Ever since I was little, birthdays were like a national holiday. We got to do whatever we wanted, throw a party, have a nice dinner, get a cool gift, etc. However, as I’ve gotten older, birthdays mean something a little different. They are another chance to look back and reflect, and then to look ahead and to re-evaluate your goals and make some new ones.

Birthdays are meant to be celebrated! If you weren’t getting older, you’d be dead, ya know. There will always be things that you didn’t accomplish. Maybe you didn’t lose those last 5 pounds, but use this personal occasion to celebrate restart. Sometimes when we set goals, we forget to re-evaluate, check in, and restructure. But that’s okay, sometimes you just need a reminder, and what better reminder than you completing another trip around the sun?!

Bonus, if you’re lucky like me to have a birthday towards the end of the year, the gym won’t be so busy when you go in tomorrow.

The post The Other New Year’s Day appeared first on Software for Good.

Summer provides us with a renewed energy. We get to eat on patios without outdoor heaters, jump off of docks into thawed-out lakes, trade in our ice skates for rollerblades (but let’s be real, ice arenas are just as busy because this is still Minnesota), and we get to mow our lawns a few times before we have to pull out our snowblowers again. Being outside provides us with a number of benefits, physically and mentally. Studies have shown that the benefits to sunlight alone are huge, like:

• Increases your blood’s oxygen count

• Builds your immune system

• Aids with curing depression

• Can even help your kids grow (insane, right?)

So as the Minnesota summer winds down, and we transition from swimsuits to cardigans and then to winter coats, make sure you get outside. Hang out with your friends or family on the beach or in the park a few more times. Go to that place with the patio you’ve been thinking about for weeks. Go spend a weekend hiking and camping.

Go outside, see the sun, and let it give you the boost you need to transition into fall.

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Then I did a thing: I pulled down the repo, read through all the documentation, looked into the source code related to this issue, and just tried some things. Some worked, some didn’t. I got to a point where I felt like it was right on the edge of being fixed, but there was a blocker. I reached out to one of the maintainers who had been my guru on the issue and he helped me get my PR across the finish line. It was gratifying. I had now contributed to a project used by thousands every day.

As developers, OSS gives us the opportunity to find community, take on new challenges, and create something that is valuable for our fellow developers. At SfG, we value open source and know how important it can be. So on the heels of the Open Source North conference, I asked some of my fellow teammates why OSS is important:

Casey (CEO): “OSS is peer-reviewed, transparent, and reusable. Versus closed source which is built on trust of whoever wrote it.”

Erin (Technical Project Manager): “It keeps us efficient and more minds is better than one.”

Ryan (Senior Web Application Engineer): “Open source projects have the benefit of having a diverse network contributing to the success of the project. Overall it drives the projects forward at a rapid pace and allows for open discussion about the direction of the project with many voices coming together to put forward a great product. As a product evolves with the community backed changes, it inspires me to learn why the changes were made and how I can use those changes to become a better developer.”

Kevin (Senior Architect): “Freedom to tinker. Technology has a great deal of power in our everyday lives. Without the ability to take it apart, inspect it, and modify it to our own use, that power is wielded exclusively by the companies that make the technology.
Software in the modern world is never a standalone work. The indivisible unit of running software is an entire system, from the hardware up to the operating system and ultimately to all the user processes running at once: the true ‘full stack.’ In modern systems, this more often than not also extends to the network level, many computers not just communicating with each other but dependent on each other to carry out their configured function.
In order to understand and debug software effectively, you need the ability to dig into all the layers and layers (and layers! and layers.) of abstraction that make up the system. There are tools for doing that at most layers, even with closed-source proprietary software. But one of the most basic, accessible ways to debug is to read the source code.”

Annie (Web Application Engineer): “I literally can’t do my job without it. Well… I could, but it’d be a lot harder. There are so many resources on it!”

Evan (Senior Web Application Engineer): “I think it’s important because it pulls back the curtain on institutionalized learning and validation. OSS is a level playing field for anyone to work from. And its great for those of us that learn best from experience. That’s why I think it’s important from a community standpoint. From a business perspective, it drastically increases the rate of development. Not just on a project basis, but the rate technology advances and tools mature.”

Eugene (Mobile App Developer): “As a mobile developer, I use open source software all the time. OS frameworks are integrated into every mobile app we write, so we can benefit from open source contributors who worked on those frameworks.”

Liz (Director of Strategy & Account Management): “I appreciate OSS because it allows the technology community and those who use software to continue to innovate and evolve without emptying out our pockets.”

Brad (Senior Web Application Engineer): “I think it represents the best and worst parts of the engineering community; on one hand it promotes togetherness by being a casual environment to build tools, as well as being well-rounded because people of many backgrounds will find multiple issues for a single product, and on the other hand it glorifies workaholism, exploiting people for free labor, and can be used as a tool for harassment.”

Jared (Senior Web Application Engineer): “For me OSS has meant a career. The wide use of Ruby and Ruby on Rails, both pieces of free software, have provided plentiful opportunities and will continue to do so for many more years.”

Chelsey (Intern): “Isn’t education in general OSS? (LOL) But seriously, I can’t imagine having things *not* OSS… maybe it’s a generational thing that I am taking advantage of, having all of these things for free and whatnot, but if you’re going to be a programmer, how can you continue to learn if things are closed off? Having the ability and the power to use things that are open for everyone is empowering.”

