Feb 3rd, 2015: Margaret Hamilton

[Gravdigr]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

IT COMPILED!

I had a car that did that once.

Right there on the side of the road.

[jonaD]

She is not known, because MOST people, from MOST programs... are not known, not because of some grand conspiracy to hide women in the kitchen. There are MANY people on lots of programs, that can lay claim to something like, "They made everything possible and it's all because of them that anything good happened at all!", but it's not true, just like her contribution wasn't such a big deal... BUT! women and blacks are hot groups now, so ANY hint at all that a woman or a black was involved in ANYTHING more than... nothing really all that special, is a BIG DEAL! I imagine the Feminists will now push for Margaret to get the Presidential Medal of Honor and have a statue placed at the door of all public schools in America... right!? Meanwhile the rest of us unknown white male engineer/scientists, can continue to live, in the dark. Got it.

[Sundae]

If you know about her, you know more than I did before reading this thread.
People are credited for all sorts of things they are not wholly responsible for - I've just been reading a book on the development of the Plimsoll Line (the loading line on ships) and the man that gave it the name was a tireless campaigner, but did not invent the concept or work on the calculations of how it could be used safely.

Personally, I like to acknowledge people who forged a path which was unusual at the time. Whether that was the Earl of Shaftesbury who thought perhaps six year olds shouldn't work in mines, or the white Australian athlete who gave tacit support when the Black Power salute was given during the Olympics medal ceremony, or a woman who worked in programming when many women of her class weren't working outside the home at all.

It doesn't negate the admiration I feel for anyone else. Including all the white, male programmers/ engineers on here.

Although I like the fact you think I'm hot right now.

[DanaC]

I imagine the Feminists will now push for Margaret to get the Presidential Medal of Honor and have a statue placed at the door of all public schools in America... right!? Meanwhile the rest of us unknown white male engineer/scientists, can continue to live, in the dark. Got it.

It's so good you've pointed this out. It's high time our society got it's collective head around the real victims of inequality and indifference: middle-class, white, male proffessionals.

[Clodfobble]

Bo Burnham - Straight White Man

[Undertoad]

jonaD if a medal will make you feel better, let us know what to put on it. Did you work on the space program?

[BigV]

Welcome to the cellar jonaD. Stick around and tell us more about what's going on with you.

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Margaret Hamilton, like Grace Hopper, was in the right place at the right time. But more than that, had the vision to see opportunity to stake out territory in new fields of technology and go for it.

Stumbled across this recently whilst trying to find an interview with Jonah Nolan ( for which I am still searching) about the surveillance state:

Podcast: Grace Hopper Led America into the Information Age

October 16, 2009


Author Kurt Beyer describes the life and legacy of inventor and computer programmer Grace Murray Hopper.


Kurt Beyer is the author of Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age. In this podcast, Beyer goes beyond the myth to find the real Grace Hopper, a US Naval officer, computer scientist, and inventor who was at the forefront of the post-WWII computer revolution.

Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age is part of the Lemelson Center Studies in Invention and Innovation from MIT Press.

http://invention.si.edu/podcast-grac...nformation-age



Really interesting podcast.

[xoxoxoBruce]

She gets the Medal of Freedom, the highest US civilian award.



Yay Maggie!

[glatt]

I'm going to miss Obama

[xoxoxoBruce]

You're not the only one.

[BigV]

We wouldn't have to miss him it he was placed on the Supreme Court.

[Pamela]

I miss him, but my aim is improving....

[Gravdigr]

I was gonna say that I bet more than one person has missed him already...

[Gravdigr]

Originally Posted by BigV

We wouldn't have to miss him it he was placed on the Supreme Court.

Shut. Your. Filthy. Scotch-hole.