#but i like python and JavaScript scares me

[continuallycowardlycod]

(not adding a I don't code option as it would skew the results)

(also I forgot to write it as html and CSS so just pretend I did please)

[cinnabar-surfin]

//Mod and character are autistic and adults, wording may seem stiff or unnatural if there's any confusion on anything I say please message me and I'll clarify! I follow off shinyzubats//

//yet another rotomblr blog from @shinyzubats //

(Character info under cut)

Hello....I'm Kiki (he/it), 30 years old, did you know there's pokemon the normal person doesn't even know exist? I am a self proclaimed 'missing number' and 'glitch' pokemon expert, having officialy and properly studied these creatures since my late teens, though ive been encountering them since i was younger. I will not be revealing where I currently live, what I have done to obtain these pokemon, nor the names of anyone i know in real life. Though I am originally from Cinnabar Island, where I first encountered a 'missing number'

I assume I should tell you about my team now.

Javascript the Charmander, lvl 85 - yes she is a Charmander, no I will not be revealing why she looks like a bulbasaur, yes she is still a fire type, no she cannot evolve.

HTML the Nidoking, lvl 100 - yes he is really level 100. He is also incredibly shy, please do not send mail with the intent to scare him. It's a shame I even have to ask that

C the Gengar, lvl 285 - he is lvl 285, why is that so hard to believe? I don't really see him often as he likes to watch from the shadows.

Mewthree the Mew, lvl 1 - I am not entirely sure this is a mew, despite what the pokedex tells me. Sounds like a zapdos and only knows transform. Rather sweet which is surprising.

Perl the ???, lvl unknown - a 'missing number' taking the form of a ghost, I don't know it's specific classification nor its level, it is not registered to me yet follows me around very closely.

BAD EGG the egg, no lvl - this was once a breloom named Python, I am unsure what happened to cause Python to revert back to her egg state, nor why she is registered as 'bad egg' but I hope to rehatch her soon.

Pokemon NOT in my battle team ;

Lola the Zubat, lvl 5 - a jolly natured zubat with a lack of teeth, shes new around the house but seems to really like to sit on my head..

Milo the Zubat, lvl 5 - a calm natured zubat, like Lola he's new, he seems to really like napping and likes to ride around on HTML to nap..

//tags and such I use under here

pelipper mail, pelipper malice and pelipper un-mail are always open on this blog! Magic anons are also fine! Hatemail is encouraged!

#Kikidoesramble - rambling ic

#Kikiknowsall - awnsering asks

#CharmanderJavascript - anything relating to Javascript the Charmander

#NidokingHTML - anything relating to HTML the Nidoking

#GengarC - anything relating to C the Gengar

#MewMewthree - anything relating to Mewthree the Mew

#Perl??? - anything relating to Perl the ???

#EggBADEGG - anything relating to BAD EGG the Egg

#DuoZubats - anything related to Milo and Lola the zubats

#ooc/ic -> in character / out of character

[boyfhee]

hmm, jay fic?? write it and you shall submit. i will be waiting for it, hehe. even i want to start a writing account for enha but i dont know what to post first T_T i have a text au and a headcanon, tell me which one should i post first :0

hope your bro does well in his 10th ✌🏼 tell him to not waste these next months, but hasnt the difficulty level for 10th graders decreased too?? i hate this education system. for us, 70% of syllabus was removed and people say you guys didn't write the exams 😭

hanuman chalisa haha, even if i have god by my side. i would be scared too. lmao how can a jaw chase her... noo that is so funny 😂 i mean i cant handle the smell of rotten food and what would i or you do with cadaver 🥲 i dont know. i regret everyday that why i havent chosen bipc 😔

i know apathorax from arjun reddy movie 😶 is it what it is?? help i dont even remember. isnt it beside the chest of a human?? the flesh part?? tell me tell me. well i havent been interested into coding but i need to start to learn how to code.

since you said you have coded, tell me the basic coding languages i need to know + how your teachers taught you caelin! i badly want tips to learn. like i have so many reels saved on my ig about coding + tips

same pinch, but i have been stanning them since on era and i think i was a hardcore fan until they dropped butter. i lost interest because same, their music started to change and started concentrating on the west. soo, i used to love the old bts caelin :(

hell no!!! when i used to watch yuzuru hanyu skating videos, i got into figure skating and then random videos used to pop up, even i used to know sunghoon before he debuted 🥲 i didnt watch like all of his performances but watched the best ones in his career ^^ he grew up so well.

yup!!! when fever was dropped, engenes knew it was a banger. damn it everyone on twitter asked whose song was this and engenes were like, huhu its enhypen \(^_^)/ hooray hahga. even i agree with you fever was and is the best bside i have ever heard from them.

this already long so i will continue in the next ask :3

— lover club anon <33

jay fic was posted, i hope it reached you well ^^ also, good luck with starting a writing account omg .. you can start with texts since they are a quick read and attract more audience !!! however, headcanons aren't bad either ... it really is your choice :O

i will tell him to do well in 10th, although he wastes all his time playing valo / forza horizon TT i don't know how easy or difficult the school exams have gotten, i've been so out of the loop ever since i graduated >< hope your sister does well too in boards ^_^

and omg bipc is fun but i'm sure pcm is just as interesting :O you have a fear of blood and needles so maybe you weren't meant for the OT but rather for doing other big things in like ... let's be positive !!! also, i think you mean apothorax ?? it's part of thorax containing heart and lungs ^^ i was studying about mediastinum today .. it's too much to take in. there's so much information and so little space in my brain .. sometimes i wonder if i will be able to remember all the things _ _;

also, i studied coding in highschool so i don't know how helpful my tips will be for college since you're definitely going to learn much much more there :O i think html css is basic and important ( for example, tumblr's who website theme and post format is based on html css ) javascript, python are important too since they're in demand. i'm afraid we didn't learn a lot in school except what was in theory .. didn't have many lab sessions and the most we did was python and html css since that was the main focus ( i hate python like whatever the hell that is ... )

i also started with hanyu !!! and then came across cha junhwan, yuna kim, ilia malinin and all though the international tournaments and all. i remember being so interested in fs, i watched the 4cc tournaments during classes TT i actually came across sunghoon through junhwan, watched his videos and then moved on like .. i didn't see him at the competitions so i thought he quit :O never looked him up for me to know he was a trainee / idol

AND YEAH fever is truly the queen, i can never get tired of it. border : carnival in itself is an amazing album. what's your fav album of them so far? fav b-side and title tracks? i need to know ><

[rorbison]

ive gotten more serious with my considering for my Ideal To-Do List and like. im to the part that scares me off of programming every time lol. i could make it a web app with javascript and stuff, but then i have to figure out hosting and other logistics. i could just go and try to build it as a desktop app with python or java but like well okay i dont really know either of those language and i really actually don’t know shit about fuck in terms of compiling source code. or. i could build it in a game engine like godot, something that has a bunch of the functionality i need and would make it easier to distribute as a desktop app, but like, would be inefficient. but also. would make making a mobile version sooo easy.

[zilllathegod]

Exploring variable declaration in JavaScript and Python (and GML)

Variable declaration, the most basic method for storing and labeling data for use in expressions. Conceptually it is similar across multiple programming languages but the details of the implementation vary. I am working on a few projects that involve JavaScript, Python, and GML so I wanted to take some time to explore some details about the foundational aspects of the languages, in particular how variables are declared and used.

ES6 (JavaScript)

var

When things were simple, prior to the release of ES6, all JavaScript variables were declared using var

var myVariable = "something";

A variable initialized with var could contain any data structure or type. The variable could also be accessed outside of the block or expression where it was initialized.

function varTest() { //declare and assign x var x = 1; if (true) { //re-declare and re-assign x var x = 2; console.log(x); // 2 } //re-assigned value persist outside of block console.log(x); // 2 }

let

Similar to var, let allows you to assign variables but with a restricted scope. Any assignment or reassignment is contained to the scope of the area where the assignment happened.

function letTest() { //declare and assign x let x = 1; if (true) { //re-declare and re-assign x let x = 2; // different variable console.log(x); // 2 } //re-assigned value DOES NOT persist outside of block console.log(x); // 1 }`

const

Constants, as the name implies are meant to be immutable, I guess. Everywhere I see people saying constants should be used as the new default for declaring variables, which scares me for some reason because it feels like there is less freedom, but then I realize that is the point and I’m just probably being sloppy. They can not be re-assigned so I think using them promotes cleaner assignment and organization. All of the ES6 updates to variable declaration seem to revolve around better scope control so that variables don’t “pollute” the code at the “global” level.

//This function doesn't even work function constTest(arg) { //declare and assign x const x = 1; if (arg === true) { x = 2; console.log(x); } console.log(x); // 1 }

This function doesn’t execute so the interpreter(the browser) is very strict about this.

