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Showing posts from June, 2013

The Maker's Checklist

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This is from an informative handout I received from Maker Faire 2013. The Maker's Checklist K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Silly).  The ideal design has zero parts. Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion (Parkinson's Law).  Don't give yourself too much time for a project or it will never get done. Past experience is good for a reality check.  But too much reality can doom an otherwise worthwhile project. Look at houw everyone else is tacking a problem-- what assumptions are so implicit that they're no longer being questions.  Question them.  Don't listen when people tell you that you can't.  Ignore your critics. Document everything (writing, pics, video), especially on collaborative projects.  The group will forget who did what and it will make going back and chancing things that much harder.  Also, good docs will make it that much easier to port into makeprojects.com you may pick two of the following three, but not more: It can

So, you want to learn to code?

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Here is a list of some of the different resources that you can use to learn how to code, robotics, or just about anything else online.  Keep expanding your knowledge base and there will be no stopping you! Coding: codecademy.com - Learn to code interactively, for free. khanacademy.org -    We're a not-for-profit with the goal of changing education for the better by providing a free world-class education for anyone anywhere. coursera.org -  An education company that partners with the top universities and organizations in the world to offer courses online for anyone to take, for free. Our technology enables our partners to teach millions of students rather than hundreds. code.org - A stockpile of resources to check out iTunes U - Online Courses. thehelloworldprogram.com - A bunch of movies created by hand puppets about programming: skillshare.com - A place where you can take classes from real people. Udemy - For a limitied time Groupon  for $99. CodeHS - Every

These are the Guiding Principles that I Try and Live By

Life is an interesting thing and everyone comes to their own conclusions of the best way to live.  Here are the ones that I've come to conclude throughout the years from my own observations. 1.  Believe in SOMETHING. Being skeptical all the time won't get me anywhere In some cases it takes more power to believe 2.  Focus on what   I   want . Don't focus on my fears Its like riding a bike, if I am afraid of hitting a tree, and you keep concentrating on it, I will hit the tree 3. Do things for other people. The world is an eco-system of give and take I must give to receive, and receive to give Helping other people can also increase my happiness 4. I am not alone. There are people that care about me, just as I care about them Many times its just a matter of asking for help 5.  Just because it might be obvious to me, it doesn't mean that it is obvious to others. Some of the knowledge that I have is unique to me and I shouldn't take it