Comments for Jay's Not Here http://www.jaysnothere.com/blog And so aren't you Mon, 06 Sep 2010 19:11:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 Comment on State of the art history by The Third Bit » Blog Archive » To Read Is To Learn http://www.jaysnothere.com/blog/?p=74#comment-761 The Third Bit » Blog Archive » To Read Is To Learn Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:59:43 +0000 http://www.jaysnothere.com/blog/?p=74#comment-761 [...] and designed a course around that idea, which is why I was excited to read Jason Montojo’s recent post, and the course outline he has put together.  Jason did several undergrad projects with me, is one [...] […] and designed a course around that idea, which is why I was excited to read Jason Montojo’s recent post, and the course outline he has put together.  Jason did several undergrad projects with me, is one […]

]]> Comment on ICSE Day 2 by Neil http://www.jaysnothere.com/blog/?p=69#comment-546 Neil Fri, 22 May 2009 18:01:58 +0000 http://www.jaysnothere.com/blog/?p=69#comment-546 Food seems to play a big part in your recollections :) Food seems to play a big part in your recollections :)

]]> Comment on Off to Vancouver by Neil http://www.jaysnothere.com/blog/?p=63#comment-528 Neil Fri, 15 May 2009 18:43:38 +0000 http://www.jaysnothere.com/blog/?p=63#comment-528 Yay for negative option billing. Yay for negative option billing.

]]> Comment on It’s About Time[1] by Jay’s Not Here » Blog Archive » //h3n n00bs pwn teh 1337 http://www.jaysnothere.com/blog/?p=57#comment-141 Jay’s Not Here » Blog Archive » //h3n n00bs pwn teh 1337 Thu, 19 Mar 2009 17:50:12 +0000 http://www.jaysnothere.com/blog/?p=57#comment-141 [...] up on my recent post about cognitive decline, I recently read about Beth Adelson’s psychological experiment[1] from 1984 in which [...] […] up on my recent post about cognitive decline, I recently read about Beth Adelson’s psychological experiment[1] from 1984 in which […]

]]> Comment on Learning about learning by jrrmzz http://www.jaysnothere.com/blog/?p=56#comment-132 jrrmzz Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:19:25 +0000 http://www.jaysnothere.com/blog/?p=56#comment-132 Carolyn: Good point—GSOC <em>applicants</em> would predominantly fall under N1. GSOC participants would be N3 (or N2, depending on their mentor). The degree of access is definitely a huge factor. When I was mentoring for GSOC 2 years ago, the bandwidth we had for knowledge transfer was severely limited over email. Scheduling face-to-face meetings helped tremendously (especially with the whiteboard). However, it was only feasible because we happened to be in the same city. I suspect many GSOC students aren't in that situation. Carolyn: Good point—GSOC applicants would predominantly fall under N1. GSOC participants would be N3 (or N2, depending on their mentor).

The degree of access is definitely a huge factor. When I was mentoring for GSOC 2 years ago, the bandwidth we had for knowledge transfer was severely limited over email. Scheduling face-to-face meetings helped tremendously (especially with the whiteboard). However, it was only feasible because we happened to be in the same city. I suspect many GSOC students aren’t in that situation.

]]> Comment on Learning about learning by jrrmzz http://www.jaysnothere.com/blog/?p=56#comment-131 jrrmzz Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:12:19 +0000 http://www.jaysnothere.com/blog/?p=56#comment-131 <p> Aww, thanks, Jon—you give me too much credit. </p> <p> I agree. It's important to consider the various mixes across the spectra. The thing I don't know how to discretize or measure is the degree of expertise a person has. One way is to categorize based on indicators such as whether a person: </p> <ul> <li>Has prior experience working with the code base</li> <li>Is responsible for maintaining some portion of the code base</li> <li>Is responsible for technical direction for the code base (e.g. architects)</li> <li>Is recognized by the community as an expert on the code base</li> <li>...</li> </ul> <p> How about rephrasing the problem like this:</p> <p> Given a set of individuals I with expertise <em>e</em>, and a set of resources <em>R</em> in { <em>artifacts</em>, <em>other learners</em>, <em>artifact creators</em> }, what is the set of questions <em>Q<sub>i,e,r</sub></em> that each <em>i</em> in <em>I</em> would “ask” each <em>r</em> in <em>R</em>. </p> <p> For a particular class of <em>i</em> (e.g. all novices), would <em>Q<sub>i,e,r</sub></em> vary significantly over <em>i</em> depending on what <em>r</em> were available? </p> Aww, thanks, Jon—you give me too much credit.

