Category: XPRT Women Code-a-Thon

Women develop new perspectives for the XPRTs

on March 18, 2016

Last weekend, we had the great privilege of co-hosting the first XPRT Women Code-a-Thon with the Seattle chapter of ChickTech. We couldn’t be happier with the results!

Our goal was to bring together a group of women and invite them to develop ideas for new device workloads—workloads that we might include in future versions of MobileXPRT and WebXPRT. The 20 participants—some working individually, and others working as teams—not only met that goal, they did a great deal more.

On the coding front, the participants achieved an impressive amount of work in a very short time. Though we awarded only three prizes, everyone generated interesting and useful ideas. Our prizes went to the following people:

1st place: Viveret Steele, for a 3D-modeling workload

2nd place: Annmarie Aidoo, for a geolocation workload

3rd place: Molly Fallen and Alex Trimble, for an audio-enhancement workload

These four people went home with checks, but winning wasn’t what motivated anyone to participate. Everyone was excited about developing software and working with others. The social side of the event proved to be as meaningful as the technical. People talked, formed friendships and mentoring relationships, and discussed seeking other events like this one. Two people said the event changed their lives.

In the weeks ahead, we’ll be sharing some more information about the event. In the meantime, we’re proud to have been part of it.

Jennie Faries

Last week in the XPRTs

We published the XPRT Weekly Tech Spotlight on the Microsoft Surface 3.
We added two new CrXPRT ’15 results.
We added two new MobileXPRT ’13 results.
We added six new WebXPRT ’15 results.

Posted in BenchmarkXPRT, BenchmarkXPRT development community, ChickTech Seattle, Collaborative benchmark development, Future of performance evaluation, MobileXPRT, WebXPRT, What makes a good benchmark?, XPRT Women Code-a-Thon |

The big weekend is almost here!

By Eric Hale

on March 10, 2016

A few weeks ago, I talked about the XPRT Women Code-a-Thon. Well, all the work that we and our friends at ChickTech Seattle have done is about to pay off! On Saturday, March 12, dozens of women will go to the Sole Repair Shop in Seattle for two days of coding, good food, and networking opportunities.

The goal of each team at the code-a-thon is to create a new workload that might be included in a future version of WebXPRT or MobileXPRT. Judges will award prizes to the top three workloads: $2,500 for first place, $1,500 for second place, and $1,000 for third place. I can’t wait to see the winning workloads!

We’re very fortunate to have Kristin Toth Smith as the keynote speaker. She is an avid supporter of women in tech, current COO of Dolly, and former CEO of Code Fellows.

It should be a great time for all. If you or anyone you know can get to Seattle this weekend, registration is still open.

Eric

Last week in the XPRTs
We published the XPRT Weekly Tech Spotlight on the ASUS ZenFone 2.
We added one new BatteryXPRT ’14 result.
We added five new WebXPRT ’15 results.

Posted in ChickTech Seattle, Collaborative benchmark development, MobileXPRT 2015, WebXPRT 2015, XPRT Women Code-a-Thon |

XPRT Women Code-a-Thon: Make your voice heard and win a cash prize

By Eric Hale

on March 1, 2016

DURHAM, NC –(Marketwired – March 01, 2016) – The BenchmarkXPRT Development Community and ChickTech are co-hosting the XPRT Women Code-a-Thon on March 12-13 in Seattle. The code-a-thon encourages Seattle software programmers to create small apps, or “workloads,” that mimic actions they take on their devices every day.

The top three participants or teams will receive cash prizes of up to $2,500, and all participants’ workloads will be considered for inclusion in future versions of the BenchmarkXPRT tools, or XPRTs. Any programmer familiar with Web development or Android development is encouraged to participate.

The XPRTs are apps that empower people all over the world to test how well devices handle everyday activities. They do this by running workloads that simulate common tasks – just like the workloads code-a-thon participants will be building.

“We want the XPRTs to reflect how people actually use their technology every day,” said Jennie Faries. Faries is one of the code-a-thon’s judges and a developer at Principled Technologies, which administers the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community. “By gaining the perspectives of this group of women, we’re making the tools stronger and more realistic. And when the tools we use to measure technology get better, the technology itself gets better too.”

All participants will receive a t-shirt and locally sourced breakfast and lunch on both days of the code-a-thon. The event will include time for networking and conclude with a talk from a special keynote speaker.

