Tina's Blog Page
Fall
Blog Entry 1 (October 4, 2014)
Today was the first meeting. Phil went go over the rules for the
apprenticeship program with us. We were given graphing composition
notebooks to record assignments in and many forms to sign. Mr. Broadnax
came in to teach us info on business ethics. We also found out who our
mentors were going to be. I have Ron Broadnax along with four other boys.
After going through the rules, we had a tour inside Shodor, got cubbies,
and took pictures.
Blog Entry 2 (October 11, 2014)
Doctor Robert M. Panoff came in today to teach us a lot of new and
interesting information. He talked about expectations, observations,
and reflections. We were given Sudoku problems at the end of the day
to solve. I was able to finish first. Our homework assignment was
four fours.
Blog Entry 3 (October 18, 2014)
Doctor Robert M. Panoff came in to review about what we had learned
last week. Phil and Dr. Panoff both taught us some information about
modeling and had an activity with making models out of a rope. For the
rest of the day, we worked on excel with Phil only and completed an
"Average of My Neighbors", mx+b, and disease model. I was able to
solve my mistake on the disease model and was able to input a cure
rate successfully without others help (at least not that much).
Blog Entry 4 (November 1, 2014)
Today, we learned about command lines and unix using terminal. There
are different commands like pwd and ls that doesn't change anything
while others such as cd and rmdir can change and remove things. We
did an activity where we try to create a binary tree with directories
and files. I was able to create it successfully with Aidan's help. We
then had a second activity with a tree but this time, we had to copy
and move directories. I successfully moved and copied the directories
and files without any help. To conclude, we worked with terminal for
the whole day.
Blog Entry 5 (November 8, 2014)
Today, we did a finishing touch on learning terminal on how to login
to my account and transporting files. We then started learning vensim
and created a disease model including susceptible people, infected
people, recovered people, and dead people. Things that affect those
people would be an infection fraction, recover fraction, and death
fraction. I learned how to create a graph for the desired variables.
Blog Entry 6 (November 15, 2014)
Today, we created a disease model using agent sheets. I created a
depiction for each and had a counter to count the number of each
peoples' population. My model was able to last a long time without
have a single population to disappear other then dead people, which
was meant to be. Agent sheets aren't confusing anymore and is actually
pretty easy. I now know how to create methods easily.
Blog Entry 7 (November 22, 2014)
Today, we chose our partners for our project. One of us had to create
a vensim model and the other had to create an agent sheets model. Our
topic was seals and fishes. We decided that I would create a vensim
model and my partner would create a agent sheets model. I was able to
create an outline of my model successfully without help and it was
correct! That was so surprising. Anyways, I started to work with Megan
since she also had to create a vensim model. Our models at this moment
is the exact same.
Blog Entry 8 (December 6, 2014)
Today, I almost finished my vensim model on seals and fishes, tagged
or not. The only thing I need to do is reach the goal for the
populations of fishes and seals and i think no one has been able to
reach the goal without breaking any parameters. Also, I started to
work on my website. I believe I am almost done with it. I learned how
to use html and css to create my website, adding my favorite color to
my webpage. We added a blog, which did take a while because it wasn't
showing up, until Aidan helped both Megan and I on it.
Blog Entry 9 (December 13, 2014)
Today, I was able to finish my website and vensim model. My partner
wasn't able to come today to present so I only presented my model
after trying to access his agent sheets model. I learned that after
copying something from safari that included (") and pasting it into
text wrangler, I had to re-type it in to text wrangler or else it
wouldn't work. Also, today was the last day of this semester as an
apprentice.
Spring
Blog Entry 10 (February 7, 2015)
Today was the first day of the second semester for shodor. We worked
with java script and on in which we fixed errors in it.
We learned how to use Safari console and how to access it. In java
script, we learned the purpose of commenting things and how to comment
something, either as a line or a whole section. This can also be used
in Safari console. To open a console, 3 keys need to be pressed. They
are the "option", "command", and "c" key. We learned how to us arithmetic
symbols in console and found various results in the way someone could
type in those symbols with different numbers.
