finding ada: pia waugh

[Avatar] [info]dannipenguin
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This blog post contains the contents of an email I've been meaning to write for weeks, but keep forgetting, but because it's Ada Lovelace Day, I've turned it into this blog post.

So I'm going to write about Pia Waugh, and why she's a hero of mine.

Pia Waugh

Pia already has a pretty good bio up, so I'm not going to recap (though for some reason it doesn't mention that she's also a vegetarian or that she could kick my bum from here to Broome). Pia has an excellent ability to come up to speed on a technical issue extremely rapidly and communicate that information to all sorts of people. She's smart and funny and always friendly and accessible. But what makes her a hero of mine is her incredible resolve and strength of character.

There are things in this world, and in Australia, that are substandard. There are people who deny them, there are people who ignore them, people who mumble and move their feet around in the dirt, and then there is Pia, who rolls up her sleeves and says "I'm going to attempt to fix this"; whether it's removing the stigmas for women in technology fields, or indigenous education via OLPC.

I guess the thing is, where there are lots of people who could make a difference; Pia will make a difference. I think that she's an excellent role model (for everyone, not just the girls she educates).
Posted 24/3/09 21:37 — 10 comments

Comments

From:[info]pfctdayelise
Date:2009-03-24 13:45 (UTC)
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Pia is one of my heroes too. :) Awesome photo!
From:(Anonymous)
Date:2009-03-24 14:36 (UTC)

Lovely!

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Lovely post! Totally +1!
From:(Anonymous)
Date:2009-03-25 08:05 (UTC)

and then there are people..

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..in sycophantic thrall to Redmond, who organise conferences to promote Microsoft's proprietary technologies as international standards.
From:[info]dannipenguin
Date:2009-03-25 08:07 (UTC)

Re: and then there are people..

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What?

How is this even relevant or on-topic?
From:(Anonymous)
Date:2009-03-25 08:26 (UTC)

Re: and then there are people..

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http://pipka.org/blog/2007/11/27/help-seeking-ooxml-comments-for-event/

From:[info]dannipenguin
Date:2009-03-25 08:38 (UTC)

Re: and then there are people..

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How dare anybody actually gather together a panel of experts in order to make an informed recommendation; rather than have a knee-jerk reaction one way or the other based on hearsay and the originating author.

Take this BS somewhere else.
From:(Anonymous)
Date:2009-03-25 08:56 (UTC)

Re: and then there are people..

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More GNOME love for Microsoft, one ought not be surprised.

Microsoft sure got their money's worth out of the Waugh's visit to drink the Kool-Aid in Redmond;

http://pipka.org/blog/2007/04/10/microsoft-and-open-source-the-inside-story/

They got the Australian conference promoting their technologies as an international standard;

http://pipka.org/blog/2007/11/27/help-seeking-ooxml-comments-for-event/

They got the Australian ISO vote they wanted;

http://www.standards.org.au/downloads/080331_Aust_maintains_abstain_position_on_OOXML.pdf

and of course, a lovely fence-sitting statement from the GNOME Foundation;

http://www.gnome.org/press/releases/ecma-tc45-statement.html

Cheap at twice the price.
From:[info]dannipenguin
Date:2009-03-25 09:12 (UTC)

Re: and then there are people..

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Did you actually read any of these?

Do you honestly believe that by not participating in the forums, and thus not having these issues raised, that a better result could somehow be achieved?

This is the most patently ridiculous thing that I've heard today.
From:(Anonymous)
Date:2009-03-26 01:53 (UTC)

Re: and then there are people..

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Wow, this anonymous person must have not actually read any of the posts they linked. I ran the OOXML event mainly to get some real debate happening around the technical and legal issues of OOXML, we had Government and Standards Australia actually attend, and the outcome was pretty clear that there are some pretty big issues around OOXML that were unresolved, which was my goal in the first place. NZ did exactly the same thing (and we invited some of the same people) which was seen as a bigg success, but of course you've already painted me as a devil and will see all my actions as evil. I'm both frustrated and amused that this event (which I _specifically_ ran to show the issues to those who needed to know) is being used as a mark against me.

Ah well, for some people, if you aren't a slavering fundamentalist then you must not really believe.

I believe FOSS and openness is vital to a better world, and I also go about bringing that openness to the world in a way that means it will be accepted and embraced. A far more compelling and ultimately successful strategy than screaming and stomping ones foot, but I digress.

Thank you Davyd! This was a really lovely post, and I appreciate it :) You've always been a great member of the community both locally and internationally, and I feel proud that you think this way :)
From:(Anonymous)
Date:2009-03-27 18:20 (UTC)
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"though for some reason it doesn't mention that she's also a vegetarian"

Probably because, unlike some people, she considers it to be a private (and perhaps not even permanent) choice, not a freaking religion.
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