LEARNING WITH LEON

Reinvigorated with Azure tools

Sat Jul 3, 2021

4:03PM After my social media was hacked, I've had trouble re-trusting my computer. However, I'm finally able to get beyond that. Recently, I've attended Leon's past few lectures, and I've found myself learning some new tricks.

This past week was pure fun. I learned that Microsoft has some cool new online toys that make facial recognition and speech detection easier. I've already learned Machine Learning with Python, but I got disenchanted with the subject after building some Covid graphs. I found that due to the lack of data initially, the prediction models weren't good. Machine learning is not good at predictions when there is missing developing data.

Luckily, with facial recognition and speech detection, there is an adequate amount of solid data! And Microsoft has done a lot of work already.

So, later today, I will test my new skills and maybe add a portfolio piece.

Pleasure in defining a basic app with express

Thu May 6, 2021

9:10 PM I spent the last hour defining a basic app with Node.js and Express and Nodemon for me. It takes a while for everything to stick in my brain and so I like to go back to the basics. It helps to understand the fundamentals in detail and memorize these elements before I start a big project. It's just part of active recall, but I'm pasting it in here so that anyone can gain some insight.

The terminal/CLI parts include:

>npm init -y

>npm i express nodemon

>npm start

Here's the code and the commentary on the "index.js" file. There's more commentary than there is code, but sometimes the basics require extra explanation.

//Basic app

//Uses no extra variables or content outside of express & nodemon

//node = JavaScript-based platform for server-side and networking applications

//npm = installs node programs

//Express = used with node creates a backend web server that listens for any kind of HTTP request on the URL http://127.0.0.1:3000/ OR (http://localhost:3000)

//Nodemon = monitors for any changes in your source and automatically restart your server

//Mongodb = document database, which means it stores data in JSON-like documents

//Mongoose = MongoDB object modeling tool designed to work in an asynchronous environment

const express = require('express')

//Creates an instance of the express server

const app = express()

// PORT can come from environment or from a default value

const port = process.env.PORT || 3000

//The app.listen() function is used to bind and listen to the connections

//on the specified host and port. Identical to Node's http (fetch stuff?)

//Initially on user computer and then migrates to a online host

app.listen(port, () => {

const name = "Log"

console.log(`Listening at http://localhost:${port}`)

console.log(`This is a basic app called ${name}`)

console.log('This is my idea of a basic app.')

})

Here's the basic "package.json"

{

"name": "log",

"version": "1.0.0",

"description": "Log",

"src/main": "src/index.js",

"scripts": {

"start": "node src/index.js",

"dev": "nodemon src/index.js"

},

"keywords": [],

"author": "Shimanti",

"license": "MIT",

"dependencies": {

"express": "^4.17.1"

},

"devDependencies": {

"nodemon": "^2.0.7"

}

}

Project Plans

Tues Apr 6, 2021

11:53AM I've decided to take my time. I will do my projects in my time, and if I'm lucky, they will coincide with Leon time.

My first project is how to get a Job in 10 hours (over 10 days, non-consecutive - 2 hrs/week for 5 weeks). Pandemic-job-search-101

Step1: Recruit 4 coached participants - commitment total is 10 hours (including emails and writing stuff)

Step2: Setup site for a landing page

Step3: SEO the hell out of the landing page (to get emails).

Step4: Start coaching but assign a writeup per participant (1paragraph blog on site - 5 mins max)

Step5: Write-up the lesson myself after the initial input from each participant post lesson (max 30 minutes for me)

The second is to improve my BP Monitor App. The first version is here.

Step1: Migrate to BPMonitor.com site - DONE

Step2: SEO the hell out of the site, with the first version, to get all the names and emails. - DONE

Step3:Build the graphs out on BP Monitor.

Step4:GO live!

And that's it for now.

REVISED Steps to Set up a Project

Mon Apr 5, 2021

2:03AM I think I have all the steps to create a 100 hour project now.

