kattekrab's blog

Can't quite remember who originally posted the bharti ad, but I've had it open in a tab in my web browser for a week or so now.

And this times ad was youtube's suggestion of related content...

These two ads pack an emotional double whammy.

Indeed - Imagine what a Billion Indians could do if they worked together. Imagine what any of us could do if we worked together.

It makes me think about a couple of competing organisations I've been involved with. For a long time I've believed they have much in common, and by working together could increase their reach and effectiveness. But honest rivalry, politics and historical grievances have prevented them from forming a truly effective bond to forge something new.

The enmity has made me uncomfortable.

The open source world is filled with competing interests, but we work together and strive side by side toward the same goals - as athletes do. We all win, we all have a personal best when we are inspired to achieve more than before. This is not the kind of competition where losers are lost and ignored. It is the kind that looks towards the next challenge, the next opportunity, the next problem to solve. It is the kind of competition where the winners acknowledge the critical support and inspiration of their peers, and the runners up see what's possible.

These videos proclaiming an Indian identity that is proud of working together and happy to follow a leader to achieve a goal, inspire me to put my shoulder to the wheel.

Sometimes we just need a little bit of a push.

Software Freedom Day, Saturday 18 September is an opportunity to work together toward a goal of sharing the power of the Open Source Software community with the world.

@crazyjane13's tweet struck a chord.  I keep thinking about it. It makes me smile.

No.1 daughter: 'Can a woman be PM?' Me: 'Let me explain a little thing called feminism, honey.' #spill

I don't know why, but I feel this _is_ somehow more important, deep down, than it seems. If a young girl can still ask that question, then yes, this is significant. And if young girls everywhere are now more likely to believe they can do anything, then yes, this means something.

I don't quite know what that something is. But it's there. I can feel it.

I've been slack lately.  My editor, Michelle Lowman, found me at DrupalCon and kicked me up the proverbial to get my act together and FINISH THE DAMN BOOK. Which book? Beginning Inkscape.  An intro level guide to using Inkscape. There are a few books out there now, which means we can direct our focus to beginners, to non-designers.  I believe Inkscape is an incredibly accessible tool for those new to drawing with a computer. And even for those new to drawing at all. 

So I've submitted a talk to the Libre Graphics Meeting in Brussels next month.

update: I won't be giving this talk - Andy Fitzsimon will!!
Andy's session is now available as video
http://river-valley.tv/media/conferences/lgm2010/0302-Andy-Fitzsimon/

This is my abstract:

Inkscape's popularity is growing day by day. How do we help new users master the tool? How do we resource these users and welcome them to participate in the community and contribute their art, their bug reports and their ideas to help us innovate? This talk briefly summarises the available resources out there from online tutorials, screencasts, channels & forums to the offline books, magazines, courses, classes and user groups. We'll then explore ideas on how we draw from this rich resource bank and build something special which helps us not only grow the userbase for Inkscape, but welcome and nurture new contributors to the Libre Graphics community, as artists and developers. Half talk, half debate, this session aims to set the scene for a discussion on the issues of supporting new users, and explore ways to do it better by sharing ideas and working together.

Very excited that Wacom Australia have sent me an Intuous 4 Tablet to experiment with Inkscape on Linux.  I'm very much looking forward to spending serious time on using this new tool, and sending constructive feedback back to the inkscape development team.

So - Michelle - Yes, with no conferences to organise for a while, Beginning Inkscape will now be getting some serious attention!

Ada Lovelace Day was started last year in 2009 by Suw Charman. It's about celebrating, recording and uncovering the achievements, discoveries and special qualities of women in technology and science.

http://findingada.com

We are not Unicorns. We are everywhere. But our history is easily submerged, discounted and dismissed. Too easily forgotten.

Thanks Suw - this is an awe inspiring initiative. I salute you.

For Ada Lovelace Day 2010 I salute Jude Milhon.

"I'm a future-hacker; I'm trying to get root access to the future. I want to raid its system of thought." St. Jude

I've always loved that quote. I didn't know much about the woman who said it, so tracking down St Jude was my mission for Ada Lovelace Day 2010.

"You can hack your own path, girl. The way of the hacker is the pathless path. The Way of the Nerdgirl." St. Jude

St Jude was Jude Milhoun. She passed away from lymphatic cancer in 2003.

"Hacking is the clever circumvention of imposed limits, whether imposed by your government, your IP server, your own personality, or the laws of physics." St. Jude

Jude was an inspiration. Just read her Memorial and Virtual Wake at The Well. http://www.well.com/conf/inkwell.vue/topics/190/St-Jude-Memorial-and-Virtual-Wak-page01.html

Our own Aussie geekgirl interviewed St Jude for Wired magazine. Jude told us Girls need modems.

Modem Grrrl - Rosie Cross - http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.02/st.jude.html

The Dresden Wikiwomen else wrote about Jude for ALD09. In German. http://weltweitweberinnen.de/madchen-brauchen-modems-st-jude/

These three obituaries shed light on the woman she was and the impact she had.

• Requiem for a patron saint - Joshua Ellis - http://www.lasvegascitylife.com/articles/2003/07/30/scorched_earth/all_tomorrows_parties/atp.txt
• Hackers Lose a Patron Saint - Michelle Delio - http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2003/07/59711
• Making the Internet a Feminist Issue - Sean Dodson - http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2003/aug/08/guardianobituaries.obituaries

Reading these makes me mourn a relationship I never had.

Thanks to the internet archive for recording the Nerd Girl's Pillowbook. http://web.archive.org/web/20050921025727/http://members.aol.com/stjude/pillowbook/pillow1.html

Jude's page on Wikipedia needs love. Let's fix that shall we? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jude_Milhon

Do what you can to know her. Join me in celebrating St Jude.

"Simply be present, honest, reasonably competent, female, and everyone's aghast," St. Jude.

I went for a swim today! And yesterday too - And I've been walking daily for over a week. It feels good. It's been too long.

I've also cut out sugar in my coffee.

I've become obese in recent years and it just feels awful. It's never been about body image for me. Thank goodness! I've seen the heartbreaking consequences of that kind of thinking. But I do really enjoy having energy, and I've been lacking that for a long time now. I put it down to spending too much energy just carrying too much bulk.