TechStyle

Ada Lovelace Day '09

 Its Ada Lovelace Day, so I've dusted off the old blog to join in with over 1000 blogs and promote Women in Technology and the joys of Ada Lovelace. Ada gets a lot of press and some question whether she really deserves all of it, especially her label as the world's first computer programmer. But frankly - does it matter? She certainly had an ability to take Babbage's work towards the realm of programming, and that merits a piece on the Science Museum's web page. So I've written about Ada here and her strong collaboration with Charles Babbage and the Science Museum's collections. And I'm looking forward to watching the 'real' Ada Lovelace walk the galleries of the museum alongside the Analytical Engine all day.

The End of the Blog?

Is life too short for blogging? Its been a long time since I blogged due to a series of fortunate and unfortunate events. The arrival of young Miss Cecily Rose has proved to be a great distraction, as was the trip to Mull over the summer, but then there was the accident involving my computer (Gin+Tonic+Computer=REALLYNotGood). After a few weeks of having no access to the Internet/email/blog (an experience worth a post all of its own) I finally cracked and rejoined the modern world with a visit to Tottenham Court Road and a brand new machine. Now I am complete - with Skype an' all - and can really test whether there is more to life than museum blogging.

doors 8 revisited

doors8_holi_53
Originally uploaded by ma:kəs.

I've only just seen this review of the Doors 8 conference, but it seems to capture the woodstock of all conferences rather nicely.  Will 'work' ever be such fun again?

The Original Blog

Sometimes its worth looking back to go forward. Pope and Guthrie's Hypertext Jounal , 1996, was the original blog - with a travelogue that opened up their thoughts and emotions via the WWW as they journeyed  through the Western Isles.

"... I love anecdotes. I fancy mankind may come, in time, to write all aphoristically, except in narrative; grow weary or preparation, and connection, and illustration, and all those arts by which a big book is made..."
Boswell quotes Johnson in 'The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides'.

Rachel on 2 way comms

Rachel on 2 way comms
Originally uploaded by TechStyle.

Breakfast brainstorming the ways that blogs can be used in museums, from curators posts to weblogs tracking exhibition development. Then Gail Durbin led a workshop on way to make your site communicate in two-ways, with lots of examples from the old favourites like iCan and some new ones like Mr Picasso Head.