Notes on life, art, photography and technology, by a Danish dropout bohemian.
When you drink the water, remember the river.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
The pink geek
David points out Barbie's 125th profession (by vote): computer engineer! Though she does have glasses, her femininity is kept sternly in place by her pink laptop! :-)
I don't think I've met a computer engineer like her. Indeed I thought most female software engineers were Indian, and most of the female QA engineers I've met have been Vietnamese. The "white" female engineers all fall into the matronly category. As for chip design, I don't remember any gals there at all in back end or logic design, several Indian girls in verification, one Asian (I think Chinese) FAE and that's about it.
Maybe in a different time and place... I have a very Californian bias of experience.
The term used was "computer engineer". There are a whole bunch of engineering disciplines in the computer industry, and I agree a lowly programmer is not an engineer.
A programmer will take a low level specification, and implement code, typically in a high level language (C, C++, Cobol, Python, JAVA etc). It takes someone with linguistic proficiency, but not necessarily great problem solving skills or out of the box thinking.
A software engineer will be involved in a broader aspect, taking a higher level spec, taking into consideration hardware limitations.
The spec's will come from the architect, systems analyst or some other higher up the food chain.
If software engineers get to close to hardware, that is the hardware becomes key to their role (wiggling wires instead of pushing packets) then they can get tagged as an embedded or driver engineer.
If your code gets stuck into (semi)permanent memory (gates in an ASIC, ROM, PROM, EEPROM etc) you become firmware rather than software. I believe also if you write for an FPGA though you use a hardware language, you are still a firmware engineer.
I've noticed in the UK IT seems to embrace everyone in the software and firmware world along with customer support. In the US IT seems to be more for network support staff rather than those who create the system components.
Long answer to a short question. There are many debates out there.
Personally I'm toying with the idea of branding myself as a nexialist instead of embedded engineer.
Sh'yeah! As if. How many geek women have a stretched body for which any fashion model would sell her soul AGAIN, or have the time for putting on such make-up?
Alex, Indeed you are biased, if all you know are Californian computer engineers! ;-) Does Barbie look like a typical Californian yuppie to you, hunh? That eez right, Sahib, I deed not theenk so.
"Barbie's 125th profession..." I wonder what the first and oldest one is?... ;-p
"Do you have to work with hardware to be an engineer?" I think there is such a position as "software engineer", no? Ah, "Barbie expert" Alex confirms! (Uhm... does your wife know you've moved on to harder stuff than Lego?)
"Personally I'm toying with the idea of branding myself as a nexialist instead of embedded engineer." ANOTHER toy??? Alex, this is getting out of control, man! You need help.
BTW, is a Nexialist the same as an "expert in Nodes and Networks"? You know, "Nexus"? I think my brother is studying these...
"Funny, I looked up "nexialist", and it said: "Did you mean Sexualist?"?" No, no. I'm POSITIVE my brother isn't studying Sexualogy!
You sound like a garbage man trying to justify his title of "sanitation engineer." Yes, the two are VERY different things, as anybody knows!
"Bullshit on that." Nope, that would actually be a "fertilizing engineer's" job. Or, as we say in tech talk, a Manurologist. (Not to be mistaken with a MALE Urologist!)
That doesn't sound too much like "a Networks and Nodes specialist". The definition feels slightly broader than that... ;-)
Speaking of toys fans, I'm right now building a construction brick Snoopy & Woodstock. Got them on sale, very cheap. Man, there's a lot of 4x2 bricks in there! Taking a break, because my thumbs are getting sore from all that pressing.
I also found a Power Rangers set for my lil' nephew, he's been dreaming of one. But... the Pink Ranger, which is supposed to be a girl, is just as muscular and manly as the others! Which makes me think they're probably Chinese knock-offs. Just a hunch... ;-)
I preferred not to bring his little sister one of the odd Barbie dolls that were displayed right next to it... I'm not sure "Trucker Mechanic Barbie" and "East German Bodybuilder Barbie" are on the official job list. ;-)
More seriously, there were a couple of similar-type dolls on sale, right next to Pink Ranger On Steroids. They looked very much like Mattel's, but they were Fulla's. "The islamic Barbie." Wasn't wearing the abaya/burqa. How come? Well, the box explained: "Indoor fashion." Outdoors, it's abayas for all models. Including the traveling Fulla, pushing her luggage cart, with walking motion. I'm assuming she also carries her husband's suitcases in there, and trots five paces behind him...
I'll blog about Fulla some day. After I'm done explaining to the kids why Pink Ranger has such a deep voice... "Uncle Pascal? What's a horrormone?"
12 comments:
I don't think I've met a computer engineer like her. Indeed I thought most female software engineers were Indian, and most of the female QA engineers I've met have been Vietnamese. The "white" female engineers all fall into the matronly category. As for chip design, I don't remember any gals there at all in back end or logic design, several Indian girls in verification, one Asian (I think Chinese) FAE and that's about it.
