Major ProSeminar: Journal 2

Part 1: Learning Strategy

I like to start with the bad first. I never really thought about what I do when I'm reading or watching a certain topic; I mostly just let my mind soak in all the information. In the article we were assigned to read there is a section that talks about thinking of questions as you read; I have never done this, thus I would say I am bad at it. Further, I also tend to always be working around noisy environments like my living room. This is something I can improve by going to a private quiet place, to help me concentrate and study in a more efficient manner. Lastly, I am really bad at blocking out a specific time to get things done. I tend to just work whenever, and this is definitely something I am going to improve.

Now, on to the things I think I am good at. I really enjoy reading, in fact, when I have a purpose for reading something, and actually putting it to use, I tend to learn really fast and effectively. Second, somewhat in relation to reading, I do tend to be able to pick up the main idea of the authors without loosing the detail. I, essentially, can see the entire forest, and also the trees. Lastly, the last thing I noticed I already do is research notes. I always have the terminal on my computer opened with VIM editor taking notes about whatever I think is important.

Part 2: Time Management Skills

Part 3: Project Management Basics

The best way I can describe projects is automating human behavior to accomplish a task. There is end goals, and then there is temporary projects. However, projects, and having a project manager that is able to manage a project effectively is key to achieve long term end goals. Some ways a good project manager can do this is by the break down of larger task into smaller tasks. "People skills" are also extremely important since a project manager is essentially the orchestrator of the automation of human behavior. Lastly, a chart like the Gantt chart can be implemented to better organize and solve around a given projects' obstacles.

Part 4: Previous Capstones

The first project that caught my attention was the Oceanside Public Library system. This system in summary helped librarians pick up books for check out. I thought this project was interesting because a similar system like the one developed by the students is most likely used for big corporations like Amazon. The only thing I would add is a UI that is more intuitive or easier on the eyes.

The next project that I really enjoyed was EZDashboard. EZDashboard takes raw data and then converts it to visualizations, for example, pie charts. This project was great there was a lot of visualization, and I really like the data–how it was drawn out. This project was also using a lot of new technologies that are definitely being used in the industry today. One thing I think that can improve is to have a way to do something with the data, or perhaps being able to use the visual data somewhere else, for example, on a personal website.

Lastly, the Like A Camera project especially caught my eye. I recently started looking into getting in photography. Unfortunately, I'm fairly new, and still learning; this project seems perfect for me, I could learn a lot from a service like this. Perhaps they can add tier a list for paid content.

Part 5: Summary

Overall, this week was really busy, I had to write a rough draft on the outline I wrote last week. We also learned quite a lot about proper academic writing in APA format. I'm also excited to see what my team mates comments were for my rough draft. This was a demanding week, but I feel like I got a lot done, and learned a bunch of new things.