Samantha (Intern): “I get that it’s as important for people as the public domain is. OSS is important to give more people access without gatekeeping. I’ve never contributed before, but I would be interested in helping out with a project that I identified with.”

See more about Software for Good’s commitment to open source here.

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Every step of the way, I was terrified, but guess what, I did it.
Even though my physiology was telling me no, I did it.
Even though I wasn’t confident I was ready to move on to a new programming language, I did it.

And guess what, I’ve failed doing the things, although I didn’t fall off the ladder, so we’ll label that one a success. I got crushed by my teammate. I wrote some bad Rails, heck, I still am writing bad Rails, but I’m writing it and it’s getting better.

The successes don’t always happen the first time, but they will come. Doing the thing is the win. That’s what helps make the fear go away for the next go ’round.

So while you may be fearful of doing something, contemplate why you’re fearful. Is it fear of something that may actually harm you, or a fear of being embarrassed, it being too hard, or you just not getting it right? While you should have a healthy sense of fear in certain situations, you can’t always let that hold you back. Fear can be an ally in just the right amounts, but too much of it can kill you. Be aware of your fears, but love them and don’t be afraid to overcome them.

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One of the ways we learn on the job is through pair programming, a concept that comes from Agile software development. For the two of us, pairing started as a way to learn new skills from each other when we joined SfG (a week apart from each other!).

One of our first big projects was The Arc Greater Twin Cities’ app Get Set!, which had a quick timeline and pieces that were new to both of us. While creating a pager element to navigate within the app, we would pair up, take turns working on it, and then pair up again when one of us got stuck.

That’s still how we typically support each other as we’ve moved on to other projects — one of us getting stuck and sliding over to the other person’s computer to look at the code together. Rather than spending 8 hours trying to solve an issue on our own, we can figure it out in 2 hours together, and then we both know something we didn’t know 2 hours ago.

Sometimes even just talking out a problem can help us get unstuck. Software developers refer to this as “rubber ducking,” referring to hypothetically explaining a coding issue to a rubber duck. Often, simply explaining the problem out loud helps us figure out the answer.

During those times when we run into questions and bugs, it also helps to know that someone else is in the same boat. We both know what it’s like to feel imposter syndrome while working on something new. Pairing with someone else who’s on the same level, but has different skills that complement yours, makes it easier to get through challenges.

We even complement each other in ways that go beyond coding! Like when Jenessa brings back information from conferences to share with Annie, who as an introvert finds conferences draining.

No matter what level you’re at as a developer, we highly recommend pair programming — a much faster, more fun way to learn and problem-solve than going it alone.

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A new year means new goals. New goals mean you are going to have to level up in some facet or another.

There’s a saying in sports that goes “The best ability is availability” and it is true. If you aren’t in the room it can be a case of out of sight, out of mind. Just by being around you’re going to pick up on things, hear about upcoming opportunities, and have a chance to pick up on where things might be falling through the cracks.

Those moments are for you to seize. Know that you are lacking in a certain department? Take that as a chance to volunteer to pick up the slack. Give yourself the upper hand by taking a course or 2 on the side in order to level up.

In order to level up, you have to put in the work, day in and day out. Create a SMART goal, come up with a plan and then attack it with all you have. The only way you’re going to level up is if you adapt and change the way you’ve been playing the game.

So get to work and take those next steps in your journey.

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“Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.” -Dr. Seuss

This week is all about being grateful, giving thanks, and being with those we love. Even though we should be doing this every day, sometimes we need explicit reminders. We get lost in the hustle and bustle of our daily lives that we miss the moments. However, this week I am not telling you to be more mindful in the moment, since that’s often hard to remember. Instead, I’ll say this…this week, when you’re with your friends, or family – get lost in those moments. Don’t worry about being too mindful. Just enjoy them. Tell stories, laugh so hard you cry, eat so much you change into sweats (or at the very least have to take off your belt), and hug and kiss those you haven’t in awhile. Then, in a few days, weeks, or maybe even months, think back, reach out and tell them, “Thanks for the memories.”

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How annoying.

But failure happens. You think you’re capable of doing something unaided, or you decide to give something new a try, and things just don’t go as you’d hoped.

My favorite basketball coach of all time, John Wooden, said “Failure isn’t fatal, but failure to change might be.” This might be one of the truest things he’s ever said.

It is so important to remember you are going to fail. A lot. Sometimes it’ll be epic, but the key is to take those failures, admit your mistakes, ask for help, and then go and make changes so the next time you might be a little more successful. The key to failure is changing, improving, and being resilient about your growth.

So next time you try (and fail) to build that thing, cook something delicious, or win a race, remember—you just got better for next time.

The post Failure Is Good For You appeared first on Software for Good.

These are things we all know a home should be, but sometimes we forget, we get busy, we have underlying stress, we forget about self-care, and sometimes we let people in that have no business in our lives. So how do we reset?

First, slow down. Nowadays we’re all moving at speeds that would classify as reckless driving. Take a day off work, do the things you’ve been meaning to do at home. Then at the end of the day be proud of the small wins.

Next is the purge. Remember this, if something, or someone, doesn’t serve a positive purpose in your life, it is time to let it go.

Clutter of things or people in your space will never give you the serenity that you desire.

Lastly reflect, reflection is one of the keys to understanding how you got where you are so that you can know how to move forward.

So this week slow down, think about what or who needs to be let go, and reflect. Then next week, when you come home and close that door behind you, take a deep breath and smile because there’s no place in the world you’d rather be.

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