by Jonny | Aug 20, 2012 | Updates
In the middle of a Udacity.com lesson! 🙂
Recently, I found this great website where you can learn how to program.
I thought I’d give my experience and thoughts on how things are going and what Udacity provide and who they are.
So what is Udacity.com?
The site essentially offers free courses where you can learn programming. Right now, I’m studying the first unit of programming (CS101) and I’m in the process of learning Python. I’ve installed the Python interpreter and Java as well, for that matter. (Though, I’ll be learning Java later on, once I get the gist of Python)
CS101?
CS101 is a course on the Udacity website and essentially it tells you the basics of programming and it is a step-by-step guide into programming with Python. At the end of CS101, I should have completed programming my own search engine equipped with a cool little robot website indexer.
Links:
http://www.udacity.com/
http://www.codecademy.com
Review of UNIT-1
I’ve gone through UNIT 1Â and I feel I have more of an understanding with Python, although I’m still confused in some areas. – This may mean I have to go back through the entire UNIT again, so as to ensure I haven’t missed anything. I’ve written only 2-pages and should have probably noted down a lot more. I’m actually quite excited in learning Python as this type of interactive learning is quite fun and not too confusing. Although on some occasions it has been a little confusing for me.
I hope to make it through this course alive and well, with hopefully a new understanding of programming. – I’ve also found another website which has also been helpful called “Codecademy.com”, that is equally as good although there aren’t any university professors explaining things, you have a highly interactive interface helping you along the way.
I just hope I can focus on this one thing and not get too distracted. I think this is a great opportunity and I hope I can get something out of this. I have to give thanks to whoever set this up and especially to the professors who assembled all of this. Now I have homework to do! 🙂
Update
I’ve decided to take a different direction. I feel that for me the Udacity.com course was a little confusing. I feel as if I couldn’t understand a lot of the questions as the course furthered on. I feel this is due to a lack of practice. While I did repeat UNIT 1 again, I still had the same issues. In the mean time, I’ve been using Codecademy.com. – I feel that the examples and the longer explanations there are more understandable for me. Once I complete the Codecademy course I feel I’ll have a better understanding of the Udacity course and of the requirements in order to create the search engine.
So what’s the major difference?
Udacity explains and teaches too much of the theory, while Codecademy explains and teaches a lot of hands-on approaches. I’m not saying that is all of what Udacity does, but Codeacademy is specifically telling you how to do things with better examples. (I feel that this is a little easier for people who are just starting out learning Python) It does indeed (Codecademy) hold your hand along the way, but if you are just starting out, how else are you going to learn? If it doesn’t hold your hand and you get confused then it can totally put you off of programming. At least with this approach you can learn the right way to do things then apply it in other scenarios.
So, perhaps you have had the same issues as me and the Udacity course is a little confusing, well, I feel that the Codecademy course will ease you in with better explanations and examples.
Step 1:
Codecademy.com (Python)
Step 2:
Udacity.com (CS101)
Why do Codecademy first then Udacity?Â
As said previously: I feel this way, you can can have a better understanding of Python before heading onto the Udacity course. While I like Udacity.com, I feel, perhaps, that a lot of explanations are quite difficult to grasp. Which is why I think Codecademy is a little better at the explanations. I almost feel that once you complete the Codecademy courses you can take that information you have learned and use it on Udacity.com.
I’m trying really hard to get this and I know it will take time, as my mathematical abilities suck, but we’ll see where this gets me. I have been writing down lots of notes so hopefully when I go out and I can just pull them out to remind myself what I’ve learned. I’m also trying to remember how to code and what the layout should be. I’m thinking of buying a book on Python just so I can read it when I’m out. I think I need to make this like an idol-worship thing and become fanatic about learning the language, in order to improve.
Life is tough shit, here in the real world. Being lazy, doing nothing is nice and relaxing, but that won’t get me a good paying  job in the future. Plus, if I can learn a programming language, then if at any point I go to university, it won’t be so difficult on me. (i.e. It’s like preparing for university) — I’ll probably have quite the advantage in comparison to not having much knowledge on programming itself.
by Jonny | Jun 29, 2012 | Updates
A few days ago Google revealed its new tablet called Nexus 7 which it hopes to release into the market by 2013.
Specifications:
7″ 1280×800 HD display
1.2 megapixel camera (Front camera)
1GB of RAM
Quad-core Tegra 3 chip
4325 mAh (Up to 8 hours of active use)
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Android OS 4.1 (Jelly Bean)
Micro USB
Price: $199
[Source, more info]
Although the screen is only 7″ and the only camera (The front camera) is quite poor comparison to the $499 iPad 2’s 5 megapixel camera, for the price of $199, you can’t ask for much more. However, if you just want to use this for browsing the web, then this is the perfect tool. Granted you need to be in a WiFi equipped area to use most of the tablet’s functions, you can in-fact use your phone’s 3G connection to create a WiFi hotspot. That’s really my main concern, as it’s quite troublesome or inconvenient to be setting up a connection like that every time you want to access the internet.
