But I do some of my best thinking in the shower! Not washing would be counterproductive.
Michael Mitzenmachersays:
Yes, I’ve had entire papers conceived in the shower! My research productivity would soar if they put a private shower in my office, but somehow, the powers that be do not seem to understand my reasoning here.
I liked your post, but I don’t agree with your statement that it is rude to ask a researcher for the implementation of a “standard algorithm”. If you have used such an algorithm in a previous paper and have a tried and tested implementation of it lying around, why shouldn’t a graduate student (or anybody else for that matter) ask you for it? You are free to say no – although I would argue that to be counterproductive for you and the research community in general. And if you don’t have an implementation then you simply state so. Where’s the problem?
I guess my take is that most young researchers are relatively shy (me included) and don’t send enough emails asking for advice/explanations/code/etc. I think emailing distinguished researchers should be encouraged not discouraged, and most researchers are indeed very happy to receive such requests. The lesson here, I suppose, is just to write a polite email if you want a polite answer.
Cyrilsays:
Note to students: even if your question is in the “OK” category AND you get ans answer, don’t hesitate to reply with a quick thank you. This is a good way to show appreciation and show us that you are not a creep who takes everything for granted.
I would tend to agree with placing standard/baseline algorithms in the “not OK” (although not flat-out “rude”) category. First if it’s a good baseline, chances are there is a free implementation available somewhere. If you ask me about that, this is a good indication that you haven’t done your homework.
Second, I would be reluctant to have my implementation of somebody else’s work perceived somehow as a “reference” implementation.
I guess that the reaction you will get to your request depends in large part of the perception of how seriously you prepared that request. I would suggest the following rule of thumb : if you have put less effort in your request than you expect me to put in the reply: not OK.
Thomassays:
Hi Daniel,
Thanks for this artikel. I once in a while refer to it when answering emails of the type which you do consider not OK.
But I do some of my best thinking in the shower! Not washing would be counterproductive.
Yes, I’ve had entire papers conceived in the shower! My research productivity would soar if they put a private shower in my office, but somehow, the powers that be do not seem to understand my reasoning here.
I liked your post, but I don’t agree with your statement that it is rude to ask a researcher for the implementation of a “standard algorithm”. If you have used such an algorithm in a previous paper and have a tried and tested implementation of it lying around, why shouldn’t a graduate student (or anybody else for that matter) ask you for it? You are free to say no – although I would argue that to be counterproductive for you and the research community in general. And if you don’t have an implementation then you simply state so. Where’s the problem?
I guess my take is that most young researchers are relatively shy (me included) and don’t send enough emails asking for advice/explanations/code/etc. I think emailing distinguished researchers should be encouraged not discouraged, and most researchers are indeed very happy to receive such requests. The lesson here, I suppose, is just to write a polite email if you want a polite answer.
Note to students: even if your question is in the “OK” category AND you get ans answer, don’t hesitate to reply with a quick thank you. This is a good way to show appreciation and show us that you are not a creep who takes everything for granted.
I would tend to agree with placing standard/baseline algorithms in the “not OK” (although not flat-out “rude”) category. First if it’s a good baseline, chances are there is a free implementation available somewhere. If you ask me about that, this is a good indication that you haven’t done your homework.
Second, I would be reluctant to have my implementation of somebody else’s work perceived somehow as a “reference” implementation.
I guess that the reaction you will get to your request depends in large part of the perception of how seriously you prepared that request. I would suggest the following rule of thumb : if you have put less effort in your request than you expect me to put in the reply: not OK.
Hi Daniel,
Thanks for this artikel. I once in a while refer to it when answering emails of the type which you do consider not OK.