Lightning Talks, August 2022

Saying NO by Jean Lange I LOVE to say 'yes'. But if I say yes to everything, I can't meaningfully accomplish/enjoy/participate in anything, and I've effectively said no to it all. How can I say 'no' so that my 'yes'es are meaningful? Knowing how to say 'no' thoughtfully, clearly, and effectively is one of the most important skills a person who wants to say 'yes' can have. Python Multitool by Craig Lang There are four built-in functions and a module that makeup a "Python Multi-tool": help, dir, type, id, and inspect. Whether you are new to Python or have years of experience, these five tools are very helpful when learning something new in the language. Easy to use and often overlooked for use by tutorials, these are powerful allies that will be (re)introduced to you in this talk. A Brief Talk About Nothing by Teal Larson Null, 0, and an empty set walk into a bar... We'll dip our toes into a SQL query that just didn't work how a customer wanted it to, a 60 second overview of set theory, and then look at some crimes against SQL to make an empty set pretend it's 0. We'll also talk about why you probably don't want to do these things with SQL after all. Practitioner Perspectives on Ethical Concerns by Derrick Zhen Faced with a flood of AI-related harms, there have been increasing calls for software practitioners to be sticks in the mud against ""unethical software"". But how do practitioners actually resolve ethical issues in real life? We spoke to 18 developers in order to better understand how developers recognize and act on ethical issues in the workplace; as well as what factors make these resolutions more or less successful. Managing an open source project with a lot of drive-by commits by Sarah Withee I'll talk about running Code Thesaurus, an open source project that attracts a large number of high-value, one-time contributors and how I've managed the influx so far. This Month In Nerdery and Nerd Nite Pittsburgh by Rorry Brenner I'll share some things I've learned in a segment I present at Nerd Nite Pittsburgh.