4 ms·

How a 17 year old girl won a hackathon

24 points by groundCode 13y ago

sp332 13y ago
Lots of discussion last time this was posted: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5634600 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5634600
Shish2k 13y ago
tl;dr: "the same way as any 25 year old guy would have done, by having a good idea and the skill necessary to implement it" Kind of depressing to think that this is "news", as if the idea of judging a programmer by their programming, and not by their gender, is a radical new idea...
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- richardlblair 13y ago
  Exactly what I was going to say. I'm not impressed that she is a girl, because I don't care. I am, however, impressed that a 17 year old won. I love when younger people have the motivation and drive to be really great at something.
ja27 13y ago
I took my 13 y/o daughter to a non-competitive Windows Phone / Windows 8 one day hackathon a few months ago, thinking she would just enjoy seeing it and maybe play with a dev environment. She wound up building and presenting a minimal Windows Phone app. Now she's got the bug and wants to do more.
axus 13y ago
Her winning hack is a great idea. Any link to the app?
racl101 13y ago
I'm much more impressed about the age than the gender. The title of the article makes it sound that by virtue of being female she overcame a handicap. Kind of silly to think like that nowadays don't you think? But good on her for being young and accomplished.
- nemo1618 13y ago
  yep, this article immediately sprung to mind http://www.attendly.com/stop-complaining-about-the-lack-of-women-in-tech/ http://www.attendly.com/stop-complaining-about-the-lack-of-w...
- kybernetyk 13y ago
  I'm impressed by neither. It's cool for her that she won but neither her gender nor her age should be really worth of mentioning (in a sensationalist manner). Just look at what 15year old kids did with the demo scene in the 90s. Not diminishing her (or anyone's) achievements but that kind of article is usually written by people who think that computers are hardcore black magic and only prodigies and people with a master in CS are able to program them.
- king_jester 13y ago
  Being a women in tech isn't a handicap, but people probably will not treat you as well and that is a difficulty.
jskonhovd 13y ago
Parenting done right.
dclowd9901 13y ago
My Big Question about women in technical fields is more about why, in general, I see so few women who are genuinely curious about the world in which they live. I have never heard a woman posit aloud how they put the graphics on the field of a football game, or how Facebook knows that they might know someone, or, fuck, how a microwave works. This young girl was simply curious and inquisitive. It wasn't about brains or interest in technology; it was about asking questions and wondering. So again I ask: why are so few women and girls inquisitive about their world?
- c0riander 13y ago
  I think that says more about the people you're hanging around with, rather than women in general. I know plenty who are genuinely curious about such things (and you can find a plethora in the news, university faculties, on message boards, etc.)
  - dclowd9901 13y ago
    I'd believe that, but the men I hang out with tend to be genuinely curious people, so the so-called "control group" shows that I should be encountering at least as many curious women as men, and yet, I don't see that. So what else?
    - c0riander 13y ago
      It could be many things other than a lack of curious women in the population at large. Not saying any of these are true, obviously, but some possibilities: You have biases (conscious or unconscious) in the "type" of woman you befriend? Social signaling or dynamics in your conversations leading to not discussing curiosity-inspiring topics with women? You are not interested in the specific areas or things they are curious about? Etc.
      - dclowd9901 13y ago
        Could be a billion things. I'm simply expressing what I've observed in my humble little life. I've worked in retail, dug ditches, journalism, design, high tech. I've lived in red state and blue, in big cities and small rural farming communities and everything in between. I've befriended every kind of person you can imagine, from Ivy league stars to GED earners to drop outs, drug addicts, executives and criminals. I'm not saying any of this necessarily gives my opinions more weight, but I like to think I've seen enough to feel I can recognize a pattern when I see it.

24 points by groundCode 13y ago

sp332 13y ago

Lots of discussion last time this was posted: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5634600 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5634600

Shish2k 13y ago

tl;dr: "the same way as any 25 year old guy would have done, by having a good idea and the skill necessary to implement it" Kind of depressing to think that this is "news", as if the idea of judging a programmer by their programming, and not by their gender, is a radical new idea...

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
richardlblair 13y ago
Exactly what I was going to say. I'm not impressed that she is a girl, because I don't care. I am, however, impressed that a 17 year old won. I love when younger people have the motivation and drive to be really great at something.

ja27 13y ago

I took my 13 y/o daughter to a non-competitive Windows Phone / Windows 8 one day hackathon a few months ago, thinking she would just enjoy seeing it and maybe play with a dev environment. She wound up building and presenting a minimal Windows Phone app. Now she's got the bug and wants to do more.

axus 13y ago

Her winning hack is a great idea. Any link to the app?

racl101 13y ago

I'm much more impressed about the age than the gender. The title of the article makes it sound that by virtue of being female she overcame a handicap. Kind of silly to think like that nowadays don't you think? But good on her for being young and accomplished.

nemo1618 13y ago
yep, this article immediately sprung to mind http://www.attendly.com/stop-complaining-about-the-lack-of-women-in-tech/ http://www.attendly.com/stop-complaining-about-the-lack-of-w...
kybernetyk 13y ago
I'm impressed by neither. It's cool for her that she won but neither her gender nor her age should be really worth of mentioning (in a sensationalist manner). Just look at what 15year old kids did with the demo scene in the 90s. Not diminishing her (or anyone's) achievements but that kind of article is usually written by people who think that computers are hardcore black magic and only prodigies and people with a master in CS are able to program them.
king_jester 13y ago
Being a women in tech isn't a handicap, but people probably will not treat you as well and that is a difficulty.

jskonhovd 13y ago

Parenting done right.

dclowd9901 13y ago

My Big Question about women in technical fields is more about why, in general, I see so few women who are genuinely curious about the world in which they live. I have never heard a woman posit aloud how they put the graphics on the field of a football game, or how Facebook knows that they might know someone, or, fuck, how a microwave works. This young girl was simply curious and inquisitive. It wasn't about brains or interest in technology; it was about asking questions and wondering. So again I ask: why are so few women and girls inquisitive about their world?

c0riander 13y ago
I think that says more about the people you're hanging around with, rather than women in general. I know plenty who are genuinely curious about such things (and you can find a plethora in the news, university faculties, on message boards, etc.)
- dclowd9901 13y ago
  I'd believe that, but the men I hang out with tend to be genuinely curious people, so the so-called "control group" shows that I should be encountering at least as many curious women as men, and yet, I don't see that. So what else?
  - c0riander 13y ago
    It could be many things other than a lack of curious women in the population at large. Not saying any of these are true, obviously, but some possibilities: You have biases (conscious or unconscious) in the "type" of woman you befriend? Social signaling or dynamics in your conversations leading to not discussing curiosity-inspiring topics with women? You are not interested in the specific areas or things they are curious about? Etc.
    - dclowd9901 13y ago
      Could be a billion things. I'm simply expressing what I've observed in my humble little life. I've worked in retail, dug ditches, journalism, design, high tech. I've lived in red state and blue, in big cities and small rural farming communities and everything in between. I've befriended every kind of person you can imagine, from Ivy league stars to GED earners to drop outs, drug addicts, executives and criminals. I'm not saying any of this necessarily gives my opinions more weight, but I like to think I've seen enough to feel I can recognize a pattern when I see it.