Eating your own dog food

As part of its project to develop a new research data management system the University of Lincoln is embracing development practices built around APIs - interfaces to the underlying data and functions of the system which are explicitly designed to make life easy for developers by being machine readable and programmatically accessible

Eating Your Own Dog Food: WebDSL Case Studies to Improve Academic Workflows

SDF, Stratego and Spoofax provide a platform for development of domain-specific programming languages. On this platform, the WebDSL project started out as a case study in language engineering, and grew into a reliable tool for rapid prototyping and continuous development of web applications. Our team led by Eelco Visser develops and operates several web applications to support academic workflows. EvaTool governs the process of course quality control, importing questionnaire data, and providing lecturers and education directors with a platform to discuss and agree on improvements. WebLab is an online learning management system with a focus on programming education, with support for lab work and digital exams, used by over 40 courses. Conf Researchr is a domain-specific content management system for creating and hosting integrated websites for conferences with multiple co-located events, used by all ACM SIGPLAN and SIGSOFT conferences. MyStudyPlanning is an application for composition of individual study programs by students and verification of those programs by the exam board, used by multiple faculties at the Delft University of Technology. These tools served as practical case studies for applying the research, and ensure the continued development of the underlying platform

“EATING OUR OWN DOG FOOD” TO TRANSFORM RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE

In this paper I have followed the practice I learnt while a consultant at Microsoft: that is “eating your own dog food”. At Microsoft it means running the business on your own software including the latest beta software. I have used Benefits Management as a framework to explore the huge challenges involved in transforming research into practice and to clarify some of the changes required. I have explored how learning from practice can influence the process of research so that research can become more relevant. In particular, I have considered how ‘agile’ principles and practices can be adapted to research projects. This appears to be a valuable line of inquiry with good opportunities for transforming research into practice for individual researchers as well as the wider academic community

Stories with happy endings: Preventing pet dog attacks on children

A number of dog safety resources have been produced as a result of this research. Obtain a copy of the children’s leaflet (about 5-6yrs) in English from https://hdl.handle.net/10289/968. Obtain a copy of the children’s leaflet (about 5-6yrs) in Te Reo Maori from https://hdl.handle.net/10289/975. Obtain a copy of the children’s booklet (about 8-9yrs) in English from https://hdl.handle.net/10289/930. Obtain a copy of the children’s booklet (about 8-9yrs) in Te Reo Maori from https://hdl.handle.net/10289/984. Obtain a copy of the parents’/caregivers’ booklet in English from https://hdl.handle.net/10289/931. The Te Reo Maori version of the parents’/caregivers’ booklet will be available in 2009.This 2007-8 CAPFNZ Summer Research Scholarship had as its objective the identification of valid and reliable guidelines for safe interaction between children and pet dogs in their homes or known to them and their incorporation in a range of age-appropriate educational resources

Preliminary Investigation of Food Guarding Behavior in Shelter Dogs in the United States

Even though food guarding is an adaptive trait for dogs, they are often euthanized when they exhibit this behavior while at an animal shelter. This research demonstrates some dogs that guard their food can be adopted and guarding is seldom seen in the home. Based on post-adoption follow-up of the dogs selected for the program, guarding behavior was rarely reported during the first three weeks, and by three months, adopters reported no food bowl guarding behavior. The adopters reported being highly bonded with these dogs and return rates were lower than general shelter dog population. Placing food guarding dogs into homes and providing follow-up support for adopters can provide a life-saving safety net for many shelters

The Immorality of Eating Meat

Unlike other ethical arguments for veganism, the argument advanced is not predicated on the wrongness of speciesism, nor does it depend on your believing that all animals are equal or that all animals have a right to life, nor is it predicated on some highly contentious metaethical theory which you reject. Rather, it is predicated on your beliefs. Simply put, the argument shows that even those of you who are steadfastly committed to valuing humans over nonhumans are nevertheless committed to the immorality of eating meat and other animal products, given your other beliefs

Keeping our children safe around dogs: Guidelines for safe interaction between children and pet dogs - English

Obtain a copy of the children’s leaflet (about 5-6yrs) in English from https://hdl.handle.net/10289/968. Obtain a copy of the children’s leaflet (about 5-6yrs) in Te Reo Maori from https://hdl.handle.net/10289/975. Obtain a copy of the children’s booklet (about 8-9yrs) in English from https://hdl.handle.net/10289/930. Obtain a copy of the children’s booklet (about 8-9yrs) in Te Reo Maori from https://hdl.handle.net/10289/984. Obtain a copy of the parents’/caregivers’ booklet in English from https://hdl.handle.net/10289/931. The Te Reo Maori version of the parents’/caregivers’ booklet will be available in 2009.This information booklet for parents and caregivers will provide the best level of understanding of how to avoid pet dog attacks which can injure, maim and even kill children. This research-based educational resource provides practical, valid and reliable guidelines for safe interaction between children and pet dogs in their homes or known to them. The content of this booklet has been drawn from ‘Stories with happy endings: Preventing pet dog attacks on children’, the 2007-2008 Summer Scholarship report prepared for the Child Accident Prevention Foundation of New Zealand (CAPFNZ). Obtain a copy of the report from http://hdl.handle.net/10289/76

User interaction and uptake challenges to successfully deploying Semantic Web technologies

The Semantic Web community could benefit greatly from 'eating its own dog food' in order to better understand the challenges and opportunities of a Semantic Web from the user perspective. In this paper we describe the deployment of Semantic Web applications and services at the 3rd European Semantic Web Conference (ESWC2006), before presenting results of an evaluation into how these technologies were experienced by delegates. Based on themes identified in the evaluation we highlight seven user interaction and uptake challenges raised by the conference experience, and discuss how these may generalize to the widespread deployment of Semantic Web technologies

Using "not tasty" at the dinner table

John MacFarlane argues against objectivism about “tasty”/”not tasty” in the following way. If objectivism were true then, given that speakers use “tasty”/”not tasty” in accordance with a rule, TP, speakers would be using an evidently unreliable method to form judgements and make claims about what is tasty. Since this is implausible, objectivism must be false. In this paper, I describe a context in which speakers deviate from TP. I argue that MacFarlane's argument against objectivism fails when applied to uses of “not tasty” within this context. So objectivism about “not tasty” is still a viable position within this context

Taku haumaru me te kurī - Te Reo Maori

Obtain a copy of the children’s leaflet (about 5-6yrs) in English from https://hdl.handle.net/10289/968. Obtain a copy of the children’s leaflet (about 5-6yrs) in Te Reo Maori from https://hdl.handle.net/10289/975. Obtain a copy of the children’s booklet (about 8-9yrs) in English from https://hdl.handle.net/10289/930. Obtain a copy of the children’s booklet (about 8-9yrs) in Te Reo Maori from https://hdl.handle.net/10289/984. Obtain a copy of the parents’/caregivers’ booklet in English from https://hdl.handle.net/10289/931. The Te Reo Maori version of the parents’/caregivers’ booklet will be available in 2009.This safety leaflet designed to target young children aged 5-6yrs will provide an age-appropriate understanding of how to avoid pet dog attacks which can injure, maim and even kill children. This research-based educational resource provides practical, valid and reliable guidelines for safe interaction between children and pet dogs in their homes or known to them. The content of this leaflet has been drawn from ‘Stories with happy endings: Preventing pet dog attacks on children’, the 2007-2008 Summer Scholarship report prepared for the Child Accident Prevention Foundation of New Zealand (CAPFNZ). Obtain a copy of the report from http://hdl.handle.net/10289/76