Shared today on Twitter

RT @crankymate: @web_goddess This is the worst. The first time I saw it, I thought it was an interesting idea and maybe could help with imp…


@hannahyanfield @darthted @gilmae It has begun. https://t.co/00zP2nBkbD


@hannahyanfield @darthted @gilmae PS yes I got an iPad and I am That Person now.


@coder_bec @hannahyanfield Nah, that actually sounds interesting. That’s basically an Ignite talk. Karaoke is when you have *no idea* what slide will be shown and just have to babble based on them.


@DamonOehlman @crankymate “PowerPoint Karaoke, also known as Battledecks or Battle Decks, is an improvisational activity in which a participant must deliver a presentation based on a set of slides that they have never seen before.” 👎


Just realised that my personal Hell would be delivering a PowerPoint Karaoke talk consisting of nothing but images of “graffiti knitting.” ⚰️


@crankymate @boundvariable @DamonOehlman @TheRealBnut +1


@msandfor As a training exercise, okay, maybe. But I mainly see it done at events by people who I’d much rather hear coherent thoughts from rather than in-jokey nonsense.


I’m glad there are people willing to take on unpaid D&I work to try to increase the pipeline and “raise awareness” and whatnot. But I’d much rather spend my time mentoring, hiring, and promoting women. The impact is immediate. https://t.co/ggu4mg1uay


@MichelePlayfair I’m sure @frankarr could probably assist…


RT @SydTechLeaders: Our next meetup will be July 18 with the (sadly evergreen) theme of Security! Come to hear from experts from @canva, @A…


@devdevcharlie OF COURSE YOU WERE. 🎉


I probably personally contributed 20% of Parks & Rec’s minutes. That show is my happy place. https://t.co/Z1AsptwBu8


I used to work in a company where the CIO wouldn’t let the < 5% of women in the tech team have a lunch club because “the men would feel excluded.” Protip: don’t be like that CIO.


RT @jeffbarr: Amazon EventBridge – Event-Driven #AWS Integration for your SaaS Applications – https://t.co/K6KGoZkhIP https://t.co/jdi75AoY…


I would like to thank @buzzyNZ for his considerate and measured rebuttal of my “PowerPoint Karaoke sucks” argument tonight. He’s good people.


@mattstratton @buzzyNZ I have revised my opinion to “it sucks 90% of the time.” Does that help? 🥺


@mattstratton @buzzyNZ @thelongshanx I just find that in nearly all cases, I’d rather hear that person talk about something they’re actually interested in, rather than random pictures.


Flashbacks to Sydney Summit. 👋 @kneekey23 #awssummit2019 https://t.co/WTmE4FcSwU


@mattstratton Uhhh, what? I have friends who were in Chicago improv for years. Namely @taradefrancisco. Ever crossed paths?! (PS IMMA HOOSIER)


@mattstratton @taradefrancisco @fuzzy @erinjshea If you have actual improv training, then all complaints are rescinded. But let’s be honest – 99.9% of tech geeks don’t. #theaterdegree


@mattstratton @ArrestedDevOps I feel like at some point a stage manager = project manager tech conf talk is in my future…


I’m not even a dev anymore yet I still have to explain weekly why there’s a rubber duck on my desk. https://t.co/zE9QKXGgwS


RT @deniseyu21: Periodic friendly reminder 😇 https://t.co/Q9vKGaejA8


@SaraJChipps This is why we fought a revolution you know.



Important Note

This site features content going all the way back to 2000. The posts you’ll read reflect my views and writing style at the time. While I have gone back to clean up a few of them, I think it’s important not to sanitise too much. This site is a record of who I am and how I’ve grown. Any blog post written years ago may not reflect who I am today, nor how I would write about the same topic today.