Tag: 50Projects50Days

Another of the 50 Projects In 50 Days

Carl Setzer2 Comments
Screenshot of 50 Projects in 50 Days Notes App Project

Ok, I got distracted from the 50 Projects In 50 Days Udemy Course. It’s been over a year since my last post with one. I’ve been working two jobs for the past year, so that’s my excuse. However, I want to get back at this as I still want to better my developer skills.

This project is titled “Notes App“, which is, well, a note-taking app with interesting elements. First, we use the “Marked” library to enable mark-down capabilities. Second, it uses local storage. So, this was a pretty cool project!

I still hope to eventually move into web or software development. This is fun, if often frustrating work. But, man, you feel like a wizard when you figure this stuff out. Once I’m done with this class, I’m leaning towards studying Python, though maybe I should dive into other web technologies (React or Svelte, perhaps?). One of my attractions to web development was the ability to continue to grow. There’s always something to learn. Always!

Another #50ProjectsIn50Days Project

Carl Setzer
close up photo of person typing on laptop

Got back at it today and tackled the “Double Click Heart” project. This one counts the number of times you click on the featured image, along with a little heart animation. What impressed me the most on this one was seeing how the heart animation was mostly CSS. It’s also nice to feel my understanding of JavaScript settle in deeper.

I feel motivated to finish this course. Now I’m past the half-way point, and have blocked time to get this finished, I’m starting to wonder what I want to do next. There’s so much more I want to learn that choosing a path is challenging. Do I go deeper still into vanilla web development? Do I explore Angular or React? Or do I go a different direction and look to Python? I’ll write about that as I hash it out!

Also, I’m looking for a new role. Ideally, one that utilizes my tech skill set. However, it seems that more people want to talk to me about my admin skill set. Well, that’s fine. I will continue to grow and develop as a developer. It’ll be interesting to see where all this takes me. If you’re looking for either a web dev or a administrative assistant/project coordinator in the Seattle area, let me know!

Onwards!

Todays #50ProjectsIn50Days Project

Carl Setzer1 Comment
woman sitting while operating macbook pro

Today’s project, titled “Github Profiles“, is a tool that pulls information from Github (if you’re not familiar with it, it’s a site where developers load their code. We do that to show code samples, to share our work with others, and to work collaboratively). This tool uses Github’s API, where we can select whatever elements we want from the profile to display on our own site. For this project, we opted for our name, profile picture, bio, number of followers, number we’re following, the number of repos (repositories) we have, and then the 10 most recently updated ones. Check it out! And feel free to use my username to search by: carlsetzer.

Using APIs is really fun for me. And, in this one, Brad Traversy (the instructor), introduced us to Axios.

The amazing part to me is after learning so much, there’s just so much more to learn. That’s one of the reasons I chose this path: continuous learning! But there are times it gets overwhelming. Just dive in, move forward, and grow. So, onward!

Happy New Year! I finished the Drag N Drop Project

Carl Setzer
person holding smartphone while using laptop

Well, Happy New Year everyone! Today, I completed another project in my 50 Projects In 50Days series. This one, Drag N Drop, grabs a random photo from Unsplash, then move it between different boxes. And I created effects styles for the different elements (drag over, etc) . A pretty neat feature/ability.

So, more this is another exploration into JavaScript, which is where most of the functionality of the project comes from. Though I’m not sure I want to be a coder, career-wise, I do want to get better. And I’m not sure how much more JavaScript I want to study. Perhaps I’ll dive into Python soon. It nothing else, it’s more data for my Github page.

On another note, my current contract has been extended to the end of January. Additionally, the plan is to make the role permanent after the next Congregational Meeting. However, it’s only part-time, so I am looking for a full-time gig somewhere. I’m open to a range of roles, from exec support/admin work to project management to web development. My main goal is to have a continuing education budget. Let me know if you hear of anything.

Another Project Complete!

Carl Setzer
apple laptop notebook office

I just finished, and uploaded, the “Theme Clock” project, part of my 50 Projects in 50 Days course. With this project, first we created an analog clock with ticking hands! That was pretty awesome. Also, we are able to switch from Light to Dark mode. A pretty popular feature right now. Everyone seems to love dark mode.

I had a few challenges with this one. First, getting the hands centered took me a few minutes. This was an issue with CSS. It also was challenging to get the date information to load correctly. That was due to some mis-typing in the JavaScript code.

I’m enjoying these projects. However, I’m still working on understanding code enough to be creative. Currently, I still need a LOT of coaching to get these complete. I realize that I need to grant myself some grace. Yes, my degree had a “lot” of coding, but it was pretty high level. My main focus was on design. For programming, over the past two years of my degree, we spent a quarter each on:

  • HTML
  • CSS
  • JavaScript
  • JQuery (a JavaScript library)
  • PHP
  • Visual Basic

Edmonds college had another web developer program with a more solid focus on coding. In that one, you covered a year a Java programming, but wouldn’t get to take any design courses. I’m sure there were other differences, but that was the main one. I was very deliberate in my choice: I wanted the design classes. It’s a long-standing interest and a passion of mine.

