111–120 of 136 posts
I’d accidentally ridden into a Critical Mass Cycle protest ride in London around 2010. Ended up setting one up in Bath, that ran for a bit and started attending the local cycle campaigning group. A respect ride held in honour of a young man that was killed in a hit and run however became something bigger than a Friday night protest ride, and I was the main speaker at a large ride held in his honour. It was rather hum…
You'll really hate the prison system when you're through with it, but it's better in my state at least since there aren't any private prisons. I find the way the inmates can't get internet access to be crazy and it makes teaching rather interesting.
It's not personally fulfilling, I'm just happy to help give people a second chance.
I'm one of those people with loads of ideas stewing at the back of my head. They come and go (out of fashion) but one idea stuck around for more than five years. It's an edtech for children, so by the end of last year, I decided that maybe I should take the plunge. Plus I was getting bored of freelancing for corporations. First step is to find out whether I actually like to work with children - because I think that's…
The set building has probably been my favorite overall. Lots of hard, manual work, using power tools, driving the truck, sourcing various items (props and sets often fall under the same team), learning how to make something come alive from just a pile of 2x4s and plywood, and coming together with people who are also just there to help as well as people who do this for a living is really fun in addition to being fulfilling.
I'm one of those people with loads of ideas stewing at the back of my head. They come and go (out of fashion) but one idea stuck around for more than five years. It's an edtech for children, so by the end of last year, I decided that maybe I should take the plunge. Plus I was getting bored of freelancing for corporations. First step is to find out whether I actually like to work with children - because I think that's…
Would like a detailed blog post on this! I am just starting out my career and would want to do something like this.
When I'm actually churning the product, yes that would make sense! I'm currently sharpening my skills, I thought I had it still in me (art-making) but apparently not. Well they did say that edtech is a long game - that's my half-full cup anyway!
Good luck with finding the right pathway. Since it's early stage (I'm assuming that you've just graduated?) just follow your instinct. Even if you turn out to be wrong it's OK, plus you can always adjust course :)
I helped file taxes during the tax season here in the US, for the past four months. It was specifically targeted towards low income families. I was definitely able to learn some of the economic effects of the current healthcare system, especially from the penalties. It was definitely out of my bubble, and wouldn't have known a lot about how many ways the low income families are trying to earn to make ends meet, even…
The change to my life came when I met my wife, whom I taught in a first aid class. One thing led to another, and a couple of decades on we're still happily married with kids.
Speaking of kids, I went in and helped get a CodeClub up and running at their school a couple of years ago. It is insanely gratifying to pass on my passion for technology to the next generation, and the quality and variety of what they come up with is amazing. It helps it was a lesson/club that they were all interested in attending (it was an optimal club after all) but any time I've done that it has been so rewarding. CodeClub has now merged into the Raspberry Pi foundation and is going from strength to strength - if you're interested in getting involved as a parent or a teacher then check them out.
Finally I also founded the DocklandsLJC user group, with the support of my prior employer. This was a great way of organising technical speakers to head over to the Docklands and lend their time for the benefit of attendees for free - I owe them a lot of gratitude, because if it weren't for those speakers we wouldn't have had anything. It also led to me being a representative on the JCP and ultimately giving a presentation at JavaOne last year, which was well received.
My advice is to be passionate at what you do and do things for the enjoyment of yourself and others. You'll never be able to predict where it will go but the outcome will always be beneficial in the long run.
I think in an ideal world I should be able to say that. This has prompted me to think about where I am expending my energy and time.
Presently I'm happy with one of two things I am putting my time and energy in to, it provides me with unique challenges, and should, in theory, allow me to improve my social skills and networking. Sadly the latter parts seem to require extra effort on my part, but I recognize that it /should/ be providing that opportunity.
The other... not so much.
For me, the following volunteer activities are great: 1) Group activities, like building housing in the bay area - Habitat for Humanity cannot keep tech from at least literally building housing for San Francisco despite the local community not wanting us to. Other group activities include meal preparation, food bank help - I strongly suggest organizations like OneBrick
2) mentorship/tutoring - it's quite rewarding when you can teach someone something. You know that it'll live with them for a while and you've literally touched a human life
3) Donating - I know people hate this, but if you do it, it's probably more important than you just putting a little bit of your time.
In general, I think of volunteering as really a form of consumption actually which benefits society