Latest Posts by programmingravenclaw - Page 4

Me:*does badly on something im supposed to be good at*

Me: Well i guess this is the end, im not good at anything anymore, i need to rethink my whole life and also die

“How’s that essay going?”

What non programmers think programmers are like:

What programmers are actually like

some words I often forget

me: *has 30 million things to do before Monday*

me: *has project that is worth half of my grade due in a week*

me: *has three tests that are the last grades of the marking period next week*

me, dissociating: yeah come over we can watch bojack horseman

The thing about computer programming is that it’s a complete pain in the ass when you’re trying to figure out the problem, yet when you finally solve it, when you finally have that aha moment, the feeling of accomplishment is unlike anything you’ve felt when you’ve accomplished something. You think holy shit, I can make technology work, and that feeling is totally worth the long stretch of hours or even days when computer programming feels like a pain in the ass.

Here is thing I learned when I was 29, which I now give away for free: If you want to do a thing, do it now, or as soon as feasible. Because there might not be a later. If it is a complicated or expensive or hard thing that takes many stages or has a steep learning curve, start working on the parts you can work on while you can work on them, then move on to the next thing. Accept that there will be a lot of failures along the way, and that you can come back from nearly any mistake that doesn’t involve making a left turn in front of an oncoming semi. Concentrate on yourself and what you can do, and don’t rely on other people to fix things for you, even though you might love them or they you. (This doesn’t mean you can’t love friends or family or partners. Friends and family and partners, in the long run, are the thing other than Useful Work and Adventures that make life worthwhile. Well, all that, and a really nice coffee and tea kit in the kitchen and the skill to use it. But that last thing isn’t terribly expensive unless you make it be.) But to succeed at a thing–a job, a relationship–in the long term, the thing is: You Must Commit, even though commitment is scary. And commitment is scary because once you’re in you’re in. It’s not bobbing around close to the shore, paddling with your feet. It’s both feet and swimming as hard as you can out where the rip currents and the sharks are, where the water turns blue. You can’t hold back because you’re afraid of getting hurt: you have to accept that you are going to get hurt, and put your hand in the fire of your own free will. It’s like climbing. You can make sure you’ve got good ropes and a belayer you trust (you SHOULD make sure you have good ropes and a belayer you trust!), but there’s moves you can’t make unless you’re willing to risk falling. I’m not saying follow your bliss off a cliff, in other words: part of being prepared and committed is having the right kit, whether it’s money in the bank for the lean times when starting off as a freelancer, or a partner who supports your work, or being young enough that starving in a cold room for a few years with pneumonia is romantic (I have the T-shirt!). That’s why it’s scary. It’s scary because you are taking an actual chance. But: things don’t work out the way you want them to if you just kind of drift along seeing what will happen. Nice things might happen! …but they didn’t, for me. Basically, what I figured out was that I had to be a protagonist if I wanted anything to happen, and part of being a protagonist was accepting that I might fail. And then have to deal with that failure. And that if I didn’t do it I would more or less inevitably fail, but I could pretend to myself that it wasn’t because I wasn’t good enough and that I didn’t know why. Seeking success, in other words, meant letting go of a layer of ego defense. This realization directly led to me having the career I always wanted, and doing pretty well at it. It also led to me having the best relationship of my life. I wish I’d learned it when I was sixteen, rather than twenty-nine, but I had some things I had to work through first. 

So that thing you want to do? Assuming it’s not illegal or immediately fatal? Do it now.

My kink? Knowing all the information

hey hey hey everyone!! as a self-proclaimed mathlete & absolute math nerd, i figured i could share some quick little tips for such an amazing subject! soooo here you go:

practice, practice, practice!!

I always say that practice is the most essential aspect of studying & learning math- and many other subjects! This can take the form of homework (mini tip: always do your homework if you are able!!! it’s only to your benefit! even if it’s not for a grade, try your best to work on it anyway), practice problems from a textbook or workbook, old questions from a past quiz or test, etc. Even just a couple of practice problems every day, or some quick q’s before a test, can help a lot. Remember, repetition is a key form of revision!

take active notes

Math is a very active subject, so it’s important for your notes to reflect that. Basically, if you’re working on an example problem in the middle of your notes, write it down too. These problems can come back in quizzes or tests, and they really help reinforce material when you’re reviewing. Another way to keep your notes active is by drawing diagrams!! Diagrams can be essential for certain topics, so please don’t ignore them, even if you think you can remember what that graph looks like. Also, if you ever need to jot something down in the margins of your notes, do it! All of this will really help when you review.

know your calculator 

Whether you need to know how to use one, or how to survive without one, calculators are pretty much always relevant when it comes to math. If the subject you’re learning allows it, you should always have a calc nearby, and you should know its basic functions. That doesn’t mean know how to add & subtract (unless that’s all that’s necessary for you), it means being able to work the graphing function, or how to enter data into your calculator for statistical evaluation, how to find certain functions in your calc, etc. It’s also very important to know how to work without your calculator. As you progress in math, there will be certain things that you just need to know how to do, because they take too long with a calc. Basically, make sure you understand what you’re doing with your calculator, so that you can understand how to do it without your calculator.

keep track of everything!

