WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.900 And my beer is not ideal. 00:00:01.900 --> 00:00:02.750 No, 00:00:03.800 --> 00:00:05.850 that sounds worse. 00:00:07.350 --> 00:00:23.450 So I don't even know how this ended up in my fridge, but it's in my fridge, so I'm drinking it because that's the only way it'll not be in my fridge. But I don't know, I haven't had any yet, but it's a Guinness, but it's not — I thought this was just Guinness, but it's Guinness Black Lager. 00:00:23.450 --> 00:00:24.400 Oh, sure. 00:00:24.400 --> 00:00:26.350 That's not Guinness. 00:00:27.090 --> 00:00:27.590 No. 00:00:27.790 --> 00:00:28.640 It's not Guinness. 00:00:29.040 --> 00:00:31.790 So this is Guinness trying to do something else? 00:00:32.090 --> 00:00:36.790 This is Guinness trying to sell black and tans. 00:00:38.840 --> 00:00:39.390 What? 00:00:40.040 --> 00:00:40.540 Yeah. 00:00:40.540 --> 00:00:41.640 Out of a bottle? 00:00:42.090 --> 00:00:44.740 No, no, you get like a three pack of each. 00:00:46.190 --> 00:00:48.690 Oh, so this is them selling the — 00:00:48.790 --> 00:00:50.190 well, 00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:50.890 but it's dark. 00:00:53.270 --> 00:00:53.770 I know. 00:00:56.670 --> 00:00:58.470 It doesn't make any sense. 00:00:58.770 --> 00:01:00.370 It's got roasted barley. 00:01:01.170 --> 00:01:01.670 Yeah. 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:06.270 Is there beer that doesn't have roasted barley? 00:01:07.520 --> 00:01:09.220 Anything that's not dark? 00:01:09.470 --> 00:01:09.970 Okay. 00:01:10.070 --> 00:01:12.220 Yeah, I mean, yeah. 00:01:12.270 --> 00:01:12.770 Even, 00:01:12.870 --> 00:01:13.370 yeah. 00:01:13.770 --> 00:01:14.970 That's the easy answer. 00:01:15.620 --> 00:01:16.320 It's okay. 00:01:16.720 --> 00:01:17.520 It's not bad. 00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:20.090 It's not exciting. What are you drinking? 00:01:20.490 --> 00:01:22.890 Founders Dirty Bastard. 00:01:22.940 --> 00:01:24.840 I had that the other day. 00:01:24.840 --> 00:01:25.440 Yeah. 00:01:26.140 --> 00:01:27.140 I, 00:01:27.190 --> 00:01:28.540 where was I? 00:01:29.090 --> 00:01:31.540 We went to a restaurant, Spoon River. 00:01:32.760 --> 00:01:34.960 At Brenda's, you know, place, 00:01:34.960 --> 00:01:35.460 Yeah, 00:01:35.160 --> 00:01:35.660 and 00:01:35.260 --> 00:01:35.760 nice. 00:01:35.760 --> 00:01:50.460 I asked what their seasonal beer was. They listed one and they said something about a dirty old bastard. And I said, I don't want that. And then they said, oh, it's Founders. And I said, well, then I'll have that. 00:01:52.210 --> 00:01:52.810 So 00:01:52.810 --> 00:01:54.710 Why didn't you say so? 00:01:54.710 --> 00:01:57.360 Yeah, I mean, you didn't say it was Founders. I mean, 00:01:57.760 --> 00:01:58.860 if you say it's Founders, 00:01:59.010 --> 00:02:01.260 then that's a different thing. That's entirely different. 00:02:01.510 --> 00:02:03.010 I thought it was pretty good. 00:02:03.460 --> 00:02:03.960 Yes. 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:13.710 Yes, I decided that. Well, I've got this, I have a plan for a strong Scotch ale sometime as soon as, you know, it stops being winter. 00:02:15.010 --> 00:02:15.860 Someday. 00:02:16.160 --> 00:02:21.360 Someday. And I thought I should have some idea of what I'm making. 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:23.760 Why do you have to wait for it to not be winter? 00:02:24.440 --> 00:02:27.640 I have to be able to get seven gallons of water to boil outside. 00:02:27.890 --> 00:02:30.290 Why can't you just do that in your kitchen? 00:02:33.390 --> 00:02:34.240 Have you seen... 00:02:34.390 --> 00:02:35.090 You... 00:02:37.290 --> 00:02:38.290 It'd take a while, 00:02:38.390 --> 00:02:38.890 you're saying. 00:02:38.740 --> 00:02:41.990 It wouldn't... It would be faster outside. 