The assignment for the week was to create a website describing yourself and your final project. To complete the task at hand, you needed to learn HTML and version control software Git. We were also to take into consideration the size of the pictures included and document the learning around project management. Our local instructor at LCCC provided many tips about how to be successful undertaking the Fab Academy experience. The first was to set up a computer to run Linux and Windows to be used exclusively for this course. We were also given many tutorials dealing with Git, HTML and student success. The first week went by fast, but after the global lecture, my curiousity led me to the profound statement by Neil, "Think Globally, Fabricate Locally." It was truly amazing how many committed individuals are starting this course from around the world.
As recommended by our local instructor, I decided that I would set up a virtual machine on my laptop to run Linux. I decided to install Oracle VM Virtual Box on my laptop currently runnign Windows 10. I have run many VM's in the past and the installation was easy after I changed the BIOS settings to allow virtualization. After rebooting my computer, I installed the latest Ubuntu OS 14.4.3 LTS. I then went ahead and installed Notepad ++ using the following commands: sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install wine. I was able to run Notepad++ on both Windows and Ubuntu. I can now install all my software on both Windows 10 and Ubuntu. My goal is to try to primarily run Ubuntu during the Fab Academy. This will be a great test.
I had never actually created a website using only HTML before. I thought it was a great challenge. I know the basics of HTML from my days learning Microsoft Frontpage. I decided to look at a variety of WYSIWIG HTML editors. I looked at Adobe Dreamweaver CC, Eclipse and TinyMCE. I liked bits and parts of each. I then looked at different source codes of pages of past Fab Academy participants. I studied and read about CSS and HTML. It was then that I decided to just use Notepad++ to do all of my HTML code. I decided to stay basic on my website creation and focus my energy on the tasks each week. I liked how the page came out and plan on making modifications as the course goes on and I learn more HTML and CSS.
I looked at the software Neil suggests under the Project Management portion of the Fab Academy website. I have used Moodle as my LMS (Learning Management System) in teaching classes and WordPress to create online content. It already occurs to me that I will have to be efficient in my learning to attempt to accomplish all I can in the course. I like how everything is taped so I can return to it later. I found it extremely helpful. For example, as I was going through this weeks lecture, I was reminded of Neil's Foreign Affairs article from 2012. I decided to read it over the weekend. It is a great overview of why digital fabrication matters and the coming digital fabrication revolution. The article lays the basis for this course in may respects. I recommend it highly.
I always find it interesting to ask high school students about software. After our first lecture I returned to school and was having
lunch with my advisees. I asked the table, "Has anyone heard of Git?" I was not surprised as two freshman boys said, "Yeah, we use it for
our web pages we create." I had only briefly heard of Git before, but two of my advisees had been using it for awhile to store their personal
sites.
I read parts of the excellent tutorial on Git at https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2 . This was helpful as I
started to have questions about how it worked and the command lines. I also looked at the fantastic tutorial sent out by our local instructor.
It was a tremendous help. He sent a Windows version of how to configure Git.
The process of uploading to Git from Windows is fairly straightforward. I log into https://git.fabacademy.org . I then select LorainCCCFabLab from the list. I then follow the path Master>Students>46 and I am able to upload to my account by choosing the Add New File. It is a simple process to upload the files from my account. The steps are documented in pictures below.
GitLabs, Lorain FabLab, Student 46, Uploading File
The recitation for this week was provided by Massimo Banzi, the co-founder of Arduino. It was an interesting history of how he ended up creating the Arduino board. He was right when he talked about the need for an entry level board to democratize inventing. I have witnessed many students start with the Arduino to learn the basics of programming and applications. He mentions Fritzing, a PCB creation site, and I ended up exploring the site and thinking about how this democratizes the PCB creation process. I agree with his assessment that it is about how much value you can give to people with the least amount of processing power. I was a terrific recitation filled with insights into Arduino and microprocessors. I really enjoyed his slide on design.