Blog Entry 11 (February 14, 2015)
Happy Valentines Day!!! Today, we learned more about java script. We
worked on fixing and changing things in
,
, and
. I was able to add that
to my website by the end of the day. In java script, something new
that I learned today was loops. We learned about for loops and while
loops. Also, not only were there loops, we learned about if and else
statements used for programming that was similar to agent sheets.
Today was also my first monthly meeting for the second semester
(Spring semester).
Blog Entry 12 (February 21, 2015)
Today, we had a review on loops. we worked on adding multiples of 3
and 5 all under 1000 together. Also, we worked on another bouncing
particles model where we changed the particles' color using various
ways. After our break, we learned how several things work in the
safari console like [] - square brackets. Then, we had a group
activity with prime numbers and having multiples starting with 2 to
sit down (composite). My number was 6 so I was the second person to
sit down. After lunch, we worked on "The Sieve of Eratosthenes",
which was an actual model of the activity we did after our morning
break online. Another model we worked on was the
Model. We looked
at their different properties.
Blog Entry 13 (March 7, 2015)
Today, we were assigned another partner project. My partner this time
was Jack. We worked on completing a model with java script on seals
and fishes again. What we've completed today was the seal's
reproduction ability and its death either by starvation or old age.
For the rest of the time today, we were trying to figure out how to
incorporate the sound, which is something similar to like a scent,
on fishes and seals.
Blog Entry 14 (March 14, 2015)
Today, we worked on our project again. My partner wasn't here so I
ended up working with Megan and Anja. We found out how to incorporate
the sound (or smell) function of the fish. Also, we applied the
strength of the tagged fish on the canvas so we can keep track
of which fish is tagged or not. I believe we are very close to
completing the project and can finish in time to present next week.
I hope all goes well! Click on
to view the project.
Blog Entry 15 (March 21, 2015)
Today, Jack and I completed or believe we completed our fish and seal
model using javascript. We added tiny bits of things to the project
before we presented it to everyone that was there today. The power
did go off several times today for a while so I took a break with
Narga. At the end of the day, I presented second to last with Jack on
our project and was able to say a few things about it, including what
we did first, what the hardest part was, what the most understanding
part was and what we could have done to make the model more realistic.
Blog Entry 16 (April 11, 2015)
We did some parallel computing today. The questions we had to answer
are, "What are some of the top supercomputers in the world?", "Where
are they located?", "How many cores do they have?", "Where would the
Blue Waters supercomputer show up in the list?", and "Why doesn’t it
show up in the list?". Some of the top supercomputers in the world are
Tianhe-2 (MilkyWay-2) in China's National University of Defense
Technology with 3,120,000 cores and Sequoia in Department of Energy’s
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory with 1.6 million cores. Blue
Waters supercomputer would probably show up as the first or second
supercomputer in the world because it is very powerful. It probably
didn't show up because it didn't want to provide info.
Blog Entry 17 (April 25, 2015)
Today is the last day of learning computer programming as an
apprentice for the year of 2014-2015 at Shodor throughout the school
year. We learned C programming today. We worked on computing pi, which
was something that we started last week when I wasn't there. In the
morning, I had a monthly meeting with Ron for the last time until
summer. After lunch, we worked on trying to parallel program pi, or
a number very close to pi that would stay constantly. I named it
.
Summer
Blog Entry 18 (June 15, 2015)
Today is the first day of my summer blocks. Phil begin our day with a
few instructions on how the rest of our summer blocks was going to be
like and on our assignment today. We created a HLD document from a
chosen scenario. The scenario I chose was about a new 24-hour gallery
wing opening in Louvre Museum. I was hired as a developer along with
my software engineer to help maximize the foot traffic in the gallery
and maximize the number of art pieces the gallery can display. The
three main agents are the art pieces, guests, and the curator. The
guest has three different depictions, a viewing one, a happy one, and
an unhappy one. The guest comes into the gallery from the right side
as a viewing guest. The guest can either change into a happy or an
unhappy guest later on when something occurs. After I finished my HLD
document, I worked on my website and learned to put in a picture for
my background and messed with the colors of the borders or the words.
