I ask questions - Blog:Observations [en]

why not try to get more senses activated

Erkan Yilmaz — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 07:51:18 GMT

Well, reading with the laptop is fine. But for some enjoying moments I need the feeling of having a book in my hands - and a cup of coffee within reach

the spirit level and the water prisoned inside

Erkan Yilmaz — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 20:51:19 GMT

what about the air inside?

While using a spirit level today I thought: what a nice invention. Also crossed my mind: the water inside is cut from the other water. I wonder when it will join the family ? On the other hand the other elements of the spirit level are also (far) away from their kind.

why not read that

Erkan Yilmaz — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 13:57:20 GMT

Shu-shan No-Toes visiting Kong Qiu and Lao Dan

I like this question

Erkan Yilmaz — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 21:41:50 GMT

My favorite question for today is:

What seems to be the problem ?

Much much better than: What's the problem ?

How much is your life worth

Erkan Yilmaz — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:01:00 GMT

So, how much units of x is your life worth ? And how about someone else's life ?

What would the world look like without written word, scripture

Erkan Yilmaz — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 18:32:38 GMT

different - but how ?

What is an online community (Facilitating Online 2009)

Erkan Yilmaz — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:59:42 GMT

to the reader: work in progress: panta rhei (everything flows)

about What is an online community (OC) ?:

seen the first video (Michael Wesch: An anthropological introduction to YouTube):
- just a quick feedback for now: interesting to see how youtube started and the community developed (though it is just one view). I liked the video for its motivating effect: when seeing how the different videos and their remixes spread, it kind of invited one to do that kind of thing also Good production !

approaching the question

Should I begin with taking the two words first and then consider the emergent properties ?

I mentioned here "but I list here the ones with longer involvement (somehow I perceive time as important for an online community, because with time comes feelings)" - my first thought when thinking of OCs was: time and trust. That creates a strong binding to an OC - at least for me. While watching the first video I came to think of some other OCs I am part of - later more. But the ones mentioned yesterday are the ones I have a strong feeling to.

collecting my experiences in online communities
based on my experiences I'd like to collect some questions to see if an online community can become successful or not:
- are there helpful people around ?
- does it have a goal/philosophy that convinces fast ?
- is it easy to participate + open (in many aspects) ?
- did it survive a few crises ?
- do they decide themselves and don't do what others say (who don't understand yet their motivation) ?
- do they have a "marketing" department ?
mumbling: so, what is an OC ? is it living things - you and me ... e.g. interacting for the next few months ? what else ? what about non-living things ? pograms, (ro)bots, ... ? is it a mixture ? of ? is it something not directly touchable ? feelings ? thoughts ?

things in my mind atm (unsorted)

first meeting ended too early (Facilitating Online 2009)

Erkan Yilmaz — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:30:10 GMT

Well, the 1st meeting just ended too early :-( Bad karma, probably a technical problem on server side (logins rejected). But we could manage to get a few people into Skype. Though not exactly what one imagines. Let's hope it continues better and not too many are scared off.

contacts with others

Chris Woodhouse + I were in the chat room about 1h earlier and snooped on each other and that was not a bad thing at all. Got some info for my question: Is there a device which can help to put my thoughts into digital form - preferred in light speed ? Also it proved to be good in another way: when the server collapsed we were sure it was not something on our side. So, we managed to come in contact with Sarah Stewart in Skype where also others joined later.
There were some emails with other participants so far - but of course only the normal email communications you can do with a stranger.

todo

the course facilitators should for next meeting/year include some additional communication channels beforehand

course Facilitating Online

Erkan Yilmaz — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 18:02:13 GMT

Hello, this is Erkan Yilmaz from Karlsruhe, Germany and a short intro for other participants of the "Facilitating Online" course on Wikiversity. This will be my 2nd time for such kind of course. The last one was: Composing free and open online educational resources. I had positive associations for this past course and want to see how this one is going to work out.

"What experience I have of belonging to an online community ?"

