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.