00:02:42.390 --> 00:02:43.740 So what do you think of that beer? 00:02:44.140 --> 00:02:44.940 It's nice. 00:02:45.040 --> 00:02:48.890 It's a little... So here's the weird thing about the style guidelines, 00:02:49.140 --> 00:02:50.540 which I'm reading as I'm tasting. 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:59.460 It's well within the ABV in the gravity and maybe a little light, 00:02:59.560 --> 00:03:02.110 at least this sample seems a little light on the malt. 00:03:03.460 --> 00:03:13.860 But the hops, or the IBUs, are like twice the max of the style guidelines, and it's listed as the fourth best commercial example. 00:03:15.760 --> 00:03:16.260 Huh. 00:03:16.160 --> 00:03:16.760 It's weird. 00:03:16.860 --> 00:03:17.660 That is weird. 00:03:19.220 --> 00:03:25.220 Do you think all the beer judging stuff will make you enjoy beer more or less? 00:03:26.520 --> 00:03:27.270 Oh, more. 00:03:27.720 --> 00:03:32.470 You don't think you'd be like, oh, but you know, the IBUs were too high? 00:03:34.070 --> 00:03:35.670 Have I told you my theory? 00:03:35.820 --> 00:03:39.970 This is the magic that I got out of my class that I... 00:03:39.970 --> 00:03:41.370 No, tell me the theory. 00:03:41.370 --> 00:03:46.170 Yeah, so I think beer is one of the only things... 00:03:47.160 --> 00:03:49.360 that will tell you its entire story, 00:03:49.410 --> 00:03:50.260 if 00:03:51.810 --> 00:03:52.310 you pay attention. 00:03:54.060 --> 00:03:55.960 Like how it's made? 00:03:56.260 --> 00:03:57.360 It will tell you its recipe, 00:03:57.610 --> 00:04:00.260 it will tell you its fermentation, 00:04:00.560 --> 00:04:02.260 it will tell you how it was stored, 00:04:02.360 --> 00:04:03.860 it will tell you its entire story. 00:04:04.610 --> 00:04:05.160 Yeah. 00:04:05.710 --> 00:04:07.860 A lot of people that I know that are like 00:04:08.340 --> 00:04:23.090 photographer types will highlight — and I think you probably have this at some point in the long distant past — but that as they got more and more into it, there was a point where it became not as fun. 00:04:23.090 --> 00:04:23.590 Sure. 00:04:23.390 --> 00:04:28.840 You don't think that would happen with beer? You know why it won't? 00:04:28.840 --> 00:04:29.640 Why won't it? 00:04:30.290 --> 00:04:31.740 Because it's got alcohol in it. 00:04:33.990 --> 00:04:35.790 You don't get drunk taking pictures. 00:04:37.740 --> 00:04:53.240 Gotta fix that. Have to fix that. So I did a day and a half of beer judging this past weekend, and I'm really starting to enjoy how the organizers 00:04:54.580 --> 00:05:09.480 structure the categories — how they sequence the categories might be more accurate, right? So there were 700, just under 700 beers, and I judged like 40. 00:05:10.320 --> 00:05:11.220 Okay, wow, 00:05:11.270 --> 00:05:13.620 at first I thought you were going to say you did 700. 00:05:14.120 --> 00:05:14.770 No, like 00:05:14.770 --> 00:05:15.270 Okay. 00:05:14.970 --> 00:05:17.120 40. So you can divide. 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:20.020 So describe this. So when you're judging these beers, 00:05:20.070 --> 00:05:21.770 what does that mean if you judge 40 beers? 00:05:22.520 --> 00:05:28.270 That means you're at a table and the table's held — 00:05:31.030 --> 00:05:34.030 you're paired with somebody, so you're 00:05:34.030 --> 00:05:34.530 It's a buddy system. 00:05:34.180 --> 00:05:34.930 paired with somebody who is 00:05:34.980 --> 00:05:35.580 yeah, 00:05:35.880 --> 00:05:48.030 a buddy. So I'm a young judge or a newbie judge, and so I was always paired with somebody who's more experienced — national, grandmaster, something like that, right? At least one rank up better than me. 00:05:48.980 --> 00:05:53.730 Each table had a category. So like I had stouts, 00:05:54.420 --> 00:05:59.320 or German wheats was another category that I judged. 00:05:59.320 --> 00:06:00.820 Can you request a category? 00:06:01.470 --> 00:06:02.020 Yeah, 00:06:02.070 --> 00:06:02.870 you can, 00:06:02.870 --> 00:06:03.370 Okay. 00:06:03.020 --> 00:06:10.370 and whoever does the — and then you're labeled a jerk, right? 