Sunday, September 21, 2003

Craigslist Craig is Teaching a Class

Speaking of learning, Craig is teaching "a modest class on online community" in San Francisco on the 22nd. "Mostly, it based on what I've learned at craigslist, pretty quirky and focused on real lessons, even like how I deal with scammers and spammers."

If you are in the New York area and are interested, he's strongly considering a January session.

"I'm strongly considering teaching it in NYC on January 12th. I'd like to hear from people in NYC if you're interested, please email me at craig@craigslist.org."

[Craig Blog]

One more thing: I still cannot find his feed, though I know he has one. If anyone could point me to it I would be most thankful.
5:09:07 AM  images/woodsItemLink.gif  comment []  - See Also:  Craig Newmark | New kinds of communities 

When Learning Impedes Doing

Do Yourself a Favor and Stop Learning: " I'm about to admit something odd, and perhaps career-threatening: I'm sick of learning."

[Gadgetopia]

I love this post (that I found through [McGee's Musings]). The reason I stopped buying tech books: I realized buying a new tech book is a form of procrastination. The temptation to learn is strong. I've lucked out with my current job, I have a really good mentor who constantly monitors what's on his plate, then offloads items that could be solved more quickly by others. In our scrum-like routine I tell him what I am working on, and more often than not he responds with "don't spend time on items 3 and 4".

Is learning a defense mechanism? Do we keep learning so we don't have to write code? Is learning just an easy way to avoid having to actually pot ideas into practice?
Yes. For some developers, learning is a form of procrastination. Procrastination caused by acute chickenshititis.
4:08:58 AM  images/woodsItemLink.gif  comment []  - See Also:  Learning Theory | Productivity