Original API code:

const url = ""

fetch(url)

.then(res => res.json())

.then(data => {

console.log(data)

})

.catch(err => {

console.log(`errror ${err}`)

})

NODE: https://nodejs.org/en/download/

MONGO: https://cloud.mongodb.com/v2/605cfa9d63c58c576f0ec22c#clusters

HEROKU: https://dashboard.heroku.com/apps

Leon's most recent steps: See slides

NOTES (which currently do not make sense to me)

Post:

• API will submit a form on the client side and this will speak to the server side

• The app will post the action - app.post('/action')

• The database will collect the information into a document - db.collection('todos')

• 2 things needed for each document into database - .insertOne(text: req.body.x, completed: false)

  • text from the form

  • completed status as done (false)

Get:

• app.get('/') and then talk to the database

• connect to the database, locate the 'todos' collection, find the documents in that collection, then put it into an array (to make it easy to hold objects) - db.Collection('todos').find().toArray()

• Pass the objects off to ejs template, which spits out the HTML, and respond from the server to the client with that HTML.

• ejs conditional logic

  • FOR loop in pseudo js which creates an li each time

  • but it also has an IF statement to check if the TODO item is completed, so that it can also put in a <span> with a class ='completed' (with a CSS strikethrough)

Put: (Update in CRUD)

• • I NEED TO SEE WHERE IN THE CODE THIS LIES through pictures. I GOT LOST.

  • Making a PUT request which finds the document and changes the completed from false to true - this happens from a click event changing it.

  • When 'click' on TODO item, that means there is a PUT. Each array item (todo list item) has a loop to go through the array and mark it completed or no completed class...and this comes from the ejs. This determines if the document complete is either false or true. This indicates whether there is a span or no span. Which means that upon eventListener of click, a function of markComplete or markUnComplete instigates

  • The server is setup to hear that request, with the put, and find the thing: request.body.itemFromJS. Then respond back with a json.

  • Client side - get bread => JS event => fetch Put to get bread

  • Server-side =>app.put() which hears the request, then db.collection('todos').updateOne(thing: getBread), then it changes the completed value to true =>set:complete: true, once that's done, we reload with another get request to find the 2 documents again, which now has the updated complete property, which then adds the class of completed in the ejs if it is true. The span changes from that.

  • Client side => rendered HTML

Delete

• fetch to make a Delete request from server

• app.delete('/deleteItem', (request

Sat January 9, 2021

Here I come, again...aka Pomodoro Method

7:56 PM Pomodoro method, for me, is "Echo, set the timer for 25 minutes" to focus on one task.

I saw a You Tube video about becoming a software engineer. The You Tuber said that it's about getting focused behind the computer for hours at a time. I have limitations that preclude me from doing that, for my health. But, I believe I can build my time.

I have the skills (from Leon), so it's time to build. Time to set the clock!

NOTES - Leon's Office Hour

(Links to video)

Build freelance career through online friends & family or through local exposure

• Example: Restaurants

  • Use a shopping cart widget or plug-in for any back-end ordering

  • Do NOT try to create something that exists

• Platforms that take payments

  • Shopify

  • Stripe

  • Paypal

JavaScript - using console and console.log

Atom Plug-ins

• Node

• Platformio IDE

Backups

Use "!Prime" to get link to donate Prime points to Resilient Coders during Twitch streams

UI/ Designing Sites

• Use Templates - do not recreate something that someone can do better, and more easily

• Use Dribble

Pair programming

• Next on agenda

Homework

Horoscope App

• declare variables for Month and Day

• then use conditionals to make it

• Sign = a date range

  • Sample Code

document.querySelector(‘button’).addEventListener(‘click’, getHoroscope)

function getHoroscope() {

let month = document.querySelector(‘#month’).value.toLowerCase()

let day = Number(document.querySelector(‘#day’).value)

if(month === “oct" && day >= 23) || (month === “nov” && day <=22)){

console.log(“Scorpio’)

}

Calculator App

• The homework: only do 2 numbers and use + -

• Sample Code

document....(‘#add”).addEventListener(‘click’, add)

function add() {

let num1 = Number(doc...(“#num1”).value)

let num2 …

let sum = num1 + num2

doc...(‘#result’).innerText = sum

doc...(‘#num1’).value = “”

doc...(‘#num2’).value = “”

}

Script for a restaurant sale

• Start local with pizza place,

  • I was trying to find your place online.

