Girl Geek Dinners

Photos from our first event…

Apologies to Tracy Mayfield (@PaintedGhost) that it has taken me so long to get these up. Unfortunately they still frown on human cloning, so I have been really busy lately. Here are her excellent photos of our first event where Susi O'Neill gave a fantastic talk about Social Media for Business.

Thanks to Tracy, you can see more of her work at www.paintedghost.co.uk

Web based training for developers

"Through the Sun Startup Essentials program, we were able to buy about 50% more hardware than we expected given our budget."
Greg Mead, Head of Research & Development, MusicMetric

If you’re not currently a [...]

Europe: Italy: Le idee innovative delle donne

Sei una Girl Geek e stai pensando di avviare un nuovo business in ambito tecnologico?

Hai le idee ma non sai come tradurle in atti pratici: la parola Business Plan ti mette l’ansia dell’ignoto?
Il Venture Capitalism ti sembra lontano come un orizzonte tropicale?

Hai letto dell’iniziativa del Comune di Milano per favorire la creazione e lo sviluppo di imprese innovative nel settore delle tecnologie per l’informazione e la comunicazione e hai pensato che hai un’idea ma non sai se ne hai le capacità?
Leggendo della Start Cup ti chiedi da che parte puoi cominciare?

Contatta il GGD team di Milano - pr /at/ girlgeekdinnersitalia (.) com mettendo come oggetto : “[GGD]donne innovative”. Possiamo organizzare qualcosa per aiutarti a sviluppare le tue idee !!!

Le idee innovative delle donne

Sei una Geek Girl con un’idea innovativa?

Su Girl Geek Life puoi trovare un post che ti può interessare.

BCN GGD 2!

[ca]

Totes estem d’acord que al proper BCN GGD hem de trobar-nos en un lloc que puguem estar de peu per poder conèixer-nos millor i saber que estem fent. M’he posat en contacte amb Citilab, penso que pot ser un bon lloc per reunir-nos, a veure que diuen!

La setmana del 21 al 25 de setembre, és una bona data per poder reunir-nos una altra vegada?

[es]

Todas estamos de acuerdo que en el próximo BCN GGD tenemos que encontrarnos en un lugar donde podamos estar de pie para poder conocernos mejor y saber que estamos haciendo. Me he puesto en contacto con Citilab, creo que puede ser un buen sitio para reunirnos, ¡vamos a ver que pasa!

¿La semana del 21 al 25 de septiembre, es una buena fecha para poder reunirnos otra vez?

[en]

We all agree that the next BCN GGD should be held in a venue where we can be standing, to enable us to get know each other better & find out what everyone is doing. I have contacted Citilab, which I think would be a good choice. Let’s see what happens!

Girl Geek Dinner Milano @ Fiat Open Lounge Powered by Fiat 500 C

	Girl Geek Dinner Milano @ Fiat Open Lounge Powered by Fiat 500 C Venerdì 19 giugno al Fiat Open Lounge si è svolta l'ottava edizione della Girl Geek Dinner di Milano. La serata, powered by Fiat 500 C, è stata l'occasione per presentare la nuova piattaforma di comunicazione e interazione sui social media Fiat On The Web. www.fiatontheweb.fiat.it	From: fiatontheweb Views: 973 5 ratings
	Time: 04:13	More in Autos & Vehicles

Europe: Brussels: Win a white Nokia N97!

Do you remember our poll in February? Nokia turned out to be the most preferred mobile phone brand with girl geeks. And we promised to give away one for free.

Some of you managed to get their hands on one months before they shipped, on 10 March during Brussels Girl Geek Dinner #11. But today I got good news: Nokia is giving away one (white) N97 [NL-FR] to Belgian bloggers. Here’s what you have to do to win this gorgeous superphone:

• participants have to be female, geeky, and living in Belgium -> open contest – male contestants are free to apply, too!
• participants have to write a post with text, photo(s), artwork and/or videos about the N97
• this post has to link to http://www.brusselsgirlgeekdinner.be/?p=342 and has to be written between 26 June and 26 July 2009
• a jury of Nokia Belgium employees will judge the most original, funny and witty post on 1 August 2009. The winner will be announced on this blog and will get her/his prize by the end of August.

Edinburgh Launch GGD

Thanks to Gail Purvis for this review

The first Edinburgh Geek dinner was originally planned for 40 people and held last week at the Edinburgh Informatics Centre. Three weeks before the launch it had sold out and had to increase the numbers to 50 so the next is planned for October 1 at Edinburgh Napier University.

Browse ‘Geek’ and you will find it defined originally as a ‘carnival performer, often billed as a wild man’ The the word equates to nerd, gimp, dweeb, or dork, though it seems there’s been a shift in implication to ‘a person who is interested in technology, especially computing and new media.’ And a move from being the provenance of boys and men, to the emergence of the “Geek chic” now being adopted by girls and women.