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:13.320 Pain in the ass. 00:06:13.720 --> 00:06:15.220 You just made my day hard. 00:06:17.320 --> 00:06:19.120 Just judge your damn beer. 00:06:21.010 --> 00:06:34.810 So you're at the table and you're paired with another judge, and the steward brings by a beer, and all you have is the main category, 00:06:34.860 --> 00:06:38.410 the subcategory, and its like entry number. 00:06:39.220 --> 00:06:51.770 And then you have a score sheet in front of you. So you crack it open, you pour a little ounce or two sample of the beer for you and your other judge, and then you go through the process of smelling it and tasting it and looking at it and all those things. 00:06:51.770 --> 00:06:52.270 How many judges are at this? 00:06:54.550 --> 00:06:55.900 How many judges are at this? 00:06:56.350 --> 00:06:57.150 Let's see. 00:06:57.550 --> 00:07:00.850 I mean, you did 40 beers at 700, so it was at least 20. 00:07:01.300 --> 00:07:01.800 Yeah, 00:07:01.550 --> 00:07:02.050 It was 00:07:01.800 --> 00:07:02.300 at least 20. 00:07:02.600 --> 00:07:03.750 20 groups, right? 00:07:03.750 --> 00:07:04.950 20 groups of pairs, 00:07:05.050 --> 00:07:06.950 so at least 40. Yeah, which 40 is about right. 00:07:07.000 --> 00:07:08.150 There was probably 40 judges. 00:07:08.150 --> 00:07:09.350 And what was the event? 00:07:10.550 --> 00:07:14.000 Round one of the 2013 National Homebrew Competition. 00:07:14.900 --> 00:07:17.850 And so was this judging beers in this region, 00:07:17.900 --> 00:07:19.100 like in Minnesota? 00:07:19.900 --> 00:07:22.650 So in this sort of upper Midwest region, 00:07:22.750 --> 00:07:23.250 yeah. 00:07:23.550 --> 00:07:24.050 Yeah. 00:07:24.850 --> 00:07:36.900 And you get about 10 minutes to judge a beer and come up with a number between 13 and 50. 00:07:37.780 --> 00:07:39.230 10 minutes for each beer on 00:07:39.230 --> 00:07:39.730 Yeah. 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:43.130 an ounce or two? Wow. 00:07:43.130 --> 00:07:53.280 And come up with a number and be within — this contest was be within five of your other judge. 00:07:55.180 --> 00:07:55.680 What does that mean? 00:07:55.680 --> 00:07:59.530 That means if I scored a beer a 30, 00:08:01.940 --> 00:08:08.340 the other judge I'm with can score as low as a 25 or as high as a 35. 00:08:08.790 --> 00:08:12.990 But then so what if they don't? What if he says a 20? 00:08:12.990 --> 00:08:14.540 Yeah, then we have to have a conversation. 00:08:14.940 --> 00:08:23.940 Then you talk about it. So it's like secret and then you reveal, and it's like — you know what that's like? That's like, you know, scrum planning. 00:08:23.940 --> 00:08:24.990 Yeah? Oh yeah, 00:08:25.140 --> 00:08:25.840 like estimating, 00:08:26.140 --> 00:08:26.640 right? 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:26.740 Yeah. 00:08:26.390 --> 00:08:27.290 Yeah, totally, 00:08:27.440 --> 00:08:27.940 totally. 00:08:29.330 --> 00:08:31.980 Exactly. Except you're not drunk. 00:08:34.130 --> 00:08:36.930 Well, right, because you're usually drunk when you do scrum planning. 00:08:39.180 --> 00:08:41.430 It would make it go so much smoother. 00:08:41.430 --> 00:08:48.980 So much easier. So you have to be within five, but then if you're not, you just debate and arm wrestle and then get within five. Okay. 00:08:48.980 --> 00:08:49.580 Yeah, exactly. 00:08:49.730 --> 00:08:50.230 Yeah. 00:08:49.980 --> 00:08:50.480 So 00:08:50.430 --> 00:08:50.930 Can you... 00:08:50.780 --> 00:08:53.030 it's not like you're invalidated. Okay. 00:08:53.030 --> 00:08:53.980 No, no. 00:08:54.130 --> 00:09:02.480 Usually it's like, you know, it was times where like, well, you know, I've judged enough beers to know when I'm missing something. 