Categories
Hardware What I’m Up To

My new remote tech interview / teaching setup is unstoppable!

Tap to view the lighting setup at full size. For the really curious, the screen’s showing IntelliJ IDEA displaying a tech interview exercise in which I built an API of hot sauces using Spring Boot, Kotlin, and one other thing that I’ll name later.

Between the gig I’ve got teaching JavaScript and then Python a couple of evenings a week until the end of the year and a whole lot of technical interviews, I decided it was time to up my webcam lighting game. The result is pictured above and below.

Actual screen shot from last week’s technical interview. I’ll write more about how it went soon.

I had an Amazon credit and a coupon code, so I got this thing for “cheaper than free”: A set of two 5600K USB-powered LED lights with tripods and filters…

It works quite well — and better than I expected. While it’s light and takes up little space once collapsed, it’s a little too flimsy for someone who needs on-the-go lighting.

However, if you plan on keeping the rig in just one place and not travel with it, it’s a good setup for your video chats, meetings, interviews, classes, and so on. Check it out on Amazon.

The lights worked well for last night’s class and the previous week’s tech interview. I’ll write more about how the interview went soon.

 

Categories
Humor

T-shirt of the day

Tap the photo to see it at full size.

If you don’t get it, ask a friend who knows computer networking. Alternately, you could do a little Googling…

Categories
Current Events Tampa Bay

What’s happening in the Tampa Bay tech/entrepreneur/nerd scene (Week of Monday, September 28, 2020)

Once again, here’s the weekly list of events for events for Tampa Bay techies, entrepreneurs, and nerds. Every week, on GlobalNerdy.com and on the mailing list, I scour the announcements for events that are interesting to or useful for those of you who are building the future here in “The Other Bay Area, on The Other West Coast”.

This list covers events from Monday, September 28 through Sunday, October 4, 2020. That’s right, October happens this week!

I’ve opted to list only those events that I can confirm are happening online. I’m not yet listing in-person events, as we’re still in the middle of a pandemic in one of the hardest-hit states (nearly 700,000 cases and 14,000 deaths) in one of the hardest-hit countries in the world (7.1 million cases, 204,000 deaths).

Events — especially virtual, online ones — can pop up at the last minute. I add them to the list as I find out about them. Come back and check this article from time to time, as you might find a new listing that wasn’t there before!

This week’s events

Monday, September 28

Tuesday, September 29

Wednesday, September 30

Thursday, October 1

Friday, October 2

Saturday, October 3

Sunday, October 4

Do you have any events or announcements that you’d like to see on this list?

Let me know at joey@joeydevilla.com!

Join the mailing list!

If you’d like to get this list in your email inbox every week, enter your email address below. You’ll only be emailed once a week, and the email will contain this list, plus links to any interesting news, upcoming events, and tech articles.

Join the Tampa Bay Tech Events list and always be informed of what’s coming up in Tampa Bay!


Categories
Programming Reading Material What I’m Up To

JavaScript books that you can read online for FREE

My actual setup at my old office (February 3, 2020), where I coded in JavaScript all day.

If…

  1. You’ve decided to learn JavaScript (or just need a refresher), and
  2. you’re short on cash due to the current economic situation

…you’re in luck! There are a couple of good books on JavaScript whose contents are available to read online, free of charge!

The first of these books is Eloquent JavaScript, Third Edition, written by Marijn Haverbeke and published by No Starch Press. It’s not just an introduction to JavaScript, but an introduction to programming in general. It’s beginner-friendly, which is one of the reasons why it’s the main book for the first part of the JavaScript/React course that I’m teaching.

You can Eloquent JavaScript, Third Edition online here.

The second book is JavaScript for Impatient Programmers, ECMAScript 2020 edition, written by Dr. Alex Rauschmeyer. Its coverage of JavaScript is more complete, but it’s a little less beginner-friendly, which is why it’s the backup book for my course. I’m going to incorporate some of its content into the course, and point students to the online edition if they’d like some additional reading material.

You can read JavaScript for Impatient Programmers, ECMAScript 2020 edition online here.

Categories
Current Events Programming Tampa Bay What I’m Up To

I’m teaching an online JavaScript/React programming course!

The folks at Computer Coach Training Center must like my work, because they have me teaching another course — a 12-week, 3-times-a-week, 4-hours-per-session Intro to JavaScript and React programming!

I taught the Intro to Python Coding course on Computer Coach’s behalf in July and August. That one took place twice a week over 6 weeks, with each session lasting 4 hours.

