by Joshua Packard
Hi everyone! Welcome to my new blog/website, at ArtificialProfessor.com.
This will be my first post, so please forgive me if it isn’t top-notch.
I have been meaning to create a website or blog for a while now, but had not been able to figure out what sort of subject to discuss or what goal to pursue. It has been a long journey to get to the point where I have been able to figure out what direction to head in life. This wild meandering path has brought me to the subject of computer science, and computer science education, among other things. I have tried a few times in the past to get into computer science, but always gave up in frustration. This time around I have actually made some progress, and I want to be able to share the hope and optimism I have gained from actually taking on the challenge of learning computer science, and help others who want to learn about computers, technology, or even just the process of learning new skills and applying them to serve others.
So this website in a nutshell is to be focused on computer science education. That is its main focus. But in the process, I might talk about other subjects such as education or work in general or whatnot.
About the title: Artificial Professor. One of the topics I have an interest in is artificial intelligence. This is a subject which will feature more prominently in a lot of the direction the world is heading. I personally have an interest in following this field, and keeping up with where it is going, what AI is capable of, what it is not capable of, how it can best be used to help people, etc.
For a lot of my life I have struggled to discern what sort of vocation to pursue. I tried to do lots of other things, actually avoiding computer work in depth, because it was very frustrating for me. I felt like I was failing. I felt like I could never be competent at it. But recently I have started to regain the courage and strength to pursue this field, to not give up on myself, and I have begun to succeed doing things I didn’t think I could do before.
I want to provide a resource for people who want to learn computers. I encourage everyone to learn new skills. There are a lot of people who don’t have confidence in themselves. People need something that they can challenge themselves with, and show themselves that they are valuable, that they have gifts. Maybe it is not computer science for you. You talents and gifts might be something totally different. But find what those gifts and talents are inside you, and find ways to develop them. Find people who can help you develop your gifts and talents. And once you begin to identify your potentials and turn them into abilities, you will begin to become more of a blessing to everyone around you. Everyone has value as a human being, and the true work is to find the gems of your gifts.
Again, this website is in particular about computer science education, but I hope what I write here might be relevant to anyone doing any kind of work, or any kind of skill building. I have only been at programming for a little over 2 months. I am not anywhere near to being an expert in computer science or programming. I will start by talking about how I got started recently. I will try to relate the story of how I almost felt like quitting many times, but then made a breakthrough, however small, that pushed me forward, and inspired me to keep trying. I will talk about how I am learning, and what I am struggling with. I hope this can become more of a dialogue, where people can share their learning experiences. I am currently working on learning the Python programming language, which I am starting to love, and am excited at what powerful things you can do in this programming language. I will probably be sharing other media, such as books, website, YouTube videos, who have helped me to keep going when I get stuck, or provided good advice either in a technical way, or just encouragement and perspective to keep your goals in focus and get a better idea of how to do things.
As for now, I will leave you with this. I am just starting to set up this webpage. Hopefully soon, I will be able to set up a way to contact me with questions or thoughts you have, making this more interactive. I will post an update on this page when I get things set up.
I will be thinking about my next post. I probably am going to refer to some good books and YouTube channels that have helped me out in this journey to study computer science. Let me know what you think in the comments below, or when I get this setup for you to be able to contact me. Do you have any books or resources that have helped you to learn programming, or computer science, or any technology? Any books that have helped you to learn the skills you know?
Thanks for visiting ArtificialProfessor.com
UPDATE: You can send me a message by clicking the “Contact” link at the top of the page and filling out the form with your name, email address, and your message. Let me know what you think so far and what sort of topics you would like me to look into or discuss in my blog posts in the future.
– Joshua
ArtificalProfessor.com 