Life
Let’s go do edX!
It’s back-to-school time for most kids in North America today. School equals education. Education is something that should not stop once you graduate from high school or college/university. I’m not saying that everyone should do their Masters and PhD, because that doesn’t work for everyone financially-wise and/or career-wise. Constant education or learning can be obtained through various media such as workshops, trainings, conferences, or simply the web. For the web, this can include videos, podcasts, articles, and more.
While looking at some courses online recently, I found this online initiative called edX, which offers free online courses and classes from the world’s best universities that include MIT, Harvard, and Berkeley among others. Topics range from biology to business to computer science to finance to engineering to law to philosophy and more.
There are two ways to take the courses for free — 1. Simply audit the course, that is you will have access to all course content but do not need to submit any assignments or take any tests, or 2. Try to earn an honour code certificate, that is once you complete all the requirements satisfactorily while abiding by the edX honour code, you will receive a certificate showcasing your achievement. You will also have the option to get a verified certificate that includes signatures of the course instructor, etc. which you will have to pay for a nominal fee. Some courses may also give you the option to earn a credit, but of course you will have to shed a few thousand dollars for this. Some courses may not have all the options stated above, but generally those are your options.
There were a few courses I found that may be of interest as well to those who are into technology:
CS50x – Introduction to Computer Science (HarvardX)
LFS101x – Introduction to Linux (LinuxFoundationX)
CS184.1x – Foundations of Computer Graphics (UC BerkeleyX)
6.00.1x – Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Using Python (MITx)
CS169.1x – Engineering Software as a Service (UC BerkeleyX)
CS169.2x – Engineering Software as a Service, Part 2 (UC BerkeleyX)
CS188.1x – Artificial Intelligence (UC BerkeleyX)
These are just a few of the courses that are currently available. I’m actually looking into doing the 6.00.1x course which just started last week on August 27th. Let’s see how it goes.
If you’re planning on taking any of these courses as well, good for you – keep on! Happy learning!
Reading on a Kindle
Last year in September, I received an Amazon Kindle Paperwhite ebook reader for free from Rogers for being one of their loyal customers. At first I wasn’t sure if I will actually be able to use it since I already had some tablet devices which I can use for the same purpose. Anyway, I tried using it, and it turns out I loved it! It is much better to use than the seemingly brighter-screened iPad or Nexus tablet. The screen can be as bright as the tablets but it is softer on the eyes, like reading on white paper, hence the name.
The Kindle Paperwhite measures 6.7 x 4.6 x 0.36 inches, weighs 7.6 ounces, has 212 pixels per inch, and has 16 levels of grey. It has a smooth rubberized coating that gives the user a good grip on it. This is especially helpful to me because I tend to have slippery fingers. In terms of connectivity, the device is WiFi compatible and has 3G cellular connectivity. Apparently, connecting to the Rogers network is free, however the connection can only be used to access the Amazon store to browse and/or purchase ebooks.
Aside from the native Kindle formats AZW and AZW3, the Kindle Paperwhite also supports PDF, MOBI, TXT, PRC, DOC, and DOCX files. Internal storage is 2GB, which can hold around 1,000 books! If only all the hardcover and paperback books I own are stored as ebooks as well, it would surely be awesome. Speaking of which, I still have a whole bunch of books (fiction, inspirational) that I bought from a library sale about a couple years ago which I still have not read. I do not know when I would have the time and chance to read them at the moment.
On my Kindle, I currently have an ebook which I still haven’t finished reading for months now. The only times I have been reading the book is basically when I am riding the public transit (bus/subway). There were a few times before that I would read in bed, but I’m not really in a hurry to finish my current book so I’ll just leave it till my next bus ride (whenever that is — maybe this weekend).
Reading on a Kindle or reading a physical book — I love both but the Kindle is more practical for me nowadays. How about you?
Working Out with My Pink iPod Nano
I used to have a 2nd generation pink iPod Nano but I sold it on eBay. I didn’t really need it because I had an iPod Touch, and carrying my Samsung Galaxy S3 phone with me while I went jogging/running was already sufficient. However, a few months ago in January, I started going to the gym. Taking my phone with me while I worked out was kind of a hassle, so I decided to get myself something smaller to accompany me with music while working out. I considered getting an iPod Shuffle since it only cost $49, but then thought maybe the latest generation iPod Nano would be nicer. But then I checked the price, and thought I really didn’t want to spend $149 for it. Then I remembered, wasn’t there an iPod Shuffle that had a touch screen before? I searched online for it and found that it wasn’t actually a Shuffle, but a Nano – the 6th gen! I was hoping Apple would have a refurbished one available on their site but there was none. Lucky me, I found several on eBay in excellent used condition and a pink one at that! The price wasn’t too bad as well, definitely cheaper than a current generation one, and so I bought it.
The 6th generation iPod Nano measures 1.48 x 1.61 x 0.35 inches and only weighs 0.74 ounces. The one I got has 8GB in capacity, however it is also available in 16GB. The display measures 1.54 inches diagonally with 240×240 pixel resolution. Some of the audio formats supported include AAC, MP3, AIFF, and WAV. What I like about it is that it has a built-in FM radio which also has a Live Pause feature for pausing a radio broadcast and rewinding (within a 15-minute buffer). Another feature of this device is that it has a VoiceOver gesture-based screen reader, although I wouldn’t really need to use that one. It also has the ability for storing and viewing pictures. This device has a built-in pedometer which works well with the built-in Nike+ app — definitely useful when going for runs.
Overall, I really like this iPod Nano (especially because it is pink!). It works as expected as a music player, and I also like that it has a built-in clip which is definitely useful while working out at the gym. Only thing that I wish it had was a camera feature to take photos/videos and play videos, which it had in the 5th gen and in the newer 7th gen.
Just a thought
Someone mentioned to me today how it’s amazing that my interest involves two opposite sides of the spectrum. We were talking about how I am into the I.T./technology field AND the performing arts.
I don’t think I have mentioned it here yet before in this blog, though I know that some of my friends do know these two sides of me. Actually, there can be a lot of sides to me. I am unique. I am simple, but also complicated. I know that I’m not the only person who is like this though. Well, it’s different living in this side of the world, because not a lot of people are like me in the sense of interests – so some people can be surprised to hear what I do. FYI, dear people – this is not uncommon if you grew up in Asia.
These are just some thoughts that come to mind on this Wednesday night after a long day of some ‘performing arts’ stuff.
Back to regular programming soon on this blog.
Just Thankful
Okay, I know it’s been an incredibly long time since I last made a post. I guess I just was not inspired to write for these past few months. I need to get back on track.
One thing that made me write this post is that I am just thankful for the recent new position I accepted at the company I’ve been working with for the past 10 months. It has been a challenging, rocky journey to get to this place right now. The road blocks are still many ahead, and I have to learn how to pass through them. The learning never stops. The opportunities continue to broaden.
I hope and pray for better things for everyone I care about as well.
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Tech-Life in Pink 