Modesitt on the Fallacy of Undergrad as Vocational Programming

I am guilty of advocating more women pursue STEM degrees, but I’m also one hundred percent behind my daughter’s choice of career in vocal performance. At one point in her life, she was perfectly happy to pursue a STEM related career in zoology or chemistry. But her talent and love of music won the battle for her vocation. I have a career, more aptly referred to as just a job, in technology, but I can in no way begin to claim it is a calling or satisfying as a true vocation would have been. Ah, the regrets.

Recently, a semi-prominent president of an educational institution told a group of music professors that they shouldn’t complain about the fact that they were paid less than professors in other disciplines or that they were required by the institution to work longer hours and more days than most other professors because they “knew what they…

via The Education/Business Fallacy — L.E. Modesitt, Jr. – The Official Website

How Chess Has Changed Over The Last 150 Years

http://io9.com/how-chess-has-changed-over-the-last-150-years-1707692642

Chess is one of those games I know how to play but have no desire to play. As noted in this article, the rise of the machine has made human play almost an afterthought.

I like computers but I prefer to tell them what to do. Computers excel at trillions of calculations and quick logical comparisons. They do not sweat nor do they forget or fatigue.  They will always win the every – possible – move grind.

Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon

NPR: Forgotten Female Programmers Who Created Modern Tech

 But every time you write on a computer, play a music file or add up a number with your phone’s calculator, you are using tools that might not exist without the work of these women.

— Laura Sydell, The Forgotten Female Programmers Who Created Modern Tech, NPR, October 6, 2014

Article: Why women leave tech: It’s the culture, not because ‘math is hard’

Why women leave tech: It’s the culture, not because ‘math is hard’

http://fortune.com/2014/10/02/women-leave-tech-culture/

Another article that my experience in tech proves out.  Apparently, I am too stubborn to quit though.

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What’s Your Major? 4 Decades Of College Degrees, In 1 Graph : Planet Money : NPR

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2014/05/09/310114739/whats-your-major-four-decades-of-college-degrees-in-1-graph?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20140509

Sad to see that STEM degrees haven’t gained much ground.  I’m rather disappointed in the Math stats (pun intended).

Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon