Blog

• Oct. 8, 2016

• Today was my first day of the Apprenticeship Program at Shodor. We read over the rules in the Apprentice Handbook and toured the building where we will be taught. It's very exciting to begin learning how to create my own website. My mentor is Dr. Panoff. I met many new friends.

• Oct. 15, 2016

• Today, we learned about how we can apply Expectation, Observation, and Reflection in our lives. We also learned about professional business ethics such as wearing proper attire and being on time for an appointment. I had my first meeting with my mentor, Dr. Panoff. I found out that he used to play lacrosse at Notre Dame which is really cool. After lunch, we discussed the different types of models.

• Oct. 22, 2016

• Today, we learned about using Excel to model a coin flip experiment. The random numbers that it produces is called pseudo random. I learned that as the size of data gets larger, the standard deviation decreases. We had a guest speaker, Dr.Diane Martin, who is a computer scientist. She wrote a program related to Apollo 13. Afterwards, Dr. Panoff showed us an amazing card trick using a mathematical algorithm that he said "cannot not work."

• Nov. 5, 2016

• This week, I had to miss the Apprenticeship class on modeling with Excel. I had to go to a Model UN conference for school. To make up for my absence, I listened to the recordings from class and followed along at my home. I was able to complete most of the assignments but I was confused by the clock and diffusion models. At the next class, I received help from Dr. Panoff to understand and complete those models.

• Nov. 12, 2016

• Today, we learned about HAVE = HAD + CHANGE, which is called successive approximation. We discussed the different types of change (0, constant, linear, proportional) and the behaviors that result (constant, linear, quadratic, exponential). After lunch, Dr. Panoff introduced a model simulation software called Vensim. We learned how to use box variables and rate to build a SIR (susceptible, infectious, recovered) diagram.

• Nov. 19, 2016

• Today, we learned about using an agent-based program called AgentCubes. An agent is local, individual, and bottum up, while system models are global, aggregate, and top down. We learned about writing a story and translating it into code. I was really impressed that I was able to create a professional-looking program in AgentCubes in just a few hours. I built a model and graph of flies in a room that escaped through a window.

• Dec. 3, 2016

• Today, we learned about using an agent-based program called AgentCubes. An agent is local, individual, and bottum up, while system models are global, aggregate, and top down. We learned about writing a story and translating it into code. I was really impressed that I was able to create a professional-looking program in AgentCubes in just a few hours. I built a model and graph of flies in a room that escaped through a window.

• Dec. 10, 2016

• Today, we worked on finishing our group projects. I was working on our group's Vensim model. I encountered several problems regarding carrying capacity, time step, closing time, etc. Our topic is a mall's population during mall hours. Our group is trying to include how town population, mall and store capacity, popularity, satisfaction, and closing time affect the number of people in each store. Aaron helped me immensely in fixing the model's problems. By next week we must have a working Vensim model, AgentCubes model, and project website.

• Dec. 17, 2016

• Today, we started a bit late. Shodor opened at 11 am due to the icy road conditions. My partner and I worked on making our AgentCubes model function. We collaborated in making the Vensim and AgentCubes correlate and comprise of similar data such as store popularity level. We were not able to present our project because there was not enough time.

• Feb. 4, 2017

• Today, we learned about the tools that are needed to program. We learned about syntax and conventions that most programmers follow when coding. For example, most languages use very similar programming concepts such as a loop. This semester we will focus on using languages php, css, html, and javascript. I used the editor Atom which highlights similar lines. We also learned about version control and comments. A cool thing about Atom is its ability to place the cursor on several lines at once. Obfuscation is used by programmers to make it confusing so others canot copy it.

• Feb. 11, 2017

• Today, it is my sister's birthday. We learned to use the console to test JavaScript commands. Using descriptive names for variables is very useful in understanding their purpose. The + sign can be used to concatenate strings. Also, the Math library is used to perform trigonometric functions and other calculations such as floor. In declarations, the reference is on the left side of the assignment. I also learned about objects {} and arrays[].

