Brisbane Women in Blockchain: First meetup for me but not for most of the women there!

Quite randomly, I ran across the Brisbane Women in Blockchain meetup announcement. So I tagged along since the topic of the discussion was AI. It was an interesting discussion coming from the panel consisting of Katrina Donaghy of Civic Ledger and Tracy Kay of Axalon. I was especially intrigued by the idea that AI-powered tasks that did something, like decode images, would be harnessed to write blocks.

Right now, writing new blocks on a blockchain is mostly a “make work” function. Algorithms solve a computational puzzle, and the fastest to solve is the one given the right to add a block to the blockchain. The idea is that the “proof of work”, instead of being something a make-work task like solving a puzzle, can be something useful like analysing a medical image. At least that’s how I understood the concept.

Overall, the discussion was too high level. I was hoping for a more a more of a deep dive into the topic of AI. But the discussion was kept at a higher concept level. But I think that was more because I happen to pick a meetup that was doubling as new member recruitment and a retrospective.

Indeed, I gathered this is a close-knit meetup with a fair few women being regular attendees. Given my terrible track record for Women Who Code, I am not sure if I’ll be able to become one of the regulars. But this meetup did intrigue me and reminded me that I wanted to explore blockchain and their application more. So maybe I should spend some time developing a blockchain powered idea and get around building it!

Scanning my foot!

I don't talk a lot about projects I back on Kickstarter here. That's probably a mistake, and I should review some of the technology projects I back. Of course, my Kickstarter backer profile is much more diverse than just technology. For example, I backed Antonia Saint heels, which fall under design. However, there was a strong technological element to the project, because the shoes are supposed to be tailored to your feet, with an app being used to scan and measure your feet.

Essentially, it is a high-tech return to the days when cobblers fitted your shoe to the exact dimensions of your feet. Until I get the shoes, I won't know for sure, how good the app is but I have to admit, it was somewhat difficult to use the app. Especially the socked photo section of the app because I couldn't work out how to take the photo per the instruction. Also, they asked a few questions about my heels and ankles that I found a bit confusing to answer. But it did force me to look at my feet very closely. I never realised that my heels wore down the way they do because of the shape of my foot. I always thought I walked weird.

Overall, I am looking forward to the shoes. I just wish I could have gotten them in red instead of "nude". But you can't have everything.