00:09:03.960 --> 00:09:19.960 And it's those points where I'm really flexible on my score, and I sort of look to the other judge to say, you know, did you pick up something? Because I obviously missed something. And then we'll sort — because it's usually going to be a massive fault that I don't yet have, that I'm not yet able to define. 00:09:20.560 --> 00:09:25.460 So would you like — so I can imagine that like wine judges, 00:09:25.660 --> 00:09:30.160 right, would be like, you know, there'd be like somebody to be like, I only do 00:09:30.100 --> 00:09:30.600 reds, and 00:09:30.550 --> 00:09:31.050 Right. 00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:34.650 they wouldn't even drink whites because their palate is 00:09:34.650 --> 00:09:35.150 Yeah. 00:09:34.800 --> 00:09:41.400 whatever. So do you have that with beer, like guys that would just be like, I only do this type of beer, you'd 00:09:41.400 --> 00:09:44.200 For sure you could, and you might. 00:09:44.200 --> 00:09:45.400 like specialize in that. 00:09:45.750 --> 00:09:47.900 I don't know if you could do that in a contest, 00:09:47.950 --> 00:09:49.600 in a beer judging contest, 00:09:49.700 --> 00:09:54.400 because most of the ranges are pretty wide. 00:09:56.630 --> 00:10:01.880 You would be — you might, you know, maybe you could specialize in light lagers, but 00:10:02.380 --> 00:10:12.580 But this is — so in beer contests, this is like a dog competition, right? Like there's a reference black lab, right? So there's a reference 00:10:12.680 --> 00:10:13.180 everything. 00:10:13.130 --> 00:10:13.630 Yes. 00:10:13.180 --> 00:10:14.980 And then you're, how close are you to that? 00:10:15.330 --> 00:10:15.880 Exactly. 00:10:15.880 --> 00:10:17.130 So perfection is that. 00:10:17.530 --> 00:10:20.430 Totally. Totally abides by Sturgeon's law. 00:10:21.560 --> 00:10:22.310 Yeah, okay. 00:10:22.310 --> 00:10:26.810 Where only 10% of the stuff is good, 00:10:27.060 --> 00:10:27.560 right? 00:10:27.560 --> 00:10:28.060 Oh, right. 00:10:29.460 --> 00:10:32.510 So were there beers that you're just like, 00:10:32.560 --> 00:10:33.760 this is gross? 00:10:34.510 --> 00:10:35.360 Yeah, yeah. 00:10:35.460 --> 00:10:41.660 This is a German wheat beer that is not cloudy and has no head. 00:10:42.810 --> 00:10:44.610 This is not a German wheat beer. 00:10:45.680 --> 00:10:50.130 But that's what they entered it as, that's what you're judging it against. That's your job. 00:10:50.130 --> 00:10:51.480 But were any of them just bad? 00:10:52.430 --> 00:11:01.180 Oh yeah, some of them were. Some of them were, hmm, this is asparagus and onions. How does that get in there? I mean... 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:03.100 I mean, seriously, 00:11:03.250 --> 00:11:20.300 I put together a little diagram of common faults and what their causes are, because one of your functions as a judge is to say, these are the characteristics I'm picking up and this is what causes them in terms of the fault side of things. 00:11:20.350 --> 00:11:22.850 Here are some suggestions for remedying that. 00:11:25.100 --> 00:11:27.350 And I didn't have vegetal on that list. 00:11:29.510 --> 00:11:39.510 So I had to go back and figure out, okay, what is vegetal? Group it with everything else. It's unhappy yeast. It's really unhappy yeast. 00:11:42.560 --> 00:11:43.060 Well, 00:11:43.010 --> 00:11:48.760 was there one beer, can you even talk about it, or was there one beer that you were just like, that was amazing? 00:11:49.060 --> 00:11:50.060 Yeah, it was amazing. 00:11:50.310 --> 00:11:51.410 I mean, there was a... 00:11:52.500 --> 00:12:01.750 bourbon barrel coffee stout that was amazing. Everything was evenly balanced, it smelled amazing, it tasted amazing. It was, yes. 00:12:01.750 --> 00:12:04.200 A bourbon barrel coffee stout. 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:07.250 That's too many things. 00:12:07.900 --> 00:12:12.300 Yes, and it wasn't the only one I had, but it was the only one that was yummy. 00:12:15.090 --> 00:12:17.990 That sounds like a lot, yeah. 00:12:17.990 --> 00:12:19.090 It was a lot. 00:12:19.090 --> 00:12:20.040 But, together. 