• Feb. 18, 2017

• Today, we learned about Linter eslint which can be used to detect errors. The Math class has Math.PI and Math.E which are constants, and Math.sqrt() which is a function. Most functions use input such as pow. Also, Math.random() outputs random doubles between 0 and 1. We also learned that an index is the position in array and starts at 0. We finished up modifying the predator-prey model into a disease model. I am excited about the project next month.

• Mar. 4, 2017

• Today, we began our forest fire project for March. My partner is Ednan Ochieng. We chose to start our project with the predator- prey model. We began by changing all references of prey to fire, and food to trees. We also decided to comment out all references to predator as we did not need it anymore. After several attempts to modify the reproduce function, we were able to create a working function for spreading fire. Now, the fire does not reproduce/ spread when next to another fire agent, but when it is next to an open cell with trees.

• Mar. 11, 2017

• Today, we worked on changing our description of the model to correctly represent the new forest fire model. For example, all fire agents will burn trees and the acre will lose a certain amount of trees. Once, the acre loses all of its trees, the fire dies out. We tried making the model more realistic by taking into account how fast a fire could burn 1 acre. We decided that the time step would equal an hour.

• Mar. 18, 2017

• Today, my group presented our forest fire model. My partner Ednan competed at a track meet so he couldn't arrive until 12. We began presenting at 12:30. We were the third group that presented. I worked on creating the project webpage on our Shodor website. We also put a screen shot of the model and link on it. Our presentation was pretty cool. Aaron suggested that we make our model more realistic by lowering the tree regrowth speed rate. I later met with Dr. Panoff for our monthly meeting.

• Apr. 1, 2017

• Today, we began learning about parallel computing. Parallel programming is very beneficial as it makes work more efficient, faster, and take less time. Serial computing happens in a series. An interesting concept is idle processing, which occurs when a computer processor sits around and does nothing. Often, computers communicate with each other through message passing. We modeled a parallel computer by using a fire model and each person collected information on average burn % and iterations. We learned that data dependencies can be great inhibitors, as they require messages between computers, increasing time and risk for errors to occur. We finished by researching careers in high performance computing.

• Apr. 8, 2017

• Today, we finished our parallel computing notebook. We discussed where Blue Waters ranked among the Top500 and how they could improve upon the Linpack. After that, Aaron showed us LittleFe, a portable supercomputer, and we took apart its components. LittleFe had all the capabilities of supercomputer for only $3000. We went online shopping for parts to see if we could also build a parallel computer with a budget of $3000. My supercomputer cost only $1316.40. We also began learning Terminal commands and how a command line interface differs from a GUI.

• Apr. 22, 2017

• Today is the last Saturday of the Spring Apprenticeship Program. We learned about using the Bootable Cluster CD which uses linux. In the GalaxSee model, we tested how the number of cores affected the run time of the model. I was the lead node000 in our group. Message passing interface, or mpi, is the most widely known parallel computing environment.

Summer

Block 2

• Jul. 10, 2017

• Today, I began my first day of the summer at Shodor. We had a busy first day working on our Programming Concepts Syntax Guide. I researched the basic syntax of JavaScript, PHP, and Python. We began a coin flipping model with PHP. It was interesting to notice the similarities and differences between the language syntax. I found out that Python does not have an end of line character. We used CyberDuck to retrieve our files from the Shodor server.

• Jul. 11, 2017

• In the morning, I continued adding to my Programming Concepts Syntax Guide. We learned about hexadecimal (base-16) and how it is used in colors. After the trouble we had yesterday, the coin flip model went more smoothly. Tomorrow I have Morning Documentation and workshop break. I hope it goes well.

• Jul. 12, 2017

• I had workshop documentation today for Advanced Programming Concepts. Joel was the instructor. Later that afternoon, I made up my work for the coinEmbed, coinFunction, and coinRender. I listened to the video on YouTube and finished just before class ended. In embedding, Ernie explained that you want to keep it small. In embedding, you place one language (PHP) into another (HTML). I will try to get started on the projects tomorrow.