So, I’m left to wonder. How badly do I want to master coding? It’s really cool, and quite fun, but it seems like I have a lot of work to do in order to be able to think in code. And I’m not entirely sure how much more I want to learn. Currently, I’m working as a communications coordinator, where I’m spending time creating things like thumbnails, editing videos, creating posters, editing email newsletters, and updating websites (there are examples of my work in my portfolio). I have done that kind of work for years, and I find it fun and satisfying. I see web technologies to be a massively central part of communications type work going forward.

When I started on this journey of web development, I mainly pictured myself “building websites”. I mostly pictured static sites, blogs, things like the real estate sites I built. The past two years have opened my eyes to a lot of possibilities, though. Sifting through them all is challenging. But, really, it’s great to have a huge array of options.

Drink Water Project

Carl Setzer

Today’s “50 Projects In 50 Days” project: Drink Water. Always good advice, but that’s not what this is. This one lets the user click on the number of glasses of water one has consumed, and gives you back an animated graphic. You can check it out here.

After each project, I feel more confident with my coding. However, my questions grow. For instance, I wonder, though, how much more of vanilla web dev (html, css, javascript) I want to explore. Do I want to focus exclusively on web development? Or do I want to add the almighty Python to my list of languages? I’m unsure.

Additionally, I still see my super-power as a project manager/coordinator. As much as I’m enjoying coding, will that ever be the place I make the biggest impact? I’m unsure. Funny, in a way, that after all this web development work, recruiters till reach out to me regarding my executive assistant skill set. For a dying industry (exec support), I’m getting a LOT of interest in this skillset. Such is life, I guess. Keep growing, keep learning, see what comes.

Incrementing Counter: Another 50 Projects In 50 Days Project

Carl Setzer
Coding on a computer screen

You’ve seen these types of counters, ones that zip up to some total at some speed. Well, that’s what this project is. This is one that I can easily see a use case for. Also, it was a lot of fun.

An interesting realization: coding gives me energy. I was feeling rather worn and fatigued when I started this project. At the end, I felt invigorated. There’s some good learning here…just got to figure out what it means.

The next project in my 50 projects in 50 days course

Carl Setzer
photo of people sitting near wooden table

Finished another one! Today’s project s titled “Random Choice Picker“. You enter choices in the text area, then press enter, and a random animation will change change colors. This one was a bit challenging, as I didn’t catch some of the automated choices that Visual Studio made for me. (I guess, properly, it’s the plug-ins that are out to get me, but I digress.)

A few weeks back I posted about some additional certificates that I applied for. Well, two of them are officially approved!

  • Database Theory & Design
  • Requirements Analysis

Still waiting for 5 others, but they’re coming, I’m sure. With that, I went ahead and did a few of the LinkedIn assessments:

  • Excel (top 15%)
  • PowerPoint (top 5%)
  • Outlook (top 30%)

I’m not sure if I’ll take any others. I’ll need to see if these really added any value.

Anyway, as I wrote last time, my current contract is quickly winding down. There is still talk about a possible extension, which would be nice considering all the layoffs in the news these past few days. However, I am not counting on anything until I have an offer in had. So, if you know of anyone looking for a business systems analyst, data analyst, web developer, or project manager/coordinator, please let me know!

Moving Forward

Carl Setzer
person using silver macbook pro

Today was busy. Did a few more modules in my Google Project Management Certificate, as well as two projects in my 50 Projects in 50 Days course. This on top of spending my morning as part of my church’s tech team (our crew that manages sound, media presentation, and live-streaming). Also, my wife and I zipped up to the Everett Farmer’s Market (one of our favorite things). And we managed to cram in a walk (thank goodness the smoke from the fires has been washed away).

Today’s projects included Event Key Code, where you can type a key and get the underlying code. Also, I got the “FAQ Collapse” project done. This one we click on the down arrow, which changes the background color and expands out the box to show the answer (to answer dad joke).

For Project Management, we dove a bit deeper into starting successful projects. This all-important phase is where many projects are made or broken. Mastering the tools to ensure projects are successfully completed is critical to my future, and probably yours, too.

As my current project wraps up at the end of the year, I’m starting to scope out my possible next steps. There is the potential that my role will continue, perhaps even become full-time. But there’s no guarantee! And I like to hedge my bets, as the adage goes. What do I want to do next? That’s a great question! Ideally, I’d do something within IT, though I’m keeping my pride in check. I’m still being actively recruited as an executive assistant, which is what most of my career has entailed. For a dying career, it’s interesting how much energy recruiters have funneled my way. Anyway, I’m exploring and please let me know if you come across any leads.

I hope your weekend met your expectations. And that you got some rest. Time to call it a night and get ready for another hard-charging week!

My next project in the 50 Projects in 50 Days course

Carl Setzer
ethnic father and kid relaxing in bedroom

Though I’m working on my Google Project Management certificate, I’m also continuing on with my 50 Projects in 50 Days Udemy course.

With today’s project, I got to fetch from an API. This API, perhaps dangerously perfect for me, is from the I Can Haz Dad Joke site. As I’m rather famous for Dad Jokes, this one seemed perfect.

So, I enjoyed diving into API calls deeper. This is something that I want to know better, so diving in deeper made me happy.

Here’s the link to the project, and here’s the link to my developer site. Let me know what you think.