Graduating from Programming for Everybody (Python) class

Several weeks ago, I posted about a Coursera course, Python Lecture in Coursera(University of Michigan), 코세라의 파이썬 강좌. Now I FINISHED IT!

Review

   For the last two months, I enjoyed it a lot. I think it is not that difficult and I am really sure that it is really nice for beginning to learn programming as beginners. As mentioned before, I made 10 quizzes and 16 assignments during this course. At first, I thought these things I should do at this class are really many but these are not difficult so I think anyone can make this course.
   I really like it, but for some people who expect to have intermediate level lectures, this course would not be not proper. So I want those who have already known programming a bit to find other classes.
   This class mainly covers how to collect or process data which consist of text information. For example, there is a text file which has a long text really boring and not good to enjoy like a list of email addresses, inventory data, and etc. If you need to know what email addresses are used a lot more, or what items are sold a lot in a specific time, Python will be a good solution. Once you make a program, you can reuse over and over. So it is really enough to spend some time making a program you want.

About my professor

   I said at the beginning he is really cool. NOW I got to know him more than before even though I have met him yet. He is really really cool. He encouraged a lot and he made a small graduation ceremony for all students. To do this, he invited his friend. the guy made a commencement speech. I think he seems really playful. If I were his student, I would be his good friend. haha.

Anyway I paid small amount of money(49$) to get a certificate. I made all assignments in this class so I am expected to get that soon. I am really happy to do this course. So I really thank him.

Don't hesitate to have this!!!

아프리카미래전략센터 에세이 공모전

http://www.africacenter.kr/board/view.do?key=2712&get=6_3

일단 이게 하고 싶은데, 주제 정하는 게 어렵다. 주제가 어려운 건 그렇다 치고, 한국에서 언제부터 에세이라는 단어를 쓰기 시작했는지 모르겠다. 어릴 때, 수필이 영어로 에세이라는 걸 배운 뒤로 에세이라는 단어를 자주 접하면서, 에세이는 수필이 아닌데..? 라는 생각이 자주 들었다. 그래서 에세이가 뭔지 찾아봤다.

1. 
   Essays are generally scholarly pieces of writing giving the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of an article, a pamphlet and a short story.

구글에 치자마자 나오는 정의, 주로 학술적인 내용의 글이란다. 근데, 정의가 역시 애매하다고 나온다. 그러나 여전히 조금은 전문적인 방향의 글임은 분명하다. article은 기사를 주로 일컫는다. pamphlet 역시 어느 정도 전문가의 글을 의미한다. 그러니 일단 우리가 알고 있는 수필과는 약간 거리가 있어 보이지만, 사실 위키피디아를 자세히 보면 일상의 관찰, 추억을 적은 글, 작가 자신의 고찰 등이 후미에 따라 나오니 우리가 알고 있는 수필이란 단어와 의미가 맞아 떨어진다.

결국, 에세이는 소설, 시, 희곡, 시나리오와 같이 예술적인 느낌이 있는 글은 일단 아니란 의미. 물론 예술을 주제로 한 글은 에세이가 될 수 있겠다. 

아무튼, 에세이라는 단어를 한국에서 사용하면 매우 애매한 느낌이 들 수밖에 없는 거 아닌가? 영어로도 애매한데 말이지.

결국 공모전에 참여하는 사람은 어떤 형식의 글을 어떤 주제를 가지고 써야 하는지 고민해야 한다.

글이라는 것이 매우 자유분방하기도 하고, 동시에 매우 고정된 형식을 요구하기도 하여 어려운 것이 아닌가 싶다. 아무튼 공모전에 참여는 할 수 있을지 모르겠다.

Python Lecture in Coursera(University of Michigan), 코세라의 파이썬 강좌

About Coursera

I started this course with Coursera on June 8th, 2015 and I am doing this course. When my friend shared a page about Coursera on Facebook, I saw that page so I could start.

I always feel like learning program languages is so boring and it's late for me because in order to learn those, I heard, it requires having soft-brain. In fact when I was learning C language in my University, I was frustrated a lot.

Anyway just recently, I was feeling like I need to learn coding and eventually I made a decision to learn programing.

I believe Coursera will change the current fashion of education industry. This is one of revolutions in history. I heard that a boy in Mongolian, just 17-year-old, finished a course offered by MIT in Coursera with a nice grade. So MIT picked him as its student.

Students who part in Coursera courses are really active and enthusiastic. That is why Coursera does not have to interview people who want to become Coursera's students. Students can make their own course which is only one in the world and they don't have to take a lot of stupid lectures which are existing for benefit and mandatory for graduation.

About my professor

He is so cool! He wrote a book which is used for this lecture to give away to all people who want to read.

Look at him. He has some tattoos showing his passion. We could know how passionate he is. So I want to listen his stories more such like how did he start to be committed to these works, What does he want to do with his contribution to these works and etc.

And I found that there are a lot of lectures from University of Michigan. I don't know why but I think he has persuaded many professors.

About lectures

For ten weeks, I have to take 10 quizzes, and 16 assignments and 11th week, there is an optional part. And you can download all videos in this lecture. I has done it for four week. I think it is not that tough even now.

In order to get a certification, I had to pay ahead within a specific time. It was 49$. Cheap, really cheap. Of course there are a lot of free Python lectures on internet and I could have bought a book. But this lecture always emails me when I need to do something in this course so that I can keep track of this lecture.

In fact, 49$ could be expensive for someone. (Actually, I hesitated to pay for this because it is not essential and I have no income now.) so I want Coursera to allow students to pay after finishing lectures when people need to print certifications. 

I had chickens in Africa.

I had chickens in Africa.

Moses and me, there are my chickens and Moses's chickens.

Body #1: Chicken we are eat

Nice chicken

When you see chicken restaurant’s advertisements on TV or with pictures whatever, what do you think of? I am sure you would imagine eating yummy chicken and had got greedy like kind of want to call a chicken restaurant to order nice chicken. When we go shopping to buy some uncooked chicken, we just scan some shelves and pick some well packed chicken which looks normally fresh and clean. Recently many people in Korea like to describe the chicken as peace, justice or even a god.

I had chickens in Africa

Actually, I had chickens in Africa. I lived in a country side of Tanzania. There was no nice mart sort of all furnished. So when I wanted to eat chicken I had to go to a market and choose a chicken in a cage and see the moment the chicken is killed. It was tiresome and the price is even more expensive than Korea. So I decided to buy a native chicken for raising that. Raising chickens is not that difficult. Once putting a chicken or more in a small place which has just a roof, and making them sleep a night, then surprisingly they consider that place their house. So in the morning, they go outside, walk around, feed themselves and when sun goes down, they go back to their house. I didn’t have to give them food. And my hen produced sons and daughters and later they could recognize me. So when I was coming back my home, my chickens ran to me and welcomed me. I loved them. But one day I wanted to eat chicken and I slaughtered some. Even though they were nice to me, I cut their necks. Raising chickens wasn’t hard but eating chicken took a long time because I had to clean them up. Whenever I killed chickens, I had to see their blood and I felt like they tell me "don’t kill me! please." In order to eat chicken, I had to deal with reality of how we get meat. Since then, I have thought about how people eat animals.

I was killing some chickens....

Body #2: Large-scale Slaughter

Start of eating animals

Mankind has eaten animals from the Paleolithic era to now. At the Paleolithic era, people had no many options for surviving because they didn’t know how to do agriculture. As time went on, people could accumulate many hunting techniques and even be familiar with many animals. And finally people learned how to make some animals domesticated about 10,000 years ago at that time human had already started agriculture.

Animals under control

And then now for some reason, the domesticated animals are being produced under industrialized conditions. Even though I can’t compare exactly between 10,000 years ago and now because there is not enough evidence, I think no one denies that the present age consumes the most amount of meat and will demand more meat in the future even though I am not sure people would control livestock well against the nature power such that contagious diseases or climate changes.

My hen was protecting her babies.

Large-scale slaughter

Anyway, consuming a lot of meat means that we are killing a lot of animals. According to a book, eating animals, published in 2009, people ate or killed 50 billion chickens a year. Suppose that the all chickens are produced in mechanized hatcheries, another 50 billion male chicks are killed immediately after their birth, because chickens sold in markets usually are hens so roosters are useless for business people. If we remember that other than chicken, people like to eat other various meats, it is a really large-scale slaughter.

How are chicks treated in mechanized hatcheries.

Conclusion

The effects of industrialization have brought us good things, but we have become inhuman as the horrible realities hide. I think the way of considering animals just literally goods leads to an inhumane livestock industry. So we shouldn’t forget that any meat we eat comes from other lives.

In Tanzania, people usually don't lock chikens into a small cage.

**I wrote this for giving a speech at Toastmasters meeting on June, 2015.