Blog Entry 19 (June 16, 2015)
Today is the second day of my summer blocks. We began our day by
starting on someone else's HLD Document and creating either an agent
sheet model or javascript model of it as a software engineer. When I
first worked on it, it was so confusing that I had to constantly get
help that I couldn't even understand. Then throughout the day, I began
to understand the different tools and actions I could use to help
build my model which encouraged me to work even harder. I basically
use everything that seems to do the job and test it out to see if it
worked, and if not, I would change it. I would guess that I finished
approximately 10-20% of the project and will have to work harder to
complete it by the end of this week. Anyways, I hope I can finish it
in time.
Blog Entry 20 (June 17, 2015)
I came in earlier today to get a head start and have more time to work
on my project on the art walk anew agent sheets model. Turns out, I
have a lot of problems that I need to fix and need plenty of help on
it. During the first half of my day, I was a documenter of an
Exploration In Engineering workshop for rising 6-8th graders. Their
goal was to build a model strong enough to hold a foam cup and as much
marbles possible without crashing. THe model is supposed to be made
out of straws and pipe cleaners. They learned how the right shape can
make a better structure like triangles and not squares. After
documenting them, I worked on my agent sheets model. I was so stressed
out because whatever I implemented into the behaviors of the agents,
it wouldn't work. In the end, I was able to get the counter to work
and the main problem that I haven't been able to fix is to get the
guests to leave the artwork after waiting for a few seconds.
Blog Entry 21 (June 18, 2015)
Today, I tried to get as much as I could done before the model was due
tomorrow but that didn't work out. In the art walk anew model, I got
the happy and unhappy people to leave through the exit by disappearing
when they are next to the exit. Also, the waiting guests can move away
from the art work after recording that it has seen an art work.
However, I need it to record that it has seen that specific art work
and leave for a different one, which isn't what I currently have. I
actually did get a lot of things to work but not enough to persuade me
that I will be able to complete it in time because I believe that we
will only have a half day tomorrow due to presentations of our work.
Blog Entry 22 (June 19, 2015)
Today, I completed my agent sheets model on the
. It didn't
take me as long as I thought it would which is great. I got extra time
to change how things look and make it better. I also uploaded the
model onto my website today. Now I am stress-free from having to
complete the project in time. I won't be here for like two weeks
because of a trip to New York and a small break that is a week long
before the second block starts at Shodor. Anyways, today was quite a
successful day for me and I learned a lot on agent sheets this past
week.
Blog Entry 23 (July 6, 2015)
Today was the first day of block two, week one. We learned about
regular expressions today with Phil. We learned about characters and
different commands to find symbols, numbers, and/or letters. There are
some symbols that act as a function where in order to find just that
symbol and not use it as a function, the backwards slash is needed(\).
After lunch break, Amalan took over and taught us stuff using
javascript to create a canvas and various shapes to create pictures.
Our final task was to create a
which I then changed it
later on.
Blog Entry 24 (July 7, 2015)
Today, Joel taught us how to use php and we worked with php and worked
and completed several projects including the
and the
. What I haven't completed
yet is the . Today
helped me refresh my memory of using for loops and at the same time,
learned how to use different tags, along with echoing things onto a
page. Setting a variable using php is different from other ways that I
have learned before like in javascript, you would use var, but in php,
a dollar sign ($) is used.
Blog Entry 25 (July 8, 2015)
Today, we finished up our dice roll project. We then learned about
different forms, super globals, and the main methods in php from Joel
in the afternoon. He introduced cookies to us, which was new to me
while a lot of other people already knew what it was. I then worked on
my page
where viewers are able to select a color they want for the background
with the drop down box. Thing so far are a bit confusing, but I hope
it will get better. I can understand few bits and pieces here and
there every lesson.
Blog Entry 26 (July 9, 2015)
Today, we worked on more php projects in the morning. I finished my
. In the afternoon, Joel
taught us stuff about databases, where two main kinds of databases are
flat databases and relational databases. We learned about primary keys
and foreign keys in tables used in relational databases. Then, we
started to work on a relational database in terminal. I learned how to
create tables in terminal and add content to it, updating things and
changing things. Then, he taught us things about mysql.
