Tag Archives: University of California

August 19, 2012 · 11:45 pm

Favorite Granites

One of my favorite rocks is granite, of which there is a large amount in my home state of California. My favorite individual granite stones are those which show more than one pattern or color – indicating that the rock underwent a complex formation process. Dikes cutting through a stone are more interesting to me than rocks of homogeneous color or texture. One of my most enjoyable experiences at family camp last week was sharing individual stones with my daughter Jessica. She has always been fond of rocks but since she took a geology class at CMU during her last year, Jessica is even more enthusiastic and knowledgeable.

Camping at the Lair of the Golden Bear

Yesterday, we got back from our annual family camping trip at the U.C. Berkeley Alumni Association’s Lair of the Golden Bear near Pinecrest, California. We had 19 people in four tents, with 8 in just ours. As usual, we had an enjoyable and relaxing time. The car is unpacked and stuff is mostly put away but I am still working my way through the laundry. I have finished the towels and bedding and most of the clothes. I still need to wash the sleeping bags.

Some of the highlights of our week in the Sierras:

Hiking to the Natural Bridges swim-through cave. The air was so hot and the water was so cold! Carrying my camera in a zip bag to take pictures from the deep pool was tricky.
Seeing an eagle pulling big fish from the Pinecrest Lake right near the swimmers and boaters. One of the Pinecrest summer residents said it was a bald eagle but it may have been an osprey (fish eagle).
Watching a white headed woodpecker eating his way from pine to pine.
Walking along the creek (Tuolumne River, North Fork), looking for wild flowers, animals, insects, and pretty stones.
Watching the sunset from the Trail of the Gargoyles, in the Stanislaus National Forest. We could see Mount Diablo (a 3,864 feet or 1,178 meter peak in the San Francisco Bay Area) in the far distance.
Hanging out with family and friends.

This was the first time we have been camping since my father died – he loved the mountains. We stopped at Railtown 1897 in Jamestown on the drive home yesterday to collect more caboose pictures – see my Caboose Sisters Pinterest page for the whole collection. I also put up a Camp Blue Pinterest page with more images from our camping week.

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Filed under Home & Family, News & Reviews

Tagged as birds, Eleanor, Jessica, John, Lair of the Bear, Matthew, Paul, University of California, Wade

March 12, 2012 · 11:05 pm

Published: “Famous Women in Computer Science”

“Advancing Your Career Through Awards” panel at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing 2010, including (L to R): Lucy Sanders, Fran Allen, Bob Walker, Katy Dickinson, Marcy Alstott, and Manuela Veloso.

In November 2009, I first published my first “Famous Women in Computer Science” blog entry. I am delighted to report that in honor of International Women’s Day 2012, the Anita Borg Institute has published an updated and expanded version of that material as a new web resource:

The Anita Borg Institute is proud to introduce – Famous Women in Computer Science. This list was compiled by our Advisory Board Awards Committee: Katy Dickinson (Director, Huawei Technologies), Fran Allen (IBM Emerita and 2006 Turing Award Winner), Dr. Chandra Krintz, (Professor, Computer Science Department, University of California at Santa Barbara) and Dr. Robert Walker (Professor and Chair, Computer Science Department, Kent State University). The women on this list are leaders in Computer Science and recognized by their peers and the technology industry through major awards and other public acknowledgements of excellence.

The ultimate goal of this list is to encourage our readers to:

Navigate the ABI awards web sites

Identify women with award-winning potential

Encourage those who want to understand their own potential for promotion, honors, and awards

Organize and inform a nomination or promotion

Awards and other honors often go begging for lack of good nominations. A great woman is often overlooked because no one mentioned her name or took the time to build her case. Increased focus is needed on awards going to great technical women at every stage in their careers.

The new “Famous Women in Computer Science” web resource is attracting attention: we have already had many requests to add more names. Our committee is reviewing and researching suggestions as we get them. The list is incomplete and growing. After reviewing what is already published, if you have a suggestion for this list please send a message to information@anitaborg.org. Here is the 8 March 2012 press release.

“Famous Women in Computer Science” is a companion resource to the “Award-Winning Career Timelines In Computer Science and Engineering” material my amazing ABI Advisory Board committee published in 2010.