If you go hunting websites, you will find Geek Girls (with a plain English guide to Computing) and you will also find Girl Geek Scotland, or a networking community for technically minded women. It all began in London with Girl Geek Dinners a few years ago, and now there’s a network throughout the UK and Europe, where Jan Van Mol’s cross-over creative cross-over Addict Creative Lab, with more than 4,000 registered creatives from all over the world and from 32 disciplines (fashion, photography, architecture, cooking, design, textile, music, advertising, branding….) might be considered a creative Geek sparking point.

Geeks Girls in Scotland originally emerged in Dundee with Morna Simpson (involved in the start-up through to programme review (2008) of the BSc in Interactive Media Design, at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design at the University of Dundee): Mel Woods, (interested in convergence of visual, text and sound based media through interdisciplinary research in optics) and Sarah Kettley (artist researcher working in the field of wearable technology, collaborating in the Speckled Computing consortium designing wearable devices and developing lo-tech design to smart materials, mapping the space between handhelds and wearables.)

The Edinburgh Girl Geek committee: (R-L)Sarah Kettley, Caroline Turnbull, Jenny Tizard, Allison Johnstone, Kate Ho and Bonnie Webber.

Opening the meeting, executive director of Scotland IS, Polly Purvis declared “The idea behind the Girl Geek movement is great and it is tremendous to see the enthusiasm with which it is being taken up in Scotland.”

Though, good researcher that she is (and confirmed shoe addict) she noted that in London, Girl Geek sponsers, Silicon Stilettoes, were adding a fashion note to the term Geek, and shr concluded in wishing all Edinburgh Geeks, ‘diamonds on the soles of their shoes’.

Changing the image of IT

Purvis (left) confesses she is “constantly perplexed that computing,.. instrumental in breaking down information barriers, through broadband communications, the internet, and the web; which helped unlock the complexity of DNA; provides us all with a mobile computer in our pockets, and is creating a paradigm shift in community building, through social networking, is so little understood, and appreciated.

“Ten years ago who’d heard of Skype, twitter or iphone? In the interim, social networking has become a business tool, instant messaging has replaced email for many, and blogs are now more powerful than the press,” she noted.

“To set the context, the software and ICT industry is one of the powerhouses of the Scottish economy, employing around 100,000 people. Not only a knowledge industry in its own right, it underpins so many other industries, is a vehicle for transformation across business and the public sector, and breaks down the barriers created by our geographic location.

“It is a high skilled industry, providing exciting, challenging and demanding careers and we need talented people to join it. In an increasingly competitive world market we cannot afford to be complacent about the skills base we have. We must raise our game to attract talented people and that means many more women. So how do we do that?”

Top priority she feels is “Collectively we need to do much more at schools, ensure access to up to date informed careers advice raise the profile of the industry.

At school,” she feels, “young people and girls in particular are turned away from an interest in computing, partly because what they are being taught is not what they experience on the web, and doesn’t match their knowledge of the technology interfaces they use – their phones, their games consoles and the internet.

“Making sure careers advice is up to date is in itself a major challenge. The growth in new industries and disciplines, new specialist roles, such as procurement professionals and environmental scientists, nanotechnologists, sports scientists,the list is endless…

“I think we can all help in developing a suite of materials that will provide detailed information about the variety of job roles and opportunities the industry offers, using the latest media such as YouTube.”

The third factor to be addressed she feels is that “downsizing in the electronics industry and the high profile offshoring of jobs has led to a view that there are no jobs in technology. We must dispel these myths, provide careers advisors with regular updates on opportunities and requirements and a concerted effort to promote the industry to everyone.”

Asked for her reaction to the Borders moves to cutting computing lessons in a bid to save cash, she expressed real concern. “At ScotlandIS we have queried whether computing should continue to be taught in schools because the current curriculum is so seriously out of date. Currently schools tend to equate ICT to word processing and spread sheets, and this is turning young people away from an interest in computing. What a tragedy!

“Computing is the corner stone of information technologies, is an essential skill set for Scotland’s economic health, and we need to ensure that our young people are highly skilled in its use. Increasingly ubiquitous, IT will impact all aspects of their lives. Understanding how to maximise its potential to benefit work, rest and play is increasingly important.”

Scottish Geek network hopefully should be a move to compute enthusiasm for creative IT into our schools.

Europe: UK: Scotland: Edinburgh Launch GGD

Thanks to Gail Purvis for this review

The first Edinburgh Geek dinner was originally planned for 40 people
and held last week at the Edinburgh Informatics Centre. Three weeks
before the launch it had sold out and had to increase the numbers to
50 so the next is planned for October 1 at Edinburgh Napier
University.

Browse ‘Geek’ and you will find it defined originally as a ‘carnival
performer, often billed as a wild man’ The the word equates to [...]

Europe: Italy: Come organizzare le vacanze online

E non intendo vacanze in villaggi o in gruppo: no no! Dalla a alla zeta, da soli, con lo zaino in spalla (o la trolley, quella ve la concedo), trasformandosi nella propria agenzia di viaggi, dove tutto è permesso e non ci sono commissioni (o quasi)

L’anno scorso abbiamo organizzato 2 settimane in giro per il Marocco prenotando tutto da casa, così come quest’anno stiamo facendo per il giro in Scozia.

