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My children’s book on technology raised 100k within 24 hours – here’s how

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Re: My children’s book on technology raised 100k within 24 hours – here’s how

#81

Post by mustardhamsters »

0xdeadbeefbabe wrote: post #58

Harold and the purple crayon is a great book that introduces programming concepts, but it doesn't beat you over the head with any computer lingo. This book is a neat idea and the illustrations look cool, but here is one concern: Why name the main character Ruby? Good kids books are timeless and ruby the programming language is not, and it dates the book too. Why associate any programming language in particular with p…

I'd never thought of Harold and the Purple Crayon as related to programming. How is that? In perhaps the broadest sense the crayon gives him the power and freedom to create in the same way software might, but that's a pretty big leap.

Re: My children’s book on technology raised 100k within 24 hours – here’s how

#82

Post by pirateking »

nonrecursive wrote: post #5
nonrecursive wrote: post #4

This is really inspiring! I had no idea that Linda co-founded Rails Girls, and for some reason I had formed the impression that she was an illustrator before becoming a programmer. I didn't know that she had learned to draw so that she could create the book. This advice is golden, and it's pretty cool to see such joy, enthusiasm, and generosity rewarded.

Makes me think that maybe I could write the code equivalent of "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" using Java

This sounds like an AMAZING idea for a Security book.

Re: My children’s book on technology raised 100k within 24 hours – here’s how

#83

Post by pirateking »

0xdeadbeefbabe wrote: post #58

Harold and the purple crayon is a great book that introduces programming concepts, but it doesn't beat you over the head with any computer lingo. This book is a neat idea and the illustrations look cool, but here is one concern: Why name the main character Ruby? Good kids books are timeless and ruby the programming language is not, and it dates the book too. Why associate any programming language in particular with p…

Harold and the Purple Crayon is the first book I ever read in my life. Now I draw, paint, and program - and when I do these activities, it is all literally an attempt to harness the power Harold showed me as a child.

Re: My children’s book on technology raised 100k within 24 hours – here’s how

#84

Post by 0xdeadbeefbabe »

mustardhamsters wrote: post #81
0xdeadbeefbabe wrote: post #58

Harold and the purple crayon is a great book that introduces programming concepts, but it doesn't beat you over the head with any computer lingo. This book is a neat idea and the illustrations look cool, but here is one concern: Why name the main character Ruby? Good kids books are timeless and ruby the programming language is not, and it dates the book too. Why associate any programming language in particular with p…

I'd never thought of Harold and the Purple Crayon as related to programming. How is that? In perhaps the broadest sense the crayon gives him the power and freedom to create in the same way software might, but that's a pretty big leap.

Okay, I hope this convinces you it's a leap instead of a pretty big leap:

He lives in a seemingly boring world, but it isn't boring after all. It may not even be a world after all. He invents solutions using the contrived rules i.e. using a purple crayon. Some of the solutions become problems. For example the dragon scares him and makes his hand shake, so he falls into the water, but he comes up thinking fast and makes a sailboat.

Both these lines remind me of computers or programming:

Nine identical pieces of pie that Harold likes best.

A forest with just one tree in it.

Also word play is important in programming and in HATPK.

Lots of things are more like programming than things obviously designated that way such as programming languages. In Hoare's communicating sequential processes he goes on and on about vending machines for example.

Re: My children’s book on technology raised 100k within 24 hours – here’s how

#85

Post by hashberry »

goldenkey wrote: post #18

I'm pretty sure the only reason this is getting so much funding is because the majority of computer science folk are horny men who are glossing over the dreamhouse attire / makeup / presentation put on in the video. "Hi I'm little Ruby and I wear polka-dots and pink lipstick, let me be your fantasy" That said, I did fund it, because I'm a horny coder and Linda is very sexy.

The presentation and video was amazing. I immediately fell in love with her. She smiles non-stop. She jumps around with giddy excitement in a cute little dress. She's the perfect manic pixie dream girl trope. I want her to have all my babies.