I agree. It’s important to consider the various mixes across the spectra. The thing I don’t know how to discretize or measure is the degree of expertise a person has. One way is to categorize based on indicators such as whether a person:

  • Has prior experience working with the code base
  • Is responsible for maintaining some portion of the code base
  • Is responsible for technical direction for the code base (e.g. architects)
  • Is recognized by the community as an expert on the code base
  • …

How about rephrasing the problem like this:

Given a set of individuals I with expertise e, and a set of resources R in { artifacts, other learners, artifact creators }, what is the set of questions Qi,e,r that each i in I would “ask” each r in R.

For a particular class of i (e.g. all novices), would Qi,e,r vary significantly over i depending on what r were available?

]]> Comment on Learning about learning by Carolyn http://www.jaysnothere.com/blog/?p=56#comment-130 Carolyn Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:49:45 +0000 http://www.jaysnothere.com/blog/?p=56#comment-130 Wouldn't Google Summer of Code participants fall under N3, given they supposedly have a mentor? I guess along the same lines, you might want to consider access to creators as a spectrum, from "Expected to ask questions of creators sitting near you" to "Can call or e-mail creators who have other priorities right now" to "Absolutely no access, creators all hit by bus". How much access makes a difference? Wouldn’t Google Summer of Code participants fall under N3, given they supposedly have a mentor?

I guess along the same lines, you might want to consider access to creators as a spectrum, from “Expected to ask questions of creators sitting near you” to “Can call or e-mail creators who have other priorities right now” to “Absolutely no access, creators all hit by bus”. How much access makes a difference?

]]> Comment on Learning about learning by Jon http://www.jaysnothere.com/blog/?p=56#comment-129 Jon Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:17:32 +0000 http://www.jaysnothere.com/blog/?p=56#comment-129 There'r also the various mixes of resources that would be interesting and important to study. Some of what made our days at Blueprint so worthwhile for me was that I had access to artifacts, other learners (you), and the artifact creators. I certainly learned just as much or more about the system by working with you as I did from the code or the other folks that created it. Then there'r the mixes across expertise too. For instance, if I'm a novice that has access to an expert other learner then I'm probably getting all sorts of interesting tacit knowledge about how to familiarise myself with code in general. There’r also the various mixes of resources that would be interesting and important to study. Some of what made our days at Blueprint so worthwhile for me was that I had access to artifacts, other learners (you), and the artifact creators. I certainly learned just as much or more about the system by working with you as I did from the code or the other folks that created it.

Then there’r the mixes across expertise too. For instance, if I’m a novice that has access to an expert other learner then I’m probably getting all sorts of interesting tacit knowledge about how to familiarise myself with code in general.

]]> Comment on Backup woes: oh, the irony by jrrmzz http://www.jaysnothere.com/blog/?p=51#comment-116 jrrmzz Mon, 09 Mar 2009 21:38:13 +0000 http://www.jaysnothere.com/blog/?p=51#comment-116 Thanks, David. I've actually got a backup solution for Mac. I've got a Time Capsule en route. Time Machine failed because I was using an external USB hard drive from Brando. I figure Apple software'll play better with Apple hardware. I'm still searching for a system for backing up Linux and Windows systems. Thanks, David. I’ve actually got a backup solution for Mac. I’ve got a Time Capsule en route. Time Machine failed because I was using an external USB hard drive from Brando. I figure Apple software’ll play better with Apple hardware. I’m still searching for a system for backing up Linux and Windows systems.

]]> Comment on Backup woes: oh, the irony by David Wolever http://www.jaysnothere.com/blog/?p=51#comment-115 David Wolever Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:42:58 +0000 http://www.jaysnothere.com/blog/?p=51#comment-115 Be careful... Backup systems for Linux != backup for Mac. Macs need a bunch of extra data which Linux tools aren't really aware of. Currently the best options are: SuperDuper, rsync 3.0.5 from MacPorts (using flags: --acls --xattrs --one-file-system --hard-links --archive --sparse --crtimes --verbose --fileflags --force-change --progress --stats --ignore-errors) and Carbon Copy Cloner. I roll with rsync because it's the most flexible of the above. And, yes -- it's well worth keeping two backup disks, one at school and one at home, just to make sure one doesn't die :) Be careful… Backup systems for Linux != backup for Mac. Macs need a bunch of extra data which Linux tools aren’t really aware of.

Currently the best options are: SuperDuper, rsync 3.0.5 from MacPorts (using flags: –acls –xattrs –one-file-system –hard-links –archive –sparse –crtimes –verbose –fileflags –force-change –progress –stats –ignore-errors) and Carbon Copy Cloner.

I roll with rsync because it’s the most flexible of the above.

And, yes — it’s well worth keeping two backup disks, one at school and one at home, just to make sure one doesn’t die :)

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