Thoughts on programming, web development and design.

Circuit Board

Category: Miscellaneous Page 5 of 9

Miscellaneous

3 Ways to Communicate Better

ToolMost of our days are spent communicating. But are you really good at it? Good communication allows us to sell our work, build relationships and share ideas with others. This list has 3 ways to help you communicate better.

  1. During the day, you may need to communicate in person and digitally. Both methods are needed to communicate in a modern world. A List Apart shares tips on how to become a better communicator.
  2. Web designers and developers can be much better at communicating in code or design. Every day, we need to be able to communicate with people. Here are a few communication tips for techies
  3. Contracts are designed to help communicate the responsibilities of yourself and your client. Unfortunately, most contracts are only understandable to lawyers and meant for reading on paper. Contracts can kill the enthusiasm for a project before it begins. We can design better contracts that are readable to both you, your client and your lawyers.

Inspiring Talk On Being A Maker

Adam Savage’s (Mythbusters) talk at XOXO festival on being a maker.

A Marketers Halloween Slide Show

Happy Halloween! Marketing Profs has created a slide show of 5 Spooky Articles. Instead of finding ghosts or superheroes, you can learn about monsters that hide in your blog and other marketing materials. To learn more, read the slideshow with the lights on.

Milwaukee WordCamp 2012

On June 2nd and 3rd, the first Milwaukee WordCamp 2012 was held at Bucketworks.org, a co-working space, located in downtown Milwaukee. Milwaukee WordCamp offered two different tracks: User and Developer. As a developer, I focused on the developer sessions. My favorite sessions were WordPress Plugins, How to Contribute to Open Source and How Not to Design like a Developer.
WordCamp Milwaukee 2012
Each presentation had something new to learn about WordPress and development.

  • Writing Your First Plug-In: Brad Parbs demonstrated how easy it is to create your first plug-in. He showed us that you can create your first one in five minutes.
  • WordPress Development Practices: Dan Pastori explained how to write a plug-in, plug-in best practices and how to test them. He even suggested having your mom test your plug-in. If she can’t figure out how to use it, then no one can.
  • Contribute to Open Source: Joel Clermont explained that open source communities needs your help to keep making it better. You can contribute to open source for “selfish reasons”: make your life easier, gain valuable experience and further your career. You can get involved in WordPress by writing documentation, fixing bugs or even testing.
  • How to Not Design Like A Developer: Tracy Apps spoke on how to design attractive looking sites. She emphasized the use of Contrast, Color, Balance and Alignment. The purpose of design is about problem-solving not just making things look pretty.

If you missed a presentation, WordCamp Milwaukee has published the presentation slides.

What a scientist looks like

Do you know what a scientist looks like? When asked, most people come up with an image of an old, white male in a lab coat. While some scientists do fit that description, scientists are a diverse group of people. While some may work in a lab, many scientists spend their days out in the world looking for rare plants or insects, studying sea life like sharks or the stars. On the website, This is what a scientist looks like, they show you photos of real scientists and science students. You’ll see pictures of scientists at work and play. This site is focused on changing the stereotype of what a scientist is. It includes a photo of an all scientist roller derby team from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Page 5 of 9

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén