Ada Lovelace is well known as the first computer programmer, but is that really true? Learn about Ada from Abi and Ariel in this episode on Ada's life and controversy. Stick around to the end to hear about how Abi got to actually see Ada's letters!

Resources:

• https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=qsY-AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA666&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Diagram_for_the_computation_of_Bernoulli_numbers.jpg
• https://www.amazon.com/Ada-Life-Legacy-History-Computing/dp/0262691167

Abi was affected by lay-offs and needs to process. Join Abi and Ariel as they discuss what it was like to go through a lay off and what next steps to take if you are ever impacted.

Resources:

• https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/i-got-fired
• https://builtin.com/articles/survive-being-fired

Ariel won a hackathon! In this episode we chat about how work outside of work like hackathons and side projects can support growth and development as an engineer. We also recap our girls' trip to Chicago where we're convinced the city can fix any problem. Abi shares the side projects she's abandoned and the future ones she promises to finish.

References:

• https://portfolio.abigailhendrick.com/
• https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/discussions/azure/announcing-the-winners-of-the-march-innovation-challenge-hackathon/4398522

Abi and Ariel are back! Listen to this episode to learn all about being a great mentee including how to get a mentor, what to talk about with a mentor, and Abi and Ariel's experiences as mentees and mentors.

References:

• https://www.womentech.net/women-in-tech-mentorship-statistics
• https://medium.com/@polinakarasova/online-platforms-to-find-a-mentor-in-the-tech-industry-6fee1dd4ae49

When it's hard (and sometimes impossible) to detect AI-generated content, what role to engineers have in using LLMs ethically? Abi and Ariel discuss current laws surrounding AI and legal actions taken against individuals and businesses whose AI systems produce bias or defamation. They also cover IBM's and Microsoft’s stances on what constitutes responsible AI, as Ariel prepares for her hackathon where responsible AI is a judging criterion.

References:

https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2023-05-16%20-%20Testimony%20-%20Montgomery.pdf

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/dec/14/saferent-ai-tenant-screening-lawsuit

https://time.com/7012843/anil-kapoor/

https://www.bclplaw.com/en-US/events-insights-news/us-state-by-state-artificial-intelligence-legislation-snapshot.html

https://www.whitecase.com/insight-our-thinking/ai-watch-global-regulatory-tracker-united-states

AI Resources for Developers:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/haxtoolkit/playbook/

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/ai/responsible-ai

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN06FGW8vvE

We have all heard about the Linux kernel but what does it actually do? In this episode, Abi and Ariel dive into the basics of OSs and poke around some interesting new developments.

Resources:

• https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/operating-systems
• https://github.com/torvalds/linux/tree/master/kernel
• https://documentation.ubuntu.com/real-time/en/latest/explanation/schedulers/
• https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/memory-management-in-operating-system/
• https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/memory
• https://homepage.cs.uri.edu/faculty/wolfe/book/Readings/Reading04.htm

Have you ever spent a whole day communicating, unblocking others, setting up meetings, and planning team building events...but you were supposed to be coding? You might be doing glue work.

Abi and Ariel explore a talk given by Tanya Reilly on what glue work is and how to make it work for your career in this weeks episode.

References:

Tanya Reilly's excellent talk: https://www.noidea.dog/glue

https://academic.oup.com/sf/article-abstract/88/2/865/2235342

Meetings can be productive... or painfully pointless. Abi and Ariel break down how to host meetings that people won’t dread - and might even enjoy. We cover how to decide if you need a meeting or if an email will suffice, how to plan effectively (including choosing attendees, setting a clear agenda, and accounting for time zones), and how to keep things engaging during the meeting itself. Plus, we share tips for effective follow-up and how to ensure action items actually get done.