March 25, 2010

New Info on Rex Libris: The Movie

From James Turner, creator of Rex Libris:

"Mark Burton (Madagascar) turned in a screenplay to Warners for Rex, but they weren't happy with the result. He's out. The search is on for a new screenwriter.

I had a conference call with the producers (Mosaic; they produced Batman Begins, Dark Knight, etc) about direction and possible ideas. No idea how that went. Everyone in Hollywood says they love you, and when everyone says it..."

Keep your fingers crossed!

March 24, 2010

It's Ada Lovelace Day

Today is Ada Lovelace Day - who is Ada, you might ask? Well, she's the first computer programmer. Today is also an "international day of blogging to celebrate the achievements of women in technology and science" - and thousands of folks are doing that over on the Finding Ada site.

Pondering all the women in tech and science I know, who have encouraged or inspired me, is an interesting exercise. As I said last year, choosing just one would be problematic, so what I decided to do is list some of them, with a brief indication of why they inspire me.
  • Jan R., then a Captain in an area I probably shouldn't talk about, for encouraging me to go for the Air Force scholarship when I was a junior in high school;
  • My mother, for never letting me be afraid of math or science, and for insisting I could do anything I set my mind to. She lived up to that, too, becoming a systems administrator for her library when she was in her 50s. (*That* for anyone who thinks only the young can learn tech skills!)
  • Sue H., a systems administrator at MPOW, who deals with hundreds of user accounts and cranky people complaining about access with nary a scream;
  • Celine d'O., a laser systems/adaptive optics engineer and dear friend; and
  • LeEllen P., a thermal systems engineer, for showing me you can embrace both sides of your brain and still do it right.
There are many more I could mention but I think I'll save them for next year's post. Thank you to every single one of you!