Difficulty: a thing that is hard to accomplish, deal with, or understand.
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One of my friends asked the question earlier last week – why is it so hard to be an officer for the student branch? Why is so hard compared to working at my on-campus job? This question came after he struggled a little with bookkeeping for the student organization.
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Now I gave him the standard answer - being an officer of an organization requires that you manage your time between school and work. There isn’t anyone telling you what to do. It’s the answer any good mentor would give, and is mostly true.
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But the more I though about it, the more I wondered to myself…damn that’s a really great question; it’s one that deserves some more thought. Most people I think stop at the answer I gave previously - he obviously isn’t managing his time properly.
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Here’s what I think: the difficult things will always be difficult.
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In the context of programming
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In the context of programming, this has always been true. The difficult problems have always been different, although changes in technology can change the landscape quite a bit. “Business” type applications are the things that come to mind for me. Those types of applications are usually coupled in some way with people … and people are awfully hard to deal with!
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Consider that one of the most popular content management systems is also considered the most horrible - Wordpress. But really, is there anything that fills that need? If it was so easy in the first place, where is the solution? Where’s the magic CMS that is designed well enough that everyone hops on the boat to use it?
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Some things are just difficult - building applications that humans use is hard, and will probably be hard for at least the near future.
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In the context of engineering
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Ever hear people ragging on engineering companies for delivering late and way over budget? Well, some engineering jobs are really difficult, especially if the requirements and funding are undulating underneath you. Because of the nature of the problem, sometimes engineering firms require large amounts of engineers and workers, inviting further problems and delays.
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The Honolulu Rail project at home has become this sort of poster child of failure, budget overrun and overall incompetence in Hawaii. Well, working though regulatory boards and fiscal procedures in Hawaii seems like it’s a mind bogglingly difficult job to do. Granted, there might be some fishy stuff going on, but I refuse to believe that everyone is involved for nefarious reasons.
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The problem of creating an unprecedented public transportation backbone on an island is difficult! I’m not sure we would have done it right, even if the best people were involved.
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In the context of relationships
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So in the end, we realize that all engineering and programming is there for a reason - to serve human needs. Maybe that’s why those things are difficult, because they both involve humans and are for humans.
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Relationships, regardless if they’re romantic or not take work. Humans are fickle creatures and relationships can come and go with the wind. To properly maintain something over time requires work. Family takes work. Marriage takes work. We live to figure out what works and what doesn’t and hope that as we move forward we’re improving.
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Relationships have always been difficult, and by nature will continue to be so.
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Okay!
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So back to the original premise; why is being one of the club officers so difficult?
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And the final answer - it’s supposed to be difficult, and it’s supposed to challenge you, just like everything else that humans do that is difficult: programming, engineering, engaging in relationships, pondering the universe, etc.
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Ultimately the question you should really ask yourself if something if particularly difficult is then “is it worth it”? That is something that is context specific and only you can answer yourself.
Ever since I first grasped a paintbrush, I’ve always been eager to learn about design. Design is such a complex concept. For example, when looking at abstract art, its meaning can be completely different for different people. It motivates a person to think thoughtfully and has the potential to submerge them in a sea of imagination. It’s that special relationship between the viewer and the art that makes something as technical as software engineering interesting to me.
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I never used to think that design and technology went hand in hand. Thus, learning about software engineering and the role of design has been incredibly interesting to me. Design, implementation, and management are just some of the many things I wish to learn more about. Good art, in a way, makes a person question it. They become joined in the idea of visualization – where captivation meets inspiration.
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I am now starting to take a Software Engineering class. I hope to learn a lot through the course, but I know it will be just the beginning of my journey. By the time I’m done with it, I hope I’ve learned enough to take the next step in my life as a developer. But until then, my fire will keep on burning.
Difficulty: a thing that is hard to accomplish, deal with, or understand. One of my friends asked the question earlier last week – why is it so hard to be an officer for the student branch? Why is so hard...
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Smart Questions, Good Answers
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08 Sep 2015
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Is there such thing as a stupid question? I’ve had instructors address a whole class and say, “There’s no such thing as a stupid question.” I now know that is in fact not true because I’ve challenged the statement and...
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+ StackOverflow
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Igniting the fire
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26 Aug 2015
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Ever since I first grasped a paintbrush, I’ve always been eager to learn about design. Design is such a complex concept. For example, when looking at abstract art, its meaning can be completely different for different people. It motivates a...
