Category Archives: News & Reviews

August 7, 2012 · 10:23 pm

TechWomen Mentor Training

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TechWomen mentor training was today, hosted by Walmart in San Bruno, California. About TechWomen:

Harnessing the power of business, technology and innovation, TechWomen brings emerging women leaders in technology sectors from the Middle East and North Africa together with their American counterparts for a professional mentorship and exchange program at leading companies in the United States.

Pairing Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vision of “smart power diplomacy” with “21st Century Statecraft,” TechWomen works to empower women and girls through technology.  It connects and supports the next generation of women in technology sectors by providing them the access and opportunity needed to pursue careers in technology.

TechWomen is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA).  … partnering with the Institute of International Education (IIE) and the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI) to implement this initiative.

This is the second year for TechWomen, with Silicon Valley companies hosting women from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, Palestine, and Yemen. I was the Process Architect for TechWomen from 2010-2011. Today, I gave a short talk on the Best and Worst Practices in Mentoring. I am proud to be a Professional Mentor myself this year. Each mentee has both a Professional and a Cultural mentor assigned to her. Huawei hosted three mentees last year in Santa Clara (two from Lebanon and one from Egypt) and will host three more this year (one each from Egypt, Lebanon, and Morocco). We are very much looking forward to meeting them in September!

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Images Copyright 2012 by Katy Dickinson

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August 6, 2012 · 9:42 pm

Technology and Cactus Management

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A few years ago, when he was Sun Microsystems’ Chief Engineer, Mike Splain gave a talk about his job. (We at Sun often heard from our remarkable technical leaders – see one talk I caught on tape: Ivan Sutherland Speaking On Leadership.) On this occasion, I remember Mike asking us to imagine that he had a spray bottle in each hand: one contained fertilizer, and the other weed killer. His job as Chief Engineer was to know which bottle to use and how much to spray. That is, to know which technical projects to encourage and which to kill.

I was thinking of Mike and his job yesterday when my husband John and I took apart a huge prickly pear cactus (Opuntia). Long ago, there was a prickly pear farm in our area of Willow Glen (San Jose, California). There are still many of these massive spiny plants along the bank of the Guadalupe River where we live. Three had grown up next to John’s workshop and model train room. In fact, they grew so large and heavy that they damaged the roof and threatened anyone walking on that side of the building. John wanted them dead. He generously consented to allow me to save the parts furthest from the walkway.

My cactus management tools are three:

  • A long serrated bread knife
  • Barbecue tongs
  • A bow saw (for big branches)

Add to these good gloves and a big bucket and you too can deconstruct a cactus twice as big and older than you are.

Like a technical project, prickly pears have some tender shoots which can either be left or easily cut off with a bread knife (depending on what direction they are headed). There are also huge fibrous trunks, more than a hand-width wide – like projects that have been growing and gathering resources for years that need a sharp-toothed bow saw to cut them out. The tongs are to keep the cactus manager from being skewered too often by her work.

Taking one section at a time, John and I removed all of the cactus parts headed toward the house.  What remains can grow for a few years before needing further attention.  Several hundred pounds of prunings went down the bank where they will in time root and build up my cactus fence.

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Images Copyright 2012 by Katy Dickinson

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July 26, 2012 · 10:10 pm

Night Blooming Cereus

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On 10 July, I wrote about a flower bud starting on one of the six foot tall Cereus cactus columns in my garden in San Jose, California. Some years, there are many flowers but this year, just two. The buds take two weeks to develop into blooms and then last just a few hours. This flower chose to bloom after dark. By morning, the nine-inch-across bloom will be crumpled in on itself and gone. Imagine me juggling a flashlight and camera while standing on the boulders in my cactus garden at night. Here are pictures showing the growth of this spectacular flower:

June 10:
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June 21:
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June 26 – Morning:
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June 26 – Night:
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Aftermath

That particular cactus bloom surprisingly lasted into the next day. It has now started its journey from flower to fruit. More pictures:

27 July:
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27 July:
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1 August:
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6 August:
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Images Copyright 2012 by Katy Dickinson

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July 26, 2012 · 9:01 pm

Safe Disposal of Old Medicine

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This week, San Francisco Bay Area’s Alameda became the first US county to pass a “Safe Drug Disposal Ordinance” requiring producers of drugs sold or distributed in the county to pay for the safe collection and disposal of unused medications. I noticed this news story because I just took a bag of such medicines to the drop box at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (795 El Camino Real, Palo Alto). About once a year, I go through the medicines in our house, check the expiration date, and put old stuff in a bag for disposal. I have written about challenges Disposing of Toxics when clearing my parents’ house for sale earlier this year. I was pleased to find the PAMF drop box as a safe and easy solution to this ongoing problem. Information on other Bay Area disposal sites is available from the Regional Water Quality Control Plant “cleanbay.org” web site.