Math is a lot of data & different steps that you need to keep track of. When working on something, know where your numbers (or other forms of data) are, make sure you aren’t missing any! Do your best not to skip steps, even if you’re great at working in your head. Missing data & skipped steps are major sources of error and tiny mistakes that can mess up a whole problem. Also, know your common errors! Do you tend to skip a certain step because you think you’ve got it? Do you sometimes misinterpret graphs or data? Once you’ve figured that out, be extra careful with the specific problems that you have trouble with. Keeping track of your work & your mistakes can help you improve a lot!

memorize what needs to be memorized

A lot of math can be done with basic understanding of how to work a problem & the process to find a solution (these things are generally memorized with practice!) but there are some things that just need to be memorized. Whether it’s elementary functions like addition & division, or basic trigonometry, if it’s not a process you can learn through understanding, and need to know, make sure you know!! Some things can be memorized with practice, and others require different methods of memorization (I typically write & rewrite things multiple times). You can find some great posts on memorization here!

more masterposts!!

stem studying

study methods

precalculus

algebra

geometry

(ap) chemistry

ap world history

studyblr-ing

the everything book

the pomodoro method

how to use flashcards

how to use sticky notes

welcome to high school

tiny study spaces

what’s in a pencil case

i really love math & i wish everyone could see it like i do, so i hope this was helpful! keep shining like the star you are and don’t forget to be awesome today!!

- Aza

“Only open your mouth if what you are about to say is more beautiful than silence.”

Arabic Proverb (via distractful)

The best way out is always through.

Robert Frost (via s-c-i-guy)

daily reminder ~

a team in last year’s robotics class forgot to comment out a line of joke code so during the final their robot completed the assigned task in autonomous mode, stopped directly in front of the professor, printed “HEADED HOME, MOTHERFUCKERS” to its LCD, and drove back to base

tumblrfolk, we are so much more skilled than we think

one thing I want to say today relates to my current job. (As you guys know, I’ve left off working in science labs to work an office job in sci comm. My role is kind of … nebulous and involves a lot of “oh, Elodie can help you with that, she does weird stuff. Train Elodie on that.”)

Because it’s an office job, the mentality is for everyone to present their workflows as incredibly difficult and skilled, requiring a lot of training and experience to do properly. Which is fair enough! These skills are difficult!

“Elodie, today we are going to train you to use… A HIGHLY COMPLICATED AND DIFFICULT WEBSITE INTERFACE. You will need to take a lot of notes and pay careful attention, because it is extremely advanced. ARE YOU READY”

“… This is Wordpress.” “…No it isn’t! it says something different at the top. And it’s very complicated, it’s not something you can just know already.” “Nah son, don’t worry, it’s Wordpress. I mean, God knows I don’t blog much, but I can manage me a bit of Wordpress, it’s cool.”

“No. You can’t. Don’t worry, it’s very difficult. Now sit still and be trained on how to upload a photo to Wordpress.”

“All right.”

—-

“Elodie, do you think that you can MANAGE SOCIAL MEDIA? It is INCREDIBLY HARD and may involve THE HASHTAGS”

“… I think I’ll manage.”

—-

“Elodie, can you put a HYPERLINK in a thing? Think about it before you answer.”

“Is it like a BBCode kind of thing, with the boxy bracket things, or do you want it in HTML, with like angley bracket things?”

“It is a button that you press that says HYPERLINK.”

“I can do this thing for you.”

—-

“Elodie, can you write a punchy summary that will make people want to click on a special link that says “read more” to read all of the text?“

“Probably?”

—-

“Elodie, this is how to use TAGS on CONTENT. TAGS on CONTENT are important because - because of THINGS. Things that are too arcane and mysterious for anyone below the level of Manager to know.”

“Cool, I can tag stuff for you.”

—-

“Elodie, this is obviously a ridiculous question, but can you edit videos?”