Add your voice to the tools that measure today’s hottest tech. Register today at facts.pt/XPRTcodeathon2016_registration, learn more at facts.pt/XPRT codeathon2016, and get all the details at facts.pt/XPRTcodeathon2016_FAQ.

About ChickTech

ChickTech envisions a safe, inclusive, and innovative technology future that includes equal pay, participation, and treatment of women. It is dedicated to retaining women in the technology workforce and increasing the number of women and girls pursuing technology-based careers. For more information, please visit http://chicktech.org

About the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community

The BenchmarkXPRT Development Community is a forum where registered members can contribute to the process of creating and improving the XPRTs. For more information, please visit http://www.principledtechnologies.com/benchmarkxprt

About Principled Technologies, Inc.

Principled Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of technology marketing and learning & development services. It administers the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community.

Principled Technologies, Inc. is located in Durham, North Carolina, in NC’s Research Triangle Park region. For more information, please visit www.PrincipledTechnologies.com.

Company Contact
Jennie Faries
Principled Technologies, Inc.
1007 Slater Road, Suite #300
Durham, NC 27703

Posted in Benchmarking, BenchmarkXPRT, BenchmarkXPRT development community, BenchmarkXPRT Press Releases, Collaborative benchmark development, Future of performance evaluation, MobileXPRT, Performance benchmarking, Press Releases, Principled Technologies, WebXPRT, XPRT Women Code-a-Thon |

There’s a lot going on!

By Eric Hale

on February 11, 2016

We recently released TouchXPRT 2016 CP3 to the community. Testing has been going well, so we are releasing TouchXPRT 2016 to the general public on Monday. Thanks to everyone who tried out the previews!

Back in December, we told you about Nebula Wolf, a game-based workload developed by students at North Carolina State University. Now we have a new video that talks about the project and why efforts such as this one matter for the XPRTs. It’s a gorgeous video. I think it’s one of our best!

We’ve also created a page that talks about the Nebula Wolf project. And, of course, the page has links for the community members to see the game in action and check out the source code. If you’re not a member, it’s easy to join!

Our next community outreach effort will be the XPRT Women Code-a-Thon March 12-13 in Seattle. It’s a great chance to contribute to the XPRTs, hang with other coders, and maybe even win some prize money!

Later this month, Mark will be at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. If you’d like to chat with him, just let us know.

Finally, the XPRT Weekly Tech Spotlight shines on the Google Pixel C this week.

That’s a lot, and there’s more to come!

Eric

Posted in Mobile World Congress, Nebula Wolf, North Carolina State University, TouchXPRT, TouchXPRT 2016, TouchXPRT development process, TouchXPRT release cycle, XPRT Weekly Tech Spotlight, XPRT Women Code-a-Thon |

The XPRT Women Code-a-Thon

By Eric Hale

on January 28, 2016

As Justin explained last week, we’ve resolved the issue we found with the TouchXPRT CP. I’m happy to say that the testing went well and that we released CP3 this week.

It’s been only three weeks since we announced the XPRT Weekly Tech Spotlight, and we already have another big announcement! Principled Technologies has joined with ChickTech Seattle to host the first ever XPRT Women Code-a-Thon! In this two-day event, participants will compete to create the best new candidate workload for WebXPRT or MobileXPRT. The workloads can’t duplicate existing workloads, so we are looking forward to seeing the new ideas.

Judges will study all the workloads and award prizes to the top three: $2,500 for first place, $1,500 for second place, and $1,000 for third place. Anyone interested can register here.

PT and the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community are committed to promoting the advancement of women in STEM, but we also win by doing good. As with the NCSU senior project, the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community will get some fresh perspectives and some new experimental test tools. Everyone wins!

So much has happened in 2016 and January isn’t even over yet. The year is off to a great start!

Eric

Posted in Benchmark metrics, BenchmarkXPRT, BenchmarkXPRT development community, Collaborative benchmark development, Future of performance evaluation, MobileXPRT, Performance benchmarking, TouchXPRT, TouchXPRT 2016, WebXPRT, What makes a good benchmark?, XPRT Weekly Tech Spotlight, XPRT Women Code-a-Thon |

Category: XPRT Women Code-a-Thon

Women develop new perspectives for the XPRTs

The big weekend is almost here!

XPRT Women Code-a-Thon: Make your voice heard and win a cash prize

There’s a lot going on!

The XPRT Women Code-a-Thon

Check out the other XPRTs: