Tag: expert

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Experts Don’t Know

Expert

Experts say “I don’t know.”

Smart people say “I don’t know.”

Scientists say “We don’t know.”

To be human is to search for answers, to gain knowledge, to understand.

People who say they have the answers may have some of the answers, they may know some things… but anyone who tells you they have all the answers is a liar. It might be a religion, or a politician, or someone you work with… They are cheaters, charlatans, and their confidence is false.

If you think AI has all the answers, it does not… but people believe AI has all the answers, or eventually will have all the answers. This is incorrect.

If AI “hallucinates” and gives you a wrong answer, it’s like a child lying to receive approval. AI is meant to be a pleasing machine for humans in search of answers.

You will find no answers to the struggles we face as humans by looking to the machines.

Be eager to say “I don’t know… but I want to find out!”

Be Human. Be human to other humans… and be true to yourself.

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Be The Expert in 2025

It’s 2025, the world is in chaos, systems are failing, news organizations are struggling, and the people are suffering.

There is so much bullshit out there, much of it from AI, but hey, I want to be fair to those people I know who keep telling me “Dude, it’s not AI, it’s the people!” because yeah, it is the people using AI… And why are they using AI? Because they want or need money. Any why do they want or need money? It might be because we live in a Capitalist Hellscape.

So now, more than ever, if you have the means, if you have a little bit of spare time, if you are willing to share you experience… Do it. Please. Do it. Be a human voice.

I know, you’re worried “But Pete, I am not an expert, I don’t have any expertise to share!” And I’ll remind you of what I said nearly 20 years ago…

You are the expert at your own experience.

This was my pitch for getting people involved in the first BarCampMilwaukee. I remember someone saying “Well, I’ve installed Linux and I use it, but I’m no expert.”

My response: You are the expert at your own experience. No one knows more about your own experience than you do. You’ve installed Linux? Congrats! You know more about it than someone who has never installed Linux.

One thing I learned about teaching is that you just need to know more about a subject than the person you are teaching. That’s it. If I know more about making pizza than you do, I can share that information with you. That information is going to be based on my own experience.

I am not a professional pizzaiolo, and there are thousands or millions of people who are better than I am at making pizzas, but if you know me, and you trust me, then perhaps you would read my Pizza Advice and find it somewhat useful. If I got something wrong, tell me. I want to learn.

Now, back to the AI slop mentioned above. I’ve been publishing/writing for four decades. I didn’t do it for money or fame, I did it to say something, to be heard, to connect with people, and I am not chasing dollars by writing this. Again, I have some privilege. I can host my own web site, I can spend 20 minutes a day not working for money to take a break and write this.

So get that blog going. Dust off the old one, start a new one… Post on the free and open Internet. Fuck Twitter/X, Fuck Facebook, Fuck those Fuckers who will lord over your content, hide it, delete it, and try to erase you.

And if I’ve done anything today, I’ve shown that it’s okay to go on a rant every now and then…

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Return of the EXPERT

EXPERT

Back in 2009 I took this photo of myself with EXPERT written on the whiteboard behind me. I had no grandiose scheme when I took the photo. It was taken at the office of z2 Marketing, in the conference room. I’ll admit, part of the reason I took the “EXPERT” photo had to do with a (slight) jab at people who were declaring themselves “experts” at the time. The photo gets used a lot when someone posts an article and needs a photo that depicts an expert or expertise.

When the photo is used, people who know me tend to tell me about it, which is nice, as it’s fun to track the usage of the photo. Of course I really do like to get credit for my work, so if you use it, please credit it properly, because I am also an expert in Creative Commons.

The most recent use is in an article titled The Death Of Expertise. (It’s an interesting article, go read it!)

Now, as far as being an expert, I like to say “You are an expert at your own experience”. This goes back to 2006, when we had one of the first meetings about BarCampMilwaukee. We were discussion session topics and someone said “Well, I’ve installed Linux a few times, but I’m no expert at it.” I then pointed out to the person the fact that he was an expert to anyone who had never installed Linux, and that sharing your own personal experience is an important part of teaching and learning.

Through the years of helping make unconferences happen, and getting involved in Milwaukee Makerspace, and in publishing this blog, I’ve come to understand just how important it is to recognize that you need be willing to share the things you know, even if you don’t think you know enough, and you also need to be accepting of others when they don’t know everything, because really, no one does. No one is an expert in all things.

Through the open sharing of knowledge, and the willingness to accept that no one is a expert (while we are also all experts) we can all end up learning more than we ever would on our own.

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Spock Is Not Impressed

Spock is not impressed with an expert

If you love memes, and love Star Trek, or just love Star Trek memes, you should check out Spock Is Not Impressed.

If Tumblr exists for just one purpose, it’s this kind of site. (See Also: mattsmithshair.tumblr.com)

And even though I am not Bruce Campbell, I had to ‘shop Spock into my own photo, and I’m still going to file it under AWESOME.

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Egg-Bot for Newbies

Egg-Bot for Newbies

Hello folks! So you came here to hear about the Egg-Bot! Well step right up and buy my new book “Egg-Bot for Newbies!”

But seriously folks…

As we all know, an expert is just someone who knows more about a subject than you do… so with that said, if you know less than I do about the Egg-Bot, consider me your expert.

At the Milwaukee Makerspace Grand Opening plenty of people had questions about the Egg-Bot, and I did my best to answer them. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the things I said, as well as what I’ve learned in the past few weeks.

It’s a kit.
Don’t expect to pull Egg-Bot out of a box and plug it in, you have to build it first. It’s all just assembly, no soldering, but you will need some tools and the ability to follow directions and not lose very small parts. Set aside a few hours. I set aside 3 but was done and plotting eggs in less than 2, and I was even drinking while I assembled it, but I’m an expert.

You’ll need Inkscape.
The open source vector art application Inkscape is used to send the artwork to the Egg-Bot. You’ll need to install it, as well as the Egg-Bot extension, and I’d recommend the Hershey Text extension. And Mac users will need X11. If any of those things confused you, you’ve got a little research ahead of you. If all you plan to do is print other people’s Egg-Bot specific designs, it will be a little bit easier. If you plan on making your own designs, or making existing designs work with the Egg-Bot, you’ve got some work to do. (If you are already an expert at Inkscape, well, then you’re lucky.)

Get ready to tweak.
Tinkerers tinker. Tweakers tweak. !? What I mean is, you’re going to have to mess with things. Little things. Egg-Bot is not just “set up and go” ready Freddy. You need to find the center of things, and the height of things, and what numbers equal what settings. And not just for the hardware, but for the software as well. If you have a problem figuring out how the DVR works to record “Glee” you might be in trouble…

But hey, don’t let me scare you… I’m not trying to. In fact, the Egg-Bot kit is not rocket science (that’s the Rocket-Bot kit) but it does require a bit of work. If doing some work before you have some fun doesn’t interest you, well, I can’t help you.

There is a mailing list, and a wiki, and the folks at Evil Mad Science are awesome and helpful. So there’s that.

And one more thing… I may not be an expert, but I’m willing to share what I know, so for the locals (meaning, near Milwaukee, Wisconsin) I joked about an “Egg-Bot User Group” when I met the other guy in town who has one, but since a few people thought that was a good idea, maybe we should arrange some demo or meeting or something? If you’re interested, get in touch with me, or leave a comment.

(And yes, I tried very hard to avoid using the “Eggspert” joke. You’re welcome.)