{"id":81,"date":"2015-04-15T21:53:24","date_gmt":"2015-04-15T21:53:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tayloraliss.com\/blog\/?p=81"},"modified":"2015-04-15T21:54:31","modified_gmt":"2015-04-15T21:54:31","slug":"theres-no-earthly-way-of-knowing-which-direction-they-are-rowing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tayloraliss.com\/blog\/?p=81","title":{"rendered":"There’s no earthly way of knowing \/ Which direction they are rowing…"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s probably time I gave this blog a little bit more of a direction. I’m going to try to enter in more of my progress, thoughts and discoveries in programming and technology here. A good place to start is with an update of what I have been working on.<\/p>\n

You may have recently noticed that my website got a bit of an overhaul. I attempted to make it more responsive, based mainly on the size of the device viewing it. It was quite a pain to figure out – the secret lies in correct use of\u00a0Media Queries. It’s still not perfect though. When I have time, I plan on making it more suitable for viewing on a smartphone. the current button system is not sustainable. I’m thinking thin, horizontal bars to start…<\/p>\n

I recently obtained my very own Google Cardboard<\/a> kit. The exact version I bought is the D-Scope Pro<\/a>\u00a0for a modest $18.00. So far I have been very happy with it. I even brought it in for my class to try out. I had to do some minor modifications, however. Mainly moving the magnetic switch to the other side of the headset, as the magneto sensor in the Galaxy S3 is on the wrong end. I also used some duct tape, velcro, and spare cloth to make a rather efficient head strap. The virtual reality effect is rather remarkable. I’ll upload a list of my favorite apps when I get the chance. Suffice to say, it has really wet my appetite for the future of VR. I plan on definitely getting an Occulus Rift once the commercial version is released.<\/p>\n

I’ve begun work on a new programming project. At work we have to create lesson plans every month that contain standards from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. These standards are contained in a rather lengthy pdf file that is a bit of a pain to navigate. I’ve devised a tool that will allow the teachers a t my agency to quickly browse through the standards and select the ones they need for their lesson plans. My first hurdle (which I am still tackling) is learning to use Python’s GUI package, Tkinter. It’s been a little rough going, but I really learned a lot through tutorials made by\u00a0Bucky Roberts from\u00a0TheNewBoston.com<\/a>. In addition, I had a little trouble figuring out how to best organize my data. My friend Steve introduced me to the concept of a tree data structure. Through the help of this<\/a> conversation on StackExchange, I’ve successfully figure out how I should be organizing my data. Now I just need to connect it into my tkinter work. Hopefully I can get that done this weekend.<\/p>\n

I’ve also been trying to get a little bit more inspiration in my life. I’m considering purchasing one of the following books to start reading:<\/p>\n