spydergrrl on the web

Patton Oswalt's Community Star Wars Filibuster is Now a Movie! (Sort of)

2013-05-20T06:00:00.000-04:00

Last month, I told you about the rehearsals for Patton Oswalt's guest appearance on Parks & Recreation in which he improvised an EPIC 8-minute Star Wars movie proposal that contained everything from the Avengers to Clash of the Titans to the Fantastic Four. Not only was it a complete nerdfest, but some folks over at EW actually turned it into an insane movie poster. (Pictured right)

If you didn't see the outtake, it was a breathless delivery of the most insane movie ever imagined by a man who can only be described as an uber-geek. A geek that the rest of us geeks can only aspire to one day be like. Nay, to one day hope to be like. LOL. Seriously, if you missed it, go check it all out right now. It'll be worth it, I promise.

Ok, now that you're caught up, here's the rest of the story.

Someone has turned the filibuster rant into an actual movie! Well, sort of. It's actually like a papercraft version of a movie, but regardless it's a ton of fun, if only for the fact that it makes the story a lot easier to follow given that it's entirely animated right on the screen before you. You just have to check it out!

[Aside: Btw, if this is your brand of nerdiness, then you need to head over to Reddit this afternoon from 4:00-5:30 Eastern for an AMA (that's Ask Me Anything) with Mr. Oswalt himself! It's a holiday here in Canada, and it's well before the fireworks so you'll have plenty of time to nerd out before continuing with the festivities ;) ]

(Source: Kotaku)

Friday Fun: Robot Unicorn Attack is an Absurdly Addictive Memetastic Game

2013-05-17T10:47:00.001-04:00

Today is the birthday of my friend, and yours, @nellleo. And it's the unofficial start of summer here in Canada: the May two-four long weekend. [For you non-Canadians, we know that this weekend doesn't always fall on May 24th, but since that's Queen Victoria's birthday, this weekend is always referred to as May two-four.] And so I wanted to find something fun that would help you pass the hours till your 3-day weekend freedom. Now, as usual...

[Disclaimer: This site does not endorse complacency and loafing in the workplace. This site will not be help responsible for any revenue or productivity lost as a result of informing you of this lovely, addicting distraction.]

Ok, with ~~the lawyers~~ my conscience appeased, here is your super awesome thing of the day.

Robot Unicorn Attack!

Credit: Super B Wallpapers

That, my friends, is an actual GAME.

That's right, you can be an robot unicorn!

Launched by Adult Swim back in 2010, Robot Unicorn Attack is playable online or as a downloadable app for iOS and Android. The game format is "endless running" which means that your goal is basically to avoid being hit, running off cliffs and other obstacles in exchange for points. Wikipedia explains:

The object of the game is to prolong gameplay without falling off the stage, crashing into the edges of platforms, or colliding with crystal stars (without first dashing). Points are earned with play time, by collecting pixies, and by destroying crystal stars by dashing though them. As the game progresses, the stage slides faster.

Pure mindless fun, really.

And if the original version just isn't enough for you, then there are other releases you might want to check out, including:

There are lots of comments and articles that cite the game as pure mindless, addictive fun. Which is probably why there were a million downloads in their first week of launch back in 2010 and why it has become a bit of a meme. (Need proof? Do an image search for "robot unicorn attack") Consider yourselves warned!

Happy time-wasting ;)

Hack Your Network: TED Talk Explores The Surprising Need for Strangeness

2013-05-16T06:00:00.000-04:00

Flipping through my ginormous volume of RSS feeds on the bus this week, I caught a headline that I just knew was going to have to become a post. It was the title of Maria Bezaitis' TEDxIntel talk: The Surprising Need for Strangeness.

[Aside: Now, to be honest, I thought it was going to be a nerd manifesto of sorts, praising the need to be different and unique and to celebrate those differences in order to maximize productivity or innovation or some such. But I was completely wrong. It's even better than that.]

Bezaitis presents a compelling argument for us needing to find strangers and interact with people unlike ourselves. And that's definitely a topic I can get behind. She begins by challenging our societal norm of not talking to strangers and staying away from anyone who is not familiar to us. She suggests that these are actually the best opportunities for learning (I couldn't agree more!). And she asks: how much strangeness are you getting? (love that)

If you caught my presentation on Hacking is a Mindset, Not a Skillset, then you might remember that my third of five steps to a hacking mindset challenges us to hack our networks. I cited a bunch of examples of people collaborating across boundaries, including crowdsourcing, playing MMORPGs, and participating in hackfests as a non-hacker. And even stepping outside of your network of trusted colleagues to approach someone with a completely unrelated perspective to provide advice:

Maybe your question seems technical but actually has an interpersonal angle you just aren't noticing. Maybe your personality conflict has an underlying technical issue. You can hack your own thinking by finding a mentor or a trusted advisor who will tell you the truth at all times. Or by developing a network of open-minded individuals with varying backgrounds and expertise who can offer you a fresh perspective when you need it.

And that's exactly what Bezaitis encourages.

What's really interesting about her thesis is how she ties it into data and the evolution of technology: if data turns our social relations into digital relations, then we are constantly interacting with people we don't actually know. We are in fact allowing ourselves to be exposed to strangeness. Some of the language used to describe our online relationships can be misleading: family and friends. Bezaitis challenges us to think more about closeness and timeliness: what do we need from that relationship right now? What can we bring to it in this moment? If we think beyond the concept of merely sharing and evaluate those relationships, there is more that we could accomplish with these strange ties. She asks, "what can we do, learn from each other, do together that benefits us both?"

We can mistake Social for Personal quite easily on social platforms, but maybe we should actively pursue the social in certain circumstances, and be ok that it does not traverse into the personal. That strangeness can be a benefit to both parties and a necessary part of our interactions. Perhaps you need to ask yourself: Are you getting enough strangeness?

It's a captivating notion, a fantastic 8 minutes to spark some thought. Enjoy!

It's Time To Vote! Pick Your Fave Apps in Apps4Ottawa Contest (Til May 31)

2013-05-15T06:00:00.000-04:00

Back in March, I told you about the Apps4Ottawa contest. It's an initiative from the City of Ottawa to encourage the public to share their data needs which developers can then turn into apps, while competing for prizes. The contest has proceeded through the idea generation and app submission phases and now the fun starts: we get to vote for our favourites!

You can check out the full list of apps on the Apps4Ottawa Apps page. And you know how many there are to choose from? 67! There is a lot of repetition, so the key is to look at the apps and compare them before voting.

For example, there are 4 platform-specific versions of the Offline map of Ottawa, which is too bad because if it had been build in HTML5, then maybe it could have been platform agnostic. Of course, this way, there are 4 entries into the contest... (Offline map of Ottawa in Java, Windows, Blackberry, Android)

But there is also a lot of overlap in terms of the ideas that were selected by app developers. Seems that there are certain problems we like to focus on. For instance, I counted:

2 defibrillator location apps
3 garbage/ recycling apps
and a whopping 9 bus tracker apps!