Blog Entry 27 (July 10, 2015)
Today is the last day of week 1 in block 2. We finished all the php
projects. I completed the
project and the project before
lunch. After lunch break was over, Joel began teaching us stuff on
databases using text wrangler. Everything was a bit confusing,
especially the fact that I couldn't see what he was typing very well
due to the fact that I was seated facing the opposite direction from
the board.
Blog Entry 28 (July 13, 2015)
Today is my birthday!!! Anyways, today I accomplished starting a
database project called "General Store Project". I created my first
table called StoreItems which has three columns (Name, Price,
Quantity_In_Stock). There, I was able to add a few items into my
table. I relearned how to log back into terminal as mysql. My goal is
to get the table to show up on my website and then add other required
properties onto the project. So far, there are errors popping up but
Iain and Miguel helped me out a lot.
Blog Entry 29 (July 14, 2015)
Today, we worked on our general store project again. I was able to add
my table up on my website with the help of Iain. It didn't take too
long and I was able to understand 90-95% of what he was talking about,
which is really good. Also, before that, Miguel helped me figure out
what was causing errors to appear on the webpage. Something else I was
able to accomplish was create another table on terminal, but that has
no connection to everything else yet. In the morning, there was a
quick meeting with Amy and other apprentices about the Forensic
Science Workshop we were to help out with, which I did for a little
bit. Something I was extremely happy with was the fact that I helped
my friend out on their general store project.
Blog Entry 30 (July 15, 2015)
Today, I documented the Computer Programming Concepts workshop in the
morning for 6th-8th graders. They learned about functions, arguments,
how to draw shapes and get them to move, how to change a picture in a
java script file, how to draw another picture on a canvas in which it
can move around by creating another variable using var, how to copy
a function without using the = sign, all in java script. Then, in the
afternoon, I caught up to Megan in the php general store project with
her help. She explained to me the codes she used and how it works,
which I then jotted down onto my php file for the store. Now, when
someone signs up in my login page, it is recorded down in a table on
terminal with mysql database.
Blog Entry 31 (July 16, 2015)
Today was Narga's birthday!!! Anyways, I documented in the morning for
the computer programming concepts workshop. They continued to work on
their java script project with canvases and had a review on if
statements along with else statements. After lunch, I went back to the
work area for apprentices and continued working on my general store
project. There wasn't much I could change because I was busy helping
others, but I think I will be able to accomplish a lot more tomorrow,
especially with the fact that I won't be documenting tomorrow. At the
end of today, we celebrated Narga's birthday with cupcakes that her
family brought in.
Blog Entry 32 (July 17, 2015)
Today is the last day of week 2, block 2. I haven't completed my
general store, but I got the submit button to appear only when someone
enters both a username and password. I changed some of the colors so
that it wouldn't look too boring. I was also a witness to a crime in
the Forensic workshop who saw Joker in the lobby the morning of the
kidnapping. I was also asked a lot of other questions I had no clue
what the answer would be and had to look at Amy and Megan to give me
one before I responded the question. It was a really fun thing to do
though.
Blog Entry 33 (July 20, 2015)
Today is my cousin's (Ming AKA Jimmy) birthday!!! Anyways, I
documented today's morning workshop on website design. They learned
how to first start their own website using html and putting everything
into their public_html folder. They then learned how to use css to
make their website look better then what it used to be. Afterwards, we
formed into groups of three to create a javascript model of an already
made agent sheets model of something. My group is Anja, Narga and I.
We are making a javascript model of a hermit crab simulation. Before
the end of the day, the interns taught us some things that we haven't
learned yet on javascript and our final task was to debug a javascript
code that Keith made. I am pretty close with it, but not exactly done
yet.
Blog Entry 34 (July 21, 2015)
Today, I worked with my group to create our javascript model of an
already created agent sheets model. Narga and I worked on our agents
in Gimp while Anja worked on the actual javascript coding. Narga and I
both finished creating the agents with Gimp with took some time. Anja
got the basic coding down in javascript and now hermit crabs can move
on the canvas of sand. We uploaded a picture of the sand onto the
canvas, added the hermit crabs, and got them to move. Those are
accomplishments that I am pretty proud of, but my goal is to be able
to understand the code better.