  • I’m a website developer.

  • I saw that you don’t have a website.

  • I would love to help you get your place online.

Job search

• Leon will provide all material in future to conquer the job search.

• Don't start now, but continue to network, always.

• Interview usually consists of

  1. 30 Questions - Behavioral and tech questions

  2. Coding Assignment - Take home - 3 hours

  3. Final Interview

Fri Jan 8, 2021

2021 Tutorial for Calculator by dabolical

In general

• Go to console.log from the beginning - don’t be afraid

• Do one action at a time for your code

• Want to see what the computer is doing every step of the way

• Use console.log in the code but also on the browser in the console, every step that you take.

Definitions

• Event listener - an event object that is exposed by the listener

  • DOM emits an event upon any action on the browser screen

  • The event object is always active, but gets accessed using addEventListener

  • When we listen, we can use the event object

  • To see the event object (and access its properties) use the console in the browser and console.log in your code

  • Inside the console, you will see the event (if you console.log(event)).

  • You can continue to access the properties of the event from the console, by clicking on them.

• Const allows a variable not to be re-assigned, so you can use it within a piece of code

• State = current status of the object

• Target property contains elements that upon interaction emit an action

• DOM element that was picked - direct reference to that element

Code Used to Test

Console.log(event)

Console.log(event.target)

Console.log(event.target.id)

console.log(`The $(event.target.innerHTML) was pressed`)

numButtons.addEventListener(“click”, (event) => {

Console.log(event.target.innerHTML, typeof event.target.innerHTML)

activeNumbers += event.target.innerHTML

Console.log(activeNumbers, typeof activeNumbers)

});

actionButtons.addEventListener(“click”, (event) => {

Console.log(event.target.id)

Console.log(equationValues)

Console.log(activeNumbers, typeof activeNumbers)

equationValues.push(activeNumbers)

Console.log*equationValues)

activeNumbers = “”

equationValues.push(event.target.id)

console.log(activeNumbers, typeof activeNumbers)

Conversation

Shimanti10:06 AM

• I have a codepen, https://codepen.io/shimanti/pen/XWjYQwG

• yes. we can start on the javascript from scratch if you want.

• I already built the CSS for the calculator when we were doing the CSS part.

• So was using what I had.

• Sure. I put my pseudo code on the right in the JS...but only got to the first step before getting in trouble

• Do you want to share your screen?

• ok, do it your way...just talk me through your thinking

• wait a minute....can you repeat that

• got it...can you delete my pseudo code and write your own

• cos I guess I'm wondering what the first step is

• to idenitify the parent of the numbers?

• Got it...yes, I didn't know how to do that...how to use the parent and thus use the children

• so that's coz I don't know how to do that

• i know how to write it...don't know how to use the children with that

• got it...one action at a time

• I'm used to Python...the pseudo code is pretty much the code

• That's good, I learned functional programming with python and it's hurting me here because it's about the DOM and that's just fundamentally different

• OMG,,,what is event.target.is

• Can you wait a second....I'm behind and taking notes

• Yes, I'm writing notes on what you said...

• but I already forgot what you said..."emit...

• something about event

• when does that happen

• so on event action

• but what does it emit

• you may need my CSS to make it pretty

• I find that developers already know how to use the console but I get stuck

• I don't know what to put into the console and what to put into the code

• I consider you to be a "developer". I am a beginner...with JavaScript

• No, no no ...you are a software engineer who knows WAYYYYY more than me

• I am capable of html and css....working on JS

• can you split screen with your JS?

• and console screen and code screen

• so the event object gets activated from the Event Listener

• oh, so the event happend whenever anything happened on screen

• when we listen, we can use the event object

• That's a hard theory to grasp

Dabolical (James)10:45 AM

• https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Events

• Event reference | MDN

• DOM Events are sent to notify code of interesting things that have taken place. Each event is represented by an object which is based on the Event interface, and may have additional custom fields and/or functions used to get additional information about what happened. Events can represent everything from basic user interactions to automated noti...

Shimanti10:45 AM

• yes please...may explian my problem with keydown too

• Can you repeat what you said Target does

• oops...i don't understand yet

• the DOM element that was picked

• got it...how do I use it

• how did you do that

• ok...so why did you do that? What are you trying to get to that we need to do that?

