findingada

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.

It's still 24 March in Honolulu!

I've been tickled pink reading ada day blog posts over the past day and a bit. I've smiled as I've read posts by my friends, and posts about my friends, and I wanted to just add another chord to the rousing chorus of celebration of Women in Technology that has been the inaugural Ada Lovelace Day.  Also Hip Hip Hooray to Suw Charman for dreaming this, and making it so.

Let’s create new role models and make sure that whenever the question “Who are the leading women in tech?” is asked, that we all have a list of candidates on the tips of our tongues... To take part All you need to do is... pick your tech heroine and then publish your blog post any time on Tuesday 24th March 2009. It doesn’t matter how new or old your blog is, what gender you are, what language you blog in, or what you normally blog about - everyone is invited.