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BenBrostoff / 3_web_basics_md
Created April 2, 2014 11:15
3_web_basics_md
I found the readings associated with this section of Week 1 to be the most interesting and challenging since Phase 0 of Dev Bootcamp began. In short, the readings challenged many of my working conventions regarding the infrastructure of the internet (which, to be clear, is not the same as the World Wide Web - the internet encompasses the smaller WWW). The readings additionally offered a high level picture of the differences between front-end and back-end languages - this terminology had always been somewhat murky to me. From my understanding, languages like HTML, CSS and Javascript communicate purely on a client-side basis, whereas PHP, Java, Ruby and others are server side languages.Servers in turn are the foundations of the hardware of the internet, and the "home" of data is individual servers.
I suppose I had known somewhere in the back of my mind that the domain name one types to access a website is really just a request to visit a specific IP. However, the walk-through on using the terminal to take a d
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BenBrostoff / 4_beginning_HTML_CSS.md
Created April 3, 2014 01:46
4_beginning_HTML_CSS.md

It is a common sentiment when doing something new that requires significant learning but lends creative license once even partially learned: this was pretty difficult initially and then fun once I got the hang of it. HTML I did not find terribly difficult to work with and was glab the language was somewhat intuitive. However, I struggled with CSS before really greasping an understanding of how it links up (I say that figuratively) with HTML. Classes and IDs allow for interesting customization, and once I started looking at style guides I found there were a variety of things I could do.

What was imperative on this project was putting all files in the same directory. Initially, I had not done that and thus changing my CSS file yielded little effect. Additionally, moving everything to the same directory allowed me to link up my webpage with the webpage created in the first exercise via the Github desktop app.

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BenBrostoff / 4_beginning_HTML_CSS_2_md
Created April 6, 2014 14:50
4_beginning_HTML_CSS_2_md (Solo Challenge response)
I found this solo challenge to be extremely rewarding but simultaneously difficult as I found the learning curve rather steep. The Girl Develop It slide decks, while good intros, often were not sufficient in providing examples of how to accomplish a task and why certain practices work. I found that when I'm learning HTML / CSS, it is most useful for me to see the HTLM code, the CSS code and the website output. I would generally reload my webpage every 5-10 minutes to see the effect of the changes in my code, and sometimes would make test files if I was unsure what I was doing and simply wanted to test something out. I recall a friend of mine who is a pre-school teacher saying that pre-schoolers when learning how to mix paint colors often conference together and as the color comes to life, consult on what is working and what is not working every few minutes. This is very much similar to me in HTML / CSS.
One thing I know I need to continue to brush up on is my understanding of relative positioning, absolute p
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BenBrostoff / 8_favorite_websites_md
Created April 6, 2014 15:56
8_favorite_websites_md
I have trouble sometimes evaluating things I'm a crazed fan about (Boston sports, books I like, etc.). When you become almost religious about an entity, it is difficult to take a step back and consider it's design and unique facets that make it good. This exercise was a test in me being object.
I think Grantland and Amazon are the heights of web design (granted, it's not HTML 5 and it's not ridiculously innovative per se, but the developers are executing on the best of what's available). Both look extremely clean and are easy to use.
I chose Thrillist because I think it's a case study of interest. It is one of many websites that just fires every shell it has at you in attempts of diverting your attention. Business Insider is a master of this craft. I do enjoy Thrillist because of the pictures and how these pictures are uniquely sorted and presented. It reminds me that anyone could be something entirely different from what they are now just by spending a few hundred bucks to get with the cool kids.
I have p
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BenBrostoff / U1W1_Wireframing
Created April 7, 2014 01:39
U1W1_Wireframing
Reverse engineering my three favorite websites via wireframing made their motives clearer and the linkage between design and purpose all the more evident. For instance, in sketching out Amazon, I came to see the large focus on user specific experience. The website is tailored to connect users to as much Amazon hardware as possible (Kindle, Fire TV, etc.), at which point they can upload content to such devices. Amazon makes a concerted effort to promote Amazon hardware at the front of the website and user specific content areas all around it (My Kindle, My Amazon Prime, etc.).
I think there are some similarities (strangely enough) between the agile movement and wireframing. Although wireframing would seem like making a grand idea and trying to execute via code (which the Agile movement rails against), I actually believe wireframing is part improvisation sketching for other content creators to comment on. The wireframe presents a framework that can be used to uniquely change the HTML and CSS. Once a web desig
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BenBrostoff / 7_getting_to_know_your_group
Created April 7, 2014 01:51
Getting to Know Your Group
All -
Apologies for those who were at the Google Hangout, but in the way of introduction here it is again:
Name: Ben Brostoff
Current location: Charlotte, North Carolina (currently investment banking at Wells Fargo) - originally from Belmont, Massachusetts (yes, huge Boston sports fan)
Favorite sites: Grantland (for the color scheme, the footnotes and the ease of navigation - and because I'm a huge Bill Simmons fan), Amazon (for obvious reasons) and Thrillist (for the visuals and unique use of space).
Like Brendan, my VARK learning style is also Multimodal with a mild preference towards Read/Write.
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BenBrostoff / Week 2 - Chrome Tools - Quiz
Last active August 29, 2015 13:59
Week 2 - Chrome Tools - Quiz
QUIZ
My screenshot from my codeschool profile is linked to my Github page.
Explain which tabs support the following actions and how.
Realtime editing of HTML and CSS
The Elements tab. This tab breaks out HTML on the left and has a "Styles" subtap on the right which shows CSS.
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BenBrostoff / Array example with map.rb
Last active August 29, 2015 14:00
Array example with map
numberArray = [1,2,3,4,5]
numberArray.map{ |i| i + 1 } # [2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
numberArray # [1,2,3,4,5]
numberArray.map!{ |i| i + 1 } # [2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
numberArray # [2,3,4,5,6]
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BenBrostoff / Hash example with each.rb
Created April 27, 2014 17:47
Hash example with each
hashEx = { :brothers => 8, :sisters => 5, :mom => 1, :dad => 1 }
hashEx.each do |key, value|
hashEx[key] = value + 3
end
hashEx.class # Hash
hashEx #{:sisters=>8, :dad=>4, :brothers=>11, :mom=>4}
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BenBrostoff / Hash example with map.rb
Created April 27, 2014 17:49
Hash example with map
hashEx = { :brothers => 8, :sisters => 5, :mom => 1, :dad => 1 }
hashEx.map { |k, v| [k, v+3] }.class # Array
hashEx.map { |k, v| [k, v+3] } # [[:sisters, 8], [:dad, 4], [:brothers, 11], [:mom, 4]]