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[nitchi]

AI + Workplace

Hiya! Hope you had a swell day?

I’ve been thinking a lot about how Artificial Intelligence (AI) might end up replacing human beings in the workplace.

AI has evolved just as technology has involved, and it is getting implemented in every sector including healthcare. For instance, chatbots. When we’re unable to connect to customer care outside business hours, we are often connected to chatbots.

Thus, this begs the question: are we going to lose our jobs to robots?

They are programmed to do human jobs in a more efficient and faster way, anyway. But, I doubt that they would be able to deal the same empathy that a human being can.

AI is currently being implemented in recruitment and onboarding process- something the HR team in a department is in charge of. They are involved in screening the right person for the job, and also training.

There are so many things AI can do that might render we humans useless in the work force, especially during this pandemic. To make up for llost labour due to people being asked to stay home, some employers have started making use of AI to fill in the space.

So, what sector do you think AI will not be able to fully dominate? Please feel free to share your thoughts.

Until next time!

[nitchi]

Hey guys! It’s me again... top of the morning to you!

Let’s take a break from the usual stuff and talk about mental health. Mental health is really important and many people go through mental health issues due to stress, pressure and other causes.

I know we’re in unprecendented times due to COVID-19 and it may have some impact on our mental health, altering life as we know it. The lockdown isn’t making it easier for anyone. Having to stay at home, keep away from friends and loved ones, it’s all so draining.

But while all these are going on, it is important to keep your mental health in check. For those of us in school, trying to get good grades, I know there’s a lot of pressure especially from assignments but hey, it gets better.

Here are few things you can do; take a breather. Work for some time, rest a little. Also, you could workout for a bit. Physical fitness has been said to be one of the many things that benefit mental health. For me, working out keeps the pressure off me.

So... don’t stay stuck at home. Go for a run/walk, call your loved ones, eat to your heart’s content and always remember: “this too shall pass”.

Have a great day!

[nitchi]

Hola!

I hope you had a stress free day...

As uaual, let’s talk about the techy stuff. Today, I’d like to share a bit about Wordpress. I gave a brief overview of this in my last post.

However, I’ve been playing around with it, trying to build a make-shift website. The beauty of Wordpress is that it is a dynamic website and writes your HTML and CSS codes for you. How cool is that?

Wordpress is a popular blogging site and I’m sure many of you have come across it in the past. To get started with Wordpress, you would need to download the zip file and get blogging. But being a Web Authoring student, it’s more complicated (haha) but fun anyway.

I’ve been playing around with installing themes and activating plug-ins, uploading background pictures (can’t seem to find the perfect one), and so on.

It’s not so complicated because the site does more of the work for you so you can give it a try and tell me how you got on with it.

Well, I’ll update you on the progress of my website creation. Until next time!

[nitchi]

Content Management Systems (CMS)

Hey guys!

It’s me again with new content for this new week. Let’s talk about Content Management Systems today... usually abbreviated as (CMS).

CMS is a platform that allows you upload, share, and edit content without having to write any code from scratch. You know those HTML and CSS codes I’ve been telling you about? Yeah, no need for those in CMS. Hoorah!

I’ve been reading about CMS and recently found out that Wordpress is actually is good example of CMS. I only knew about Wordpress at some stage in my life because I used to read some blogs written on it. I never really bothered about the technical part until now.

CMS is allows you run a dynamic website. Dynamic websites are those websites that produce information based on the user’s request, and tailors it to suit the users depending on what they ask for.

So, what do you know about CMS sites? Here are some links to help you understand them better:

https://kinsta.com/knowledgebase/content-management-system/

https://www.fool.com/the-blueprint/content-management-system/

No need to thank me... it’s what I do *wink wink*

Until next time!

[nitchi]

GRIDS

Hiya!

Hope you’ve had a less stressful week than I have... Forgive my lack of enthusiasm today. I’m stressed out (haha).

Let’s talk about grids. In my previous post, I wrote about webpage layouts and how flexboxes and grids were used to build a page’s layout.

Grids are really important in terms of building a webpage that is aesthetically pleasing. They tell objects/elements where to go and put them in appropriate places.

I’ve gone over grids a million and one times now; I can finally say that I’ve gotten the hang of it even if it needs constant practice. I could write the technical stuff here such as narrowing grids down to grid-columns and grid-column templates but I’d need two more posts to complete it. So, like a proper lecturer, I’ll say this: “go look it up” :)

Grids are more complicated than flex-boxes in my opinion, but they have similar functions and work hand in hand. Well, here’s to moving on from grids and advancing to something more important such as building a responsive website.

Look out for my next post! Have a good night.

[nitchi]

Happy New Year everyone!

