Coldbrain.

Abstruse Goose » How to Teach Yourself Programming

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:12:00 +0000

Abstruse Goose » How to Teach Yourself Programming:

More how-to hilarity. The link above is a cartoon on how to teach yourself C++ in 21 days.

I moan about this stuff (‘50 Ways To… X’, ‘Teach Yourself Y in Z days’) because it is ridiculous; it fosters the belief that you can become an expert/master of a chosen subject by reading a bunch of articles or a book. In reality you won’t have got out of novice mode - at best you’ll be an advanced beginner. (Italicised terms and overall concept explained here.)

And of course, like everyone else that rages against this stuff, I speak from some personal experience.

In my first year of university I took a computer programming course. We were to learn C. My friend and I were the only people taking this course as part of a wider interdisciplinary science degree; the other 20 people in the lectures were taking it as part of a computer science degree. They all had some experience of or interest in programming at its most basic (pun unintended). My pal and I were looking to do something different from the physics, maths and chemistry lectures that completed our week’s timetables.

And of course we were awful at it. The course content whizzed past us. Concepts remained unexplained in our minds, lectures were literally in a different language.

The final exam was a practical session where we had a few hours to code something or other. My pal and I walked out after 30 minutes to find we had both sent similar, apologetic emails to the professor about our total lack of understanding of the course and failure to even attempt the problem.

But I thought I was going to ace it. Because, of course, I’d bought a ‘Learn C in 24 hours’ book earlier that week, and spent some time (<24 hours, natch) working through the examples. But when it came to applying these concepts in new or different ways, I had no concept of how to begin.

I could complain about how the course was mis-sold to me, that I did not possess the pre-requisites for attendance. But this would be to miss the point. I had plenty of time to undertake the required study, to talk to the professors and my peers, to use the library and the internet to get to where I needed to be.

Instead, I paid £15 on the basis that I could shortcut my understanding. I did this because I was lazy.

There will always be lazy people who will buy these books and read these websites and perpetuate the how-to industry. Please don’t be one of them. If you want to be a computer programmer, or web designer, or trapeze artist, invest the significant time and effort required. Write some code, design some sites, swing some trapeze.

As Frank says, there are no recipes.

"I’m trying to avoid showing The Steps and instead show them enough of The Idea that they can..."

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:03:08 +0000

“I’m trying to avoid showing The Steps and instead show them enough of The Idea that they can reconstruct what the steps MUST be. Many students want to know the formulas, so that they can float them on top of their short-term memory, ace the exam, and then skim them off. Why do they want to know that? Probably because, for their entire mathematical careers, math has been a sequence of Steps, and if they get them wrong, they get red pen, bad grades, No No No Look What You Did. Plus, bonus, there is no apparent relevance of these algorithms other than To Get The Answer.”

- The Philosophy of Punk Rock Mathematics – Technoccult interviews Tom Henderson | Technoccult

Tom ‘mathpunk’ Henderson on why an understanding of mathematics stacks the odds of life in your favour, how he attempts to communicate this, and how our ‘how-to’ culture may have been fostered in the maths classroom. ‘The Steps’ are to be avoided at all costs.

blackandwtf: via Morbid Fashion.

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:54:12 +0000

blackandwtf:

via Morbid Fashion.

How Penguin Will Reinvent Books With iPad

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:25:00 +0000

How Penguin Will Reinvent Books With iPad:

Penguin has some interesting plans for the iPad.

They’re eschewing the .epub format in favour of applications. Each book will become an individual app, to include appropriate non-text-based content like videos, games, audio and whatever else fits. This is less about books per se as it is the intersection between books and toys, calendars, maps, IM, productivity apps, etc.

I’m halfway through (ok, a quarter of the way through) David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest at the moment, and I can see that this new medium - and that’s what it is, a new medium - is perfect for his particular style of footnotes, endnotes, clauses, sub-clauses and asides. Consider this brief excerpt from this brilliant article on designing and typesetting a dfw book:

Wallace’s idea was to have leaders and labels, like a diagram. He wanted something that looked like hypertext rollovers that were immediate and at hand. I thought this whole thing might be a bit much for me to design. It seemed like it might be a full-time job. I sent it off to one of my favorite designers, who shot me an email back saying something along the lines of “There is not enough money in the world to make me do this.”

I’m completely convinced that Wallace would have been all over this this new medium.

There will clearly be a cost involved - this isn’t a value-add. But I’d happily pay more for novels featuring video introductions by the author and integrated reading groups, and non-fiction featuring extra commentary and context. The more senses involved, the richer the experience and the understanding. When I have children, I want them to read all those Dorling-Kindersley books and have the concepts come to life in front of their eyes.