The Intro to JavaScript and React Programming course starts next Tuesday evening, and happens Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings for 12 weeks.

The first six weeks of the course will be dedicated to gaining a solid understanding of JavaScript programming. During that part of the course, the text will be Eloquent JavaScript, Third Edition, which remains one of the most-recommended books for beginners. I’ll use it as a basis, but also add some additional material and cover changes in the 2019 and 2020 versions of JavaScript.

The second six weeks of the course will be all about React.js — and nothing but React. Yes, people use React in combination with all sorts of other technologies, but in order to get a solid grounding in React, it’s helpful to start by working purely in React. Hence Pure React, May 2020 Edition (which includes the newly-introduced feature of hooks) is the text for this section of the course.

If you’ve ever been in any of my Tampa iOS Meetup sessions, you’ve seen my teaching technique — you’re not passively watching slides, but coding along with me, and even experimenting, just to see what happens. That’s I what I did with the Python class, and it’s what I’m going to do with the JavaScript/React class — enter code, see what happens, and gain experience along the way. It’s learning by doing.

If this course interests you, it starts next Tuesday, and you can sign up by contacting Computer Coach.

 

Categories
Current Events Tampa Bay

What’s happening in the Tampa Bay tech/entrepreneur/nerd scene (Week of Monday, September 21, 2020)

Once again, here’s the weekly list of events for events for Tampa Bay techies, entrepreneurs, and nerds. Every week, on GlobalNerdy.com and on the mailing list, I scour the announcements for events that are interesting to or useful for those of you who are building the future here in “The Other Bay Area, on The Other West Coast”.

This list covers events from Monday, September 21 through Sunday, September 27, 2020.

I’ve opted to list only those events that I can confirm are happening online. I’m not yet listing in-person events, as we’re still in the middle of a pandemic in one of the hardest-hit states in one of the hardest-hit countries in the world, and we’ve passed 200,000 deaths, which is over 20% of COVID-19 detahs worldwide.

Events — especially virtual, online ones — can pop up at the last minute. I add them to the list as I find out about them. Come back and check this article from time to time, as you might find a new listing that wasn’t there before!

The 2020 Florida Entrepreneur Community Survey needs your input!

Hey, Florida-based founders, startup talent, investors, students, educators, ESOs (entrepreneur support organizations), and professionals — your input is needed! 

It’s a quick survey (I know, because I took it), but the information you provide will help inform Florida stakeholders on how they can make the Sunshine State a better place for entrepreneurs to build thriving companies.

The survey is produced by Embarc Collective, a combination tech accelerator, innovation hub, coworking and gathering space, and all-round contributor to Tampa Bay’s tech and entrepreneur scene.

They’ve expanded the scope of this year’s survey to cover not just Tampa Bay, but all of Florida to better determine how they can identify and improve opportunities to help Florida’s regional entrepreneur community thrive.

This week’s events

Monday, September 21

Tuesday, September 22

Wednesday, September 23

Thursday, September 24

Friday, September 25

Saturday, September 26

Sunday, September 27

Do you have any events or announcements that you’d like to see on this list?

Let me know at joey@joeydevilla.com!

Join the mailing list!

If you’d like to get this list in your email inbox every week, enter your email address below. You’ll only be emailed once a week, and the email will contain this list, plus links to any interesting news, upcoming events, and tech articles.

Join the Tampa Bay Tech Events list and always be informed of what’s coming up in Tampa Bay!


Categories
Current Events Florida Tampa Bay

The 2020 Florida Entrepreneur Community Survey needs your input!

Hey, Florida-based founders, startup talent, investors, students, educators, ESOs (entrepreneur support organizations), and professionals — your input is needed!

It’s a quick survey (I know, because I took it), but the information you provide will help inform Florida stakeholders on how they can make the Sunshine State a better place for entrepreneurs to build thriving companies.

The survey is produced by Embarc Collective, a combination tech accelerator, innovation hub, coworking and gathering space, and all-round contributor to Tampa Bay’s tech and entrepreneur scene.

They’ve expanded the scope of this year’s survey to cover not just Tampa Bay, but all of Florida to better determine how they can identify and improve opportunities to help Florida’s regional entrepreneur community thrive.

They’ve told me that they need more techies to respond. If your work involves making stuff out of programming languages, pixels, or project/product management, you’re a techie, and they want to hear from you!

Again, I ask you —