Also you could initialize variables and not give them values with var and let. This isn’t allowed with const.

var x; let y; //then just assign a value later

Python 3

No declarations in Python just assignments (wow).

myVariable = "something"; print(myVariable); //something

Chain assignments allow for transitive value exchange between variables.

a = b = myVariable = "something" print(b) "something"

Variables can be accessed outside of a block, but if redefined within that block they become block scoped:

x = "awesome" def myfunc(): #x is redefined in the world of this function x = "fantastic" print("Python is " + x) #out here x retains its original value myfunc() print("Python is " + x)

…Unless you use the global keyword, which forces a larger scope-agnostic reassignment of the variables value.

x = "awesome" def myfunc(): global x #variable reassignment happens here x = "fantastic" print("Python is " + x) myfunc() #variable reassignment still works here print("Python is " + x)

GML and JavaScript similarity

In GML, the game maker studio scripting language, variable declaration works like legacy JavaScript with var.

var myLocalVariable = "something";

Something I also found interesting though is how the language handles global variables, which are declared and assigned like this :

global.myGlobalVariable = "something"

It looks like there is a global object that you attach a value to and can access globally. Variable scope in GML is affected by the game development environment that the code is run in, so variable scope is defined by the ability for game instances to access the data in that variable. Local variables, initialized with var can only be accessed by the instance in which they are created but global variables, which seem to just be values added to the global object, are available to all instances. In GML imagining each game instance as its own code block is a good metaphor for how the variable scoping works elsewhere.

GML also has macros which operate similar to constants, in that that are meant to be unchanging and can not be changed once the application is running.

#macro total_items 10 show_debug_message(total_tems) //10 ``` --- There is a lot more to explore here in the realm of scope and typing but I think this was a good exercise for me to understand some of these language foundations.

[cyphershield2022]

How to be prepare for an audit of a smart contract

Your smart contract system's security may be improved by conducting an audit. Besides selecting a high-quality auditor for the job there are several things you can do to ensure you get the most out of your investment.

Following these steps to prepare for an audit will go a long way in achieving the best results.

Documentation

Clean code

Test

Automated analysis

Freeze code

Use a checklist

1. Literature

The less time we spend trying to understand your system, the faster we can dig deeper into your code and the more time we will spend finding bugs. That's why the first thing you can do to improve the quality of your audit is to provide good documentation.

Good documentation starts with a plain English description of what you're building, and why you're building it. It should do this both for the overall system and for each single contract within the system.

A statement of the desired functionality of your system is another indicator of quality documentation. For each contract, it should describe the most important properties or behaviors to keep. It should also describe actions and states that should not be possible.

One of the best examples we've seen is the protocol specification for 0xProject. In particular, their use of flowcharts illustrates well how the system fits together.

Don't let me scare you. Good documentation takes a lot of effort. If you don't have the capacity to set it up, we can help you. Writing our own documentation of code behavior is a great way to understand it. It can even lead us to discover unexpected vulnerabilities and edge cases.

And a pseudocode specification? I emphasized "plain English" above (as opposed to rigid/formal English) because plain English more clearly expresses what you want the code to do. In contrast, the actual code is often so similar to the pseudocode specification that it can be hard to see when they're both describing something you don't actually want.

Pseudocode has its place and can be particularly useful for precisely describing complex math, but it should always be accompanied by a bit of English about what the math is supposed to accomplish.

2. Clean Code

Refined, well-formatted code is easier to read, reducing the cognitive load needed to review it. A little cleanup will allow us to focus our energy on finding bugs.

Run a linter on your code. Fix errors or warnings unless you have a good reason not to. For Solidity, we like EthLint.

If the compiler generates warnings, respond to them.

Delete any comments that indicate unfinished work (eg. TODOor FIXME). (This assumes this is your final audit before deploying to mainnet. If not, use judgment on what makes sense to leave in.)

Delete any code that has been commented out.

Delete any code you don't need.

3. Testing

Write tests! A good goal is a test suite with 100% code coverage.

Review the list of test cases for deficiencies. Are your tests primarily aimed at making sure the 'happy path' works? Write tests to verify that unwanted actions are correctly performed protected against, and that the contract fails correctly instead of landing in an unwanted state.

4. Automated Analysis

Ethereum has many good security scanning tools to help you find some of the most common issues. We use some of these during our audits, but you can also run them ahead of time, which will allow us to spend our time hunting down trickier bugs.

Our MythX, which runs multiple types of analyzes at once, is a great place to start. There are several ways to submit your contracts for examination, including plugins for Remix and Truffle as well as CLI tools for Python and JavaScript. You can find other security tools listed in our Smart Contract Audit Best Practices.

It's not essential, but it helps. One caveat is that you'll often get warnings about issues that don't actually exist. If you're unsure if something is wrong, let us know and we'll assess it during the audit.

5. Freeze Code

At the risk of stating the obvious, you should finish developing your smart contracts before we audition them.

If a change happens halfway through an audit, it means the auditors wasted time on the old code. Additionally, auditors should stop and incorporate the change, which can have far-reaching impacts on things like the threat model and other code that interacts with the changed code.

If your code doesn't be ready by the scheduled start date, let us know. It's better to delay altogether than trying to complete an audit while you continue development.

[tap-tap-tap-im-in]

A Web Development Master Post

I’ve spent the last two years working as a professional developer. I didn’t go to college for this, and just about everything I know I’ve either taught myself or learned from looking through other people’s source code as we research if we want to pull a project into our code base. I love it, and I have done some things I never would have expected from myself at the start. But before we get into any of those, I wanted to put together a list of resources I wish I had or worked with more fully when I was sitting in my job interview two years ago. Think of this as part resources on how to learn some of these skills, some recommendations on applications to incorporate into your workflow, and a few opinions on some of the other common applications that you’re welcome to heartily disagree with.

First things first lets get a few resources together, and for those of you who are already familiar with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP, none of these will be a surprise. It might be worth your while to jump ahead.

Online Resources

https://www.w3schools.com/

Starting out, W3 schools will probably be pretty omnipresent for help. They have tutorials for HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, ASP, and many other web technologies. They pride themselves in being the largest web developer site, and unfortunately that has a downside. They don’t always update all of their articles to the most current specifications. This is a wonderful resource, as they do a good job of explaining a lot of these concepts in a beginner friendly way, but when you’re ready for nitty-gritty details, it’s almost always best to go with a more specialized developer resource.

https://css-tricks.com/

CSS is a powerful and flexible tool. Every day I see projects where developers have pushed it to new heights, but sometimes it’s a little arcane too. Well the wizards over at CSS-Tricks have collected a large number of articles and tutorials that explain everything from how z-index works to how to use newer layout-centric rules like Flexbox or Grid. If a CSS rule is misbehaving, 9 times out of 10, I can find a clear and concise reason on this site, and more importantly, I find many recommendations on how I can achieve the same effect differently.

https://flexboxfroggy.com/

Speaking of Flexbox, Flexbox Froggy is a one-note kind of resource, but it teaches all of the core concepts behind flexbox, and it can also teach CSS savvy managers why moving to a new layout methodology would benefit your work flow.

https://cssgridgarden.com/

Created by the same developer as Flexbox Froggy, and it does the same thing with Grid concepts.

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/

Mozilla’s developers have been at this game a long time, and their resources are next to none. In my opinion, this collection does not do much help a beginner understand, but the trade-off is that once you’re over that initial hurdle, the information you’re looking for is almost always only a few clicks away. This is the first, and often the last, place I go whenever I’m looking to solve a weird JavaScript bug that the rest of the internet is too clever to have encountered, (or to explain why only IE9 is seeing it).

http://php.net/manual/en/index.php

I know PHP isn’t a popular language right now, but it’s powerful, it’s flexible, and it’s still the primary language of the largest and most popular CMS on the planet, for better or worse, WordPress. Especially if you’re going to work freelance, you owe it to yourself to at least be familiar with PHP, and this will be your best friend. It’s no nonsense, and not beginner friendly, but it’s clear, and the comments on the articles are often as helpful as the articles themselves.

https://codex.wordpress.org/Developer_Documentation

Speaking of working in freelance (or even for a firm like I do), I have my own opinions about the way WordPress works, but you’re going to be doing projects in WordPress, and you aren’t going to be able to accomplish them without this. I have a small problem with the way functions and parameters are explained (it isn’t always easy to differentiate how one calls a function manually, or if it is called by filters, or how it is different from they three other functions named roughly the same thing), but I do know that the WordPress core developers work very hard, so there is always a method to the madness, even if you don’t have the key to see it.

https://stackoverflow.com/

When you get to the debugging stage, you’re going to become familiar with Stack Overflow pretty fast, as it almost always dominates the first few google results for a problem. Now, I’ve had developers try to scare me away from using Stack Overflow because it is open for beginners and experts, and sometimes it’s hard to tell quality of answers, but I strongly disagree with that. While it’s true you should always look cautiously at using someone else’s code right out of the box, there are a lot of members of the community that go out of their way to explain what the code is doing, and those are the answers you should be looking for. You don’t have to use their code, but if you can understand why you had the problem in the first place, you grow as a developer, and now have the tools to solve the problem. Stack Overflow is a big part of the Open Source community, so it’s always nice to give back at least as much as you take, so if you see a question you have the answer to, feel free to share.

https://github.com/

Eventually, you’re going to run into a project where you need a plugin developed by someone else, either because you don’t yet have the knowledge or you don’t have the time, but the client needs the functionality. 9 times out of 10 you’ll find what you need on GitHub, and honestly, you should be getting together your own GitHub with plugins and projects of your own. No matter how single purpose they may be, you’d be surprised how useful things can be in very specific situations. GitHub, like Stack Overflow, is a big part of the Open Source community, so it’s always nice to give back when you can. Make suggestions or report problems you have with any projects you pull, and in doing so you’ll make the community a better place.