And how much fun will it be? I mean, really: take a look at that Spot book and tell me you don’t want to be a child again.

As an aside, there will be a generation that grows up with the iPad (and iPod/iPhone, and other app-led devices) as their definition of what a computer is. And when they have to use our PCs and Macs they’ll wonder what all these goddamn files are for and why we cared about Flash and windows (with both upper- and lower-case w) and taskbars and start menus and all that stuff that gets in the way of connecting our brains with our computers. Because that’s ultimately where we want to be.

"While his career, one spent battling at the sharp, insecure end of English football, deserves to be..."

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:21:00 +0000

“While his career, one spent battling at the sharp, insecure end of English football, deserves to be defined by more than the colour of his skin, he will be remembered as a breaker of barriers. The England team will quite rightly wear black armbands at Wembley this evening.”

- The Fiver, on the death of Keith Alexander. Whilst primarily a funny email about football, it always deals with the sport’s serious issues in a very dignified manner. Never schmaltzy, never po-faced, it’s a cut above the rest of the world’s football media.

Joanna Newsom develops her art

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:11:03 +0000

I’m looking forward to getting the new Joanna Newsom album, Have One On Me.

(I’ll get it the next time I go shopping. Without particularly realising, I’ve gone almost download-only over the past few years. This is strange, considering how much attention I’ve paid to the physical vs. digital battle over the same period. I’d just not paid the same attention to my own buying habits. Huh.)

In any case, I’m after the physical copy for the artwork and booklet. Newsom’s lyrics err on the side of densely witty, high-brow confessional, and I think I’ll prefer to have her hold my hand as I traverse through the upwards-of-two-hour running time.

Newsom’s voice on the new album seems a million miles from the Ralph Wiggum-inspired efforts of The Milk-Eyed Mender and Ys. I don’t mean that in the insulting way it probably appears - there’s a real charm to it, and it suits the music, particularly the spare harp arrangements of the former. But from what I’ve heard of the new record, she’s actually singing. This is neither better nor worse (although I’m sure it’s better for her voice in the long run), it’s just different. And different is better in its own way.

Huh? Let me try and explain.

How artists develop has always interested me. Newsom’s journey mirrors that of Elliott Smith, to a certain extent; I completely fell for the home-spun voice and guitar of Smith’s early albums, and watched (and listened) with much interest as he developed, incorporating strings and brass and giving it the full-on studio treatment.

Smith always stated that, with his increased budget and artistic freedom, he was able to ‘paint’ his songs in the way that he had always heard them in his head. I’ve not heard Newsom’s thoughts on this matter, specifically. But I’d wager that they are similar.

There’s an insistent struggle between an artist’s early output and the art they produce after the first flush of success. Those first albums (or paintings, or stories, or software products, or whatever) are often fan favourites, as that is what grab and introduce us to them in the first instance. But we can then watch them develop their style.

Artists who struggle on, trying to replicate that first great album, will more often than not fall by the wayside.

Artists shouldn’t be afraid to develop their style or try new ideas. Whilst most artists should focus on the ‘thing’ they do, a greater appreciation of what you can do within that ‘thing’ is important.

Newsom’s new album requires the listener’s attention. She has explored new areas within her chosen field. It’s slicker without selling out. That’s what takes you from singing to your family to selling thousands of records around the world.

catbird: benjaminpalmer: chairs

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 08:47:02 +0000

catbird:

benjaminpalmer:

chairs

thedailywhat: This Is Informative, You Should Watch It of the...

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 19:29:11 +0000

thedailywhat:

This Is Informative, You Should Watch It of the Day: Casey Neistat uses charts and graphs and a hot female friend to explain the unexplainable phenomenon that is Chatroulette.

Related: Landline’s profile of Chatroulette’s own Shirtless Bird-face Donkey Man.

[theawl.]

"So projects stall as they thrash. Nine women can’t have a baby in one month, no matter how..."

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:17:50 +0000

“So projects stall as they thrash. Nine women can’t have a baby in one month, no matter how closely they coordinate their work.”

- Seth Godin on ‘thrashing’, the stuff we do throughout a project (particularly towards the end) in order to get it to ship.

