Category Archives: general

general

Spawning the Next Generation of Hackers by Nathan Torkington

Leave a comment

In his OSCON 2008 presentation, “Spawning the Next Generation of Hackers,” Nathan Torkington proposes that each one of us should go to our local school and volunteer – unless you’re a pervert. Then, you should stay home.

In his proposal, he prompts us to seek out some teachers and find out what they need from a technology perspective. And volunteer to run a computer club and teach some programming. He champions Scratch as the programming language of choice, which happens to have a dedicated resource for Scratch educators.

A few interesting bits from the audio…

… On teaching children to program versus playing outside, Torkington says, “You can learn to program AND you can run around outside. There are 24 hours in a day.”

… He praised Scratch for it’s accessibility, syntax free environment, and immediate results. I thought it was interesting that after his own son reached the limits of Scratch, he moved on to Processing. It’s only really interesting because I was just looking at Processing last week.

… “Teachers need teaching. It’s not just the kids” says Nathan. It’s along this vein that I wrote Scratch 1.4 Beginner’s Guide. There is, after all, nothing wrong with learning.

Listen to the MP3 (some profanity). I found this talk via the Media Downloads Queue blog thanks to Google Alerts.

general

Why I Write – an Interview with Packt

1 Comment

In a Packt Publishing interview, I share my thoughts on the writing process. Here’s a sample:

Packt: Do you have any tips for other authors, or tricks that you learnt whilst writing, that you’d like to share?

Michael: Some of your best writing occurs when you’re not actively engaged in writing. Always have a pen available to jot down ideas as they occur; you never know when you’ll solve a nagging problem or craft the phrase that clearly explains a concept. Also, the best way to meet your deadline is to start writing. Words are cheap and you can discard them as easily as you write them, so write everything you can think of. Edit later.
You can read the entire interview at Packt’s website.

Packt is recruiting authors, so they want current authors to share their insights on the writing process. However, there’s a question I wished they would have asked. So, indulge me while I interview myself for a moment:

Scratchguide: What motivates you to research, write, and edit a computer programming book?

Michael: The glory. I’m all about the international glory, fast cars, and easy access to events like the Ohio Linux Fest. Oh, that’s right, OLF is free for all.  So, while I wait for my invitation from a queen and the fast cars to catch up with me, my primary motivation for technical writing is that teaching others how to use a great piece of software is a great way to give back to a community.

Teaching requires learning, and I love to learn, too.  It really is that simple.

Packt has a bunch of author interviews posted, and are a must read for anyone who “has a book in ’em.”