A few weeks ago, I attended WOWHack, an event organised by Rewired State in conjunction with Women of the World Festival. What an inspiring thing to attend! Held at London's Southbank Centre, the festival featured keynote talks, concerts, performances, gigs, debates, and talks. There was a marketplace to purchase memorabilia, as well as several exhibitions and workshops. This stellar event was open to both women and men, of all ages, and from all different backgrounds around the world.

The purpose of the event was to celebrate International Women's Day, which took place on the 8th of March. At the Festival, women's achievements were celebrated, and their struggles around the world were discussed. People were not only talking about these issues, they were actually doing something about them!

During the weekend, a 2 day coding event took place. Participants were male and female and were a range of all ages. Our coders built web and mobile apps to express their views, and to try to aid in solving some of the issues that women face today.

A few of my favorite hacks that were made was an app measuring the gender gap in the workplace, another was a social networking site providing mentoring for women of all ages.

This event was just further proof of the great things that can be made, and the inspiring ideas that can spawn when great people put their minds together!

Splish Splash! Ring Ring!

What do swimming pools, toilets, sinks, washing machines, and drinks all have in common. Yes, they do all have a correlation to liquids, but they also can lead to the death of your phone. Everyone knows that liquids are technology's kryptonite. If only there was a way to waterproof our favorite tech gadgets....Eureka! There is!

There are now several options on the market to waterproof your electronic devices. One is a service offered by Liquipel. This southern California based company has been researching and producing innovative waterproof coatings during the past 5 years. No case is required to make your device safe to water. When your device is treated by Liquipel, a self-sealing nanocoating is produced that provides electronics with protection from exposure to liquids  This nanocoating penetrates internal and external parts of the devices, allowing complete protection. For treatment of your phone, it will cost you about $60-$80, which is a bargain compared to replacing your phone for $500+ or paying your insurance deductible.

Sony has just released its Xperia Z phone in India last week. It will be released soon to other countries. What's unique about this mobile phone, is that one of its standard features is that it is waterproof. I wouldn't recommend letting your phone live with your fishes, as it is not permanently waterproof. This remarkable phone can be submerged in up to 1 meter of water for up to a half an hour with absolutely no damage. With this phone, you can text in the shower, make calls in the swimming pool, drop your phone in the toilet, and no harm will come out of it!

Another option is to purchase a waterproof case. Lifeproof is a great company that specialize in endurance cases. They have a range of produces from iPhone, iPad, and iPods.(Apple produce users only for now, a case for Samsung Galaxy will be released soon.) A Lifeproof case will protect your gadget from dirt, water, snow, and shock. Never again will you be worried about the wellbeing of your device while at the beach, skiing, or if you drop it on a messy night out. This product makes your all of your iProducts indestructible!

Come hell or high water(literally) may your gadgets persevere!

Who Wears the Pants(suit) Now?

I recently read a very insightful article on Bloomberg Businessweek, written by Karen E. Klein. Here are my thoughts...

Let't just come right out and acknowledge the ever present gender equality elephant in the room. Although it is the 21st century, and we like to consider our generation as being modern, there is still unequal pay amongst men and women. This is an unnecessary gender gap. It is also unwarranted and not reflective of the real facts.

Now, I must preface by stating I am not writing this while I am standing on my soapbox,  simultaneously burning my bras(I need my bras!) I am simply taking a closer look at the facts.

As far as private technology companies are concerned, those that are led by women earn 35% higher ROI. Also, when the VCs are brought into the equation, these women-led companies have a 12% higher revenue than tech companies owned by male counterparts. This new research was shared at a 
Women 2.0 conference hosted in San Francisco. So why do women's paychecks not reflect this?

However, Brava! It seems the ladies are catching up! These ladies aren't just successful, with expanding bank accounts, they are beginning their journeys to success younger. The average age of women entrepreneurs founding tech companies is now age 32, much lower than the previous average age of 41. This information is backed by the findings of research done by Credit Suisse Research Institute, and Down Jones VentureSource analysis.

Although women are now earning more than 50% of all bachelors and masters degrees, and nearly half of doctorate-level degrees, these same women are starting only 3% of technology companies.

