Author: Heidi Waterhouse
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What I learned about my brain from playing 300+ hours of Stardew Valley
Yes, I got the Switch at the start of November. Yes, that is a lot, so many hours. Many of them were on planes and in waiting rooms, but many more were not. Yes, I do have a lot of internalized shame/misogyny/self-criticism about playing vidya games that much, and I’m working really hard on not…
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Like butter across too much bread
I knew it was coming. My team knew it was coming. My peers knew it was coming. One of the things we know about developer advocacy is that there is a really high rate of burnout — it’s because we care so much. There isn’t any time that I’m not running a constant background process…
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Lady Conference Speaker Food Problems
Content warning: I’m going to talk about voluntary and involuntary food restrictions or limits. Conference food is hard to do Pity the conference organizer! I mean that seriously. They need to get the entirety of the conference fed in a relatively short period of time. They need to make sure food is available for people…
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What did you think was going to happen?
My mom taught 6th and 7th grade (often a gifted/STEM) class for the better part of two decades. If you think back, you may remember this as not your peak decision-making time of life. You can spot my mom’s former students by their love of history, language, learning and connections, and by a slight flinch…
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BuJo Pig
It’s a joke about bourgeoisie performative productivity and how it intersects with bullet journaling… Nevermind. Bullet journaling is: a) a productivity system that uses a journal to capture to-do lists, stray thoughts, and planning, with various levels of elaboration b) an art form ostensibly about planning journals, but also worth time and devotion in itself,…
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Lady Conference Speaker Headshot
You’re a technologist. You got accepted to this conference because of the excellence of your proposal, and now they want a…. picture? ARGH! The last time you had a professional photo may have been senior pictures. I’m sorry. I understand your reluctance and complicated feelings, but it’s a part of the process. The conference needs…
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Book Review: Strategic Writing for UX by Torrey Podmajersky
Disclosure: I got a review copy of this book. Further disclosure: Torrey is part of the pink-haired tech people. We are legion. This book is a snappy and sharply-focused exploration of the words that make the magic happen in user interfaces. Podmajersky accurately identifies places that more needs to be said, and then avoids them,…
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The Lead Developer (London): 12/10 Good Doggo: The Power of Positive Transformation
How can dog training techniques help you understand yourself and your team?
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Satiety
In Disney’s Fantasia, Mickey, the sorcerer’s apprentice, enchants brooms to magically do his tedious chore. The problem is, Mickey is only an apprentice and although he can get things started, he is not wise enough to give the brooms an end point, an “enough”. I’ve been thinking about this concept a lot, lately, satiety. (It…
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Lady Conference Speaker: Speaker Bios
It’s hard to say nice things about yourself, even in the third person. Here are some tips!