It's Almost 5 o'Clock...

....Which means I'm fiending for my commute home so I can work on other things.

Things that I need to do:

1. I need to kick myself in the ass and stop using my shitty modem as an excuse to not work on my project. I have an Amazon Web Services server running a guild website for my GW2 guild (which has been painfully inactive lately). I should just load it up there and use that instance as a host.
2. Once I'm done kicking myself in the ass, I need to break the damn code I've been pouring over so I can see what errors I can cause and, consequently, fix.
3. I also need to continue working through the programming projects in the textbook I have (yes, that one written by K.N. King that I was working out of ages and ages ago). I post my progress on these on GitHub. I think I mentioned that last week sometime.

I was working on one project that had a do loop in it, but my logic was obviously flawed, as the loop fired infinitely. My biggest question about loops has to do with the variables... And I may post up a thought process about them so I can work out the details of how they work. I'm thinking once I have that down, loops will come much easier to me.

Also on my list: working out some actual form of balance and continuity for the project I'm working on. I have a lot of features that I want to add to the base code I have and not much in the way of structure for adding them. There are huge-scope projects, like a different login system, and not-so-huge-scope projects, like adding in a racial selection menu to character creation. Content is taking a seat on the back burner until I can get some other details in place, but I've already printed up some material that should help me with that once I can spare the time to work on it.

Now, if WoW would stop sucking up all my time, I'll be in good shape.... *starts chanting "I'm not addicted" softly, feverishly*

Update of sorts

I'm terrible at this regular blogging thing.

Then again, I have usually made a point to blog about progress or interesting things I find pertaining to coding or scripting, and not much of either of those things have been happening lately (much to my chagrin).

I did take a huge step forward this week when I finally tackled an AWS EC2 Instance. EC2 is Amazon Web Services' virtual server service that allows 750 hours of micro instance runtime per month for a year, and you can host on Linux or Windows. There are lots of other services that fall under the "free tier" of Amazon Web Services, so go check them out if you feel it may help you out.

Right now, I have a private server running a game called Starbound. I wasn't able to get it set up without lots of help, namely a step-by-step guide from a kind fellow on Youtube who made a 15min video about a year ago. Starbound has been updated since, so it wasn't a perfect guide, but I was able to get it figured out. It is now plugging along quite happily on my Ubuntu instance.

Possibly the most difficult part of working on this project has been getting used to the lack of a GUI. I'm not good at that yet. I need to practice more and get better, and that was part of the reason I shied away from exploring AWS as a viable hosting option for a private server. Something clicked the other day, though, and I realized that I was never going to get better at it if I didn't give it a shot. So I went for it.

Now, I'll be looking into getting a Ventrilo or Mumble server set up for using in Starbound or any of the MMOs I play (GW2, FFXIV, WoW, SWToR) in either the same instance or a separate one. It is so empowering that it costs nothing and I have 100% uptime. I no longer need to worry if my internet goes out at my apartment, or if my computer auto-updates and terminates my server in the process. My next project will be to figure out how to work FTP on the virtual machine, so I can backup the universe files on my Starbound server.

As far as programming things, I have still been all over the place. I had a disenheartening chat with someone recently who managed to stick that small doubt back into my head that wonders if I'm ever going to feel like programming comes naturally, or if I will always fight with the logic. One of my biggest fears is that I will come to find out that I have spent so much time learning all of these things, only to be a mediocre programmer at best. I can handle being mediocre while I'm still learning; but to think that I'd be terrible at it no matter what I do is a hard feeling to beat.

Regardless, I'm plugging along with a Python class that is followed immediately by a C class. These are internet classes that are hosted by a kind person who believes in making programming easier for people to understand. His site, Learn Python the Hard Way, has helped me immensely. He encourages good study and research habits, points out tips and tricks along the way, and if you give him a little money, he offers personal 1-on-1 assistance via e-mail. I'm a big fan. ;)

Outside of that, I have been busy writing down ideas and plotlines for a major project. That keeps me busy when I'm not playing games or working. Maybe sometime soon, I'll be able to sit and hammer out more programming stuff. I also want to get a personal website up and running for myself, but that is pretty far down on the list of priorities. We'll see if it happens.

Code is Poetry

I found this on the Wordpress Website. I'm researching what it will involve to include a page on my company's website that will allow me to post updates on a daily or weekly basis. Wordpress has been mentioned in almost every resource I've read recently (that is anywhere near up-to-date), so I'm looking into it now.

Finding this at the bottom of their page was neat and I really like it. Click through the image to visit the Wordpress Codex, where I found this gorgeous little design piece.