As the new year comes into play, it is important to note that we’ve been given another chance to start all over, be and do better... and it also marks the resumption of the school session :(

While I enjoyed the holiday somewhat, I had to brush up on my CSS knowledge and I concentrated on Flexbox and Grids. These are two powerful elements needed for building a webpage.

Because they’re are both broad, I’ll be talking a bit on flexbox in this post, while I do a separate one for grids. Flexbox is less complicated (and easier to me), but you can do much more with grids anyway.

Flexbox is one-dimensional and has to do with positioning different elements in a page. To get a flex to work, you would need to place it under the element you need to position, and then use the command: “display: flex”. Everything under that container becomes a flex item.

The flexbox comprises of a main axes (with an e not an i), and a cross axes. The main axes refers to the general direction the items will run, while the cross axes is perpendicular to it. In simpler terms, it’s called a row and a column.

There are so many commands when it comes to making use of a flex box. When using a flex, it has a default order usually left to right). This order can be changed by using the flex-direction command to reverse it.

To control the items from running over the web page, we use the flex-wrap option which allows you to either squash the content with  no-wrap, or let it spill to the next line with “wrap” depending on what you need.

Anyway, like I said earlier, it’s complicated but really doable with constant practice. To learn more, these links were helpful to me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJSoEo8JSnc&t=681s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYq5PXgSsbE

Until next time!

[nitchi]

Hiya!

Season’s Greeting from this side! I hope you enjoyed the Christmas holiday even though this year’s was a little different for all of us. But, the gift of family and friends should be enough to make up for it.

Anyway, it’s been a looooong while and I’m trying to catch up with my coding. Learning CSS is getting tougher tbh, but nothing we can’t handle.

Let’s talk about Udemy which is an online platform for learning new courses, especially technical ones. This is not an advertisement or anything, but I thought it’d be great to share this for those who have interests in taking tech courses, or those who even want to prepare for a certification.

One of my goals in 2021 is to take an Azure certification exam, and Udemy has lots of courses to help me prepare. Oh, you have to pay for some courses by the way but most of them are affordable.

If you have any other site or platform to recommend (courses too), please feel free to share!

Until next time!

[nitchi]

Hey! Miss me?

I know I’m really behind schedule with my posting. Frankly, I’ve been caught up in a lot schoolwork... and actual work.

Also, we got introduced weeks ago to a whole new world of coding (CSS). I can boldly say that HTML is waaaaayyy easier. However, these two languages/methods work hand in hand. HTML is the skeletal framework of a website, while CSS is the flesh... the body of the website... aesthetics.

I’ve been watching a lot of videos to familiarize myself with CSS. It seems doable but just a bit complicated. The CSS Crash Course for Absolute Beginners by Traversy media on Youtube has been most helpful, alongside course slides and lectures.

One of the reasons why I’ve been staling with posting is because I really haven’t gotten in touch with CSS yet. Defeating those challenges give me motivation to write but I really can’t put of writing anymore.

So, here’s hoping that the next time I’m here, I’d have completed a major CSS feat- my second assignment. Until next time...

[nitchi]

You know that feeling when you’ve had a major breakthrough? That’s how I feel right now. I could be dancing in the moonlight for all I care.

As the topics advance in HTML, it gets tougher. However, I’m thankful for the videos and articles that have simplified things for me, and oh! I’m thankful for my lecturer who’s really patient with teaching these things.

Last week, I learnt how to create hyperlinks, insert lists and images in a website markup. Wasn’t so easy to grasp, hence my excitement that I was able to conquer the worksheet we were given.

Since I love to share, here’s a few things that I learnt: there are certain commands you need to wrap around a line of texts for it to perform the function you want it to. For links, you need to wrap the text with <a href=“insert the link/website here” and then close with the closing tag </a>. If you’re new to HTML, it looks like a bunch of gibberish but it does the job.

Since I’m not so great with teaching (still learning myself), here’s a bunch of videos that could help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dD2EISBDjWM&list=PLr6-GrHUlVf_ZNmuQSXdS197Oyr1L9sPB, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQN-pnXPaVg.

Would’ve loved to share my work but I can’t seem to figure out how to. Anyway, if you know how to, please leave me a comment.

Happy November!

[nitchi]

Hey there...

Just a quick detour from the usual HTML talk. I want to talk about something that has been on my mind for weeks now because it hits close to home. Actually, it is home- Nigeria.

On the 8th of October, the Nigerian youth staged a protest following the recent murder of one of our own, by a police unit called the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). This unit is tasked with the responsibility of protecting lives an properties from armed robbers but it’s funny how people are less scared of armed robbers and more scared of this police unit. In fact, more scared of the whole Nigerian security force.