00:12:20.040 --> 00:12:20.690 It came— was a lot. 00:12:21.140 --> 00:12:22.590 It came together beautifully. 00:12:23.990 --> 00:12:29.440 So do you— is there another one of these, or is this like the deal and then now it goes to someplace else? 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:34.190 I think now it goes to someplace else, but there's another one in May and then there's, you know, a bunch of other. 00:12:34.390 --> 00:12:39.290 You gotta pay to do this, or what, they pay you? Or how's that, or nobody pays anybody? How does it work? 00:12:39.540 --> 00:12:40.940 The entrants pay. 00:12:41.750 --> 00:12:47.600 So they pay to be judged, and then you volunteer your time to do the judging. 00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:48.100 Exactly. 00:12:47.850 --> 00:12:49.950 I get paid in experience points. 00:12:50.250 --> 00:12:50.750 Points. 00:12:51.450 --> 00:12:51.950 Yeah. 00:12:51.500 --> 00:12:53.200 They should pay you in Bitcoins. 00:12:58.500 --> 00:12:59.550 So yeah, 00:12:59.750 --> 00:13:01.050 so hopefully, 00:13:01.150 --> 00:13:06.400 you know, one of the reasons that I did this particular contest at this particular time is that 00:13:06.450 --> 00:13:11.750 it was enough sessions that it could bump me up to the next level, so 00:13:11.750 --> 00:13:12.250 Right. 00:13:12.250 --> 00:13:18.100 I could, you know, which means at some point I'll be on the other side of the table, which would be kind of cool. 00:13:18.100 --> 00:13:18.850 Oh, okay. 00:13:18.900 --> 00:13:19.400 Right, 00:13:19.150 --> 00:13:19.650 right. 00:13:19.500 --> 00:13:20.000 Okay. 00:13:19.800 --> 00:13:20.550 Yeah, I mean, 00:13:20.550 --> 00:13:23.200 Yeah, because you missed Minnebar— Minnebar 8. 00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:24.550 Totally missed Minnebar, and I was like, oh 00:13:25.050 --> 00:13:28.700 It hurts. It's like missing Christmas. 00:13:28.800 --> 00:13:29.350 I know. 00:13:31.960 --> 00:13:33.360 That's not the first one you missed, 00:13:33.410 --> 00:13:33.910 is it? 00:13:33.710 --> 00:13:35.660 No, this is my second one I've missed. 00:13:35.910 --> 00:13:36.410 All right. 00:13:37.310 --> 00:13:39.060 I still have a perfect record. 00:13:39.160 --> 00:13:39.910 I've never missed one. 00:13:43.720 --> 00:13:44.220 I don't know. I think I get a shirt or something for that. I don't know. 00:13:44.020 --> 00:13:44.520 Get a pin. Get a pin. 00:13:47.270 --> 00:13:48.270 Get a pin. 00:13:48.270 --> 00:13:49.170 I should. 00:13:50.070 --> 00:13:51.370 It should be a pin. 00:13:52.420 --> 00:13:55.320 Maybe at the 10th Minnebar we'll do that. 00:13:55.370 --> 00:13:58.820 Have special pins made for people that have been to every one. 00:13:58.820 --> 00:13:59.320 Yes! 00:13:59.470 --> 00:14:00.020 Yes! 00:14:00.820 --> 00:14:01.320 Yes! 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:02.470 I think that's a good idea. 00:14:03.280 --> 00:14:04.480 They were, 00:14:04.530 --> 00:14:06.330 well, so since you weren't there, 00:14:06.980 --> 00:14:08.880 let me tell you, it was awesome. 00:14:10.380 --> 00:14:11.480 as always. 00:14:12.230 --> 00:14:12.730 Yeah. 00:14:12.480 --> 00:14:14.080 but it was, 00:14:14.180 --> 00:14:19.930 you know, there were a couple of things that were new, awesome about it. So one of those was that 00:14:20.500 --> 00:14:34.750 I felt like there were more people there. I mean, the same— like, we've been kind of at this plateau, not because there's not more demand, but because the facility really can't accommodate a ton more people, and the style of event that Minnebar is can also 00:14:34.750 --> 00:14:36.150 Best Buy headquarters? 00:14:36.150 --> 00:14:36.650 Yeah. 00:14:36.550 --> 00:14:37.150 Yeah. 00:14:37.150 --> 00:14:44.500 And also, you know, I mean, I don't know if you can do a conference like Minnebar with 4,000 people. 