Rocking International Women's Day

Today, as you probably all know, we celebrate International Women's Day. What you may not know though is that you might be celebrating Alanis Morisette's Day today, as the city of Ottawa declares this day in her honor. However, Morissette refuses to accept this honor because the date is already "occupied" by the International Women's Day.

If you feel like indulging yourself in feminine matters today, I recommend a plunge into Ada Lovelace, regarded as the world's first programmer (but whose contributions remain disputed by some). Here's what she had to say on the Analytic Engine:

Again, it [the Analytical Engine] might act upon other things besides number, were objects found whose mutual fundamental relations could be expressed by those of the abstract science of operations, and which should be also susceptible of adaptations to the action of the operating notation and mechanism of the engine . . . Supposing, for instance, that the fundamental relations of pitched sounds in the science of harmony and of musical composition were susceptible of such expression and adaptations, the engine might compose elaborate and scientific pieces of music of any degree of complexity or extent.

It sounds pretty much like a modern computer doesn't it?