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24 June, 2013

I'm Going to Learn a Language

So I have a new project

For those of you who have followed our ramblings for a while, it will come to no surprise that I go through spurts of creativity. Some of these spurts of creativity have tangible outcomes, like a self-published book for example. Other projects start to lift off the ground, and I tire of them quite quickly, as written in my last entry for the The Crowdfund Coach.

I've been big on self-development and mentioned wanting to learn a language at the start of the year. I was deliberately vague about what kind of language as I didn't want to restrict myself.

After acquiring some DJ gear from my good friend Jimmy (he sold it to help fund his overseas adventure). I've been learning how to mix. Seven recorded mixes later, I realise I have a shitload to learn and am relishing the challenge.

My gear
And my Soundcloud can be found here:

Things are going to start off messy

As much as I enjoy DJing (and consider it a language). I think it's a bit of a cop-out to simply stop there. So indulge us in another tangent. I've been considering study again. I've been really encouraged by what's available on Open Universities Australia but don't want to commit to study if I don't have the discipline. Even with FEE-HELP it's an expensive enterprise and I want to be sure that I'm doing it for the right reasons. Courses that interest me include Masters degrees in IT, Design, and even going for an MBA, but I need to be sure that I can go all the way.

So I ended up writing a list of things that have been interesting me lately, this included:

  • design
  • API hacking
  • emerging technology
  • data visualisation
  • social
  • learning more about mobile

What this buzzy-like terminology told me, is that I need to learn more about coding.

It's not easy, mate

That is some of the appeal. If I can't dedicate myself to this for six months, what hope do I have for completing a Masters degree in two or three years time? So I started gathering information under a new project tab, and storing it in my Evernote.

I uncovered a number of resources and am assembling it all while trying to avoid information overload. The literature I've started reading includes: Codecademy, HackDesign, Project Euler, a teach-yourself-guide from Lifehacker, and a more structured 'night course' from the same name.

I've also downloaded two programming languages: Python and Processing. The former is mean to be pretty fast and good for getting you familiar with the right kinds of logic, the latter is a good language for designers and is open source. Also, my very limited understanding from what I've read thus far tells me that it doesn't really matter which languages you learn first - it's more the theory and concepts.

My first task

Was a course on Codecademy on Web Fundamentals and got me familiar with the very basics of HTML. Feeling inspired, I decided to write this entry in HTML. This should get me used to the effort involved and what I can and can't do.

So it begins :)

04 June, 2013

Downloading and Self-Righteously Posing

There's been a few things going on in my life lately, and I'm going to simply list them. To make it slightly more interesting I'm going to give each a snappy-ish headline, and bullet points. Because everybody loves a good bullet point.

Not much of a start-up
  • My interest in TheCrowdfundCoach has waned since announcing it in this blog entry. My only excuse? Life got in the way. And hustling to get a side-project up-to-something you're happy with is a lot harder when it does. I really liked the idea, and even had a chance to discuss it with a crowdfunding site founder last week, but I think it's a shade removed from my skill-set and interests. 

On a whim, I brainstormed my passions and came up with something, now it's time to cross it off the list and try again
  • I did learn a bit about setting up a website on my own and the effort it takes, how to get traffic, and avoiding getting swept up by the process before you invest too much money (say, in logo design) and many more things. I now have another project I'm working on and intend to spend a bit more time with it, I'm going to re-use the URL and redesign my site accordingly (and maybe hold off on logo design until it's necessary ;)
TED talks don't completely suck 

  • I really enjoyed this one on 30 not being the new 20. I stumbled upon it while watching random YouTubes and cast my prejudices aside based exclusively on the snappy title and the fact my 30th birthday is rapidly approaching. I was glad I watched it. And if you're a 20-something going through some sort of drama at the moment, I recommend you do too.
  • I also enjoyed this one that I watched directly after on lie-spotting - the advice was practical and the examples used were very telling. On the back of the strength of this talk I went ahead and fed my Kindle addiction, and purchased her book.
There are a shitload of books on my to-read list
  • I've added to this list more than I've subtracted from it. Which is problematic because if I had to graph my purchases versus actual reading, it might look like this.
It's been a while since I've been a digital media account-coordinator that produces graphical gold it would seem

  • But, I still revel in how important it is. The more I consume the smarter I feel, and I just need to hustle and take that habit back.
I booked a trip to New York
  • I haven't checked my list in a while, but I'm pretty sure that was on there and I booked it. So yeah. That's happening. Next to Europe - it's been a lifelong dream to hit that city and hit it I shall. I'm booked for two weeks in September and will be tapping into my contacts while I'm over there - you've been warned!
  • As mentioned back in my list, I'll be scoping the place out. I really want to get over there and won't be satisfied until I've checked it out and sated my curiosity. I've got a feeling I'm kidding myself.
Miscellaneous musings
  • I'm getting pretty damn good at running. I ran a half-marathon in Sydney recently that was under 99 minutes. That's damn fast I think.
Is it the shoes?
  • Growing a beard has been an interesting life-lesson. I grew it as I have new fitness goals, but the change in look has made me re-evaluate things in all sorts of life spill-over. It's quite the compliment magnet!
That's it for this entry, I've been honest enough. Here's one last picture of us rocking a hoodie and beard AT THE SAME TIME.


That's right reverse mirror text, they will

Rock out.