Into the silence is a magnificent account of the British assaults on Everest in the 1920s puts Mallory’s adventures in the context of war and imperialism. It took 12 years to research and write.

Wilson Miner – When We Build from Build on Vimeo.

Bret Victor – Inventing on Principle from CUSEC on Vimeo.

via @dburka

So what’s all the fuss about? Confoo which bills itself as bringing under one roof PHP Québec, Montréal-Python, Montreal.rb, Montreal Jug, W3Qc, OWASP Montréal, Android Montreal and local web developers. Confoo has 109 speakers in total. 5 of them are women. 5. It is not a typo. Earlier in the day they had 105 speakers.

This is not the first year of the conference, nor the first time, the community has pointed out the lack of women: same ratio for 2011, and 2010.

Now: what I would really like to do is open a dialog and see how our community can help confoo, because it obviously needs the help and because we care. But first, we need to have a dialog:

Because you know, pointing out an issue makes me a sexist, closed minded and disrespectful person.

Oh yeah, now we are really talking about the issue at hand. My followers are thoroughly impressed. But perhaps not what was intended!

It never hurts to restate the obvious.

Unless of course …

Well, if by IT feminist crusaders Ms. Anna Filina is referring to CEOs of software firms and founders, then I am guilty, and if by IT we are talking about the software industry, then guilty again! Darn you got me!

But seriously: let’s grab a coffee and talk about how we can change the ratio. And no, it has nothing to do with the toys you play with when you are a child. There are so many awesome people working at changing the ratio (and running software firms) and all we need is first a dialog, then an action plan. Let’s talk. Let’s change. And let’s not call each other names. That’s just not NICE and the internet is so all kinds of nice. kthxbai!

Sorry, got to get back to running a software firm.

There can never be too many girls in tech, so join Tech Chics YYZ for an evening to connect with other female entrepreneurs like you. Tech Chics YYZ is a Toronto based network for emerging and established female entrepreneurs in mobile, web and software platforms. 

The first get together of Tech Chics YYZ is happening On Match 7th. Registration is open and this is a free event. The two hours event promises to be filled with “50,000 foot wisdom, perspective, proven expertise and tactical advice from those who’ve done it and are in the process of.”  Geared towards high caliber tech founders, CTOs, investors and promising young start-ups, this event is intended to foster collaboration, mentoring and partnerships.

So there you go!

I hope you are all enjoying an awesome break and looking forward to 2012, I know I am!

2012 is going to bring in a slew of awesome conferences, lectures and hackathon to attend. As I am putting together our Hackdays hackathon schedule for 2012 I realized I have not told you all about Art Science Camp and since I am helping Jen Dodd (the managing director of Subtle Technologies) organize it, it is about time to remedy that.

Art Science Camp is an unconference organized co-presented by Hart House and Subtle Technologies (disclosure: I joined Subtle Technologies’ board). Every year Subtle Technologies brings us the Subtle Festival. For 15 years the Festival has been bringing people together to promote wonder, incite creativity and spark innovation across disciplines. The Subtle symposium, performances, workshops, screenings, exhibitions and networking sessions provide a forum to explore ideas and pose questions at the intersection of art, science and technology. I am sure you will want to attend next year’s festival! But in the meantime, join us for Art Science Camp.

So what is Art Science Camp: It is an Art, Science and Technology unconference. A two day conference which will peek your curiosity and broaden your interest by intertwining art, science and technology in a series of peer presentations.

Art Science Camp starts on Friday February 3rd, 2012 at 7 PM and gathers artists, scientists, students, engineers, architects, designers and geeks. The Friday evening party is the venue for collaboratively creating a program of events to take place the next day. Everyone is encouraged to bring a crazy idea, a work in progress, or a vital topic for discussion, and to organize a session around it. Anyone interested a presentation or a discussion can claim a presentation spot on the schedule.

Last year, the first Art Science Camp included presentations by:
Eric Boyd – wearable electronics designer, Toronto Hacklab leader

Dan Falk – Knight Science Journalism fellow, popular science author

Michael Nielsen - quantum computation pioneer and author.

Like last year, Art Science Camp is going to aim at bringing together people who would not normally have conversations with each other, and create a space for surprising and serendipitous connections.

The first Art Science Camp last year sold out, and this year it is about to sell out, so if you are interested in getting a ticket, don’t delay. Registration is open and we have close to 100 attendees already.

We are also looking for sponsors to make this year’s unconference unforgettable. If you can land a hand, help with sponsorships, sponsor lunch, dinner or drinks, please get in touch. An awesome sponsorship which helps defray the cost of this volunteer event starts at $250.
If you have any questions about sponsorships or how you could lend a hand, get in touch.

•  Art Science Camp (#artscicamp)
• Date: Friday February 3rd at 7 PM to – Saturday Feb 4th at 6 PM
• Location: University of Toronto, Hart House, 7 Hart House Circle
• Registration: Open
• Cost: $10.00
• Available for sponsorship

[Photograph (c) Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center]

Second consecutive day of running. Small success. Trail running in fall is awesome. The goal for the next 28 days is to run every single day to complete a 30 consecutive running day plan. So what has worked so far: something that I have been very reluctant to ever do: prioritize my running and get it out of the way first thing in the morning rather than plan for a run at the end of day which never happens!

Yes. I believe I can kick my running procrastination habit!

Fighting running procrastination this week. I am never going to finish that 50 miles race if I don’t start training. Today is going to be a 20 km run day. 5 km this morning while dodging Queen street traffic. Next 15 km trail run in Limberlost – looking forward to the rain and forest. The 2.5 hour ride to get there is going to be the killer on top of a full day of work!

Under the Sun, The letters of Bruce Chatwin

So we went to San Francisco which is so unlike anything else in the US it doesn’t really bear thinking about. it’s utterly light-weight and sugary with no sense of purpose or depth. The people are overcome with an incurable frivolity whenever they set foot in it. This doesn’t mean that one couldn’t live here. In fact I think one could easily, preferably with something equally frivolous to do.