Episode 74: MAT2, Diva Tech Talk, a $20k IoT Contest, Women in Tech, Our Event Thursday and More

Episode 74, and wow was this a packed one.

Lots of great topics, tons of good conversation, a whole slew of new drops to be isolated for our opening…

…but I digress.  Thanks to our guests Kinsay Mantay and Nicole Johnson for coming out to talk about a cool program that gets you paid while earning your Associate’s Degree as well as getting you a job once you’re done, a $10,000 Internet of Things contest for young girls, a new group that’s starting up that we’re looking forward to doing more with in the future, and much, much more.

So let’s get to some details…

ITintheDnewspaper01122015As we typically do, we dove into the news, stories, events and topics that caught our attention over the past week.

We ranted about the Punch Bowl Social dust-up via social media that we believe got all too ridiculous all too quickly.  We talked about our event coming up this Thursday night (the 15th! Blackfinn! Royal Oak! 5pm! Be there!) for folks in and around the metro Detroit information technology community.  We got into some of the feedback that’s been coming in and the original thoughts behind my blog entry recapping my trip to a comic book shop with my kids…and the surprise I got from my daughter while there.

407047_10151901926979152_177422471_nIn our second segment, we talked with Kinsay Mantay about the MAT2 program.

Now people…look.  We cannot make this any more clear for you.  This program:

1. Is wide open.

2. Gets you an associates degree.  That you don’t pay for.

3. Partners you up with a company that you work at while getting that degree.  That you don’t pay for.

mat2-logo4. You have a job at that company that you’re partnered up with.  While getting that degree.  That you don’t pay for.

5. So you’re earning money. From that job with that company you’re partnered up with.  While still getting that degree.  That you still don’t pay for.

6. When the program’s over, you move into a full time job.  Probably earning more money than you were earning before from that job with that company that you’re partnered up with.  While getting that degree.  That you still aren’t paying for.

Did you finish high school?  Do you want a decent job?  Would you like a degree without having to pay for it?  Would you like a more decent job after getting that degree?  CLICK HEREhttp://www.mitalent.org/mat2/

I really don’t know how much more simple than that we can make it, people.

412634_404254306266225_1941024378_oOur third segment had us chatting with our other in-studio guest, Nicole Johnson.  Nicole’s got a lot going on at the moment:

– She’s a systems engineer at Cisco.

– She’s one of the women launching Diva Tech Talk.  From CFOs of corporations to scrappy entrepreneurs, women are making a huge impact in technology today. Yet the numbers of women in tech are still small. We interview these leaders and highlight issues and trends in technology.  If other women can see IT, they can be IT.

– She’s working to get the word out about Cisco’s Internet of Things competition for girls aged 13-18 where the winner walks away with $20,000 and there are multiple other prizes ranging from $5,000 to $10,000.

In our fourth segment, we doubled back a bit on some earlier topics, dove into a few others, and then called it quits for the night with Bob vowing revenge for my musical selections during our breaks.  Which you can’t hear here in syndication, so ha ha, you missed it, you totally need to start listening live.

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The MAT2 program can be found at http://www.mitalent.org/mat2/

Diva Tech Talk can be found at http://www.divatechtalk.com/

Cisco’s Internet of Things contest can be found at http://iotchallenge-cisco.younoodle.com/

EventNewspaper_January2015bAs always, we can be found:
On the web: http://www.ITinTheD.com
On Meetup
http://www.meetup.com/ITintheD/ 
On LinkedIn: 
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/IT-in-D-Read-Meet-91763 
On Facebook: 
http://www.facebook.com/ITintheD 
On Twitter: 
http://www.twitter.com/ITintheD 
On Soundcloud: 
https://soundcloud.com/itinthed/ 

And the news and events we got to…and some we didn’t have time for:

The Punch Bowl Social debacle: http://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/dining/sylvia-rector/2015/01/08/punch-bowl-social-problems-improving-owner-says/21447647/

Super cookies make private / incognito mode completely useless: http://www.clickondetroit.com/consumer/super-cookies-track-you-even-in-privacy-mode/30611836

Novi Superintendent of schools handles some social media criticism really well: http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2015/01/09/novi-superintendent-issues-witty-response-to-critics-after-keeping-schools-open-in-cold-temperatures/

Let anyone play with DNA mashups.  That sounds like a BRIGHT idea… http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Controversial-DNA-startup-wants-to-let-customers-5992426.php

People don’t want wearable tech. They want better batteries: http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2015/01/10/376166180/forget-wearable-tech-people-really-want-better-batteries

CENTCOM’s Twitter and Youtube accounts apparently got breached: http://www.aol.com/article/2015/01/12/us-military-twitter-account-hacked-by-supposed-isis-terrorists/21128442/

CNN wants to use drones, and partners up with the FAA to do so: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/cnn-teams-up-faa-reporter-763019

TurboTax price doubles for many users, people lose their minds: http://www.networkworld.com/article/2867286/microsoft-subnet/intuit-gets-greedy-nearly-doubles-price-of-turbotax.html

Should there be a 30 day limit for reporting a data breach? http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/12/us/politics/obama-to-call-for-laws-covering-data-hacking-and-student-privacy.html

US lawmakers are pushing to permanently ban internet sales tax: http://www.itworld.com/article/2867435/us-lawmakers-push-bill-to-permanently-ban-internet-access-taxes.html

Would you rent out disk space you aren’t using on your computer? http://bitcoinist.net/storj-new-decentralized-storage-solution/

Anonymous declares war: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/30755975

Google traffic drops, Yahoo’s increases.  http://mashable.com/2015/01/08/google-search-yahoo-drop/