Sociocorpus

The complaint I most commonly hear from people whose tech-savvy loved one, or other tame geek, has attempted to help them learn to use a computer is:

They did everything so fast that I didn’t have a chance of figuring out what they were actually doing.

The cure for this is extremely simple:

Don’t let them touch the computer.

Not the mouse, not the keyboard, and not even the screen. This forces the geek to find a way of assisting you to do the things that need to be done. Advanced users of this technique can even try not letting the geek point. Make them describe things in terms that you actually understand. Obviously this can be difficult so they will need to begin by taking an interest in you.

Tell me what you are trying to achieve.

Describe what you see on the screen.

Bear in mind that this does not apply to consulting. There are times when you want your geek to make the computer work, and to set it up to work in useful ways. Getting your internet connection configured, for example. So let them work away on the computer until it’s done. Make sure they tell you why they are doing stuff, but never mind about what or how.

How do you know whether it’s a matter for training or consulting? Simple again.

If it needs to be done more than once a week, it’s training.

Once you know all the stuff that needs to be done more than once a week, extend the period out to a month.

All jobs in the World are some combination of three basic jobs.: geekery, wrangling and bitching. Actually, there is only one job: geeking and wrangling your way out of bitching.

Geekery
All jobs require domain knowledge. It does not only apply to computing. It applies to building, opera singing and housework. In each case, particular knowledge is required to do the job properly. Which kinds of fastenings work best with particular materials. The historical and cultural context of a song. The cleaning product that is most effective for each surface. And why.
Wrangling
Domain knowledge doesn’t make things happen. Engaging and organising people, resources, and yourself, does. Managing materials, staff and contractors. Getting to the front of the stage and relating with the audience. Vacuuming without unplugging the vacuum cleaner. Wrangling is mainly learned though experience.
Bitching
Bitching requires neither technical knowledge or leadership. You do it so that geeks and wranglers don’t have to.

Roles at OnlineGroups.Net
We are typical. Michael is Geek and I’m Wrangler. We both do plenty of each other’s job, and a fair bit of bitching, but we specialise. Alice recently joined us to do ’support’ (you can’t write ‘bitching’ in a job ad). But her job is really to geek and wrangle herself out of bitching. No-one likes doing it, you don’t learn much and it’s not worth much. But if you systemise and automate enough, there’s hardly any to do. Our strategy is to sell high value services, systemise them and sell lots, and then give them away, growing new people up through those layers.

One of my new year’s passions is to be gentle with my body. If you use a computer a lot, and want to be gentle with your body too, use the mouse with your left hand. It hurts less. I am about to present two compelling reasons for this. I believe they are irrefutable (please tell me, if you think you can refute them). And it only takes a day or so to switch. I can go both ways now, but use my left hand far more than the right, even though I am right-handed.

Mouse and Keyboard in the Right Place

You use your Right Hand More on the Keyboard than your Left
Most keyboards have navigation keys, and a numeric keypad. Because these almost always protrude to the right of the keyboard, the right hand gets to operate these (and ‘backspace’), as well as its share of the alphabetical character keys. If you use your right hand for the mouse as well, your poor right hand is dashing all over the place, while the left sits idle. Give your left hand a share of the work. You can’t move the navigation and numeric keys, but you can move the mouse.

Mouse a Long way to the Right

There is More Room for the Mouse to the Left of the Keyboard than to the Right
If you like to have the alphabetical keys equally easy to reach by your right and left hands, the navigation and numeric keys already stick out to the right, leaving a mousepad sized gap to the left. If you use the mouse with your right, you must reach even further to the right.

Keyboard to the Left

This Radio NZ interview text like a teen features two teenagers who run a course in texting at their local high school community ed programme. Their students are mainly older folk who, often motivated by wanting to communicate with their grandchildren. They know that letters don’t get replies.

The teenagers describe various classroom challenges that will be familiar to adult educators and they describe their responses with the confidence of the enfranchised.

The prize for Most Prolific Photographer goes to Griff Wigley. Griff’s pictures capture the mood of this firts day nicely.

The others of us are tagging our ODDC pics at flickr. And my shots from our post conference retreat in the woods are skeetermocracy.

I am back from the USA with much to blog and much to delight and intrigue of a day to day nature. As my molecules are reassemble, I will post here on one or two matters – in the order in which they occur to me.

I saw a few copies of the Deliberative Democracy Handbook: Strategies for Effective Civic Engagement in the Twenty-First Century, while I was in the US. I’d recommend this for a comprehensive and in-depth introduction to deliberative democracy in the US today, whether online or in traditional settings.

Steven Clift has updated his resource on how to Start an Issues Forum.

The Technology section now mentions: “A new, soon to be released open source tool, GroupServer combines the best aspects of e-mail lists and web forums. “

It’s true!