“Not very well, and only if you want to make it look like there is sexual tension between characters from different forms of visual media, or perhaps to make a trailer for a fanfiction? Which is not necessarily a good use of my time and I’m not sure why I felt it was so cool to do to begin with…”

“What?”

“Actually, upon further reflection: no. No. Nope. I can’t edit videos. They’re completely beyond me. Not in my wheelhouse. Hate videos. Hate them. No innate skill whatsoever.”

“That’s what we thought”

—-

“Elodie?! You can use PHOTOSHOP?!”

“Yeah, I mean, I usually just use Pixlr. It’s free, it’s online, it’s powerful, you don’t have to download anything…”

“but you are not a GRAPHIC DESIGNER!!” “Er… no.”

“Next you’ll be telling us you can MAKE AN ANIMATED PICTURE.”

“I mean, I haven’t really done a lot of it since Livejournal, and they weren’t that good anyway, but yeah… I can do you reaction images.”

“THAT IS WITCHCRAFT”

“Yes. Definitely.”

—-

What I’m trying to say is: a lot of people talk a lot of crap about what we Millenials do on the Internet, because there is NO CAPITALISTIC VALUE in the screwing around we do with our friends. “Ughh why are you ALWAYS on the computer?” our parents whined.

“How did you make the text go all slanty like that?” our bosses wonder.

We have decades of experience in Photoshop. We know how to communicate; we can make people across the planet care about our problems. We know how to edit media to make two characters look like they’re having the sexual tensions. We can make people read our posts, follow us, share our content. We run and manage our own websites - and make them pretty. We moderate conversations, enforce commenting policies, manage compromises, lead battles, encourage peace, defend ourselves from attack, inspire others, and foster incredible levels of communication.

We produce our art. We advertise our art. We engage with others through our art. We accept constructive criticism and dismiss destructive trolling of our art. We improve our art. Our art gets better.

We narrate our stories.

All by ourselves. Our pretty blog backgrounds, custom-edited themes, tasteful graphics, punchy content, clever gifs, our snappy putdowns and smart-ass text posts, even our familiarity with fonts and composition - all of these skills we’ve casually accumulated for fun/approval are MINDBLOWING LEVELS OF COMPETENCE IN THE WORKFORCE.

When these skills are sold to you - when they’re packaged and marketed, and when you pay to consume them and have the Elders rate you on them - they are incredibly valuable. They are Media and Communications degrees. They are marketing internships. They are leadership workshops. They are graphics design modules. They are web design courses. They are programming courses. We are good at this shit; we have it nailed down.

You can’t put “fandom” or “blogging” on your CV, but you deserve to. You should get this credit. You should claim this power and authority.

Claim these skills. They are valuable. They are important.

Everything you have ever done is a part of your powerful makings.

Roses are #FF0000

Violets are #0000FF

I’m in physics and I’ve turned into a nerd

A Year of Code

A few weeks ago, I marked a year since I started coding every day. Last year, for me, began with a breakup. I remember c…

“Someone special I knew wrote, “The price we pay for living full authentic lives is occasionally having our hearts broken.” I think that that’s true. Pain isn’t beautiful or poignant, but sometimes, if you can get through it, it contextualizes what comes later. A year is a short time. You never think that that’s long enough to substantially change what you’re capable of doing, but what you choose to do every day eventually shapes who you are. A year ago, as much as I loved tech, I wasn’t sure I’d ever want to be in engineering or study computer science. Since then, I’ve learned six programming languages, taken seven CS classes, and worked on twenty-odd personal projects. There’s nothing intrinsically meaningful about a GitHub streak, but, somewhere along the way, I started remembering what it felt like to be myself.”

holy smokes. #GOALS

I’m tearing up and inspired. This is amazing.

on programming

When learning a new language don’t waste your time copying down syntax, it will come naturally after practice. But, if you really need syntax help badly then I can reassure you that most high end languages are heavily documented.

I say this so that you don’t waste all your time taking notes on basic syntax, instead use your study time to copy down any relevant code examples in the textbook, tinker with them and analyze them, comment on them. Practice, practice, practice.

