Every field has its seasons, its rituals, its traditions, its myths.  Information technology, too, has stories that it tells  at certain times of the year.  In that spirit, we offer a myth from the ancient of days, which is to say the 1950s.   Anna-the-intern narrates this year’s presentation of “Songs of Comfort and Joy,” As … Continue reading Computing for the Season: Songs of Comfort & Joy →

Why do we need to learn to code? Really. Can’t we just get an app and be done with it? A bunch of tech people are giving us a bunch of reasons to do it but they are, in all honesty, silly. Fix a web page? Add a function to your spreadsheet? Have these people … Continue reading Why Do We Code? (Computer Science Week) →

Why do we need to learn to code? Really. Can’t we just get an app and be done with it? A bunch of tech people are giving us a bunch of reasons to do it but they are, in all honesty, silly. Fix a web page? Add a function to your spreadsheet? Have these people … Continue reading Why Do We Code? (Computer Science Week) →

Once computing was work. Hard work. Paper. Pencil. Nothing more. Once, thousands of people calculated in mass computing labs. Now, they are generally forgotten. This November, The National Institute of Standards and Technology has corrected our memory by honoring their chief computer from the 1930s, Gertrude Blanch.   Blanch was the director of the Mathematical … Continue reading Remembering Gertrude Blanch Because We Should →

Once computing was work. Hard work. Paper. Pencil. Nothing more. Once, thousands of people calculated in mass computing labs. Now, they are generally forgotten. This November, The National Institute of Standards and Technology has corrected our memory by honoring their chief computer from the 1930s, Gertrude Blanch.   Blanch was the director of the Mathematical … Continue reading 17510: Remembering Gertrude Blanch →

How do you fix a troubled startup? How do you mend a broken heart? When your startup is in trouble, you can look for solutions in every possible direction but the right one. Vinny considers the possibility of a simple technical fix for Maddie’s increasingly complex Watcher Dogz. Featuring: Zoe Anastassiou as Maddie-the-8-year-old-entrepreneur Geoffrey Grier … Continue reading Working in the Neighborhood →

What do you know about tech leadership? Try this one. There’s a meeting.  It’s in the center of Silicon Valley deal-making.  The young CEO has assembled two confidants.  The questions begin. Is the purpose of the get together for technical advice?  Or is it something else? Maddie meets with Rohit and Sulley in Buck’s of … Continue reading A Meeting At Bucks →

What do you know about tech leadership? Try this one. There’s a meeting.  It’s in the center of Silicon Valley deal-making.  The young CEO has assembled two confidants.  The questions begin. Is the purpose of the get together for technical advice?  Or is it something else? Maddie meets with Rohit and Sulley in Buck’s of … Continue reading 17310: A Meeting At Bucks →

What’s the best way to manage technology? Build a strong, highly structured organization? Or do you just build a market and let the laws of supply and demand decide? Our staff meets at a farmer’s market near the Washington Office to decide just such questions.  The answer, it turns out, involves Task Rabbits, a subway … Continue reading Managing for a Good Lunch →