But there are also some gems like the SnowDay Shutdowns app which texts you if your school or bus route is unavailable in inclement weather. Or Woof which can be used both to locate dog-friendly parks but also to alert other app users of a missing dog. And the ingenious Curbside Goodies that can be used to snap pics of items people put out to the curb and share them with GPS coordinates for convenient pick-up. Imagine how handy that would be on Ottawa Giveaway Weekend!

What did I vote for?

I mentioned back in March that my personal fave, the app I use almost daily on my commute: the OC Bus Tracker app developed by Sean Kibbee. Here's why I'm such a fangirl: It's clean, light, quick and very user-friendly. And accurate. And when it's raining or snowing or worse, this one tells me how long I'll be waiting for my next bus. Love love love this one! (Seriously, if you haven't tried it, you need to head over and give it a try ASAP. Even better if you try it directly from your smartphone.)

Support Local Developers!

Whatever your pleasure, head over to the Apps4Ottawa site and support local developers by casting your vote! You have until May 31st and the winners will be announced in June. Good luck to all!

Journalism, Social Media & Ethics: Is It OK To Cite An Observed Tweet As A Direct Quote?

2013-05-14T06:00:00.000-04:00

Credit: Microsoft Online ClipArt

Here's a question I've been mulling over for some time: Are random tweets fair game for journos? Can they quote you as if you were interviewed, without ever contacting you? That is, should journalists mine other people's Twitter conversations for use as quotes in an article, if they were never part of the conversation in the first place? Or do they have to cite them as Tweets and declare that they just "overheard" all the comments they are quoting?

Let me explain: I have a Google alert set up for various terms related to my blog so that I can see where my content is getting used, re-used and sometimes scraped entirely. Given that mine is not a money-generating blog, and that I fully support the freedom of information, I'm more interested in my reach and ensuring that my content is re-used with attribution. For example, I've discovered one of my posts being cited by in The Guardian's On Being Digital column and one of my tweets in a Forbes blog post. With attribution. Kewl stuff.

But every once in a while, I come across something that I don't like: like the time a tweet I issued was used as a quote in a news article with the preamble "Tanya Snook said,..."

And it stuck me as odd.

The article never noted that I made the comment on Twitter. In fact, the way it was written, it implied that I had made the statement directly to the writer who had never contacted me nor informed me that they were using my tweet as a quote.

And I was uncomfortable with that.

Here's why: Yes, I tweeted the comment publicly, so it wasn't offensive to me that it get re-used. And yes, it was used in context. However, it was incredibly misleading the way it was presented: implying that I had been interviewed for the piece. But the author never even attempted to contact me directly to ask me a single question, and instead cited a general tweet to no one in particular as a quote in their piece. Now, the piece was benign enough that I was not concerned about its tone or content, and my tweet was used in context; they didn't manipulate the words themselves. So that's good.

Buuuuut, it was the first time I wondered about ethics and journalistic integrity of reporters using social media for sources. I cite lots of tweets, personal conversations, and interviews but I always clearly state how I got my info: I saw a tweet, someone said to me, I chatted with... hoping that clearly informs you, the reader, of how I got my information. I hope, as well, that this approach affords you some peace of mind as a potential content lead (since so many of you send me links and story ideas) that I will always properly attribute how I got my content; that you don't have to worry about me lurking on your Twitter stream and incorporating random things you say into my posts without proper context. That's my commitment to you, as your follower and as the author of this blog.

If journalists and bloggers (and anyone else who writes and publishes) can't be trusted to properly qualify our sources, would that make you a little more cautious about what you post in your Twitter feed? Sure, there's always the risk that something you say get taken out of context, that your words get turned around on you. People do that all the time. But I would hope that a journalist, writing in a news publication, would uphold their commitment to journalistic integrity to properly represent how they obtain information and be transparent and honest with their audience.

If it's unethical to make up a quote if you can't reach a source; is it appropriate to mine other people's tweets and treat them as quotes for your story without a disclaimer of some sort? What do you think? Would it make you question news sources? Has it happened to you? If so, did it make you more aware of what you say and how you say it on Twitter, knowing that it could show up in the news as a quote, as if you'd been interviewed for the story?

Aaaaaaand, debate!

EPIC: @Cmdr_Hadfield Makes Space Oddity Video on ISS (And Wins The Internet)

2013-05-13T06:00:00.000-04:00

So, yesterday, you might have caught that the uber kewl (and Canadian!) Commander Chris Hadfield was handing over the reigns of the International Space Station to crewmate Pavel Vinogradov. That's right, no more incredible photos and funky ISS-related Twitter updates from the master Tweep. However, being the ~~incredible marketer~~ generous person that he is, Chris Hadfield had a little trick up his sleeve.

Turns out that he put together his own version of Space Oddity (aka "Major Tom" aka the David Bowie space song) while he was up on the ISS. And he shared it on YouTube. And, as you would imagine with all of the other social media stuff he's been doing, it's amazing. (And apparently, his son Evan is to thank for much of his social media prowess. Great article about that in Teaching Kids News.)

Indeed, you'd better watch this, log off and go outside because this. wins. the Internet.

Related posts:

Going Full Nerd For the Dude's Birthday: a LAN Party at iPlay

2013-05-10T06:00:00.000-04:00

Steve from Minecraft

We spent weeks trying to figure out what to do for the Dude's birthday party since it's a BIG ONE. Double digits. Seriously. We have a ten year old as of 3:27 this morning.

Excuse me, I need a moment.
Ahem.

I mentioned yesterday that it's a bit of a tech birthday, since the Dude scored a Raspberry Pi computer and learned to use it to build basic video games at Code For Kids last Saturday. We bought him a monitor as one of his presents, so we will be fully equipped to keep developing. And given that it's a significant birthday, we wanted to do something pretty awesome for his party.

Hubby and I were at an event a few weeks ago and we met another couple with a kid about the Dude's age. They told us about the only possible option for a Minecraft-obsessed monkey: a LAN party. Nay, not just any LAN party. A Minecraft LAN party.

Let me break it down for you: There's a gaming lounge at the SensPlex in Kanata that hosts LAN parties. You gather up a bunch of people, head off to iPlay and they set up a closed environment where you can all compete against or play alongside each other in the same game. Like an old school LAN party, but someone else does all the work. It's called iPlay and we had never heard of it.

