What is Middle-Skill Computing Work?

Middle-skill computing work is an emerging theme in my research to describe the kinds of work and jobs in computing that are not always considered "computing jobs". Doing this work doesn't require theoretical CS knowledge, and the jobs tend to be in $40-100k USD salary range. I t … | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 13 days ago

Updates and Think-Alouds: Aug. 16 ’22 – Aug. 19 ’23

A whole year of notes from the, um, "Updates" page on my website, where I haphazardly write as I feel inspired to do so. This update includes notes about language learning, research updates, and think-alouds as I figure out academia. The post Updates and Think-Alouds: Aug. 16 ’22 … | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 8 months ago

From Data Work to Data Science: Getting Past the Gatekeepers (ICER 2023)

This post outlines my lightning talk and poster for the 2023 International Computing Education Research conference. It's a nice update regarding where my research is headed and what I'm working on lately. The post From Data Work to Data Science: Getting Past the Gatekeepers (ICER … | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 8 months ago

Cultural Gatekeeping in Computing and Broadening Pathways to Computing Careers

In my research into broadening pathways to computing careers, I've been exploring how "cultural gatekeeping in computing" perpetuates stereotypes about computing, making non-traditional pathways harder to follow. The post Cultural Gatekeeping in Computing and Broadening Pathways … | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 10 months ago

Feeling “the feels”, from last Friday monster

The post Feeling “the feels”, from last Friday monster appeared first on Lara Schenck. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 1 year ago

Late Friday Foofa-like Monster

The post Late Friday Foofa-like Monster appeared first on Lara Schenck. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 1 year ago

The surprising trick to boosting your productivity that no one talks about

Sharing a small anecdote that helped me, it might help you, too. The post The surprising trick to boosting your productivity that no one talks about appeared first on Lara Schenck. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 1 year ago

Friday monster, third in a row, can you believe it?

Gosh, what a week! The post Friday monster, third in a row, can you believe it? appeared first on Lara Schenck. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 1 year ago

Friday monster, drawn last Thursday, with small legs

I drew this monster last Thursday. I tried to think of a body shape I haven't drawn before, and I think the legs are unique. The post Friday monster, drawn last Thursday, with small legs appeared first on Lara Schenck. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 1 year ago

Friday monster, drawn on Thursday, with pretzel nose

I drew this monster last night on the iPad while listening to music. Don't the eyes look 🥹. The post Friday monster, drawn on Thursday, with pretzel nose appeared first on Lara Schenck. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 1 year ago

A relatively informal talk about my research direction so far

A working title…Broadening Participation in Computing Through Broadening Computing: Adults Learning Computer Science Through Computational Work The post A relatively informal talk about my research direction so far appeared first on Lara Schenck. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 1 year ago

Email template for requesting an informational interview from someone you never met

Informational interviews are super important when you are new to an industry. This is an email template I used when I "cold" emailed many people for informational interviews. The post Email template for requesting an informational interview from someone you never met appeared fir … | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 1 year ago

Post-growth and newsflash about sleep #7 (2)

2 things I learned this week The post Post-growth and newsflash about sleep #7 (2) appeared first on Lara Schenck. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 1 year ago

Maybe this series is a zine #6 (3-1)

3 projects I am working on now, 1 thing that might be a failure The post Maybe this series is a zine #6 (3-1) appeared first on Lara Schenck. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 1 year ago

Weekly Wanderings #5 (5)

5 alternative names for this series The post Weekly Wanderings #5 (5) appeared first on Lara Schenck. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 1 year ago

Monster inspired by Little Island

This monster is a Saturday monster and it’s supports resemble those of Little Island. The post Monster inspired by Little Island appeared first on Lara Schenck. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 1 year ago

Weekly Wanderings #4 (1-1-3)

1 thing that has been hard, 1 insight/connection to my past, 3 things I been using for pro-active time tracking The post Weekly Wanderings #4 (1-1-3) appeared first on Lara Schenck. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 1 year ago

Little Listicles #3 (1-1)

1 major thing I learned, 1 insight/early idea The post Little Listicles #3 (1-1) appeared first on Lara Schenck. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 1 year ago

Little Listicles #2 (1)

1 evolving “irk” The post Little Listicles #2 (1) appeared first on Lara Schenck. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 1 year ago

Updates and Think-Alouds: June 14 – August 16, 2022

We moved to Atlanta! Also, updates on productivity systems, starting on research, Canada, and meditation. The post Updates and Think-Alouds: June 14 – August 16, 2022 appeared first on Lara Schenck. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 1 year ago

Little Listicles #1 (2-5-1)

