Posted on

Top Free Sites to Learn to Code

It seems like everybody is computer coding these days and if you don’t want to get left behind, you should probably start learning. Why should you learn how to code? Well, if you’re in need of a personal website and don’t want to pay someone a large sum, or if you would like to increase your job prospects, you should probably start learning how to code.

Below are the top sites that will teach you how to code for FREE.

KhanAcademy

KhanAcademy is mostly known for its tutorials on school subjects, but it also offers courses on programming.

The programming modules use JavaScript to show concepts that apply to coding in general, while also teaching some practical JavaScript skills. The courses are divided into a dozen categories, each of which has three to 12 separate lessons. Each video lesson animates the coding technique in a window on the left and shows the result of the code running in a window on the right. After you watch the code, the user then has to write the code that copies the operation. If your code isn’t right, the tutorial will give hints to help you correct the problem.

W3Schools.com

W3Schools.com has tutorials in HTML, CSS, XML, SQL, PHP, JQuery and JavaScript, among others. The site offers demos on building a website, server technologies and Web databases.

The JavaScript tutorial has 19 separate lessons that take an estimated 15 minutes to an hour to complete, along with eight to 12 lessons for HTML DOM and Browser BOM.

Coursera

Quickly becoming known as an online education mecca, Coursera offers courses from millions of universities online free of charge.

Classes are available in five languages, English, Spanish, French, Italian and Chinese. You can also learn from professors from 62 universities.

Codecademy

Codeacademy’s sole focus is well, coding.

Take courses in APIs, Ruby, Python, JavaScript, JQuery, PHP and web fundamentals.

Code/Racer

If you want to have some fun while learning to code, Code/Racer combines just that.

It’s an online racing game that forces you to learn to code quickly so that you get ahead on the racetrack. As you complete courses, you earn badges for your accomplishments.

MIT OpenCourseWare

Think of this as another way to get a top-tier education without the student loans or stress of an application. MIT has provided all of its course content to Web audiences, so that anyone can learn and take advantage of this highly regarded institution.

Posted on

7 Things to Do Before Becoming An Entrepreneur

So, you want to be an entrepreneur? Well, like most things in life, it’s not for everybody. There’s a quote that says, “Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life the way most people won’t, so you can spend the rest of your life living the way most people can’t,” and for the most part that’s true.

Since entrepreneurship is not for the weak or the weary,  we give you seven things to consider before you decide to make the plunge.

Be Passionate About Your Product

For some, it may be easy to work a 9 to 5 job that you aren’t passionate about, but if you’re an entrepreneur launching a product or service, how do you expect consumers or investors to be excited about your product if you aren’t?

As your own boss, you become the chief salesperson and your enthusiasm has to make others believe in you. Another reason you must believe in your product or service is because entrepreneurship has many peaks and valleys and you’re going to need determination to get you through unpredictable times.

Cleanse Your Social Media Profiles

Prospective employees are often told to clean up their social media profiles, but entrepreneurs must do the same especially when they are taking meetings with potential investors.

Sometimes it’s not enough to dress the part, you also have to take into account that people will check your Linked In profile, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. You have to be mindful of the photos you post since they could be misinterpreted.

Have a 12-Month Plan

If you’re not organized or don’t like to plan, then entrepreneurship may not be for you.

Be prepared to write your business plan more than once and it will need to be looked over by professionals and trusted colleagues. Your 12-month plan should include your personal and business budget.

In the calendar section of your business plan, you need to include vacation, medical appointments and important events.

Know Your Finances

Finances are a large part of being an entrepreneur and you’ll need to take care of any outstanding debt before pursuing your goals.

Downsizing and creating a monthly budget are effective ways to pay off debt. As an entrepreneur you may not get your first paycheck for months, so you will need to have 12 months of savings to pay your bills.

Know That You Can’t Stop At Just One Product

An entrepreneur is essentially an innovator, and as an innovator, you have to keep, well, innovating.

This basically means that after you launch a product or service, you have to keep up the momentum and stay ahead of the innovation curve. To consistently develop products means that you’ll have to spend money. Companies rarely, if ever, survive with just one product.

Be Good at Making Decisions

If you’re indecisive or can’t make decisions without the input of others, you might want to rethink becoming an entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurs are responsible for the successes and failures of their businesses. They have to make decisions about working from home or leasing office space, hiring employees, targeting high-end clients or selling to the masses, advertising, borrowing money, using savings and more.

The decisions become more complex after employees are hired and the company starts succeeding.

Maintain Balance 

Entrepreneurs don’t take days off and working nonstop often means neglecting your life outside of work, which can cause burnout and a subsequent decline in business.

While maintaining a personal life with family, friends and hobbies, you must also know how to limit distractions from entrepreneurial pursuits.

Balance is all about maintaining good health and mental welfare, while still working toward your goals.

Posted on

‘Cosmos’ Star Neil deGrasse Tyson Strips Sugarcoating Off Heavy Science Topics

Cosmos host Neil deGrasse Tyson recently captivated an audience of more than 4,000 people as he took on heavy topics in a way that only he can.

The esteemed astrophysicist spoke at the Nicoson Hall at the University of Indianapolis on Wednesday evening and used the time to not only educate the crowd, but to prove that science could indeed be more interesting than people might expect.

At one point, Tyson explained to the crowd why he doesn’t get excited about eclipses.

While the general public seems to make a big deal out of lunar and solar eclipses, Tyson explained that they are far more common than people think.

“Eclipses are not rare,” he told the crowd. “If you ever see a news article that says eclipses are rare, NO! Eclipses are more frequent than the Olympics.”

Eventually, the talk of eclipses led to a playful moment between Tyson and an audience member who excitedly exclaimed that there was a solar eclipse Thursday.

“Thank you for reminding the speaker, who is an astrophysicist,” he joked. “I assure you when stuff goes on with the sun, I’m all up in it.”

Tyson also revealed that he isn’t in support of trying to create a new civilization on Mars.

While some pioneers are hoping to get people on Mars by 2023, Tyson said he wouldn’t recommend the journey for anyone and he certainly won’t make it himself.

“I’m not signing up,” he said. “I will wait until there’s a budget to bring me back.”

That’s not to say he is a huge fan of earth, either.

Tyson joked that earth is certainly no “loving mother planet.”

“Earth basically wants to kill you,” he told the stunned crowd before explaining that 97 to 98 percent of all species that ever existed on earth are now extinct.

When compared to the universe, however, earth doesn’t look too bad.

“Not that we can find much solace in the universe,” Tyson continued. “The universe also wants to kill us, what with gamma ray bursts, supernova explosions, black holes and more.”

Despite how dangerous the universe may be, it isn’t clear if Tyson would rather take that journey through the scary universe if it meant he didn’t have to talk to politicians anymore.

While Tyson loves talking to the public about science, he made it clear that it’s a different story when he has to talk to Congress.

“The reason I don’t want to tell Congress about science is that 88 percent of Congress is up for election every two years,” he said. “I could go there and get them all hyped up about science, and I have to do that every two years. My task as an educator is not to change the mind of Congress. My task as an educator is to educate the public so they can elect the right people in the first place.”