Now, the whole idea of LAN parties reminds me of my startup days, when developers would show up on a Friday with their own PCs, planning to plug into the network and play a bit after hours. Especially on weekends when they knew they would be onsite working toward a deadline (which can sometimes mean sitting around waiting for large volumes of code to compile or other people to finish their work) or upgrading the network (which usually entails sitting around waiting for software to install and systems to boot/reboot/boot/reboot...). Ah the good old days of DIY technical infrastructure. (Oh, not me DIY-ing, though. No one wants me touching a company-wide network :)

If you've never partaken in a LAN party, the iPlay Facebook page probably addresses what you might be thinking:

So... you can play computer games at home right? What is the iPLAY difference? Imagine playing in a group of 2, 4 or even up to 32 friends at the same time. Then, imagine that you are all playing the same game at the same time, interacting with each other on the battlefield or perhaps in an NHL hockey game or on the race track.

And these days their most popular party is the Minecraft party. Which means there are a ton of parents like us with Minecraft obsessed kids who have discovered this place. Only, I don't know any of them. I've told a bunch of people about iPlay since we ~~booked the party~~ found them, and absolutely not one of my nerd parent friends had even heard of the place.

Now that could partly be because we don`t hang out much at the SensPlex. Or it could be because iPlay only has a Facebook page. Or it could be because we've never seen a single ad for the place. But whatever it is, let me assure you: it's real and it's out there. And the prices are completely reasonable; I would even venture to say more reasonable than a lot of other party options.

Granted, they don't just do parties; you can actually grab a group of buddies and head over any time to do some gaming. Here's some basic info:

Hours: 3pm-midnight on Fridays, 11am-midnight on Saturdays and noon-6pm on Sundays
They have 90 different games available.
They run day camps during holidays. You have to keep tabs on the Facebook page for info.
The lounge doubles as a training centre for web design, Flash ~~(who uses Flash?)~~, graphic design, and computer illustration.

Meantime, you can head over to the iPlay Facebook page to find out more (although it's pretty light). The Dude's party is in a couple of weeks at which time I will post a follow-up piece with pics. And in the meantime if you need me, I'll be sitting in the corner hyperventilating over the fact that I had a kid a decade ago.

Shopify's First Ever Code For Kids Was Amazing, Moar-ish

2013-05-09T06:00:00.000-04:00

[Aside: If you're a Maritimer, you'll know what Moar-ish means. For you mainlanders, it means something you want MOAR of.]

A full house convened at Shopify last Saturday afternoon for the first ever Code for Kids workshop. The event was hosted by a young, energetic group of Shopify employees, spearheaded by Julian Nadeau. (You might have caught my interview with Julian last week.)

When I first walked into Shopify, I was flooded with memories of startups where I used to work. The funky design, the open spaces, the toys lying around everywhere. Startups are built for working hard and playing hard; the combination of flexible work spaces, loud colours, inappropriate artwork and toys seem specifically intended to spawn creativity and new ideas. Le sigh.

Hilariously inappropriate artwork at the Shopify entrance

The twenty kids present installed themselves in a large open space filled with tables and Raspberry Pi computers to learn the very basics of coding including if-then statements and if-then-otherwise statements. The formal instruction portion provided the kids with an overview of the basics using a very age-appropriate mix of videos and instructional segments. The kids were also introduced to Scratch, a basic programming software that can be used to create games. And then they were unleashed!

Julian and Edward leading the session

For a couple of hours, those kids toiled and chatted and played and created all sorts of video games by dragging, dropping and re-arranging if-then statements to drive the actions of their avatars. The Dude had a fantastic time and was especially excited that he got to take home the computer. Yeah, that's right. The kids all walked away from the session with a brand new Raspberry Pi, keyboard, mouse and the requisite cables to plug it into a tv or monitor (not included ;) We had proposed to get him a Raspberry Pi for his birthday (tomorrow), and then opted not tell him that he was going to get one with the workshop. He was beside himself.

Raspberry Pi computer

As for hubby and I, we hung out and chatted with the Shopify folks and some of the other parents, including my friend @SageCram and Twitter buddy @heyglenns. Sage and I figured that we would just be a distraction to our kids so we sat on a giant beanbag chair together and chatted about work and life. Not half bad for an afternoon, if I do say so myself.

Sage & I (don't you love her red shoes?)

The verdict? Well, the Dude can't stop going on about his new computer and the fact that he got to make a video game. He's even brought some of his friends over to check out the tiny Raspberry Pi. I'd say that it was a rousing success.

So the big question is: will Shopify do it again? According to the Code For Kids team, yes they have some other events in mind as early as June. And a little birdie even told me that they are looking at an online element to help kids learn python, ruby, etc. Sounds incredible! If you're interested, I suggest you head over to the Code For Kids site and sign up to the mailing list so that you don't miss out.

Beacuse, as @Heyglenns commented about the day:

@peterlalonde good seeing you @spydergrrl & @edwardog at @shopify - next gen of coders begins now.

I totally agree.

Star Wars: Identities Comes To Ottawa (Guest Posting Today at Kids In The Capital)

2013-05-08T06:00:00.000-04:00

In case you missed the announcement back in March, the Aviation Museum is hosting the traveling Star Wars: Identities exhibit this summer and it opens THIS FRIDAY!

Now, I know that some of you did see the announcement and were online Saturday March 23rd when the tickets when on sale because a bunch of you sent me the link, suggesting that I would be. all. over. it.

And you were right.

In fact, I am so. all. over. it. that we went last year when it was in Montreal :)

Which is great for you because I have documented our experience and given you the low-down about:

whether you should go (spoiler: you should),
what you'll see and do,
who the character pictured in this post represents :)
tips on getting tickets,
tricks for getting through the exhibit, and
advice about seeing it with kids.

But you'll have to head over to my guest post on Kids in the Capital to check it out!

Hate Your Keyboard After Upgrading to Jelly Bean? You Need SwiftKey

2013-05-07T06:00:00.000-04:00

I was listening to an episode of TWiT last week and someone on the panel mentioned that Jelly Bean OS becoming available for Samsung Android smartphones on a variety of carriers. I was thrilled to find out that it became available for Telus clients in late April (to check if your phone qualifies, check the Telus software updates page).

So naturally, as soon as I got the chance I upgraded. The UI is very slick, there are lots more widgets and I love the customizable permanent button set on the bottom of the screen. Of course, I also loved these 6 months ago when I got Jelly Bean on my tablet. The thing that struck me about this upgrade, though, was the ridiculously unresponsive keyboard.

My tablet comes with an external keyboard so I rarely use the on-screen one. As well, given the size of the tablet and my doll hands, I don't use Swype on it. It's just not comfortable. So, I never noticed that the keyboards built into the Jelly Bean OS suck.
And they suck hard.
At least they do for my Samsung Galaxy S II X.

The Samsung keyboard doesn't Swype.

The Google voice keyboard does Swype but just barely. Every. Word. Wrong.
And given that I have had my phone for 18 months, I am completely addicted to Swype so this was a HUGE downgrade.