00:14:45.520 --> 00:14:55.670 And so, you know, there's only so many people, but I think we had a better show-up rate, because I think the reservation 00:14:55.670 --> 00:14:56.170 Was traffic outside? 00:14:56.570 --> 00:15:11.720 Terrible, yeah. The weather was an absolute— it was a Minnebar miracle, because the weather was cold and rainy and sucked. And people did a better job canceling their tickets who couldn't come. 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:12.740 Hmm. 00:15:12.390 --> 00:15:14.740 So more tickets got cycled back through. 00:15:15.860 --> 00:15:41.260 which helped. And then there were, like, I thought the sessions were well done. There was a wide variety, more variety than I think in other years I've seen. Yeah, there are a couple, two or three things that get kind of all of the attention, but there is a bit more variety. There are a lot more women this year. Like, that was— and I'm not sure why that was. Like, we did do some specific outreach, but 00:15:41.080 --> 00:15:59.130 but there were notably more women this year than there have been in previous years, which is really good. And we had pizza again, which was a nice upside. Geeks don't like fancy food. So 00:16:00.730 --> 00:16:01.230 Yeah, 00:16:00.780 --> 00:16:02.580 Still, those sound like all good things. 00:16:02.580 --> 00:16:04.630 yeah. Yeah, I 00:16:04.880 --> 00:16:16.880 And a number of the sessions had just kind of, you know, people falling out the rooms. I mean, they were so oversubscribed. So, none of mine, but other people did. 00:16:19.330 --> 00:16:22.980 So it was great. It was great. 00:16:22.980 --> 00:16:24.330 Well, congratulations. 00:16:24.330 --> 00:16:25.780 Yeah, it was fun. So 00:16:25.780 --> 00:16:26.380 Good, good, great. 00:16:27.120 --> 00:16:27.720 And you had a huge session on doing amazing things with MediaWiki. 00:16:27.720 --> 00:16:28.220 I'm almost done with this one. 00:16:33.720 --> 00:16:44.420 I had a moderately well-attended session on building ridiculously advanced websites with MediaWiki, where I used WikiApiary, which 00:16:45.300 --> 00:16:56.850 also long ago, the last time we did one of these Open Loop sessions, I talked about. And that was fun. You know, it was hard, the sessions this year were 40 minutes and 00:16:56.850 --> 00:16:57.450 It's so tight. 00:16:57.450 --> 00:17:08.050 it's really fast. Yeah, in particularly if you're going to engage the room, right? It's just not a lot of time, so 00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:35.430 So yeah, I did a session on how to build really advanced websites with MediaWiki that I think was pretty good, got some good feedback on. And WikiApiary, by the way, I mean, you know, because you've looked at it from time to time, but it's doing very, very well. I mean, the last time we talked about it, I had just put it together really. And since then, now it's linked to from 00:17:35.760 --> 00:18:01.910 One of the big things they're having is that the mediawiki.org site, the main MediaWiki site which hosts the kind of repository of all extensions, now links to WikiApiary to show version and usage information, and that drives a bunch of traffic. And like every day two or three new people who have wikis sign up and add their own wikis or claim a wiki that's already in there. 00:18:01.780 --> 00:18:17.130 there, and continues to get, you know, additional kind of features, and that's fun. It's serving an unmet need in the MediaWiki ecosystem and doing it well, so 00:18:17.730 --> 00:18:18.230 yeah 00:18:18.080 --> 00:18:18.980 That's fantastic. 00:18:19.330 --> 00:18:23.280 Nice success getting linked to off the MediaWiki extension site. 00:18:23.280 --> 00:18:24.780 Yeah, and 00:18:25.750 --> 00:18:29.950 Oh, and then the thing I just added was I'm actually doing a little... 00:18:31.320 --> 00:18:56.220 clustering and grouping— I guess it's not clustering, it's identifying relationships. So now when you look at an extension, it'll do the kind of like Amazon, people who bought this also bought this. It'll say, like, wikis that use this extension also use these extensions, which is a pretty cool feature to facilitate discovery. So yeah, it's continuing to plug along. 