The rubber ducky method, its a known method (see here) Because being stuck in your head is just not good. I guess you can say that for a lot of things in life besides coding. Emotions, life issues, etc.
I just would like to add that if you cannot talk out loud, in case they might call the ambulance when you do talk to your rubber duck passionately about your code in public. Why dont you ask the rubbers duck its number ? You can text with the duck. In this case the number for your duck will be N-O-T-E-P-A-D. Just open a word doc and start to write your thoughts as you would if you did spoke to the duck. Or be traditional and use a pen. Also it can be very helpful ! However speaking is usually the better option. Go for a walk, and you know find the real ducks 😉 There is always a way.
If you have trouble starting, then start with that. Hi Rubberduck (or in my case Fred Flinstone), I do not know where to start but I have a problem with...usually from there it will go automatically. It sounds crazy but it is absolutely helpfull! It does not hurt to try! Good luck!
I have a tiny rubber duck, size doesnt matter. You can buy a lot (they are cute). Dont harm them okay!
I just wanted to update the article, with an amazing app. It is called language transfer and it is free. It teaches Spanish (and other languages, Arabic for example) in an amazing way. By audio files, with tricks by a pleasant teacher.
It is praised by many people, and it gave me good ways to actually have methods to remember how to say certain things. Instead of memorizing them. Of course you can learn the theory yourself, as a person should. However this is an easier way to build on that. Personally I do not like to read about language at all. I love this app so much! Mucho! (Do not forget to donate if you like it!)
There are so many self help coaches and mental spirit guides and brain wizards, mental healers, and all knowing guru’s telling us what to do. I do like to read inspirational things from time to time, however I am not so much into the self help seminar stuff . It just rubs me the wrong way, these people sprout from the ground like weed. And it feels unnatural somehow to me. I am not judging though. And why should I, especially when I had a rough time I decided to watch Tony Robins, “I am not your Guru” on Netflix. (The same I did when I was a bit down I started to watch Marie Kondo, and I hate stuff like it. Now I love her ways…never say never! Sparkjoy!)
I was surprised this man is so famous, people pay 5000 dollars just to go see him. So I kept watching.
Tony Robins
So the title says programmer, I am learning to become a good web developer. It might not be accepted, I might be shunned for saying it. There is a difference to some people to being a developer or programmer. But I chose this word for a reason. It’s literally what Tony Robin’s is doing. Reprogramming your brain.
For example:
If we would be panicking and someone slaps us in the face. We would stop panicking and be in shock for a second and pain most likely. We cannot experience that and think about our problem at the same time, our brain wont let us. (Hence the self damage people like to do sometimes to “forget”).
Luckily his famous seminars are not about punching thousands of people into the right direction. No, its him talking and using moving , dance, a hint of meditating all while telling you that you can reprogram your brain by “tricking” your brain. The way you do when u hurt yourself by addictions or negative down spiraling behavior towards yourself.
Your telling yourself if this happens I do this. If I’m hurt or lost I just do this. You do. Look at your patterns . Its years of (usually) bad training! Its not you literally taking that decision out loud. But it slowly became a pattern. It started one day in your life and it became normal. It takes time to undo. When you stress, what do you do ? What do you think?
So don’t expect it within 6 months to be perfect. That is the important part. Accepting that your path is taking you a bit of time. You did something to your brain all your life. And now you decide to recognize it and change it.
I like how he mention that people say “It took me 10 years to finally break the pattern to change my life” but it did not take you 10 years. It took you 10 years to get to that moment and finally say I am sick of it I am going to change it. Because life changes in a moment. It does not happen in a long stretch of years. In an instance your life can be different.
Talking to your brain. Give healthy physical shocks (dance , icebath/shower , ) whilst actively pumping yourself up. Consistently. On a daily base. Will slowly adapt your brain to think differently.
I only know his show, not his books not anything else I know about him. But this is what I got from it. And I like it. I agree with Mister Robins.
You are your own programmer.
You made your patterns.
Allow yourself the time to change those patterns. And know that you can do it. It takes repetition mental breaks when it gets to tough (dance! run ! jump) and keep pumping yourself up. Actually it is proven that you can talk to yourself and it has a similar effect that when people talk to you to cheer you up. It is used in therapy in the Netherlands so it just confirms that we have a lot going for us within ourselves. But we wont allow it because its awkward. Especially at the start. Well be awkward ! Before you know it becomes your new normal !
The way I do it ! Because my way or the carretera ! Ha ! Got you there ! I just want to share my love for learning. And languages. The first time I tried was Spanish, Pim Sleur. And then I gave up. For a long time !
However I had new motivation to learn Spanish again. The reason was that I wanted to give a speech in Spanish about the piranha’s and bird migration in MedellÃn to a Jewish community there. However that is not true, I have personal reasons and they do involve Colombia. ( I do love Colombia and its people especially ! )
So I do DuoLingo everyday,an app on the phone, and desktop, tablets, it is available on all devices !