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Images Copyright 2012 by Katy Dickinson

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July 26, 2012 · 10:41 am

Episcopal Town Hall by Bishop Mary Gray-Reeves

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Bishop Mary Gray-Reeves was at St. Andrew’s in Saratoga, California, last night in a town hall style discussion about the recent General Convention.  The Episcopal church’s General Convention meets every three years and is organized in two houses: the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies. Bishop Mary told us of her experiences in the House of Bishops and many of our lay and clergy delegates to the House of Deputies spoke as well.  The 77th General Convention met July 5–12, 2012, in Indianapolis, Indiana.

We started yesterday with a BarBQ dinner in the courtyard under the huge oak and then moved into the church for a two hour discussion. The meeting of over a hundred was hosted by the Santa Clara Valley Deanery, an organization of the parishes in the upper third of the Diocese of El Camino Real on the central coast of California.

After opening with prayer, we heard about many of the topics discussed in the USA-wide convention, from many points of view. Some of the highlights for me:

Overall, it was a fascinating and instructive meeting.

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Images Copyright 2012 by Katy Dickinson

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July 24, 2012 · 9:10 am

John’s Trip Home

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My husband John Plocher is flying home from his most recent two week trip to China, on business for Huawei. I have received an interesting series of text message emails as he worked his way through the weather and mess of a typhoon from ShenZhen to the Hong Kong airport. So far, his flight is about two hours late.

  • On way to airport – roads flooded, slow traffic, not worried – looking forward to seeing you SOON!!
  • Typhoon coming in to south of us in morning… More info as I find out,,,
  • Coming->came…
  • Only 1 route to hk open, ferry closed, shekou bridge closed, luohu closed, trees down across only road open.. Glad we have several hours b4 plane leaves
  • At hk airport
  • Flight delayed (no surprise).checked in ok
  • On board! Good seat

Later… John arrived home safely despite Typhoon Vicente, only two hours late.

Photo Copyright 2012 by John Plocher

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July 21, 2012 · 1:36 pm

Non-Travel Diary 4

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While my husband John is in China on business for Huawei, I am keeping a non-travel diary. This has been a relatively quiet week. In addition to working full-time at Huawei:

  • There was a small amount of progress on our home construction projects. The painter spent a half day painting the wrong color stain on the baseboards.  When I pointed out the error, he spent about the same amount of time sanding that color off and re-staining. Nobody was happy.
  • Thursday, I joined the monthly Board meeting of the Santa Maria Urban Ministry. We said an appreciative goodbye to our summer intern.  The SMUM Tech Team (of which John and I are members) was assigned some new projects by the Board.
  • My newly-assigned 2012 TechWomen mentee from Lebanon and I made first contact. We exchanged introductory emails and are starting to make preparations for her visit to the Silicon Valley in September. Her background is impressive – I very much look forward to working with her in person.  TechWomen is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA).
  • I communicated with the 2011 TechWomen mentees with whom I am presenting a panel at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing in October 2012 (Baltimore, MD).  I am the moderator of the panel called “Technical Women in the Arab Region: Challenges vs. Aspirations”. We have travel funding confirmed for three of the panelists and we are working on support for our fourth. The ladies are traveling from Algeria, Palestine, Egypt, and Lebanon for GHC12.  I am very eager to see them again!
  • Paul and I took our Wood Shop basic safety and equipment introduction at TechShop San Jose last night.  We enjoyed learning to use the miter saw, table saw, band saw, electric sander, and drill press.  The scroll saw is being repaired so we will learn how to use that later.  I made a heart for John and Paul started work on an infinity symbol using the band saw.  One of the other students laser-engraved the heart for me.  I want to take a TechShop laser class next!
  • This morning, we had a community yard sale. Despite being on Craigslist and putting signs up on nearby corners, it was very poorly attended. However, it was fun to hang out with the neighbors. Our neighborhood apparently has 7 boys and 1 girl aged between 6 and 12 years old – who spent the morning rocketing from sale to sale comparing stuff and giving updates.
  • John comes home Tuesday morning!

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Images Copyright 2012 by Katy Dickinson

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