Thinking Out Loud Re. Organisation Of The Group...

Peter Cawthron

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Nov 30, 2012, 9:16:02 AM11/30/12

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...I'm starting to think I don't like using this group via a browser. If we put a category in the subject line [General], [Off-Topic], [News], [Code Help], [New Code], [Indicators[, [Strategies], [Research].....I haven't thought this through.....I could use email rules in Outlook to send posts to the appropriate folder. Still not perfect but better than this.

P.

nils.koesters

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Nov 30, 2012, 9:19:55 AM11/30/12

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Maybe some form of groupware?

http://www.horde.org/apps/groupware

http://www.simple-groupware.de/cms/

Anyone got some server space left?

Dave Webb

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Nov 30, 2012, 12:47:57 PM11/30/12

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I dont like this forum s/w either so if there is something better lets investigate. I'd like a tool that is easy to use and helps us collaborate well, I dont have any personal opinion or knowledge on what that tool should be.

I am prepared to copy the relevant posts across from here and the coursera forum to whatever we decide to go with so we dont loose info. Or if someone else wants to do that thats great by me :) So we can continue discussing here unti we move to something new.

I would *strongly* suggest that whatever forum and wiki s/w we use is cloud based, not running on someones server incase that someone gets bored and moves on to other things.

Does anyone want to volunteer to do some research into the pros and cons of forum s/w and wiki s/w?

Dave

Dr. Nils Koesters

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Nov 30, 2012, 12:56:54 PM11/30/12

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Searching for Cloud based groupware might be a starting point. I never
used any cloud based groupware. I installed server based ones. Wikis
are OKish .. if there is a cloudbased wiki, why not. :)

You can make sub pages and edit them to come to an end product, which
is I think what we want.

Groupwares are often over complicated. Wikis are straightforward. and
the discussion can go on the discussion page.

Dave Webb

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Nov 30, 2012, 1:24:28 PM11/30/12

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There must be a decent cloud based tool out there one that allows us to post threads, comments, assign some sort of vote to the comment and see things in a "nice easy to comprehend" fashion, plus do search by topic or user

I have used google sites for wikis in the past and its *ok* but not much use for discussions. I'm new to google groups and not 100% convinced,

Maybe someone should post a thread to the coursera forum asking for recommendations there are a group of good people out there plus it would be an opportunity to push this group since I think if we can get a few more good people then we all benefit from multiple view points/experiences.

Even thought the coursera forum s/w is not perfect it seems better than the google one to me. Except it will be going soon. Maybe someone should talk to Coursera and see if we could use the s/w ongoing, the concept of groups of ex-students carrying on discussing for each of their specific courses might be something they would buy in to supporting. Just a thought maybe a bad one...

Dave

Decatf

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Nov 30, 2012, 2:38:34 PM11/30/12

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Sounds like you're thinking of a simple forum. I am not too knowledgeable about group collaboration software. However from past experience sometimes group projects try to get started off using some edgy looking new software or something clunky that has not been proven and it hurts the groups ability to function.

The Coursera forum has a horrible design especially for group collaboration. I think it's pretty evident that big threads can turn into a gigantic mess real fast. It is designed to be a Q&A style system like Stack Exchange rather than a traditional online discussion board.

I think there needs to be a clearer definition of what this group is trying to accomplish. Is there a new software API or tools being developed? Is this group using pre-existing software and sharing ideas and code?

At the moment it seems like the latter. I'm not sure wiki is necessary for the latter at the moment. At least not as a central communication tool for the group. It might be necessary in the former case if there has been an entirely new API or toolkit developed that is to be shared. Otherwise the wiki could turn out to be a mess of pages where people are trying to post their own thing with nothing really cohesive as a whole. I seems to me like people are looking for a simple forum for discussion. Maybe a central Github repository if there is some kind of codebase to be working off of.

I'd also like to reiterate a point made by Dave Webb that there needs to be a reliable host. Someone important disappearing for whatever reason and taking away a primary tool for the group (even for short periods) is sure fire way to lose members fast and leave the group scattered.

Dave Webb

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Nov 30, 2012, 2:58:34 PM11/30/12

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Hopefully if we have some simple forum s/w we can keep the discussions focused and when inevitably a thread meanders off topic then we move that discussion to a new thread. It should be easier to manage that with a small group of individuals like we have here.

I think there are many things this group could become and probably slightly different tools will be needed depending on what occurs. As I see it the following (non exhaustive list could happen):

1) General knowledge sharing e.g.

- about stock trading

- technical analysis

- specific libraries e.g. talib

- specific techniques eg TA etc

probably a discussion board coupled with a wiki to record "useful links" and combined wisdom e.g. how to install talib in an easy to access format covers this

2) development of specific s/w collaboratively e.g. I'm building a simple investment tracking system which I'd like to enhance with backtesting and AI techniques, maybe others will get involved. Others will probably have some suggestions for collaborative projects. We can use something like git for this

3) We will generally have fun talking to each other and motivating each other to greater things

4) other things???

I think some of us will develop new s/w and some will use existing APIs and some do both and some do neither.

As I see it the benefit of a group of individuals from diverse backgrounds is the learning benefits are huge. I did the model thinking course and one thing the prof discussed is how groups of people using diverse techniques and viewpoints are almost always way more effective than any individual even the "smartest" if - and this is the key - they can communicate effectively.

Peter Cawthron

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Nov 30, 2012, 3:09:31 PM11/30/12

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What's quite funny is that the thread started on Google Groups has moved completely to email, so something is definitely amiss. Personally, I would be happy with a bulletin board in the style of vBulletin but free, obviously. I know literally nothing about them but phpBB and and yaBB would be candidates.

See: https://www.phpbb.com/ and http://www.yabbforum.com/

There is a hosting service for phpBB https://www.forumatic.com/plans/ but it soon starts to cost.

What about something like yaBB running on a Linux EC2 instance in the free tier? Although it expires after 12 months so a new account would have to created.

P.