Applications for Windows Based Developers

Now, for the next section let’s get into some tools. I love gaming, so I have a Windows computer at home. I don’t really know why we’re wasting money on a Windows license at work, but we are so I can mirror the full stack in both locations. Here’s what I use.

https://notepad-plus-plus.org/

When I first started, my boss insisted I use Dreamweaver for everything. I have nothing against Adobe, and their products are quality, but Dreamweaver was way more trouble than it was worth. Everything I cared about from Dreamweaver I can do in this free and Open Source program, with some extra functionality I find it extremely hard to mimic in Dreamweaver. Notepad++ is fast, stable, and hugely extendable. If you’re doing this as a full time job, I strongly recommend switching to a dark theme for the sake of your eyes. Blackboard is among my favorites (unless you’re trying to write Python). I also really love its macro functionality, I have a couple of re-used DOM structures programmed in there right now as well as my multi-line comment format.

https://winscp.net/eng/download.php

Arguably, the best part of Dreamweaver is the built in FTP client that lets you push changes directly to the server, but set Notepad++ as your primary editor in this, and suddenly you even have that feature, as this will sync temp folders back to the server. This is probably the best FTP client I’ve seen on Windows, with full support for SFTP and SSH (built on PuTTY) with all sorts of encryption and authentication options. It’s also hugely configurable and fairly dependable. If you’re working on a remote server using a Windows machine, this is probably how you should be accessing the file system.

https://www.putty.org/

I hope that as a web developer you don’t have to learn to be a server administrator, but as a web developer I am telling you you’ll probably have to learn at least a little bit about Unix/Linux server administration, as they are by far the most popular web server stacks out there, and you’ll be controlling them with an SSH client at some points, even if a web interface is available. This is a great one, with all sorts of authentication options, so if (like us) you know you need root access to a server remotely, but you don’t like the idea of protecting that with just a simple password, you can set up Public/Private key pairs with encryption passphrases.

http://www.wampserver.com/en/

Let me be clear on this: WAMP, which stands for Windows Apache, PHP, MySQL, is great to have. It’s good for training, it’s good for prototyping tools without having to wait for a virtualized server to start up, but the differences in environments between running Apache, PHP, and MySQL on Windows versus Linux will bite you eventually. Don’t expect to be able to push anything you worked on in WAMP directly to your Linux based server without having to fix a few problems here and there. That said, I have a number of things I run in my WAMP server all the time (linting, IP geolocation, domain DIGs, and a few others). It’s a great tool, but it isn’t a replacement for a staging server.

https://www.virtualbox.org/

You should be using a virtual machine for your staging server. That way you can simulate things like network communications and how your code will actually be run on Linux. Virtual Box is free and powerful. You’ll need to get ISOs for whatever operating system you intend to run, and you should be aware that at least some versions of Windows have it written into their License agreement that you can’t run them virtualized.

https://www.gimp.org/

Gimp is powerful. I don’t really know how to use it well. It’s always been one of those things where I know I need to sit down and teach myself, but since I’ve fallen far into the trenches of server backend work, I haven’t ever had the motivation. Mostly, I use this to resize images when I notice that a website is loading a 14MB PNG on the homepage for some unknown reason. Please designers, think of the mobile phones, keep total page loads (Including all resources, pictures, scripts, and DOM structure) as close to or below 1MB as you can, especially if your site is supported by ad revenue, as there’s no telling how much the ads will need to load on top of that.

https://tools.stefankueng.com/grepWin.html

GrepWin is an implementation of Grep functionality on Windows. For those of you who aren’t aware, Grep is a terminal tool on Linux/Unix that uses a very efficient algorithm to search through large amounts of text for whatever you define, be it flat text, or something represented by a regular expression. It’s super useful for renaming an included document or global variable, and can really save your bacon if your error reporting is being vague. I like this particular implementation because it has context menu integration, so it’s as easy to use as right clicking in the directory you want to search in and telling it to search. It also supports text replacement with backups, so this simple tool is extremely useful more often than I’d like to admit.

https://gitforwindows.org/

The last tool is an implementation of Git for windows that also includes a Bash terminal. This is important because a lot of developers work in Linux, and so installation directions might only be available as Bash code, this makes it easy to move past that step without being bogged down translating that into Windows CMD code. This is a full implementation of Git, so it comes with all of the version control features and easy project building that Git provides. If you end up working with Electron or Node.JS in general, you’ll end up leaning on this pretty hard.

And that’s it. I’m hoping that later this week I can get into more interesting stuff, but I wanted to have a foundational post of the resources I might reference and the tools I’m using for people to fall back on. It’s the kind of thing I wish I had to reference when I was starting out, especially since all of the tools I’m using now are free and Open Source, and making that change has sped up my workflow significantly, as the only application I’ve listed here with any noticeable boot time is Gimp, something I hated about Dreamweaver every time I had to shut the computer down for whatever reason.

I plan on coming back to this post periodically and updating it as my opinions change, or I become aware of other resources that should be on here. Eventually I’ll also be lining out a software for Linux section, but I’m still shopping around for an affordable and stable Linux development machine.

Next time I think we’re going to dive right into some anecdotes about code commenting and design patterns, and why it pays to think about those from the beginning. Nothing glamorous, but I’d argue hugely important, and you get to laugh with me about some dumb things I’ve done.

[codeadventure1997]

Dawn of the final week.

I've been a part of the flatiron school fullstack software engineering program since early february. It's hard to believe how far I've come, from barely knowing how to program a calculator that works in the console with python to writing fullstack applications in react and rails with full crud functionality and front to backend communication.

As I work on my final project, I'd like to reminisce on the program as a whole and give my thoughts on each phase.

Phase 1, we were learning vanilla javascript and would simulate a backend with JSON server. This phase was me putting my feet in the water and learning what I would have to later in the program. This was the only phase I had to retake the coding challenge, and at the time it was almost overwhelming. The constant cycle of learn, code, learn, code, was very new to me. I passed the retake of the code challenge and completed my first project. This phase was probably the second hardest, because I was acclimating to the program and needed time to get used to the fast and constant pace of it.

Phase 2, we had finished with vanilla JS and immediately threw ourselves headfirst into react JS. Although it was just as fast paced as phase 1, I found that react was a lot easier to grasp than vanilla JS because of how much more efficient and organized it was. The second code challenge was by far the easiest, I had felt unstoppable. My project had been developed with no major hitches, in my head I had crushed react and would continue to crush the rest of the program. Little did I knew i was due for a humbling in phase 3.

Phase 3 had us switch gears completely. We were no longer working on the frontend, we were learning Ruby, SQL, and Sinatra. Pivoting from the now familiar land of javascript and frontend to the completely new backend world with new languages was the hardest transition by far. Up until the code challenge I had to continue studying. I remember the panic attacks from the stress I was putting myself under. I was worried I wouldn't do well on the code challenge and that I would waste the money I spent getting into the program. Literally the night before the code challenge, something clicked in my head. It all started to make sense and I ended up doing great on the code challenge. The project went well too, I got even more experience with the way the backend and the frontend communicate. I worked on the backend as much as I could on that project because I knew how much it would help me in phase 4.

Phase 4, we piggy-backed off of sinatra into Rails. As far as the learning and code challenge went, This was a close #2 for the easiest of the phases. Rails just makes a backend so simple yet it is so robust, I don't feel like I am trading simplicity with configuration control at all with it, sort of a best of both worlds relationship with Rails. As I said, this phase would have been the easiest if not for, the project. During this project I ended up having to do a lot of troubleshooting between the front and backend. While it was stressful at the time, it was a great learning experience. All of that troubleshooting helped tremendously in phase 5.

Phase 5 is just 3 weeks of project basically. Working on my first project completely on my own has been an absolute treat. I feel like all the stress I've been through has well prepared me for this. I've been experimenting with new things in this project, and I feel comfortable enough with the frontend and the backend to do so confidently. My troubleshooting skills have gotten much better now, I'm not scared to write code anymore. I am still working on my final project but I am super proud of what I've done. I've gone from a man who couldn't do more than basic math and console logs to a man that I feel would be a genuine asset to a team.

As I complete my final project I have been looking forward to the opportunities I've worked to get. I can't wait to see my hard work pay off and I'll be sure to keep yall in the loop!

Till next time,

A software engineer

[prakash29sahu]

My 2022 Plans & Goals

Here are my plans for 2022 starting today: The goal is to be Productive and stop being lazy. Lockdown period just made to more lazy than ever, I was just watching web shows and movies to pass my time rather than learning some skills. It’s time to make up for that lost time. Here is the list of things I’m gonna try to figure out this forthcoming year.

1. Learn Coding — The goal here is to first understand how Web2 works and then shift towards learning core Web3 concepts. Some of concepts and languages I would like to learn are:

Programming Languages: C++, Python, C#, Java, Ruby, Kotlin, Solidity (Web3)

Frameworks: NodeJS, Django, Bootstrap, Next JS, jQuery, Angular, Flask, Atom, React

Web Development: HTML, Css, JavaScript

Concepts: DSA, Cryptography, Smart Contracts, DAO

Tools: Android Studio.

NOTE: I’m picking one language at a time to learn, this list is a lot to learn and may take forever. Once I feel I’m done with one language then I’m moving to the next language. Anyone who is just starting out to learn coding I would suggest just pick one you like which also has good job opportunities near you. Build your fundamentals learn DSA, Programming Paradigms(OOP/ functional), design patterns, etc.,

2. Read Books — One of most procrastinated things in my life has been reading books. I’m not much of an avid reader, but I have read a few (4 to be exact). Books help in learning new words, improving vocabulary and imagining new worlds.