Come procediamo:

• decidiamo una meta
• iniziamo a vedere le info di base: come arrivare, budget giornaliero (pernottamento e pasti)
• cosa vedere (sono ancora legata alla carta e ai post it)
• definizione dell’intero itinerario, giorno per giorno (anni fa, per un esteso giro in Francia, tra castelli e cantine, abbiamo fatto un excel condiviso con, giorno per giorno, cantina, campeggio e cosa vedere, rispettato quasi alla lettera)

Dove andare

I siti della Lonely Planet e della Routard (per chi sa il francese) sono i migliori e i più completi al mondo per quanto riguarda le guide turistiche storiche.

Il sito della Lonely Planet, oltre ad avere le informazioni di base per ogni paese e un efficientissimo e-commerce dove le guide appena uscite costano il giusto (non ci sono le commissioni dell’esportazione), la spedizione è onesta e arrivano in una settimana massimo, con la possibilità di scaricare i singoli capitoli delle guide, pagandoli molto meno che l’intera guida cartacea. Non solo: l’indice e un capitolo per ogni guida sono scaricabili gratuitamente.

Questi siti rappresentano solo la punta dell’iceberg di tutte le informazioni che si possono trovare online su qualsiasi meta. Basta anche solo partire dal sito dell’ufficio del turismo del paese o della città che si vuole visitare, per iniziare a farsi un’idea di cosa è assolutamente imperdibile. Moltissimi siti sono corredati da fotografie favolose, in modo da capire ancora meglio se una città della Cina profonda o un parco nel bel mezzo della Germania sono proprio quello che stiamo cercando.

Senza dimenticare Flickr e il suo motore di ricerca.

Come andare

• in aereo: provate i metamotori, come e-dreams o liligo, per confrontare i prezzi tra le varie compagnie, ma in realtà all’aereo esistono svariate alternative (se avete tempo)
• la macchina: per la Scozia stiamo programmando tutto partendo da Milano in macchina. Per questo tipo di viaggi il sito della Michelin è utilissimo, fatto molto bene e raggiunge una precisione quasi maniacale sul consumo medio di benzina e i pedaggi autostradali, dandovi, tra l’altro, svariate possibilità di viaggio, dalla più breve alla meno costosa.
• il treno: comodo, anche se a volte costoso e richiede un dispendio di tempo maggiore, ma volete mettere la comodità di star seduti nella vostra poltroncina e guardar fuori dal finestrino, leggendo un bel libro? Per gli orari di tutta Europa ci sono svariati siti.
• il traghetto: resta, alle volte, l’alternativa più economica, per certe tratte, soprattutto se si viaggia di notte. Un anno andammo dai suoceri vicino a Montpellier per qualche giorno di calma in mezzo alla campagna, poi in treno fino a Marsiglia (con un’offerta incredibile dal sito delle ferrovie francesi) e poi in traghetto fino ad Alghero, ospiti di un’amica: mai fatta vacanza meno costosa . Per i traghetti è sempre meglio acquistare direttamente dal sito della compagnia prescelta, ma ci sono anche svariati meta motori.
• l’autobus: abbiamo girato tutto il sud del Messico in autobus, da quello di seconda classe senza aria condizionata e due bambini urlanti nel posto dietro di noi, a quello di super prima classe con il post per stendersi e un film di Britney Spears! Un’esperienza indimenticabile, che consiglio a chiunque e che rifarei a occhi chiusi! Mai visto un servizio più efficiente: in 4 settimane nessun autobus ha mai tardato e la maggior parte sono anche arrivati in anticipo! Idem per il Marocco: treno e autobus. Mai un intoppo! Reperire orari e costi dalle varie compagnie di autobus o treni è facilissimo: nel 2003 in Messico non abbiamo avuto nessun problema a trovare siti delle varie compagnie, figuratevi nel 2009. Online c’è tutto, magari senza grafica all’ultimo grido o con possibilità interattive 2.0, ma in fin dei conti l’importante è trovare le informazioni che ci servono. Ma anche l’Europa è ben servita: dall’Italia si può arrivare ovunque in autobus.

Dove alloggiare

Le tipologie di sistemazione variano da paese a paese: la Francia in campeggio o gites o chambres d’hotes, il Regno Unito in B&B (sconsiglio vivamente il campeggio: piove troppo), il Marocco in riyad… Individuata la tipologia di alloggio che preferite, affidatevi alle community di viaggiatori.

La più affidabile è, secondo me, Tripadvisor: ci sono decine di recensioni per la singola struttura che vi faranno capire se quello che avete visto dal sito corrisponde o meno alla verità. E poi i blog di viaggiatori o i blogger che vi raccontano le loro esperienze di viaggio.

Quando tornate

Potete condividere i vostri viaggi anche prima di partire, con dopplr per esempio, ma quando tornate tocca a voi arricchire il mondo: parlate della vostra esperienza, lasciate una traccia di ciò che avete provato e di ciò che pensate del paese in cui siete stati. Farete felici chi dopo di voi vorrà andarci.

