terriko

First some me-related updates:

• I got to help staff a table at roborave on Saturday. fun! I was too busy to take pictures, so don't ask.


• GSoC ranking continues apace. It's actually less busy for me than it was, since I don't need to interact with the students as much until selection is finished, so I've gone from over a hundred people potentially wanting to talk to me to something closer to 20-30. (project admins + mentors with melange trouble). I expect there'll be some wrangling to make sure the Systers and Mailman don't have any overlapping project ideas, but that can wait a few days.


• To save people from asking me: I'm not expecting to hear about the Portland job for another couple of weeks. This is actually pretty convenient for me since it means I can focus on GSoC during the selection period; horray for good timing!

And then some links that amused me:

• Check out this awesome quote from the guy who introduced Sriracha sauce to the west.. Just scroll down; it's been helpfully put into the picture of Mr. David Tran. But the article itself is pretty interesting too.
  
  
• You may have seen the link going around claiming that the Miss Korea contestants all look like clones. I chalked it up to some sort of racist "all Korean people look the same" nonsense, but this analysis of why they all look the same is pretty interesting. Short answer: makeup and photoshop by pageant folk. (Although I bet there's some racism involved in the spread of the link too.)
  
  
• "Ship just got real." This is the most compelling smooth-jazz voiceover in a trailer for a turn-based boat game that you're going to see today. At least until you watch the second one, which has even more boat puns. J tells me that the game is actually pretty fun even though he only bought it because the trailer was hilarious.
  
  
• Ever wanted to know if your interface is being messed with by a monkey? Android has you covered with isUserAMonkey().
  
  
• Also, there exists a set of log.wtf functions in Android. Handy!
  
  
  

In case anyone was worried, no, I haven't actually started sending out form letters, but I am using this as a template I can cut & paste from for shorter, more personal emails to students.

Dear prospective student,

I've been getting a *lot* of personal emails/irc queries/IM messages since I took over as the organizational administrator for the Python Software Foundation. It's pretty neat because I'm really thrilled to see so many people excited about Google Summer of Code, but mostly, you shouldn't be contacting me directly.

If you're interested in one of the Python projects:

Take a look at the list of organizations running projects under the PSF:
http://wiki.python.org/moin/SummerOfCode/2013

Each one has a mailing list and sometimes an IRC channel associated with it. That is where you should be introducing yourself and asking questions.

If you are not sure who to contact for any reason, you should be asking on the soc2013-general mailing list. You can subscribe to this here:
http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/soc2013-general/

If you're emailing me with regard to Systers and not a project under the Python Software Foundation, the same things apply only the relevant list is systers-dev, available here:
http://systers.org/mailman/listinfo/systers-dev


Why shouldn't you email me?

1. If you email the lists, lots of mentors from around the world will see your question. If I'm asleep or at work, they'll probably be able to answer it faster than I can.
2. If you email the lists and the person answering you answers on the list, it can benefit all the people who might have a similar question.
3. Chances are, I'm not going to be the mentor for your project, so there is someone out there who can answer your question better than I can.


Thanks very much, and good luck in your GSoC applications!

Terri

I'm mildly discombobulated since my flight got in quite delayed last night and I swear, there wasn't enough time between travel even though I had more than a week, but here's updates:

(1) GSoC Mentor Summit was amazing, filled with open source folk who were also passionate about mentoring. It was cool having lots in common with every person I talked to all weekend.

(2) I have pictures, largely of playing powerpoint karaoke yesterday. Also of some of the guys playing rugby in the hot tub. ;) (Well, okay, just tossing a ball around, but still!) They need some serious culling so expect most of them later in the week. Arc pulled the best ones off my camera and they're here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/109741359399131092509/posts/VHbodBCsBPJ (Thanks to Denis of Gentoo for being our photographer!)

(3) Oh yeah, the big announcement is that I'm going to be the Org admin for the Python Software Foundation next year. Doomed! So yeah, I go from managing my 3 students, 7 mentors for Mailman (and backup managing another 3 students from Systers), to around 30 students spread across a pile of sub-organizations. Should be fun. Or terrifying. :) I'll probably write more about this later once it's had more time to sink in.

(4) I need to also make time to encourage folk to come to Pycon. There is financial aid available and the application is up. I'm going to be sending more personal notes out to my new contributors from GHC12 and my GSoC students from Systers and Mailman. The Mailman sprint last year was probably the most satisfying hacking event I've ever attended, and I want others to have that experience. :)

(5) I did get all my GHC12 pictures up before I left: https://secure.flickr.com/photos/terrio/sets/72157631687919350/

(6) My last official GHC12 blog post (about the open source day hackathon) is pending now that I have photos to go with it. I've got notes for a few more, but not sure I'll have time to write them.

In theory, I'll be home in New Mexico and not traveling again 'till December. Which is good, because I need to put together academic applications, write a paper with my remaining thesis research (the tech report got cited twice already, which is a sign that I should have something more peer-reviewed out there), and get the research done for my next paper. Plus, you know, squash all the open bugs/add all the missing features in Postorius, make sure the port of dynamic sublists to Mailman 3 is finished, and purchase flights for my trip home in December.

I feel like I should be a lot more stressed about all that I've got on my plate, but after a weekend with open source folk, I'm feeling pretty relaxed and pleasant and like it's all going to work out somehow. And to be honest, that feeling may be the most important thing I'm bringing back from Mountain View this week. :)