[penguicon-general] A couple of thoughts about programming

[Catherine Olanich Raymond]

On Friday 27 April 2007 6:19 pm, Rob Landley wrote:
> On Thursday 26 April 2007 10:21 pm, Catherine Olanich Raymond wrote:
> > > Off the top of my head, things we didn't have this year
> > > (and NOT mentioning computer stuff, which would be cheating for me):
> >
> > Go ahead and cheat! We need more computer stuff!  But I'm not the one to
>> come up with it!
>
> Well, a few more nuts-n-bolts panels would be nice, we've been a bit light
> on that.  Let's see, stuff that I could do with less than 15 minutes prep
> time:
>
> Why to program in C.
>
> Modern programming languages (based on Eric's theory about dynamic memory
> management and dynamic typing).
>
> Writing secure software.
>
> A guided tour of the Linux kernel.  (A dozen major subsystems, and the
> theory behind each.  VFS, block layer, hotplug, networking, scheduler,
> syscalls, etc.)
>
> Linux walkthrough: from power on to shell prompt.
>
> Fun with a hex editor.  (What's the actual on-disk layout of partitions,
> the ext2 on-disk format, ELF executables and shared libraries...)
>
> User Mode Linux.  (Wouldn't it be easier to understand how the kernel works
> if you could stick printfs into the thing?  Well, NOW YOU CAN!)

Sounds like fun.  Anybody want to join Rob for any of these?


> > > Fun with Whipped Cream
> >
> > Kinda agree with the people who think this should be a private activity.
> > Unless you have ideas about how to have fun with whipped cream *with*
> > your clothes on?
>
> Well, the panel does have the advantage that people would probably show up
> to see what we were doing...

Yes, it certainly would.  But they might leave in a huff if it didn't involve 
naked women.  

Or not.... What *can* you do to have fun with whipped cream, other than 
spraying it on people or desserts?  And how can we feature putting whipped 
cream on desserts in a way that would be interesting enough to justify adding 
it to the Food Track?


> > > But wait, there's more: managing expectations in XXX.
> >
> > Meaning?????
>
> To be honest, I forget. 

:-D

> But possibly I meant something like "Marketing for 
> geeks"  (Telling the world how cool your obsession really is without
> turning them off.)  Most geeks don't even understand the difference between
> marketing and sales, let alone how to get the word out about how cool
> something really is.  Marketing's only evil when you're lying.

That does sound like a good idea.  Eric could give his standard clothing 
advice for geeks who want to do the Open Source evangelism thing.  :-)


> > > Punch and Pi.
> >
> >  What?  Who?
>
> Bring some mathematicians together, provide lots of beverages (ala south
> park), and bring in 3 pies plus a small slice for the panelists to eat and
> distribute to the audience.  Talk about complicated math for an hour.

At least Eric would attend that one.  I'll leave it to the list to come up 
with mathematicians who might be interested/interesting.  

Oh wait, I thought of one:  How about Dr. Clio Cresswell, the author of this 
book:

http://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Sex-Clio-Cresswell/dp/1741141591

Here's a bit of bit of biography about her:

http://www.saxton.com.au/default.asp?sd8=2332

She has the advantage of being sexy and female in addition to being a 
mathematician.  The only catch is she's based in Sydney, Australia, so we 
probably would have to ask her to be a GOH to get her...
>
> This one would work particularly well if we could get Fabrice Bellard as a
> GoH.
>
> > > Serial storytelling.
> >
> > Missed a chance to have this when the Looney Labs folk were here.  They
> > have
>
> a form of it; they call it "Nanofictionary."
>
> And both Howard Tayler and Randy Milholland call it "writing webcomics".

As I said, I'm still getting my hit points back. 


> Roger Zelazny's Amber series was originally published serially, in a
> magazine. Charles Dickens did rather a lot of that too.  These days Diane
> Duane's doing it with her newest cat wizards book, and various authors blog
> their latest installments.  There's plenty of material here, and maybe we
> can tempt the Looneys back. :)

 It would also be a synonym for "Graphic Novel," or "soap opera," come to 
think of it.  Is the idea to have a panel on the differences between 
different forms of "serial storytelling"?  

I also like the idea of trying to get the Looney Labs crew back, by the 
way.  :-)


> > > "Just what the doctor ordered": Find an actual ER doctor, give them
> > > beer, and have them tell us the strangest things they've seen.
> >
> > I'll stay away, thanks, but the horror fans among us would probably enjoy
> > it.  :-)
>
> Something similar was really cool year 4.  And there were pictures.
>
> > > Anybody suggested inviting Aardman yet?
> >
> > Who is he?
>
> The guy who did Wallace and Grommit.  (And chicken run, and flushed away.)

I had forgotten the name if I knew it.  Yes, he'd be great to have too!

-- 
Cathy Raymond <cathy at thyrsus.com>

"You've got to have the proper amount of disrespect for what you do."  
-- George Mabry