• Jul. 13, 2017

• Today, I worked on Krista's projects. I completed the Random Hex Color and Dane Joe projects. The random hex color generator changed the color of my webpage. Dane Joe switches the first and last letters of a given first and last name. Miguel taught our class how to create dynamic web pages. I learned how to use $_GET to pass data from HTML to PHP. I having a bit of trouble understanding and making the Dice Statistics project work. Ishaan helped me a lot to understand using arrays to make the random hex color project.

• Jul. 14, 2017

• Today was a work day where we completed our projects. Keith was a big help in assisting me on the dice statistics PHP project. He talked me through planning and diagramming the functions with inputs and outputs. I added an HTML form where a user can input specifications for number of dice and number of rolls. A table is created and shows the sum of the dice for each trial.

• Jul. 17, 2017

• This morning, I had my first time as reception at the front desk. Levi walked me through the basics on answering the phone. I received a few phone calls and I was able to successfully transfer a phone call to Ron. Later that afternoon, I caught up on Ernie's videos on form validation, and $_GET and $_POST. I'm still having trouble adding a probability chart for my dice roller.

• Jul. 18, 2017

• During the afternoon, Jennifer Houchins, the intern coordinator, gave a PowerPoint presentation regarding good interview tips and tricks. She stressed the points of wearing proper attire, arriving 10-15 minutes early, and being respectful. She added that we should be prepared by researching the company and the interviewer's linkedin or other online account. Afterwards, I conferred with Huny on the design of a chart that displays frequency of each sum.

• Jul. 19, 2017

• Today I had a mock interview with Jennifer and Levi. I dressed up in a black coat, blue shirt, and red tie. My interview was scheduled at 11:20 am. After a short interview, Jennifer and Levi had some critiques for me. Levi said I needed to reduce my use meaningless fillers like uh, like, and er. He advised me that it is better to pause and take a deep breath before answering a question. They said to know my answers really well so I don't have any trouble blanking out. I also had a bothersome tendency to look up or down in a corner and not into my interviewers' eyes.

• Jul. 20, 2017

• Today I finished correcting the algorithms in my calendar. It turns out that all I needed was a fresh perspective. Huny helped me approach the problem by decreasing the amount of functions used and creating a for loop for the entire month. The calendar table creates a new row when the current day + the number of blanks is at the edge. I guess I tend to make things more complicated than they need to be. Mihir helped me add cookies to my background selector to remember the sites color. At the end of the day, I met with Dr. Panoff for my block meeting. We discussed the PHP projects that I had completed this past block. Dr. Panoff gave me some advice on improving the user experience and layout.

• Jul. 21, 2017

• Today was a work day and the last day of the 2nd block. I focused on quality assurance: checking that all my HTML was valid, adding improvements, and finishing my blogs. During lunch, I received a delicious slice of pepperoni Papa Johns pizza. I agreed to do reception for Mihir this afternoon. I'll probably link my projects to the portfolio when I get home because both Atom and TextWrangler are unavailable on the front desk laptop. Also, Aaron helped me practice my phone call receiving skills. I learned how to correctly page a staff member, transfer a call, begin a voice-mail, and hold a call for a moment. The line 1 light indicates if the line is on (green) or off (red).

• Block 2

• Jul. 24, 2017

• Today was the first day of Block 3 which is about databases. I researched about SQL and added descriptions to my syntax guide. We used Sequel Pro, a graphical user interface, that is used with MySQL. I learned about many SQL commands like CREATE TABLE, INSERT INTO, and ALTER. SQL is a structured query language. Daatabases have fields and records and are collections of data. During the afternoon, I went over to the classroom to document the Parallel Universe workshop. They conducted several thinking exercises to understand the process of parallel computing and its benefits.

