Dr Laura James's writings

Another Ada Lovelace Day, another blog post (see 2010 , 2009 ). This year, I'm going with a topical woman in technology from the lovely DevChix community. I'm not sure if she'd want to be named; but she stood up and asked for an apology after a male speaker made a sexist joke at a major tech conference (JavaOne) recently . She also made sure the organisers heard about it, and they apologised and will follow up with the speaker's company.  But in some quarters she's been criticised for making men in the audience uncomfortable - but she's still an inspiration. It's depressing that these things are still happening (and that the joke reportedly got a good laugh). But raising awareness helps others understand that such incidents are offputting to women in technology The lovely ladies at GeekFeminism provide great resources - they too should be celebrated today.

This week I've been settling into my new role as Head of Knowledge at True Knowledge .  It's very exciting to be joining such an awesome management team , and a company full of incredibly smart and capable people.  The best way to describe what we're doing is probably to quote our website : True Knowledge is building the first internet-scale platform for answering the world’s questions. Our goal is to power a new kind of search experience where users can access the world’s knowledge simply by asking for the information they need in a way that is completely natural to them; just as if they were talking to another human being. Instead of a list of links that may or may not be relevant to the query, the user experience is an immediate, perfect response, giving them exactly the information they are after. Our unique semantic technology has been many years in development. It understands user questions, represents knowledge in a way that the system can understand and p

One of the new things I'll be working on in 2011 is Makespace . Makespace will be a physical space in Cambridge, where people can come together to design, build or fix almost anything, and the community of those who share the space and help and train each other. Ultimately, it will be a place in the city containing many things: A FabLab including a 2D laser cutter, 3D printer, CNC router, soldering stations, etc A meeting and training area Flexible access control and facilities The surroundings to meet, work, build, socialise and do amazing things As a community resource, we hope to bring together a network of enthusiasts and innovators, the prototyping industry, consultants, businesses and educational communities in a mutually beneficial way. Makespace should support people from all across the East of England, using Cambridge as the initial hub.  We won't be the first FabLab in the UK - that honour went to Manchester - but with any luck we'll be the second.