I learned that an agile sprint is a period in which an agreed-upon set of development tasks takes place. Agile and sprints mean users get new functionality faster and with more frequency. The cons of agile sprints are that product managers must be available for consultation throughout the agile sprint process, and the non-stop cycle of sprints can be taxing on everyone involved. A product roadmap is a high-level visual summary that maps out the vision and direction of your product offering over time. Creating a product roadmap is a group effort, but the product management team should be responsible for its creation and maintenance. As a product evolves, the roadmap along with frequency, horizon, dependencies, and goals will also evolve.
I learned that a product manager does various roles, such as conducting research, developing strategy, communicating plans, coordinating development, and acting on feedback/data analysis. A good product manager must also have core competencies like conducting customer interviews/user testing, performing market assessments, or pricing/revenue marketing. Emotional intelligence, relationship management, self-management/awareness, social awareness, and technical skill are also what a product manager needs. I also learned about the three phases of product management, which are discovery, planning, and execution. The discovery phase is when the product manager listens to customers' feedback and then gets an idea of what is most valued by customers. The planning phase is when the product manager prioritizes which products or features are worth pursuing. And the execution phase is working closely with the development and design functions, defining requirements for developers, tracking development processes, or running usability tests with customers.
I learned that in order to start a modeling career you need to choose a market, create a portfolio, submit to agencies, and look for exposure/experience. The modeling scams to look out for are: an agency wants you to pay them, they promise big salaries, or they rush you to sign a contract. To avoid scams a person should research the company, never pay an agency up front, get references, or ask if the company is licensed. I also learned different ways to sell photography, such selling stock photos, selling as prints or artwork, or selling them to magazines.
I learned that press releases could boost your SEO; distributing press releases can help you land coverage in huge publications. A press release can drive local foot traffic to your store and generate more sales. A data entry is the act of transcribing some form of information into another medium. The forms of data that people transcribe are handwritten documents, information off spreadsheets, and sequences of numbers/computer code. There are scam offers that promise work in exchange for a fee; the majority of legitimate sites do not require a fee to be paid. Data entry requires focus, which results in mental and physical exhaustion. It is relevant for people to maintain good posture and take breaks for their eyes and hands while doing the job.
I learned that artists should avoid vanity galleries because they ask you to pay to present your artwork. Vanity galleries lure insecure artists, promising them instant fame. Not every piece of information they give the artists is accurate, building false hope and convincing them to invest in an exhibition with them. They also send bulk email invitations to artists that appear personalized. I also learned about the misconceptions of art galleries, such as having people ready to buy any art they have to offer, galleries are loaded with money, artists have to pay to show their art at galleries, or that galleries are responsible for doing all of the work while artists only have to bring in their artwork. And regarding art competitions, I learned they are not a good use of an artist's time because they discourage them. This is because they make artists feel that their artwork is not worthy enough and waiting for a response.
I learned that a commodity is a basic good used in commerce that is interchangeable with other goods of the same type. Commodities are the raw inputs used in producing goods; they can be bought or sold on specialized exchanges as financial assets. Commodity prices usually rise when inflation increases. A commodity index is an index that tracks the price and returns on a basket of commodities. Commodity indexes vary in how they are weighted or have a different makeup. The components that comprise a commodity index are the underlying commodities like wheat, oil, gold, or soybeans. The commodity trading risks are volatility, leverage, inexperience, emotional influence, and unforeseen risks. The risk management strategies are stop loss and margin call.
I learned about the risks of trading options; for call holders and put holders, the downside potential is the premium you spend. The downside potential for call writers is unlimited; for put writers, the downside potential is the amount the stock is worth. I also learned that you could use options to offset risks, such as covered calls and protective put. Covered calls can be used to protect against small price movements, and protective put uses options contracts that investors employ to guard against the loss of owning a stock or asset. Buying calls, puts, protective puts, and selling covered calls are all option trading strategies.
I learned that a stock option gives an investor the right but not the obligation to buy or sell a stock at an agreed-upon price and date. The two stock options are "put" or "call"; a put is a bet that a stock will fall, and a call is a bet that a stock will rise. I also learned Robinhood's fundamentals of trading options, such as buying put options or call options. I learned about Forex risks and its trading strategies, including the scams that come with it. Stock market crashes are different from Forex market crashes because they usually affect most stocks because they trade in a similar currency. Forex market crashes usually affect a single currency and are mostly triggered by unexpected events.
