Hello, everybody

My name is Jessica Hough, pronounced huff, and this is the temporary solution to my ongoing problem of not having enough time or energy to get a custom CMS written for my actual site, JessicaHough.com.

So, I’m going to use this space to get me a little more recognized in the online community since I haven’t been able to get into Facebook or Twitter.

Stick around and I’ll try not to bore you too much.

Using FreeMind to Plan a Database

I was  going to explain how to use the awesome GUI tool MySql Workbench (which I would link to, but the site picked this moment to crap out) to implement a database and manipulate its data, but, for some reason, I can’t install it on my school computer. Luckily, I always have a backup.

FreeMind is an excellent mind mapping tool that can be implemented in practically any way you can imagine, but I like it for database planning.

Of course, the first step to planning a database is to have an idea of what you need to make. In this example, I’ll do a fairly simple book review/bookstore website.

Web Application Technologies Blog Post (for school)

The point of this post is to blog over a topic related to the course, and because I feel a bit pressed for time, I’m going to do something kinda simple, but one that wasn’t directly taught in the course.

I swear, this happens every time it rains

Without fail, it seems whenever we get scattered showers, they never scatter on me.

For reference, Lake Hefner is about a quarter of a mile away from my dot.

Another Update and MyFave.es

School gets out on June 1st. That’s only seven days away! It’s not that I don’t like school, but I could really use a good long break.

Also, and unfortunately, FireFox 4 is kinda pissing me off. I haven’t installed it at school or work, but Dad went ahead and installed it on the desktop at home and it seems to just crash constantly. It might be my unholy habit of having 20+ tabs open, but I don’t remember/notice FF 3.6 doing that normally.

And, since I haven’t posted any resources, which is what my blog was supposed to be about (not the mindless ranting), here’s something random:

I’ve been busy

Wow. It’s been a while since I last posted, but I have good reason…

Webfest!

Just finished speaking at Webfest with Gerroald Barron. You can follow it on Twitter with the #webfest hashtag.

You can view the PowerPoint we did. I have to host it elsewhere. You can also download it.

I’d iframe it in, but WordPress won’t let me.

Something Cool at my School

My school is putting on a student web conference called Webfest. And I’m a speaker! (You’ll have to scroll a bit down the page to find me.)

I’d feel better about it if the conference weren’t in five days. I’ve known that I’d be a speaker for about a month, and the topic is “I Wish I Would Have Known This…” referring to my internship, but my mind goes kind of blank when I think about what to say. I’ve always been bad at writing about my own experiences, especially if I don’t talk about them right away. I’ve been working at Back40 for over a year now, that’s quite a passage of time.

Just an Update

I finally finished that stupid PHP Solutions book. (You can view the exercises, if you want.)

Now, I’m on another book, Practical PHP and MySQL, which looks much more promising in actually teaching me something that will stick in my brain.

The book is based off a number of projects. So far, I’ve done a simple web site, and some basic coding. But the other exercises are much more in depth. Moreover, I don’t have to use PDO anymore for databases! I liked the concept of PDO, but I like to spell my code out a bit more. It’s not that I can’t read and understand what’s going on, it’s just that I can’t guarantee that I’ll know what it means 6 months down the road.

I’m really looking forward to the final project in this book. It’s an Ajax powered calendar. Calendars are hard and that’s why I want to get the process of making one beaten into the gray matter confined within my skull.

I’m Going to D.C. – YAY!

I got first place in Fundamentals of Web Design!

Nationals is in Washington D.C. this year. I’m excited because all I have to do is take one test, and the rest of the time is practically mine!

Just an Update of What I’m Doing

Yeesh, it’s been a while since I posted anything. I’ve been pretty bad at keeping up on the resources that I was planning on. Now I just write rambling posts about nothing.

So, let’s see, what’s happening in my life?