I’ve had instructors address a whole class and say, “There’s no such thing as a stupid question.” I now know that is in fact not true because I’ve challenged the statement and received the appropriate dumb-stricken, annoyed look. There are definitely stupid questions, and along with that, usually unhelpful answers. Though we all might be guilty of being callous and making people victim to our poorly formed questions, there are steps we can take to ask smarter questions that hopefully don’t illicit the dreaded “rtfm” or “stfw” response.
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What’s a smart question?
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Stack Overflow, a question and answer site for programmers, is a great resource for anyone who may have issues with code or who may simply want to learn new or different methods of doing something. There I found examples of good questions and bad questions, which could probably be improved.
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In the following example, we examine the components of a decent question. In this case, the asker is trying to figure out a way to get the date of the previous month in Python.
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Q: python date of the previous month
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+I am trying to get the date of the previous month with python. Here is what i've tried:
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+str( time.strftime('%Y') ) + str( int(time.strftime('%m'))-1 )
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+However, this way is bad for 2 reasons: First it returns 20122 for the February of 2012 (instead of 201202)
+and secondly it will return 0 instead of 12 on January.
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+I have solved this trouble in bash with:
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+echo $(date -d"3 month ago" "+%G%m%d")
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+I think that if bash has a built-in way for this purpose, then python, much more equipped, should provide something
+better than forcing writing one's own script to achieve this goal. Of course i could do something like:
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+if int(time.strftime('%m')) == 1:
+ return '12'
+else:
+ if int(time.strftime('%m')) < 10:
+ return '0'+str(time.strftime('%m')-1)
+ else:
+ return str(time.strftime('%m') -1)
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+I have not tested this code and i don't want to use it anyway (unless I can't find any other way:/)
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+Thanks for your help!
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While the heading of his question could be better, it does convey what he’s trying to figure out. Usually something as brief as “python date of previous month” is what other users would enter in as search terms on Google, making it easily found. Another good thing about the question is that it’s not just a question. The asker shows what he or she has done and that he or she has put in some effort to answer the question. And while it may not be as important as the question itself, the asker shows courtesy, which does increase the chance of getting an answer.
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A: datetime and the datetime.timedelta classes are your friend.
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+1. find today
+2. use that to find the first day of this month.
+3. use timedelta to backup a single day, to the last day of the previous month.
+4. print the YYYYMM string you're looking for.
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+Like this:
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+ >>> import datetime
+ >>> today = datetime.date.today()
+ >>> first = datetime.date(day=1, month=today.month, year=today.year)
+ >>> lastMonth = first - datetime.timedelta(days=1)
+ >>> print lastMonth.strftime("%Y%m")
+ 201202
+ >>>
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The asker received six possible answers, and he or she was successful in inciting discussion from multiple users. The answers themselves were clear and were devoid of the rumored sarcasm and hostility of “hackers.” Since I myself have referenced this page and found it useful, I can confidently say that it is a good question.
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The foolproof way to get ignored.
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While there are decent questions that benefit everyone, there are those one can ask to create an entirely different effect. In the following example, a user asks how he would, in short, create a desktop application with Facebook.
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Q: Facebook Desktop Notifier
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+I am a beginner programmer that have never used anything other than what's included in a language.
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+I am trying to create a desktop application that notifies me anytime I get an update onfacebook.
+How should go about doing this? Thanks in advance.
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+edit Sorry I was not clear. Is there any way to make a DESKTOP application with facebook?
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A simple “yes” would have answered the question, but we know that’s not the sort of answer he or she is looking for. Fortunately, someone kindly responded with a link to Facebook’s developer website. The asker should have done more research on his or her potential project. Then further down the road, he or she could have asked more specific and detailed questions that wouldn’t require a thousand-paged response for a sufficient answer.
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Conclusion
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When we rely on others’ generosity and expertise to provide answers to our questions, it should hold that the question we ask should be one that leads to efficient and effective help that not only benefits us, but also the people we ask and others who might ask the same question in the future. Thus, if you have a question… make it a smart one! Asking questions may not always get you the best answer, but asking them in a way that will make others want to answer them will increase the success of finding a good solution and make it a positive experience on all sides.
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+ Ryne Stagen | Professional Portfolio
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I am studying for a B.S. in Computer Science in the Department of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of Hawaii. I expect to graduate in Spring, 2024.
Difficulty: a thing that is hard to accomplish, deal with, or understand. One of my friends asked the question earlier last week – why is it so hard to be an officer for the student branch? Why is so hard...