Looking at fat books scares me a lot. I have kept a target of finishing at least 8 books this year, which ones I’m not sure. Book recommendations are most welcome. But I do have a list of books to finish for a lifetime:

https://t.co/iILkBipD0P

3. Improve financial knowledge — This pandemic has made everyone aware of their finance situation. I do know a little about finance, this year I want to learn in detail.

From reading balance sheet to understanding option chain data. It’s time to start building my portfolio. I’m looking out for crypto investments to diversify my portfolio. Hope the Government does not ban crypto. This year I will also be buying my first NFT. Sounds very small step but got to start somewhere.

4. Make connections — with people who are smarter than me. Build relationships with businesses and improve my communication skills.

If you guys didn’t know then here it is I suck at verbal communication. This is also the reason why I have started to write blogs, threads and newsletter as an exercise to improve my communication skills. Connecting with smarter people not only makes you smarter but also open minded and you get to learn a lot more than what you would in your domain.

5. Start Meditation, Play Outdoor Games and Take Cold Showers — Sounds very simple, trust me it’s not. For the last few months I think the universe is signaling me to start meditation constantly. I did try it for 2 days and gave up cause mostly I look for fast results.

I’m gonna try meditating everyday, not for any spiritual benefit cause I haven’t experienced any of it yet in my life but to increase my patience level in terms of expecting results and to increase my focus. Cold Showers are to challenge myself. Outdoor games to build sportsman spirit and to learn co-ordinating in a team.

6. Learn Skills — like affiliate marketing, Sales, UI/UX Design, Premier Pro editing, etc.,

Just trying my hands on these skills.

7. Writing — In the process of learning the above mentioned skills documenting all of these in the form of blogs, newsletter or threads.

This will not only help in solidifying what ever I have learnt but also help in building an audience. Oh! by the way here is my Twitter link, you guys can follow me there.

For example: while coding I can make a GitHub repository of all my practice programs. This will not only act as a proof of work but also help in tracking my performance or maybe building a personal portfolio.

8. Less Social Media Usage & sleep less — The second part my be confusing cause it is applicable only to me. I’m one of those guys who sleep for more than 10 hours a day. More than 50–60% of my time is wasted in sleeping and scrolling through social media sites.

This is also the reason why I recently deactivated Instagram. Social Media is a good place if you follow the right people, but it gets addictive. Also there is a lot of misinformation and cyber bullying. For some reason I find Twitter to be a lot better than Instagram.

Here’s a summary:

1. Learn Coding

2. Read Books

3. Improve Financial Knowledge

4. Make connections

5. Start Mediation, Play outdoor games and Cold Showers

6. Learn Skills — Marketing, Sales, & Design

7. Writing

8. Less Social Media Usage and Sleep less

Do share your thoughts and suggestions on my first blog/thread. If you think I should try something new in 2022 then go on I’m reading your comments. Sign Up to my newsletter where I share my regular updates, learnings and new experiences and a lot more stuff!

Let’s get connected on Social Media. I’m available on the following sites:

Twitter Instagram Facebook YouTube LinkedIn Discord Medium GitHub Tumblr Reddit Substack

[blacksummaryonelectronics]

not sure if you know who i am, but i'm an art student who's doing his art portfolio for the IB.

i was curious as to what made you choose pixel art in general, and the implications of doing so: why pixel art? why does your pixel art look the way it does? and (excuse me if it comes off as rude or anything) doesn't it seem "too easy?"

looks like i got mail...

I've always loved vincent van Gogh for his exploration of "the real world as it is" ever since stumbling on his earlier works. his works are so truthful and unflinchingly honest - he's a big inspiration for me, whether I make it obvious through my works, or not.

well, hello there, fellow IB Diploma student! I've done art too, myself. Well, I'm still doing it - there's no hesitation about that.

For my more in-depth studies of art as a discipline and those who practice it, I've always loved to incorporate the style of art as mimicry or truthful representation. It's a beautiful thing, in my opinion, and just like how art can be used to communicate your interpretation of something - it can also be used as a medium to describe what you see, touch, hear, smell, and taste!

I've always loved vincent van Gogh for his exploration of "the real world as it is" ever since stumbling on his earlier works. his works are so truthful and unflinchingly honest - he's a big inspiration for me, whether I make it obvious through my works, or not. i wanted to incorporate that into my work, too. I've read on several artists like Fola David who creates hyperrealistic art with simply a pen or another basic medium, and that's where I think the excitement emerges.

however, I'm brave to say that I don't have their resources. being stuck in a pandemic creates several constraints that limit the (a) subjects I draw, the (b) mediums I use, and the (c) size of the canvas. therefore, I turned to my biggest resource: the computer! I dabbled in CSS and Python before learning JavaScript, a pretty hard programming language for me - but it works wonders. I use a source code to extract colors from images, and I arrange them in rows and columns of pixels with the help of the computer. it's art that makes itself, in a way, and it goes to show the relationship that humans have in automated art. It didn't work the first time for me at all - my portraits were extremely blurry, and some of them were too small or too big to be seen properly. Rather than thinking that the computer does the art for you, you do art using the computer, like how anyone would use a pen, a paintbrush, or a pencil to make a sketch. I keep tweaking the code and changing the resolution to see if I can get a life-like imitation of the subjects I draw (but to no success yet).

You'll see that most pixelated art here on Tumblr is, well, "pixelated art." It's art made of gorgeous colors and solid shapes and curves that resemble the 8-bit and 16-bit games of the 80s and 90s. But there's just something about me that wanted to do it differently - I wanted to go larger than life, and I settled on the word "life" from the previous phrase - why not imitate life with pixels? Why not try to see if I can paint portraits, just like how a computer does?

But I tried, and tried again, and managed to make art that also reflects a big part of me: my poor eyesight. The only way to properly see my art is to stand very far away, which, in a way, is image distortion. (I just thought it was something pretty cool, anyway, being able to see a part of me incorporated in my art). It also reflects my personality being that I'm someone who cares more about the big picture and can be too scared to go into relevant detail(the small parts). Pixel art can be easy and hard - I'm not to judge whether it's "too simple" or "too hard." What matters is what you make of it, and whether it has an impact on you. If not, that's okay! There's bound to be art that'll move you!

thank you for the question, anon! I appreciated it tremendously.

If you have more questions, feel free to ask me :)

[forthepursuitofknowledge]

Not every day is a victory...but that doesn’t mean it’s a defeat either.

So I’ve been at school, it’s been hard. This week especially has been nuts because not only am I just learning about HTML, Javascript, Node.js,  Express,  and Dev Tools - I am also making a website as I learn it (and that’s just this week, next week it’s CSS and Jquery I am pretty sure, then some Ruby and Python WOO). It’s not easy, but after today I’ve kind of sort of come to realize things. Or at least a few...

1) If you’re studying something new? Stop beating yourself up. You can be hard on yourself sure, you can scold yourself a bit, sure...but don’t constantly berate yourself. You’re new, you’re trying, you’re going to make mistakes. Everything is a craft, you don’t finish your first project and it turns out looking like something that someone who’s been doing this for 15 years. You do it, and yeah it looks a bit rough round the edges, but it’s yours. It is your first step. Take it. Embrace it. Accept it...then Improve from it.

2) Stop holding yourself back from learning more. By this I mean stop being afraid to ask a question, I understand some people are shy...or nervous...or scared. I get that I really do. I left my job, my fairly well paying and rather predictable job in order to pursue a career in something I have not even fully grasped. Believe me I know about being afraid. But ask questions, ask every single thing that pops into your mind and if you stare at whatever it is you’re doing for more than 15 minutes and you can’t get around what’s going on? Ask. If it’s the same problem? Ask again. Don't understand when you’re being explained? Ask more. 

3) And this one is important - BE BETTER THAN THE PERSON YOU WERE YESTERDAY, BUT DO NOT STRUGGLE TO BE BETTER THAN THE PERSON BESIDE YOU. It’s easy, SOOOO easy to get caught up in the mindset of ‘Well this person gets this better than me’ or ‘This person understands this way more than I do, what’s wrong with me?’ STOP. You are not that person, you are going to learn things in your own way, at your own pace. And for all you know there’s someone two seats back thinking that same thing about you. Do not try to ‘beat out’ or be ‘better than’ anyone but the ‘you’ that you were the day before. 

Today was a rough day for me, I’ve been spending this whole week on a TinyURL style site. And for something so simple, it’s crazy difficult for my learning level. But I’ll tell you what? I spent 13 hours coding today. Not all of it was successful...in fact I only got 1 piece of my site done out of the 5 I was supposed to get completed. But I got that one part done damn well, and yesterday I didn’t know anything about what I worked on today. 

Am I a bit down about my not having completed my project today like I hoped? Absolutely I am. But I did damn well better than I could have done yesterday, and leaps and bounds better than I could have done a week ago. 

Not every day is a victory, but that does not make it a defeat either. 

[the-master-cylinder]

Sssssss (1973) SUMMARY Dr. Carl Stoner (Martin), a herpetologist, sells a mysterious creature in a crate to a carnival owner. He later hires college student David Blake (Benedict) as an assistant, claiming that his previous assistant had left town to attend to a sick relative). Unbeknownst to David or anyone else, Stoner is a delusional man, convinced that humanity is doomed and is attempting to prepare for what he believes to be the inevitable by working out a method of transforming humans into reptiles that can survive pollution and any other ecological disaster that would wipe humanity out.

