Blog
How to Deal With Making Mistakes
Mistakes are a strange and horrifying experience in the realm of web development. One minor change could throw the footer of the site off completely. If it isn’t properly checked, that disfigurement could go into Production before anyone really realizes it, making your face red with that small error. The simple fact is, you try your best not to make any mistakes, but everyone does it – it’s a part of the learning process. Making mistakes isn’t the bad thing as much as how you react to making that mistake. One of my favorite examples of how to handle a bad mistake comes from the science fiction movie series Star Wars. You could watch this series and pick apart hundreds of mistakes – both on screen and behind the cameras – but my personal favorite comes from Lando Calrissian. A warning for those who haven’t watched Episode 5: The Empire
Using NaNoWriMo to Challenge Myself
I have been taking the time in my afternoons and weekends to start a story for National Novel Writing Month. Many of you have probably heard of NaNoWriMo and the process of attempting to write 50,000 words in a single month. I do have to admit that the challenge is daunting and unexpectedly rewarding at the same time. I am 6 days into writing my first novel. I missed the first day of writing, but was able to make up the word count by putting in some extra time this week. I currently have 21 words more than the target goal of 10,000 and that’s something that I didn’t expect. But I’ve done it. Personally, NaNoWriMo has been an excellent confidence booster and a nice way to retroactively erase the doubts that certain people have shown in me. One such instance is a teacher I had in high school that
How Hobbies Help You Learn
Why hobbies can help in your professional life by helping you learn I’m sure that not a single person has missed my blog posts, but there are reasons that I haven’t been writing as I had before. There are a number of different causes, including personal and professional. There have been questions I’ve been asking myself and a whole suite of paradigm shifts I’ve been coming to grips with. What it boils down to, in all simplicity, is that I’ve been busy. I’ve been focusing on professional projects and improving portions of my personal life, but I’ve been neglecting the all-important actions of learning and creating. I honestly wouldn’t blame you for thinking that this isn’t such a big deal, but it is. I’ve been noticing a slow and consuming density falling over me. I haven’t been spending my time learning new techniques, keeping up with the changes in language
Web Designers Pushing Web Developers
The Benefits of Letting Web Designers Push Web Developers’ Comfort Level Web design is a complicated field. It involves an equal balance of inspiration and ripping off other designs. You have to make something beautiful, and intuitive to use. The last detail of every site must be accounted for. Things that work on paper don’t necessarily work on the web. Even if they’re possible, your team has to be willing to make it happen. There’s been a few grumblings recently about web design plateauing. Some have said that every website is beginning to look the same. I think that the reason behind this has more to do with designers that have been forced into a way of thinking. Too many web designers have been learning about website functionality. They’re being told that certain pieces of their designs aren’t practical. They’re told that some things just can’t be done. Sometimes, this
Fortune Cookies That Change Lives
After a fine meal of the most choice delivery Chinese food, I decided to end it as all of these types of meals should end: a fortune cookie. I cracked the cookie open, popped one half into my mouth and as I chewed, pulled out the fortune. It told me, “As long as you don’t sign up for anything new, you’ll be just fine.” What? I started getting offended and uppity and really defensive. The way to grow is through learning and trying new things. The way to become better is to keep your mind sharp and occupied with new thoughts, new ideas, new ways of looking at the world. I’m constantly starving for knowledge and I consider this one of the most important aspects of a successful programmer or developer, let alone a human being! I started getting angry at the fortune. I wanted to know, “What if I