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Tom Austin wrote:
> I do believe that you have a wealth of knowledge that others can benefit
> from - more than just on a blog or forum.
Heh. The hard part is figuring out how to take a big heap of knowledge
and structure it into something coherant with a logical order to is that
somebody else might even be able to follow. ;-)
> And having others encourage me and point out some directions makes it
> all that much easier.
Amen!
Damn, if I had more friends, I'd probably get a whole lot more done... ;-)
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Invisible wrote:
> Tom Austin wrote:
>
>> I do believe that you have a wealth of knowledge that others can
>> benefit from - more than just on a blog or forum.
>
> Heh. The hard part is figuring out how to take a big heap of knowledge
> and structure it into something coherant with a logical order to is that
> somebody else might even be able to follow. ;-)
>
you know the types of things you already have
some blog entries
some programs
etc...
Start putting together some data structure that you can 'copy' your
current data into and then add to at will.
databases
files
etc...
Don't worry to much about making it look perfect - just get the data out
there and have your backend fully functional. You can always change
what a web page looks like - CSS, but it can be a PITA to change how you
store the data.
>> And having others encourage me and point out some directions makes it
>> all that much easier.
>
> Amen!
>
> Damn, if I had more friends, I'd probably get a whole lot more done... ;-)
you do have friends here
you just don't know what they look like ;-)
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>> Heh. The hard part is figuring out how to take a big heap of knowledge
>> and structure it into something coherant with a logical order to is
>> that somebody else might even be able to follow. ;-)
>
> you know the types of things you already have
>
> Start putting together some data structure that you can 'copy' your
> current data into and then add to at will.
>
> Don't worry to much about making it look perfect - just get the data out
> there and have your backend fully functional. You can always change
> what a web page looks like - CSS, but it can be a PITA to change how you
> store the data.
Hence Indoculate - my tool that accepts a markup language I invented
which exactly matches the structure I want, and turns it into something
that a computer will accept. (Basically HTML or PDF.) But it's currently
broken... *sigh*
>> Damn, if I had more friends, I'd probably get a whole lot more done...
>> ;-)
>
> you do have friends here
>
> you just don't know what they look like ;-)
For somebody as lacking in motivation and self-belief as me, a much
higher level of encouragement would be useful... :-S
I could have written something today, but I've basically spent my entire
day sitting reading web comics because I couldn't be bothered to start
anything. "Who's going to read it anyway?"
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Invisible wrote:
> Tom Austin wrote:
>
>> I do believe that you have a wealth of knowledge that others can benefit
>> from - more than just on a blog or forum.
>
> Heh. The hard part is figuring out how to take a big heap of knowledge
> and structure it into something coherant with a logical order to is that
> somebody else might even be able to follow. ;-)
Tip: don't structure it yet. Start with some content, once you have
something written you may have a clearer view of how to structure it.
I doubt anyone starts writing a book from the index.
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Invisible wrote:
> Heh. The hard part is figuring out how to take a big heap of knowledge
> and structure it into something coherant with a logical order to is that
> somebody else might even be able to follow. ;-)
Yes, that's the hard part. :-) It's one of the problems with open source
software that's doing something totally new, where there's two or three
people who know how it works inside and out, and they don't know how to
explain it to someone who doesn't already know what they're talking about.
It's a tremendously useful skill to have: the ability to explain to grandma
(or your boss) what she needs to know about the technology. (That's probably
one reason I use too many analogies - I find they work well with
non-technical people.)
It's also one of the important skills you learn from a PhD.
I'll second the notion that if you can sit down and write something like you
post here, and just churn it out, do so. Getting the ideas down is good.
After that, if you want to go further, sit down and make an outline (as in
"table of contents" type outline). Break it down until the structure has an
entry for each idea, where "each idea" is covered in a paragraph or two.
Then read the outline and make sure someone else could understand it on the
first read through. Then you just fill in the outline.
--
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
The NFL should go international. I'd pay to
see the Detroit Lions vs the Roman Catholics.
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>> Heh. The hard part is figuring out how to take a big heap of knowledge
>> and structure it into something coherant with a logical order to is that
>> somebody else might even be able to follow. ;-)
>
> Tip: don't structure it yet. Start with some content, once you have
> something written you may have a clearer view of how to structure it.
>
> I doubt anyone starts writing a book from the index.
Some people might...
Heh, this tends to be *exactly* how I write programs, BTW. But then,
writing documentation is rather like programming... except that instead
of operating with the internal state of a machine, it's a human. But you
still have the same problems of figuring out the best way to structure
things, etc.
I have lost count of how many times I've written an authoritative tome
on Haskell, only to get about 8% of the way through the material and
think "meh, that's a silly approach, I should start by explaining X
first instead of starting from Y..." I've started and restarted writing
so many times I can't even count!
