

 Sign up for the SICP Blitz in London happening in June - philjackson
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1JsHmDYfG_HdIAb5Eeya_LFu6MZVJRoU7ufJEzbJv2SQ/viewform

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SimonInman
I'm slightly baffled by the structure:

"[We will be] completing 3 exercises from each chapter of SICP over 6 weeks,
one chapter a week after the kickoff."

Firstly, my edition and the linked edition only have 5 chapters. Secondly,
it's unclear if it means those 5 sections as the chapters, or the smaller
subsections (1.1, 1.2, etc).

If they mean the big chapters, then this seems way, way, too fast (with not
enough exercises), and if it's the subsections then it still seems like too
few exercises.

I've been doing one subchapter each week, completing at least half the
exercises in each section. It's been a pretty good pace, I think, and I'd
probably recommend it to people with similar amounts of free time to me. I'm
coming from a maths background and have no previous CompSci experience (save a
tiny bit of Python).

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kolektiv
I'm not quite sure why this a) is restricted to 15 people or b) requires
sponsorship as from the information there it seems to be essentially a book-
club type format. Perhaps I'm missing something - are there not already
groups/clubs that get together and do things like this?

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mebassett
just an fyi (and a bit of a shameless, and useless, plug) - I was leading an
active SICP study group in London from Jan - Apr.
<http://www.meetup.com/London-SICP-Study-Group/>.

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super_mario
Would you mind sharing your experience a bit more. What was the format of the
meeting? what did you aim to get out it? How did you advertise the venue? Was
it formal teaching or was everyone expected to read on their own and only
discuss interesting points, solve exercises etc? Anything else you might want
to mention.

Basically, I'm interested in organizing something similar in Waterloo,
Ontario, Canada and I'm interested in other organizer's experience with this.

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benjfowler
'Blitz' name is a bit tasteless.

This is what I don't get: this appears to be a self-study group, targeted at
hacker-type personalities who want to expand their minds. BUT on the other
hand, you're restricting it to an elite audience by turning the signup form
into a job interview.

This does not strike me as sensible.

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arethuza
"'Blitz' name is a bit tasteless."

The only way I can see that it is really tasteless is if it refers to the
Sweet hit of the early 70s:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ballroom_Blitz>

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duggieawesome
WW2

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blitz>

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arethuza
My point being that if a cheesy pop song from the 70s can safely use the name
"Blitz" and be quite succesful I can't see any harm in using the same term 40
years later.

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yarrel
Using it about a London event shows a degree of historical ignorance that a
knowledge of glam rock's excesses is tangential to at best.

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philjackson
It's a commonly used word over here in the UK, no one finds it
offensive/painful to hear - it just means fast/quick.

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grapjas
Wish there was one in my area

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yarrel
There must have been better names for the event than a "Blitz'.

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sandfox
Errmmmm don't think anyone is offended by the word blitz, or ever has been.
It's a pretty common term over here (UK) to describe a period of intense
activity of any kind. Everyone from soldiers to school teachers use it.

e.g we need to blitz the sink - we need to clean it thoroughly and/or quickly.

