Tracy Chou is a 31-year-old programmer — and “an absolute rock star,” as her former boss Ben Silbermann, the CEO and co-founder of Pinterest, once said. Yet for all her street cred, Chou still finds herself grappling with one of the biggest problems in the industry: Female programmers are regarded skeptically, and sometimes even treated with flat-out hostility. She’s seen the same pattern of behavior personally during her decade in coding: colleagues who muse openly about whether women are biologically less wired to be great programmers.

There’s a deep irony here — because women were in computing from its earliest days. Indeed, they were considered essential back when “computers” were not even yet machines. Just before the digital age emerged, computers were humans. And for a time, a large portion of them were women.

Soon, the human computers faced an even more existential threat: digital computers, which promised to work with far greater speed and to handle complex math.

Women, though, were among the original coders of these strange new digital brains, because in the early days programming was seen as dull work. The earliest programmers for the Eniac — the military-funded first programmable general-purpose computer — were entirely women. And though they wound up inventing brilliant coding techniques, they received none of the glory: When the Army showed off the Eniac to the press, it did not introduce the women who had written the code.

Internet: <smithsonianmag.com>(adapted).

Tracy Chou is a 31-year-old programmer — and “an absolute rock star,” as her former boss Ben Silbermann, the CEO and co-founder of Pinterest, once said. Yet for all her street cred, Chou still finds herself grappling with one of the biggest problems in the industry: Female programmers are regarded skeptically, and sometimes even treated with flat-out hostility. She’s seen the same pattern of behavior personally during her decade in coding: colleagues who muse openly about whether women are biologically less wired to be great programmers.

There’s a deep irony here — because women were in computing from its earliest days. Indeed, they were considered essential back when “computers” were not even yet machines. Just before the digital age emerged, computers were humans. And for a time, a large portion of them were women.

Soon, the human computers faced an even more existential threat: digital computers, which promised to work with far greater speed and to handle complex math.

Women, though, were among the original coders of these strange new digital brains, because in the early days programming was seen as dull work. The earliest programmers for the Eniac — the military-funded first programmable general-purpose computer — were entirely women. And though they wound up inventing brilliant coding techniques, they received none of the glory: When the Army showed off the Eniac to the press, it did not introduce the women who had written the code.

Internet: <smithsonianmag.com>(adapted).

Tracy Chou is a 31-year-old programmer — and “an absolute rock star,” as her former boss Ben Silbermann, the CEO and co-founder of Pinterest, once said. Yet for all her street cred, Chou still finds herself grappling with one of the biggest problems in the industry: Female programmers are regarded skeptically, and sometimes even treated with flat-out hostility. She’s seen the same pattern of behavior personally during her decade in coding: colleagues who muse openly about whether women are biologically less wired to be great programmers.

There’s a deep irony here — because women were in computing from its earliest days. Indeed, they were considered essential back when “computers” were not even yet machines. Just before the digital age emerged, computers were humans. And for a time, a large portion of them were women.

Soon, the human computers faced an even more existential threat: digital computers, which promised to work with far greater speed and to handle complex math.

Women, though, were among the original coders of these strange new digital brains, because in the early days programming was seen as dull work. The earliest programmers for the Eniac — the military-funded first programmable general-purpose computer — were entirely women. And though they wound up inventing brilliant coding techniques, they received none of the glory: When the Army showed off the Eniac to the press, it did not introduce the women who had written the code.

Internet: <smithsonianmag.com>(adapted).

Tracy Chou is a 31-year-old programmer — and “an absolute rock star,” as her former boss Ben Silbermann, the CEO and co-founder of Pinterest, once said. Yet for all her street cred, Chou still finds herself grappling with one of the biggest problems in the industry: Female programmers are regarded skeptically, and sometimes even treated with flat-out hostility. She’s seen the same pattern of behavior personally during her decade in coding: colleagues who muse openly about whether women are biologically less wired to be great programmers.

There’s a deep irony here — because women were in computing from its earliest days. Indeed, they were considered essential back when “computers” were not even yet machines. Just before the digital age emerged, computers were humans. And for a time, a large portion of them were women.

Soon, the human computers faced an even more existential threat: digital computers, which promised to work with far greater speed and to handle complex math.

Women, though, were among the original coders of these strange new digital brains, because in the early days programming was seen as dull work. The earliest programmers for the Eniac — the military-funded first programmable general-purpose computer — were entirely women. And though they wound up inventing brilliant coding techniques, they received none of the glory: When the Army showed off the Eniac to the press, it did not introduce the women who had written the code.

Internet: <smithsonianmag.com>(adapted).

Tracy Chou is a 31-year-old programmer — and “an absolute rock star,” as her former boss Ben Silbermann, the CEO and co-founder of Pinterest, once said. Yet for all her street cred, Chou still finds herself grappling with one of the biggest problems in the industry: Female programmers are regarded skeptically, and sometimes even treated with flat-out hostility. She’s seen the same pattern of behavior personally during her decade in coding: colleagues who muse openly about whether women are biologically less wired to be great programmers.

