Lilia Efimova writes about the problem of learning and doing as a result of reading a Gadgetopia post about the same topic.#

Gadgetopia:

we learn far more than we are ever able to use. We learn just for the sake of learning. We find some new technology, read about it, then whip up a script or two just make sure we know how to do it, then we dutifully zip it up and file it away in a "Code Samples" folder somewhere for future reference. And there they sit today, like wallflowers at a school dance, waiting for the application that will likely never come.

This may seem harmless, but does it, in fact, hinder our ability to produce? Does all this learning and all the attention span we spend on new technologies detract from what we should be doing in the here and now? How many applications have gone unwritten because we think some new technology will obviate them in the next few months? How many ideas languish because we're playing around with the new hyper-whizzbang protocol, convinced that this is the solution to our problems and will make every application fly off our keyboard with ease?

Lilia:

I'm reading papers on implicit learning (drafted notes). Implicit learning could be defined as

the process through which we become sensitive to certain regularities in the environment (1) in the absence of intention to learn about those regularities (2) in the absence of awareness that one is learning, and (3) in such a way that the resulting knowledge is difficult to express (Cleermans, looking for the reference)

In other words, implicit learning is the one that happen while doing (so there is no learning vs. doing dilemma here :). The funny thing is that most people are not aware of it or don't consider it to be "learning".

But there is something that takes time from doing - it's reflection we use to articulate what was learnt implicitly [...] . Note, that explicit (e.g. self-directed or other-directed learning) is likely to take time from doing too.

My opinion is that what is really a problem is whether you are accumulating KNOWLEDGE or INFORMATION. "Learning" how to write "Hello World" in that new language or how to configure that new CMS is just worthless INFORMATION that could be as easily lookup. It's essentially the same as memorizing a few pages of a multiplication table. On the other hand, Learning how someone else solves a particular problem or how an "interaction architect" (a position Deane recommends you fill) works is a gain in KNOWLEDGE. This knowledge can help you in ways that may not be related to the domain of the application you studied.

Example: Learning about how Paul Graham wrote the Viaweb Store can help you understand good ways to use Lisp, macros, and continuation based webservers (KNOWLEDGE). If you are more naive and only look at cursory level you will think you are learning about how to write eCommerce stores. Savy?

I agree very much with Richard, who in this post writes about how obsessive use of technology just because "machines are better" is silly. Not everything is manufacturing.#

I've argued this before: faith in people, not technology. With the system I propose (essentially Canada's), people will make mistakes. Under any system relying heavily on digital technology, when the technology fails, the technology is blamed, but with a system of paper ballots and people counting said ballots, people would get the blame for any mistakes. Will counting the ballots slow down? Almost certainly. Will the counting be 100% accurate? Likely not. Will there be paper records of the vote, with human recollections to go with it? Yes. Will people be held accountable for their failures and given a pat on the back for a smooth election? Yes.

America's fetish with technological solutions to social problems—got school shootings? Then more metal detectors but no, not an improved education system or improved dispute resolution in the classroom and hallways—political problems—can't find terrorists? Then more intrusive satellite technology and a camera on every street to watch our every move, but no, not improved intelligence-gathering on the ground and no, not an international system based on the peaceful settlement of disputes—and economic problems—famine at home or abroad? Then genetically modified crops, but no, definitely not improved political situations in developing countries and certainly not the removal of agricultural subsidies—would be fed and encouraged. The same goes with the Florida Debacle: the problem was not a confusing ballot (okay, yes it was), but it was the belief by those in government (technically, that's you, the people) that voters don't know how to mark an X in a box with the candidate's signature and that counting must be done with machines and not people because "machines are more reliable". An adequate, nay, preferable system is one of paper ballots with people counting the results. Transparency over speed, people over technology.

Kuro5hin reports the Google Code Jam 2003.#

Dave Winer writes about friendship. A great, great post.#

Friendship is not about always being nice, or agreeable, far from it. A friend will tell you when he or she thinks you're full of shit, but always casts it that way, never as a statement of fact. It's a fine but important distinction. If I say "you're full of shit" to a friend, it must be understood that this is my opinion only. Further, it's more likely that he or she is not the one who's so full, it's more likely that I am. That's why I cringe when someone, in the name of friendship, says this to me. Usually they're wrong, but there's no point arguing, they're in some kind of trance, pedaling hard to avoid looking at something they desperately want to avoid.

An example. A woman named Bodie, who was a friend of mine about a decade ago (haven't heard from her in many years, hard to say that's friendship, right?) could act as a perfect mirror. I was fussing over a babe I thought I was in love with. Heh. I'd say "If only she would be more like this" and Bodie would say "In what way would you like to be more like that?" Over and over and over.

At first it was totally irritating, then I figured it out. All the things I wanted my girlfriend to do, to be like, were actually things I wanted of myself, and of course were tapes I recorded in early life, before any glimmer of consciousness. In the end I survived perfectly well without the babe. But the lesson has stayed with me, vividly. So I'm wary of supposed friends who tell me they know what I need to do to straighten my life out. They're full of shit. Always. (Almost.)

Tony Pierce lays the bait and they come running.#

so paris hung up and i called her back a few minutes later and she said what and i said paris and she said what and i said nevermind and she said no comeon what and i said you'll find a way better man than me dont worry and she said everyone thinks im a skanky ho nobody is going to want me

and i said they dont think that and she said yes they do! they tell me that in email form all the time.

and i said, not everyone understands that stepping out of a limo in a short skirt no panties is the new black, and she said why do you make me fall for you with every word that rolls off your tongue tonypierce.com and i said i'll be your boyfriend if i can also date your sister and she said gross and i said just for one night and she said shuttup and i said see we all have a line that we wont cross and she said i cant believe you

Tony Pierce is a let down man.#

i dont want to be doing this any more. even though its exciting. even though its nice to know everything thats going on in this fair city at all times. even though it means that we can read your emails and listen to your phone convos and see through your house and xray vision through your frankie bs. all i want is a light at the end of the tunnel and if its a bud light im going to hurt someone.

i want i dont want i want i dont want. i sound like a baby. im not a baby. im someone who thought everything was going to be one way and then it turns out to be the total opposite, as in total as in toe tall.

Kristin wrote a letter to Nick of the Newlyweds.#

dear nick,

yeah, she's pretty hot. but she's a spoiled little princess. you sir, are very hot and actually somewhat capable of being an adult. dump the princess. marry a nice girl from oklahoma who deserves you. and who can hang up her towels.

please get out while you can,

please take your horrible show off the air so i can sleep at night again,

please marry me,

kristin