The only time you should take notes is for flowcharting or pseudocode. And of course, notes on concepts.

right, if you are in college and are a cs major or a budding software developer, i highly recommend you to check out the architecture of open source applications, especially the 500 lines or less section. architects, artists etc look at thousands of buildings/paintings  throughout their lifetimes, critique them, learn what’s worked and what didn’t. most software developers, however, do not share that experience - unless it’s with a codebase they have written themselves. 

reading other people’s code is JUST as important as writing code of your own. i especially recommend the projects/documentation in 500 lines or so section b/c while they are big enough for you to understand basic system design, 500 lines of code isn’t too overwhelming. plus it’s super cool to read about building a database built from archeological principles or how the code behind pedometers works

I giggled 😂

Things Programmers Comment #60

(Knowing my professor will read the comment) //I don’t know how this works, or why, but it does, and I think that counts for something

(submitted by @usurp-er)

we need to bring back the computer science pun buttons

Things Programmers Shout #454

“A different error message! Finally some progress!” // submitted by @falterfire

Margaret Hamilton (b. 1936) is a computer scientist and engineer who, as Director of the Software Engineering Division of the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, played an important part in the Apollo space programme. Her division was responsible for developing the onboard flight software for the missions that put the first men on the Moon, and she was the supervisor and lead programmer of the project.

She graduated with a degree in abstract mathematics, during a time when computer science and software engineering were not yet disciplines in their own right. She worked for the SAGE Project, used by the military in aircraft defense. Since 1986 she has been the CEO of Hamilton Technologies, an organization which she founded.

hey reblog this if you think girls can study and excel in computer science

#beingacomputersciencemajor : Testing out html tags on Pokemon Go and finding out it actually works.

Coding Masterpost

Hey buddies guess what??

I’ve brought you some awesome links that I have for learning how to code, computer science posts, and also various things about hacking. :p

CODING / COMPUTER SCIENCE

www.udemy.com

The best free and paid classes on the web. This is my go to site for learning something new.

app.pluralsight.com

$40 a month but the courses are top tier. You might find a free trial from microsoft dev essentials…

http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm

Free MIT courses with video lectures, notes, and resources!!!

https://www.codecademy.com/learn

Perhaps the most famous site for learning how to code, this is must have for any aspiring computer scientist, web dev, or programmer. A smooth UI, dozens of courses, APIs, and fun quizzes if you decide to cough up a bit of money. $19 is crazy dirt cheap compared to some $200 courses out there on the web.

https://thenewboston.com/

Dubbed by its creator as the social network for programmers, TNB is a hotbed of hundreds of video tutorials for programming and computer science, as well as other disciplines like cooking.

http://www.tutorialspoint.com/codingground.htm

Another crazy important site for anyone serious about programming. You can find online terminals, IDEs, and tutorials for almost every popular language out there, from oCaml to lisp

http://codecombat.com/

Geared towards children, this is a good introudction to programming thinking and helps a younger audience get into the problem solving mindset.

http://www.codewars.com/dashboard

For users with some coding experience, codewars offers hundreds of challenges in various languages and help them build up their skills. Perfect for intermediate to master programmers.

https://www.codingame.com/start

This site is a bit geared towards new coders, it’s still fun and helps a ton in developing confidence.

http://jonisalonen.com/

Random blog that discusses some concepts regarding computer science. Worth a read if you’re ever lost and wanna just reflect on something.

http://howtonetwork.net/

https://www.howtonetwork.com/

Both the old and new sites are still up and provide their services for learning IT skills.

http://www.freeprogrammingresources.com/

RESOURCES FOR COMPILERS, DATABASES, FORUMS, and SO MUCH MORE TAKE A LOOK.

http://www.hloom.com/modern-resume-templates/

What good is a programmer if they can’t make a good resume to show off their skills? With these helpful templates you can impress your potential employer.

http://freecomputerbooks.com/

I haven’t used this so be cautious. Has a lot of ebooks.

http://i.imgur.com/i3jtrA0.jpg

Web development cheat sheet.

http://hackforums.net/showthread.php?tid=626170

Awesome intro to programming with links to projects.

http://www.elithecomputerguy.com/

Eli has a blog and also videos for various things.

http://www.net130.com/ccie/tech/Sybex%20-%20Cisco%20CCIE%20Book.pdf

CCIE book. Not sure if it’s open source. I’ll remove this link if requested.

https://www.codeschool.com/

pay money, learn to code. seems legit.

http://www.python-forum.org/

A forum for Python usrers! There are only a few sections but there are enough posts on here so if you haev a question, it might have already been asked.

http://www.dreamincode.net/

Another sweet forum that covers multiple topics.

http://forums.devshed.com/

A really popular forum! Lots of languages and users, dozens of topics.

http://www.codingforums.com/

Another large forum, perfect for any use.

http://www.programmingforums.org/

A freaking large factory of forums you will never find the same post twice.

http://www.gamedev.net/page/index.html

Lots of forums, jobs, and helpful resources all geared towards game development.

http://stackoverflow.com/

The most famous one imo. Be wary friend, don’t let your CS teacher find this in your browser history.

http://forum.codecall.net/

Resources, forums, tutorials, blow yourself out here.

https://openhatch.org/

Has some training missions and other stuff. Helps you find projects to work on.

https://codefights.com/

Put your skills to the test against AI or humans.

www.datacamp.com

Like big data? Well this site teaches you Python, the numpy library, and R.

https://www.edx.org/

Full of courses for anything.

http://www.exactas.org/modules/UpDownload/store_folder/1_-_COMPUTACION/Jonathan%20Bartlett%20-%20Programming%20From%20The%20Ground%20Up.pdf

handy book on progrmaming.