Maybe in a different time and place... I have a very Californian bias of experience.
Eolake wrote...
"...125th profession..."
LOL!! :-D
Computer programmer. They are not engineers.
The term used was "computer engineer". There are a whole bunch of engineering disciplines in the computer industry, and I agree a lowly programmer is not an engineer.
Dilbert is always called an engineer, but from what I see, he is a programmer.
Do you have to work with hardware to be an engineer? If not, if it's just software, what's the difference between a programmer and an engineer?
A programmer will take a low level specification, and implement code, typically in a high level language (C, C++, Cobol, Python, JAVA etc). It takes someone with linguistic proficiency, but not necessarily great problem solving skills or out of the box thinking.
A software engineer will be involved in a broader aspect, taking a higher level spec, taking into consideration hardware limitations.
The spec's will come from the architect, systems analyst or some other higher up the food chain.
If software engineers get to close to hardware, that is the hardware becomes key to their role (wiggling wires instead of pushing packets) then they can get tagged as an embedded or driver engineer.
If your code gets stuck into (semi)permanent memory (gates in an ASIC, ROM, PROM, EEPROM etc) you become firmware rather than software. I believe also if you write for an FPGA though you use a hardware language, you are still a firmware engineer.
I've noticed in the UK IT seems to embrace everyone in the software and firmware world along with customer support. In the US IT seems to be more for network support staff rather than those who create the system components.
Long answer to a short question. There are many debates out there.
Personally I'm toying with the idea of branding myself as a nexialist instead of embedded engineer.
Funny, I looked up "nexialist", and it said: "Did you mean Sexualist?"?
... Which is not as exciting as it sounds, it means:
"Sex"u*al*ist\, n. (Bot.) One who classifies plants by the sexual method of Linn[ae]us."
Nice try. You sound like a garbage man trying to justify his title of "sanitation engineer." Bullshit on that.
Sh'yeah! As if. How many geek women have a stretched body for which any fashion model would sell her soul AGAIN, or have the time for putting on such make-up?
Alex,
Indeed you are biased, if all you know are Californian computer engineers! ;-)
Does Barbie look like a typical Californian yuppie to you, hunh?
That eez right, Sahib, I deed not theenk so.
"Barbie's 125th profession..."
I wonder what the first and oldest one is?... ;-p
"Do you have to work with hardware to be an engineer?"
I think there is such a position as "software engineer", no? Ah, "Barbie expert" Alex confirms!
(Uhm... does your wife know you've moved on to harder stuff than Lego?)
"Personally I'm toying with the idea of branding myself as a nexialist instead of embedded engineer."
ANOTHER toy??? Alex, this is getting out of control, man! You need help.
BTW, is a Nexialist the same as an "expert in Nodes and Networks"? You know, "Nexus"? I think my brother is studying these...
"Funny, I looked up "nexialist", and it said: "Did you mean Sexualist?"?"
No, no. I'm POSITIVE my brother isn't studying Sexualogy!
You sound like a garbage man trying to justify his title of "sanitation engineer."
Yes, the two are VERY different things, as anybody knows!
"Bullshit on that."
Nope, that would actually be a "fertilizing engineer's" job. Or, as we say in tech talk, a Manurologist. (Not to be mistaken with a MALE Urologist!)
http://kangarookoncepts.tripod.com/Nexialist.htm
And didn't EO post about Photographer Barbie a year or so back. I didn't know he was such a fan of Mattel
That doesn't sound too much like "a Networks and Nodes specialist". The definition feels slightly broader than that... ;-)
Speaking of toys fans, I'm right now building a construction brick Snoopy & Woodstock. Got them on sale, very cheap. Man, there's a lot of 4x2 bricks in there!
Taking a break, because my thumbs are getting sore from all that pressing.
I also found a Power Rangers set for my lil' nephew, he's been dreaming of one. But... the Pink Ranger, which is supposed to be a girl, is just as muscular and manly as the others!
Which makes me think they're probably Chinese knock-offs. Just a hunch... ;-)
I preferred not to bring his little sister one of the odd Barbie dolls that were displayed right next to it... I'm not sure "Trucker Mechanic Barbie" and "East German Bodybuilder Barbie" are on the official job list. ;-)
More seriously, there were a couple of similar-type dolls on sale, right next to Pink Ranger On Steroids. They looked very much like Mattel's, but they were Fulla's. "The islamic Barbie." Wasn't wearing the abaya/burqa. How come? Well, the box explained: "Indoor fashion." Outdoors, it's abayas for all models. Including the traveling Fulla, pushing her luggage cart, with walking motion. I'm assuming she also carries her husband's suitcases in there, and trots five paces behind him...
I'll blog about Fulla some day. After I'm done explaining to the kids why Pink Ranger has such a deep voice...
"Uncle Pascal? What's a horrormone?"
Post a Comment