[Aside: If you've never Swyped, it's functionality that enables the user to drag their finger across the screen to type words. You basically smear your finger from letter to letter and the predictive text guesses what you are trying to type. It's eons faster than typing (at least in my case) and a lot more stable when I'm tweeting one-handed stories on the bus :]

So, no Swype was a dealbreaker. I knew I need a hack for my phone because there was no way I was going back to my old OS. And clearly, I wasn't the only one having issues since the update, because my colleague Joy tweeted this morning:

Why oh why did Android change its keyboard? It is a AZERTY instead of QWERTY. I can't get it to change back. cc @jey8s
— Joy Moskovic (@joymosk) May 6, 2013

SwiftKey

Enter SwiftKey.

SwiftKey is a keyboard app that has a customizable interface, including multiple key sizes for fat fingered typists, and most importantly: Swype. You can enable multiple languages and you don't have to switch between them. You just type and it figures out which language you're using. Sometimes that means you end up being a bit of a snob because it will insert the appropriate spellings for words in the right language, in my case I have French and English so it inserts "protégé" instead of "protege" when I type in English. But us nerds like Type A software, right?

SwiftKey also has some learning talents: you can connect it to your social networks and other apps so that it can learn your typing habits and turns of phrases, then suggest them to you in sequence. As you tap the space bar to accept each word, it guesses the next if you appear to be typing a sentence that you use often. In fact, this feature was even immortalized in an XKCD comic:

Credit: XKCD

Hehe.

Seriously, if you're hating on your keyboard as much as I was, go give it a try. (SwiftKey is $3.99 Google Play but there is a free one-month trial available for download.)

Music Monday: Cmdr. Hadfield Joins Elementary Students From Across Canada for a Sing-Along

2013-05-06T06:00:00.000-04:00

Credit: Music Monday

If you have an elementary school-aged kid in your house, then you're probably aware that today is Music Monday. Generally, it's an event held at schools across the country to promote music education. The students spend a few weeks learning a song, and then at a pre-determined time, they all go outside to their school yards and sing it, knowing that students at schools everywhere in their city, province and beyond are doing the same.

And it's no small event. According to the Music Monday site, last year there were 600,000 participants across Canada. And it's even stretched to the US, Australia, Britain and Hungary. Check out the map to see the fill list of locations.

Their tagline is "Fill the skies with music" which sounds about right. In fact, this year, it's even more right because they have a special participant: Commander Hadfield up in the International Space Station.

Did you know that not only is Commander Hadfield involved in all things science education and but he also supports music education, too? He actually helped co-write this year's Music Monday song and recorded a music video from space. And if that's not enough, he's going to be live-linked to the Canada Science and Technology Museum here in Ottawa where some lucky students will be participating in the sing-along live! (Not the Dude, he'll be in the yard with the rest of his school.)

This year's song even has a space theme: ISS (Is Someone Singing) is written from the perspective of an astronaut on the ISS, looking down on Earth and longing to return. Lyrics includes lines such as: "Floating in my seat, look out my window, there goes home, that brilliant ball of blue is where I'm from and where I'm going to." It's a really cute song (see video below). You can check out the full songsheet and arrangements on the site.

So what's the point? The site explains:

We are creating an event that can be used as a platform to inspire public celebration, awareness and discussion every year. We want to provide a tangible demonstration of how music programs shape young lives and the fun young people have in making music.

...it is our hope that the public, particularly parents, are encouraged to actively support quality music education, and that our administrators will make the right decisions for our children and education – an education that includes music as a pillar to a well-balanced educational experience.

And they've managed to bring a science twist to it? How awesome is that!?

Check out the song, sung by co-writers Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies and Commander Hadfield along with the Wexford Gleeks, Canadian Nation Showchoir champions.

(Source: The Dude)

Geekpalooza! Top 8 Geeky Things to Do in Ottawa This Weekend (May 3-5) (UPDATED)

2013-05-03T06:00:00.000-04:00

Credit: spydergrrl

Spring. That time of year when the young nerd emerges from her Winter hiding place (ok, her year-round hiding place) (ok, the basement) to cavort among her kind (ok, to stand awkwardly within proximity of her kind until someone attributes the wrong quote to the wrong Doctor or Star Wars episode and her fury unleashes itself in a torrent of inspired nerd references and sources). Ah, Spring.

Seriously, though. Now that we have seemingly leapfrogged over the Spring thaw into Summer-like conditions, it's time to shed all the layers and take our pasty white selves into the sun and enjoy the outdoors. Or grudgingly pass through the outdoors on our way to fantastic indoor activities. Either way, this weekend has a lot to offer and here is a quick list of my top geeky picks for the Ottawa region.

First of all, don't forget that Saturday is Star Wars Day! Make sure to greet your fellow nerds with May the 4th be with you :) The Dude has already informed me that a cape and lightsaber will be the ordre du jour. Don't say you weren't warned.

1. Free Comic Book Day (Saturday) - Yes, the day we nerds flock to our favourite comic book stores and stock up on free comic books! Oh, and not just a single free comic book. Nay, last week we came home with a bag full. Find out more in my post from earlier this week.

2. Code For Kids (Saturday) - I told you about this fantastic workshop yesterday, hosted by Shopify. It's sold out, so if you were lucky enough to get a ticket, congrats! And if you want to be in on future events, head over to the site and sign up for the mailing list. If you're there, make sure to say hi. I'll be with the kid in the cape and lightsaber ;)

3. ~~Open Refine Workshop~~ ~~(Saturday) - If you're interested in Open Data but don't know how to clean up a data set, this workshop will help you develop readable, gorgeous data. Space is limited.~~ Doh! Wrong weekend, this is May 25th!

4. Ottawa Train Expo (Saturday) - Carleton U Field House is the site for this crazy huge expo of all things model train. Hat tip to Diane Beauregard for the info!

5. World Labyrinth Day (Saturday) - My friend Ellen Grove told me about this one on the Twitters when I was tweeting about the nerdfest that is this weekend. Apparently people all over the world get together and traverse labyrinths to honour the day. Too bad Saunder's Farm isn't open yet, but if you're planning to take in a Jane's Walk, Ottawa has an actual labyrinth walk!

6. Food Chemistry Workshop (Saturday) - The Agriculture Museum is celebrating the opening of its new Learning Centre which includes a lab, an exhibit space and more. There are activities all day but the kewlest one is a hands-on workshop on food science called "The Chemistry We Eat" led by the Chemical Attraction educators.

7. Engineering Workshops for National Youth Arts Week (Sunday) - This one came to me from the wonderful Marybeth Baker. Artengine is holding a drop-in on Sunday afternoon in which kids can design and build paper circuitry, switches and buttons and learn how to solder and control lights. Even the littlest builders can get involved trying out "squishy" circuits (made with play-doh).