• Jul. 25, 2017

• Today I started working on my SQL Syntax Guide as soon as I got to Shodor. I watched the YouTube Video of Ernie's ER Diagram drawing to catch up. Later, during Ernie's lecture, we used foreign keys in Shoe, FavColor, and CoinFlip tables to reference the primary key id in the People4 table. together. The database we created is called a relational database. A one-to-many relationship is created between the tables. I finished both Day 1 and Day 2 of the study guide and completed the mini SQL challenges.

• Jul. 26, 2017

• This morning, I did reception at the front desk. It was mostly uneventful compared to most days I've had at reception. I only received one phone call. I must be more aware when people pass through the front office door and remember to close it after they leave. After I got off duty, I ate lunch in the break room. Then, I worked on editing my diceRoll.php5 and creating a Dice Roller database framework. I received help from Chris, Huny, and Mihir on making it work. Tomorrow I'll try to import the PHP data into the database I created using MySQLi Procedural.

• Jul. 27, 2017

• Today I worked on my dice roll website. I brought some cards to Shodor so we could play President. I finished modifying my diceRollDB.php5. Now, the dice roll inserts the user data for first name, last name, favorite color, dice rolls, and shoe size into the respective tables in Sequel Pro. I encountered some errors like adding extra records when the page refreshed. I helped Huny, Gustavo for the MySQL syntax to insert a record into the database.

• Jul. 28, 2017

• Today is the last day of week 1 for block 3. It was primarily a work day. At the beginning of I validated my Dice Roll html and linked it to my portfolio. I politely asked the apprentices and interns to go to my website and complete the survey. I retrieved data from the MySQL database and displayed the user information in a table. I researched CSS and added a style to make headings calibri font.

• Jul. 31, 2017

• Today we celebrated Dr. Panoff's 62nd birthday! He received a King Bob minion from the movie Minions. We sang Happy Birthday and ate cake. After lunch, I served reception duty. I did not receive a single phone call, but I completed some difficult work. I am currently in the process of creating a HLD for my website. I am researching CSS libraries to use and am watching an interesting YouTube video about website design.

• Aug. 1, 2017

• Today I made a responsive web design with HTML5 and CSS3. I followed a YouTube tutorial by W3 Newbie. It was really helpful in the learning those languages and one of the best website design tutorials I have watched. I liked learning how to use a @media query to define different style rules for different media types/devices. I used it to change the format when the display screen is smaller than 768px wide like a phone. I was amazed that I was able to make a really good looking website in a few days.

• Aug. 2, 2017

• Today I worked on adding queries to my Dice Roll database. I created five queries, or questions. I had a difficult time trying to figure out how to retrieve information that was not in a table. I discovered a way to associate the SELECT by using a keyword AS to give the selection a temporary name called an alias. This allows me to retrieve information from functions like COUNT(), SUM(), and AVERAGE(). I used this revelation to count the number of dice rolls each person conducted.

• Aug. 3, 2017

• This morning, I did documentation for the Shodor Scholars Program workshop. Dr. Panoff taught dimensional analysis, attraction through diffusion, and attributes and hill-climb in AgentCubes. During the afternoon I was busy thinking about the magnificent design of my future website. I am not sure what CSS library I am going to implement into my website yet.

• Aug. 4, 2017

• Today I had my mentor meeting with Dr. Panoff. We discussed the plan for the rest of the day and next block. I plan to finish the Block 1 projects first, then shift my focus to completely remodel my current website. I decided to use Foundation because it is the most advanced frontend framework in the world. Many large companies use Foundation components.

• Guest Speaker: Internet of Things

• A guest speaker from Cisco, Rene Daughtry, talked about the Internet of Things. Cisco is a large company founded in San Francisco that is used everywhere in technology. Mr. Daughtry raved about all the jobs that are available in the tech industry. The internet of things is growing exponentially as tons of content is being uploaded to the web each day. He invited us to apply for internship at Cisco. He stressed the importance of reputation and how others perceive you. He advised to protect my online identity and create a linkedin account. I am thinking about joining a robotics team next year so I can learn how to program robots like Lego Mindstorms.

