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ashedryden

8 karma · joined October 5, 2010

Coder. Drupalista. Knitter. Sex-positive educator. Queer. Polyamorous. Music addict. Snarkaholic
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ashedryden··on Offer HN: I will work for free this Thursday in San Francisco
This is an awesome idea :}
ashedryden··on Building my web startup in Drupal vs. Rails?
It's less important what the site is built it than the fact that it's built, can do what you need it to do, and it can sustain heavy amounts of traffic.
ashedryden··on The 19 Senators Who Voted To Censor The Internet
I'd like to take this space to apologize on behalf of my state, Wisconsin. Can't believe my beloved Feingold voted for this :(
ashedryden··on Ask HN: Good CSS to reset styles for typography
I've never been able to find something similar. I tend to start off with a good font stack and then calculate vertical rhythm. I also tend to start with a larger base font and work toward a style with narrower line lengths.
ashedryden··on Funding Math and Science Projects For Young Women
It's interesting to me that there are so many programs dedicated specifically to girls.

My issue growing up and being a huge science/math/history geek wasn't that I didn't have access to these things as a girl, but that the clubs and groups didn't seem that open to girls and the boys in them certainly weren't.

I organize tech groups and barcamps in Milwaukee and, being the only female organizer, I'm frequently asked what I do to promote more activity and involvement from women. It's interesting to me because the community puts it on the minority to make the minority comfortable when it's the exact opposite that needs to happen. Women/girls aren't attending events or clubs because they aren't populated with other women, but because they feel they are singled out for being women instead of being science geeks like everyone else there.

ashedryden··on Tell HN: Uptick in mean-spirited comments
I've been seeing a lot of this lately, too. I wonder how much of it is related to the Digg mass exodus?
ashedryden··on You worked for jerks who screwed you for money. How do you handle the reference?
That's hard; I've been there. I tend to smile and bear it. As long as you weren't as much of a jerk to them as they are to you, hope for the best?
ashedryden··on Ask HN: Having emotional breakdown
I've been there. I think all of us have been there.

It really helped me to find people that were passionate about the same things I was. I found user groups and not only went to them, became an active member and organizer. People come to me to talk more often than I go to them to talk now. It's great and feeling useful helps carry me through everything else in my life that seems difficult and overwhelming.

ashedryden··on Have you cut the cord yet? Why? Why not?
Traditional tv is going the way of the newspaper. Had they been smart, they would have seen it coming instead of trying to scramble in the coming couple years like the newspaper industry has been doing for the past 5.
ashedryden··on The best project management website (Basecamp?)
We use Open Atrium which is an install profile of Drupal. It's great because the feature set (by default) is very minimal, but it caneasily be extended with any of Drupal's modules, or you can create your own features. I love it because it's open source, runs on my servers, and is basic enough that when I give it to clients they aren't highly confused or need training to get started using it.
ashedryden··on Women Don't Want To Run Startups Because They'd Rather Have Children
Women did not evolve against risk taking and startups: http://restructure.wordpress.com/2010/10/04/women-did-not-ev...
ashedryden··on Women Don't Want To Run Startups Because They'd Rather Have Children
This also assumes that having children means one or the other parent's job is to stay at home with them, which hasn't been true for a number of years because of the amount of money needed to sustain a family and the fact that women no longer need to give up their careers to have children.
ashedryden··on Women Don't Want To Run Startups Because They'd Rather Have Children
I know tons of successful women who run businesses who are fine without having children; I also know quite a few who have children and are still able to run a business.

This whole argument goes back to the beginning of the feminist movement and people not being willing to hire women because they should be making some man sandwiches and popping out babies.

The trend is leaning towards more women having fewer children, if they are having them at all (http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8...).

ashedryden··on Women Don't Want To Run Startups Because They'd Rather Have Children
As a woman (and someone who is friends with the Brazen peeps) this is highly insulting. It assumes that all women want to have children, that men are mostly absent/dismissive in their children's lives (if they have them), and insinuates that women just aren't biologically fit to run a company. I know Penelope has kind of made a name for herself in saying things that shock people, so I wouldn't doubt that this is in the same vein. I run a company, work ridiculous hours, and the other devs on my team are male. I don't think any of us puts it fewer hours or energy based on the number of ovaries each has.
ashedryden··on Ask HN (Poll): What browser do you use?
I don't know that technologists really indicate what the general populace will do; they tend to try new things less often and will continue to use the same product long after it's life expectancy.

I use the latest beta of Chrome.

ashedryden··on How do you manage yourself in a new city or country?
Are you talking travel or moving?

Moving: I find I do a lot of research online first. I look at the areas of the city that tend to be younger and vegan friendly. I try to find tech meetups/groups as a way to meet new people, get friends, and make business contacts. I explore a lot. Try new restaurants and businesses regularly, go out of my way to meet new people.

ashedryden··on Ask HN: Web development graduate programs?
I've looked into this as well and never found something that was exactly what I wanted. Most programs focus on computer science/software programming and have web dev classes available, but don't focus on them.
ashedryden··on Ask HN: Sponsor my travel for Startup School
Cupcakes! :D
ashedryden··on Ask HN: Sponsor my travel for Startup School
I'm sending money to your paypal right now. Thanks for all of the amazing things you've done for the tech community in Milwaukee/Madison :}