8. Iron Man 3 (starts Friday) - following your comic book extravaganza, it only makes sense to head to the movies to take in the third installment in the Iron Man series. Check the Ottawa showtimes.

BONUS: My friend Mike informed me that there is also Ottawa IT Camp on Saturday at Algonquin College. If you're into all things IT and want to learn a ton for only $25, now youy know what you'll be doing this weekend :) BTW, Mike is speaking on Mobile Security, so make sure to tell him I say HI.

So there you have it. Now, for the record, this started as a Top 5. Then people kept sending me more, so I actually hauled my tired self back downstairs when I was ready for bed and updated this with some additional items for you geeks. But if that's not enough for you, then head on over to the Ottawa Start Blog weekly roundup which has a bunch more suggestions (some equally nerdy, some less so like the Tulip Festival and the Ottawa Farmer's Market opening :) Honestly, there's so much to choose from, cloning might be required.

Wishing you a weekend full of geeky goodness whatever you choose to do, spydey.

The Scoop on Shopify's First Code for Kids (This Saturday)

2013-05-02T06:00:00.000-04:00

Local startup Shopify announced a few weeks ago that they were planning to host a special coding seminar for kids aged 7-12 and it took all of a few hours to sell out. When the announcement initially went out, I jumped on my email and fired off some questions to find out how a young, funky company like Shopify even came up with the idea to teach kids to code. I mean, do any of them even have kids?

Here are the highlights of my email exchanges with Julian Nadeau, an intern and one of the main organizers of the event.

Spydey: Shopify, as with most startups, is perceived as a young place to work. Is that a fact? If so, given that a smaller percentage of staff have families, where did the idea to teach kids to code originate?

Julian: While it is true that a large portion of Shopify's work force is young, that actually inspires us to help the younger generation since many of us still remember and realize the troubles of youth, having been 7-12 just 10-20 years prior. Many of us have just recently graduated University (I myself am an intern at Shopify, and I am still in University), and so we understand the trials and tribulations of software development (and its education). Being young may also help us convey information to the youth in a more modern way. Though that is totally a speculation.

Probably an apt speculation, methinks. You know he's right if you're a parent who has ever tried to teach your kid anything for school. Or tutor them. Even if the Shopify devs don't actually convey the info in a more modern way, their youth will definitely ingratiate them to the kids. They'll at the very least perceive that the information is a lot more interesting coming from a younger teacher. In fact, I think he's bang on with that observation.

Not surprisingly, the idea actually spawned when Doug Tetzner, Head of Talent Acquisition (dog, I love high tech titles ;) brought his own son in on a PD Day. Poor kid was bored so Doug suggested that someone among all those bright minds might be able to teach him some coding. Julian,

"suggested using the Raspberry Pi and a programming language targeted towards kids. About 5 minutes later I thought to myself, "Wait, why can't we do this for many kids!?" And the idea spawned forwards from there."

Scratch Cat
Credit: Wikipedia

The rest as they say, is history (about to be made this weekend). Here's what the kids can expect from the afternoon. (And parents too, who are invited to stick around.)

Spydey: What is the structure for the day? What can the kids expect to learn?

Julian: we will get the kids in and help them create a game on a raspberry pi computer using the scratch program. This program is a drag and drop interface that teaches basic computer logic, and will allow us to eventually go into a more detailed programming workshop in a future event (hopefully).

[Aside: Incidentally, if you've never heard of Scratch, it's a coding language developed by MIT to make programming education accessible to younger audiences. And probably adults who are starting from — pun intended — scratch.]

If you managed to get a ticket, congrats! I'll be there with the Dude :) If you didn't, don't fret: the fine folks at Shopify have created a mailing list for future events. Just head over to the Code For Kids site and enter your email address. Should be an awesome day: Free Comic Book Day AND Star Wars Day AND Code For Kids Day. Our heads might just explode with all this geeky goodness!

Uber Nerdy Saturday: Free Comic Book Day and May The 4th Converge!

2013-05-01T06:00:00.000-04:00

Saturday is a bit of a nerdfest, given that two supremely nerdy events will converge on the same day: Free Comic Book Day and Star Wars Day. And this year, it also happens to be the same day as the first sold out Code for Kids workshop at Shopify (which I'll tell you about tomorrow).

But first, FREE COMICS!!! I know that there are still many of you who have no idea about Free Comic Book day although I wrote about it last year. And the year before. But it's ok, some of you are new around these parts so let me fill you in: On Saturday, go to the main Free Comic Book Day website, search for one of the participating comic book shops in your neighbourhood, head down, frag a bag and FILL IT WITH FREE COMIC BOOKS. *mind blown*

Comic book printers produce special editions of comics specifically to hand out on the day, but they're not old and random reprints. There's good stuff in there. Trust me. In fact, I managed to score one of these for my office last year:

Credit: League of Comic Geeks

Spider-Girl on Spider Island. Perfect, right? (Yeah, I know she spells her name wrong)

And the store owners take advantage of the extra traffic to put out tables full of discount editions and other merchandise. So, why do comic book stores participate? As the store owner said in the video below, it's a sign to customers saying, "Here, we love you. Have these comics." Find out more then I`ll fill you in on the second thing that makes this Saturday nerdriffic...

So the second awesome part about Saturday is that it's Star Wars Day: It's May the 4th. I'll let that sink in for a second (for you non-Star Wars fans, say it out loud and add, "be with you" at the end ;)

You can get your Star Wars nerd on with the help of the official Star Wars site: they've got drink ideas, puns, and even a handy top 10 ways to celebrate May the 4th. The most outrageous suggestion: getting a Star Wars tattoo. That's pretty hardcore. (Hmmm....)

Of course, for the perfect mashup you could dress up and head to the comic book store. You'll either be among friends or no one will even notice ;)

Happy Free Comic Book Day, May the 4th be with you. Nerds FTW!

How Context Shapes Content: Rodney Mullen's TED Talk About Skateboarding, Hacking and Open Source

2013-04-30T06:00:00.000-04:00

I'm fiendishly organized. But I'm also like one of those museum curators that has too much content for their exhibit space so a lot of the really kewl stuff is sitting in locked storage rooms, behind the scenes and you have to wait until it comes into rotation in order to catch a glimpse of it. And I curate a lot of content. So much, in fact, that I can forget for weeks to go through the articles and videos that I have bookmarked for later. Which is how I lost track of this.