• so you use the console.log to identify the items that you need to use?

• yes...just wondering because I have to start doing that...coz otherwise I' just doing the code

• got it ...great lesson there!

• it's the equivalent of the "print" statement in python

• we need to get the numbers, don't we

• do we want to use them or gather all the number used for the first number

• cos theres more than one number selected

• and then num1 + action + num2

• ok, so what would you use?

• yes... that's where I got the initial code...but I think my thought process was wrong...because I stored it wierdly

• cool...didn't know about the typeof

• Can I ask you about event - you have that in a () is that the syntax for the function that we have to use ? The syntax of the function gives me problems...() vs none.

• () => {}

• friggin aye...didn't know how to debug

• i didn't know where to look for getting details about the error

• ah, so I just press the button on the screen to see the console.log

• so I gave it a innerHTML +

• oh I meant to grab the action...with the innerHTMl...does that make sense?

• so I got stuck on thinking about the number and then action and then number

• State?

• so with python, I would have just done 2 functions - one to get the number and one for the action - and then reused the number

• But here I got stuck on how to even grab the event for each

• you would have to call the function

• so it would be in the main code to call

• that's why my pseudo code would have worked

• yes...I want to know your JS way...because it's different

• wait...how are you able to use a const?

• i'm confused on what it's meant to hold

• yay, the buttons work!

• oh, so you want to clear that

• so then activeNumbers is just a temp holder of the string

• and then what is equationValues

• the methodolgy is completely different and so trying to grasp that

• ok...so how would you just do what is asked...yes that would be too much right now

• i mean the basic rather than the complete

• yes that was where it got a little too much. Thanks!!!! We got through events and dot notation and console.log and typeof

Dabolical (James)Today at 11:51 AM

// select the elements that we will be listening for

const numButtons = document.getElementById("numbers");

const actionButtons = document.getElementById("actions");

//store series of individual entries

const equationValues = [];

//store our clicked numbers

let activeNumbers = "";

//listen for actions on selected elements

numButtons.addEventListener("click", (event) => {

console.log(event.target.innerHTML, typeof event.target.innerHTML);

activeNumbers += event.target.innerHTML;

console.log(activeNumbers, typeof activeNumbers);

});

actionButtons.addEventListener("click", (event) => {

console.log(event.target.id);

console.log(equationValues);

console.log(activeNumbers, typeof activeNumbers);

equationValues.push(activeNumbers);

console.log(equationValues);

activeNumbers = "";

equationValues.push(event.target.id);

console.log(activeNumbers, typeof activeNumbers);

});

Shimanti11:51 AM

• would you use the filter map etc...those concepts seemed to be easy but i didn't think I should use them yet

• so do every action one step at a time with the computer and. console.log

• Thank you thank you thank you. I haven't been using console.log. Gotta use it. I didn't know what people even meant by console.log it

• It's done so quickly in class. It's hard to learn that.

• yes...I got it…use console.log to see event.target.id

• I didn't understand

• until now

• Awesome job explaining the key concepts!

12:03 PM

• THANK YOU!!!!!!

Thu November 26, 2020

Focus

9:54 AM I'm feeling guilty again. I feel that I haven't been able to put the right amount of time and effort into Learning with Leon. It's a bit intimidating to see the various Discord channels, and read about how far everyone is in their endeavors to conquer CSS and HTML.

I have to keep repeating to myself that it's only my own gains that matter. Each day is a new day. Keep going, and that's all that counts.

So with my own well-being in mind, I will shut off my radio, and focus. I will focus on the BBC layout for CSS practice because I didn't get to it last time, because I moved on to the homework. I need to Learn with Leon, so will review the layout from his video on Tuesday. I have to focus on Deep not Wide Learning. If I can't master the basics, then the rest will be useless.

I'm going old school on this, and going deep by typing in the HTML and CSS from scratch. (I read on Quora that getting the basic syntax by coding from scratch would save hours of trying to find the templates or the answers from Stack Overflow. I'm all for efficiency.) So, with that in mind, I'm turning off my websites, and music, and all distractions. I will focus in my text editor, Atom, on CSS and HTML from scratch to build my BBC website (snatching the pictures with screen shots).

