This is my latest JavaScript project. It’s an obviously fictional election map, between two familiar candidates. The map was created by a third-party using JavaScript, my job was to code it to highlight as the mouse moves over, based on who one the state. Also the election results populate the table on the bottom. If I went in and changed the votes, the numbers on top would change also (and possible the winner).

Believe it or not, this is a lot of work! Speaking of lotsa work, I’ve added my Magic 8 Ball to the blog page side bar for your enjoyment! The sidebar only exists on the desktop version of the site for now. I’ve also replaced the image of the Lol Cat Clock with a functioning Cat Clock in my previous post, “JavaScript oh boy.”

In more exciting news… I’m an uncle! Mila Reese McDavid was born Oct 3rd to Molly and Wes and I’m bouncing off the walls. Super proud of my little brother and I can’t wait to meet my adorable niece.

LOLCAT CLOCK

I CAN HAZ TIME??
Clock goes here

This is where time events are reported

set Wake Up Time 1 AM - 2AM 2 AM - 3AM 3 AM - 4AM 4 AM - 5AM 5 AM - 6AM 6 AM - 7AM 7 AM - 8AM 8 AM - 9AM 9 AM - 10AM 10 AM - 11AM 11 AM - 12PM 12 PM - 1PM 1 PM - 2PM 2 PM - 3PM 3 PM - 4PM 4 PM - 5PM 5 PM - 6PM 6 PM - 7PM 7 PM - 8PM 8 PM - 9PM 9 PM - 10PM 10 PM - 11PM 11 PM - 12AM 12 AM - 1AM
set Lunch Time 1 AM - 2AM 2 AM - 3AM 3 AM - 4AM 4 AM - 5AM 5 AM - 6AM 6 AM - 7AM 7 AM - 8AM 8 AM - 9AM 9 AM - 10AM 10 AM - 11AM 11 AM - 12PM 12 PM - 1PM 1 PM - 2PM 2 PM - 3PM 3 PM - 4PM 4 PM - 5PM 5 PM - 6PM 6 PM - 7PM 7 PM - 8PM 8 PM - 9PM 9 PM - 10PM 10 PM - 11PM 11 PM - 12AM 12 AM - 1AM
set Nap Time 1 AM - 2AM 2 AM - 3AM 3 AM - 4AM 4 AM - 5AM 5 AM - 6AM 6 AM - 7AM 7 AM - 8AM 8 AM - 9AM 9 AM - 10AM 10 AM - 11AM 11 AM - 12PM 12 PM - 1PM 1 PM - 2PM 2 PM - 3PM 3 PM - 4PM 4 PM - 5PM 5 PM - 6PM 6 PM - 7PM 7 PM - 8PM 8 PM - 9PM 9 PM - 10PM 10 PM - 11PM 11 PM - 12AM 12 AM - 1AM
Party Time!

© Skillcrush 2016

I’ve been working on a new language – JavaScript! This is where things get fun. I’m learning to program things to happen. My first project was designed in class by SkillCrush, my job was to program it what to do.

The picture and message changes based on what time it is. I also had to make the clock run, which is a lot of coding. Play with it here: https://ianmcdavid.github.io/lolcat/

This language is not new, but it’s in high demand! To work as professional developer it’s turning into a necessity, but it also brings the dough.

The first lesson of the course was a warning haha: JavaScript is hard. Take breaks, promise to ask for help, don’t break your computer… and they weren’t lying.

Good news, I’m picking it up pretty quick it seems. I’ve been taking breaks, but haven’t needed any actual help yet. We’ll see… more projects to come!

https://portfolio.progresscreation.com

I made a portfolio page… This is an early lesson that I skipped in order to take more advanced classes and prepare for making advanced websites so it’s kinda basic, but I think it looks pretty cool. They gave us some templates to choose from, and I liked this one a lot, so I kept most of the colors and style, but changed the About Me background and the fonts.

I’m not at the point where I’m trying to push myself out the general public yet, but I am looking to work with family and friends, or even friends of friends to build up my portfolio with actual clients. I have two on deck but they aren’t ready to push forward with an actual site yet. If you have a friend that wants a great site done cheap, throw them my way. Mos def show them this site, but they should be aware it’s only meant for the big screens (it wasn’t made for the phone).

Any feedback and critique is appreciated.

I’m still surviving on unemployment, being frugal and schooling as much as possible. With the kids learning from home and Sarah working basically 80 hours a week, for us my help at home is as valuable as increased income. Since I’m not desperate for work, I’m still focusing on classes and soaking up knowledge.

I’m ready to play!

I’ve completed the WordPress professional course, and I’m stoked to say I’m ready to build some dope sites! You can see my latest practice project at https://soverynoma.com It’s a fully functional site for a fictional company called Accelerate Marketing. If you’re wondering about the domain name, I bought SoVeryNoma for my mom’s future project: a Sonoma Valley centered website. I am now officially ready to start building it when design is complete.

WordPress is a CMS (Content Management System) that facilitates website building and is more advanced and customizable than advertised ‘competitors’ like Square Space or Wix. More than a third of the entire internet uses WordPress. Some advantages over cheap website-builders are: superior SEO (Search Engine Optimization) – so the site will be found more often by being higher on the Google search; customizable layout – so the site won’t have to look like thousands of other sites; and its free!

For my next project, I’ll be making my first professional portfolio site to present my work! This domain (ProgressCreation) will be used for my portfolio, and this site will be one of my example projects. The sites I’ve made so far will be included, and there will be more projects I’ll be adding from my classes. Then I’ll have a nice little web-developer site I can use to land some freelance income making websites while I continue my voyage into the tech world.

There is still so much to learn, and I have many classes left to take from Skillcrush. So far I’ve learned three languages – HTML, CSS, and PHP – JavaScript is next. After that I’ll be diving into a web design course, which will add to my website making skills. Beyond that, there are courses I’ve purchased including data analytics, user experience, web marketing and app building I’m excited to explore before I start targeting a field to focus in on. I’m pumped on the myriad opportunities, though I can see it being overwhelming, it’s so good for the passion levels!

Just finished my first web design lesson! The assignment was to design a one page site for a mock client with certain parameters in Adobe XD. It’s just a picture, not a functional site. This is what a designer would hand to a developer and say “start coding.” Tell me what you think!