I learned where you could buy and trade Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies using the Robinhood app, which is free. The most popular method to buy cryptocurrency is to purchase it from Coinbase, which is the largest US exchange. I also learned the risks of trading cryptocurrency tax; the cryptocurrency sector has many scams and includes crypto tax implications. Forex is another cryptocurrency, a foreign exchange involving trading money between foreign currencies. The purpose of Forex is so that large amounts of one currency can be exchanged in another currency at the current market rate.
I learned that cryptocurrency is virtual money with its own exchange rate with only electronic transactions. Tokens are a type of cryptocurrency that is built on an existing blockchain but are considered to be programmable assets. Tokens are used to represent units of value like money, digital assets, and electricity. Cryptocurrency exchanges are vulnerable to cyber attacks that might result in your investment being lost. A blockchain is a digital ledger where transactions are recorded using a hash. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum are built on blockchain technology. Overall, cryptocurrency is a good investment.
I learned how after-hours trading affects stock prices, how to read stock charts, and the risks involved with trading. The top of the bar in a stock chart represents the highest price of stock traded that day, while the bottom bar represents the lowest price. The horizontal line is the closing price/current price of stock traded that day. The blue bar is the price gain from the day before, the red bar is the price loss from the day before and the volume is the number of shares traded that day. The types of risks are market risks, investment risks, and trading risks. Inflation risk, marketability risk, and currency translation risk are part of market risks that are out of your control. Opportunity risk and concentration risk are a part of investment risks, and slippage risk, poor execution risk, and gap risk are a part of trading risks.
Today I learned about what a stock is, the types of stocks, and the types of orders on ways to buy/sell stocks. A stock is a type of investment representing a company's ownership share. Common stock is a security that represents ownership in a corporation, and a preferred stock offers different rights to shareholders than common stock. Preferred stock has more benefits because they provide more stability and fewer risks than common stock. The types of orders are market orders, limit orders, and stop-loss orders. A market order is an order to buy or sell a security immediately, a limit order is an order to buy or sell a security at a specific price or better, and a stop-loss order is an order to buy or sell a stock once the price of the stock reaches the specified price, known as the stop price.
I learned how to navigate the different social media platforms like Snapchat, Twitter, and TikTok and how to use them to gain more followers/subscribers. You can use different ways or methods to increase your following through hashtags, your page, your niche, song choice, etc. I also learned that you can't gain a million followers quickly regardless of your video or post being great, it takes time. Following trends is also a great way to gain followers like challenges, fashion trends, or music trends.
I learned about how to video edit movies and TikTok. You can edit your own videos on TikTok by using the beauty filter, splicing, voice effects, etc. Editing movies involve J & L cuts; a J cut is when the next scene's audio plays before the image changes, and an L cut is when the audio from the preceding scene carries over, and then the visuals shift. There are also reaction shots, common cuts, and color grading. This was pretty interesting but I understand more about the different types of cuts.
I learned about other 3D modeling softwares besides TinkerCad like Blender, AutoCad, and Autodesk Meshmixer. I watched tutorials about how to use/navigate those softwares, but I found them to be slightly complex compared to TinkerCad. I did find Autodesk interesting by learning how to mold 3D mesh objects, which was a bit fun to watch. I also learned about laser cut objects and was really amazed at how you can design objects by either cutting, engraving, or marking by using laser cutters. I had no idea that you can use laser cutters to design clocks, signs, coasters, jewelry, etc. I learned that there are different types of laser cutters, such as CO2 lasers, gas lasers, fiber lasers, and crystal lasers. Fiber and crystal lasers are mostly used for industrial applications, and CO2 lasers can cut and engrave various materials like wood, glass, or stainless steel. I also watched a tutorial from Inkscape on how to create simple line art designs, which was fun and interesting for me too, like the other things I learned. I find technology to be very fascinating and I'm happy I'm gaining more knowledge about it.
Just like app development, learning about 3D printed products is very fascinating, but it is even cooler and more exciting to learn about. You can 3D print anything you want, like jewelry, figurines, clothes, flower pots, electronics, and even yourself! Anyone can create a 3D figurine of themselves through 3D scanning, which is through the process of using structured light or lasers to scan a 3D object ready for uplead to rendering and modeling software. This, ofcourse was very mind-blowing for me, including all of the six tutorials I watched about how to use TinkerCad for 3D printing objects. I had a fun time learning from all of the tutorials, which kept me engaged. After I learned all of the basics of how to create intricate objects, it was simple to comprehend. I'm glad that TinkerCad is free to use on your web browser; I am actually planning on creating 3D printed objects myself for the fun of it; although it will be a bit of a hustle, I am eager to work through it, which I am really excited about doing! I'm looking forward to learning more about 3D printing next week and am grateful I got the opportunity to learn about this!