It's not about anyone else, but me. I need to go deep for the future. I want to learn this well. I know that I've learned it the crappy way (by myself). Now I have Leon's team on Discord to help me. I will use them AFTER I put in my 25 minutes of focus. Here goes...

Sat November 21, 2020

Office Hours with Leon

1:09 PM Putting my five minutes on the clock to type. Just FYI, I'm kidding (got a very sarcastic sense of humor that doesn't translate into text) about screwing anyone out of anything (helping everyone but 2 people in last entry). I can't do that, wouldn't do that. It was a joke. Now I feel bad about that comment. I'm screwing around and saying things to just see if anyone is around. Actually, I don't even know if anyone reads this stuff. I guess I just feel guilty about putting up a sarcastic comment.

I just got done with Leon's OH. He's the bomb as always. I've always been kind of bright, but not too bright. You know, the kind of person who's brother is the "smart" one. So, I "decided" to be the one with common sense. There's a lot of the world that's about common sense, or just seeing what is there, without having to be "technically" smart.

It's amazing what the power of saying you are "something" will do for you. Suddenly, I was seeing all kind of patterns in every day life. In time, and with the MS thingy, I've learned to do things in 15 minute chunks that my Dad and others wouldn't be able to do in a 100 years. I'm "smart" that way.

Anyway, I'll have to demonstrate that another day because I'm wiped out both physically and mentally right now.

Good job me for typing for 5 minutes!

Friday November 20, 2020

Recap of Day 7 with Leon

8:33 AM Recall is one of the best forms of learning according to Learning to Learn. With that in mind, let me regurgitate yesterday's Leon lesson.

Day 7 - Networking and CSS review

I have a particular take on Networking. I don't think it should be called Networking. That just invokes fear these days. I prefer to think of it as another Lesson of Life - be interested in others. It's not a one-time thing. It's an ongoing daily activity, like brushing teeth.

Anyway, with that behind me, here are my notes from Networking

• Turn a stranger into an acquaintance into a friend into a referral into a coworker

• Build a network during the process of building your skills.

• Invested time on networking beats skills, but it helps to have kick butt skills too.

• Leon's Resilient Coders on average:

  1. networked into 60 referred people =>

  2. resulted in 2 jobs

Yep, my notes were pretty scant because I was listening along and injecting value into the chat stream. However, I must have got pretty overbearing (which can happen) because I was told to buzz off (not in those terms). That's okay. That made me resolve to help everyone in the class even more, except the 2 people who called me out.

My job, as I see it, is to add value to all the people in the job search stream from this Learn With Leon Bootcamp. The quickest way for me to do that is to use my network to create the jobs. It breaks my heart when I see the listings that ask for an expert software engineer in iOS or Android or something very specific. Instead, that company could invest in an eager and a very teachable software engineer who can be taught to do anything. It's limited thinking to say that the ideal candidate must already have the skills to do the job. I posted on LinkedIn to open up the doors to these graduates in 26 weeks. It takes time to budget, convince, and create jobs in corporate america/the world...so the wheels have to start turning now to invest in new talent for 2021.

CSS recap

• Cascading Style Sheets are the zing behind the zang of HTML. The CSS provides the style to the substance of HTML.

• Cascade means the rippling effect of the style from top to bottom. What is defined at the top, ripples down to the rest of the style sheet. What is defined last beats out whatever is defined ahead, if things were equal. (That's a very Economics term "if things were equal". Things are never equal in my opinion.)

• CSS is not equal. The weight of a style depends on the Specificity.

• Specificity is the game points that is given to judge the CSS element.

  • 1000 points for something wildly specific....like "important"

  • 100 points for ID

  • 10 points for Class

  • 1 point for any tag eg <p>

• The funny thing is that adding things like ">" or "+" to a CSS line doesn't add points. However, the element behind the sign CAN add points. You can build up points for one styling line.

