I was just chatting with my mom on FaceTime. It’s constantly amazing to me that I can be sitting in my office in Huntsville, Alabama, USA using my phone, while she can be sitting in her living room in Sheffield, Yorkshire, UK, using her iPad Pro, and we can see each other and talk as if we were in the same room.

It’s unfortunate that so many of our conversations revolve around whether I’ve had a shave and if I bothered to comb my hair before leaving the house and if I’m eating enough vegetables, but that’s mothers for you.

Meet my grandparents circa 1920 (Click image to see a larger version — Image source: Housman-Maxfield family archives)

I was telling my mom that I have been invited to give the keynote presentation entitled “Not Your Grandmother’s Embedded Systems” at the Qt Goes Virt: Embedded online event for embedded software architects, developers, and executives.

This auspicious occasion will take place on 18 November 2020 and it’s free to attend, so you might want to register now before all of the good virtual seats are taken.

As you are doubtless aware, the Qt Group, which is headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, is a global software development company. The folks at Qt are renowned for bringing together the trio, triad, or troika, if you will, of graphics design, user interface (UI) design, and user experience (UX) design.

Qt’s technology encompasses graphics design, UI design, and UX design (Click image to see a larger version — Image source: Qt Group)

Qt’s technology enables single software code across all operating systems, platforms and screen types, from desktops and embedded systems to business-critical applications, in-vehicle systems, wearables and mobile devices connected to the Internet of Things (IoT). The technology’s wide-ranging support includes desktop, mobile, embedded, RTOS, and bare metal, and is scalable from MPUs down to MCUs.

When I told my mother about all of this, she responded as follows: “In the winter, when I woke up in the morning as a little girl, there were icicles on the insides of the windows. Our idea of an embedded system was a hot brick wrapped in a scrap of blanket that we used in bed instead of a hot water bottle.”

It’s hard to come up with a witty response to a line like that. I tell you; the guys in Monty Python could have used my mom as an adviser for their Four Yorkshiremen sketch. Be that as it may, dare I hope to see you at the Qt Goes Virt: Embedded online event? If so, make sure to wave so I know you are there. Also, be advised that the dress code is Hawaiian shirts, which is fortunate because that’s the only type I own.