Madison Ruby 2013

Madison Ruby 2013 was held this weekend. The conference attracts smart, intellectually curious people who are thirsty to learn more.

By the way, Madison Ruby was a lot of fun, too!

Speakers: Impressive and Accessible

First, lets cover the obvious high points so we can focus on those things that make Madison Ruby unique. Organizers Jim & Jen Remsik have solidified their reputation for choosing engaging, well-prepared speakers. The Remsik network of speakers includes accomplished developers from around the world. Many are published authors. Some, like Danielle Lee and Martin Atkins, excel in fields outside of software development.

Age vs. Ability

Age has little to do with ability. Every profession has examples of people who achieve goals even though others consider them too young or too old. People who excel in the face of stereotypes are exciting to watch.

The Wall Street Journal listed some examples in a 1980s-era ad for United Technologies Corporation.

Why We Need STEM

Ignite Chicago is an evening of 5-minute talks presented by speakers who want to inspire others. Each speaker is allowed twenty slides, and the slides advance automatically every fifteen seconds. The Ignite organizers asked me to present Why We Need STEM at 1871. I’ll post the video when it becomes available. For now, check out the slides…

Thank you Ignite Chicago organizers (Pete Aiello and Claire Lew) for the invitation and for hosting a great event.

Petascale Tools Workshop 2013

The Petascale Tools Workshop is for computer scientists who create tools that enable apps to run efficiently on the world’s fastest supercomputers. Supercomputer performance is measured in petaflops: 10¹⁵ floating point operations per second. That’s blazing speed, thousands of times faster than the fastest MacBook Pro.

Pat Metheny: Be the Worst

Pat Metheny encourages musicians to “be the worst” in whatever band they choose to join. Of course, he does not mean to play poorly.

Rather, he encourages us to surround ourselves with the best musicians we can find so that we can learn from them. The concept is explored further in the book Apprenticeship Patterns by Dave Hoover and Ade Oshineye.