There are also other examples, but I list here the ones with longer involvement (somehow I perceive time as important for an online community, because with time comes feelings):

I was/will be/am part of the Wikiversity community. See for my experiences at my blog there: wikiversity:User:Erkan Yilmaz/observations.
Professionally I am involved in quality management in the software industry: involved with persons earning money with testing ([1]); was moderator of (mainly Indian member) "testing" groups @ Yahoo! groups, Orkut. Experience ? There is an older blog here, though I wouldn't say that can give an overview at all.
I am quite often in IRC (Internet Relay Chat).
Music I like - it is more like a oneway street, since the communication to the radio stations (and their crews) is limited (from time to time visiting chats) but as per my time-feeling-thingy I would like to list it here. Don't shoot me yet for this

things in my mind atm (unsorted)

here you can find an OPML file which you can add to your favorite RSS reader (hope saves some of you some time). It contains 24 of the first 26 entries from the list (2 feeds are missing: [2], [3])
What kind of online event (assignment2) could I do ? I guess anything fits Let's ask later in the meeting, what the others will do. Otherwise none will attend
Perhaps I can join with this course again more actively Wikiversity ?
Am I projecting too much from Composing free and open online educational resources on this course ? Will listen more carefully what this course will be like.
I should look up the participants from Composing free and open online educational resources again.
What you noticed so far surely is, that I am combining a wiki and a blog. I hope I can convince some more of you during our 5 months to use such kind of environment for your PLE (Personal Learning Environment) - shoot me with your questions if you feel like it or look here first. As it is with wikis: they live from editing, so don't expect some kind of really final pages here: panta rhei, "everything flows". (So, do you want to peek in the version history of this page by clicking on the "history"-button above ?)

done

how to comment in this wiki ? click the "discussion"-button above; also see this picture Done
my mumblings until December 2009 will be listed in: Category:FOC09 - you can also subscribe to the site feed. Done
I'm kind of late, since the course started 3 days ago and the 1st meeting will take place in about 5h. So my todos are for now:
- try the meeting software Done on linux
- read "super-fast" participant's blogs Done
How come the course moved from Wikieducator to Wikiversity ? Done see here
How many of the other participants will attend and continue the course ? Done 13 attended 1st meeting
I hope I don't get too tired until the meeting starts (1 AM) Done

this is me

Erkan as child

never let disappear the child in you

exhausting day and someone still brought a smile on my face. Am I now fit for the Country of the Blind ?

What makes the light so irresistible

Erkan Yilmaz — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:43:11 GMT

Just wanted some fresh air actually. But when seeing the street lamp and some beings (let's call them insects, in different sizes and shapes) trying to approach the light in the dark (in various speeds) I couldn't stop but wonder again.
One thought may be: stupid (low) beings. Another thought may be: is it something related to survival ? Are they in a desperate situation ? Are they perhaps being controlled by some other force ? Suicide attempts ? Masochists ? Perhaps it is a game which they play (before going to "bed") ? Perhaps they are trying to amuse someone ? Me ? You ? Their mates ? Perhaps I am just dreaming already. Or there is no sense at all. Or another possible answer I am too lazy about to think. What might they get out of this ? Besides that they get injured.

If one observes, one may see one of the answers. And hopefully search for the other answer after that. Let's wait for tomorrow to see this happening again. I wonder if it will be the same beings again ? There is learning taking place surely. I wonder how much and on which side of this spectacle ?

What MUST one really do

Erkan Yilmaz — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 18:53:26 GMT

There was a time when I liked to throw into discussions: "Sooner or later we are all going to die."
There was also a time when somebody said something like: "...must do...", "...has to be..."
I was replying like: "What must one really do? Dying? Only in certain religions."
Let me ponder more what one really MUST do (or MUST NOT do).

learning japanese

Erkan Yilmaz — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 21:53:09 GMT

(due to some conditions) there is a chance to learn Japanese. That means reserving some extra time for the next years. Have to ponder more about it the next days.

update: collecting some Japanese resources

things in my mind atm

Erkan Yilmaz — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:08:40 GMT

one of them: long term effects
another: speed (slow vs. fast)
a situation with one of my young relatives: I wonder how that situation will have effects in 20 years, if any at all,

Robots, Men and Minds

Erkan Yilmaz — Sun, 10 May 2009 20:10:56 GMT

Somehow I volunteered to make a presentation in the seminar about "Robots, Men and Minds" (1967) by Ludwig von Bertalanffy.

understanding Philebus

Erkan Yilmaz — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:09:35 GMT

One of the activities which exhaust my time reserves atm is: understanding Philebus

result so far: interesting
question: let's see if I can do all until the deadline.