Rodney Mullen at TEDxUSC (Still from video)

Back in December, I bookmarked this fantastic and unexpected TED Talk by pro skateboarder Rodney Mullen on How Context Shapes Content. It's incredible and definitely worth the entire 18 minute investment. Here are some highlights:

The opening sequence is a bit long but take it all in. He's showing you a number of tricks from the basic to the complex.
The first 12 minutes introduce the content side of things: how he started skateboarding, how the landscaped changed over time, how he had to innovate to stay relevant. (Sound familiar? Mullen's message is so applicable to careers and the workplace.)
He's completely charming and seemingly laid back and yet some of his descriptions of the mechanics behind skateboarding are fantastic. My favourite being: "...all of these tricks are made of sub-movements, executive motor functions, more granular to the degree to which I can't quite tell you, but one thing I do know is, every trick is made of combining two or three or four or five movements."
The last 8 minutes take a surprising turn into hacking and startups. He ties the skateboarding and digital worlds together by discussing similarities such as:

collaboration and contributing back into the larger community (like open source);
the balance between individuality and the collective;
the creativity, innovation;
the borderline (and sometimes not so borderline) illegality of their activities.

The funniest part is probably when he gushes about being on stage at TEDxUSC considering he's been escorted off campus so many times for skating on the grounds. ;)

Great messages wrapped in an unexpected context. Pretty much the recipe for a stellar TED Talk. I apologize for having held onto it so long before sharing it with you. Enjoy!

(Source: 37 Signals)

Why You Need to Back the Aaron Swartz Documentary KickStarter Project

2013-04-29T06:00:00.000-04:00

Last week I came across a tweet from Mashable referring to a new KickStarter project that I just had to get behind: a documentary about Aaron Swartz. Now if you don't know who he is, I wrote about Aaron's passing earlier this year and his impact on the movement for information freedom. (Go ahead, take a read. We'll wait. In this instance, context is very important.)

Director Brian Knappenberger, who is behind the project also directed the hacker documentary entitled, "We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists." If you haven't seen it, the doc looks at the people behind Anonymous, specifically "the collective’s breathtaking evolution from merry pranksters to a full-blown, global movement, one armed with new weapons of civil disobedience for an online world."

So it just makes sense that he be the one to put together the film about Aaron. And it won't just be a standard retrospective; Knappenberger is quoted in this Mashable article as saying:

It’s touched people that didn’t really know him all over the world so, [the film] is about exploring why that is, why people knew about him and why he inspires people. … It’s not a memorial of him, either. It’s an investigative approach into what happened and who he was.

Honestly, I was surprised by that. When I first read about the film, I thought it would be an honest-to-goodness retrospective of his life. (And the Kickstarter description certainly supported my impression.) But if this is the spin on the story, then it sounds even better: an exploration of why people rallied behind his cause and why there were so many of us in various communities around the world who were affected by his loss.

Knappenberger explained further on the documentary Kickstarter page:

many internet activists are so frustrated with existing systems that they consider them unfixable. But Aaron didn’t fit into this category. Countless friends describe him as someone who wanted to work within the system, to “hack” or use new tools to fix problems in our society – everything from internet freedoms to health care.

Aaron lived what he believed and he symbolized a movement for many of us. I hope that this project does see light of day because ours is likely a niche community: while those of us who advocate for the freedom of information consider ourselves numerous, within the general population, we are likely a minority. A loud minority. But a minority none-the-less. And this film seems like it would be a fantastic opportunity to get the message out even more broadly.

Oh, I know, it will likely reach the converted who will flock to view it in honour of the movement's poster child, but if we each show it to a friend, colleague or relative who is not involved, then it might present us with an opportunity to further the conversation and potentially the ideas. If this comes out, you can be sure that it will play at home, for hubby and the Dude, and possibly spawn some viewings at lunchtime in the office.

So here's the awesome part: Once the movie is done, the raw interview footage is going to be released to the Interwebs with a Creative Commons license. That means that not only will be accessible without DRM, but other people will be able to use it, morph it, expand on it, generally do with it what they will. You know, in the true spirit of Aaron's message. So perfect. Currently, the doc has 3 weeks to go and it has reached 2/3 of its goal. The minimum donation is $1 and for only $15 you can receive a DRM-free download of the film. (More gets you credits, other films, e-books and other swag.) I suggest that if you consider information freedom important, you seriously consider this project.

Still need convincing? Watch the preview:

(Source: Mashable on Twitter)

Rethinking the Coding Manual: From Boring Textbook to High-Gloss Showpiece

2013-04-26T06:00:00.000-04:00

You know what sucks about "Learn to Code" books? They're full of code.

Seriously.

And they contain odd words like "concatenate" which I can assure you, had no definition in any dictionary or website I could find back in 2001 when I tried to learn Java. (BTW, concatenate means "join" or "append".)

And then along comes someone with enough design sensibilities to not only write a series of Learn to Code books, but to design them as well.

Here's what I mean: Take for instance this page from the O'Reilly HTML and XHTML The Definitive Guide

Source: Google Books

(Yawn.)

Now check this out:

Jon Duckett's HTML and CSS

Bold, bright, interesting contrast, easy to understand. Now, that's a text book I can not fall asleep over.

On the official site, they call it:

A book about code that doesn't read like a 1980s VCR manual...

Precisely. And more engagement is more likely to keep you interested which is more likely to get you coding. So with that in mind, they have posted all of the code samples on their website, so you can see them in action. It's the small things that show they care. I mean, really, looking at code and then seeing the result on a printed page just doesn't really convey how it works; especially since you can view the source in order to see how they structured the code for the various components, this makes learning more interactive and holistic. And it looks so simple to follow that it might be good for the Dude after he takes his computer engineering camp this summer.

Basically, this is a smart user-centered approach to teaching coding. Win!

(Source: Gizmodo)

The Real Cost of Being Iron Man (and Some More Affordable Options)

2013-04-25T06:00:00.000-04:00

So you want to be Iron Man. Of course, you do. Admit it. There's something about Iron Man. Mmm. Iron Man. Tony Stark. Robert Downey Jr. It's all good.

[Ahem. Let's try this again.]

With Iron Man 3 hitting the theatres soon, our favourite snarky billionaire genius playboy is definitely on the brain. So you want to be Iron Man. But despite the obvious lack of available technology, what would it take to be him? And let's be clear, you can't be Tony Stark. You can try, but you can't. You can, however, try to emulate him and all of his magnificent toys. If you have the brains and the bank account.

But how much bank roll? Geeks Are Sexy (yes, we are) posted a great infographic from MoneySupermarket (below) that tells you just how much: from his home, to his cars, to Jarvis, to all those suits... And you know what? It's expensive being awesome. Like $30,000,000,000 expensive. If you think you can get there, I suggest you start saving your pennies and studying your engineering and nuclear physics.

Otherwise, you might want to consider some more affordable options like, say, this display suit which I saw on The Mary Sue. It's hitting the market some time this Spring and will only run you $8500.

Iron Man Display Suit via Sideshow Toy

But that's just for show. You'd rather have something you can wear. I get that. How about this incredible Steampunk Iron Man Costume that I blogged about in one of my Hallowe'en posts. This piece of gorgeous nerdery won the Marvel Costume Contest at Comic Con 2010. Stunning. (And definitely NOT $30 Billion.)

