In Honor of Ada

ROSE Blog: Rikki's Open Source Exchange

Ada Lovelace Day is an international day of blogging to draw attention to women excelling in technology.

I can't narrow it down to one heroine. Instead, I present a list of just a few of my many tech heroines.

First, I'd pick my mentor Amber Ankerholz, former editor in chief of Sys Admin magazine. Approaching technology from a journalist's perspective, Amber did an outstanding job of editing and delivering technical articles written by sys admins for sys admins. While I'm at it, I'll add all the women who contributed to Sys Admin, including Æleen Frisch and Q&A columnist Amy Rich. And all the women who contribute to Linux Pro/ Linux Magazine, including Emma Hogbin, Patricia Jung, Heike Jurzik, and Anika Kehrer.

Then there are the women who help organize the technical events that we all enjoy, including Anne Dickison and her USENIX team and OSCON's Allison Randal. And there are the women who – in addition to doing many other things – speak at events, including Danese Cooper, Selena Deckelmann, Stormy Peters, Emma McGrattan, Cathy Malmrose, Angie Byron, and Dru LaVigne.

And don't forget the efforts of Google's Cat Allman and Leslie Hawthorn, who reach out to newbies, women, and students to help encourage their participation in technology.

Of course, I could continue adding to this list all day long, or you can skim through some of my older blog posts to see other women I've profiled, including Groklaw's Pamela Jones. Today, perhaps the best way to find out more about the heroines of technology is to search Twitter and check out the Ada Lovelace Day pledge site: http://www.pledgebank.com/AdaLovelaceDay.

Happy Ada Lovelace Day!