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Hacker School User's Manual

hackerschool.com

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Re: Hacker School User's Manual

#21

Post by grey-area »

nicholasjbs wrote: post #15
shaohua wrote: post #13

For github junkies, fork here: https://github.com/shaohua/Hacker-School-Users-Manual

I appreciate that you're excited and mean well, but would you please delete this repository? We haven't licensed the manual, and this could easily mislead people (and will quickly fall out of date -- we've already fixed two small issues since publishing this afternoon).

Well, actually, there's still an error in the first paragraph you might want to correct:

We've decided to published[sic] it in the hope

You're welcome :)

Re: Hacker School User's Manual

#22

Post by michaelochurch »

I really like the civility rules. One thing I've learned about programming is that, like creative writing, the insecurity only gets worse as you get better. (I'm sure that once you have fuck-you money or the consulting pipeline that's essentially the same thing, that changes, but it takes time to get there.) It's paradoxical.

For one thing, there's hard-core dimensionality in what we do. There are things I consider to be huge areas of computer science that I know nothing about, and many of those didn't even exist when I was in school.

It's really admirable that they're paying attention to the behaviors ("well, actually" and unsolicited advice) that make this worse and cause communication breakdowns. Of course, tone is more important than what is actually said, but that can't be legislated.

Re: Hacker School User's Manual

#23

Post by davidbalbert »

grey-area wrote: post #21
nicholasjbs wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I appreciate that you're excited and mean well, but would you please delete this repository? We haven't licensed the manual, and this could easily mislead people (and will quickly fall out of date -- we've already fixed two small issues since publishing this afternoon).

Well, actually, there's still an error in the first paragraph you might want to correct: We've decided to published[sic] it in the hope You're welcome :)

Fixed. Thanks for pointing it out.

Re: Hacker School User's Manual

#24

Post by ollieglass »

I'd love to do something like this in London. Inspired by the manual, I've created a signup page at hackerschoollondon.launchrock.com Perhaps we can get one going here if there's some interest.

n.b. Hacker School have asked me to stop using their name - I don't mean to mislead or imply any affiliation with them. I'll change it shortly. But I do want to copy the idea :)

Re: Hacker School User's Manual

#25

Post by dustingetz »

pokpokpok wrote: post #3
d23 wrote: post #2

A lot of programmers I know could really learn from the "social rules" on this page. There's no need to try to prove oneself to be the smartest in the room on every topic. It takes a lot more balls to say "wow, I really can't even remember whether the syntax was X->Y() or X.Y()!" The "well-actually" problem is particularly rampant on HN.

I don't think that "well-actually" comments online have a fraction of the negative social effects that they do in a really life situation.

agreed.

in a 3 person private conversation, a factual inaccuracy that is not central to the point isn't going to harm the participants. Online, the conversation is public. People who don't know what they're talking about should be politely called out before they stir up FUD or otherwise cause harm.

(i am a hackerschool alum)

Re: Hacker School User's Manual

#26

Post by pindi »

dustingetz wrote: post #25
pokpokpok wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that "well-actually" comments online have a fraction of the negative social effects that they do in a really life situation.

agreed. in a 3 person private conversation, a factual inaccuracy that is not central to the point isn't going to harm the participants. Online, the conversation is public. People who don't know what they're talking about should be politely called out before they stir up FUD or otherwise cause harm. (i am a hackerschool alum)

I think the focus is on pedantic corrections that are entirely irrelevant to the discussion and serve only to make the commenter feel superior. For example, see this recent thread [1].

The first commenter proposes a device that would use a Molex connector. The second points out that the device needs to interface with a wire not found on the Molex 8981 connector, a useful correction. The third makes the inane observation that Molex the company makes many connectors, when it is obvious that the first two commenters were referring to the Molex 8981 connector specifically.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5638420

Re: Hacker School User's Manual

#27

Post by jschneier00 »

majke wrote: post #11
nanook wrote: post #5

I wish it wasn't such a hassle getting a VISA to the US..

A tourist visa is enough to do Hacker School. You don't earn any money, you don't pay for the school and it's not a real school anyway. The only problem is explaining the program to the Immigration Officer. Mentioning "Hacker" or "School" is not recommended. I used the phrase "programming workshops" :)

Hah. You should have seen the look on the woman's face who did my taxes, it was priceless.

Re: Hacker School User's Manual

#28

Post by 7402 »

One of their rules seems odd. To "Feign" means to pretend. Do they mean that people actually pretend to be surprised about someone's lack of knowledge?

I would have thought the more common problem is when people are honestly surprised about someone's lack of knowledge, and then show it. That hurts more. I can usually tell if someone trying to show themselves off as a bigshot. That doesn't bother me as much as if someone genuinely thinks I'm ignorant about something that I ought to know.

Better to say, "Please feign unsurprise when you encounter ignorance." Or better yet, don't use the word "feign." Just tell participants that they may encounter people from a variety of backgrounds, and they should not assume that every understands what everyone else is talking about.

Re: Hacker School User's Manual

#29

Post by zandomatter »

7402 wrote: post #28

One of their rules seems odd. To "Feign" means to pretend. Do they mean that people actually pretend to be surprised about someone's lack of knowledge? I would have thought the more common problem is when people are honestly surprised about someone's lack of knowledge, and then show it. That hurts more. I can usually tell if someone trying to show themselves off as a bigshot. That doesn't bother me as much as if some…

I thought that was odd as well. I've never encountered somebody who pretended to be surprised at my lack of knowledge - more often I just get condescension.

Re: Hacker School User's Manual

#30

Post by read »

michaelochurch wrote: post #22

I really like the civility rules. One thing I've learned about programming is that, like creative writing, the insecurity only gets worse as you get better. (I'm sure that once you have fuck-you money or the consulting pipeline that's essentially the same thing, that changes, but it takes time to get there.) It's paradoxical. For one thing, there's hard-core dimensionality in what we do. There are things I consider t…

Paradoxical as it sounds, that's a pretty accurate observation. You get better the more insecure you are.

I've struggled to find an explanation for this, the closest being Prospect Theory. The theory states that people make decisions based on the potential value of losses and gains rather than the final outcome.

My best guess is that less secure people worry more about not looking bad rather than the final outcome. They optimize for minimizing losses, and are thus represented on the bottom left quadrant of the theory graph[1].

Which means the less confident you are the more successful you are[2].

[1] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Valuefun.jpg

[2] - http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/07/less_confident_people_are_mo...

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