Justin Lloyd's Thinkering

Somebody needs to think about this stuff...

Studying

This is a listing of the subjects I've studied either in college/university, Open University, random classes at various businesses and also online classes through websites such as Lynda.com, Udacity and the Gnomon graphics school.

Sometimes there is a reason to the subject I am studying, e.g. marketing or project management, and other times I just take a class in because the subject intrigues me.

Thanks to the wonders of the modern web, MOOCs and other online course ware I am able to indulge myself as much as I choose too. I prefer self-paced classes where the subject matter, tests and course work is not gated in any particular way.

I also tend to self-paced study because I am not too smart and get frustrated when the rest of the students in the class have raced ahead of me and done their assignments and I am still struggling to understand a fundamental concept or cannot do all the required reading in a timely manner. It is not fair to other people that I slow the class down or hold them back.

Over the years, since I first started to actively track and understand what I was doing, I've taken close to 400 different classes, and taken a stab at a few degrees and diplomas along the way. Some I've passed. Some I've failed.

The thing is, no matter how much I study I'm never going to be smart and I'm never going to be as educated or as literate as everyone else.

I'm always going to be below average in intelligence and education and I'm always going to be slower than everyone else in class.

It doesn't make me stop trying though.

Studying – Illustrator one-on-one fundamentals

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This month I am studying “Illustrator one-on-one fundamentals”

Illustrator has been completely overhauled since I last took a class in it.

I have been using Illustrator for years, but I am sure there are hidden depths I have yet to explore.

Also, I didn’t have access to the advanced Photoshop class, otherwise I would have been studying that this month.

Studying – Photoshop one-on-one intermediate

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This month I am studying “Photoshop one-on-one intermediate”

Got through the fundamentals class faster than I expected so spent the remainder of the month just doing more self-directed exercises.

This month, taking it to the next level with the “intermediate” class.

Studying – Baking Advanced pastry techniques

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This month I am studying “Baking – Advanced pastry techniques”

The 1st month of advanced pastry techniques.

There’s a two month (four nights a week) class at the local pastry school.

And you think I am going to pass that up?

Update: Advanced means advanced and some students do not fucking understand what the word “advanced” actually fucking means.

Studying – Beast Lighting

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This week I am studying “Beast Lighting”

Haven’t had much occasion to play around with the Beast Lighting plug-ins for either Maya or Unity 3D and I felt I was falling behind on both those fronts. Time to correct my oversight. Based on the (on-line, interactive) class content, it appears this will take me 30 or 50 hours of studying to plow through if I do all of the examples. It is supposed to be a three-month class, but I think I can get through it reasonably quickly if I push myself.

Studying – 3DS Max

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This week I am studying “3DS Max”

I use 3DS Max quite regularly, and have been using it since it was just 3DS Studio back in the mid-90’s.

However, I am much more facile with Maya and SoftImage and have never sat down and just got to know 3DS Max inside-and-out.

Looking to fix that oversight this month with this extensive workshop from Gnomon.

Studying – After Effects Guru Training

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This month I am studying “After Effects Guru Training”

A couple of weekend workshops on using After Effects and really getting to know the in’s and out’s.

Whilst I don’t like the idea of having to show up at a specific location at a specific time to get knowledge I am actually hoping that the face-to-face interaction with the instructor and other After Effects users will accelerate my learning.

Update: Nope. Most of the people who are taking this class have never touched After Effects until they walked in the class room.

Update #2: And the instructor is very slow at imparting information. Good to ensure people got through the exercises but frustrating for those of us who already knew After Effects reasonably well.

Update #3: I wasn’t the only who chafed at the slow pace.

Studying – Integrating type in to videos with After Effects

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This month I am studying “Integrating type in to videos with After Effects”

Short video course and exercise files on how to do various type effects in After Effects.

Update: Pretty basic stuff. Not sure it was worth my time. Wrapped everything up inside of a week. Think I will just spend the rest of the month practicing my figure and landscape drawing.

Studying – Creating retina graphics with Photoshop and Illustrator

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This month I am studying “Creating retina graphics with Photoshop and Illustrator”

This is an online class consisting of a bunch of pre-recorded video and some exercises.

I’ve got a lot of experience making assets at different resolutions for the same project. Though I suspect that there are some tricks I can still learn.

Update: Was rather disappointed. I didn’t come away with a single new piece of knowledge. It was good practice, but I think I could have spent the time on a more fruitful pursuit.

I managed to log 30 hours of study (watching videos) and then self-directed practice.

Studying – Creating a technical illustration cutaway

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This month I am studying “Creating a technical illustration cutaway”

In-person workshop/class with instructor feedback on work.

I looooove maps.

Maps and cutaway illustrations have always fascinated me.

Now I get to spend an entire month learning how cutaway illustrations are put together and designing some of my own.

Studying – Cocos2D Game Development

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This month I am studying “Cocos2D Game Development”

Video. Lots of video. Online class.

I have already worked on a couple of projects using Cocos2D when it first released, and have helped a number of companies in the past few years get their projects launched that made use of Cocos2D.