Blog Entry 35 (July 22, 2015)
Today, we accomplished a lot in our javascript project. We got our
hermit crabs to move around randomly. They have a hunger count to
count a number of time steps that it wasn't able to move. Not only
that, they also disappear when they get too hungry. Another
accomplishment that we achieved was getting grasses to show up on our
canvas and when the hermit crabs are beside the grass, its hunger
count changes back into zero. All of the buttons currently work (play,
pause, and step). Also, I had my monthly meeting today with my mentor
Ron. After Shodor was supposively over, I stayed after for the bowling
event at Village Lane with some friends and ordered pizza before going.
Blog Entry 36 (July 23, 2015)
Today, Narga and I began working on our seagull that will become the
predator of the hermit crabs. We got it to move with the keys w, a, s,
and d. I also learned about key codes and that each key has a code to
like a = 65, w = 87, s = 83, and d = 68. As of right now, the seagull
moves super fast if a, s d, or w is pressed, which I will have to
change. This project was supposed to be due today at noon, but nobody
has finished it yet. Now we will have to finish it tomorrow in time.
Also, we will be going to Defy Gravity tomorrow!
Blog Entry 37 (July 24, 2015)
Today, my group finished up our hermit crab javascript project. The
hermit crabs can die from hunger, old age, and from the seagull, which
is controlled by W, A, S, and D. Hermit crabs move randomly and can
eat the grass to set their hunger back to zero. When their hunger
level reaches 20, they die. The grass is set in the bottom right
corner. One special thing is that the hermit crabs can scare each
other when they are beside each other, or when you click on them, but
this can only occur when it is day time. When it is night time, the
hermit crabs can't get scared and hide in their shells. Hermit crabs
can reproduce but the seagull can't. Last but not least, we have a
working play, pause, step, and day/night button. We are going to go to
Defy Gravity today!!!
Blog Entry 38 (July 27, 2015)
In the morning today, we did some engineering stuff with Caroline and
Rohin. We learned about how things have to be built in order to stand
or topple with lego pieces. Then with Rohin, we learned about building
trusses with triangles in order for it to be stable. We had a
competition on a site to see who can create a truss that has the least
values for compression and tension. In the end, my group got in the
30's which is really good. After lunch, Amalan taught us about
recursion and how php stands for php: hypertext preprocessor, in which
the php in php: hypertext preprocessor also stands for php: hypertext
preprocessor. After that, we completed some coding on factorials,
fibonacci and simple equations with recursion.
Blog Entry 39 (July 28, 2015)
Today before lunch, we learned about building models out of straws and
pip cleaners to be as sturdy as possible in order to hold the most
amount of marbles. How to find out the scores for each team is to
multiply the height in cm from the table to the bottom of the cup with
the number of marbles. My group could've won with the highest score,
however, before we could stop adding marbles, it collapsed, giving us
a score of 0. Nobody in my group was paying attention to Caroline as
she was adding marbles to our cup. Our final score was greater than
5000 I think. After lunch, we learned about jQuery from Ishaan. We
learned about the different properties of jQuery and made a small
Blog Entry 40 (July 29, 2015)
Today in the morning, we did a small engineering activity with
Caroline with a ramp and a marble to calculate its velocity, height,
and distance. We had to figure out the distance away from a table to
try to get a marble to land inside a film canister. My group (Aneesha,
Vincent, and I) was able to get the marble to land inside of the film
canister. In the afternoon, Miguel taught us things about ajax. We
completed a small
that was given out to us by him. Afterwards, we had free time to try
to complete the rest of our projects we had from the beginning of
summer, which I worked on inkscape and creating my own logo. So far it
isn't completed yet, but I am very close (with the help of my sister).
Blog Entry 41 (July 30, 2015)
With Caroline and Ron, my mentor, in the morning, we learned about a
circuit and its different elements, like the resistor, LED, capacitor,
and the 555 timer. We then made an actual circuit, making the LED
light and even blink. Then in the afternoon, we had free time to work
on all the projects that is needed to be completed by our last day
before school starts again. I got the login page to work and not
accept anyone logging in without the right password and username.