After a while it gets boring. The first week is easy, then sometimes I get to more complicated lessons (still basics) and I think to myself. How will I ever learn this ? But I keep going, I know the best things dont come easy. And like sports for example running, it takes a while to get into the flow. To get the feeling where you just lose your head and go on auto pilot and before you know it, you accidentally ended up running to Beijing.
Now I have never arrived in Beijing also not spiritually with DuoLingo. But sometimes I am surprised that things stick. Repetition helps, even though u dont always get it right for a while. Do not give up. Your brain is an amazing thing that can surprise you. Everyone of course learns different.
I recommend not only using DuoLingo. The way I do it though is I say it out loud at the end. To make it alive. I also try to describe things in my house to myself. And in the very beginning I write down things. Writing helps you to trick your brain in remembering. And also for fun I don’t look at the screen or I hide half of the screen to see if I understand it without the support of the screen.
Use DuoLingo combined with something else, make it fun for you!
For faster learning use it with drugs, like coffee (what else ?!?!?!) or tea (my choice of drug). For me what is still tricky today, is past tense. So I found a very nice lady who teaches it very well. She is also funny so a bit of laughter never hurts. First I just watched the whole movie a bit and then a few weeks later I watched it again. I spend minimally 10 minutes per day on Spanish. I aim for 1 hour per day. And add some extra’s like YouTubes or read Spanish tweets and see if I can guess it right. Then I hit the translate button. This way I make it fun for myself
I got to a more “advanced DuoLingo level” I really do have to add DuoLingo level. Because that is not the real Spanish advancement to me. I mean DuoLingo is teaching me that I have a bunny in my castle. And that is all good, but not everything in DuoLingo makes sense. But it is amazing and improves all the time. And you know if I do have a bunny in my castle, I know what to say so yeah. Who can say that ?
Powerfull stuff
Eventually I start to watch few short bits of a random Spanish serie in Netflix, with Spanish subtitles. Because when you advance a bit you really have to start to learn how to listen. Which is the hardest part. I watch 5 minutes. See what I understand, rewind and check if I was correct with English subtitles (my mother tongue is Dutch, but English and Spanish look more a like than Dutch to Spanish). I did not do it without subtitles yet. That is the next level. And it is fast. European Spanish especially, European Spanish and Latin Spanish do not differ that much but every language has their own slang and accents. Though in the core its all the same so dont worry ! You will get there !
Do not be too intimidated!
Its quite normal that it takes a while, especially if you have not learned a language in a while or anything at all. Your brain needs to get used to it, but again like I said your brain will amaze you. If you are not sure about it just start with 10 minutes DuoLingo per day, write some stuff down and see what you remember in a week! I bet you will be surprised! The search what is best for you is a trial and error but once you find what works for you it is really nice to see yourself improving! A quick recap what I do:
DuoLingo at first normally
DuoLingo without looking at the screen or hiding the possible answers for the challenge and DuoLingo Stories/Podcasts
YouTube lessons
Watching Spanish children stories
Reading Tweets and Spanish comments and then translate to see if I know what was written
Mistake! Forgot something! A little update that I added in the article later is about: Language transfer. Free, simple, amazing. Check out my update about it.
To be alive, to look out for lonely people in the hot weather, the cold weather, the rainy days. To give christmas to the earth, by being better to our home. Why not ?
I say Merry Christmas I guess… and an extended one…. and another day to be alive and look out for eachother 🙂 so basically happy new year…day!!! Happy/Good/MakeTheBestOfIt new day ! Everyday!
Studies have shown that the brain of a gamer is using the same pattern as an addict:
A new brain scan study shows not only can that be the case, but also that Internet addiction might cause the same brain changes that are seen in alcoholics and drug addicts.
A new study finds changes in brain regions associated with addiction in frequent video gaming teenagers. But the findings raise questions about whether such research is really relevant to the understanding of true addiction
Whether it is true or not, I see many people playing Clash of Clans in the train. Or overhearing a conversation from a business man…..I need to check on my farm!!!! And I see him take out his tablet and playing Hayday….
A friend of mine could not resist to pay some money for some extra options in a “free” game. And I also have been weak to do something similar. But I did enjoy it at the time so where is the harm in that? Of course there is a limit within a reason
I think it is a form of addiction but the withdrawal is just not bad, we adapt easy. Sometimes people think how could we have lived without internet? Easy ! Just don’t ! You will find your adaptive skills are still there. You can use a map just as easy as a GPS…okay…with the added bickering of taking a wrong turn….it has its charms doesn’t it ? *shivers*
However the new generation has not lived without internet, what is this…map thing you talk off? That is what they say ! With the rise of technology and its speed of progress, 25 year old people already feel old. I feel ancient.
This is a kick post 🙂 I got many drafts just working on a different domain and website at the time that has not launched yet.
And good people more good. Is this true? It does make sense, someone with no religion said this…I saw it on tv….