“The Value of Awards and How to Get Them” at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing 2009, including (L to R): Katy Dickinson, Chandra Krintz, Bob Walker.

Images by Katy Dickinson 2009-2010

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Filed under Hopper - Anita Borg Institute, News & Reviews

Tagged as Geeks, Huawei, technical women, University of California

August 29, 2011 · 12:31 pm

Back Road Not Taken

My husband and I recently drove out of Camp Blue at the Lair of the Golden Bear near Pinecrest Lake to go down the mountain to the Twain Harte Market for supplies. We decided to take a back road returning to camp, instead the usual highway 108 through the Stanislaus National Forest. John and I ended up on a wild and scenic and delightful drive down “Lyons Lake Road” and a series of other more-or-less-maintained fire roads. We ended up backtracking 12 miles after the “road” abruptly headed into a steep uphill gully filled with big stones (we did not have four wheel drive or a winch on the front of our Mercedes SUV).

At one point, we were faced with the classic dilemma of poet Robert Frost:

The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost, 1920

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;	     

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,	      

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.	   

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

We saw some amazing pink-brown lava aggregate boulders in the alpine meadows the road wandered through at 5,000 feet above sea level:

Also many deer, rabbit, raccoon and other animal tracks in the dust of the road:

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Filed under Home & Family, News & Reviews

Tagged as John, Lair of the Bear, University of California

August 26, 2011 · 5:20 pm

Making Pots at Camp

I have written about how proud I am of my son Paul’s pots. This is to show you two of mine:

Last week, we went for our annual stay at U.C. Berkeley’s Lair of the Golden Bear family camp. In addition to swimming, singing, and long walks, my family enjoys making ceramics together in the Camp Blue Art Grove. Jessica and Paul and I all made pots while Matt and John kept us company. Paul coached us on our technique using the potter’s wheel. Working with clay under the trees is lovely. We watched the squirrels steal paper towels from the trash to line their winter nests. Seeing a ground squirrel dashing off into the bushes with a wad of wet brown paper in its mouth is funny.

My brother Pete was in a tent nearby with his family. Jessica and Matt were awarded a Camp Blue loving cup (usually given for sports participation) to honor their being newlyweds at camp.

Open Source Hardware – For Model Railroads

Some of the creators of the award-winning open source software for model trails called JMRI have just developed open source hardware called the Railroad Shield layout interface board. John Plocher is leading the hardware development, working with Bob Jacobsen and others on the openLCB software, providing interfaces to electronics for experiments in model train control.

This small computer board is clearly the product of Cal Berkeley fans. Blue in color, it will feature Blue and Gold LEDs. If you look closely, you will see printed onto each board such phrases as

Go Bears!
Model Railroading is Fun!
So it’s up with the Blue and Gold, down with the Red…

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Filed under News & Reviews

Tagged as John, University of California

November 1, 2010 · 11:43 pm

Ready to Vote Tomorrow

I have done my homework:

I read Pete Rates the Propositions
I listened to KQED Radio’s Forum with Michael Krasny
I read my ballot measure arguments for and against (and the rebuttals)
I talked with my family

I am ready to get up early tomorrow morning for the privilege of voting as a citizen of the State of California.

This is my newly-18-year-old son Paul’s first time voting. He too has diligently done his reading and discussed his ideas and questions with us. Paul has grown up camping every August at U.C. Berkeley’s Lair of the Golden Bear, singing “Hail to California” around the camp fire. (If you want to hear it, listen to these two renditions of Cal’s song: 2006, 2008.) I am proud to see Paul stepping up to becoming an adult citizen of our home state.

Hail to California,
Alma Mater Dear.
Sing the joyful chorus,
Sound it far and near.

Rallying ’round her banner,
We will never fail.
California Alma Mater,
Hail! Hail! Hail!

Hail to California,
queen in whom
we’re blest —
Spreading light
and goodness
over all the West,

Fighting ‘neath her standard
We shall sure prevail-
California Alma Mater,
Hail! Hail! Hail!

“Hail to California” was written and composed by Clinton R. Morse, class of 1896

Tag Archives: University of California

Favorite Granites

Camping at the Lair of the Golden Bear

Published: “Famous Women in Computer Science”

Back Road Not Taken

Making Pots at Camp

Open Source Hardware – For Model Railroads

Ready to Vote Tomorrow

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