I have done more work with code in the last two days than I have done in my entire life. While I acknowledge working in HTML and terminal is not really coding, I have enjoyed at least getting a mild taste of working with code.
I started my introduction to coding by creating an account Codecademy click here. and completing the tutorial on working with HTML5. It was very useful and while it was information overload it did give me enough of the basics to start working in Brackets.
My fellow Fab Lab colleagues researched different text editors and decided that Brackets would be most user friendly. I downloaded brackets to my computer and on the recommendation of my Fab Lab teammates, I started to build my website from the Fab Lab site template by Massimo Menichinell from GitHub, to see the template click here.
The first thing that I did was to learn my way around the HTML code by going to the Fab Lab template changing each place that said “surname”. This was a great way to start because I learned to relate a line of HTML code in Brackets to its place on the website. I next worked on updating my Contacts and About pages for my Fab Lab page. I found this to be an easy and straightforward process using brackets. The hardest part was just finding which line of code related. The other thing that I learned was how to take block out code without deleting it by typing "" . Doing this has been very useful because I am less concerned about getting rid of things from the template.
I next worked on setting my SSH using terminal. I used the directions outlined by my Fab Lab partner who experienced working with networks. It started out being straightforward until the last step when I had to add my SSH key. For some reason it was adding my email to my SSH key and as a result when I added my SSH key the button on the lower left became light green rather than green. The fact that button was light green was a problem because it would not let me click it. I was using Safari and tried doing the whole process again in Chrome, with the same result. As a last ditch attempt, I deleted my email from the SHH key. For reasons I do not understand, the Add Key button immediately turned green and I was able to add it.
Once I had my SSH key, I used terminal to pull data off of the Fab academy Git page and was able to push my updates to my website. I have since made many more updates to my website using Brackets.
2/5/2016
I figured out how to insert pictures into my website. Before I was just using pictures that were already online and linking them in HTML. First I resized the pictures using OSX preview by selecting all the pictures on my desktop and opening them up Preview. It opened them all up in a single preview file. As a result I could resize them all at once by clicking on Tools then adjust size. Then I put them into my media folder with my FABLAB files and simply put in the code for image. After that it was just a matter of coding them into HTML file. The other thing I figured out to do was block pictures so that they are on the same line.
My final project will be to make echolocation goggles. My goal is to make a sonar headset not something that will create a visual image based on sound. I want to create a sensory experience for my neuroscience students that demonstrates what it is like to use a sensory modality other than sight to navigate around objects. Many students have the misconception that when bats use echolocation the bats are in fact creating an actual visual image based on sound waves. The phenomenon of sensory substitution (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensory_substitution) suggests that this not a completely outrageous assumption. I want students experience what it is like to “see” without actually using their eyes.
Some blind individuals such as Daniel Kish (to see Ted Talk click here ) have famously mastered the ability of using clicks for echolocation. However, it took him years of focused practice to master this ability. My goal is to create an echolocation device that will enable students to experience sensory substitution without the years of training.
I am confident that this project is feasible. Looking for previous designs of echolocation goggles, I found one on Instructables( click here ) and also( click here ). I now need to figure out how to change the design for the echolocation goggles to make it my own.
After trying many different ways of journaling I found the best approach for me was to use MS Word and then cut and paste the document into Brackets. What was most efficient was for me to create a MS Word document for each week. At the top of the document I put the most commonly used HTML code for such things as pictures, files, and web links. I would then cut and paste them in as needed. I did not hit upon this approach until relatively late but once I did, my documenting went a lot faster.