• Block 4

• Aug. 7, 2017

• Today I wrote an HLD of my Ships in a Storm model. In a story, I listed rules for how the agents will act. I diagrammed the basis for my Vensim model format. I will add variables such as hurricane activity, rocks & debris damage, navigation skill, water turbulence, and ship durability. The purpose of this model is to observe how ships manage the mighty storms of the sea.

• Aug. 8, 2017

• My AgentCubes model came together pretty slowly today. I had difficulty remembering how the interface worked. Dr. Panoff helped me use an inflatable icon to transform into a boat. I used a zero as a starting point, then recolored it and inflated it to resemble a wooden boat. I then used a water themed tile for the sea, a blue cylinder to represent a hurricane or storm, and yellow mounds for the islands. Mihir came over to help me add variables that can be adjusted using a slider bar. We used an @ sign to tell AgentCubes that it is a variable.

• Aug. 9, 2017

• Today I learned about resume writing techniques from Kristen, a former intern. She began by introducing several resumes and pointing out the good and the bad in each of them. She emphasized to use clear, easy-to-read fonts. In our own resumes we separated the items in sections: Education, Professional Experience, and Awards. The summary statement summarizes the entire resume.

• Aug. 10, 2017

• During the morning, we had a surprising power outage at Shodor. Apparently, an accident on East Main Street was the cause. We joined the interns in the breakroom to play a thrilling game of mafia. In this card game, it it essential to be skilled at psychology, probability, and keeping a good pokerface. Gratefully, the power was restored by 1 o'clock. Afterwards, we watched a documentary called Code: Debugging the Gender Gap. I left early to watch an Intern Expo at SAS. My answers for the video are here: Video Answers

• Aug. 11, 2017

• Today is the last day of the Shodor Scholars Program. Everyone was well-dressed in business casual. The interns were working hard to tidy up the place: vacuuming, wiping glass windows, putting stuff away. Elsewhere, Mihir presented his projects because it was his last day. At the end of the day, we watched the workshop students' presentations. They used models of Vensim and AgentCubes. Afterwards, we ate refreshments of cake, vegetables, cheese, and crackers. I am looking forward to next week. I can't believe it is almost over!

• Aug. 14, 2017

• Today I wrote descriptions about the AgentCubes and Vensim models I created. I need to get a lot of work done to be ready for the presentation on Friday. My Foundation website has a couple of elements but does not look complete or anywhere near finished. I currently have a nav bar, image slider, and title.

• Aug. 15, 2017

• I did not attend Shodor today. I was at my school for a Studet Council workday. We did activities to learn about the importance of time management, calendar planning, communication, email etiquette, and publicity. We did various activities like giving hand sanitizers to teachers, making posters inform students about clubs, and painting banners to welcome students to the new school year. At home, I worked on my website.

• Aug. 16, 2017

• There are only two more days until the end of the Apprenticeship program. I watched Ernie's Inkscape tutorial. I learned about the layout of the toolbar and what the tools can be used for. Using these newfound skills, I created a cool, sleek favicon for my website.

• Aug. 17, 2017

• Today I worked on finishing all my Inkscape and Gimp projects. Cosmic turtles are very time-consuming to cut out the pictures and add effects like rotation, scaling, etc. I must say, Huny is a skilled diplomat. He persuaded Ernie to unban mafia, the card game, on behalf of all apprentices by agreeing that we would do our best to keep the noise at a minimum. I think that most apprentices are staying a bit later than 5 this afternoon. I will try to finish everything and put it on my website by tonight.

• Aug. 18, 2017

• Today is the final day day of te Shodor Apprenticeship Program. This morning, I'll have to work frantically, but efficiently, to get all my work done. This experience at Shodor has been a great one. I made plenty of new friends that I hope to keep.