Due segreti:

• diventate il vostro metamotore di ricerca: non soffermatevi su un unico sito, che sia pe ri voli, l’albergo o l’autobus, ma provateli tutti. Alla fine troverete l’offerta migliore, che poi confronterete con i prezzi della compagnia aerea, dell’albergo o del traghetto direttamente dal sito ufficiale
• usate i metamotori o le community di viaggiatori per trovare l’albergo, fidatevi degli altri che hanno già provato la struttura, ma poi prenotate dal sito dell’albergo: eviterete la commissione.

E tu come organizzi le tue vacanze online?

Che tips hai per noi?

Social Media for Business

I've just returned from Nottingham's Girl Geek Dinners and I am really pleased. Everyone was lovely and a huge thanks to everyone who came out. A big thank you to Susi O'Neill for her excellent presentation on 'Social Media for Business' the presentation is on Slideshare now: http://www.slideshare.net/susioneill/22-06-09-girl-geek-dinners-social-media-for-biz 

I've read through the feedback and there is some really useful comments in there and I will do my best to implement as much of it as possible. Some of it is newbie mistakes and easy to fix, so thanks for the feedback. Yet it was all really positive and I am really pleased that my first ever event went so well. Everyone was really supportive, it was a great atmosphere.

If anyone has anymore feedback they would like to leave, feel free to leave a comment or email/twitter me. Does anybody have any feedback on the venue? 

Photos should follow shortly (thanks to @Paintedghost) 

GGD Stuttgart am 23.ten Juli

[ Anmelden - Gästeliste - Adresse ]

Zum ersten Mal kommt das GGD nach Stuttgart, und zwar am Donnerstag den 23.07.09 ab 19:00. Als lokalen Partner konnten wir die MFG Baden-Württemberg gewinnen. Als Innovationsagentur des Landes ist sie die zentrale Anlaufstelle für IT und Medien. Projekte und Veranstaltungen der MFG sind u.a. der DMMK, das Heidelberger Innovationsforum und das Creativity World Forum 2009. Mehr zur MFG und ihren IT- und Medienthemen erfahren Sie im monatlichen MFG Innovationcast und im MFG-Gezwitscher.

Gäste

Da es das erste Mal in Stuttgart ist werden wir zwei Gäste haben. Zunächst einmal die Leiterin Projektteam Digital Media der MFG Vivien Dollinger, die uns ein wenig über die Arbeit der MFG  erzählen wird.

Als zweiten Gast freue ich mich auf Prof. Beate Ehrmann von der Fachhochschule Schwäbisch Hall, sie lehrt  “Timebased und Interactive Media – Dramaturgie, Drehbuch, Interactive Storytelling”. Die Teilnahme am GGD ist kostenlos, Getränke zahlt jeder selber.

Anmelden
Für die Anmeldung nutzen wir Xing, sollte jemand keinen Xing-Account besitzen, dann funktioniert auch ein Eintrag in den Kommentaren.

Jetzt auf Xing anmelden oder einen Kommentar hier hinterlassen.

Adresse
Wir treffen uns im Mash (Forststraße 7, 70174 Stuttgart), welches sich um die Ecke vom Bahnhof befindet.

[googleMap name="Mash" width="500" height="300" typecontrol="false" directions_to="false"]Forststraße 7, 70174 Stuttgart[/googleMap]

Auf Goggle Maps ansehen

Europe: Greece: Happy 1st anniversary!

Tα Girl Geek Dinners σας καλωσορίζουν στο Πρώτο Αnniversary Girl Geek Dinner!
Let’s celebrate!

Πού: Microsoft Innovation Center, Βασιλίσσης Σοφίας 103 Αθήνα (πολύ κοντά στην Πλατεία Μαβίλη).

Πότε: την Πέμπτη 25 Ιουνίου 2009, στις 19.00.

Ποιοί και τι:
19.00-19.30: Προσέλευση.

19.30-19.50: “Ένας Χρόνος Girl Geek Dinners στην Ελλάδα!”: από τη Δέσποινα Μπακιρτζή.

19.50-20.10: “Γυναίκα και Τεχνολογία σήμερα, στην Ελλάδα»: Αννα Καρακατσάνη, Διευθύνουσα Σύμβουλος The PR Team. H κα Αννα Καρακατσάνη, μία νέα επιτυχημένη γυναίκα, με μεγάλη εμπειρία στο χώρο της τεχνολογίας και της επικοινωνίας θα μοιραστεί μαζί μας τις δικές της εμπειρίες και γνώσεις.

20.10-20.40: One Year Women Startups at GGDs: Είναι νέες γυναίκες, με επιτυχημένες on line businesses. Παρουσίασαν τη δουλειά τους στα Girl Geek Dinners και τώρα συμμετέχουν σε ένα πολύ ενδιαφέρον πάνελ συζήτησης, όπου ανταλλάσσουν απόψεις για τη δουλειά τους και την αγορά, συμφωνούν ή διαφωνούν.
Συντονιστής του πάνελ, ο Απόστολος Αϊβαλής.