00:18:56.240 --> 00:18:57.390 Doing cool stuff. 00:18:57.990 --> 00:18:59.690 Hey, great to hear. 00:19:00.340 --> 00:19:02.290 And it's got me writing Python that's non-trivial. 00:19:03.940 --> 00:19:08.290 Hey, I just went through the Python for Kids. 00:19:09.040 --> 00:19:09.940 Oh yeah, which— it's just a while ago, didn't you? 00:19:09.940 --> 00:19:10.440 Yeah, 00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:12.040 no, 00:19:12.090 --> 00:19:13.390 just picked it up. 00:19:13.390 --> 00:19:13.890 Oh, 00:19:13.740 --> 00:19:14.240 okay. 00:19:15.590 --> 00:19:18.290 I thought, well, maybe I'm thinking of like Learning Python the Hard Way or whatever. 00:19:18.290 --> 00:19:18.790 Yeah, 00:19:18.590 --> 00:19:22.540 I have that one. I don't know if I've even cracked that one open. I'm a little afraid of it. 00:19:23.090 --> 00:19:23.640 It's hard. 00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:24.740 Yeah, 00:19:24.790 --> 00:19:25.540 the hard way. 00:19:25.840 --> 00:19:26.340 Exactly. 00:19:26.990 --> 00:19:28.840 But the Python for Kids is fun. 00:19:30.840 --> 00:19:32.040 You make a game. 00:19:32.790 --> 00:19:41.540 But the biggest win is that it seems to have a turtle in it that makes sense, 00:19:41.590 --> 00:19:47.090 which has been one of my quests as of late, is to find a... 00:19:47.090 --> 00:19:47.840 You love these— you love these turtles. 00:19:49.620 --> 00:19:54.820 I have such fond memories of messing around with a turtle as a kid. 00:19:54.820 --> 00:19:55.320 Yeah. 00:19:55.620 --> 00:20:01.120 And it was on an Apple IIe, and it's, you know, probably easier to find a turtle than an Apple IIe these days. 00:20:05.520 --> 00:20:14.870 did you ever go to the Science Museum of Minnesota when you were a kid? 00:20:15.190 --> 00:20:19.940 And when they had, like, a real turtle that you could program? Yeah. 00:20:19.940 --> 00:20:20.640 No. 00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:21.840 They did, yeah. 00:20:21.840 --> 00:20:22.340 Not really. 00:20:22.340 --> 00:20:37.140 A little turtle on like a grid, you know. I mean, I don't know what was running it, but you could sit there and then program, you know, move forward this many, then turn and do this, and then you'd hit run and it would run and do it. It's 00:20:37.140 --> 00:20:37.640 Nice. 00:20:37.590 --> 00:20:38.290 pretty cool. 00:20:38.540 --> 00:20:39.290 Very cool. 00:20:40.180 --> 00:20:40.680 Very cool. 00:20:40.730 --> 00:20:42.980 So is this Python turtle graphical? 00:20:43.380 --> 00:20:43.880 Yeah. 00:20:44.680 --> 00:20:45.180 What modules is it using? 00:20:45.030 --> 00:20:45.530 Yeah, yeah. 00:20:46.930 --> 00:20:47.430 Turtle. 00:20:48.630 --> 00:20:49.330 Of course. 00:20:49.530 --> 00:20:51.930 Yeah, import turtle, right there at the top. 00:20:52.130 --> 00:20:52.930 And that's it. 00:20:53.030 --> 00:20:58.530 I mean, that's actually how you write almost every Python application, by the way. That's pretty much how you do it. 00:20:58.580 --> 00:20:59.630 You just say import 00:20:59.830 --> 00:21:01.280 do everything now, 00:21:01.480 --> 00:21:05.130 and then you say i equals do everything now. 00:21:05.780 --> 00:21:07.980 Yeah, that's what it looked like right there. 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:10.020 Yeah, there was a, yeah. 00:21:10.020 --> 00:21:10.520 It was weird coming from Ruby, 00:21:12.270 --> 00:21:15.720 because we've been working on the Hackety Hack turtle, 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:19.620 and there's a lot of parentheses in Python. 00:21:20.240 --> 00:21:20.740 Yeah. 00:21:20.990 --> 00:21:21.490 Yeah. 00:21:22.340 --> 00:21:30.890 So there was this comic that was on the net I found the other day that just made me laugh. It was exactly that. 00:21:31.240 --> 00:21:39.640 It was like doing your homework in different programming languages. And the Python one, the response was, you can't just say import. 