Stoner begins David on a course of injections, purportedly as a safeguard against being bitten by a snake in his lab. David’s skin slowly starts to change and even peel like a snakeskin. He begins to have strange nightmares and goes into a coma when having dinner with Stoner and does not wake up until a few days later. He also begins to lose weight as well, but Stoner tells him those are side effects from the venom. David begins a romance with Stoner’s daughter Kristina (Menzies), although her father objects and insists that she not have any sexual relations with him.

When David wakes up the next morning, he looks in the mirror and screams in horror. Later, a distraught David is in the lab, where Stoner gives him another injection. Meanwhile, a suspicious colleague of Stoner’s, Dr. Daniels, arrives to inspect the property, and as David begins to get weaker, Stoner hides him in a corner. But David gets enough strength to walk to the window, where Daniels sees that his face has become green and very scaly. Before Daniels can react, Stoner knocks him out and feeds him to a python, and David collapses.

Kristina visits a carnival freak show and is horrified when she sees a bizarre “snake-man,” whom she recognizes as Stoner’s previous assistant, Tim. Distraught, she races back home to save David who is currently mutating into a king cobra, brought about by the injections Stoner has been giving him. Stoner is bitten by a real king cobra from his lab and dies, just as David’s transformation is complete. Kristina arrives home and finds her father dead with the real cobra next to him. Growing suspicious, the police then arrive and shoot the cobra before heading to the lab where a mongoose is attacking David’s neck, attempting to kill him. But the police do not have a clear shot, and as Kristina screams David’s name, the movie ends abruptly, leaving their fates uncertain.

BEHIND THE SCENES Released in 1973 by Universal on a double bill with The Boy Who Cried Werewolf. Sssssss was the initial collaboration of executive producers Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown who hired Twentieth Century-Fox’s head make-up chief, Dan Striepeke, to produce their first venture. Striepeke had worked with John Chambers on the unique simian make-up for the Planet of the Apes series at Fox, and was actually thinking about filming a man-into-snake movie at the time. While the problem of such a transformation seemed unfilmable. Striepeke hired screenwriter Hal Dresner to concoct a scary story with plenty of comedy relief, and then persuaded Chambers, along with Nick Marcellino, to provide a believable method of turning Benedict into a king cobra. Dresner’s original title for his script was King Cobra, but that really didn’t do anything for Striepeke, who came up with Sssssss when one of the hundred inhabitants recruited as supporting players from Hermosa’s hissed at him. All agreed that the unmistakable and universally feared sound.

“The idea of turning into a reptile fascinated me. Other than that, my role was kind of… well, I don’t want to say boring, but rather ordinary. I was playing the helpless victim. But I’ve always been interested in makeup. I had just come from New York when I got this job, so as a stage actor, I was used to doing my own makeup.”

For Sssssss, he was in the capable hands of two veteran makeup men. “Dan Striepeke, who also came up with the film’s story, had been head of makeup at 20th Century Fox,” Benedict says. “Dan and John Chambers won an Academy Award for Planet of the Apes. So, it was exciting to work with them. Both Striepeke and Chambers were much more excited and proud of the snake makeup than they were of their Apes work. It’s much more difficult to turn somebody into a snake!”

It was also much more time-consuming, but Benedict looked upon it as an adventure. “Four weeks before filming, the made a cast of my head and then built a snake-head to fit it, like a diver helmet. Then, I was completely shaved, and snake scales made of latex were applied all over my body.

“It took seven hours to apply the final snake makeup. It took four makeup artists, who then painted and textured the scales. And the early transformations, where I’m still half-human, took about four hours to apply. Those are the scenes where my head is a snake’s, but I still have wisps of hair and my body is still human. It was a tedious but very interesting process.

“It was a fun film, and Strother was a joy to work with. Unfortunately, the movie was not a success. Universal had high hopes for it and they even had a couple of sequels in line, but it didn’t make enough money.”  – Dirk Benedict   

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Director Bernard L. Kowalski Interview

How did SSSSSSS come about? ! Bernard L. Kowalski: It was an original story idea that ! Dan Striepeke had: Dan had been a makeup artist, and he and John Chambers were credited with Planet of the Apes. Dan went to see Dick Zanuck, and Zanuck had responded to the story. It ended up being the first movie that Zanuck and David Brown made at Universal

And that’s where the film was shot? Bernard L. Kowalski: We did it entirely at Universal, the backlot and a few of the street areas around it: back near the Psycho house, we used the Virginian ranch as Strother Martin’s place. We shot it, I think, in about 22 days.

And your budget? Bernard L. Kowalski: Since we made it at Universal with their Overhead factors and everything else, it came to $1,030,000. We had high hopes for SSSSSSS, we owned a good piece of it, so there was a chance to be in a profit participation basis that might have proved quite lucrative. We’ve never really received any money on it in the way of profits, but that’s a tough thing to do at a major studio. It was quite well-received in Europe.

Were you happy with the unusual title, SSSSSSS (Don’t Say It, Hiss It)? Bernard L. Kowalski: Yes, I found it to be a title that created a lot of word-of-mouth. Part of how the title came up was, Dan Striepeke and I went to the Hermosa Beach Reptile Emporium during our initial investigation on cobras. The store owner pulled a cobra out-a totally poisonous, lethal cobra-and put it down at his feet. He was between us and the cobra, but it was a very small room, and we heard the sound that it made. That’s where we picked up the title of the show. It worked for us.

Did you enjoy working on this one as much as you did the Cormans? Bernard L. Kowalski: We had a good time making it. Dan Striepeke was a very bright, honest man, full of integrity; Zanuck and Brown were wonderful to work with, thorough gentlemen who had a lot of input; and Strother Martin was just a wonderful human being a lovely actor and a very funny man.

Did the snakes present any threat during production? Bernard L. Kowalski: We had 155 reptiles, and of that, we had like 60 or 70 that were lethal. The king cobra that we used was absolutely regal in the sense that he didn’t make mistakes twice. All the other snakes would hit the glass any time you’d go near them, but the king Cobra did it once, and then he’d just look at you. There were a lot of silly, fun things that we shouldn’t have done but we did. The very first day, for instance, I said to my assistant Gordon Webb, “I want you to tell everybody here there’ll be no games, no playing around. We’re in a position where it could be dangerous, and we’ll deal very heavily with anyone that fools around with this.” Well, he makes this speech, and the minute he gets done somebody throws a rubber snake at him and he screams at the top of his lungs. That was the end of it: after that, everyone was doing terrible things to everybody else all the way through

One story I enjoy telling on Dick Zanuck: Dick, who was very athletic, very much his own man, would come up to the set every day to offer his comments on dailies, but he never got too close to the snakes. So one of the young snake trainers, who didn’t know or care who anybody was, walked up to him and said, “You’re one of the big shots with the company, huh?” And Dick said, “Well, I’m the executive producer.” And the kid came back, “You’re also scared shitless of the snakes, huh?’ Dick just looked at him. The kid went on, “Yeah, I could tell. You haven’t come anywhere near ’em, and you get away as fast as you can.” Dick is the type of person that would swing on a lot of people who would call him that, but he got in his limousine and left. He came back in two hours, walked up to this kid and said, “Put the boa constrictor around my neck.” The kid looked at him and said, “You had a couple of drinks, huh?” Dick said, “Uh-huh. Put the boa around my neck.” And so they did it. That was kind of fun

What precautions did you take to safe guard your cast and crew against the snakes? Bernard L. Kowalski: We had a doctor there at all times, in case anyone had gotten bit by accident. I’d had all of the people that were going to be dealing with the snakes exposed to the hazards, dangers and limitations of the snakes prior to our filming Everyone was informed as to what we could fool around with and what we couldn’t fool around with. We had no problems, I’m very pleased to say.

One of the highlights of SSSSSSS is the effective makeup on Dirk Benedict. Bernard L. Kowalski: It was done by the best people in the makeup business, Dan Striepeke and John Chambers. At that time they were the very finest–they were Academy Award winners. Dirk Benedict was very patient–some of that makeup that they put on him took six to eight hours to apply. He was a wonderful person, by the way, a super guy. Heather Menzies and he were a wonderful team. It was a little family, all the way through working the picture, we did everything together, Strother and them, all of us. We shared all the good and the bad moments.

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The most disappointing thing about SSSSSSS is its too-abrupt, let’s-get-this-thing done ending. Was that a last minute, money saving measure?

Kowalski: No, that was the original writing, We didn’t know where to go with it from the time that Dirk Benedict was killed. Being of the genre that it was the intent was to go out on the girl, Heather Menzies, screaming, and the terror of it. I can appreciate where you feel that it was abrupt. Obviously, in some senses, it didn’t work for us, but that was not done through an economy cut process.

