She got me into blogging

by on October 11, 2006

I’ll never forget Dori Smith’s prodding to learn about blogging back in 2000. I’m glad my wife interviewed her for the ScobleShow. Oh, yeah, she knows some other stuff too. She wrote the book on JavaScript (actually, quite a few books, check out the list on her sidebar). Plus she has the coolest office I’ve been in so far (less than a block from the nearest winery too). Her office is actually in a permanently-parked RV in Healdsburg, CA.

I’m glad to play cameraguy for my wife — especially when the conversation is so interesting. Ajax. Development tools. Mashups. Macs. PCs. Women in programming careers. Learning programming. Her son, who is studying bioinformatics. And much more. We cover Java vs. Javascript and keep the programming discussion pretty high level. If you’re just getting into programming this is a good overview.

This was Maryam’s first interview — ever. I thought she did a good job and even told me to shut up at one point.

  • Thank you for adding the blog link -- I was about to give you a little grief for it. ;-)

    I do have to admit, though, that the books on the sidebar are mostly Tom's.
  • That was the best interview I've seen you do. Well worth the watch, good job guys.

    http://www.bynkii.com/archives/2006/10/just_to_...
  • Bess
    Any reason why I can't see the video. I can only hear voice. It is more interesting to watch the video than audio.

    I love the interview. I wish I could watch it. Maryam has done a very nice job in leading the interview and making it interesting.

    I remember in the old days it is not popular for girls to major in computer science. Especially the good-looking and popular girls choose something else. Girls tend to choose something that they can go to classes together, study together in library, and even find jobs together. Seriously, staying overnight and sleeping in the computer lab don't sound very comfortable at all. Computer major is just not very sexy in 80s and early 90s from most girls' view. Things are slowly changing...
  • Bess: you might try closing the window and restarting. That just happened to me too. But it's just a Quicktime video. One other thing, try downloading to your drive, rename it to a short file name. That might help.
  • I remember in the old days it is not popular for girls to major in computer science. Especially the good-looking and popular girls choose something else.

    I was neither, so it was an easy choice for me ;-)

    Seriously, staying overnight and sleeping in the computer lab don’t sound very comfortable at all. Computer major is just not very sexy in 80s and early 90s from most girls’ view.

    Or even in the 70's, when I decided to be a CS major and started college!

    Personally, I don't even remember how many nights I spent in the UCI computer lab other than 'lots.' I had no car, didn't live on campus, and the local bus system stopped at 10 pm -- so if I was there past 9:45, I was there till morning. A belated thank you to whoever put the twin bed in the women's restroom on the 2nd floor!

    Things are slowly changing…

    As I understand it, they are slowly changing, but for the worse. All the stats I've seen say that fewer women enroll every year in comp sci and tech majors.
  • You have a typical geek girl laugh (I don't mean it in a derogatory way). Great interview.
  • Bess
    My dad was a Gadget geek. My typical birthday gifts were not the normal girl stuff. He actually bought something that he could play too like mini-power drill, mini-screw-driver-gun, mini-tool-box etc. The stuff he bought was not the toy plastic type. I used to have a complete set of high quality heavy-metal grade tools that I could drill holes and fix stuff. Funny fact was I never found any place to drill holes at home.

    I've never played barbie girl. He didn't buy me any barbie girl. He bought me a computer instead. My first computer was Atari. I just looked up the internet and found this interesting fact. Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, was a former employee of Atari in 1970s.
    http://www.atarimuseum.com/computers/computers....

    Anyway, I used to run game software from cassette tapes on on a tape recorder. And I followed the manual and wrote little baby codes on Basic. I don't think I know what I am doing at that age. But I do think what parents buy for kids influence their interests and future.

    It was very tough for girls to decide to major in computer. Back in 70s, 80s, 90s, think about what your parents and other family friends would say if you major in computer. Any girls with high GPA are encouraged to be doctors, lawyers, or even engineers. Who could predict Internet is changing the way where the money flow. Money flow from software to internet these days.

    It is much easier for girls to go into computer science these days. With internet and boardband, you don't have to stay in the computer lab overnight. You can quote successful computer geeks who make it on Fortune 100 Richest list. You can quote successful computer geeks worked in gargage can bring in billions in 10 years. You can quote it is alright to drop out of Ph.D. program to put part-time hobby to full time business. And they can hire any and many Ph.D. working for them 11 years later. You can even quote the latest computer geek who put a news site is treated as a Rock Star in Silicon valley. This is why girls should consider computer science. This is much easier to be a girl geek, well-accepted by public, now than in the last 10-30 years.
  • Robert, about Dori's office--to refer to a 1957 vintage Airstream travel trailer as "an RV" is a CRIME. Dori might have inspired YOU to blog, but she inspired ME to get a vintage trailer as my office.

    Excellent choice for an interview!
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