I learned that app developers in the US earn a higher salary than in Asian countries such as India. Also, certain states in the US, such as NY, give a higher salary than in other states like Philidelphia. It was surprising to me that an app developer earns more in the US than in Asia since Asian countries like Japan have much more advanced technology, and how the vast majority of electronics come from there or Asia in general. Regarding the skills required for app development, I realized that it does not just take coding skills and creativity to be a great app developer but to also have good communication skills, commercial value(knowing how to sell an app, which involves marketing skills), and the ability to use not one or two but various multiple programming languages. Before I learned this, I thought that to be hired as an app developer it would be simple as only knowing how to code and be creative, but I learned that it is much more than that. I also did not know before that your experience(the number of years or months you spent as an app developer) depends on how high or low your salary will be. In the past, I assumed that if someone knows how to code and is great at it, then once they get hired by a company, they will automatically earn a high salary since they know so much about coding, but apparently this isn't the case which was surprising for me.
Today I learned many things about monetizing apps to increase user engagement, which was very intriguing to me since I enjoy using mobile apps. I learned that mobile app developers or companies use google analytics to engage more users through monitoring the number of times a user views a screen, how many times a user clicks on an event, how much time or the number of days/months they spend on the game, how many times they pay for in-app purchases, etc. App developers/companies also use advertising, such as display ads(banner ads) that appear on videos or screens. I also learned that email marketing is another form of advertising an app to lure new or existing users. The "Crashes & Exceptions Report," which includes "App version," "Operating system," and "Device brand," are all ways to increase user engagement by identifying roadblocks to revenue to find solutions to solve those roadblocks. Regarding the types of users, I learned that there are high-value and low-value users; the high-value users are the ones who regularly make in-app purchases, unlike low-value users who play an app game but don't make any purchases. Learning this made me realize that I am a low-value user, which means that this is something that I learned about myself. Overall, I have gained so much knowledge about monetizing apps that I was not fully aware of before. This topic has made me fully engaged/fascinated, and I honestly enjoyed learning about all of this.
Today I learned about the basic web development concepts and google analytics. Google Analytics allows you to see how many users/visitors you are getting to your website and where they are coming from(Youtube, Google, Facebook, etc.) It also allows you to see how long they spend on your website, which pages they click on, their age, gender, where they live, etc. Therefore, having google analytics is vital for your website. I also learned that a server is a computer located in the data center that stores, sends, and receives data. A server saves or updates data, photos, and files; it can create, edit, and delete records. A third thing I learned was SSL, the standard technology for keeping an internet connection secure and safeguarding any sensitive data sent between two systems.
Today I learned about databases and WordPress. I learned that SQL is a language that communicates with databases; it can pull, edit, and add information to a database. A database is like a warehouse, data tables are like filing cabinets, and data are like files. SQL languages have variations like different syntaxes that different companies use. Regarding WordPress, I learned that it is a free software that allows anyone to create their own website without having to code due to updating the code for you and then updating your website. The software also allows you to choose several themes(template layouts) that determine your website's style. It also allows you to choose many plugins and widgets to help optimize the functionality of your website. I also learned that Node.js is an open-source development platform for executing JavaScript code server-side.
Today I learned even more about web development and other new things, such as the different roles of each web developer. There are front-end developers who focus more on the functions of web development like HTML, CSS, or Javascript. Back-end developers build and maintain the mechanisms that process data and perform actions on websites. Web designers work more on the visual aspect by focusing on presentation by creating a layout or design of a website. All of these roles go hand in hand due to the overlapping. I also learned that back-end developers get paid more than front-end developers since there is less demand for the job.
Today I watched tutorials about web development regarding ways to code images, responsive design, etc. I learned many steps on how to code websites; HTML is the code that is used to structure a web page and its content, which consists of a series of elements. For example, content can be structured through a list of bulleted points or using images and data tables. CSS, on the other hand, is the code that styles web content, such as including colors, layout, and fonts. I also learned that for the visually impaired, there are screen readers that they use, which are software programs that convert text into synthesized speech that allows them to access content in different ways. Regarding responsive design, I learned that it is an approach to web design that aims to make web pages render well on all different types of devices like cell phones, laptops, computers, iPads, etc. After gaining so much knowledge from the tutorials, I realized that coding/web development is not as complex as it seems but a bit simple.