Facing Forward, Pursuing Progress
Today’s project we got to play with audio files. We used JavaScript to do the heavy lifting. The buttons, as well as the play action are done via JS.
Getting to explore JavaScript and coding more was a key desired function of this course, so I’m pleased with it.
Anyway, please check out the project. And take a look at my hand-coded web page. I am fond of them both.
A few days ago, this post came through my LinkedIn feed: “These Jobs Are Disappearing“. For me, the key thing are all the administrative roles declining (which has been the focus for a good deal of my career). Administrative assistant roles are expected to decline by 19.2% over the ten years from 2021 to 2031. Executive admin assistant roles are expected to drop by 20.2%!
What I find interesting in this: I’ve seen this coming for a while. However, right now, the trend SEEMS to be going the other way. I’m getting near daily recruiter calls for executive support and team admin roles.
This, though, is one key motivating factor for changing professions. As I love technology, these trends just drive me to cement my knowledge and work harder to transition.
Things like web development, project management, and systems analysis are key future-centric roles. My studies are my attempt to future-proof my career.
In today’s project, I created some animated text for a faux login form. I really enjoy the effect of this one when you click on the input fields.
Though I am really tired (it’s been a long few weeks), I’m pleased that I was able to fit this project into my evening. I really want to become a better coder, and coding is the only way to get there.
I want to fit in some review of project management and systems analysis. I’m quite confident that these will be important parts of my career’s next steps.
Today I completed the “Split Landing Page” project from my 50 Projects in 50 Days Udemy class. This one was pretty fun (yes, I’m a nerd).
Built a (mostly) CSS based animation effect onto the webpage. When you hover over half a page, it expands out to 75% of the page.
Check it out here. And you can check out all my web dev work on my developer page.
I think the greatest challenge for people with any greater than zero amount of ambition is choosing what not to learn. For me, there are so many things I want to learn. About three lifetimes worth. Finding focus is hard. Focus means saying no to other, often great, opportunities. My goodness, that’s hard.
Fandango, a blogger I’ve been following for a bit, posted a reply to Salted Caramel’s blogging insights prompt from Monday of last week.
As I’ve been blogging since 2005, both personally and professionally, I think I have something to add. Let’s explore, shall we?
First, let’s look at Salted Caramel’s caveats.
For point 1, I actually think they should change over time. Especially for a personal blog, you want to show your evolution. Changing interests point to explorations and make for a more interesting read over time.
Point 2: I agree somewhat. Depends, ultimately, on the professional blog’s focus. If it’s for a company, sure. But if you’re a sole proprietor (say, freelancer, or real estate agent) there’s value in having a broader sampling into the person you are. My professional blogging was, mostly, focused on real estate. Real estate industry centered blogs can get…boring. I find it valuable to write about the bigger you, and the bigger community around you.
So, more than just “housing starts are up, prices are, too…”. In these cases, the client is hiring you. Why should they be interested in you?
Anyway, that’s my fast two-cents. What do you think?
I enjoy looking at desk setups. This one, though, really stands out to me. Now, I’ve been wanting an adjustable standing desk for a number of years, which is a key part of this layout. But the wood desktop and matching bookshelves? *chef’s kiss* I think this desk may be the same one. MAY be….I guess.
And then there are the three monitors. THREE! My son has three and the notion is growing on me.
I plan to upgrade my computer early next year. I may need to think about my office furniture, too.
So, I’ve not been great at perfectly sequential days (my current project has expanded out a bit), but I’m still at it.
Today’s project, “Scroll Animation“, is another simple project where we take some boxes of content and fly them in from the side. To add a bit more complexity, we have some coming from the left, and some from the right.
Another fun one. Check out my other work on this course here. Also, check out my developer site.
So, I took the past couple of days off. I was exhausted after work Thursday, then had long work days Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. So, I did two today! Fortunately, they weren’t too complicated. That brings me to day 5.
Today’s first project is titled “Hidden Search Widget“. A very simple project, where we make a search box that expands or contacts (no search functionality yet).
My second project today is “Blurry Loading“, where an image loads blurry, and comes into focus while a countdown timer counts.
Fun projects which are helping refine my HTML, CSS and JavaScript knowledge. I am working towards bettering my coding skills. Slowly but surely growing. Check out my developer site for more details.
Completed day 3 of the 50Projects in 50Days course, “rotating navigation”. This one rotates the whole page if you click on the hamburger icon in the upper left. Hard to imagine a use case, but it’s really fun.
I’ve been posting these to my recently re-done Github site. Again, I’ve done three of these:
With Expanding Cards, when you click on individual cards, they expand out, and the other ones shrink. For Process Steps, it’s like a progress indicator. Each time you press the “next” button, the line advances one over. And for Rotating Navigation, when you click on the hamburger icon, the web page rotates, showing the navigation buttons. For me, this is fun stuff. Which is good since it’s now 9:30 at night and I still haven’t eaten dinner yet.
Anyway, it feels good to refresh my knowledge and build out these skills. I feel it’s a critical part of my march into a tech career. Plus, the internet and web development are the future of tech. I intend to do one project per day every day, but we’ll see. I have a few things coming up that may cause a day or two to be lost. But I should have not problem keeping this moving forward.
Wish me luck!