(BIT) Blacks In Technology

In this episode of the Blacks In Technology #BITTechTalk podcast episode #80, we’ll be speaking with Bjorn Simmons, VP of Sales and Marketing for the startup Wyzerr, a customer data analytics company.

On this episode of the Blacks In Technology #BITTechTalk podcast Greg welcomes to the show Lisa Caywood of Brocade Communication Systems to talk about SDN (Software Defined Network). We will explore what SDN is, it’s impact on the industry and what businesses and engineers need to be doing to prepare for it. Lisa Caywood is a Senior Product Marketing Manager with Brocade Communication Systems, focused on orchestration and SDN initiatives. She is known for her straightforward, jargon-free approach to explaining complex technology concepts and market dynamics to the educated layperson. Lisa also held a variety of security and data center marketing roles at Cisco between 2004-2011, with previous marketing and business development experience in the business analytics and semiconductor sectors. Lisa holds a BA from Tufts University, where she researched the role of technology transfer in the political economy of Greater China. She continues to address the organizational aspects of technology transfer and technology transitions as a key part of her market development work for disruptive technologies. Lisa blogs about networking and the tech industry at theborgqueen.wordpress.com, and can be found on Twitter as @RealLisaC. Show notes: Brocade SDN Controller – The Brocade SDN Controller includes the tools and services to quickly implement software-defined networks. Python Network for Engineers online courses: https://pynet.twb-tech.com/ http://www.ine.com/self-paced/technologies/python-network-engineers.htm SDN: Software Defined Networks – An Authoritative Review of Network Programmability Technologies by Tom Nadeau @opendaylightSDN

#BITTechTalk ep. #78 w/ Brandon Terrell

On this edition of the Blacks In Technology #BITTechTalk podcast we are joined by tech entrepreneur/startup founder/CEO of LISNR, Rodney Williams. Rodney Williams, Founder/CEO of LISNR, leads one of the hottest companies in the IoT space that intends to disrupt the mobile industry with a new communication protocol that is the most efficient way to connect any device with a speaker or microphone. Fresh out of the R/GA Accelerator powered by Techstars, and a recent Upstart 100 honoree, Williams is an innovative and out-of-the-box strategic thinker who is always looking for new ways for brands to have the greatest impact on their consumers. LISNR is a new communication standard between devices that connects any device with a speaker or microphone using high frequency “data over audio”. Called “Smart Tones”, these silent audio files can broadcast from television, live events, radio, or any standard speaker and then interact with LISNR’s coder base (SDK, API, Java, etc). Client and strategic partners include, Roc Nation, Red Bull Media House, AT&T, The Dallas Cowboys and Kao Brands. Prior to LISNR, Williams spent over 4 years at Procter & Gamble leading a number of brand management, digital, and point of entry media efforts, most noted for being the first marketer to co-write digital patents. Williams was selected for AdAge and Jet Magazine’s top 40 marketers under 40 in 2013. In 2014, LISNR received notable recognition as a Webby Honoree, TIECON Hot Startup & the Business Courier’s 2014 Marketing Innovation Award winner. Williams holds an M.B.A. from Howard University along with three additional degrees which include a Masters in Integrated Marketing Communications, a B.A. in Economics and B.B.A. in Finance.

On this episode of the Blacks In Technology #BITTechTalk podcast we are joined by LaVita Tuff, Policy Analyst for the Sunlight Foundation and we’ll be talking about Open Data and Civic Engagement through technology.

#BITTechTalk #75 w/ Tiffani Ashley Bell

#BITTechTalk ep 74 w Dr Nicki Washington

#BITTechTalk #73 w/ Dr. Damon Williams

#BITTechTalk ep. #68 w/ Sian Morson

On this episode of the Blacks In Technology #BITTechTalk podcast Greg is joined by guest Yolanda Conyers, Vice President, Worldwide Functions and Human Resources ,Chief Diversity Officer at Lenovo, Author and Speaker. Yolanda is vice president of worldwide functions HR and chief diversity officer at Lenovo, providing overall leadership to a global team of HR business partners to support Lenovo’s Executive Committee level leaders of Strategy, Legal, Ecosystem, Research and Technology, I/T and Business Transformation, Human Resources, Finance, Worldwide Services, and Marketing. Yolanda received her bachelors degree in computer science from Lamar University and an MBA in International Business from Our Lady of the Lake University. She also completed the University of Michigans Advanced Human Resource Executive Program, graduating in 2012.

