Aid to newcomers (was something else)
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David Porter
Jan 14, 2013, 11:43:55 PM1/14/13
to mylifeo...@googlegroups.com
I thought it might be a good time to change the name of the thread.
Some of the suggestions so far are: (but I may have missed a few)
1. A real instruction manual
2. Wiki for My Life Organized
3. Collaborative writing of docs
My thoughts follow:
No matter what the final medium, the underlying emphasis, I feel, should
be on the underlying structure of the (for lack of a better term) MLO
database. From a good understanding of the basic underpinnings of the
data model, the types of sorting, filtering, and reporting available,
and several (more than one per item and at least three cautionary
examples {see below}) very simple examples of each of these nuggets of
knowledge I believe that most newcomers could get a quick start and
reduce the number of total rebuilds on their way to a very effective
implementation of MLO for them.
It is important to realize that MLO is just a toolbox, that there are as
many ways of tackling life as there are people, and to comprehensively
explain the tools in the box will give the most people the best chance
of building their own MLO house. I am reminded of a story in one of the
"Whole Earth Catalog's" that described a guy who outfitted a trailer
with a complete workshop and would show up at communes to let the
commune use his tools for room and board. He had to teach many people
how to use tools even though they had never used tools before. His sage
advice was that "You don't know how to use a tool until you know how to
abuse it three different ways." My take away is that you don't know
where the boundaries are until you step over them. Newcomers need to
know how the individual tools inside MLO work and they won't know that
until they know where the boundaries of each tool are {cautionary
examples}. Once you know the individual tools and their boundaries,
getting them to work together is much simpler.
Dave
Some of the suggestions so far are: (but I may have missed a few)
1. A real instruction manual
2. Wiki for My Life Organized
3. Collaborative writing of docs
My thoughts follow:
No matter what the final medium, the underlying emphasis, I feel, should
be on the underlying structure of the (for lack of a better term) MLO
database. From a good understanding of the basic underpinnings of the
data model, the types of sorting, filtering, and reporting available,
and several (more than one per item and at least three cautionary
examples {see below}) very simple examples of each of these nuggets of
knowledge I believe that most newcomers could get a quick start and
reduce the number of total rebuilds on their way to a very effective
implementation of MLO for them.
It is important to realize that MLO is just a toolbox, that there are as
many ways of tackling life as there are people, and to comprehensively
explain the tools in the box will give the most people the best chance
of building their own MLO house. I am reminded of a story in one of the
"Whole Earth Catalog's" that described a guy who outfitted a trailer
with a complete workshop and would show up at communes to let the
commune use his tools for room and board. He had to teach many people
how to use tools even though they had never used tools before. His sage
advice was that "You don't know how to use a tool until you know how to
abuse it three different ways." My take away is that you don't know
where the boundaries are until you step over them. Newcomers need to
know how the individual tools inside MLO work and they won't know that
until they know where the boundaries of each tool are {cautionary
examples}. Once you know the individual tools and their boundaries,
getting them to work together is much simpler.
Dave
Lisa Stroyan
Jan 16, 2013, 5:34:49 PM1/16/13
to Groups, Email
At the encouragement of this group, I've started outlining a book about getting the most out of MLO. Not so much, "here's how to use this feature" but (1) helping people get started that are intimidated, and (2) how to combine features to create your own customized system to get the most effect out of MLO. Who knows if I'll have the energy / time to fix it, but I'm going to try. But the appeal of writing it, for me, is to get it published, be a published author (because I'm working on other books), potentially generate more income for MLO which indirectly benefits me in terms of new and improved features), and generate a little income to use to pay someone to clean my house so I can work on my other books :)
Not that any of that conflicts with the ideas below; if anyone has the energy to work on them, go for it!
Not that any of that conflicts with the ideas below; if anyone has the energy to work on them, go for it!
Lisa
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Lisa
Lisa Stroyan, mailto: lstr...@gmail.com
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