2 research papers I enjoyed reading in the past month, 5 titles in my post drafts that contain quotations, 1 thing I am looking forward to The post Little Listicles #1 (2-5-1) appeared first on Lara Schenck. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 1 year ago

Aloo Sadeko (Nepali Potato Salad) Recipe

My mother in law's recipe for aloo sadeko, a flavorful and spicy Nepali potato salad! Excellent for all occasions and easy to make. The post Aloo Sadeko (Nepali Potato Salad) Recipe appeared first on Lara Schenck. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 1 year ago

The plan for notlaura.com v5

notlaura.com will be getting a gradual reworking over the next few months because I've got big plans for it. The post The plan for notlaura.com v5 appeared first on Lara Schenck. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 1 year ago

Updates: April 21 – June 10, 2022

Cultish personal knowledge management, gardening and not gardening, narrow design system hindsight, and more. The post Updates: April 21 – June 10, 2022 appeared first on Lara Schenck. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 1 year ago

Updates: February 16 – April 19, 2022

I am officially starting a PhD program this fall!!! Reading and writing Nepali, spring is sort of here, reading and listening to Brené Brown The post Updates: February 16 – April 19, 2022 appeared first on Lara Schenck. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 2 years ago

What I read when I think about using Twitter again

This is an imperfect and very personal blog post about a specific moment in 2019. The post What I read when I think about using Twitter again appeared first on Lara Schenck. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 2 years ago

How to write and run a shell script

The blog post I wish I'd found about writing and running shell scripts. The post How to write and run a shell script appeared first on Lara Schenck. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 2 years ago

Daemons and Evi Nemeth

I learned about daemons in a mindfulness course, and recognized the term from computing. This led me to learn about the matriarch of system administration, Evi Nemeth. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 2 years ago

This month, prepare for a few blog posts “from the past”

Blog posts "from the past"? Yes, this month I will publish posts written months and years ago. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 2 years ago

Updates: January 4 – February 16, 2022

An active month of updates – many content shares, Florida, and half-baked thoughts. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 2 years ago

What is a snapshot test?

An attempt at a concise, relatively plain-language explanation of the concept of a snapshot test, including an "in the wild" example. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 2 years ago

2021 highlights, lowlights, pictures, and music

A bulleted list of 2021 highlights and lowlights, but mostly highlights, and a few photos, mostly of plants and food, and some music. 2021 was a year of change and offline activities! | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 2 years ago

Updates: November 6 – January 4, 2022

Final chili harvest, PhD applications...complete!, learning Nepali, sort-of learning data science, and racial justice-related links. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 2 years ago

Family Monster

This family monster is a classic. Especially in these cold temperatures, the apparent warmth and comfort of the baby monsters is enviable. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 2 years ago

An explainer about Rust, Web Assembly, the future, and a concern

What is Rust and what does it have to do with the future of the web? I've noticed some buzz about Rust lately and wanted to write this explainer post to share my distillation of the topic. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 2 years ago

Updates: August 23 – November 4, 2021

Peppers, Mexico City, applications, "my interests", Rise Up conference, miscellaneous other updates and links! | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 2 years ago

Updates: June 16 – August 12, 2021

It's only going to be 95F today. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 2 years ago

Updates: April 6 – June 16, 2021

Cauliflower, category theory, FizzBuzz in CSS, and more! | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 2 years ago

Gutenberg Snippet: Retrieve taxonomy terms with compose, withSelect, and getEntityRecords

A snippet that I need to remember. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 2 years ago

Race Critical Code Studies reading list from Ruha Benjamin

A reading list on critical race theory and technology that professor Ruha Benjamin recommended in an author talk. This post is a large collection of links and specific quote from the talk. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 2 years ago

Trigger Gutenberg editor notices via the console

A snippet to drop in the console that will trigger a notice in the WordPress editor (i.e. Gutenberg). | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 2 years ago

Graph traversal monsters

Monsters representing breadth first search, depth first search, and a stack data structure. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 3 years ago

The Beauty of FizzBuzz in CSS

In this CSS implementation of FizzBuzz, we can generate beautiful patterns with math! | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 3 years ago

As of April 3, 2021

Fraction iterations in CSS, FizzBuzz monsters, books, more math, gardening, and knee problems again. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 3 years ago

Icebergs and teaching/learning programming

Inspired by some critical knowledge about icebergs, I came across a "baby idea" for how we could teach and learn programming and programming languages. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 3 years ago

Today I am 100000 years old!

Each year, I re-learn the binary number system on my birthday. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 3 years ago

As of February 26, 2021

Thoughts about math and me, systems and software, Twitter and thought leadership. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 3 years ago

Graph Theory Monsters, Bipartite Graph

Bipartite graphs as monsters: We who are different are connected. | Continue reading


@notlaura.com | 3 years ago