Comments for Nivi http://www.nivi.com/blog my personal blog Sun, 13 Dec 2009 19:02:35 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 Comment on The Cognitive Style of Powerpoint by Stew Ellis http://www.nivi.com/blog/article/the-cognitive-style-of-powerpoint/comment-page-1#comment-652513 Stew Ellis Sun, 13 Dec 2009 19:02:35 +0000 http://www.nivi.com/blog/article/the-cognitive-style-of-powerpoint#comment-652513 <p>Last link is dead as of about 2007. It lives on in the Internet Archive Wayback Machine: http://web.archive.org/web/20021209040814/http://www.chaser.com.au/show_story.asp?ID=538&ED=59&CAT=1&NAME=powerpoint_funeral</p> <p>The URL obviously has to be on one line.</p> Last link is dead as of about 2007. It lives on in the Internet Archive Wayback Machine: http://web.archive.org/web/20021209040814/http://www.chaser.com.au/show_story.asp?ID=538&ED=59&CAT=1&NAME=powerpoint_funeral

The URL obviously has to be on one line.

]]> Comment on What is Learning? (Part 1) by Doug http://www.nivi.com/blog/article/what-is-learning-part-1/comment-page-1#comment-649078 Doug Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:28:29 +0000 http://www.nivi.com/blog/article/what-is-learning-part-1#comment-649078 <p>Wow, you think knowledge basically equals ability? Wrong. Many people "can answer how questions" but not be able to drive a car. A good tennis coach is still useful to a world-ranking tennis pro but couldn't hope to beat them.</p> Wow, you think knowledge basically equals ability? Wrong. Many people “can answer how questions” but not be able to drive a car. A good tennis coach is still useful to a world-ranking tennis pro but couldn’t hope to beat them.

]]> Comment on Greasemonkey will blow up business models (as well as your mind) by markbetz.net » Greasemonkey and the Definition of Content http://www.nivi.com/blog/article/greasemonkey-and-business-models/comment-page-2#comment-551045 markbetz.net » Greasemonkey and the Definition of Content Mon, 28 Apr 2008 03:36:14 +0000 http://www.nivi.com/blog/article/greasemonkey-ready-to-blow-up-business-models/#comment-551045 <p>[...] There is a lot that user-side scripting (DHTML, or Dynamic HTML, is another term for it) cannot do. For instance it cannot change what functions the server supports, or make it take some action it otherwise wouldn’t (unless by manipulating POST data, and in the case of sloppy server-side programming). But what it can do is cause enough for some serious thinking. Babak Nivi presents a few examples on his blog, and there is already a huge amount of comment going on about how revolutionary user-side scripting of websites could be. On his blog Phil Ringnalda talks about two battling scripts written for Amazon’s site: one which rewrites all the links, and another that tries to write them back. Nivi generally comes across in his writing as cheering on the new world of user control, despite preciently recognizing its potential impact. I understand this, and there are a lot of areas in which I would love to have this kind of control. Much of the information on the web is just that: information. I wouldn’t mind having more control over how it is presented. But as someone who has worked a long time in the transactional business side of the Internet I can’t but point out that some “websites” are interfaces to important business functions. We wouldn’t want users to have scripting control over ATMs. Some distinction is going to have to be made between sites that contain scriptable information, and sites that represent cohesive interfaces that should not be manipulated. The distinction will need to be made on the server, and enforced on the client. Otherwise what Nivi and others champion as the birth of “hypertext for the deep web” may become instead the death of eBanking and a host of other important online businesses. Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]</p> [...] There is a lot that user-side scripting (DHTML, or Dynamic HTML, is another term for it) cannot do. For instance it cannot change what functions the server supports, or make it take some action it otherwise wouldn’t (unless by manipulating POST data, and in the case of sloppy server-side programming). But what it can do is cause enough for some serious thinking. Babak Nivi presents a few examples on his blog, and there is already a huge amount of comment going on about how revolutionary user-side scripting of websites could be. On his blog Phil Ringnalda talks about two battling scripts written for Amazon’s site: one which rewrites all the links, and another that tries to write them back. Nivi generally comes across in his writing as cheering on the new world of user control, despite preciently recognizing its potential impact. I understand this, and there are a lot of areas in which I would love to have this kind of control. Much of the information on the web is just that: information. I wouldn’t mind having more control over how it is presented. But as someone who has worked a long time in the transactional business side of the Internet I can’t but point out that some “websites” are interfaces to important business functions. We wouldn’t want users to have scripting control over ATMs. Some distinction is going to have to be made between sites that contain scriptable information, and sites that represent cohesive interfaces that should not be manipulated. The distinction will need to be made on the server, and enforced on the client. Otherwise what Nivi and others champion as the birth of “hypertext for the deep web” may become instead the death of eBanking and a host of other important online businesses. Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]