HACKING

http://null-byte.wonderhowto.com/

This is one of the BEST websites to learn about security and you can follow tutorials by real hackers and members of the IT field. With a strong community full of experienced authors, you will either flourish by using proper grammar or be mocked for asking “how do i hack gmail??”

www.hackerhighschool.org/home.html

PERFECT FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS INTERESTED IN CYBERSECURITY BUT HAVE NO IDEA WHERE TO START. I CANNOT STRESS HOW AWESOME THIS SITE IS.

allison.com

ANOTHER PERFECT SITE FOR LEARNING ANYTHING

http://null-byte.wonderhowto.com/how-to/links-help-you-hacking-0162359/

Small collection of resources for educating yourself on internet security.

http://directory.umm.ac.id/Networking%20Manual/Networking%20For%20Dummies%207%20Ed%202004.pdf

A must read for anyone with a desire to get into IT

http://cli.learncodethehardway.org/book/

Crash course on Command line.

https://www.cybrary.it/

Great if you cannot afford pricy online classes. Instructors know what they are talking about and despite a few poor quality videos, you will be supplied with helpful resources and forums.

https://evilzone.org/

One of the better forums out there for learning. Delve into it at your own risk.

https://v3rmillion.net/

ROBLOX hacking, general exploits, or just normal discussions. Roblox helped put me on my path to coding and I love how every day, millions of kids are being taught the ability of coding thanks to its studio.

https://www.hackthissite.org/pages/index/index.php

Lessons, challenges, forums, and resources all bundled in a site to hone your pentest skills.

http://www.enigmagroup.org/

Like hackthissite, but with a different UI

https://www.hellboundhackers.org/

Read the above

https://pentest-tools.com/home

Free pentest tools. Don’t use it for anything wrong.

https://www.defcon.org/

Hehe..we are in defcon 4..

https://picoctf.com/learn

Capture the Flag learning site. Amazing imo.

http://overthewire.org/wargames/

Another war games site. You get various challenges that are fun to solve ^.^

http://hakipedia.com/index.php/Hakipedia

Wikipedia but for security.

http://smashthestack.org/

Wargames.

http://www.wablab.com/

Compete against IT pros. Git rekt code-bug

http://academy.ehacking.net/courses/computer-hacking-forensics-investigation/

Explore this site a bit.

https://www.ethicalhacker.net/features/book-reviews/the-basics-of-rootkits-leave-no-trace

The link kinda gives it away.

https://github.com/mrrrgn/simple-rootkit/blob/master/README.md

Fun little project.

http://www.fuzzysecurity.com/tutorials.html

Professional blog that has tutorials and highly detailed information.

https://www.corelan.be/index.php/2009/07/19/exploit-writing-tutorial-part-1-stack-based-overflows/

Ahh read the above please!

https://trailofbits.github.io/ctf/index.html

A CTF guide. Pretty well written and has slides. Awesome resources. What else can I say?

http://www.securitysift.com/windows-exploit-development-part-1-basics/

Another swell blog.

http://www.thegreycorner.com/2010/01/beginning-stack-based-buffer-overflow.html

Woa..another..awesome blog..there are too many to count!

http://www.flexhex.com/docs/howtos/hex-editing.phtml

Hey kid? Wanna learn how to hex edit like a b0ss?

https://www.blackhat.com/presentations/bh-usa-03/bh-us-03-willis-c/bh-us-03-willis.pdf

Nice little pdf for forensics.

www.greyhathacker.net

A blog that’s a bit dated but has useful information.

xeuhack.com

Dated but useful blog.

www.cybersecuritycourse.co

haven’t tried this yet but it has great reviews.

www.censys.io

Search engine for data scientists.

http://www.techexams.net/forums/off-topic/51719-best-security-websites.html

Best sites to learn from.

http://resources.infosecinstitute.com/ebooks/

Awww yiss ebooks

http://bookboon.com/en/it-programming-ebooks

Might run into errors downloading books.

http://ebook-dl.com/

Full books that are virus free.

That’s all for now! Special thanks to everyone who suggested I make this!