  • eg #sample1 > .sample2 + .sample3

  • this is interpreted as a parent-child relationship between #sample1 and .sample2

  • #sample1 has an # which identifies it as an ID

  • .sample2 has a . which idenities it as a Class

  • the "+" identifies sample3 as a sibling to sample2

  • In terms of points, the entire line has ID=1 and Class=2, so 1*100+2*10=>120 points of specificity

  • Now, although that's fairly simple, at 2 hours into the class, my brain is goobledygook, so that simple task must be written out. (I used to be able to do it instinctively with no hesitation. I miss those days, but now I think I can explain things better because I have to figure out my steps. There are pros/cons to every argument.)

Okay, the HVAC people are here now, so that's enough from me for now.

Here are some links from Discord or other places:

• CSS Selector Quiz

• Flexbox froggy game

  • Justify-content

  • Align-items

  • Order

  • Align-self

  • Flex-wrap

  • Flex-direction

  • Flex-flow

  • Align-content

Follow along materials (oh no, I just realized that I forgot to submit my homework)

• Twitch: https://leonnoel.com/twitch

• Slides: https://slides.com/leonnoel/css-responsive-review-100devs/live (remove /live for a non auto-advancing copy)

• Check-in: https://twitter.com/leonnoel/status/1329556381880307716

• The last #100Devs class can be found here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/806651768

• Try and read before class (motivation): https://mwkworks.com/desiderata.html

• Submit Your Homework:

  • Place your 15 minutes of pain responsive in a https://codepen.io/ and submit the URLs here: https://forms.gle/EANwRMLMvKeQzqfT9

• Homework (Due Tuesday - Nov. 24th):

  • Watch: Independence Day Do: Real Layout Assignments

  • ⚡️ OFFICE HOURS SAT - 12pm EST WOOT ⚡️

• class07-materials.zip

Sunday, November 15, 2020

Covid - Oh No!

3:40 PM I just got back from a visit to my parents. I'm going to rant and rave a bit, so please bypass this section if you want tips.

I feel like crap because of MS (my back hurts, my throat hurts, I'm exhausted), and I've spent the last 4+ hours with my parents, culminating in the fire department coming to help my Mom to get up after she slipped while getting to the toilet.

Before that, I made cauliflower curry for my Dad, took my Mom to the shower, got my Mom's hair shampooed and cleaned, and then let her shower by herself. In the meantime, I took clothes out of some drawers and put them into my Mom's wardrobe because my brother and his family will be visiting for Thanksgiving, and will probably need some empty drawers.

I then prepared lunch for my parents, and settled my Mom in the sun. My Mom has Alzeimher's. I have no idea if she knows who I am half the time, but she lights up when she sees me.

My Dad, on the other hand, yells at me for helping him, because at the age of 85, he can do everything by himself. And I have MS, so apparently I shouldn't do anything.

Anyway, I'm ranting and raving because I got yelled at by my Dad, again. And then, my Mom got diarrhea, slipped, and needed to be helped up by the fire department. All in all, just a regular day in my household.

I, in all my wisdom, opened my computer when I got home and saw that Covid cases are predicted to increase on my Twitter feed. Not believing this, I decided to open my analysis from back in March, when I still thought there was a chance of becoming a Data Scientist.

Well, here is the link to my Juypter Notebook, linked to the John Hopkins site. (It may not be up because it was a team effort, and the notebook isn't in my name. It needs approval to be posted.) My team didn't even get to the machine learning part, because unless the data is good, the modeling will be crap. And the data back in March was just emerging.

Unfortunately, I still think the data needs more review, but it doesn't take a degree to look at graphs. Without further ado, here are my graphs on Covid-19. They speak for themselves. They should be back to front, but I think this version is equally as good.

Make your own conclusions.

Sunday November 15, 2020

Learn with Leon - Office Hours 1

10:00AM I've been negligent with this site. I haven't blogged in so long, that I've almost forgot what that even means. Anyway, yesterday's office hours were a treat for me. I unleashed all my "words of wisdom". All the years and years of Tips that I'd been saving up in this dilapidating brain of mine came out. It was a bit of a relief, but I'm sure it was quite a shock to the young ones in the group.

Here are Tips of the Day:

• Go out and enjoy life!

• See your family.

• Don't waste all of your time on one thing because when you are faced with a crisis, you will have nothing else.