20.40-20.45: Κλήρωση Δώρων μεγάλης αξίας!

20.45-21.30: Dinner, Drinks και… απεριόριστο networking!

Οι συμμετέχοντες:
Κατά βάση γυναίκες, αλλά και άνδρες (προτιμούμε να συνοδεύονται από γυναίκα), maximum μέχρι 120 συμμετέχοντες.

Κόστος συμμετοχής: ΔΩΡΕΑΝ
Dress code: be yourself

Ο στόχος:
το networking γυναικών και η ενημέρωσή τους για τις νέες τεχνολογίες, τις καινοτομίες, το Internet και η διάδοση νέων, φρέσκων ιδεών και οραμάτων!

Eξασφαλίστε έγκαιρα τη συμμετοχή σας μέσα από το facebook event.

Umgezogen auf WordPress

Damit bestimmte Dinge einfacher zu verwalten sind, habe ich das Blog jetzt einmal auf WP umgezogen. Die meisten alten Postings sollten inkl. der Kommentare immer noch genauso funktionieren (lies: die Import-Funktion wollte nicht so wie bei den vorherigen Migrationen), aber dank WP gibt es jetzt ein paar neue shiny Funktionen für das GGD.

20th June, Tokyo Girl Geek Dinners 1st meeting

第1回東京ガールギークディナー、無事終了しました!!

みんなホントに来てくれるのかな、共通の話題なかったらどうしよう等々は どうやら杞憂に終わったようです。とっても楽しい時間を過ごせました。

しかも、みなさんすごい経歴です。かなりGeekです これは出会うべくして出会ったと言えるかも。

本日登場のGirlGeeks のTwitter はこちら

@yuchimiri @m_minaco@sai_rhinoceros @shumai @alansmitheejp @xiaoxia @duohui_z@furuhouse @fuuri @C_ko @nay3 @karinyoshida @mikamika59 @ahchang@buzztum @Gaman_Midori @lhuga

どうですか、この99% (?)Twitter率。 — 言い過ぎ? iPhone率も高かった。Occupationもプログラマからデザイナ、広報、と一気に起業できそうなイキオイのラインナップです。社会参加への意識も高いです。

みんないままで、どこに隠れていたの?!?!

東京ガールギークディナー、立ち上げて本当によかったと思いました  そしてまだまだ女性の力が必要! 企画してみたいガールズ、blogを書きたいガールズ募集中です。

東京のガールギークはすごいよっ!

Update:

TokyoGirlGeekDinners 1st meeting

Update 2:

6月22日、Twitter率 100% になりました

Why is it tickets only?

Get your tickets here 

After a couple of conversations I had with people it strikes me that I should give you a bit of an explanation about why Nottingham's Girl Geek Dinners is a ticket only event and why the ticket sales end 24 hours before the event.

Nottingham Girl Geek Dinners aren't run by a company, we currently aren't being sponsored (this is our first event after all) and we don't get a grant or anything like that. Quite simply there is just me and my enthusiasm, so any costs incurred have to be covered by me personally, that includes food. So if I were to just gather a list of expected attendees and then there were five 'no-shows' that would be £50 out of my pocket. I am not in a situation where I can absorb that cost every month, so I have to ask you to buy a ticket in advance in order to run this event.

So thanks to everyone that has shown their support and thanks for your understanding. Tickets are available up until 7pm Sunday from http://nottinghamgirlgeekdinners.eventbrite.com/

Yahoo!7 Girl Geek Dinner Pictures & Screencast

Above are some pictures from the Girl Geek Dinner night at Yahoo!7 If you have photos on flickr please add them to the pool too. Pool/Group ID 1173495@N22

The night was great fun. The Speakers did a wonderful job. Will provide links to their talks once I get a hold of them.

Thanks to all that attended. Hope you had a great evening!

Europe: Greece: Save the date: Πέμπτη 25 Ιουνίου

Το 10ο Girl Geek Dinner, έρχεται την Πέμπτη στις 25 Ιουνίου, …and we celebrate our first anniversary!
Αναλυτικά, όλο το πρόγραμμα, σύντομα.

Europe: Italy: La mia vita con Mario e Luigi Bros

(Vuoi essere una guest blogger su Girl Geek Life? Scrivi con noi!)

Juliette Bellavita consulente e blogger, si sta occupando di un’applicazione per iPhone legata alla cucina e sta iniziando ad occuparsi dello sviluppo di un sito/applicazione iPhone legato al mondo dei viaggi.

Super Mario Galaxy

C’è chi dice che la Playstation abbia dei giochi più realistici, che la X-Box 360 costi meno e abbia un numero di titoli maggiore, ma per quanto mi riguarda la Wii resta la migliore.

