tech

BCS Tech Conference (London UK) 2018

Alicia gets a chance to speak at the UK BCS conference in London and we get to tour the city With our new best Friends.  Charolette, her father Paul and Gen Ashley. We discuss her experience as a keynote speaker and how her talks have evolved in order to get people motivated and involved with women, minorities and young people with technology. Alicia lets us know her thoughts and feelings about the experience.

BCS brings together practitioners, academics, students and businesses in the UK and internationally. With our network of 100+ specialist and regional groups it’s easy to make new contacts and share discussion and ideas with like-minded people, whatever your area of interest.

 

All things Open Conference (Raleigh Durham)

Alicia is chosen to speak at the "All things Open" conference in Raleigh Durham NC. Speaks on Home Automation and the future of homes.   Which is a conference exploring open source, open tech and the open webbing the enterprise.  She speaks to a few ladies that attended this huge event.  

"All things Open":
We will once again feature some of the most well known experts in the world, as well as introduce you to some new faces you’ll be hearing about for years into the future. The lineup at All Things Open is second-to-none 

MIMEC (Monterrey Interactive Media & Entertainment Cluster)

Alicia heads out to Monterrey Mexico  for the MIMEC conference where she speaks to the group about "Home Automation" and talks to a few women she was on a women panel with.  MIMEC (Monterrey Interactive Media & Entertainment Cluster) is an initiative designed by and for companies that provide services related to the creative and interactive media industry.

GitHub Universe 2017

This episode, I sit down with Alicia as she explains her relationship with GitHub and her experience with the GitHub staff.  We talk about Alicia's growth and the direction where she is going with her app and how GitHub helps her to see that it can be done. 
 

GitHub Universe is the three-day event for people making the future of software. Immerse yourself in creativity and curiosity with the largest software community in the world. The event is packed with advanced training, deep dives on open source projects, keynotes from industry experts, and a look into successful software teams

Jeremy Likness at Connect Tech Conference 2017

JeremyLikness.JPG

On this Episode Alicia talks to Jeremy Likness about his time in tech and how he speaks at conferences.  Alicia Invited Jeremy to the Women who Code event but did not get to talk to one of the few men that spoke at their conference.  Here is her chance to give him some time.

Jeremy Likness is an experienced entrepreneur and technology executive who has successfully helped ship commercial enterprise software for 20 years. He specializes in catalyzing growth, developing ideas and creating value through delivering software in technical enterprises. His roles as business owner, technology executive and hands-on developer provided unique opportunities to directly impact the bottom line of multiple businesses by helping them grow and increase their organizational capacity while improving operational efficiency. 

First Uber now Google (diversity and sexism in Tech) Part II

Alicia and I continue with our discuss with how tech companies are failing to recognized the cultural challenges that they need to address in order to have a productive diverse staff.   Google started the conversation off from the previous podcast but we speak to the general observation that is not being addressed. 

Apple's 2017 fall Keynote

Today as usual, Apples Fall keynote in September usually ushers in the new iPhone, maybe a watch or two, the Apple TV and any other throw ins Apple may have up their sleeves during this time.  Alicia and I watched the keynote and made our assessment of what what presented today.  Not bad of a keynote but not overly exciting as either.  Here's our opinion of the presentations and products.

CODE: Debugging the gender gap

CODE documentary exposes the dearth of female and minority software engineers and explores the reasons for this gender gap and digital divide. The film highlights breakthrough efforts that are producing more diverse programmers and shows how this critical gap can be closed. CODE asks: what would society gain from having more women and people of color code, and how do we get there?

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Kim Crayton, Community Engineer & Advocate

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Alicia sits down with her friend and sister from Women who Code Atlanta, Kim Crayton.                                Kim is a Community Engineer and advocate for diversity, inclusion, and safe spaces in tech.

She has years of experience working with learners of all ages, skill level, and abilities and is now using her knowledge to develop technical people, ideas, organizations, and communities. She is known for her skills as a problem solver and strategy developer. She possesses a unique ability of being able to see the BIG picture while still managing the details.

Whether in the role of Community Engineer, educator, writer, public speaker, mentor, curriculum designer, Kim is always in search of innovative approaches that enable individuals, organizations, and communities to intentionally and skillfully create environments which support the sharing of common attitudes, interests, and goals in order to grow a more diverse and inclusive technology community.

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kim.crayton?ref=br_rs
Twitter:     https://twitter.com/KimCrayton1
Web:         kimcrayton.com

Podcast: community engineering report

Rebecca A. Colett of ChickTech & Viberide

Rebecca Colett is the lead for the Atlanta Chapter of ChickTech, that supports women and young girls with tech.  She builds a community, empower participants to see themselves as leaders, and provide networking and mentoring opportunities in the rapidly growing high tech industry.

I fell in love with Rebecca and all her energy and how she is using it to help young girls learn how to code. She is smart and amazing. I really hope you enjoy this podcast.

Ms. Rebecca Colett is a passionate individual from the beautiful city of Detroit, Michigan. Currently residing in Atlanta, Georgia pursuing passions Project Management, Marketing, Advertising, Event Strategy, Digital Media and Health/Wellness education. She belongs to and serves on several National organizations' boards; such as The American Marketing Association, The Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association, The National Urban League, Hands on Atlanta, The Salvation Army and Susan G. Komen. Enthusiastic about helping others live their healthiest lives she started a boutique fitness studio www.theviberide.com. In her free time she enjoys working out and being involved in the non profit arena.

