Save You a Search - Protractor Tips
I had trouble with two problems recently: Disabling some features that pop up when test automation is running on Chrome and writing a test that could pass Google reCAPTCHA using Protractor. Here are some tips to save you a search.
July 13, 2017
History of Computer Girls, Part 3: Dorothy!
I've been going around town giving a talk on the history of women in computers. During my research, I came across so very many women I’d never heard of before, but who had made indelible marks on the history of computing. I decided to write a blog series about these amazing software pioneers who just happen to be women. But I didn’t just want the blogs to be boring old history lessons. Instead, I wanted to give examples and do research on the actual code these pioneers made.
Memo, dated January…
July 12, 2017
Initial Impressions of Kotlin
As almost every Android developer has heard of by now, Kotlin is being included as a first class language in Android Studio. Kotlin is a language created by JetBrains, the same company that is responsible for IntelliJ Idea, the core of Android Studio. Originally, a plugin was required to use Kotlin from within Android Studio.
July 11, 2017
IoT Hackathon - Coffeebot with Raspberry Pi
For our latest Hackathon, with the theme being the Internet of things (IoT), my team and I wanted to create a device that would encourage people in the office to keep the coffee pots full of life-giving nectar. Often the pots don't get refilled when someone takes the last cup of coffee, so we decided to gamify the process. The basic idea was to award points to people when they made fresh pots of coffee, and whoever made the most coffee each week would get a shoutout at the company all-hands…
July 10, 2017
What I Learned Going from the College World to the Real World
As a recent graduate from Portland State University, the inclination to write this blog has been an ongoing dilemma. Since I first graduated high school, I knew limitations existed if I were to only attend school full time. Those limitations were slightly different from most others’ given the knowledge I had from my parents on just how different the real world could be from what's taught at school. Like most, I also needed financial help. It was evident to me that working while attending school…
July 7, 2017
6 Design Tips for iOS and Android
Recently I've been designing a few mobile apps. The first app was designed from scratch for both iOS and Android. The other was taking a pre-existing iOS app and translating the design and UX to be more suited for Android. It's been an interesting process that has taught me a lot about the differences and similarities of the two different platforms. I've also been discussing, sharing, and working directly with both iOS and Android developers to create the best experience on both platforms. I’d…
July 7, 2017
Why Culture is So Crucial at Metal Toad
Since the start of my finance and accounting internship at Metal Toad, the first thing that I noticed is its unique and influential culture. The combination of friendly staff and a cozy working environment make Metal Toad a community-like company. Additionally, we can see just how much effort Metal Toad makes to build a friendly company culture. I started to think — why is culture such a crucial thing for Metal Toad?
July 6, 2017
The Most Agile Thing You Can Do Is Throw Away Agile
In my career, I've found that there are two types of "agile" software process maps. There is Agile, with a big A, that is usually purchased from non-technical people by non-technical stakeholders. Big-A Agile is a series of meetings, metrics, and reports used to structure and monitor software teams. I've even experienced story estimates as hours, and a requirement to list "actuals" on each story to verify the estimate was correct.
July 5, 2017
Designing as a Non-Designer
If someone had asked me a couple months ago, “Are you a designer?” I would have said "hell no." The extent of my design experience is a poster I made in Publisher for a high school business class. Or arranging clip art in Word, if you count that.
July 3, 2017
The Importance of Tchotchkes
One of the most interesting things about agency culture is the freedom for employees to show their personality. To be quite honest, I think there is no better example of this than someone’s tchotchkes.
A tchotchke (pronounced CHOCH-ka) are small, often miscellaneous items. I picked the phrase up in college, and I’ve been using it ever since.
July 3, 2017