I'll sleep when I'm dead

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 10:03:02 +0000

As someone who’s always struggled with sleeping, I’m currently enjoying a rich vein of form when it comes to sleeping well (as opposed to sleeping lots) and waking easily. This can be ascribed to three factors that I’m delighted to have adopted and terrified it took me so long to learn (what other simple life skills do I unknowingly lack?):

Reading myself to sleep. I’ve read conflicting advice about whether one should read (or watch TV, or engage in coitus, or any other life-affirming, potentially exciting activity) before sleep. Well, I’m here today to tell you that it works for me. I have seen the sleep lord, and she comes in printed format.

Well, printed and digital. I tend to have a book or two on the go (dfw’s Infinite Jest at the moment; however, my rate of progress is not what I’d hoped. In his introduction, Dave Eggers suggests it’d take a month to read. At this rate, I’m looking at 2-3) and, thanks to Marco and his curator-in-chief Nostrich, a healthy collection of articles, blog posts and other assorted new media in Instapaper. I’m never short of reading material.

So I read until I realise either:

I’ve been reading the same sentence over and over, or
My eyes are closed

This takes anywhere from 10 minutes to 90. The point being not to try to go to sleep before you’re ready.

Keep a stable waking time. It’s also been hugely helpful to learn that if I try to get up at a similar time each day, I can calibrate my highly-sensitive body clock. This is clearly common sense, but I am clearly an idiot, and I didn’t realise it until recently. So, even on weekends, my alarm is set quite early. If I sleep in on weekends then it just messes up my system and I’ll feel super-tired on Monday morning. Others need a certain amount of sleep each night; turns out I just need some order in my day. And if I’m really tired I’ll just go to sleep earlier.

(The obvious caveat here is that I don’t really follow any of this when I go down the pub and put away several pints of philosophy juice.)

I also use Sleep Cycle on my iPhone. This is a sleep-monitoring app that gently wakes you when you are the lightest phase of sleep. It’s pretty neat.

My girlfriend likes to sleep in. Every day would start at noon if it were up to her. So I’ve adjusted my weekend morning patterns to include bread making, writing, (more) reading and all those things that are more ‘me’ than ‘us’. It’s quite fun, and it helps me eliminate that sense of mild guilt and wasted opportunity that surfaces when I don’t go anything vaguely creative, productive or educational.

CHATROULETTE + MOLESKINE = (via MonsieurDream) When I try...

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 08:47:59 +0000

CHATROULETTE + MOLESKINE = (via MonsieurDream)

When I try Chatroulette I get old fat men getting to know themselves a bit better. Why can’t I see this guy?

Little-Known Secret to Typing Contractions on iPhone

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:10:18 +0000

seoulbrother:

freitag:

When you’re typing on your iPhone or iPod Touch and you were to type W E R E and hit space it’ll think you typed “were” but if you type W E R E E and hit space, that’s not a word and it’ll default to “we’re.” There are other contracted words where that works but you kind of have to discover them, such as I L L L = I’ll.

I’ve used this tip extensively in the last week and it’s been a time/life saver. Thank you Freitag.

W E L L L be using this from now on.

"Stop looking for a recipe for success. You want it? So far as I can tell, it is to relentlessly do..."

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:04:13 +0000

“Stop looking for a recipe for success. You want it? So far as I can tell, it is to relentlessly do what you’re best at, keep at it, and to keep moving and take advantage of opportunities.”

- Frank Chimero has a blog. (How-To)

Frank Chimero neatly sums up the frustrations I’ve been having with the how-to community of late.

Everyone seems to want absolute guidance. An ‘Instructables’ for your work and personal life. Well, sorry - but you can’t have that.

You’ve just got to get out there and bloody well do it. That’s the only way to learn. There are no hard and fast rules. Take each game as it comes. Roll with the punches. Other assorted cliches. But do yourself a favour and just get out there and do it. Do it now.

"If his game-plan was the right one against a sub-system of 11 men, he seems to have reasoned, it..."

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:16:11 +0000

“If his game-plan was the right one against a sub-system of 11 men, he seems to have reasoned, it remained the right one when that sub-system had been weakened by the removal of its key element.”

- The Question: Are teams getting better at playing with 10 men? | Jonathan Wilson | Sport | guardian.co.uk

The wonderful thing about Jonathan Wilson is that when he’s writing about football, he’s writing about strategy, and by extension, life.

What’s the best strategy to take when the balance is suddenly tipped in your favour? Keep doing what you were doing.

A conservative approach? Perhaps. But the thinking has already been done. There’s no reason to re-evaluate all over again.

(Don’t follow this advice if you’re ever on a TV game show.)

James Patterson Inc. - NYTimes.com

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:11:00 +0000

James Patterson Inc. - NYTimes.com:

I’ve never read anything by James Patterson. I should say that right upfront, because after reading this article it’s unlikely that I ever will.