Oh my, my five minutes of typing time for this blog are already up. I'm going to get showered, dressed and go see my parents now. They are 85 and live 30 minutes away from me. I'm lucky!

BTW, this is after I, enjoyed my coffee (latte) this morning and my oatmeal breakfast. And then did this:

• 5 mins typing practice https://www.keybr.com/

• 25 mins coding - Did Layout1 from last week's homework from scratch again...and still got it wrong. So I posted to Discord and will check back tomorrow morning

• 5 mins reading - https://learn.shayhowe.com/html-css/ - I read the Space Within Selectors section and took notes...and STILL did not understand why my homework was wrong.

• 5 mins blog (this typing - I find that my typing for the 25 minutes of coding is better after the 5 minutes of https://www.keybr.com/ - hence the order here)

Good luck and KEEP AT IT!!!

November 5, 2020 - Learn with Leon - Day 3

Shim’s Map to Learn

I'm a list person, but I'm also a bullet person. I don't like taking Notes. I like jotting key terms instead. So, starting from today, I will copy and paste my Notes here. It's MY recap of the items that I learned from today. Now that I've watched Learning to Learn and Ali Abdaal, it's time to apply those concepts to my mastery of web development.

I've been trying to learn Web Development for 2 years, but I've done it all backwards. I started with the most difficult stuff. I started with Data Science, which is not difficult. Data Science involves a lot of math theory and then applies some algorithms to make predictions. It's not "AI" as my 18 year old son says....he's studying AI at ASU now (or at least he's trying but failing to follow their online curriculum because although he's there in person, he's stuck in an 8 X 10 dorm room).

I'm proud of him because he's not a partier and although others around him are "partying," he's doing a 20-hour per week remote part-time job. He was a horror to raise and still won't listen to a word I say. However, I'm a proud MOM!

Anyway, without further ado, here are my RECAP notes from today. I'm so excited to learn this stuff for real. It's been a slog to learn this without any feedback from real people.

So let's start with the real feedback aspect!

I’m a moron

(According to a Facebook person, "I'm a moron" because I unplug a device after I use it. After I got that feedback, I tried to explain that people in the UK do that because the electircity is old and the connection might ignite a fire. However, after that comment, I stopped social media. I don’t like people who attack on a personal level! I feel that Constructive Criticism of Notes or business stuff is TOTALLY valid and FEEDBACK is absolutely essential, but attacks are just wrong.

So here are my insights

• I have the short term (working memory) of a gnat! I don’t even remember 3 minutes ago at times. It's an unfortunate aging thing.

• My spelling abilities were tight as an 8 year old. Now, with spell check, they are just plain crap.

• I type at 35wpm, at best. I have the abilities of a 2 year old (none).

• My brain is fading quickly (aging). I can't do math after an hour of thinking. (And, I used to be a finance executive!)

• My notes may not work for others….do what’s right for you…find what works FOR YOU!

• These are MY notes from today. They are not complete in any way. They just work for me. If they help you, great. If not, then find a way to help yourself. Everyone is different. I'm nerdy and analytic. These notes work for me.

Please volunteer filling in terms that I missed, if you can, my email is info@shimanti.com (and it's forwarded to my personal account...so not snottyness, please). I really don't know the answers to those items. (I've bolded those items with question marks.)

Steps for me

• Learn a difficult concept from Leon videos

• Make small post-it notes on the concept

  • bullets are enough

  • but when reviewing, ask a question about the concept

• Review concept

• Walk away

• Pack something or do something else with hands or body like

  • stretch/exercise,

  • drink water,

  • eat well

  • enjoy the sun

  • run down stairs (it's just the coming back up the stairs that's tough)

• Come back to the learning video

• Write a new blog recapping all learning at the end of the night (shimanti.com so others can learn) or make Anki cards with the post it notes (this is a REACH goal - meaning that it's wishful thinking).

• At the end of the night, if possible, review concepts just before bed.

  • In fact, do a recap because those last thoughts tend to mix with the diffuse parts of the mind to make them stick in long term memory, according to Learning to Learn.