There’s a deep irony here — because women were in computing from its earliest days. Indeed, they were considered essential back when “computers” were not even yet machines. Just before the digital age emerged, computers were humans. And for a time, a large portion of them were women.

Soon, the human computers faced an even more existential threat: digital computers, which promised to work with far greater speed and to handle complex math.

Women, though, were among the original coders of these strange new digital brains, because in the early days programming was seen as dull work. The earliest programmers for the Eniac — the military-funded first programmable general-purpose computer — were entirely women. And though they wound up inventing brilliant coding techniques, they received none of the glory: When the Army showed off the Eniac to the press, it did not introduce the women who had written the code.

Internet: <smithsonianmag.com>(adapted).

Data art is a form of digital art that uses data as a medium or source material to create visually appealing and meaningful representations. It often involves the use of algorithms, software, and technology to turn data into something that can be seen, such as a graph, chart, or animation. The goal is to convey emotions to the audience by sharing insights, patterns, or stories hidden within the data in an accessible and creative way. Data artist Kirell Benzi adds that, because it is based on data, the piece has a more objective truth behind its construction and does not solely come from the artist’s imagination.

Still emerging, Data Art has nonetheless existed for decades. What stands it apart, from the other digital art categories, is the complex interaction between material, process, and expression.

The artist Aaron Koblin once argued that “data can make us more human”. As part of a project to put this forward, he made Flight Patterns. The summary purpose explains it all: Interpreting a series of flight data and, once processed, a wide range of human behaviors appears. It is how we all flow through technology.

Internet: <agoradigital.art>(adapted).

Data art is a form of digital art that uses data as a medium or source material to create visually appealing and meaningful representations. It often involves the use of algorithms, software, and technology to turn data into something that can be seen, such as a graph, chart, or animation. The goal is to convey emotions to the audience by sharing insights, patterns, or stories hidden within the data in an accessible and creative way. Data artist Kirell Benzi adds that, because it is based on data, the piece has a more objective truth behind its construction and does not solely come from the artist’s imagination.

Still emerging, Data Art has nonetheless existed for decades. What stands it apart, from the other digital art categories, is the complex interaction between material, process, and expression.

The artist Aaron Koblin once argued that “data can make us more human”. As part of a project to put this forward, he made Flight Patterns. The summary purpose explains it all: Interpreting a series of flight data and, once processed, a wide range of human behaviors appears. It is how we all flow through technology.

Internet: <agoradigital.art>(adapted).

Data art is a form of digital art that uses data as a medium or source material to create visually appealing and meaningful representations. It often involves the use of algorithms, software, and technology to turn data into something that can be seen, such as a graph, chart, or animation. The goal is to convey emotions to the audience by sharing insights, patterns, or stories hidden within the data in an accessible and creative way. Data artist Kirell Benzi adds that, because it is based on data, the piece has a more objective truth behind its construction and does not solely come from the artist’s imagination.

Still emerging, Data Art has nonetheless existed for decades. What stands it apart, from the other digital art categories, is the complex interaction between material, process, and expression.

The artist Aaron Koblin once argued that “data can make us more human”. As part of a project to put this forward, he made Flight Patterns. The summary purpose explains it all: Interpreting a series of flight data and, once processed, a wide range of human behaviors appears. It is how we all flow through technology.

Internet: <agoradigital.art>(adapted).

Data art is a form of digital art that uses data as a medium or source material to create visually appealing and meaningful representations. It often involves the use of algorithms, software, and technology to turn data into something that can be seen, such as a graph, chart, or animation. The goal is to convey emotions to the audience by sharing insights, patterns, or stories hidden within the data in an accessible and creative way. Data artist Kirell Benzi adds that, because it is based on data, the piece has a more objective truth behind its construction and does not solely come from the artist’s imagination.

Still emerging, Data Art has nonetheless existed for decades. What stands it apart, from the other digital art categories, is the complex interaction between material, process, and expression.

The artist Aaron Koblin once argued that “data can make us more human”. As part of a project to put this forward, he made Flight Patterns. The summary purpose explains it all: Interpreting a series of flight data and, once processed, a wide range of human behaviors appears. It is how we all flow through technology.

Internet: <agoradigital.art>(adapted).

Data art is a form of digital art that uses data as a medium or source material to create visually appealing and meaningful representations. It often involves the use of algorithms, software, and technology to turn data into something that can be seen, such as a graph, chart, or animation. The goal is to convey emotions to the audience by sharing insights, patterns, or stories hidden within the data in an accessible and creative way. Data artist Kirell Benzi adds that, because it is based on data, the piece has a more objective truth behind its construction and does not solely come from the artist’s imagination.

Still emerging, Data Art has nonetheless existed for decades. What stands it apart, from the other digital art categories, is the complex interaction between material, process, and expression.

The artist Aaron Koblin once argued that “data can make us more human”. As part of a project to put this forward, he made Flight Patterns. The summary purpose explains it all: Interpreting a series of flight data and, once processed, a wide range of human behaviors appears. It is how we all flow through technology.

Internet: <agoradigital.art>(adapted).