I guess the main advantage on this tablet in comparison to Apple’s iPad is that you can connect this to your computer and then you can download films onto it without too much hassle.
I really want to buy this when it gets released, but hey, it’ll be released by 2013. I wouldn’t be surprised if they released it by Christmas time to rake in some Christmas sales.
I’m definitely looking at this as a serious buy as a gift I’d like to buy for myself. However, at the moment, I think my current smart phone is more than capable of doing the job that I require it to do.
Also, the actual tablet is being developed by a Taiwanese company, the large firm ASUS which has created previous “Google phones”. You would really have thought they would have contracted Motorola to develop the hardware for their new tablet, seeing as they bought Motorola for quite an expensive price tag. But hey, I’m glad they are supporting a company that operates in my country. (Taiwan) 🙂
by personal | Aug 26, 2011 | Opinion
I wish I had money that I could spend. I would branch out more on my online websites and do a lot more online and be more active on the business side of things. I could go on holiday’s, live in a nice apartment by myself and be more independent. – I wish that was me. Perhaps one day it will be me. I would love to be financially secure on my own without having to use my parents money or my own money that I saved while I was working in the UK.
I hope to perhaps get a decent paid job in Taichung or Taipei. I have already tried working as an English teacher, but I didn’t like that job one bit. Although the pay was decent, it wasn’t my thing. I could probably still get this type of job, but the thing is I want something I will enjoy working as for once in my life. Like perhaps a typing job. I can type fast and accurately. I need to find a job which I can do specifically to help me earn money — doing something I’ll enjoy.
God damn. I just wish I could win the lottery. Would solve so many problems. Money helps make you happy and don’t no one tell me it doesn’t. It fucking does. But the thing is I hate money, I am disgusted by what it causes to people who cannot buy things, that is what a monetary system does. But because there is nothing we can do about it and we have to live this life with money, I want money and I need it if I want to survive. So I hate money and what it does… but damn do I want lots of it. But hey money does a lot of good, no doubt, but the system itself … well maybe one day things will be different.
by Jonny | Jun 2, 2011 | Updates
After being a webmaster since 2006 I can tell you that making money online isn’t as easy as it seems. Google AdSense is the only way to make real and decent money as the alternatives cannot beat Google AdSense’ revenue sharing percentage.
You have probably reached this blog through Google and are looking for ways to make money online. As you have either lost your job, you don’t like your job or purely want a job where you can do everything from home.
The only way I know through my experience on the internet is Google AdSense. I’ve seen countless people making thousands of dollars with AdSense. – With the opening up of partnerships with YouTube people are earning thousands of dollars through videos that go viral or through gaining a subscribers list on YouTube. But you have to understand these people get views on their websites or get views on their videos for one reason only. People want to see their videos and their content otherwise they wouldn’t be there. It is that clichĂ© of creating something which will make others like your video then spread those videos like a viral infection. That is what essentially gains views to websites and videos.
But if you don’t want to be a content creator, however purely want jobs which are easy online, where can you find trustworthy sites?
Your first stop is probably looking on Google, but you have to be extremely weary due to the fact that the scam artists around the world have access to the internet. I’m sure there are plenty of scam artists in your country, but now you face the worlds scam artists and they are more adaptive and especially so on the internet. – They can get away with things much easier without consequence. There is no real regulator out there and if you want to do anything about a scammer it would cost you a lot more money than it is worth.
Get rich quick schemes don’t exist
(more…)
by vlexo | Aug 29, 2008 | Updates
I’ve been looking at backup storage methods which I could use for my sites and specifically accounts which can be added to store backups via NAS to store full cPanel Backups and to be at the ready if files I’ve deleted or if someone has done something horrific to their free hosted account on Vlexo.com. At current I’ve been doing things like this via Rsync, which works well however NAS is something which my service provider offers which I would rather have and turns out it might be slightly cheaper; only slightly to what I’m currently paying.
However I’ve found a much cheaper solution, this solution is only by adding a secondary hard drive to the initial server and select any cPanel account to which end I’d want to backup accounts to. This is much cheaper, as I can purchase a 250GB hard drive disk for $20 per month and store all selected cPanel accounts to which end will be worth it. At current I’m paying for remote storage at a price of just $14 per month for 50 gigabytes of space and unmetered traffic. However this is simply not worth it as a secondry drive is as as reliable and is much cheaper as I can store 250GB of storage for just $20 per month, which is worth every cent.
With the free hosting I provide, I will be using this service as an addon which people can purchase, so for example, people will be able to pay a subscription per month to add their cPanel account to the list of accounts which get backed up. This is a unique service to which end not many if any provide such service of backing up accounts. These backups can of course be restored and they will be made on a nightly basis and perhaps a weekly one to save any ‘older’ backups. Costs would only go so far as $0.50 to $1 depending on how many gigabytes you would be using up and if anything WiredTree offers a variety of other larger diskpace drives:
Not to bad and a little revenue could be made if this is a success. I’ll aslo be saying that everyone who uses this service gets premium support, such as private support via our forums and ticketing support which will come along in the future – which will be a gateway to admins such as myself, Eli and the rest of the team.