Will Your Job Be Done By A Machine? : Planet Money : NPR – Interesting little tool. I plugged in some of the professions relevant to the Snook and myself. “Computer Programmer” has a 48.1% chance of being automated, but “Software Developers Applications” is only 4.2%. But then “Information Security Analysts, Web Developers and Computer Network Architects” falls in the middle at 20.6%. (I wonder what the distinction is?) “Computer and Information Systems Managers” looks pretty good–only 3.5% chance of being automated. The C-suite is even better at 1.5%. But I think “Computer Systems Analyst” is probably the the absolute best – only 0.6% chance of being automated! Maybe I should’ve got that IIBA certification after all… (The backup plan, as always, is to chuck it all and become a full-time “craft artist.” Only 3.5% chance of being automated! Sure, nanotech will replace a lot of production, but there will always be a market to sell quality handmade goods to the Vickies, right?)
Month: June 2015
“Roger that. Approaching CHOWDAH!”
In Flight – NYTimes.com – This is an absolutely beautiful interactive piece written by a pilot describing a flight from London to Tokyo. I immediately sent it to the Snook; he’s a big fan of airplanes and flying. (Interesting trivia: his original major in uni was aeronautical engineering.) The writing is lovely and I appreciated the touches of humour throughout. The infographics were really helpful too as I learned about waypoints and sky countries and the problem with altimeters. I also marvelled at the overall design of the piece–the way the background and text colours shifted as I scrolled, mimicking the airplane’s long journey, bookended by the takeoff and landing sequences. What a fantastic way to present a longform essay. I worry sometimes that the Internet has broken my ability to digest longer pieces of text, but I absolutely savoured every word of this one.
Two finished scarves!
Finally some finished items to show! Both of these are with wool purchased at the Convent and Chapel Wool Shop in Rylstone a few months back.
First up is the Zig Zag in Zauberball Crazy. I bought the wool without any idea what to do with it-“I just liked the crazy autumn colourway-but then I saw Gemma’s Show Stopper in the Easter Show last April and fell in love! So I asked her to share the link to the pattern, which she kindly did. (It’s here!) It’s a super simple three-row repeat and knits up gratifyingly fast. I basically just knitted until I used up every single bit of it. I love the way the horizontal ribbing lines up with the colour changes, almost like stripes. It’s also really smooshy and squishy and warm. Very satisfying project! You can see a close-up of the stitch pattern here. (Ravelry details.)
Next is the Linen Stitch scarf in Marlyn Alpaca. This stuff is SO SOFT. I originally intended to knit something with long lengthwise stripes, but I saw a sample of linen stitch and I was impressed how classy it looked. I thought it might make a nice “businessman’s”-type scarf for the Snook. So I casted on a bazillion stitches and then started knitting random width stripes of the two colours. Man, linen stitch rows take FOREVER to knit! I basically just knitted until I couldn’t stand it anymore. Then I put some fringe on both ends to finish it off. Very nice! He wore it to work today. You can see a close-up of the stitch pattern here. (Ravelry details.)
Reading
Photo post
Banana bread with cinnamon butter and black coffee. I like this place.
@ SLY
More Women in Tech Stuff
Two great new initiatives for women in tech:
Women to Speak Directory
@sandimac is launching a directory of women in technology who are willing to speak at conferences and on panels and podcasts. If you’re interested, just fill out the form.
Women in Tech Podcast
@EspressDevora from @WeAreLATech is launching a new podcast for women in tech. If you register with your email, you’ll be the first to find out when it goes live!