OSCON 2017 Conference

Open source is everywhere—from the bottom of the programming stack to the top. OSCON brings the software engineering and developer community together to explore what's new and useful in open source languages, tools, and techniques. 

For episode 4 of Women in Tech, Alicia attends the OSCON conference in Austin Texas.  Alicia speaks to a few remarkable women she met at the conference on their experience and thoughts on women in Tech.  Great views by these women at the Conference.   

Women in Tech ULL Conference Killarney, Ireland

alicia @ Ull Conf

Úll is a conference for people who build and love great products. We focus on great product stories, presented through an Apple-shaped lens. We treat the conference itself as a product: with a deep emphasis on the attendee experience.

For episode 2 of Women in Tech, Alicia is a presenter at ULL Conf in Killarney, Ireland.  Instead of focusing on herself, Alicia wanted to interview a few amazing women she met at the conference. Here's a few of the many women she met.

Our Trip to Tuscany (Florence Italy)

On our continued travel episodes.  We take a trip to Florance Italy, in the Firenza province and the Tuscany region.  Yeah, I know.  Lot of stuff right?  But we share our thoughts of this beautiful city and what we were able to experience and enjoy for our 7 day extravaganza!!   A little of our travel experience, a lot of food and lots of wine.  O, and I stopped off in Pisa for a minute as well. :) 

DjangoCon Europe /Tech Conferences

On this session of Tech Talk we tape live in Florence Italy at the Django Con Europe.  Live at the Cinema Teatro Odeon.  We talk about the conference and Tech conferences in general. Alicia talks about her experiences at Tech conferences as well as her feelings about the conferences formats that differ from each other.

Is Uber the only company with women problems?

Today we talk about the diversity problem in the Tech community as well as The false narrative of wanting to diversify companies with Women.  Alicia my co-host will discuss this with me after her talk at the API days at the International Conference Center in Sydney Australia.  Our interactions with companies there and our thoughts on what companies are doing will be part of our Tech talk

Check out the Tech companies that are making an effort as well as those that are stagnate without in visible strategies anyone can place their hands on. These companies have pending litigation against them currently (GitHub, Squarespace)

 

Home Wifi

This episode we discuss Home Wifi.  There has been a big push in technology to create devices that can cover dead spots in your home, apartment or work area.  We talk about the top companies that have the highest rated devices on the market and the differences between them

eero - home wifi.  $199 /$349/ $499(https://eero.com)

eero is the world’s first home WiFi system. A set of three eeros covers the typical home. They work in perfect unison to deliver hyper-fast, super-stable WiFi to every square foot of your house. It’s simple to set up. Easy to manage. And gets better over time with new features and improved performance. Stream video, get work done, or swipe right in any room — not just next to your router. Finally. WiFi that actually works.

(family controls)
(No user monitoring)
(automatic software updates)
(guest controls)

Amazon shows higher rating than all of the listed below devices.  very low bad reviews.  Pleased with the coverage of these devices by customers
Bestbuy shows only concerns were the price of the items and how it created a new network

 

Luma - surround WIFI. $399- base and two other bases ( https://getluma.com)

Luma gives you the fastest WiFi everywhere. From the smallest apartment to the biggest of very big homes, so many things can be affecting your signal strength. Luma tells you how many devices you’ll need to set up a mesh network that’s customized to your unique home, and smart enough to keep that network running at full speed, full-time. All on its own, too 

(big time monitoring capability on your phone for all activities)
(guest and parental control)
(user monitoring)
(automatic software updates)

Bestbuy reviews showed a high number of bad customer comments during the first roll out from July - August 2016.  Amazon showed very high customer satisfaction overall

 

AmpliFI - mesh wifi system - $199 - $299 -$399.  longer range for different price points base and 2 antenna’s (https://www.amplifi.com)

AmpliFi is more than a common home router: it’s the ultimate Wi-Fi system. With turbocharged 802.11ac Wi-Fi, AmpliFi utilizes multiple self-configuring radios and advanced antenna technology to bring ubiquitous Wi-Fi coverage to any home. 

(LCD screen on the main device)
(blue tooth energy for antenna communication)
(Guest monitoring)
(device monitoring using the wifi)
(weird antenna looking devices for access points)
(automatic software updates)

Amazon has this as their highest rated device out of them all.  But it only has 48 reviews

 

Google wifi - mesh wifi system - $129 for 1 and $299 for 3 pack ( https://madeby.google.com/wifi/?utm_source=ads-en-ha-na-sem&utm_medium=text-both&utm_term=ds_kwdid&utm_content=new-dr-skws&utm_campaign=wifi&gclid=CjwKEAiAgavBBRCA7ZbggrLSkUcSJACWDexAPNleaGjW4teMd0F6u67ii2w4sihL7Sl2l5IEKgQ1vRoCADHw_wcB)

The system uses a technology called mesh Wi-Fi (something usually only seen in expensive commercial installations). Within our mesh network, each Google Wifi point creates a high-powered connection, and the different points work together to determine the best path for your data. The result is fast Wi-Fi everywhere in your house, not just right next to the router.  Google Wifi was designed from the ground up to support the new ways we use Wi-Fi. These days, Wi-Fi has to be able to support lots of devices at the same time, and stand up to high-bandwidth activities like streaming video or gaming — in every room of your house. Google Wifi is an expandable system, so for larger homes, you can simply add Google Wifi points. They connect to one another and spread a strong network signal to every room.

(waiting list)
(not much app support)
(limited functions for wifi control)