Re: My children’s book on technology raised 100k within 24 hours – here’s how

#86

Post by steveklabnik »

tomp wrote: post #24
pwthornton wrote: post #14

I backed the project, and think it will make a great gift for my nephew. It's something he can grow into, where he can read the book part with his parents right now, and then start doing the problems as he gets older. I think this project did well for a few key reasons: 1) STEM, STEM, STEM and code, code, code. The timing is right. Look at all the coverage this got in big mainstream media publications. Here is a proj…

How about 4) Linda is a co-founder of Rails Girls. ? Free publicity always helps. I'm not sure how Rails Girls is popular in the US, but considering we have it in Slovenia, I'd say it's pretty successful.

Rails Girls is pretty damn popular here too, though not _quite_ as much as Europe, it seems.

It's pretty wonderful.

Re: My children’s book on technology raised 100k within 24 hours – here’s how

#87

Post by acdha »

nivla wrote: post #62
goldenkey wrote: post #18

I'm pretty sure the only reason this is getting so much funding is because the majority of computer science folk are horny men who are glossing over the dreamhouse attire / makeup / presentation put on in the video. "Hi I'm little Ruby and I wear polka-dots and pink lipstick, let me be your fantasy" That said, I did fund it, because I'm a horny coder and Linda is very sexy.

Although you have a point, it does lie within the mix of others. There are horny men in every sector/industry but yes it is much noticeable in the IT and gaming sector. However this has a lot to do with the social settings, stereotypes and minority/majority issue. I remember once setting up an Xbox account for my gf and making her play a round of some game (she is not into gaming). I was amazed at how many friend req…

> Not even once did they show an actual kid in the whole video, let alone trying to get them to learn from it.

Many parents are extremely hesitant to put pictures of their children online. If you're concerned, ask about it – a testimonial, note, etc. might be more within her comfort zone.

Re: My children’s book on technology raised 100k within 24 hours – here’s how

#88

Post by acdha »

thearn4 wrote: post #78
lifeisstillgood wrote: post #66

It took me a while to work this out - but I think its a great and brave choice. Yes, totally agree software is "literacy 2.0". And yes, of course, we need pre-school books on software. I had weird books teaching me BASIC without putting it into context - and context not ability has been where I have missed opportunities or regreted actions. So I applaud Linda for her insights, hope her world view is one I want my dau…

To be honest, I'd focus less on it being about learning how to code, and more about deductive problem solving skills and numeracy in general. If you have a pretty good foundation there, picking up a particular programming language isn't problematic. I think most people who stumble in basic programming have trouble because of a more fundamental deficiency than "I never learned to code in grade school".

Thank you for posting this – I was thinking the exact same thing. The real, huge win for kids is thinking about how to decompose a problem into easier, repeatable steps and that's of benefit in many fields even if you never write a line of code.

Re: My children’s book on technology raised 100k within 24 hours – here’s how

#89

Post by pyoung »

jonesetc wrote: post #7

> Start a blog where you share progress on your project. This will hold you accountable and let people know what you’re working on. For a long time I wrote off the idea of having a blog because it seemed vain. I don't usually have any great ideas that anyone else needs to know about, and my trials of learning new things are just the same as everyone else's. However, over the past few months I've realized that I was d…

I had similar sentiments about the vanity of blogging. But I also like to write, and found that posting something publicly forces me to take the task seriously and actually attempt to do a good job and/or follow through. I reconcile with my concerns of vanity by doing nothing to promote the blog. From what I can tell, I have yet to attract a single reader, other than spam bots. The added bonus to not having any readers, is that I don't have to worry if the topics I write about are interesting or original.

I consider the blog to be good writing practice, and if/when the time comes where a job I am pursuing requires some extensive writing experience, at the very least I will have a small body of work to show off.

Re: My children’s book on technology raised 100k within 24 hours – here’s how

#90

Post by balls187 »

nonrecursive wrote: post #5
nonrecursive wrote: post #4

This is really inspiring! I had no idea that Linda co-founded Rails Girls, and for some reason I had formed the impression that she was an illustrator before becoming a programmer. I didn't know that she had learned to draw so that she could create the book. This advice is golden, and it's pretty cool to see such joy, enthusiasm, and generosity rewarded.

Makes me think that maybe I could write the code equivalent of "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" using Java

Makes me chuckle thinking of Bill Gates reading Code Complete as a bedtime story.
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