Also, today, I finished up all the inkscape projects and worked on the
gimp projects. I completed all the smaller projects and am working on
the logo and background pic for my website so it wouldn't have to be a
blank color with the help of Narga. Tomorrow, we will be going to
Frankie's!!!
Blog Entry 42 (July 31, 2015)
My group made a successful boat today that held the most amount of
marbles when no one expected it because it looked week and wasn't made
too neatly. Today was also Dr. Panoff's birthday! I drew the pictures
in the card yesterday night that was given to him today dur lunch time
and Anja and I drew stuff on the white board in the break room for his
birthday like bubble letters and a huge birthday cake. Then in the
afternoon, we worked on stuff we needed to complete, which I worked on
my website and general store. Then the apprentices whose last day is
today presented their website along with all the work they finished
this summer today and they were Aidan, Herjot, Megan, Narga, Nemefese,
and Braxton (in that order). Today, we are going to go to Frankies.
Blog Entry 43 (August 10, 2015)
This week is the last week of Shodor as an apprentice (4th block, 2nd
week). I worked on my general store today and had my second monthly
meeting with Ron. I also completed everything I had to make up from
the second week of the first block. I finished the gimp tutorial and
created my header. As for my general store, I got the check out button
to work and added scrolls to increase the number off items you would
want to add to your cart. My check out page displays the item, price,
and quantity you are about to buy and the total cost it would be. At
the bottom of that page, there is a back to store button that brings
you back to the store and a log out button that logs you out and
brings you to the login page. Last but not least, I changed the colors
of things around on all three of my pages for the general store. Now,
all I have to do is get the number under the Quantity In Stock column
to decrease when the order button is pressed and I also need an order
page. Other things may be added, when I am done with my other tasks.
Blog Entry 44 (August 11, 2015)
Today, I worked on my general store again. I got the check out page to
work now, which can lead you to an order page. The check out page just
displays the items, quantity, and prices of the things you are about
to buy. At the bottom, there is a total cost of everything, all added
together. Then right underneath that, there are three buttons. The
first button (Order) brings you to the order page and says that you
have actually ordered the items. The second button (Back To Store)
brings you back to the store. The third button (Log Out) logs you out
and brings you to the login page. I also created a checkout table
today. I still have lots to finish, but I think I will be able to get
the main things done, meaning the most important.
Blog Entry 45 (August 12, 2015)
In the morning today, I got my quantity in stock to decrease as people
order things. I also got the current money balance of a person's
account to display correctly on the order page. Finally, I made every
one get $100 once an account is created. The Checkout table works now
in mysql, and shows all the balances of every account. In the
afternoon, I found out that my checkout button and order button had
wrong jobs. When the checkout button is clicked on, the quantity in
stock of the things you have selected would decrease and the order
button wouldn't work. With Miguel's help, I got it to work using
session and to get some things through several pages.
Blog Entry 46 (August 13, 2015)
Today, I finished correcting my login page so now everything works.
People have to sign up first in order to login to the store. After
signing up, that person has to re-login to check if their account is
created and to get in to the store. If that doesn't work out for them,
then something will be echoed out and some text will display at the
bottom that the username or password is incorrect. Also, If you were
to sign up with a username that was already created, then something
else will pop up that will say that the username is taken. Afterwards,
I started to work on my order history, one of the last things I need
to complete before everything is complete to present tomorrow. So far,
whatever items a person clicks on and orders, it will display on a
table in mysql called orderHistory. However, only the first thing they
order will be displayed on the table, nothing else and that needs to
be corrected, if I have the time tomorrow. Last but not least, I saw
Ernie today. He caught me drawing at the front desk when I was
supposed to be working on my General Store, but I was only drawing two
strands of hair as a quick break for staring at the laptop. Anyways,
it was nice seeing him again. Plus, he remembers that I am Anna's
little sister.
Blog Entry 47 (August 14, 2015)
Today is my last day at Shodor, at least that is what I believe is to
be correct. I finished my General Store today with some things lacking,
but it works fine. I presented today after lunch and got that done,
even though I was nervous, standing in front of people. Also, I am
about to go watch the ssp program students present their project they
have been working on overall for the past two weeks I believe. Anyways,
this is most likely going to be my last blog, so..... BYE!!!
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