I will publish a blog post on Tuesday 24th March about a woman in technology whom I admire but only if 1,000 other people will do the same.

My woman in technology may at first seem like an odd one, but hear me out. When I was a little girl growing up in the 80s, one woman stood out as the person who told me tech was fun, tech was cool and tech was most definitely for girls.  For me, Judith Hann is a legend.

A quick search on Wikipedia will tell you that Judith Hann was the longest serving presenter (1974-1994) on the BBC’s Tomorrow’s World programme.

Judith Hann graduated from Durham University with a degree in Zoology and Botany.  She is a leading science journalist, an author and TV presenter specialising in technology, health and agriculture. She’s a tutor with the Royal Society and sits on the commission for Agriculture and Environment Biotechnology.  She leads various roadshows on behalf of the UK government focusing on current scientific issues.  In short, Judith teaches people about technology.

In it’s heyday in the 70s, Tomorrow’s World attracted over 10 million viewers and I was one of them.  I was five years old and I have vivid memories of sitting down with my Dad to watch the programme - I can still hear and see the opening titles. I couldn’t get enough of those crazy, futuristic things.  They made my eyes pop out of my head in wonder. It was StarWars, only real.

To have a woman, an educated, clever woman show me that being interested in new technology, gadgets and the design of the future was not only alright it was actually something I could do left an immeasurable impression on me.

Mainstream heroines of tech in our formative years shape us. They act as role models.  They tell us it’s ok to be a Girl Geek.  This may seem trite but we shouldn’t underestimate how significant our first steps are. Our move from the traditional care roles into mainstream technology careers is only just beginning.  I am 32 years old.  My mother is a teacher, my grandmother was a nurse. The rise of women in tech is only just beginning.  Here us roar.

Follow the spread of Ada Lovelace Day posts across the globe - http://ada.pint.org.uk/

Read about Ada Lovelace Day - http://findingada.com/

This is quite a nice summary 101 for its implications/uses in PR from Dr. Corinne Weisgerber St. Edward’s University Blog.

This September I am taking part in a Charity Bike Challenge 2009 - London to Geneva over 10 days.  You can sign up to take part or if you’d like to help me while sitting back in your armchair, safe in the knowledge that I am in huge amounts of pain, you can show your support through donation.

We will be riding an average of 50 miles a day over ten days.  This act of pure madness on my part is because I’m doing it for something I believe in and I hope you will show your support through your kind donations.

A little bit about the Trust

I’ve recently become a trustee of an awesome charity based in the UK.  For over ten years Green Standards has been taking office furniture and IT equipment destined for landfill in the UK and US and turning it into schools, education and health centres around the world. We work with a range of charities and individuals and have helped build over 150 schools across the world.

Help me get there

I very rarely even get on a bike since I got knocked off one many years ago and I am not the *ahem* healthiest of individuals.  You may know that when it comes to exercise I need all the encouragement I can get and if it must take the form of your hard earned pounds and pence, then so be it!

Keeping you posted

I’ll be keeping you up to date with the challenge with regular posts, photos and videos. I’m also nominating the hashtag #L2G09 - so you can keep track of the action with hashtags.org.

So go on, sponsor an unhealthy lay-about to get on her bike
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My Twitter followers, what a beautiful bunch. Get your twitter mosaic here.

The banking system needs a compelling reason to change.  Nice post from Mark Turrell.

Image Credit: Gerard Girbes via Flickr

My box of local organic veggies from the lovely Russell in Poets Corner last week had Jerusalem artichokes in it. Abel and Cole’s recipe page came up with a great white soup.  I added apples too. Lovely.

Image credit: cafemama via flickr

Snow covers the UK and Twitter goes mad for it.

Image credit: ciaranj via Flickr