Steampunk Iron Man via Agent M Loves Tacos

Still skeptical about that $30 Billion figure? Here's the infographic that breaks down how much it costs to be Iron Man. Thankfully, it only costs $12 to get into the movies, so I can get me a lot of Iron Man without breaking the bank.

Click to view full sized at Geeks Are Sexy

Kewl Design Alert: The Beauty and Math of Roomba Art

2013-04-24T06:00:00.000-04:00

What happens when you combine Roombas + lights + long-exposure? Pure mathematical gorgeousness.

We have a Roomba and love it though we do, sometimes we treat it like a stupid machine. Roomba sets off the house alarm, so we can only run it when the alarm is off. And sometimes it doesn't pick everything up, so we wonder about the algorithm and its ability to really, truly figure out where it is and where it has been.

But then it does something smart like figure out where the stairs are, or spend a little extra time where there is more dirt. And Roomba is totally redeemed. But it's a little black box to us, we wonder how it works, how it figures out where to go, and how it does all the magic it does to keep the floors clean. If you want to know how Roomba works, you should check out this article on How Stuff Works.

There is an entire community of people who have actually taken advantage of Roomba's algorithmic tendencies to generate art with lights and crayons (spirograph!):

Like this haunting view of the spot clean cycle, by maltorrance:

Source

Or this spirograph view (produced at a Maker Faire, no less!), by todbot:

Source

Or how about this Tron-like pattern by 3rdeyepro:

Source

And finally this pattern that looks like some sort of funky patterned carpet under a black light, by IBRoomba:

Source

Aren't these incredible? Makes me wonder what we would see. Maybe I should talk to hubby about setting up some lights and putting his camera on a tripod... ;)

You can view more in the Roomba pool on Flickr.

(Source: Gawker)

New Headshot Makes Me Look (and Feel) Like a Super-Spydey!

2013-04-23T06:00:00.001-04:00

You guys!

Hubby has been dabbling in photography for the last year and when I needed a headshot, I asked if he would oblige.

Well, it turned out incredible and I just had to share! He's obviously awesome considering I hate having my picture taken. I mean, really hate having my picture taken. I smile all frozen and awkward which is why I had the idea of doing my trademark smirk, since it goes so nicely with all the snark on my blog. ;)

I've become incredibly accustomed to my cartoon alter-ego but I'm loving this shot far too much. You might see this popping up on various social media profiles, instead of the avatar. You might have already noticed it over on the Twitters, Facebook or Google Plus. If not, check it out below.

I feel like I need to start introducing myself as: Grrl. Spydergrrl. Too much?

Spydergrrl (Photo courtesy of Victor Hanna Photography)

The Biggest Barrier To The Modern Workplace is Us

2013-04-22T06:00:00.000-04:00

Credit: Microsoft ClipArt Gallery

My career has so far spanned 15 years. In that time, I've worked at 12 companies and held a total of 15 different jobs. And you know what? Although tech has been getting faster, smaller and more refined, at its core today's workplace is very similar to how it was back in the late 90s. Even the mid-80s.

I'd even venture to say that the workplace evolves to incorporate evolving technologies but the workforce does not evolve at the same pace.

Let me reiterate: The "workplace" could change faster if it wasn't for all the people.

Yeah, I said it.

What's holding us back from truly embracing technology and alternative work methods is: people. Why do you think there are so many blogs, books, articles, webcasts about embracing change, talking about innovation and the changing workforce? Because there are still a significant number of people who don't. People who resist the need to change how we work. People who think that technology itself will enable change, that they don't have to do anything to actualize it.

Take teleconferencing, for example. Why is it that after having it in the office for decades, people still can't figure out how to mute on a conference call? Or to pause when addressing someone offsite so that they have a chance to unmute? Basic skills for a kind of interaction we use almost daily, but people just can't seem to figure them out. Then of course, there's the constant tech blame when a video or web conference fails. Because it can't possibly be the people.

Email and the Internet have changed how we exchange and find information, but social and collaborative methods of working (and other alternative work methods) haven't yet changed en masse how people do their day to day jobs. Consider:

Gamification is still misunderstood and perceived as a waste of time instead of embraced as an effective method for collaborating, problem solving and learning (see my piece on the Stigma of Gamification).
The workplace is fully enabled to be mobile but remote work is still eyed with skepticism, even at tech companies like Yahoo.
Meetings are still booked for large blocks of time (e.g. 30 or 60 minutes), while Agile methodology has told us that short, standup meetings are the most effective and productive.
Wikis and internal social networks are still perceived as places for where conversation happens but not perceived as places to get things done.
Reporting is still done at scheduled intervals in lengthy reports and cumbersome spreadsheets instead of frequently and simply.
Documents are still produced using jargon and "business English" instead of plain language.
Oh, and the printing. All the printing! Let's be honest: the paperless workplace can't happen until we remove the printers!

These aren't technology issues, they are human issues.

I was interviewed a few months ago by someone developing a course on social media and was asked: "How will social media change the way we work in 5 years?" And I responded: "It won't." The interviewer was stunned and stammered, "Wh-What do you mean?!" Now, this person is aware that I am a tech pundit and a fan of all things shiny, new and social. So, she was thrown off by my response. But I explained: social is wonderful and I use it to find information and share my knowledge but it's not commonplace enough in the workplace to assume that it's impacting everyone everyday everywhere. It's not yet part of "the way we do things"; paper, meetings, reports, presentations, formal structures... these traditional methods of work are still embraced as the norm.

Alternative work methods are still perceived as novelties: fun, entertaining and unsustainable. Like offsite team-building, they only happen infrequently and when they do, are often perceived as taking people away from "the real work."

These human decisions and perceptions hold us back from being truly collaborative, agile and mobile at work. To be sure, I don't think this is a generational issue; I think it's a perception issue: We don't need to show people the benefits of better incorporating technology into the workplace, we need to seamlessly incorporate technology and alternative work methods into their day to day so they don't keep reverting to their comfort zone of "same old, same old".

Technology can't save us from ourselves. Only we can do that.

Is This Movie Poster The First Step to Realizing Patton Oswalt's EPIC Star Wars-Avengers-XMen-Clash of the Titans-Fantastic Four Movie?

2013-04-19T06:00:00.000-04:00

You may have caught Uber nerd Patton Oswalt's Star Wars pitch, filmed during a rehearsal for the latest episode of Parks & Recreation. It was, in a word, EPIC. Especially when you consider that he improvised it. OMG. (Note: it didn't make it into the episode, so you can only watch it online).

Possibly the most impressive manifestation of nerdery in recent history.

If you missed it, take the requisite 8 minutes and watch this. (We'll wait. Go ahead, watch the whole thing.)