Which is your personal favorite of the three horror/sci-fi films you directed? Kowalski: The most recent one, SSSSSSS because the memories are more alive and fresher for me. I’m a giant fan of Strother Martin, and it was one of the latter experiences he had in films. He was such a joy to work with man into a snake. Strother Martin played the mad doctor whose specialty was reptiles. He had a serpentarium and hired aides, whom he then experimented on. One of the actors was an amputee who was without his legs and one of his arms. He portrayed the specimen who was a by-product of the drug that Strother Martin injected into his aides He was entered as a freak in a sideshow

CAST/CREW Directed Bernard L. Kowalski

Produced Daniel C. Striepeke

Written Hal Dresner Daniel C. Striepeke

Make Up Effects John Chambers

Strother Martin as Dr. Carl Stoner Dirk Benedict as David Blake Heather Menzies as Kristina Stoner Richard B. Shull as Dr. Ken Daniels Tim O’Connor as Kogen Jack Ging as Sheriff Dale Hardison Kathleen King as Kitty Stewart Reb Brown as Steve Randall Ted Grossman as Deputy Morgan Bock Nobel Craig as Tim McGraw, the Snake Man

The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (1973) SUMMARY Robert Bridgestone (Kerwin Mathews), a divorced father, takes his son Richie (Scott Sealey) to the family mountain cabin. During a moonlight hike, the two are attacked in the darkness by a werewolf. During the struggle, the werewolf falls into a ravine and is impaled on a wooden fence, but not before biting Robert. Upon investigation, they find their attacker to be human. Unable to identify the body, the local sheriff concludes their attacker was a crazy drifter. Richie insists it was a werewolf, but his father and the sheriff laugh it off as childish imagination.

Concerned with Richie’s story, Sandy (Elaine Devry) insists her ex-husband talk with her son’s psychiatrist. The psychiatrist (George Gaynes) says that Richie’s werewolf fixation stems from his inability to accept that his father killed a man and instead has concocted a fantasy wherein his father bravely battles a monster. He suggests Robert take his son back to the cabin, predicting that when Richie returns to the scene and sees that everything is normal, his interest in werewolves will cease.

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Returning to the cabin during another full moon, Robert experiences a wave of pain and sends Richie off to the stream. As he watches in a mirror, Robert changes into a duplicate of the creature he had killed. When Richie sees what is apparently the same werewolf resurrected, he flees to the woods, crossing a mountain road. The werewolf pursues, causing vehicles to crash. One driver is then dismembered by the creature. Richie comes upon two newlyweds camping. While they do not believe the boy’s story, they see his distress and agree to take him home. Arriving at the cabin, Richie’s father is nowhere to be seen, and Richie begs the man to let him return with him to the camper for the night. The next morning Robert, appearing dazed and confused, shows up at the camper and tells the couple he has been searching for Richie all night. Richie tells his father about the werewolf, but Robert is clearly losing patience with his son’s fantasies.

During the following night’s full moon, Robert transforms and searches through the house for Richie who, in anticipation, has hidden himself. The werewolf then seeks out the newlyweds, pushing their camper down a hill. He mutilates their bodies, carrying away one of the heads. Returning to the cabin’s shed just before daybreak, he digs a hole to bury the head. Richie, hearing noises, sneaks down to the shed and witnesses the werewolf’s changing back into his father. Moments later, the sheriff arrives to report on the previous killings, convinced of a connection between the attacks. On the drive home, Richie questions his father about his actions, but Robert dismisses everything, clearly irritable and bothered about his memory blackout. Richie jumps hurriedly out of the car upon arriving at his mother’s, telling her that he is scared to be alone with his father, because his father is a monster.

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Sandy talks with Robert about their son’s fears and how Richie thinks Robert is a werewolf. It is agreed that another visit with the psychiatrist is in order. The doctor tells Robert that Richie genuinely believes that Robert is a werewolf, and that these type of fantasies can be quite powerful for children. The doctor tells Robert that werewolf victims suffer from amnesia and their hands will become deformed the longer they are infected. As their session goes on, the full moon rises and Robert kills the doctor. Meanwhile, Sandy tells Richie this time she will go with him and Robert for a family weekend.

The next day, a reluctant Richie and his mom prepare to leave for the cabin with Robert, unaware that the headline of the morning paper reads “Local Psychiatrist Murdered”. The three set out for the cabin, stopping at a hippie commune on the way. The hippies, with their wild-eyed leader (Bob Homel), are forming a circle of power to drive away evil spirits. When the family stop to watch, the hippies shout at them to join in, and while an amused Sandy agrees, when Robert tries to enter the circle, he is stopped short and cannot move further, as if an invisible barrier were before him. A disturbed Sandy grabs him and they get back in the car and continue to the cabin, where they settle down for the evening. Sandy talks gently with Robert, confessing that she has really missed him and that perhaps they should get back together.

The full moon rises, and Robert turns his back on her, silently walking away. In the shed he finds Richie, digging up the bag he had seen his father (in werewolf form) burying on their previous visit. Robert grabs Richie, clearly in the first stages of transformation, and begs Richie to lock him in the shed. Richie does so, but as he finishes, his mother sees him and hears the noises in the shed. Richie tells her it is his dad in there, whereupon she scolds Richie and tries to open the shed. Richie screams at her just as a clawed hand bursts through the door. Richie and his mother run to the car, escaping just as the werewolf emerges, screaming and snarling. The werewolf attacks the hippie commune and as the sun rises, the werewolf weakens and collapses. The hippies witness the beast’s transformation back into Robert, and though not understanding what they are seeing, they pray for the creature’s soul. Upon regaining consciousness, Robert flees into the woods.

Richie and his mother seek help from the sheriff, but upon returning to the cabin they find the creature gone. The Sheriff leaves some men to stand guard, while Robert watches from the woods and sees that his index finger has now become deformed. Later that evening, as Sandy sleeps by the fire, the werewolf slips silently through a cabin window. Sandy awakes to find it staring her in the face. It starts to carry her off, but on hearing her screams, the deputies burst in, opening fire as the monster jumps out the window. Richie begs for them not to hurt his dad, but of course everyone still cannot accept that it is a werewolf, let alone Richie’s father.

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That evening, as the sheriff organizes a search party, Richie breaks away and heads off to try to save his father. As the moon rises, Richie finds his father, once again transformed, who grabs him and carries him off, with the mob close behind. Cornered, the werewolf attacks Richie, biting him on the arm, before a hail of gunfire distracts him. The bullets cannot kill him, but frantically attempting to flee, he stumbles and falls on the broken stake that held the hippies’ cross to the ground. It pierces his heart, and as a horrified Richie and Sandy watch, the werewolf transforms back into Robert. The last thing we see is Sandy examining her son’s bite mark, with dawning horror on her face (implying that Richie will be cursed to become a werewolf now).

BEHIND THE SCENES The Boy Who Cried Werewolf is a 1973 Technicolor horror film directed by Nathan H. Juran, who came out of retirement to make the film as a favour to producer Aaron Rosenberg. Kerwin Mattews was closing out his career in 1973, with this film. “That was the absolute pits,” he relates. ‘ ‘The makeup took about four hours to apply, and almost as long to remove. The torture was immense. I couldn’t even eat during the day because I couldn’t move my face. The first time I saw myself in the full werewolf makeup, I thought: ‘Kid, this is definitely your last film.’ After that, I didn’t want to go on any more.”

CAST/CREW Directed Nathan H. Juran

Produced Aaron Rosenberg

Written Bob Homel

Makeup Department Thomas R. Burman

Kerwin Mathews as Robert Bridgestone Elaine Devry as Sandy Bridgestone Scott Sealey as Richie Bridgestone Robert J. Wilke as the Sheriff Susan Foster as Jenny Jack Lucas as Harry Bob Homel as Brother Christopher George Gaynes as Dr. Marderosian Loretta Temple as Monica David S. Cass Sr. as Deputy (as Dave Cass) Harold Goodwin as Mr. Duncan Tim Haldeman as First Guard John Logan as Second Guard Eric Gordon as Hippy ‘Jesus Freak’ Paul Baxley as First Werewolf

REFERENCES/SOURCES Starlog#120 Starlog #247 Making a Monster Al Taylor and Sue Roy Son of Guilty Pleasures of the Horror Film

Drive-In Double Feature Released in 1973 by Universal Movie Studio

Drive-In Double Feature Retrospective#01 Sssssss (1973) SUMMARY Dr. Carl Stoner (Martin), a herpetologist, sells a mysterious creature in a crate to a carnival owner.

[hauntedscienceavengerslamp-blog]

Hey there people of Tumblr. I may post my own posts sometimes. But most of the time I reblog things that I enjoy on other accounts. There will hopefully be a variety of posts but there might be days where I just post or reblog one topic/subject. I enjoy coding I want to code my own website, I know many languages (most I'm only a beginner at) like; Java, C#, JavaScript, Python, HTML (I know it isn't a programming language, it's a mark-up language), CSS. I like basically movie that isn't horror, they scare the shit out of me. Anyway, you should follow me because why not.

[zhouwerthoughts]

1/1/2019

2019. What an idea. Seems like each year goes by faster and faster. So then the time comes - what resolutions can I make that I can actually resolve to accomplish? Over the year 2018, I have learned quite a lot about the general upper limits of my capability to get things done in certain areas, and hopefully that can lead to accurate and achievable resolutions.

Between meeting family, going out to eat, and sightseeing, I’ve had a bit of time. Mostly, I’ve been planning out some resolutions for the upcoming year. I’ve fleshed out pretty detailed steps on my own, but I’ll just list below the overall goals of the year with a bit of explanation at the end

1. Physical Resolutions

- Cut below 10% body-fat by the end of summer break

- Run a 5k in under 25 minutes before spring break

- Implement a comprehensive daily mobility workout, pre-workout warm-up, and post-workout stretch protocol

2. Creative/Emotional Resolutions

- Meditate 10 minutes a day

- Read 20 minutes a day

- Write 1000 words a week

3. Mental/Technical Resolutions

- Learn JavaScript/Python

- Start a real blog / start a youtube / keep podcasting

- Create content for at least one of the above

Next year’s gonna be pretty busy for me on campus. I decided to stop making excuses and get a job, as well as max out on classes to put a challenge in front of me. Factoring in that my total activity time will more than double as a result of my new lifting, running, and mobility plans, It’s going to be a helluva ride. I’ve got secondary plans in place for when I make progress on each of these goals, and I’ll be ready to put those in place once it’s time. 

