innovation" jobs program (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The Obama administration is tapping the health care overhaul law to advance its economic agenda, a political priority for the White House.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Monday that her department will provide up to $1 billion over three years to create jobs in local programs that improve health care through innovation.

The effort is called the Health Care Innovation Challenge. Grants of $1 million to $30 million will be awarded next spring to organizations such as hospitals, nonprofits, and local government agencies.

While the money comes from the health care law, the program is part of the president's "We Can't Wait" initiative, a political effort by the White House to show the administration is acting to create jobs and boost the economy while Congress is gridlocked.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111114/ap_on_re_us/us_health_care_jobs

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Sponsored Post: Sims 3 Pets Caption Contest - Lolcats 'n' Funny ...

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Web Design And Development Community Treehouse Wants To Teach You How To Code, Get You A Job

homepageFresh off a $600K round of seed funding, developer education startup Treehouse is launching to the public this morning, using videos, quizzes and badges to take ostensibly anyone from n00b to 1337 in months. Unlike Codeacademy and Lynda, Treehouse offers a breadth of expert-curated web design, development and iOS development topics (HTML,?CSS Foundations,?Technology Foundations,?Aesthetic Foundations,?Introduction to Programming, and others) and is already profitable as it charges users from?$29 to $49 dollars a month to use its programs.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/RNb5HJd4694/

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Abramoff criticizes reforms after lobbying scandal (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Jack Abramoff can't say he wasn't warned.

When the now-notorious lobbyist was a rising star as Republicans expanded their power in Washington, a concerned senior partner in his firm warned against his win-at-all-costs approach to business. "At the rate you're going," the boss said, "you're either going to be dead, disgraced or in jail in five years."

Abramoff writes in his autobiography, out Monday, that the line rang in his ears for the next decade, including the 3 1/2 years he spent in a federal penitentiary paying for his bribery of public officials and other crimes before his release last year.

The 52-year-old's name has become a synonym for Washington corruption. The influence-peddling schemes he masterminded ultimately resulted in conviction of 20 people and changed federal lobbying laws.

But Abramoff says the reforms aren't tough enough to keep special-interest power in check and, from his insider perspective, he lays out what more needs to be done.

He writes in "Capitol Punishment: The Hard Truth About Washington Corruption from America's Most Notorious Lobbyist" that there still are plenty of corrupt lobbying practices that are perfectly legal.

Abramoff is now out of the lobbying business, but the father of five has returned to the home he shares with his wife in the Washington suburb of Silver Spring, Md., and is promoting the book, including an interview airing Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes." Authorities have said in court filings they are looking into using the book proceeds to help repay a $23 million restitution order to his victims.

Abramoff became a lobbyist in 1994 after the Republican takeover of Congress, when firms were eager to hire help with conservative credentials. Abramoff was the former two-term chairman of the College Republican National Committee and executive director of President Ronald Reagan's grassroots lobbying organization, Citizens for America, and rode the Republican bandwagon of power in the House.

He was especially close to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas. He writes that the two bonded over their adherence to religion; Abramoff is an orthodox Jew, DeLay a born-again Christian. Abramoff got his clients to donate generously to DeLay, helping build the No. 2 House Republican's power and giving himself an ally in a high office.

He built relationships with other congressional offices by collecting campaign cash for those who helped his clients. He charged high fees, but they were his ultimate undoing. He often charged $150,000 a month instead of an industry standard closer to $10,000 a month. It's a practice he defends in his book because of the results he says he delivered.

The Washington Post in 2004 began a Pulitzer Prize-winning series investigating the tens of millions of dollars that American Indian tribal clients were paying Abramoff and his business partner, former DeLay spokesman Michael Scanlon, who provided grassroots organizing services.

It eventually was revealed that the two men were secretly kicking back profits to one another worth more than $20 million, and the Justice Department pursued felony charges.

Both pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with an investigation that would lead to the conviction of other lobbyists on Abramoff's team, congressional figures including Ohio Republican Rep. Bob Ney and officials in the Bush administration.

Many of the lobbyists were convicted for winning favors for their clients after taking public officials out for meals at fancy restaurants and giving them tickets to sporting events and concerts. He ran his own restaurant on Pennsylvania Ave. between the Capitol and the White House that became a hangout for Ney and other Hill figures. Abramoff had skyboxes at all the Washington area venues and says the firm acted like Ticketmaster to Capitol Hill. The reform law passed in response makes it illegal for lobbyists to give those gifts.