Remember

• Prioritize the learning subject for the day

  • e.g. today is reviewing Leon's Day 2 video because my mental cognition was gone beyond 1 hour.

    • Focus on new concepts before reviewing old (Learning to Learn strategy).

    • Don’t get in the habit of doing the first part of the video repeatedly because that’s the ???

      • term from Coursera Learning video Week3/4?

        • Oh dear, review terms!

        • The term isn’t as important as the concept BUT, you may have forgotten a lot more than that term. You may have forgotten some concepts like how to overcome procrastination.

          • Set timer for 25 minutes (Pomodoro method)

          • Do this in many settings (like Starbucks) - term?

• DON’T listen to music or watch TV or multi-task while learning - so sad about the music - is that right?

• Take snapshots of things you don’t understand and then GO BACK to them and try to understand that part of the video later.

• Lean back in chair to stop tensing up shoulders and feeling crap at the end of the day

• Have a water bottle at desk to sip away during learning - drinking water may reinforce learning!

• Feel free to move about - that reinforces the learning!

• BUT, if anything takes more than 2 minutes, make a list and do it later (Learning to Learn strategy).

• If you find that you’ve been distracted for an hour…STOP!

• Go back to learning videos frequently during the day and just review them in small increments.

• Do the HARD (mental cognition work - like coding) during your first 25 mins.

• Dance around to “Alexa, play Capital UK radio” often….exercise is excellent (Learning to Learn strategy)!

• Stretch with “Alexa, enable 6 minute stretch”

• During breaks, practice typing - this will also reinforce learning because it’s physical

  • Typing practice - http://10fastfingers.com

  • Typing frequent errors - https://www.keybr.com/

PRIORTIZE!!!!!

• Coffee - It's the ONE thing that makes my day in the morning

• MOVE FIRST (including bills, signing papers, setting things up, packing) - I moved and then moved back!

• Leon learning

• Eat

• Sleep/Meditate - Mental health is as important as physical health - PLUS, it links all the neurons of the diffuse part of the mind with the focus part

  • What’s that concept called? Interleaving?

• Learn typing - 5 mins/day practice

• Learn shortcuts on a Mac - 5 mins/day practice - just one per day

• Learning different subjects reinforces ALL subjects and creates “Interleaving” -

  • Is this joining items that are supposedly unrelated (in your long-term memory?) according to Coursera LTL

  • Opens up the “big picture”

  • Allows “out-of-the-box” thinking - which means you don’t dwell on a subject for hours coz that’s just useless time - do something else when that happens - like PACK!

Schedule

• Hard stuff in the morning in 25 minute increments (or less for me)

• Afternoon energy is SO low - Do physical stuff

  • Stretch or exercise (Bar Method - cut video into 5 minute segments when possible)

  • Wash dishes

  • Meditate

• Night - Make a list for next day

Learning from Leon today before I forget them

• Active recall - I don’t know the definition but I think it’s what I’m doing here in recalling the info that I learned

• Spaced repetition - review often at first, then longer between concepts

• Don’t nitpick - BIG CONCEPT is KEY

• 10 mins per day - Consistency everyday wins over cramming

• HTML Syntax (spelling and grammar rules)

  • <p class=“nice”>hello world</p>

    • Attribute is “class”

    • Value is “nice”

    • <p> is opening tag

    • </p> is closing tag

    • “Hello world! Is the enclosed text context

      • In JS, is that the “innerHTML”?

• Heading Element

  • Stop thinking that it’s a size thing

  • It’s all about the importance of the TEXT within that heading tag

  • I know, that’s a difficult concept for you, but you can learn that!

• HTML text elements

  • <p> paragraph

  • <span> short text - not as big - think a few words

  • Other stuff is not important

• Other Tags?

  • <aside> useless material that can be left out, or tips, which can also be left out

  • <section> related material - it's like <div> but better because it's more descriptive

  • <article> think a news article - can have a few items like an image and paragraphs

  • <header> items at top, usually

  • <footer> items at bottom, usually

Tips

• Watch Leon videos without sound coz filling in the gaps is fun - AND reinforces learning!

• When you get a frozen screen, it's time to walk away from the computer. It’s time to go wash dishes!

• JUST KEEP AT IT!!!!