It sounds so sensible…
Though I wish there was a euphorists or…happyorist :p instead of terrorists..hundred people run in at the same time at a big gathering forcing hugs upon everyone. Not that that makes me happy per see…I would run…
It sounds better to me though 🙂 Should we all be more extreme on the opposite of things?
I am not the biggest TV watcher but I have to say I like this commercial, it is simple from an Energy company who is saying in the 40 seconds video this (unfortunately in Dutch) :
Sometimes you have to turn something off before you can turn the other on. Like just being together and seeing the world with your eyes. Give each other Energy
The biggest energy source of life and joy is us 🙂 you.
Google..Google...Google…   lets Google it ! That is what we say, Google is one of the top search engines….It is a catchy name Google uses effective algorithms etc etc. So for example let us google the best search machine in Google itself…….
What I get on my screen in a quick mini research, is that DuckDuckGo seems to be very effective and also not tracking you. So if you are Googling, was the moonlanding real? You wont have to worry about being captured by NASA……
oh god….what is that? WHAT IS THAT ?!??!! O… pfffew relief…its just someone playing Wrecking Ball by Miley Cirus outside…scary stuff…I thought that was illegal..anyway no NASA at my door…pfew…
So let me just try Googling the best song ever on both of them….
Google
DuckDuckGo
My face x2
Googling and DuckDuckGo-ing the sexiest person alive…..
Apparently this is Chris Hemsworth…..according to both search engines….and of course I go look for the first page only….go Google…Duck…eh..Bing? it yourself if you want to know what he looks like. It is certainly not my cup of tea!
To come back to Google did you know Google Scholar ? It is an academic version of Google…so that seems pretty interesting. This is just a small example of raising awareness that there is more out there to search with. Keep searching for those searches because who knows what you might find. ;–)
Ask.com is a good one to!
So I just googled on Google Scholar (Which I recently discovered..)Â Did the moon landing really happened?
So…..it is Bangor!!!! Right now I am in Bangor Maine
And what my friend says a lot and some Bangorians, or Mainers, Americans etc. they love the historical side of Europe. So I come to Bangor Maine, knowing that likely there are not much stories or historical events..regarding for example the thing that fascinates me…indians/native Americans….. Nobody tells me stories about the scary or fascinating legends of Bangggggorrrrr!! For years in my life I did not even know the existence of Bangor. So I would love to know that side since I have been here before.
I love to play a game now and then and I was playing Assasins Creed 3 that sets in the 18th century, before, during and after the American Revolution from 1753 to 1783. And you can roam around 18th-century Boston, New York and the American frontier. So I played as an Indian and thinking hmm…I must be walking around near Maine somewhere. Since lots of the game its story line is based on historical fact might there be an exciting legend here?
See I dont want to romanticize the history and bloodshed but everybody has something with the Japanese Ninja’s which also has dark sides. The settings of where the World War 2 played out, because of all the movies around it. The cowboys and Indians. I never forget, it is horrible what is done. That just did not stop me from looking for a legend……..
Bangor has a population of 33,039 which is located in the state of Maine that holds a population of 1,330,089 I just counted them myself. It was quite a job, Maine is located in New England region of the Northern United States. The red area on the map below.
The only crazy story so far was the famous Brady gang that left some bullet holes in a building in downtown Bangor according to a Bangor inhabitant.
In fall 1937, Central Street was the scene of the bloodiest shoot-out in Maine history, complete with big-time gangsters and federal agents. Read more…
The spectacular public gun-battle that led to the demise of “The Brady Gang” is an essential part of Maine folklore, and was even the subject of a re-enactment in 2007.
Bangor resides in the county of Penobscot a county in America are administrative divisions of the state in which their boundaries are drawn. So Penobscot, that sounds either Scandinavian or Indian hmm so I look into this:
The word “Penobscot” originates from a mispronunciation of their name “Penawapskewi”. The word means “rocky part” or “descending ledges” and originally referred to the portion of the Penobscot River between Old Town and Bangor.
OoooO!!! Mispronunciations!!!!!!
Little is known about the Penobscot people pre-contact. Native peoples are thought to have inhabited Maine and surrounding areas for at least 11,000 years. They subsisted on beavers, otters, moose, bears, caribou, fish, seafood (clams, mussels, fish), birds, bird eggs, berries, nuts, and possibly marine mammals like seals, all which were found throughout their native lands. Furthermore, agriculture was practiced but not to the same extent as that of indigenous peoples in southern New England. Food was potentially scarce only toward the end of the winter, in March and February. However, for the rest of the year, Penobscots as well as other Wabanakis probably had little difficulty feeding themselves because the land offered much, and the number of people taking from the land was too small to deplete the land’s resources.[7] Furthermore, they moved seasonally depending on where the most bountiful food would be.
To be continued….I am not done…I will drive and find….I will find more….for this blog…..I will…..and if not…I will find something better..yes…..because likely I will be on some other continent ! But that wont stop me!!!! Penobscot! Reveal me your secrets!!!
Elly de Klein 