Entries tagged 'programming'
Lynn Langit: Evangelist and Intrapreneur
The ‘Softie in Question: Lynn Langit
Job title: Senior Developer Evangelist – US/West.
As an evangelist, Lynn Langit’s job is to share her passion for technology with others. But it is not just a job for Lynn. At Microsoft, Lynn has molded her passion and lifestyle into a thriving career.
From her early days as a budding linguistics student in a North Dakota farming community to running programs that introduce young women to technology from Southern California to South Africa, Lynn cuts her own trail and brings 100% of her electric presence to everything she does.
Microspotting sat down with Lynn (actually, we sat down while she logged a few miles at her treadmill-desk) to discuss women in technology and her idea of intrapreneuring.
{in-tra-pre-neur (In¹tre-pre-nur) n. A person within a large corporation who takes direct responsibility for turning an idea <they are passionate about!> into a finished product through assertive risk-taking and innovation [intra(corporate) + (ENTRE)PRENEUR.] -intrapre-neuri-al adj. -intra-pre-neuri-al-ism n. -in'trapre-neuri-al-ly adv.}Lynn, tell us about your work with young women in technology.
I work on two programs. The first is “Teaching Kids Programming” (TKP), which I co-founded. There I design and teach courseware to introduce middle-school aged girls and boys to programming. I work on TKP with contributors from Microsoft as well from the open-source programming community.
Second, I teach at and contribute courseware to Microsoft DigiGirlz, which is a series of events that showcase tech careers for high school girls. I have taught my TKP courseware in 15 US states and in places such as Denmark and South Africa.
What‘s the greater goal of these programs?
There are still very few women in programming. With TKP and DigiGirlz, we’re trying to provide a pipeline of technical women from which Microsoft and other tech companies can hire. Pipelines for female programming talent simply don’t yet exist, particularly in the US.
Microsoft mentors inspire future coders with retro gaming
The ‘Softie in Question: Sue Loh
Job title: Sr. Software Development Engineer, Windows Phone Client
Remember Hunt the Wumpus?
If you played computer games in the 70s or 80s, you likely recall huddling with friends around your family’s computer and evading bats and bottomless pits in search of the sinister Wumpus.
For those who think that Sonic and Super Mario Brothers are the ancient history of gaming, Wumpus (originally released in ’72) may seem as useful as Sanskrit or wooden tennis rackets. But wait up… while it may not be as instantly gratifying as Portal 2 or Modern Warfare 3, a mentoring program at Microsoft has found that the relative simplicity of Hunt the Wumpus has immense teaching value.
Microspotting hunted down Sue Loh, who has worked on Wumpus outreach for 6 years, and got to the bottom of this program’s success.
Sue, tell us the goal of the Wumpus high school outreach project.
We pair Microsoft mentors with computer science classes at public high schools with an aim to increase the quality, quantity and diversity of high school students choosing computer science as a career.
Why use Wumpus and not a more contemporary game to teach students?
These days, kids look at a game – and while it may be fascinating – it is hard to understand what makes it work.
Like the difference between looking at the engine of a 1950’s Chevy versus lifting the hood of a new car?
You could say that. Back when games were simpler, you could see how they were actually put together.
And, we’re not just asking the students to recreate Wumpus as it already exists. We get them to build the game in a new and exciting way.One bus ride at a time: a novel approach to career and creativity
The ‘Softie in question: Sam Landstrom
Job title: Senior Content Publishing Lead on Silverlight, Phone, and Windows Presentation.
Working at Microsoft is as much a lifestyle as it is a career. Among other things, we provide a unique commute service called the Connector – some 55 private buses that make sure employees get to and from work without having to touch a gas pedal or jockey for a city bus seat.Yes, the Connector has Wi-Fi. Yes, it has convenient pick-ups throughout the Greater Seattle-area. And, yes, it’s even good for the environment (with some 200,000 less car trips, employees reduce overall carbon emissions by a cool 5.5 tons per year).
But what would you do if you could replace your commute with a smooth, stress-free ride? Would you catch up on your sleep? Call mom? Or, how about write a sci-fi novel?
One ‘Softie did just that and we tracked him down to get the inside scoop.
Sam, did you come up with the idea to write a book while commuting or did the Connector give you the opportunity to write an existing idea?
I’m a programmer and writer here at Microsoft, so I’d been kicking around the idea for the book before the Connector started [in 2007]. I already had a private blog where I was building up a future sci-fi world and developing certain aspects of a fictional society. But I wasn’t finding a whole lot of time to work on the book.
When the Connector came along, I thought: I’m all over that. Lo and behold, I had time to write. I put on my headphones, and the result is my novel, MetaGame.And how was the book received?
It did better than I could have hoped. Kindle was good to me. I got lots of downloads, lots of reviews on Amazon and was picked up by Amazon Encore—their new publishing division. Amazon’s going to fly me and some of the other Encore authors out to BookExpo in New York next month. And, MetaGame has even been optioned as a possible TV series on the new 3D cable channel 3net.