Long story short, they engage in all sorts of things from extortion, rape to murder of innocent citizens. Basically, if a young person (male or female) looks good or drives a good car, they try to extort you. If they cannot get anything from you, they arrest and frame you for a crime you didn’t commit and you’re charged to court within few hours (that’s if they don’t kill you in prison first).

During the PEACEFUL protest, they kept shooting at protesters and also killed many people who just wanted one thing- to end police brutality. If you’re on twitter, you could look up the hashtags: #endSARS, #endSWAT, #endpolicebrutality, and most importantly, #LekkiMassacre.

Nigeria is a wonderful place, filled with wonderful people. However, the police brutality and poor governance needs to go. I know police brutality is not just restricted to that part of the world, but the people paid to protect our lives shouldn’t be the ones taking it.

Well, I’m doing my little bit by lending my voice. You can lend yours too. We’re one and the same no matter how diverse we are. Anyway, gotta go but if you can, please say a prayer for Nigeria.

Until next time.

[nitchi]

Hey! It’s me again.

It’s been a tough week trying to balance school and work, but I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it soon enough. For now, I’m stressed out. Haha.

This week, I learnt new things- not just school stuff but life in general. What I’m particularly excited about is my progress with HTML. I must say, learning HTML is somewhat easier than CSS and Java Script but it’s just my observation. Or maybe it’s because we haven’t gotten in-depth yet but I’m hopeful. Lol.

Anyway, I’d like to share few of the things I learnt about HTML in class, and from other web materials/videos I found online. First, in the picture, you will see what a typical HTML document looks like.

HTML is basically a markup for creating a website. To me, it’s like building a house. In building a house, you need a lot of materials in order to complete the project. Thus, HTML is a block of texts and elements that make up a webpage.

In my last post, I showed you a bit of what I learnt from Solo Learning which is an app that teaches HTML. However, that was me cramming what I saw. This time, I got to understand them.

HTML is made up of tags and tags are elements. Elements are those building blocks that make up the webpage- the heading, body, paragraph, etc. To be honest, there are so many tags and if one is not careful, they could get lost in them. I’m speaking for myself anyway.

The wonderful thing about HTML is that it does not need any special server. The only things you need are a text editor and your web browser. I had to download Sublime Text rather than using the conventional notepad on my laptop and it works really well. Basically, every tag has a special colour and it just helps you know if you’re on the right track or not.

Typically, every HTML document starts with <!DOCTYPE html> which is a declaration that it is a HTML file. Next comes the tag <html> (which is just the pattern. Can’t explain why because I don’t know. Lol) and under that, comes the head where you have the title of the page and the body where you have the headings, paragraphs, links, images, etc. I found out that once you type <html> on Sublime Text, it fills out the rest of the tags for you. Easy peasy.

I could go on and on about it but I’d rather you do some research yourself if you’re a beginner like me. I looked up “HTML for dummies” on youtube and I found an amazing crash course (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB1O30fR-EE) for beginners. I also saw some titled “Learn HTML in 5 mins” but from what I’ve seen so far, it’s literally not possible. You’d have to keep going.

Anyway, I’ll stop here. Enjoy your weekend!

[nitchi]

HELLO!!

So... this is the face behind the blog. My name is Patricia but you may call me Nitchi (coined from my native name- Onyinyechi).

I’m 24 and a Master’s Student studying Interactive Digital Media. I have a degree in Mass Communication and you may be wondering (or not) why a girl like me, having no background in tech, decided to go for a course that requires coding, designing, etc. Well, it’s because I love tech. But I’ve never had the guts to learn programming. That’s about to change! Yay!

This blog will be used to share my thoughts on the web and everything interesting I find while making use of the web. It’s vast and there’s a lot of entertaining things going on in the web today. So, I’ll be sharing my opinion especially what I’ve learned in my “Web Authoring” class but please feel free to educate me as I have little experience in coding.

The first Web Authoring class was basically an inductory class but I learnt something important- the web is different from the internet. They are often used interchangeably, but the web is a service that runs ON the internet.

During the semester, we’d learn about HTML, CSS and Java Script. I’m particularly excited about this -not just because I want to learn the technical lingua, but the thought of applying it in diverse ways (especially in visual communication) is exciting enough.

About a week before resumption, I wanted to get ahead and learn a bit about HTML before lectures began. I came across a coding app called SoloLearning on App Store. Basically, I learned that when starting your code, it goes this way: <html> “your text in between and” </html> to close the paragraph. It’s a paid app anyway, so my free trial is over and I have to pay. Lol.

I’ll stop here for now. See you next time!