But Abramoff dismisses the reforms as toothless. He says there are more effective ways to get powerbrokers to do a client's bidding, particularly political contributions that he says should be banned from lobbyists or anyone receiving federal contracts or otherwise benefiting from public funds.

"As a lobbyist, I thought it only natural and right that my clients should reward those members who saved them such substantial sums with generous contributions. This quid pro quo became one of the hallmarks of our lobbying efforts," Abramoff writes.

"What I did not consider then, and never considered until I was sitting in prison, was that contributions from parties with an interest in legislation are really nothing but bribes. Sure, it's legal for the most part. Sure, everyone in Washington does it. Sure, it's the way the system works. It's one of Washington's dirty little secrets ? but it's bribery just the same."

Abramoff says term limits would prevent lawmakers from getting too close to special interests. He also says lawmakers and their staff should be banned for life from working for any organization that lobbies.

The movement of congressional figures to lobbying is pervasive in Washington. The Internet site LegiStorm tracks those who move from the Hill to K Street, where many lobbying firms have offices, and says there have been 493 already this year.

Abramoff said he would often get access inside congressional offices by suggesting to key staffers that they come work for him when they were finished with their congressional careers.

"Assuming the staffer had any interest in leaving Capitol Hill for K Street ? and almost 90 percent of them do ? I would own him and, consequentially, the entire office," Abramoff writes. "No rules had been broken, at least not yet. No one even knew what was happening, but suddenly, every move that staffer made, he made with his future at my firm in mind. His paycheck may have been signed by the Congress, but he was already working for me."

The exposure of the Abramoff scandal became the subject of congressional hearings where Abramoff repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment Constitutional protection against incriminating himself and did not respond to questions. He writes in the book that most of the senators who were vilifying him were hypocrites who had taken thousands from his clients and firms.

"I stared stone-faced at (former Colorado Republican Sen. Benjamin Nighthorse) Campbell as he hurled invectives at me," Abramoff writes. "I wondered how he'd react if I reminded him about the $25,000 in campaign checks I delivered to him during our breakfast meeting at posh Capitol Hill eatery La Colline the morning of April 23, 2002. I'll never forget that breakfast. After I handed him the envelope full of campaign contributions, he let me know that my clients would be treated well by his Indian Affairs Committee."

Former North Dakota Democratic Sen. "Byron Dorgan railed against the `cesspool of greed' surrounding my practice," Abramoff writes. "I guess it wasn't a cesspool when he had his hand out to take over $75,000 in campaign contributions from our team and clients."

Dorgan said in response that he's never met Abramoff or received a campaign contribution from him.

"It's not surprising he writes a book that criticizes those of us who led the investigation that sent him to prison," Dorgan wrote in an email to the AP. "The record of our investigation exposed his corrupt behavior. He bilked Indian tribes out of tens of millions of dollars and he should be forever ashamed.

Campbell did not respond to a request for comment.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111107/ap_on_en_ot/us_abramoff_book

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Northeast braces for early season snowfall (Reuters)

BOSTON (Reuters) ? A rare October winter storm was expected to blanket parts of the Northeast with nearly a foot of snow over the weekend, forecasters said on Friday.

Winter storm watches were issued for parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast where a drenching rain was expected to change to snow in many areas on Saturday.

Heaviest snow totals were forecast north and west of the I-95 corridor where six to 12 inches of heavy, wet snow could down tree limbs and power lines from Allentown, Pennsylvania to Worcester, Massachusetts, according to The Weather Channel.

"The higher up you are, and farther away from the coast within the I-95 zone, the better the chance of not only wet snowflakes mixing in, but also a heavy accumulation of wet snow," said AccuWeather.com expert senior meteorologist John Gresiak.

Cities along the coast may not be spared from the early-season snowfall, forecasters said, with light accumulations possible in seaside spots including Boston, Philadelphia and New York City.

Boston felt its first snowflakes of the season on Thursday evening and six years ago measured 1.1 inches of snow on October 29, an October city record, according to the National Weather Service.

In October 1979, Worcester, in central Massachusetts, measured 7.5 inches of snow and the weekend storm could approach that record, said NWS meteorologist Bill Simpson.

(Reporting by Lauren Keiper; Editing by Jerry Norton)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111028/us_nm/us_weather

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