Mary Dickson Diaz

Code, Life, Learning

Month: December 2014

on wordpress and websites

December 30, 2014 / / 0 Comments

Blogging to you live from ye olde custom internet domain! Let’s get meta here for a minute.

Basic knowledge of HTML/CSS is important for more advanced learning in coding and software development. I used to know my way around angle brackets back in my Blogger days, but I’m rusty (real talk: is it still blogging if it comes from WordPress or should it be referred to as “pressing” now?). While the first few posts on this site were created on a wordpress.com hosted site (marydickson.wordpress.com), I had always planned to migrate over to a dot com of my own, setting up a page that could get me started and documenting right away, while still allowing for more advanced customization and scaffolding down the road.

Shockingly, myname.com was available, so I snatched it up via Namecheap, who I know from my time working with Fight for the Future are big supporters of internet freedom issues. The cost to register and host marydickson.com for a year was $9.66  and $9.88, respectively.

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all about bootcamps

December 28, 2014 / / 1 Comment

keyboard cat

I started to gain confidence that yes, making a career transition to computer programming IS possible, when I learned about two great organizations here in Seattle.

The first, Ada Developers Academy, is free for admitted applicants and backed by public grants and some of the biggest tech companies in town. It’s a one year full-time training and internship program for women with no previous professional tech experience. I met some of the Ada students last year at a big data conference and was impressed by their presence  and enthusiasm. “These are women,” I thought, “a lot like me.”

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the least qualified person to cross this street

December 23, 2014 / / 1 Comment
bridge

No, you go first.

Taking a walk and it was time to cross the street. I asked Jones if he was ready and he said, “Mom, I am the least qualified person to cross this street.”

My friend Bonnie’s young son has a healthy sense of his limitations. Though as far as I can tell they crossed the street anyway (hands may have been held).

Last week I gave notice to my employer that I will be leaving in January, for a period of self study and learning towards the goal of working in technology. I’ve spent the last ten years working in education non-profit development (after three in a middle school English classroom) and have been contemplating a career shift for the last few. With all the attention these days on the need for gender diversity in the tech field, and ample resources for learning here in Seattle and online, it seems an ideal time for me and my transferable skills to take a leap!

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