00:21:44.810 --> 00:21:57.760 Right, right. Yeah, because, you know, between import and require, it just seems like, you know, at least with require there's a level of work that still needs to be done. 00:21:57.810 --> 00:21:58.410 Exactly. 00:21:58.510 --> 00:21:59.010 No, 00:21:58.960 --> 00:22:00.560 no. Not with Python. 00:22:02.810 --> 00:22:05.710 So are you teaching the kids how to write some code? 00:22:06.320 --> 00:22:09.920 Yeah, we're working on it. We worked through some turtle stuff. 00:22:10.120 --> 00:22:18.120 And what they've both enjoyed so far a lot is this Blockly, especially, 00:22:18.320 --> 00:22:20.020 well, the Blockly has a turtle in it too, 00:22:20.020 --> 00:22:20.520 This is the website that you sent me. 00:22:20.220 --> 00:22:20.720 which is... I sent you. 00:22:23.470 --> 00:22:28.820 But really what they've enjoyed most is solving these mazes. 00:22:31.540 --> 00:22:33.740 So share how those work. 00:22:33.740 --> 00:22:34.740 So instead of having to type out turn 90, 00:22:37.690 --> 00:22:40.340 it has a block, 00:22:40.440 --> 00:22:45.190 a little graphical block that you can drag and drop that says turn left. 00:22:47.090 --> 00:22:51.390 Or it has a little pull down and you can change it to turn right, but there's also a turn right block. 00:22:51.890 --> 00:22:57.690 And the idea with Blockly is that instead of having to write out code, you just... 00:22:58.100 --> 00:23:02.100 You can read what the block says and drag and drop it in the order you want, 00:23:02.250 --> 00:23:10.950 which, for my thing, has been I want the kids to understand how to make computers do stuff, but I'd like them to learn how to write their name first. 00:23:12.150 --> 00:23:16.050 Or I can be able to write with their hands before they learn how to type. 00:23:16.100 --> 00:23:24.850 And so this Blockly drag and drop stuff they can do, and they don't need to get worried about, you know, concerned about, you know, typing, 00:23:24.820 --> 00:23:27.370 being slowly and finding the keys. 00:23:27.770 --> 00:23:28.270 Right. 00:23:27.870 --> 00:23:43.270 Most of the times I would be typing out the turtle stuff, and then I found this Blockly, we can just drag and drop and can do that together. That works out pretty well. You sort of attach them, they're like jigsaw— the blocks are like jigsaw puzzle pieces that you snap together, and 00:23:43.270 --> 00:23:44.720 Yeah, they kind of click together, yeah. 00:23:44.920 --> 00:23:51.070 then you hit run program and it goes through that sequence of jigsaw puzzle pieces. 00:23:51.900 --> 00:23:53.900 The maze side of it, 00:23:53.950 --> 00:23:59.600 there's a little like Google Maps street view guy, 00:23:59.800 --> 00:24:02.100 a little Google Map pointer. 00:24:02.200 --> 00:24:08.750 And your job is to get the guy to the pointer through this maze, which is a grid, 00:24:08.950 --> 00:24:12.900 right? And putting together these blocks of turn left, 00:24:12.950 --> 00:24:13.600 turn right, 00:24:13.700 --> 00:24:14.750 move forward, 00:24:14.900 --> 00:24:16.400 if path. 00:24:17.940 --> 00:24:21.790 Turns this direction, do X, else do Y. But 00:24:21.790 --> 00:24:22.290 So there's conditionals and looping. 00:24:21.890 --> 00:24:25.090 it's those sequences, and there's even— there's a repeat loop. Yep. 00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:41.390 Exactly, exactly. So you can put these all together, and I've walked through— both kids have asked for it separately over the past week, and yesterday we went through level one, 00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:43.380 one to ten, 00:24:43.580 --> 00:24:45.330 me and the two kids, 00:24:45.380 --> 00:24:47.230 two big kids together, 00:24:47.280 --> 00:24:50.780 and then after I put Waverly to bed, 00:24:50.980 --> 00:24:52.380