Familiarity with the material should enable me to run through it very quickly.

It will be interesting to see if there are any gaps in my knowledge.

Studying – Game development with EaselJS

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This month I am studying “Game development with EaselJS”

Two evenings a week for the next month of an in-person class at one of the local code camp schools.

JavaScript, EaselJS, game development. Should be an easy class. I could learn this on my own (the EaselJS part) but I think an instructor lead class would be more interesting.

Update #1: Very slow class. Assumes you know no programming whatsoever.

Update #2: End of week two and I am done. I’ve gone through all of the course ware, done the exercises, and done a bunch of extra work. I didn’t realize this class would be so basic.

Studying – Oculus Rift game development

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This month I am studying “Oculus Rift game development”

This is a short, in-person class spread over four days, 3 hours a day.

I already teach this subject to senior software developers at various Fortune 500 companies, but it never hurts to brush up on the latest changes and other methods of working with the API.

Update: Logged 19 hours of study and practice.

Studying – Google SketchUp Pro tools & techniques

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This month I am studying “Google SketchUp Pro tools & techniques”

This is an in-person class. Two day workshop at local art school.

New version of SketchUp Pro, new skills to learn. Have been using the package for years to design the furniture I build in my workshop.

Update: Logged 25 hours between the 12 hours of the workshop (8 hour days but not counting lunch and coffee breaks) and 13 hours of extra studying and practice.

Studying – iOS game development with Swift and SpriteKit

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This month I am studying “iOS game development with Swift and SpriteKit”

I teach iOS development, I teach game development, I teach Swift, I know SpriteKit. I am just taking this as a refresher course in “what’s new.” Decided to do a one-week bootcamp to see if there are any teaching or courseware tricks I can steal and integrate in to my own classes. Mostly I want to watch another teacher teaching to see what techniques I can use in my own classes.

Studying – Baking Mastery Garde manger

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This month I am studying “Baking Mastery – Garde manger”

48 months part-time. 47th month and 48th month

This is going to be my last formal baking class at this time. I have not learned everything there is to learn, I am just running out of formal classes I can take at my current “school.” Now I have to switch over to completely self-directed study. I just packed the equivalent of six years of full-time culinary school in too a little under two and a half-years of intense study.

Studying – Baking Mastery Advanced patisseries & display cakes

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This month I am studying “Baking Mastery – Advanced patisseries & display cakes”

 

Update: It’s a lot of physical work, my kitchen looks like a never ending disaster zone, I’ve given away more cakes and pastries than you can possibly imagine, but the work is trivially easy. It is really just putting in the hours to get it done.

Update #2: Got through the 44th, 45th and 46 months of study by just focusing on getting stuff done and batch baking what I needed too. It was more “a lot of work” rather than “a lot of hard work.”

Studying – Baking Mastery

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This month I am studying “Baking Mastery – Advanced patisseries & display cakes”

48 months part-time. This is the 41st, 42nd and 43rd months of study rolled up into a single intensive month in the kitchen.

There’s not much too this except design something on paper, bake it, ice it, and build sugary display ornaments.

Studying – Baking Mastery Advanced patisseries & display cakes

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This month I am studying “Baking Mastery – Advanced patisseries & display cakes”

48 months part-time. 39th month and 40th month

This is pretty much lots of baking, lots more baking, more baking, and working with sugar and icing. It’s just mechanical crank out stuff by following designs.

Studying – Baking Mastery Chocolate, confections and centerpieces

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This month I am studying “Baking Mastery – Chocolate, confections and centerpieces”

48 months part-time. 36th month

Taking it slow this month, I just have so much other stuff to do. I am feeling under the weather, like  a “base case of the Monday’s” that has lasted all through January. And these are new techniques that I need to methodically practice and get right.

I am also using my studies as a distraction from other things going on in my life.

We soldier on. Either way.

To paraphrase John Lennon “Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.”

Studying – Introduction To 3D Printing

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Today I studied “3D Printing” at the local Hexlabs Makerspace.

This was a three-hour in-person class that I attended where I successfully printed off a dimensional cube that I resized in the standard printer bot software.

And why did I need to take a three-hour class in performing the most simplest of 3D printing tasks when I have years of experience operating different 3D printers?

Because the makerspace requires me to demonstrate basic understanding of how to use a 3D filament printer before they will let me loose on their equipment.

After the class I was informed that I could have just brought over my own 3D printer at any time and just demonstrated I could print on it.

Which I wish I had done, because the Chinese knock-off Dreamforge printer we were using was printing out my dimensional cube with one side sloped. And no matter how much I fiddled with the set screws to get the bed to align, it just wouldn’t stay in place.

Topics I Studied
Basic Fusion 360 operating
Creating and loading 3D models ready for printing
Different types of 3D printers
Preparation of the 3D printer
Alignment of the 3D printer bed
Correct heat settings for different filaments
Suspension and support structures for 3D printing
Preparation of the print bed to enable easy removal of the print job.

