Comments on: So you want to be a geek…

By: Why it’s not just about teaching kids to code | qwghlm.co.uk

Why it’s not just about teaching kids to code | qwghlm.co.uk — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:55:24 +0000

[...] code, because it’s a collection of really useful resources. For what it’s worth, I wrote a blog post nearly three years ago on things on things to get started on – though if I wrote it today I [...]

By: links for 2009-01-27 « pootling

links for 2009-01-27 « pootling — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 08:30:20 +0000

[...] So you want to be a geek� Some interesting pointers here. Something I really need to look into in more detail. (tags: advice blog post chrisapplegate qwghlm geek programming data journalism coding) [...]

By: adoption curve dot net » Blog Archive » Learning to think like a programmer geek

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 20:28:18 +0000

[...] various other blogs: Chris Applegate, who describes himself as a “wannabe polymath” chipped in with recommendations to get involved with regular expressions, comma-separated variables …. And Tom Armitage – who *IS* a programmer, even if he hotly denies it – suggested thinking like a [...]

By: Mark Sullivan

Mark Sullivan — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 20:03:22 +0000

First they came for the code monkeys, and I did nothing, because I was not a code monkey.
Then they came for the twitterers, and I did nothing, because I did not have twitter.
Then they came for the hackers, and I did nothing, because I do not hack.

And then they came for me, and I defeated and bamboozled them with my use of Oxford commas and a correct use of the Queen’s English.

Hey, we all need a skill and sometimes it’s better to build on your strengths and make them even better than building up weaknesses that will only ever be slightly less worserer than they were before.

But interesting thoughts all the same, Sir.

By: Andrew Wong

Andrew Wong — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 19:35:13 +0000

I don’t think journalists need to learn how to code, any more than they need to learn how to make bread to be able to write about food or the baking industry. What they *do* need to know is not to take digital data at face-value, *understand* the digital experience instead of poking at it from the sidelines, have an understanding of how things are developed and indeed, be able to talk to geeks/programmers on their own level. Whether they need to learn how to program is a different matter.

And what happened to the days when BASIC and HTML was all you needed? *sigh*

By: Seb Bacon

Seb Bacon — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 17:48:25 +0000

I couldn’t agree with you more on the general principle, but I disagree regarding regular expressions. They are evilly seductive. True enough, I use them to solve simple problems every day, but I’m too often tempted to use them for complicated problems. Then the words of Jamie Zawinski echo mockingly around my head…

Some people, when confronted with a problem, think “I know, I�ll use regular expressions.” Now they have two problems.

By: The Red Rocket

The Red Rocket — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 17:28:54 +0000

Good post Chris.

As a semi-geeky PR person, I’m still embarrassed by my lack of coding skills. Sure, I can mess around with a little bit of HTML and can get by amending Wikipedia pages, but I wish I knew a bit about PHP and Javascript too (I’ve never been gripped by Yahoo Pipes, despite having a couple of plays though).

Unfortunately, most PRs – even those that claim to be social media experts – aren’t that hot on the tech side. Maybe it’s something that should feature on PR, marketing and business degree courses…?

By: amoebic vodka

amoebic vodka — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:44:40 +0000

Journalists realising that correlation != causation would be a pretty good first step on the data thing. Though I suspect the post is targeted at journalists who’ve already got that.

By: Phil

Phil — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:37:16 +0000

I gave up IT for journalism in 1996, gave that up for an academic career in 2004, and I still get people asking me if I can help them with their computers. (The really annoying thing is, I usually can.)

But… having given up IT for journalism 13 years ago, I know not this PHP or Python of which you speak. (Well, obviously I’ve heard of them…) I tend to agree more with the beginning and the very end of the post (and Terence’s comment, in particular) than with the middle – I think it’s an attitude rather than a specific skillset. It’s looking at the data (or the press release) and thinking

a) what’s this really saying?
b) how can I get hold of the data?
c) when I’ve answered b), how can I play with it to answer a)?

The idea that there’s a difference between raw data and aggregate data, and that the raw data’s malleable – that to me is the real lightbulb moment. The more I think about it the more I lean towards Terence’s point – number-crunching and IT skillz aren’t the same thing & don’t necessarily go together (um… do they?).

Incidentally, the last time I approached Charles Arthur for journalistic advice, his advice was that if I wanted to sell stuff I should go out and talk to people and find things out – any idiot with a blog can write a column. This was probably sound advice. (I decided to stick with academia.)

By: MatGB

MatGB — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 13:19:09 +0000

Um, you propose learning JS and PHP. I agree (I’m learning both). But, um, wouldn’t a knowledge of HTML be pretty essential first for both of those?

Hell, every blogger should learn how to read and replicate HTML, at least at a basic level. So many can’t even be bothered to learn how to code an anchor, let alone anything useful. But yeah, stats and data manipulation should be basic skills for journalists. If they can’t look at the dataset themself and spot obvious flaws, then they can’t do the job.

By: Terence Eden

Terence Eden — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 10:57:04 +0000

The other “Geeky” thing I would recommend is… Take a GCSE or A-Level in statistics. Then learn to use Excel*.

I’ve been blown away by the number of sales / PR / journalists who’ve shown me a graph purporting to show that PRODUCT X is the next iPod, cures cancer, and makes more money than anything else in their portfolio.

A cursory look at the data – even _sorting_ the data – shows a completely different picture. It doesn’t take much to learn about standard deviation or any of the other basic statistical tools. The rewards, however, are outstanding. I’ve punctured myths, showed where real problems lie and been able to give credit to groups who would otherwise be overlooked.

Terence
*Or OpenOffice Calc. Or something similar.