Greg Hyer

Ruby on Rails Video Lecture from UC Berkeley

2014-07-25T14:20:00.002-04:00

I'm taking a stab at learning how to program. After an extensive web search it appears that learning Ruby and Ruby on Rails is easiest way to get into web app programming. We'll see.

Below is a series of YouTube videos that contain lectures from UC Berkeley's RAD Lab. I've embedded all the parts I could find. If you think I'm missing one, please leave it in the comments below and I will update this post. Enjoy!

Ruby on Rails - Part 1: Hello World

Ruby on Rails - Part 2: Just Enough Ruby

Ruby on Rails - Part 3: Basic Rails

Ruby on Rails - Part 4: Advanced Active Record

Ruby on Rails - Part 5: AJAX and Testing

Ruby on Rails - Part 6: Configuration and Deploy

Archimedes's 21st Century Lever

2011-11-14T09:20:00.001-05:00

Archimedes's Lever

Archimedes, an ancient Greek mathematician, once said, "If you give me a lever and a place to stand I can move the world." Keep in mind that this might not be an exact translation, but for for the purpose of this post, I will be interpreting it as such.

We are living in a time were we need the best of the best in order to do the best faster. This quote is as much applicable to today as it was 2200 years ago. I believe what Archimedes was trying today was, "If you give me the tools to do the job and a place to use them, I can make it happen." Today, just as it was 2200 years ago, it's important to have the necessary resources to do the job right. It does not matter if you are working in a cube farm or on a steal beam, you need the right tools to do the job and complete the task at hand.

Cube Farm

In the 21st Century, we have continued the rapid development of more and more tools to help us do a better job. In some cases, the job might not get done faster but it may get done more efficiently. For example, we are using the internet to make connections that would have been extremely time consuming to make 30 years ago. With the impressive growth of social networks and ecommerce, we have a platform to find just about whatever and who ever we want with a matter of seconds, depending on your resourcefulness.

Today's 21st century level is the internet. It's the tool that provides the platform for us to connect in ways that were not possible in ancient Greek times. It's the tool that has moved our world in a new direction. For you, the question is how are you going to use this tool to move your world?

Witnessing a Child's Love as a Parent

2011-11-10T16:38:00.001-05:00

Ava in Dylan's Baseball Gear

It's amazing that as you get older you begin to interpret things in a different light. Maybe you can call it the development of wisdom or just simply experience. As a parent, I get the privilege of revisiting childhood through my children's eyes. I cannot say that I understand everything they are experiencing. I can only try to be patient with them as they navigate through their young lives and try to understand what they see.

What moves me the most is when they experience an "AH HA" moment. Sometimes children don't even realize what just happened. That's where a parent's wisdom is needed.

A few weeks ago my 2 and a half year old daughter, Ava, received a Halloween card from her grandmother. Ava was so excited to get a piece of mail. It's not everyday that something other than a bill or junk mail arrives in our mailbox. She looked at the envelope and asked who it was from. Her excitement started to grow as my wife told her that is was from "MomMom."

Ava was ready to open the envelope and get to the goods inside. In classic two year-old fashion, she tore open the envelope with no care in the world. She was going to get that card. And she did.

On the front of the card were a couple of pumpkins saying something clever about Halloween. Since Ava cannot read, this meant nothing to her. But then she opened up the card.

Dora Sticker

Ava let out the biggest squeal for joy I have heard come from her yet. Inside the card were stickers. Not just any stickers. There were Dora stickers and Disney Princess stickers. These were her favorite! She loves Dora a lot. I think our DVR has about 20 episodes saved on it.

I watched as she looked at these stickers with a big smile on her face. What happened next opened my eyes a little more. Ava took the stickers and started pealing them off and sharing them with me and her siblings. She did not stick one on herself.

What I witnessed was Ava choosing to share her love and joy if the gift she was given, as simple as it was, with those she loves.

As adults, we all can be like this. Why is it then that we choose not to more often than we do?