]]> Comment on Poll: Would you join a startup that recruits developers from Craigslist? by Amin Ariana http://www.nivi.com/blog/article/recruiting-craigslist/comment-page-1#comment-494920 Amin Ariana Wed, 05 Mar 2008 01:10:00 +0000 http://www.nivi.com/blog/article/recruiting-craigslist#comment-494920 <p>I'm a Design Engineer from Canada. I found my current work for the big bad Redmond, WA company through Craig's List. In a week I had 27 interviews, 1/3 of which turned into offers. I still scout it just to stay in touch with the reality of the software job market. I'm your most likely candidate to soon be burned out and get his stuff together to go backpacking for a year.</p> <p>I use Craig's List exclusively because (1) other job search sites are not simple enough... greedy = won't work. (2) I don't apply directly to companies because I get a totally different reaction. Most companies, when you go after them, sound arrogant and want to low-ball. I put up my resume and look for a manager who's most genuinely in need and I can shake hands with as a friend / mentee in some regards.</p> <p>I have spoken to many start-ups on Craig's List, but I can see right through them: they have the same attitude big companies have. They want somebody else to have offered me a job before they take the risk. I can easily talk about my other offers, but I don't. I look for a mature employer. A lot of them sound senior and mature, but I can read between their lines: scared.</p> <p>So far I haven't found the start-up I'm looking for. Chances are I'll start my own after the whole back-packing thing.</p> <p>One word of advice:</p> <p>Just because you don't see good talent post on Craig's List, doesn't mean they're not there. Their eyes are there. They're looking around about once a month or so. State your presence. Do your hard work... you either gotta pay a recruiter or do the dirty work of screening yourself. If you don't do either, you'll end up with crap, Craig's List or not.</p> <p>One last thing:</p> <p>Standard interview questions, say for C#, almost always filter out good talent with no interview skills and only keep people with memorized interview answers. I can't recount how many times I've given shaky answers to "what's the difference between a Class and a Struct" and been rejected. You want good Computer Scientists? Design your questions objectively. Give an algorithm question. Ask something I actually care to know when I write great software. I've written web apps performing with 4.5 Billion clicks per month and I still frown upon questions requiring pre-test memorization.</p> <p>If you're a great coder:</p> <p>Start your own company. Don't wait to be told what you're worth. You're worth millions if you just do what you do best and you study a few good marketing books as you gain experience.</p> I’m a Design Engineer from Canada. I found my current work for the big bad Redmond, WA company through Craig’s List. In a week I had 27 interviews, 1/3 of which turned into offers. I still scout it just to stay in touch with the reality of the software job market. I’m your most likely candidate to soon be burned out and get his stuff together to go backpacking for a year.

I use Craig’s List exclusively because (1) other job search sites are not simple enough… greedy = won’t work. (2) I don’t apply directly to companies because I get a totally different reaction. Most companies, when you go after them, sound arrogant and want to low-ball. I put up my resume and look for a manager who’s most genuinely in need and I can shake hands with as a friend / mentee in some regards.

I have spoken to many start-ups on Craig’s List, but I can see right through them: they have the same attitude big companies have. They want somebody else to have offered me a job before they take the risk. I can easily talk about my other offers, but I don’t. I look for a mature employer. A lot of them sound senior and mature, but I can read between their lines: scared.

So far I haven’t found the start-up I’m looking for. Chances are I’ll start my own after the whole back-packing thing.

One word of advice:

Just because you don’t see good talent post on Craig’s List, doesn’t mean they’re not there. Their eyes are there. They’re looking around about once a month or so. State your presence. Do your hard work… you either gotta pay a recruiter or do the dirty work of screening yourself. If you don’t do either, you’ll end up with crap, Craig’s List or not.

One last thing:

Standard interview questions, say for C#, almost always filter out good talent with no interview skills and only keep people with memorized interview answers. I can’t recount how many times I’ve given shaky answers to “what’s the difference between a Class and a Struct” and been rejected. You want good Computer Scientists? Design your questions objectively. Give an algorithm question. Ask something I actually care to know when I write great software. I’ve written web apps performing with 4.5 Billion clicks per month and I still frown upon questions requiring pre-test memorization.

If you’re a great coder:

Start your own company. Don’t wait to be told what you’re worth. You’re worth millions if you just do what you do best and you study a few good marketing books as you gain experience.