Sono una fan della Nintendo sin dalla più tenera età: sono stata svezzata da Donkey Kong sul Game&Watch portato dal Giappone da mio padre, ho risparmiato faticosamente per comprare il Game Boy quando ero ancora alle medie per massacrarmi di Tetris fino ad avere le allucinazioni, ho passato un’estate intera in Francia a giocare con il NES e poi per i miei 18 anni ho festeggiato con il nuovissimo Super Nintendo.

“Che nerd!” direte, ma di fatto Mario e Luigi Bros fanno praticamente parte della mia famiglia, come potrei quindi non amare la Wii e tradirli con altre console?

Attaccamento personale a parte, credo che sia una piattaforma di gioco rivoluzionaria, seppure con qualche piccola pecca. Dopo averla ambita e desiderata spassionatamente per un anno intero dalla sua uscita consolandomi con il valido Nintendo DS, finalmente un giorno la Wii è apparsa nel salotto di casa mia, con tanto di Balance Board per Wii Fit, due controller e due Nunchuck.

Come funziona la Wii penso che ormai lo sappiano tutti. L’interazione fra la mano sinistra e la destra attraverso il Wiimote (di fatto, un controller senza fili) e il Nunchuck (un altro piccolo controller con funzionalità differenti collegato al primo) permette una giocabilità innovativa completamente diversa rispetto a quella fornita dalla altre console. In che modo?

Il Wiimote è dotato di accelerometri e giroscopi interni sensibili quindi ai movimenti del polso e all’intensità dei movimenti. Il controller è collegato con un dispositivo ottico a una barra sensore che viene posta sopra o sotto alla TV. In questo modo quando il giocatore si agita durante un incontro di box, lancia l’amo in acqua durante un’uscita in barca, o fa uno smash incredibile mentre sfida la Sharapova a tennis ha la sensazione che i propri movimenti corrispondano esattamente a quelli riportati dai personaggi nel gioco.

Se collegata alla Balance Board (una piattaforma che si connette a sua volta alla barra sensore della TV) la Wii si trasforma in una palestra portatile dove per ogni zompetto, movimento, addominale, posa aerobica o prova di equilibrismo viene rilevato e inviato alla Wii. Gare di sci, snowboard, ginnastica, yoga, hoola-hop e persino la corsa sulla fune. Potrete cimentarvi in tante discipline diverse e scoprire se il vostro “balance” è davvero a posto.

Quando era appena uscita, nel 2006, la console aveva un numero davvero limitato di giochi, ma dopo qualche mese è finalmente uscito il capolavoro dei videogame mai realizzati fino ad oggi: Super Mario Galaxy. Se amate Mario & Luigi lo avrete sicuramente già provato.

Attraverso mondi fantastici con la creatività che solo gli sviluppatori della Nintendo possono sprigionare e un modo di giocare già rivoluzionario di per sé ma che qui nemmeno tiene più conto delle leggi di gravità o delle regole alle quale siamo abituati, Super Mario Galaxy ti trasporta in una e più dimensioni parallele sempre in compagnia della solita gang composta dai Toad, dalla Principessa, da Luigi, dagli Sfavillotti (come dimenticarli!) e da tutti gli altri amici e crudeli nemici. Sì, mi sbilancio e non resisto a dire che Super Mario Galaxy è un gioco davvero fantastico.

Piano piano il numero di titoli disponibili per la Wii si è arricchito con grandi classici dei videogiochi come Resident Evil in tutte le sue declinazioni, Call of Duty 3, il bellissimo Top Spin 3, e un numero vastissimo di giochi per bambini come Cooking Mama, i Pokemon e tanti altri.

Ma la mia passione degli ultimi tempi, una volta terminato Super Mario Galaxy e aver sbaragliato (o perso con) amici, parenti e perfetti sconosciuti al volante di Mario Kart (bellissimo!) è sicuramente Guitar Hero World Tour.
Disponibile anche per le altre console Guitar Hero realizza i rocker frustrati come me. Essere al centro del palco a cantare, o suonare un pezzo infuocato alla chitarra (quella vera, e non un semplice controller) è sempre stato il mio sogno, ma ahimè ai concerti sono sempre andata come spettatrice anche a quelli dei miei numerosissimi (e non sempre dotati) amici. Con Guitar Hero posso finalmente gridare “I ROCK!!!” insieme a mia sorella per la gioia dei vicini ottuogenari che fra tanti acciacchi purtroppo o per fortuna ci sentono benissimo. Fortunelli..

Attraverso la Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (WFC, servizio gratuito integrato) ci colleghiamo online e ci uniamo con altri invasati giapponesi, canadesi, americani, francesi o russi per mettere su complessi musicali composti da chitarra, basso, batteria e microfono (tutti veri collegati alla Wii) o ancora meglio per sfidarci in gare di schitarrate inenarrabili. Inutile dire che non vinciamo mai, ma non fa niente. L’imporante è crederci, e noi ci crediamo tantissimo.

In conclusione la Wii non sarà la console con più giochi in assoluto, ma se il suo prezzo nei negozi non è mai calato e le vendite continuano ad essere sostanziose portandola per un lungo periodo sulla cresta dell’onda anche rispetto alle altre piattaforme, ci sarà pure un motivo.