Isn't that awesome?!

So Oswalt's rant is becoming the stuff of legend in nerd circles. In fact, ~~unlikely source~~ Entertainment Weekly has even gone so far as to design a movie poster in its honour. (Further inspired by the poster for Infinity Gauntlet which Oswalt cites in his rant.) EW blogged their poster and ended with the line, "Your move, Abrams." Absolutely perfect.

Credit: Entertainment Weekly

Let's face it. That's not a movie poster. That's the start of a hectalogy. In case you didn't get that, it would be a series with a hundred films. Seriously, there's a lot going on here.

Can you even begin to imagine how complex this story line would be? Honestly, all I can imagine is how the Interwebs would be on fire inevitably criticizing the portrayal of all those superheroes in a single film. Pretty sure the web would implode with all the arguing that would ensue. But it would be fun to watch, right?

Meantime, let's just all applaud EW's Jef Castro for not only designing the movie poster to end all movie posters, but more importantly for actually understanding the complex storyline of Oswalt’s Episode VII in the first place.

Kudos, nerd. Kudos.

Spacebound: An Adorable, Emotional Short Film About The Love Between A Boy and His Dog While Lost in Space

2013-04-18T06:00:00.000-04:00

Let's start with the synopsis from the official Spacebound website:

When Death’s door is only a few breaths away, how would you choose to spend your last moments?

A young boy and his dog is stranded in space and running out of oxygen. This is a story not about the end, but about the journey one takes to get there.

Doesn't that sound intriguing?

Now check out the artwork.

Credit: Spacebound website

Here's what you need to know:

there's not a line of dialogue but you'll fall in love with the characters in an instant;
it's adorable: they're exuberance is palpable;
it's unnerving: every time the boy looks at his monitor, your heart breaks a little;
it's a choose-your-own-adventure: the ending is up to you.

Kudos to Ellen Su and Kyle Moy, the illustrator and animator, respectively. Personally, this was a highlight in my day.

Now take a look and let me know what you think!

(Source: The Awesomer)

Kewl App Alert: Any.DO Combines the Best of GTD and Laziness

2013-04-17T06:00:00.000-04:00

If you're familiar with the Getting Things Done (or GTD) approach, then you probably have a series of files in your office numbered from 1-31, another with the months of the year, one for next year and one called Someday. Or if you're lazy, you thought about it. Then forgot. And there are files in your office but they're stacked in no particular order.

Either way, Any.do is an app for you.

I fall in the middle of these two extremes. I did have a bunch of rotating folders for work, but then I realized how much I loathe paper and instead created my own system in Evernote to manage my projects electronically. And since I am such a fan of search, most of my system is based on filing everything in Evernote and then searching for whatever I need if I can't remember offhand where it sits. All in all, it means that I don't carry a paper notebook and have maybe all of 100 sheets of paper in my entire office. Most of it was handed to me by other people at meetings and I still haven't found a use for any of it. I should really purge those.

Hmm, I should put that into Any.do. Here's a look at my current list.

Screen shot of my Any.Do list

[Aside: yes, France. One day, again.]

Any.do is a to-do list that uses the GTD idea of today, tomorrow, soon and someday to schedule tasks. Or, if you're lazy, delay doing tasks. And it contains a lot of functions to help you manage them. You can:

enter tasks or events,
associate them with people in your contacts list,
schedule them as loosely or as specifically as you want,
add reminders,
assign urgency,
add notes,
run a Web search on the text of your task (very handy when the task is to "buy x"),
and my personal fave: share it with a contact.

Whether or not your contact has the app, you can share a task. They receive an email that looks like this:

Any.DO task sharing email

If they accept to help you, you will receive an update in your app. If they have Any.do, the task will be added to their list. If they turn you down (which is kindly "not now" instead of the more direct "bite me"), responding will send them to the App.do site. Clever, clever.

Hubby and I share some Evernotes but mostly we share tasks and events on a Google Calendar. I like the ability to have the items show up in my to do list too, so this is a great way to merge the two. [Every time I say "Any.do" I think of "honey-do" (lists) so this is potentially dangerous for hubby who may suddenly find himself the recipient of many tasks. Hmm, better pace myself.

If you assign reminders or deadlines to tasks, they will appear in your task bar, like calendar events. Now the laziness feature comes into play: if you need to push back a deadline, you can just drag and drop tasks across the various categories to expedite or (more likely) delay them (~~you lazy oaf~~). Dropping the ball has never been so easy.

But this little app is also pretty smart: it asks you when you'd like to play your day, and every day at that time runs you through a little checklist, showing you what's on the books and prompting you to accept, edit, set a reminder or delay each item. Mine goes off at 8am, while I'm normally on the bus so it gets me thinking about what I need to get done on the way to work. Love.

Up until this point, I was using Minipaper (native Android app) on my phone to record quick to do lists that I wanted to have visible without opening Evernote. But I love the UI and simplicity of this app so much that I actually changed my Android homescreen to display my Any.do list when I turn it on. Instant to-do list, instead of instant social feeds. Yup, tricking my brain into focusing on productivity. Whatever works, right?

Are you a GTD fan? Are you a lazy oaf? Would you ~~set this up and then never~~ use this?

Finding Our Tribe: 75 TED Talks Featuring Geek Girls

2013-04-16T06:00:00.000-04:00

Credit: Microsoft Online Clipart Gallery

Last week, I gave a presentation and one of the participants asked about how to find like-minded people in our own community. It's a comment that I've been thinking about a lot over the last few days.

Between public social media and collaborative networks in my workplace, I've been able to locate my tribe. Strong, smart, nerdy women who share a similar passion about the Interwebs, technology, user experience, information architecture, business analysis and all the other things that I geek out on at work. We don't see eye to eye on everything but we are a very supportive sounding board for one another, and some of them are my closest advisors when it comes to work. In fact, I've even dedicated an Ada Lovelace Day post to them, as a thank you for all that they have shared with me and taught me.

For that, I consider myself very fortunate. But it hasn't always been that way for me.

Before I was active online, I was a one-woman show in a number of male-dominated work settings. In one company, HR, administration, communications and marketing were entirely staffed of women, while I was the lone female in our R&D shop, sitting "with the boys" in an entirely different building. It was very lonely (especially when they would head to the strip club for lunch). So, yes, I understand how hard it can be to find — let alone build — a support system or network of like-minded femme nerds who work in science and tech.

Now, the next time you find yourself feeling a little isolated, and needing some girl geek encouragement, check out this amazing list of 75 Ted Talks: each and every one delivered by a girl geek working in science and technology. Topics are wide-ranging (as are video lengths) but there's bound to be something for everyone.

Or, you know, you could always just hop on over to the Twitters and ping me. I've been there. We can support each other. Maybe I can even introduce you to my tribe. :)