One thing I had to think about for next year was reevaluating my speed of fat loss. I began to realize that I was much too obsessed with getting results as fast as possible for the recognition of others rather than myself. So I gave myself a pretty long timeline to get to 10% - and even if I don’t make that, I’ve guaranteed at least below 15% to put me in a healthy range. I’m gonna start taking it slower.

I really suck at running. My endurance improves excruciatingly slowly, but it does improve. So the 25 minute 5k, though easy to imagine, may not even be in my realm of possibility as soon as I’d like. Once I do achieve that though, I’d feel comfortable calling myself a serious beginner and starting to look into progressing in a smart way - I’ve got some resources lined up to look through to learn more about running in general.

The stretching stuff is important because I want to be able to move well for a long time with minimal injury. It’s going to take a quite a bit of my time, but I think I’ve convinced myself that it’s worth it.

I would like to do meditation more seriously than the bit of dabbling I’ve done in the past. See where it takes me.

The reading is super important because I’ve got this huge fucking reading list to get to - I’m already halfway through Extreme Ownership, and really look forwards to reading 12 Rules for Life soon after. The opportunity to glean knowledge from those who have lived through so much more is definitely understated.

The writing is important for reasons I’ve laid out in past posts, but I’m not sure I want to continue just typing away in an unorganized fashion like I have been. I think this personal blog will change over the next year as well. I want to focus my efforts more on thought experimentation and book reviews, honestly. It might be boring - but hell, I’ve always thought what I put here is excruciatingly boring, but it seems some of y’all still find a way to get through it.

I’m not sure if I want to pursue a minor in Computer Science, but I think I’ll at least learn the programming languages and create some projects with them to bolster my resume - it’s useful, technical stuff I can learn this year.

Now the last thing - I want to start writing and creating content on the side pertaining to nutrition/college fitness and put it somewhere. I feel like just documenting stuff keeps me accountable, even when there is an almost guarantee to be no audience for me as I start out. Which is OK, in my experience. I really don’t mind talking to nobody. I’ve actually got 37 plays on my podcast, surprisingly enough, even with my insufficient verbal flailing around and lack of focus or speaking ability, I somehow managed to pull THIRTY-SEVEN listens? That’s more than a small class! Though of course I have multiple episodes up, so that accounts for much less people, but whatever. 37 is a big number compared to the number I had in mind XD.

My episode exploring the carnivore diet tripled every other episode in listens, which really spoke to a potential niche that I can fulfill as a beginner in fitness going through my journey. I scoured YouTube, as well as other blogs, for a similar perspective and found minimal competition in the “MSU fitness/nutrition/vlog” category. If I go specific to MSU, but give application to colleges in general, maybe I can provide something of value. I’m no expert or experienced veteran in anything, but maybe as long as I don’t promote myself as such and more as someone exploring topics and giving my honest but insufficient opinion, someone will find value in it.

There are a couple other personal resolutions pertaining to morality and thinking that struck me as a bit… self-important? That’s not the right word. I can’t seem to find the right word for it. But it just rubbed me the wrong way when I wrote them down here where I know people will read them. Something disingenuous within myself gave off some strong warning signals as if telling me that my intent was not pure in putting them out for people to know. As if I was signaling for some sort of attention. So I’ll keep those to myself and reevaluate them on my own.

Maybe it’s time to think about my romantic life a bit more. Treat myself - and someone else, too. I don’t really get lonely, as I’ve always got a mission, but some nights, I can’t lie, I wish someone could join me. I feel as if I have a lot more to give than I’ve ever had in the past, and a part of me really wants someone to care for and give to and learn from. I’m a child when it comes to relationships, and that scares me. I’d like to go and fail a couple times.

I might drop off the face of the planet. Maybe I’ll randomly decide to quit this blog completely. Cut off from the world outside of my personal experiences. Social media and the such. Blog might not make the cut, who knows. I just know that’s when I can perform the best. Contact with others is some risky ass business, sometimes. Especially when those pesky emotional ties come into the picture.

And Hey, when it comes to this kinda stuff, I’m only doing my best. I really don’t know anything. But I know a ton of places to look to for anyone wanting to improve on anything with me. It’d be cool if you hit me up and asked! It’s really nice to know when people I don’t already know read my shit tell me they do. Let’s crush 2019.

[topicprinter]

Hi, I’m Manny. After going back to school, a few failed attempts and finally learning how to code myself, I’m finally officially launching Pocketcoach today: A chatbot for people who struggle with stress and anxiety. 🎉 Here’s how I did it and the lessons I’ve learned.For a long time, it bothered me that a topic as important as mental health isn’t getting the attention it should. It’s not taught in schools, not on the job, and only the luckiest among us learn from their parents what it takes to live a happy life.But mental health is a huge issue. Everybody on this planet is trying to live a happy life — one way or another. Nobody chooses to suffer. But so many of us are struggling with our mental health. It’s not as obvious as other problems because it can often be hard to see what’s going on inside a person. But it’s everywhere — whether we acknowledge it or not.I wanted to do something about that. It became clear, the only way to do this is going back to school again and get some psychology training. Specifically, I enrolled in the most fascinating course imaginable. Applied Positive Psychology. Instead of mainly focusing on what’s wrong with people, positive psychology is an umbrella term for research that wants to figure out what’s right with people, what makes them happy and what we can do to become happier. Learning all that was great and I really loved it but there’s this strange problem: All these interesting insights that could really help people in their daily lives didn’t really make it out of academia. Many academic papers are never even read by anyone except for their authors and journal editors. That’s what I wanted to change; I wanted to make all those fascinating insights and tools to live a better life available to as many people as possible. And the best way to do this, I thought, was to use technologyStep 1: Goal-coaching via WhatsApp. I started off with WhatsApp-based coaching to help people reach their goals. The idea was to text people twice a day — once in the morning and once in the evening — to help them set goals, check in with their progress, help overcome obstacles and everything else that’s important for reaching one’s goals. (There’s quite a bit of scientific research on this topic, and that can be really useful if you want to make a change in your life.) The goal was to learn about text-based coaching and then automate it. A nice idea but I ended up with a lot of conversations but no way to automate them at all.Messaging with each user twice a day cost me a lot of time. I also had to create graphics and gifs along the way, do marketing and go over old conversations to improve them. My early adopters were happy but this simply wasn’t a scalable solution. I couldn’t go on texting people every day for little money. It was a hard decision but I realized it was time to move on.Step 2: Typeforms to the rescue. I had also learned that you can’t just guide people through the same process regardless of whether they’re starting a business or want to lose weight. The obstacles, the timeframe and almost every other aspect of a conversation will be quite different. It might seem obvious, it wasn’t back then. At least not for me. Anyway, I decided to focus on the one goal that matters most: living a happy life. And where better to start than with those of us who are currently stressed, anxious and unhappy. From that point on, my focus was to help people build the skills to better cope with anxiety. There are scientifically-validated therapy approaches out there, but how could I make people learn the skills they’d learn in therapy if there was no therapist? I knew I had to make it both simple and engaging. And ideally, add a bit of fun. So here’s how that went: I created a series of lessons and exercises and wanted to bring them into an interactive format. Typeform was the perfect tool for this. In case you don’t know, Typeform is a form-building tool, probably the most elegant and beautiful solution out there. I had to re-purpose it but it worked. Was it interactive and fun? Well, kind of. Could have been better, that's for sure. All kinds of people tried it though— some even kept using it for a long time. But without the technical skills to take this to the next level (and without finding a co-founder who’d go along), I eventually hit the same road block as before. I had developed something that a handful of people liked — but nothing more. And I lacked the skills to improve what I had.Step 3: Do it yourself. At around the same time, Facebook opened its Messenger API for chatbots. I wanted to make use of this new platform but stick to the same concept (small but daily interactive lessons and exercises). That’s when Jemil, a friend in San Francisco who had just gone through a few months of training as a software engineer, agreed to help me get Pocketcoach off the ground. Next to his part-time job, he spent his free time building an initial version of the chatbot. He soon got a full-time job and was out of time but this really made me (finally!) realize: I needed to learn to code if I wanted to create something that really works! And that’s what I did. As Jemil’s version was built in JavaScript, that’s what I started with. I began to learn with freeCodeCamp. It’s simple and free, which was exactly what I wanted. I also started to go through online courses (mostly on Udemy), some of which are truly helpful. And yea, you can also find great videos on Youtube, for free obviously. Reading books on Python helped me the least, I think. What worked best was getting my hands dirty and struggling with real code from day one. After a while, I switched to Python and built Pocketcoach from scratch again. If that was such a smart move or not, I can’t really say. At that time, it seemed like the right decision. Along the way, AWS (Amazon Web Services) really gave me a hard time. Jemil had built the bot on a serverless architecture and I tried to stick with that for as long as I could. AWS really isn’t made for programmers who just get started and there are lots of things that can make it feel overwhelming. Not least their terrible documentation. I eventually decided to abandon the serverless architecture in favor of Python’s popular Django framework. In hindsight, I can say this: I’ve spent way too much time optimizing things that turned out to be irrelevant and I was much too willing to start from scratch just because it seemed like I had run into unsurmountable problems. But the one positive lesson I have learned is that it’s so much easier to learn how to code if you have a project that you truly believe in. I don’t want to bore you with much more detail but this much needs to be said: Along the way, I had help from some of the most amazing people without whom this would have probably been impossible. Just to name the most important ones: Thank you Alex, Ashwin, Gabe, Jemil and Johannes.How Pocketcoach works. So today, I’m finally officially launching Pocketcoach: A chatbot for people who struggle with stress and anxiety. Pocketcoach ‘lives’ in Facebook Messenger and it will message its users once a day. Just like a friend that wants to check in.In small, daily conversations, Pocketcoach users learn to deal with repetitive thoughts and uncomfortable feelings. Step by step and through a combination of exercises, background information and some fun, users build the skills to cope by themselves. And in the end, they will have the tools to live a bit more happily. That’s basically it.Is it going to make a difference? I’m confident it will. No single approach is going to be right for everyone but Pocketcoach clearly does its job. While some people really need the help of a therapist, not everyone wants, needs or has access to professional help. I’ve been testing the beta version for a long time and the most motivating moments were when beta users shared genuinely encouraging feedback.During the last months, this message from a user has been featured on my personal victory board. A place where I save little and big wins to cheer me up when I feel down and need something to get back on my feet again: “I also want to thank you for putting your time and effort into creating Pocketcoach; your help is more valuable than you may realize. I think it’s important to let you know how much it means to have someone be there to help you fight the anxiety. Even if it’s a bot, there’s a team of caring people behind it — so thank you.”Where do things go from here? Truth be told, things are still not perfect. I’ve been working on Pocketcoach for so long that I’m even kind of embarrassed to admit it. I’ve failed before and part of me is scared I might fail again. But I’m doing my best and I keep working towards my goal. I’m truly happy I finally have something to show to the world. But in a way, that’s just the start. My hope is that today’s launch is the next step in making Pocketcoach into something that really makes a difference in some people’s lives.Originally published here: https://medium.com/@pocketcoach/how-i-struggled-failed-then-learned-how-to-code-and-now-finally-launch-on-producthunt-4cbf728c9220