]]> Comment on RSS is an API for Content by Victor Ganic http://www.nivi.com/blog/article/rss-is-an-api-for-content/comment-page-1#comment-440085 Victor Ganic Sun, 13 Jan 2008 16:10:06 +0000 http://www.nivi.com/blog/article/rss-is-an-api-for-content/#comment-440085 <p>Greg G. makes a good point in post #4. RSS does not employ the granularity that is commonplace in a well targeted API. This does not always have to be the case; RSS "overloaded" with RDF syntax or additional (and permissible) markup. It has been done before in RSS 1.0, and it is being done now with RSS 2.0 with Dublin Core Metadata.</p> <p>RDX is an experimental example of this that, in theory, could provide site specific actions and/or information. Web forecasts have been excitedly predicting a future where websites have automated functionality. RDF is a proven way of integrating semantic technology into a site where other programs can understand it. This is, after all, one of the goals of using an API.</p> Greg G. makes a good point in post #4. RSS does not employ the granularity that is commonplace in a well targeted API. This does not always have to be the case; RSS “overloaded” with RDF syntax or additional (and permissible) markup. It has been done before in RSS 1.0, and it is being done now with RSS 2.0 with Dublin Core Metadata.

RDX is an experimental example of this that, in theory, could provide site specific actions and/or information. Web forecasts have been excitedly predicting a future where websites have automated functionality. RDF is a proven way of integrating semantic technology into a site where other programs can understand it. This is, after all, one of the goals of using an API.

]]> Comment on Quick: Psychology Today by Linda T. http://www.nivi.com/blog/article/quick-psychology-today/comment-page-1#comment-437567 Linda T. Thu, 10 Jan 2008 18:50:14 +0000 http://www.nivi.com/blog/article/quick-psychology-today#comment-437567 <p>I agree. We do consider our offspring children well into their 20's. Maybe we could simplify our lives by giving our children more responsibility and insisting on them 'taking responsibility for their actions'at a much younger age (when they start seriously pushing their boundaries). Also, relaxing our (parents)expectations in the academic arena and believing learning happens in the classroom and as a result of life experiences might eliminate alot of the incredible stress caused by the frantic race to get into a good college as soon as you graduate from high school.</p> I agree. We do consider our offspring children well into their 20’s. Maybe we could simplify our lives by giving our children more responsibility and insisting on them ‘taking responsibility for their actions’at a much younger age (when they start seriously pushing their boundaries). Also, relaxing our (parents)expectations in the academic arena and believing learning happens in the classroom and as a result of life experiences might eliminate alot of the incredible stress caused by the frantic race to get into a good college as soon as you graduate from high school.

]]> Comment on You can’t be normal by mathew johnson http://www.nivi.com/blog/article/normal/comment-page-1#comment-425338 mathew johnson Wed, 26 Dec 2007 23:42:42 +0000 http://www.nivi.com/blog/article/normal#comment-425338 <p>"What the public criticizes you for, cultivate: It is you." - Jean Cocteau</p> “What the public criticizes you for, cultivate: It is you.” - Jean Cocteau

]]> Comment on All Your Things in One Place by Allan White http://www.nivi.com/blog/article/one-place/comment-page-1#comment-392029 Allan White Mon, 26 Nov 2007 04:03:24 +0000 http://www.nivi.com/blog/article/one-place#comment-392029 <p>Looks very interesting. I've been working on a way to parse all these feeds (Blip.tv, Flickr, delicious, Twitter, et. al.) into One True Feed, but the results have been uneven. Every service does it just a bit differently. I think there's a real opportunity in this space.</p> Looks very interesting. I’ve been working on a way to parse all these feeds (Blip.tv, Flickr, delicious, Twitter, et. al.) into One True Feed, but the results have been uneven. Every service does it just a bit differently. I think there’s a real opportunity in this space.

]]> Comment on Poll: Would you join a startup that recruits developers from Craigslist? by fred http://www.nivi.com/blog/article/recruiting-craigslist/comment-page-1#comment-374684 fred Sun, 11 Nov 2007 04:45:55 +0000 http://www.nivi.com/blog/article/recruiting-craigslist#comment-374684 <p>For every three rockstars it is nice to have one slogger, IMO.</p> For every three rockstars it is nice to have one slogger, IMO.

]]> Comment on Science and Technology Humor by James http://www.nivi.com/blog/article/science-humor/comment-page-1#comment-349284 James Tue, 23 Oct 2007 13:51:05 +0000 http://www.nivi.com/blog/article/science-humor#comment-349284 <p>Although a slightly different medium, I've always gotten a huge kick out of <a href="http://www.xkcd.com" rel="nofollow">xkcd</a> - a science focused web comic.</p> Although a slightly different medium, I’ve always gotten a huge kick out of xkcd – a science focused web comic.

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