The conference was led by Vivek Wadhwa. He believed that there were too many young men in the industry working on social apps with no greater good to come out of them than simple entertainment.(Although, who doesn't love Angry Birds, Instagram, and Fruit Ninja?!)  Wadhwa urged conference attendees to aim high, and to work towards solving bigger international problems like poverty, lack of clean water, health care, and harnessing internet data. These same women have now begun to do good, and make an impact on the world with their tech and business savvy skills.

I personally would have loved to hear Mr. Wadhwa speak. I am a big fan of the fact that he not only encourages women entrepreneurs, but is an advocate for inclusion as well as equality. It seems all too often, we revert back to the "separate but equal policy." It doesn't have to be that way. Men and women can work together to create a synergetic effect. After all, two heads are better than one, and what is preventing one of those heads from having super cute hair cut on top of her genius brain?

You mean, Raspberry Pi isn't a Dessert?

I don't think there is a single person on this earth that would classify me as a "technical" person. I am famous for not knowing how to reboot my laptop, or how to switch the TV setting from Output 1 to Output 2 to watch a DVD. So it is not surprising that news of my internship with a networking company for technology professionals came as a shock to my friends and family. Hell, it came as a shock to me. During my interview, I kept repeating "Are you sure I'm qualified for this? I do events, I'm not a tech person." Nonetheless, I was hired for the position. Last September, I packed both of my 50 pound suitcases that I was allotted for my international flight from Tampa, Florida to London. I found a new apartment, I made a new life for my self, etc.  During my 6 month internship I learned many things.

1.  Do not trust landlords in the city.

1.  API does not stand for the American Petroleum Institute.

1. Ruby on rails has nothing to do with jewels or trains.

1. Raspberry Pi is not edible.

1. Crowd funding has nothing to do with getting paid to crowd surf.

1.  If you hire a fake snow machine for the office holiday party, do not drop it from the ceiling, it will break, and there will be a large fine.

1.  It doesn't matter what industry you are now working in, if you have ever worked for Disney, this is the only information about you that people you meet will care about.

1.  At any tech event, you will most likely be the only female.

1.  At all tech events, ironically there will be some kind of technical issue with the projector, sound, or any other type of A/V equipment.

1.  "Startup" is a term you will hear all day, everyday.

1. Catering in the startup industry= chips and beer

1. Decor in the startup/tech industry= a paper with the name of the event and the venue's wifi info taped to a wall.

1.  Bootstrapping is another term that will become part of your everyday vocabulary.

1. The last train, really means the last train. They do not come back to recover you. You will be stuck at your location until 6am the next day.

1.  Deals are done at the pub, not in the boardroom.

1. You must fake it 'til you make it, if you can't dazzle them with grandeur, then baffle them with bullshit.

1.  In order to fit in, you must know about footy, know your lagers and your whiskey, and learn the buzzwords( startup, hack, HTML, CSS, API, VC, etc.)

1.  If it doesn't have an acronym, chances are it is off little importance.

After learning these invaluable lessons, and as the end of my internship in London drew to a close,  I prepared to return back to the states. Although I really wanted to stay on this side of the pond for a while longer, finding work as a foreigner is not an easy task. I spent hours on job sites, stalked employers on Linkedin,  and reached out to every single soul I knew that I thought might have a connection. It seems that just as I had come to terms with my failure to find work in the UK, the sun came out and shone a ray of light that became the silver lining to my grey cloud(which there is no lack of in London!) An amazing friend of mine came across a job posting for a vacancy. He thought that I fit the description, and sent me the link, and I applied. Then...HALLELUJAH! I was hired!

I am beyond thrilled to be able to officially announce that I am the new Project Coordinator for Young Rewired State! YRS is  network of software developers and designers aged 18 and under. It is the philanthropic arm of  Rewired State and its primary focus is to find and foster the young children and teenagers who are driven to teaching themselves how to code, how to program the world around them. The aim is to create a worldwide, independent, mentored network of young programmers supported and supporting through peer-to-peer learning. Ultimately solving real-world challenges.

In short, I will be working for the organization and planning events that will help youngsters develop their coding skills, as well as meet a group of kids with similar interests, leading to amazing lifelong friendships and unimaginable innovation. At Young Rewired State, we are coding a better future.

I couldn't be more excited to embark on this new career path!