The first Ada Initiative fundraising campaign is underway. For the month of June, Mary Gardiner and Valerie Aurora are focusing their efforts on seeding their operational fund by inviting 100 people to sign up as foundational donors - the seed 100. 

By contributing $512, the donor will be listed as a difference engineer, or by donating $1024 the donor will be listed as an analytical engineer. The FAQ explains:

Q. Why “Difference Engineer” and “Analytical Engineer?”

A. The pioneering inventor Charles Babbage designed two calculating machines beginning in the 1820’s, the Difference Engine and the Analytical Engine.

The Difference Engine was essentially a very large mechanical calculator – capable of generating tables of numbers but not programmable and not a general-purpose computer.

The Analytical Engine was the world’s first design for a general-purpose, Turing-complete computer. Countess Ada Lovelace, the Ada Initiative’s namesake, wrote the world’s first computer program for the (as yet unbuilt) Analytical Engine in 1843.

“Difference Engineer” and “Analytical Engineer” are imaginary titles for the people who would have programmed and run Babbage’s engines if they had been built in his time.

Women are under represented, and under acknowledged in Open Source.  The Ada Initiative is working to take practical action to change this.

Please help spread the word and if you can, please donate.

Today I met the small team getting started on putting on the next DrupalDownunder gathering.

If you're in Australia, care about Drupal and you haven't already done so, put these dates in your diary right now.

Edited: 20 June 2011

A memorial service was held at the Richmond Town Hall on 22 May, attended by many family, friends and colleagues. An obituary by Mary Draper has appeared in today's age.

Tough, caring reformer in social justice

A week ago we lost Concetta Benn.

There's a complex set of skills involved in effective web development - and the 'industry' is filled with experts and skilled practitioners. Here's a thumbnail sketch of the range of skills needed to work the web.

Mary Gardiner and Valerie Aurora have launched The Ada Initiative.

They really want to tackle the under representation of women in open technology and culture and the want to do it full time.

I was honoured they asked me to join the advisory board, and utterly humbled when I saw the list of other women on the board. It's an extraordinary crew of talented, accomplished women. Do I really belong there? Or is that just my imposter syndrome at work?

Thanks to the fabulous RosieX of geekgirl fame I was invited to speak on the National women's current affairs radio show Women on the Line. The interview was last week, and the show was broadcast on 3CR this morning.

Update: Campaign website now up!  http://digitisethedawn.org

Should write in detail. But it's late on day 1 of LCA - so just putting up the background notes, and the slides for today's talk at the Haecksen miniconf.

Download the slides

Video

When the furore over the haecksen t-shirts broke out, a suggestion rippled through the 'verse that we should create our own bootleg t-shirts.

Here's my version. [available for sale at RedBubble]