Voi cosa ne pensate? Quali sono i vostri giochi preferiti?

Disclaimer
Questo post è basato su un’esperienza personale. Nè Juliette nè nessuna della redazione di GGD Life ha ricevuto compensi, sconti o agevolazioni dai marchi citati per aver scritto questo post.

June dinner is booked!

Just a note that June’s event is booked solid & we have no additional spaces available.

If you didn’t reserve a space on Eventbrite, we’re sorry and hope to see you at future events.

Thanks for your understanding….

June dinner is booked!

Just a note that June’s event is booked solid & we have no additional spaces available.

If you didn’t reserve a space on Eventbrite, we’re sorry and hope to see you at future events.

Thanks for your understanding….

Tokyo Hacker Space / 東京ハッカースペース

こんばんは!

今日はTokyo Hacker Space / 東京ハッカースペースの紹介をちょっとしちゃいます。

そもそもTokyo Hacker Spaceとは何か･･･? 気になりますね。

リンク先の説明によるとHackerspaceとは

Hackerspaces are community-operated physical places, where people can meet and work on their projects.

というわけで、みんなで集まって自分たちのプロジェクトの作業をしたりできる、コミュニティベースで運営されている場所の事をハッカースペースと呼んでいると。面白そうでしょ?

東京にもハッカースペースを作ろう – この動きは先月の東京BarCamp2009で始まりました。Mitch Altman氏(とても穏やかで、クレバーな方です!)がMake :Tokyo Meeting 03 に参加するタイミングで来日されていて、東京BarCamp2009にも参加し、そこでHackerSpaceについての話をしてくれたのがきっかけでした。彼の話に聞き入るうちに、賛同した有志がWebのアドレスを取得し、Wikiを立ち上げ、その場でサイトが立ち上がっちゃったのです! 素早かったですよ! みんなそれだけワクワクしたって事ですね。さらに後日、参加していたメンバーがロゴもデザインし、なんだかかっこよくなってる。

そして、先週からミーティングがスタートしました! 私ももちろん参加してきました! こんな場所はどう?、みんなそこで何やりたい?、管理とかどうする? 等々いろんな議論がありました。

今後も、毎週火曜日の夜7時から東京ハッカースペースを実現するためにはどうしたらいいか、あれこれあれこれ議論を続けます。 ミーティングは誰でも参加できるので、興味があれば行ってみると面白いですよ。場所は東京ハッカースペースのWikiに掲示されます。現在のところ、議論は英語で行われていますが、日本人も数人参加していますし、私も参加しまーす。

気になってきましたか?  Tokyo Hacker Spaceのwiki、  ML参加リンク、 Twitterもありますよ

興味があるけどちょっと1人で行くのは…という人は一緒に行きましょう

—-

Hi there!

I will introduce Tokyo Hacker Space today.

Firstly, what is Tokyo Hacker Space … do you know?

According to the description on the site,

Hackerspaces are community-operated physical places, where people can meet and work on their projects.

OK, now you see what hackerspaces are, sounds fun eh?

Initially, the thought to create Tokyo Hacker Space has started at TokyoBarCamp2009, where Mitch Altman introduced us about Hackerspaces movement and what they are doing etc. Whilst his presentation, some people registered the URL, set up wiki and launched the Tokyo Hacker Space website! Great job, we were all excited and couldn’t wait Few days after TokyoBarCamp, one of participants designed the logo for the website, it looks so cool.

Tokyo Hacker Space meeting started last week. I joined it of course. We discussed a lot of things, there was a proposal of a physical space, what do you want to do at the hacker space, how can we organise the space, etc., etc. Absolutely loads of things to do and fun!

This meeting will be held every Tuesday, 7.00PM, around Shibuya(place is confirmed on the wiki page), so If you are interested in, don’t hesitate, it is free to join!

Currently the discussion is operated in English, however, usually some Japanese people are there, and I will be there as well.

Want to know more?

Visit Tokyo Hacker Space ,  join the MailingList , or follow them on Twitter

Update: 18th June

Added some links, corrected typos.

Dori Smith speaks on JavaScript @ Bay Area Girl Geek Dinner #4

	Dori Smith speaks on JavaScript @ Bay Area Girl Geek Dinner #4 Dori Smith speaks on JavaScript at the Bay Area Girl Geek Dinner #4 (sponsored by LOLapps) on Thursday, June 11th, 2009 in San Francisco. She gives an introductory talk on JavaScript and offers advice on getting started programming with JavaScript. Dori is an accomplished author with many books published on JavaScript, AJAX, CSS, and Dreamweaver. For more info, check out bayareagirlgeekdinners.com or her blog at dori.com	From: thisgirlangie Views: 128 0 ratings
	Time: 06:18	More in Science & Technology

Europe: Brussels: On to the 3rd year of Brussels Girl Geek Dinners! [UPDATE]

Brussels Girl Geek Dinner started in August 2007 . We’ve had 13 editions so far and have been growing ever since. The last few editions attract over 100 girl geeks easily and the attendee lists are always full within hours after announcing. But the main thing is that thanks to a lot of help from friends and sponsors, Brussels Girl Geek Dinners are still a free and open event, light hearted and fun.