On this episode of the #BITTechTalk podcast we are joined by UI/UX (User interface/User eXperience) expert, Dr. Danielle Paige Smith. Check it out as we discuss UI/UX as a career in technology and the research that goes on in the field. This is one you don’t want to miss! Dr. Smith is a Human Factors psychologist specializing in user research, marketresearch, and user experience design. Her academic research focused on risk perception, medical Human Factors, Human-Systems Integration processes, and the design of safety communications to aid in decision-making. Her systems approach to research program development helps to ensure results are both human-centered and relevant to business problems. Dr. Smith has experience in a variety of qualitative and quantitative research methods. As aHuman Factors engineer and User Experience professional, her toolkit also includes requirements management, information architecture creation, wire-framing, and prototyping. Dr. Smith has extensive industry experience focusing on complex technology development. She has led funded Human System Integration research projects for NASA’s Exploration Program. Her work has appeared in the Handbook of Warnings, Advances in Patient Safety and the publications of IEEE, Society of Human Resource Development, the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, the International Ergonomics Society, and the Journal of Biomedical Informatics. Her designs for Dell’s Data Protection client encryption and user authentication products are currently in market.

#BITTechTalk ep. 70 w/ Nnena Ukuku

#BITTechTalk ep. #69 w/ Jibril Sulaiman

Looking at server logs, or any type of logs for that matter, can be a tedious and painstaking task for any sys admin. Most often we have to remote into each individual server and then if we have to piece together time lines and logs from other servers just to get somewhat of a picture as to what happened and when. So what do we do? We usually set up a centralized log server like syslog and send all of our logs to it. At least this takes away some of the issues. No more remoting into multiple servers right? Right! But we are still left log with files being located in separate files and looking like a bunch of gobbledy gook. Getting our data out so that it makes sense can be done with a commercial product but those things can cost some serious coinage! So what do we do about that? Did someone say opensource to the rescue, and more specifically, ELK to the rescue? I think they did and I think that person is Jordan Sissel of Elasticsearch! In this year end episode of the Blacks In Technology #BITTechTalk podcast we'll be speaking with Logstash (The "L" in ELK ) creator, Jordan Sissel and talking about logging using the ELK (Elasitcsearch, Logstash, Kibana) stack. Also joining us as a guest co-host is BIT member Shawn Jackson (a.k.a. gt50). If you want to know how to make sense of your data, this is the podcast for you!

On this episode of the Blacks In Technology #BITTechTalk podcast as we discuss Dev bootcamps. What are they? Are they worth the money? These are some of the questions we’ll answer as we speak with our guest, Krista Williams, a dev bootcamp graduate, and Maurice Rabb, a dev bootcamp instructor. Krista is currently a software engineer at Zipcar. She received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pittsburgh in Linguistics in 2010. While working at a language services agency during her first two years after graduating, she began intrigued by the idea of learning to program and changing careers. After learning more about web development and starting to study coding in her spare time, she decided to pursue a career in web development and began her journey by attending an immersive bootcamp, MakerSquare, in Austin, TX during the summer of 2013. Over the past 25 years, Maurice has worked in a wide variety of programming languages, favoring pure dynamic languages such as JavaScript, Smalltalk, and Ruby. He has expertise in domain modeling, design patterns and framework development, and has the rare knack for communicating complex concepts to engineers, business people, and customers alike. As a young man, Maurice earned a BS in product design and an MS in engineering. After working corporate engineering positions at GM, Motorola, and Lockheed, Maurice returned to Chicago to start a company, Stono Technologies, LLC with his brother Christopher, developing a couple of software patents along the way. Post internet bubble, after a stint in management consult, he moved into academia. Over the past 9 years, he’s taught software engineering at the University of Illinois, at Columbia College Chicago, and now at Dev Bootcamp. Maurice is passionate about demystifying technology, and making computing more accessible to underrepresented groups. Maurice loves traveling, tinkering, playing boardgames, going on adventures with his 7-year-old daughter, and being the building super (aka Bookman) at his extended family compound.