I have resigned myself to being a late person, so no surprise that I am now posting my Ada Lovelace blog a week late 🙁 Am not usually this bad with things but…
Part of the reason that my blog is so late is I couldn’t think of who to blog about. Last year I posted on my female colleagues at City University London. This year I did think about posting on Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle, who I studied for my PhD but someone has beaten me to it, so thought would think of someone different. And have then spent the last week racking my brains as to who. Which is kind of worrying really as I should know more women in technology who have inspired me. In the end I tried to think about how I got to where and I am today and why and came up with the idea of blogging about my mother.
Anyone who follows me on twitter or is my friend on facebook will know that I have a rather turbulent relationship with my mother. That said, she is my mother and I owe a lot to her. Although my mother is not particularly techie, far from it, I think she encouraged me to think differently and that I could succeed at whatever I did. She isn’t a particularly gadget person (my Dad was) but she would have a go. I remember her going on a “basic skills every woman should know” type course (this was the 1980s) where she learnt to rewire a plug and change a fuse. And she now even has a Mac and is a bit of a silver surfer after doing two IT courses.
So, I’m dedicating my Ada Lovelace post to my mother, who may drive me to distraction on a regular basis and has some rather strange views on things, but has helped me to get to where I am today. Thanks mum.
You can read more about Ada Lovelace day at www.findingada.com