I apologise for not communicating earlier about the upcoming editions of Brussels Girl Geek Dinner. But I have a number of excuses:

• May 2009 was one of the busiest months in my career (shameless plug: www.targetwomen.be ) – hence, no time to prepare a June edition
• I’m barely in the country in July so no BGGD in July, either

In the meanwhile I’m talking to a number of current and future Girl Geek Dinner sponsors and this is what it looks like so far:

If you can help with the question marks, do let me know in the comments. Thanks!

Amanda Wixted talks iPhone game development @ Bay Area Girl Geek Dinner #4

	Amanda Wixted talks iPhone game development @ Bay Area Girl Geek Dinner #4 Amanda Wixted talks iPhone game development at the Bay Area Girl Geek Dinner #4 (sponsored by LOLapps) on Thursday, June 11th, 2009 in San Francisco. She talks about how she got started programming, casual games and iPhone games, Objective-C, the structure of game development, and demos an iPhone game she wrote last weekend called "Penguin Madness". For more info, check out bayareagirlgeekdinners.com or her blog at amandawixted.com	From: thisgirlangie Views: 640 5 ratings
	Time: 09:08	More in Science & Technology

Leah Culver talks Python and Django @ Bay Area Girl Geek Dinner #4

	Leah Culver talks Python and Django @ Bay Area Girl Geek Dinner #4 Leah Culver speaks on Python at the Bay Area Girl Geek Dinner #4 (sponsored by LOLapps) on Thursday, June 11th, 2009 in San Francisco. She talks about how she got started programming, why Django and not Ruby on Rails, and talks about the various projects she's worked on. For more info, check out bayareagirlgeekdinners.com or her blog at leahculver.com	From: thisgirlangie Views: 670 2 ratings
	Time: 10:43	More in Science & Technology

Sarah Mei talks Ruby on Rails @ Bay Area Girl Geek Dinner #4

	Sarah Mei talks Ruby on Rails @ Bay Area Girl Geek Dinner #4 Sarah Mei talks Ruby on Rails at the Bay Area Girl Geek Dinner #4 (sponsored by LOLapps) on Thursday, June 11th, 2009 in San Francisco. She talks about how she got started programming, how Ruby on Rails works, why Ruby on Rails, and why not Ruby on Rails. Sarah is also a part of RailsBridge and the Ruby on Rails Outreach Workshop (partnering with SF Ruby Meetups). For more info, check out bayareagirlgeekdinners.com or her blog at sarahmei.com	From: thisgirlangie Views: 88 0 ratings
	Time: 10:52	More in Science & Technology

Lorena Ubierna a/en/at BCN GGD

La Lorena Ubierna de Metamanagement farà una presentació durant el sopar.

Lorena Ubierna de Metamanagement hará una presentación durante la cena.

Lorena Ubierna of Metamanagement will be our very 1st guest speaker

last minute!

[ca]

Si algú vol venir i no s’ha registrat cap problema! Vaig parlar amb el restaurant i vam quedar que si s’afegia algú a última hora es podia montar una taula més.

[es]

Si alguien quiere venir y no se ha registrado ¡no hay ningún problema! Hablé con el restaurante y acordamos que si se añadía alguien en el último momento se podía montar otra mesa más.

[en]

If anyway wants to come & hasn’t registered yet there’s no problem! I’ve spoken to the restaurant and if people come at the last moment they will add another table.

Girl Geek Dinner 6 with Kay Lam-Beattie

For our July Girl Geek Dinner we’re heading to The Hutch Bistro at New Farm and we’re fortunate to have Kay Lam-Beattie as our guest speaker.  So gather all of your legal/IT questions to ask Kay on the night!

About Kay:

Kay graduated from QUT in 1992 with a Bachelor of Business (Accountancy) and an honours degree in Law. To obtain more specialised skills, Kay also completed a Masters in Law concentrating on the areas of intellectual property (IP) and IT-related legal issues, as well as a Graduate Certificate in IT.

Kay has been the principal of IDEALAW (and its predecessor Legal Capital Lawyers) since 2005.

Kay’s broadly based academic qualifications places her in an ideal position not only to understand the intricacies of her specialist areas of IT and IP related law, but also technical IT and business issues. Kay also speaks conversational Japanese, having lived and worked in Japan for a number of years.

Who is invited?

If you are a geek and a girl or know of one who is willing to escort you then you are welcome and encouraged to come along. There is a technical focus with the intention of having fun and connecting with other women in IT.

Who pays for dinner?
This month is not sponsored so you will have to pay for your own dinner

Where + When
Date: Thursday 2nd July, 2009
Time: 7:00 pm
Where: The Hutch Bistro

75 Welsby Street, New Farm

http://www.thehutchbistro.com.au/food-wine.html