Valerie Aurora

Hi, I am Valerie Aurora, systems archictecture consultant, writer, and cat appreciator. At Bow Shock Systems, I solve difficult systems problems in networking, file systems, and operating systems. I moved permanently to Amsterdam after 20 years in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Tech stuff

fragquiz: Test your knowledge of IP fragmentation
Debugging satellites, nuclear explosions, and giant space lasers
My favorite systems debugging stories
The Kernel Hacker's Bookshelf series
Linux Weekly News articles
The "rainbow chart" of cryptographic hash function lifetimes
The ultimate physical limits of computation
My visit to the Honeywell Kitchen Computer

Advocacy

The Al Capone Theory of Sexual Harassment
No more rock stars: how to stop abuse in tech communities
Rebooting the Ada Lovelace Mythos
HOWTO therapy: what psychotherapy is, how to find a therapist, and when to fire your therapist

Selected press

Ada Lovelace in the New Yorker, 2013
Google adopts ally skills training in USA Today, 2015
Why men should fight sexism in The Guardian, 2016
Discrimination against women in tech in the New Yorker, 2017
Implementing the Paradox of Tolerance in tech in Boing Boing, 2018
Linux kernel culture in the New Yorker, 2018

Contact info

Email: val at valerieaurora dot org

Mastodon/Fediverse: @vaurora@mstdn.social

Matrix: @val:v.st

LinkedIn