I’ve heard the name. I knew he was another Grisham or Dan Brown but not quite as big. But I’ve seen piles of his books in WH Smith at the airport (where else?); books where the author’s name is 3 times the size of the book’s title; books with a half-sinister, half-cutesy nursery rhyme title that you just know is about some evil sadist’s evil deeds and the race to bring him to justice; books illustrated with figures and landscapes that are somehow garish and muted at the same time. Shit books, clearly.

So it’s fair to say that without reading any Patterson I already didn’t have much time for him. But reading this article, Patterson doesn’t have much time for his audience. Sure, he talks a good game - give the people what they want, he says; all those millions can’t be wrong - but these appear to be mere platitudes as he orchestrates his publishing plan from up high.

Literally. Now in his 60s, for a typical novel he types a summary, hands it down to one of his team of jobbing young authors, who works it up and passes it back to Patterson for him to apply a bit of spit and polish before being dispatched to his fans. He does this several times a year.

We recently lost JD Salinger, a true man of (very few) letters, and here we have an individual who treats writing novels as mere workflow: just another system of production and delegation to be greased and made more efficient and improved upon. He is more executive producer than author.

Perhaps it’s the frustrated writer in me that takes such offence. Or else I’m just being snobbish. Either way, I’m sat here on my arse waiting for inspiration to strike me before I set pen to paper, and in the meantime Patterson has probably signed off 3 novels. But for me, part of the beauty of writing is in its mystique, and conversely, the mystique is in the beauty. Patterson takes this and basically writes a Lifehacker post on how to do it. It rips the soul of the fucking thing out.

mikemonteiro: via msnbcmedia.msn.com I couldn’t help it.

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:09:58 +0000

mikemonteiro:

via msnbcmedia.msn.com

I couldn’t help it.

"It’s like taking away his Pipe Smoker of the Year award but saying he can still smoke pipes."

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:05:47 +0000

“It’s like taking away his Pipe Smoker of the Year award but saying he can still smoke pipes.”

- Danny Baker, on the removal of John Terry as England captain and the resulting tedious press coverage.

Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 10:17:04 +0000

Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years:

Peter Norvig on our how-to culture:

Here’s my recipe for programming success:

Get interested in programming, and do some because it is fun. Make sure that it keeps being enough fun so that you will be willing to put in ten years.

Talk to other programmers; read other programs. This is more important than any book or training course.

Program. The best kind of learning is learning by doing. To put it more technically, “the maximal level of performance for individuals in a given domain is not attained automatically as a function of extended experience, but the level of performance can be increased even by highly experienced individuals as a result of deliberate efforts to improve.” (p. 366) and “the most effective learning requires a well-defined task with an appropriate difficulty level for the particular individual, informative feedback, and opportunities for repetition and corrections of errors.” (p. 20-21) The book Cognition in Practice: Mind, Mathematics, and Culture in Everyday Life is an interesting reference for this viewpoint.

Adaptation

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 20:46:00 +0000

Adaptation:

Not to belabor the point, but this fits in with the “adapting slowly” tenet. When the first iPhone was released, it wasn’t nearly as fast or as slick as the iPhone 3GS of today. When I first used my iPhone 3GS, my very first thought was “this is finally the iPhone as the iPhone was intended to be”. On iPhone v1, I couldn’t copy and paste, I couldn’t shoot video of my dog, I couldn’t play cool games or know what song was playing in a store. I couldn’t ask it where I was on a map. But that did not detract from its magic. From v1, I could have an email come in with a phone number in its body, I could tap that number and add it to a contact and that number would be in my computer after my next sync. I had never had a phone that could just simply do that before. The point being that yes, hardware will always improve. You will always be tempted to wait for the next iteration of hardware. If you’d rather wait until further iterations to experience the bulk of the magic that already exists in the current iteration, it’s your choice. It’s a lot of money to be putting down for something you’ll resent for its eventual obsolescence. But if Apple were to develop a product “to completion” before releasing it, holding off until it had all of the features that it thought that people wanted rather than just the ones that make it amazing, Apple would not be Apple, or Apple would never release products. That’s the point of evolution. It doesn’t happen in a vacuum, it necessitates, by design, deliberate response to the demands of the environment.

You should read Adam’s entire post.

Facts About Projection on Vimeo Anything with Wes Anderson-style...

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 08:49:00 +0000

Facts About Projection on Vimeo

Anything with Wes Anderson-style use of sharp edits and Futura captions is ok with me.