Re: [Tb] questions from a non-programmer

I could have written this post, actually. I am an academic, and I
used Tinderbox for my dissertation and I still use it to manage my
time, having modified the GTD template to be more friendly to my need
to work primarily in the map interface. Lew and I might be a list of
two, but I would like to engage in some discussion about how to use
TB for research and writing more effectively. Learning as much as I
have has been rough thus far, and I keep thinking that I am somehow
missing some of the great things associated with TBox simply because
I don't have as much time to explore as I'd like (tenure clock is
ticking on me).

Lisa

On Jan 4, 2006, at 11:50 AM, Lew Friedland wrote:

> I'm an academic who has used Tinderbox from its inception, but I
> have never been able unlock its power. After following this list
> for a while, (and also some great conversations with Doug Miller)
> I've come to realize that Tinderbox is really a programming
> environment, at least that's where it's power lies. That why so
> many of you are bloggers, people working in software development
> and consulting, etc. This a a question on behalf of all the
> newbies who are not programmers. Is there a basic skills set that
> would allow me to see "under the hood" of Tinderbox and start to
> understand it's real capabilities beyond a power outliner? I'm at
> the level of someone who knows (barely) what a regex is, but has
> never written one (other than one that Doug told me to put in a few
> fields). Maybe we non-programmers are hopeless re Tinderbox, but
> I'd like to think it's not so.
> So my questions are twofold:
> 1) What are the basic (and I mean basic) programming skills that
> someone wanting to learn Tinderbox should know? and
> 2) Are there good online tutorials on the web to learn these things?
>
> This might help bridge the gap between power users and the rest of us.
>
> Also, is there any sublist of academics who are using Tinderbox for
> research and writing where books and journal articles are the main
> goals? Would people be interesting in forming one? I know there
> has been traffic in the past month (Emily, James, Rosemary). I am a
> professor and am starting a large multi-year book project and would
> like to build it in Tinderbox, but am not sure it's the most
> efficient route. Conversation partners?
>
> Thanks,
> Lew Friedland
> Director, Center for Communication and Democracy
> Professor
> School of Journalism and Mass Communication
> Department of Sociology
> UW-Madison
> 821 University Ave.
> Madison, WI 53706
>
Received on Wed Jan 4 14:43:16 2006