Is there a device which can help to put my thoughts into digital form - preferred in light speed

Erkan Yilmaz — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 21:01:04 GMT

I was pondering why I didn't use the extension I installed for drawing/sketching - here an example what I did, instead using it:

I wanted to illustrate something to someone. Wanted to create a cld (causal loop diagram), but not with mediawikiwiki:Extension:AnyWikiDraw
my thought was: "No, just not that!" Couldn't use skype extensions or desktop sharing, but even so, this also would have taken more time.

So, what did I do exactly?

1. I took a paper, drew what I had in mind

2. corrected and striked out things

3. used scanner to get the paper into KolourPaint

4. there I deleted the striked out "mess"

5. edited some things with digital text, because my writing in hurry is not so readable

6. and then send the sketch by email (here normally I would have to use the wiki upload funtion)

There surely is a device that can do this faster and more elegant, e.g.

a small pda with WLAN, where I just can easily draw and upload by wlan (without using the scanner), preferrably all set up in the program - so after I draw, I press a button and automatically this click uploads it to the wiki.
350 $: Pattie Maes & Pranav Mistry: Unveiling the "Sixth Sense," game-changing wearable tech

I don't like that I have to adapt myself to the blocky devices (e.g. scanner) + services (e.g. have to click scan, save, add in email, ...). Ideas flow fast, if I lose time with things on the way, I have lesser ideas

todo: look for something which is small enough to carry around and where I can use some kind of pencil to draw and write text or even better: just think and it gets drawn automatically

wishlist:

long running time
small, but big enough that I don't have to scroll when drawing bigger sketches

in the the good old days...

Erkan Yilmaz — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:13:54 GMT

... one could download scripts and other materials without much barrier from my university pages. Well, since I finished studying, time passed and some things obviously changed, e.g. you have to log in to get these kind of materials and before that the professor must enable your account also. No doubt there are certain advantages for this. But wasn't one goal of education centers to foster knowledge, education, ... (put in your words here) for the public ? Would be great if more people could participate in creating more open educational resources.

Just have to get this now of my chest - I may reedit this later on

which software do I use intentionally when being around in this wiki ?

Erkan Yilmaz — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 21:29:40 GMT

Make a list and don't forget to thank (at least in your thoughts) the people who enable you to do what you like.

So, let's see - which software/service do I use mostly/intentionally when being around in this wiki ?

software/ services	description	licence			comment	previously used software	licence
		CC0 / PD	GNU General Public License	various
Pardus	OS		x			Windows	MS-EULA
KDE	desktop environment		x	x	KDE 3.5.10 (KDE 4 is not just fit yet - for my system :-))	GNOME, Windows	LGPL/GPL, MS-EULA
MediaWiki	wiki software		x			WordPress	GPL v2
Extensions	for MediaWiki			x
PHP	scripting language			PHP License
Firefox	browser		x	MPL/GNU GPL/GNU LGPL/ Mozilla EULA (for binary redistribution)		Opera	Freeware, Proprietary
Amarok	music player		x		great music: AZNradio	Winamp	Proprietary
Kate	text editor			LGPL v2		Notepad	MS-Eula
Konversation	IRC client		x			KVIrc	Modified GPL
Akregator	feed aggregator		x
Skype	VoIP			Freeware
?					surely there is more with time they get listed here

Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC)

Erkan Yilmaz — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 19:54:27 GMT

BOINC Manager 6.7.4

Taking part in Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC)

How about if all available projects in BOINC would have workunits that can finish faster on user's side ? This could "win" users probably faster since they might want to see fast how/that they contribute to the network. Later it is just running in background, but the "show" at begin should be better.