[topicprinter]

Hi, I’m Manny. After going back to school, a few failed attempts and finally learning how to code myself, I’m finally officially launching Pocketcoach today: A chatbot for people who struggle with stress and anxiety. 🎉 Here’s how I did it and the lessons I’ve learned.For a long time, it bothered me that a topic as important as mental health isn’t getting the attention it should. It’s not taught in schools, not on the job, and only the luckiest among us learn from their parents what it takes to live a happy life.But mental health is a huge issue. Everybody on this planet is trying to live a happy life — one way or another. Nobody chooses to suffer. But so many of us are struggling with our mental health. It’s not as obvious as other problems because it can often be hard to see what’s going on inside a person. But it’s everywhere — whether we acknowledge it or not.I wanted to do something about that. It became clear, the only way to do this is going back to school again and get some psychology training. Specifically, I enrolled in the most fascinating course imaginable. Applied Positive Psychology. Instead of mainly focusing on what’s wrong with people, positive psychology is an umbrella term for research that wants to figure out what’s right with people, what makes them happy and what we can do to become happier. Learning all that was great and I really loved it but there’s this strange problem: All these interesting insights that could really help people in their daily lives didn’t really make it out of academia. Many academic papers are never even read by anyone except for their authors and journal editors. That’s what I wanted to change; I wanted to make all those fascinating insights and tools to live a better life available to as many people as possible. And the best way to do this, I thought, was to use technologyStep 1: Goal-coaching via WhatsApp. I started off with WhatsApp-based coaching to help people reach their goals. The idea was to text people twice a day — once in the morning and once in the evening — to help them set goals, check in with their progress, help overcome obstacles and everything else that’s important for reaching one’s goals. (There’s quite a bit of scientific research on this topic, and that can be really useful if you want to make a change in your life.) The goal was to learn about text-based coaching and then automate it. A nice idea but I ended up with a lot of conversations but no way to automate them at all.Messaging with each user twice a day cost me a lot of time. I also had to create graphics and gifs along the way, do marketing and go over old conversations to improve them. My early adopters were happy but this simply wasn’t a scalable solution. I couldn’t go on texting people every day for little money. It was a hard decision but I realized it was time to move on.Step 2: Typeforms to the rescue. I had also learned that you can’t just guide people through the same process regardless of whether they’re starting a business or want to lose weight. The obstacles, the timeframe and almost every other aspect of a conversation will be quite different. It might seem obvious, it wasn’t back then. At least not for me. Anyway, I decided to focus on the one goal that matters most: living a happy life. And where better to start than with those of us who are currently stressed, anxious and unhappy. From that point on, my focus was to help people build the skills to better cope with anxiety. There are scientifically-validated therapy approaches out there, but how could I make people learn the skills they’d learn in therapy if there was no therapist? I knew I had to make it both simple and engaging. And ideally, add a bit of fun. So here’s how that went: I created a series of lessons and exercises and wanted to bring them into an interactive format. Typeform was the perfect tool for this. In case you don’t know, Typeform is a form-building tool, probably the most elegant and beautiful solution out there. I had to re-purpose it but it worked. Was it interactive and fun? Well, kind of. Could have been better, that's for sure. All kinds of people tried it though— some even kept using it for a long time. But without the technical skills to take this to the next level (and without finding a co-founder who’d go along), I eventually hit the same road block as before. I had developed something that a handful of people liked — but nothing more. And I lacked the skills to improve what I had.Step 3: Do it yourself. At around the same time, Facebook opened its Messenger API for chatbots. I wanted to make use of this new platform but stick to the same concept (small but daily interactive lessons and exercises). That’s when Jemil, a friend in San Francisco who had just gone through a few months of training as a software engineer, agreed to help me get Pocketcoach off the ground. Next to his part-time job, he spent his free time building an initial version of the chatbot. He soon got a full-time job and was out of time but this really made me (finally!) realize: I needed to learn to code if I wanted to create something that really works! And that’s what I did. As Jemil’s version was built in JavaScript, that’s what I started with. I began to learn with freeCodeCamp. It’s simple and free, which was exactly what I wanted. I also started to go through online courses (mostly on Udemy), some of which are truly helpful. And yea, you can also find great videos on Youtube, for free obviously. Reading books on Python helped me the least, I think. What worked best was getting my hands dirty and struggling with real code from day one. After a while, I switched to Python and built Pocketcoach from scratch again. If that was such a smart move or not, I can’t really say. At that time, it seemed like the right decision. Along the way, AWS (Amazon Web Services) really gave me a hard time. Jemil had built the bot on a serverless architecture and I tried to stick with that for as long as I could. AWS really isn’t made for programmers who just get started and there are lots of things that can make it feel overwhelming. Not least their terrible documentation. I eventually decided to abandon the serverless architecture in favor of Python’s popular Django framework. In hindsight, I can say this: I’ve spent way too much time optimizing things that turned out to be irrelevant and I was much too willing to start from scratch just because it seemed like I had run into unsurmountable problems. But the one positive lesson I have learned is that it’s so much easier to learn how to code if you have a project that you truly believe in. I don’t want to bore you with much more detail but this much needs to be said: Along the way, I had help from some of the most amazing people without whom this would have probably been impossible. Just to name the most important ones: Thank you Alex, Ashwin, Gabe, Jemil and Johannes.How Pocketcoach works. So today, I’m finally officially launching Pocketcoach: A chatbot for people who struggle with stress and anxiety. Pocketcoach ‘lives’ in Facebook Messenger and it will message its users once a day. Just like a friend that wants to check in.In small, daily conversations, Pocketcoach users learn to deal with repetitive thoughts and uncomfortable feelings. Step by step and through a combination of exercises, background information and some fun, users build the skills to cope by themselves. And in the end, they will have the tools to live a bit more happily. That’s basically it.Is it going to make a difference? I’m confident it will. No single approach is going to be right for everyone but Pocketcoach clearly does its job. While some people really need the help of a therapist, not everyone wants, needs or has access to professional help. I’ve been testing the beta version for a long time and the most motivating moments were when beta users shared genuinely encouraging feedback.During the last months, this message from a user has been featured on my personal victory board. A place where I save little and big wins to cheer me up when I feel down and need something to get back on my feet again: “I also want to thank you for putting your time and effort into creating Pocketcoach; your help is more valuable than you may realize. I think it’s important to let you know how much it means to have someone be there to help you fight the anxiety. Even if it’s a bot, there’s a team of caring people behind it — so thank you.”Where do things go from here? Truth be told, things are still not perfect. I’ve been working on Pocketcoach for so long that I’m even kind of embarrassed to admit it. I’ve failed before and part of me is scared I might fail again. But I’m doing my best and I keep working towards my goal. I’m truly happy I finally have something to show to the world. But in a way, that’s just the start. My hope is that today’s launch is the next step in making Pocketcoach into something that really makes a difference in some people’s lives.Originally published here: https://medium.com/@pocketcoach/how-i-struggled-failed-then-learned-how-to-code-and-now-finally-launch-on-producthunt-4cbf728c9220