This is more so a way to streamline my own thoughts and creative ideas, but I have decided to convert this blog space into somewhat of a newsletter. Here's why I say "sort of":
Even though I am not exactly there yet, I often like to classify myself as a Libre Source Developer. Let's get into this terminology first.
Libre Source, for the most part, is very much in parallels with Open Source Development: i.e., people can see the source of your code, fork it, compile it, and distribute it. There exist different licenses that lay down the permissions for what most users can do with it. The most popular, in the Open Source world, is the MIT License
I often like to mention how my career today started off as a childhood dream. While this is not false, coming here meant giving up on a different dream.
I had always been passionate about music & art, and specifically creating it. However, I was never able to afford the equipment required to pursue this passion. As a result, my primary form of expressing artistic creativity went towards Code.
(noun) /dɪˌbʌɡzaɪ.əti/
Definition: The apprehensive and uneasy feeling experienced by a programmer when faced with the prospect of executing or testing code, particularly after investing a significant amount of time in its creation, due to the anticipation of potential errors, bugs, or the need for extensive debugging.
Example: Sarah hesitated to run the program she had been tirelessly working on for days, overcome by a wave of debugxiety as she feared encountering unforeseen issues that might demand prolonged debugging sessions.
Etymology: Blend of "debugging" and "anxiety."
While I have gotten this opportunity through an academic source, the contents of this blog do not reflect any of that. This blog is part of my "digital garden": a virtual space to collect raw thoughts as is. This is not a reflection of UMass Amherst, iCons, U.S. Census Dept, The Opportunity Project, and any/every organization mentioned. This space only exists to collect personal thoughts, and is very informal, and not representative of any ideas, thoughts, or emotions behind anything.
Visit the Research Page to learn more on the academic end of this project. That is where I document the crucial, tangible, proper outcomes of this project.