Hacker School – simple and perfect

so i came across a blog about Hacker School. In the blog the founder of Hacker School talks about why it was created. If you haven’t heard of Hacker School, basically it’s a free program in NYC where you hack for 3 months. No formal training or costs, just a room full of people trying to become better programmers. When I heard of it, I was jealous. First of all because I’m not in the city, but also because it was such a brilliant idea, I’m mad I didn’t think of it myself.

The founders realized there weren’t enough good programmers out there so they created a space to get people better at programming. So simple yet so perfect. Sometimes we work so hard trying to think of elaborate ways to change something and the answer is right in front of you. If you want change, make change. Just thought I’d share my thoughts.

my thoughts on codeacademy

so I just started using codeacademy.com. this year it seems a lot of startups are trying to provide online tutorials to get more people into coding. so far, not so bad. the first thing i noticed is that at the end of each lesson they ask you to do something but dont tell you how. i think this is key to ensure that you are actually learning something. tryruby.org never quite figured that out. i’ll update this as i have more thoughts.

keep coding,
danie

My Business Pitch

This is a video I created to submit to highvisibilityproject.org. Thought I’d share it with you guys.

big tymers money for christmas

so I was washing dishes the other day and was thinking about fundraising. i was speaking to a friend the other day and he mentioned that philantropists like bill gates give money for the tax benefits and positive press. the return is often greater than the contribution. it got me thinking that most rappers have non-profits they associate with. why don’t we reach out to new artists and interest them in giving back to their community. instead of free turkeys or secret santas, how about giving to a local startup? i know they’re going on my fundraising list this holiday. maybe you should do the same. i plan to contact anyone that’s every mentioned giving back to the community. i want that big tymers money for christmas.

organizing contacts

So now that I’m setting up meetings with local business and non-profit owners, I want to make sure I stay organized. I wish this were easier. I could just save everyone’s contact information in my phone, but how will I remember the last time I spoke with them, or what our last meeting was about? I asked around twitter but haven’t heard anything back yet. Any ideas followers?

babysteps

just met with a local community center to flesh out a programming class for kids. they were really amped and hoped that i’m serious (unlike all the other college students that come ‘down the hill’ making promises). they have no idea. im bout to put ithaca, ny on the map!!

#nowackdemos: my take on black in america 4

before watching the CNN Black in America 4 program i was very excited. there was a buzz in the air and i had to hold myself back from reading all the controversial articles that had already been written from the previous screenings. i was invited to go to a screening in the city but im not currently up at school. my mom went in my place and had a great time. i was glad because now my mom now has a better understanding of the space i’m working in. i hope she also made some good connections that she can continue to network with.

i had my browser on cnn all afternoon *geek moment*. i was bubbling over with excitement. as we walked arm-in-arm i practically dragged my gf through campus. so, aside from the “Arrington moment” (which had me literally jumping up and down on the couch) throughout the show, i was beaming and taking notes.

it just felt so good to see educated, driven poc on screen. i fell in love with my passion a year ago but watching this special really reminded me why i love what i do. it really inspired me. i’ve been following most of the cast mates on twitter for a few months now and it was very exciting to see them on screen. (here’s my twitter list with all the cast mates.) seeing tiffani and angela was especially powerful as a women of color in this industry.

some things that resonated with me:

• “it’s all about who you know” – of course networking is key. that’s why it’s so important that we have investors that care about the diversity of the industry
• “always be ready to pitch” – it was funny when i saw this because i had to give a 90 sec pitch for my ‘big idea’ in one of my classes that week. you never know who’s listening so always be ready
• “we need everyone” – mitch kapor talked about if we are to be a global leader in the industry, we need everyone’s involvment. i think for most people, they don’t understand how important this is
• “you dont help each other… there’s a problem here, we’ll fix it ourselves.” – i think everyone was a little sensitive to his words. the indian community is very self-efficient and there’s definitely something there to emulate
• “walking while black” – it was so unfortunate that such a thriving city is so white that a black man walking down the street attracts police attention. i think i’ll stick on the east coast for now.

this show was so important. i dont know if the rest of america even noticed but hopefully somewhere out there, someone was moved to actually do something about it. i know i was.

anyway, so in case u didnt get it off of one of the eightyfivebillion other tech sites you read, here’s the cast:

angela benton, 30

NewMe accelerator

A. Benton About Me Page

wayne sutton, 36

Social Wayne

pius uzamere, 28

BeCouply

tiffani bell, 26

Tiffani’s Facebook

crisson jno-charles, 27

Crisson Jno-Charles Personal Blog

anthony frazier, 25

Anthony Frazier Personal Blog

hank williams, 46

Hank William’s Personal Blog

hajj flemings, 39

Blog at Hajj Flemings.com

The other members of the 2011 NewME Accelerator class (not mentioned in the CNN special) were:

david adewumi – OneSchool.com

David Adewumi’s About Me Page

chris bennett – Central.ly

Chris Bennett’s About Me Page

curtiss pope – Aislefinder.com

Curtiss Pope’s Personal blog

Check them out, hit them up and network. This list is a starting ground to people that are active in the community and want what we all want, diversity and economic uplift. today is a new day, let’s start now.
#noWackdemos

back at school

so i decided it’s finally time to finish my degree. there are definitely differing views as to whether you need a degree to be a programmer, but i figure anything i can add to my resume will help. i’m taking two tech classes this semester (one one web design and one on a language called processing). i’m pretty excited about both and cant wait to show you what i’ve learned. stay tuned followers!

btw, i finally found my BIG IDEA. the sky’s the limit now!

ready to rock

so this week i decided to jus suck it up and install the rails environment on my work computer. (the backstory is that my personal laptop is RIP). i was waitin around to buy a new one and got impatient. anyway, i tried one way that didnt work out. i asked a friend for help but couldnt wait for a response. i googled hard-core and ended using this install guide. i ended up figuring it out with the help of a coder on #heroku irc chat. pretty proud of myself for not giving up on it. next step is build something that doesnt crash.

hackety hack – the dr seuss of programming

so i just checked out hackety dash hack dot com . it’s just like try ruby dot org . I think these types of learning programs are really good if you have no idea what programming is. it’s like the dr seuss of programming. but im like in the 3rd grade of programming (self-deprecate much?) and i want a bit more. if these programs took it to the next step and showed users how to make their own blog with all the fixins (ie twitter widget or archive list) that would be more helpful. and not just the simple ruby code but how to incorporate databases and examples of how to actually publish online. maybe im asking too much from free software…