Learning Outcome
How to load up a basic 3D model in the printer software.
How to scale the model and set the print density.
How to copy my 3D print file to a USB card and load it on to the 3D printer.
Demonstrate proper bed levelling procedure and temperature settings on the 3D printer for the selected filament.
A demonstration of patience for a 3D printer that has seen better days slowly (reeeeeallllly slowly) and incorrectly print my design.

Studying – Baking Mastery

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This month I am studying “Baking Mastery – European cakes and tortes”

48 months part-time. This is the 29th month and 30th month

Studying – Baking mastery

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This month I am studying “Baking mastery” concentrating on desserts.

This is my 28th month of study, 19th month of actual time. I like being able to race through those parts of the course that are easy.

How many different desserts can you possibly need to create in one lifetime?!?

Holy shit!!

Studying – Developing Ideas and Design Concepts

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This week I studied “Developing Ideas and Design Concepts”

This is an online class from Lynda.com.

The class consists of just a hair under two hours of video.

I logged a total of 2 hours of “class time” and an additional 8 hours of sketching, laying out concepts, brainstorming, and working on sample project briefs.

Studying – Baking mastery

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This month I am studying “Baking mastery – Desserts”

Another month of desserts. Hopefully get them wrapped up by the end of this month.

This is the 27th month of my culinary studies.

Because of all the unhealthy desserts passing through my kitchen I am making and consuming a lot of low-calorie juices to cleanse my system.

Studying – Baking mastery

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This month I am studying “Baking mastery – Desserts.”

Specifically I am studying desserts.

Again.

A month of desserts.

Won’t that be special?

My wife still remembers the weight gain from the last time I concentrated on desserts.

This is my 25th and 26th month (sometimes I do a month’s worth of studying in a month, and occasionally I do two months worth of studying in a month of real-time) of studying baking.

Studying – GMail Essential Training

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GMail Essential Training

Today I studied “GMail Essential Training.”

It’s a short, self-paced video training course lasting just under two hours.

Admittedly I don’t really need to study this, and most of it was a bit basic. This course is really aimed at someone who has never touched any kind of email client before and is not comfortable working on a computer.

The only thing I learned how to do, that I never knew before, was how to create an out-of-office/vacation auto-responder.

The reason I didn’t know how to do that?

I’ve never had to create one before and detest those damn things anyway.

Topics I Studied
Changing themes and inbox types
Composing and drafting new messages
Replying and forwarding messages
Working with attachments
Inserting images into messages
Viewing sent messages, messages you’ve trashed and messages that were automatically flagged as spam
Quick action buttons
Muting conversations you are no longer interested in
Working with multiple messages
Labelling messages and conversations
Moving messages from the inbox to other folders
Archiving and deleting old messages
Adding stars to messages to organise them visually
Creating filters to automatically process messages
Managing labels you use for identifying messages
Searching through your heap of messages
Making use of advanced search operators
Adding other non-gmail email accounts to gmail
Configuring desktop alerts and notifications
Managing contacts
Organising your contacts in to groups
Using Google chat including video chat
Creating an auto-responder
Creating an email signature
Configuring gmail to work on mobile devices
Configuring gmail to work with desktop clients

Learning Outcome
1. Demonstrate a full understanding of the knowledge, techniques and skills required to use GMail in a personal setting.
2. Use keyboard shortcuts to navigate the user interface
3. Filter and sort email both manually and automatically
4. Combine both GMail accounts and traditional POP3 email accounts into a single client
5. Compose and send emails and message through GMail
6. Manage contacts and contact groups

Studying – Languages

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This month I am studying “Languages.”

This is a rather generic title for “I’m just going to do a self-directed, self-study of spoken language.”

Looks like my bakery certification will wait yet another month as I had to take a month off from studying my baking coursework due to actual, paying work on-site in Menlo Park.

Making use of the Duolingo website to brush up on French, German and Welsh.

1 month of self-paced, self-directed study on DuoLingo

Just a month, nothing more

Update: Got through a good chunk of the courseware for French, German, Welsh, Esperanto, Spanish and Italian.

My DuoLingo profile is here: https://www.duolingo.com/JustinRLloyd

Managed to log 35 hours of language study and practice.

Studying – Baking Mastery

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This month I am studying “Baking Mastery – Baking and pastry”

This is a 48 month part-time course which I am completing at about 2x the speed so far. This is the 23rd and 24th months of study.

At the end of this month I will complete the forth certificate.

Update: Work intruded, I have bumped my certificate application until end of next month.

Update: Logged 56 hours of study and practice over the month. 48 hours of expected class time for two months, plus an extra 8 hours of practice on my own.

Studying – Classical European cuisines

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This month I am studying “Classical European cuisines”

48 months part-time. 21st and 22nd month

Update: Logged 66 hours in practice this month. I’ve got well over 900 hours of instruction and practice in so far.

Studying – Baking Mastery

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This month I am studying “Baking Mastery – Classical European cuisines”

This is month 19 and 20 month

My second month of a three month focused study of classical European cuisines.

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