So, compiling BOINC (trunk version, 6.7.4) on Pardus 2008.2 took a while. Most of the project's workunits need some time to complete (one even 174h). I guess I have to buy better hardware Let's see when I will find out, that I am actually helping big brother to decipher my own private data

About gridrepublic: wouldn't it be better for the users when the selectable projects are offered into categories like:

error communicating with project (could be done automatically, then I would not waste my time even clicking that project)
~~beta status~~ (will see in a few days what exactly this "may not yet provide the security and stability" means )

question to myself: so, where is the learning ?

Erkan Yilmaz — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 00:28:32 GMT

In previous times I praised learning e.g. like:

I guess the view of what the mission of Wikiversity should be is just different. WV is e.g. about learning (communities). And here everybody has a different view/definition what "learning" is. Some have a broader definition, some less broad. Regarding which definition/view one has, you must understand people here at Wikiversity. E.g. learning for some means a mental change and that then can mean: things that help to create a mental change are ok. When seeing wikis not as static but dynamic and knowing/believing in the revertability of edits the learning experience increases. I see WV as a place where people can learn personally in their development - every action one does influences one's life, the view on things. This "learning" certainly takes also place at other places but e.g. since the other Wikimedia projects have a limited scope - e.g. WP creates mainly encyclopedia articles, WB creates wikibooks - they perhaps are not always suitable for all aspects of learning. I also believe that when WV has produced "products" that these should be exported to other Wikimedia projects - when they fit the policies there. People create the products. I want primarily people to interact here, if then they during that create products: perfect. But hey, that is just my view and WV has many participants and they see WV surely different. (Erkan Yilmaz. (2008, August 16). In Wikiversity. Retrieved 22:59, March 15, 2009, from Wikiversity, licence: GFDL)

The following will surely not be a final list at this late hour, but let me summarize how I want to use or have used this wiki so far for "learning":

PLE: create my personal learning space, see also: Wikiversity:Personal learning environment
- my PLE diary at Wikiversity
- in the last days I didn't achieve this goal, because of setting up the wiki and exploring things related to it
- mind plays a big role, so change some things (e.g. sidebar, make blog as main page of wiki), so I concentrate on the blog/PLE, otherwise the old habbit of wiki comes back
- using data to make statistics (example), graphs: to see what ? the learning curve ? using as motivation to keep going ?
- Help:Draw: create drawings, sketches, ...
set up blogging (see my motivation here)
translate the blog posts into German (or other languages) as done in the past ([1])
- wondering if I should just import the old blog posts to here ? advantage: I would read them again. Surely would laugh at some old posts Who knows I could create new versions of old blog posts ? new ideas ?
experience with setting up a wiki: using a wiki as user, admin, ... is ok, but just one aspect. One can now understand better why some things are as they are (technology, the strictness of some contributors, ...).
contributing to open source projects: e.g. Help:Wikilog
Help:Semantic Mediawiki
more thoughts about licences and Standing on the shoulders of giants
- blogging in CC-by-nc
- Part 2: What can motivate to give away "own" stuff - more willingly ?
...

I ask questions - Blog:Observations [en]

why not try to get more senses activated

the spirit level and the water prisoned inside

why not read that

I like this question

How much is your life worth

What would the world look like without written word, scripture

What is an online community (Facilitating Online 2009)

approaching the question

things in my mind atm (unsorted)

first meeting ended too early (Facilitating Online 2009)

contacts with others

todo

course Facilitating Online

"What experience I have of belonging to an online community ?"

things in my mind atm (unsorted)

done

this is me

What makes the light so irresistible

What MUST one really do

learning japanese

things in my mind atm

Robots, Men and Minds

understanding Philebus

Is there a device which can help to put my thoughts into digital form - preferred in light speed

in the the good old days...

which software do I use intentionally when being around in this wiki ?

Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC)

See also

question to myself: so, where is the learning ?