I've said it before and I'll say it again: The trouble with explaining
Haskell is that there's lots of interrelated concepts that you seemingly
need to grasp all at the same time, with no logical "place to start".
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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>> Heh. The hard part is figuring out how to take a big heap of knowledge
>> and structure it into something coherant with a logical order to is
>> that somebody else might even be able to follow. ;-)
>
> Yes, that's the hard part. :-)
You noticed?
> It's one of the problems with open
> source software that's doing something totally new, where there's two or
> three people who know how it works inside and out, and they don't know
> how to explain it to someone who doesn't already know what they're
> talking about.
Welcome to Haskell!
I am *totally certain* that the guy who designed the undecidable
typeclass instance translation rules to System F knows *exactly* what
they're talking about and why it works... but they're far too busy
programming it to tell anybody about it in words of less than 6
syllables. o_O
> It's a tremendously useful skill to have: the ability to explain to
> grandma (or your boss) what she needs to know about the technology.
> (That's probably one reason I use too many analogies - I find they work
> well with non-technical people.)
Indeed.
IMHO, the *key* skill here is looking at a thing and figuring out what
*is* important, and what is *not* important, for the purposes of the
discussion in question.
A computer is a very large, complex device, and the software that powers
it is built from abstract concepts implemented on top of concepts
constructed from yet more concepts, in a mind-blowing vertical tower of
abstraction.
Just imagine trying to explain to a Victorian scientist how to design,
build and program a modern-day computer. I mean, apart from the minor
detail of needing semiconductor technology and microscopic lithography,
you'd have to give them a lecture in electronics, Boolean algebra, logic
gates, sequential logic design, binary encodings, processor design,
instruction sets, computer programming, subroutine calls, interrupt
handlers, I/O device design, system programming, compiler design,
language design, memory allocation and task scheduling algorithms...
shall I stop yet? :-P
Having just said all that, if somebody wants to know how to connect
several PCs to a single Internet connection, you *could* tell them about
IP addressing and subnet masks and the intricasies of NAT... or you
could just tell them to plug a few boxes together and it'll work. Guess
which answer most people want to hear. ;-)
> It's also one of the important skills you learn from a PhD.
I'll take your word for it, Dr New.
> I'll second the notion that if you can sit down and write something like
> you post here, and just churn it out, do so. Getting the ideas down is
> good.
I had an idea that I could produce a kind of "portfolio" of good-quality
written documents (various subject areas and target audiences) and I
could show it to people and say "hey dude, I'm clever!" The thing I
posted here is a first attempt at one such portfolio document.
(I'm polishing up my Parsec thing to make another such document. And I
may or may not to a layman's overview of computer hardware - I don't
know if I could do it justice...)
> After that, if you want to go further, sit down and make an outline (as
> in "table of contents" type outline). Break it down until the structure
> has an entry for each idea, where "each idea" is covered in a paragraph
> or two. Then read the outline and make sure someone else could
> understand it on the first read through. Then you just fill in the outline.
The trick to this seems to be figuring out which concepts "depend on"
which other concepts, which ideas "lead to" others, and finding an
optimal order to present the ideas. And some good metaphores and
examples usually help immensely... ;-)
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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Orchid XP v8 wrote:
> I had an idea that I could produce a kind of "portfolio" of good-quality
> written documents (various subject areas and target audiences) and I
> could show it to people and say "hey dude, I'm clever!" The thing I
> posted here is a first attempt at one such portfolio document.
That's an excellent idea.
> (I'm polishing up my Parsec thing to make another such document. And I
> may or may not to a layman's overview of computer hardware - I don't
> know if I could do it justice...)
Give it a go. Worst thing that happens is people say "don't put that one in
your portfolio."
Indeed, you might be in a good position to write documentation rather than
programs. Consider looking for work as a technical writer.
> The trick to this seems to be figuring out which concepts "depend on"
> which other concepts, which ideas "lead to" others, and finding an
> optimal order to present the ideas. And some good metaphores and
> examples usually help immensely... ;-)
Yep. It often takes me three or four start-from-scratch rewrites of an
outline before I fill it in. Often takes longer to do the TOC than the paper.
--
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
The NFL should go international. I'd pay to
see the Detroit Lions vs the Roman Catholics.
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somebody wrote:
> as well as making quick (and wrong) assumptions about my
> origins or beliefs
Yeah like u ddn't do it first. This proves u and and U is what matters,
Fine by me.
> will strengthen the argument that it's just fine for
> those from the third world to pirate.
yeah, what ever...
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Nicolas Alvarez wrote:
> FWIW, I'm more tolerant to some piracy than to people using "u" and "ppl"
> and "coz" repeatedly >.<
>
Don't like it, don't read it.
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