+
+
+ Engineering
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
Smart Questions, Good Answers
+
08 Sep 2015
+
Is there such thing as a stupid question? I’ve had instructors address a whole class and say, “There’s no such thing as a stupid question.” I now know that is in fact not true because I’ve challenged the statement and...
+
+
+ Questions
+
+ Answers
+
+ StackOverflow
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+
+
Igniting the fire
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26 Aug 2015
+
Ever since I first grasped a paintbrush, I’ve always been eager to learn about design. Design is such a complex concept. For example, when looking at abstract art, its meaning can be completely different for different people. It motivates a...
Cotton is a horror-style text-based adventure game I developed using the functions and macros built from The Wizard’s Game in Conrad Barski’s Land of Lisp. Slightly more interesting and convoluted! (It is not that scary.)
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To give you a flavor of the game, here is an excerpt from one run:
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+You open your eyes, and you are greeted by an unfamiliar ceiling.
+Startled, you get to your feet and quickly scan your surroundings. It's
+dark except for the stream of light coming from a crack on the only boarded
+window in the room. You try to peek through the crack, but you cannot see
+anything. You wonder where you are and who could have possibly brought you here.
+
+<--------------------help------------------------>
+Enter quit or one of the following commands -
+Weld light look walk pickup inventory help h ?
+<------------------------------------------------>
+
+look
+The room is a picture of decay with only a faded number identifying it as room-4. The bed you were
+ lying on is stained with what looks like dried blood. Could it be your blood? No - it is not. The
+ only way out of the room aside from the door to the corridor is a window that is boarded shut. It
+ looks like it has been like that for decades. There is a door going west from here. You see a candle
+ on the floor. You see a match on the floor.
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+pickup candle
+- you are now carrying the candle -
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+pickup match
+- you are now carrying the match -
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+light match candle
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+The candle is now lit. It illuminates everything in the room.
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+walk west
+The corridor is lit with the candle. It is so long that you cannot see to the end. You notice that
+ there are words written on the wall. There is a door going east from here. There is a way going north
+ from here. There is a door going south from here.
+
Micromouse is an event where small robot “mice” solve a 16 x 16 maze. Events are held worldwide. The maze is made up of a 16 by 16 gird of cells, each 180 mm square with walls 50 mm high. The mice are completely autonomous robots that must find their way from a predetermined starting position to the central area of the maze unaided. The mouse will need to keep track of where it is, discover walls as it explores, map out the maze and detect when it has reached the center. having reached the center, the mouse will typically perform additional searches of the maze until it has found the most optimal route from the start to the center. Once the most optimal route has been determined, the mouse will run that route in the shortest possible time.
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For this project, I was the lead programmer who was responsible for programming the various capabilities of the mouse. I started by programming the basics, such as sensor polling and motor actuation using interrupts. From there, I then programmed the basic PD controls for the motors of the mouse. The PD control the drive so that the mouse would stay centered while traversing the maze and keep the mouse driving straight. I also programmed basic algorithms used to solve the maze such as a right wall hugger and a left wall hugger algorithm. From there I worked on a flood-fill algorithm to help the mouse track where it is in the maze, and to map the route it takes. We finished with the fastest mouse who finished the maze within our college.
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Here is some code that illustrates how we read values from the line sensors:
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byteADCRead(bytech)
+{
+ wordvalue;
+ ADC1SC1=ch;
+ while(ADC1SC1_COCO!=1)
+ {// wait until ADC conversion is completed
+ }
+ returnADC1RL;// lower 8-bit value out of 10-bit data from the ADC
+}
+
Vacay is a web application that I helped create as a team project in ICS 415, Spring 2015. The project helped me learn how to design and implement a responsive web site.
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Vacay is implemented using Meteor, a JavaScript application platform. Within two weeks, we created a website that implements several types of reservations including flights, hotels, and car rentals.
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In this project I gained experience with full-stack web application design and associated technologies, including MongoDB for database storage, the Twitter Bootstrap CSS Framework for the user interface, and Javascript for both client and server-side programming.
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Here is some example code to illustrate Simple Schema use:
The fulfillment team picks, preps, packs, sorts, and ships products safely, efficiently and effectively to deliver convenience and quality for our guests.
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Experience in retail business fundamentals including: department sales trends, inventory management, and process efficiency and improvement
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Skills to assess your daily business and utilize tools to determine how to meet digital demand
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+ 2015
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+ -
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+ Present
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Help Desk Consultant, UH Information Technology Services
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