Come join us at the NCCE Conference in Seattle

I have been too busy to blog about it, but tomorrow I will give my first talk on the work SynapticMash is doing. It will also be our first live demo of our product offerings.

Here are the talk details...
http://www.ncce.org/2008

Friday, February 29, 2008, 8:30 am - 9:30 am, Room 620

Social Learning Networks: Moving Beyond ePortfolios
Rebecca Dias, VP for Software Development

The SynapticMash platform provides a new type of social learning network. Fusing the social collaboration of MySpace with the rich media experience of YouTube, SynapticMash makes it easy to create electronic portfolios and online classes with streaming audio, video, and flash learning applications.

Audience: Grades 3-16, Admin, IT, Library Media
Expertise: All Levels
Strand: Online Learning

Ruby Coders and UI Designers Needed

We are looking for more talent. Check it out!! We need a Guru Ruby Developer and a Lead Graphic UI and RIA designer. We are also looking for extremely talented mid-tier folks that can crunch data and get real world applications of AI...

Check out careers at SynapticMash.

You wont believe me but...

I have actually been working for the past two weeks, but it is always good to reminisce about vacation. :)

Sad news...

It is not often I run into female entrepreneurs that really gets it... very sad. Janette Symos, the founder of Imbee and Zhone passed away yesterday.

Three Amigos

Kayaking the Cubatão do Sul in Santa Catarina, Brazil (III+)

I had planned a vacation to Brzail for my 5 year anniversary at Microsoft... Then I was offered a new job at SynapticMash which resulted in me resigning.

... But I still went on my vacation ...

I am in Curitiba presently and I just made the following video kayaking the Cubatão do Sul in the state of Santa Catarina in the South of Brazil. It is a III+ river. It is the most challenging kayaking experience I have had yet!!!

I didn't know the river well; I wasn't with my normal kayaking peeps; I rented a boat that was slightly too small for me from an awesome guy; It was my first time in a creek boat in some time; and I had never run a III+ river before. Wow!!! And while it is not on video, I really did run the waterfall in the movie. I videoed Bruno and scouted the run. Then I went by myself... check it out.

Maurice rented me his boat and is the rock star with the killer tatoo. He is also the guy that I rafted with the day prior and showed me all of the lines. Bruno was my guide the day of. We ended up running the river just the two of us.

The experience was amazing and I hope to go back there next week.
I will post another video of our rafting experiences the day before. If you plan to go to Brazil or if you have been looking for an amazing trip, come to Brazil and hang with the gang at TDA.

Thank you to everyone at TDA for being so awesome.

Wow... it is amazing what time pressure can do

All positions aside from the designer have been filled. We are actually going to build an entire team of designers, so if you are out there, let me know!

I have the most amazing team and I am excited.

Job Openings at Synaptic Mash

If you are passionate about Education and live in Seattle, apply for a position at SynapticMash. We want talent!!! Email jobs@synapticmash.com.

Lead Graphic, Web, and UI Designer

• Leader who is a fan of Edward Tufte, understands the human mind, is amazing at unfolding stories
• Is passionate about social networking
• Must have worked on complex Web-sites, knows intuitive Web page layout and site navigation
• 5+yrs Illustrator and Flash
  
• 2+yrs of XHTML with CSS
• 1+yr JavaScript 1.5+
• UI experience
• Ruby on Rails exposure a plus

Junior Web Dev

• Presentation, applications, network services and protocols
• 2+yrs Ruby family, Python, Perl or Lisp family

Junior Server Devs

• Distr systems (shared storage object space, data versioning/partitioning)
• 2yr+ LISP family
• 2yr+ meta-programming lang (Scheme, OCaml, Python)
• 2yr+ C/C++
• 2yr+ *nix scripting
• Network protocols and distr systems
• Familiar with LispWorks or SBCL deployment
• Play nice w/ MacOSX and Linux desktops

Sys Admin / Production Server Farm Programming

• Server farm automation and design
• Agent authoring for monitoring server farms
• Server upgrades
• 2yr+ *nix scripting
• 2yr+ sys-admin experience with Linux
• 2yr+ Debian Linux
• 1yr+ C

Student Information System (SIS) Programmer/Analyst

• Statistical models for assessment and attendance data
• BI
• Fuzzy sets or Bayesian style weighting
• Experience with LISP family
• Will consider candidates who work primarily with statistics packages such as Mathematica, SAS, Stata, etc.

Downsides/upsides of a startup

I paid $70 in tickets and $30+ in parking this week.
I also received the smallest check I have seen since I was in highschool (or so it feels). But you know what...

I am all smiles.

I believe that this is the coolest company that has crossed my path in my career!!!

And, Allison brought us breakfast. It is my goal to turn Allison into a nerd.

We are hiring

We need User Interaction Designers, Web Graphic Designers (Javascript, XHTML, CSS), Information Architects, Server Developers (LISP, C, C++, Python), Production Server Farm Programmers/Automation Engineers, Systems Integrators for Educational Systems.

If you are interested in a kick a@# Seattle Startup... send me your resume.

Surfing the Green

So my new water love is Kayaking....

A couple of short videos of one of the best Falls of my life 2007

This one is of Allen, John, and Me Surfing the Green at around 680 cfs... The surf wave was awesome and every time the camera got on me, I could not catch it... camera is bad mojo man. But check out Allen, he doesn't even look like he is trying...




This is another day on the Skykomish river. We put in below Boulder Drop at around 2000 cfs I believe.

Rene was my fearless leader down Lunch Hole, Raja, Me in the Green Kayak, and Joyce the rock star who taught me a lot of what I know

Lunch 2.0

This is awesome. You know Lunch 2.0 could become an organic alternative to conferences.

ADD and ADHD - evolution?

CDC Report Looks at Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
According to a new report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 1.6 million elementary school-aged children have been diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In a national survey, the parents of 7 percent of children 6-11 years of age reported ever being told by a doctor or health professional that their child had ADHD.

At some point, don't you just ask the question, is this a natural phase of evolution?

What if ADD and ADHD were just natural by-products of our over-achieving, capitalistic society? Children just acclimatizing.

Once you get to a point where 7% of a population is diagnosed with anything.... don't you think you need to change your prognosis?

Ruby on Rails - Your Thoughts?

Sam Ruby... you are the first person I think of when I think of Rails and if you are contributing, I know it must be good.... But how good is it? What do you love/hate about it?

How do you setup your dev processes? That is some of the research I will be doing this week.