Week 7 [13.06-19.06.2016] Passion for programming and sharing knowledge – be a part of great community and challenge yourself

Passion for programming and sharing knowledge – be a part of great community and challenge yourself

Microsoft Student Partner is not just a title. It is an attitude and passion about sharing knowledge with others in a local community. You can build your visibility, improve public speeches and show others that it is really great to help others!

In this post I would like to share my experience connected with events where I had a chance to show how easy building Universal Windows 10 Apps is and how fast you can learn C# language. This article will also include information about events connected with people passionate about programming and new technologies.

Girlz Camp – especially for girls who want to learn how to code.

Each year Microsoft Student Partners are involved in the Girlz Camp event – one of the biggest programming workshops for women in my country organized by Microsoft.

This year it was the third edition with a lot of girls, twelve speakers and eight paths connected with creating apps.

.NET Groups from different regions in my country consist of many smart girls who create amazing things. Who said that only men can be programmers? That is why this event is dedicated only to female programmers.

During the event you can feel passion and involvement from each side. Everyone helps each other and at the end participants have knowledge how to use different technologies like Azure, Universal Windows Platform or ASP .NET. Microsoft Student Partners form different regions that run these paths – I was responsible for UWP workshops.

Such an event is also an opportunity to meet other MSPs, exchange experiences, and talk about .NET Groups in the different regions of the country.

This is a chance to meet completely new people and to challenge yourself. Events can be exhausting but that is why we love them, don’t we? At the end of the day all participants and organizers meet in a pub to celebrate the event – of course finished with success!

Geek Girls Carrots – workshops connected with C# language and creating Universal Windows 10 Apps – not only for girls J

Being a Microsoft Student Partner is a great opportunity to share passion and knowledge during many different workshops. One of them was organized by the Geek Girls Carrots community. The name can indicate that events are dedicated only to women – but that is not true at all.

During my workshops there was also a man interested in how to create the first Universal Windows 10 App and nobody had a problem with that. It was an amazing experience because everyone was truly involved in it. It was also a big challenge for me because, as you know, running workshops for people that you have never seen before can be embarrassing. We have started from the introduction to C# language programming. After that, we have created a blank Universal Windows 10 App. At the end we created a simple application for the Desktop and Mobile devices, which can save your notes.

Not only can workshops can improve skills of all the participants, but also they encourage them to read articles, do coding and at the end automatically you learn something new.

One of the most important thing is to keep contact with people and help them. Being a programmer is challenging but teaching others how to do it is even more. This is the reason why it is so important for you to start being active in the community.

Challenge yourself everyday

Remember – only with true passion you are able to do great things! You have a chance to improve your skills connected with public speeches, to learn how to cope with stress and of course a great occasion to build your visibility! You can meet many interesting people and keep contact with them in the future.

QUESTIONS:

1) Do you have passion? Please share it with us in comments.

2) Have you ever tried public speaking?

3) Are you familiar with programming (if yes, please share more information).

Week 7 [13.06-19.06.2016] Tesla motor company – the cars

   

As many of You have probably noticed electric cars start to take over a large portion of the car market in the world right now. Hybrid and fully electric cars are now very popular and we can see them everywhere.  Many car makers have decided to develop hybrid or electric cars but one car company has beat them all, the Tesla Motor Company.  Tesla Motors has sold almost 135 000 cars since the first Roadster was delivered. The sales keep climbing with the latest model being sold out before the production even started.

Tesla Roadster

http://car-pictures.cars.com/images/?IMG=USC10TSC011A0101.png&WIDTH=624&HEIGHT=300&AUTOTRIM=1

Teslas first production vehicle. It was the first ever production all-electric sports car with range above 300km.  Prototypes were shown to the public in July 2006, the first 100 sold out in three weeks. The General production began in 2008 and Tesla sold 2,400 roadsters in 31 countries over the next 4 years . Until that model the electric cars were considered slow, heavy and not really fun to drive.  Tesla Roadster, capable of reaching a top speed of 200 km/h and accelerating from 0-100 km/h, changed that point of view.

Tesla Model S

http://o.aolcdn.com/commerce/autodata/images/USC30TSC021B021001.jpg

Model S has been introduced in a press release in 2008. And the first cars were delivered in 2012. What makes it different is being a sedan. As well as the Roadster model S is a all-electric vehicle. It has an Euro NCAP 5 star rating making it a very safe car. As an oddity since there is no petrol engine it has two trunks, one in the back and one in the front. Model S edition P90D has a bigger battery and a  higher performance motors and can accelerate to 100km/h in 3.2s, which makes them one of the fastest sedans on the car market. The range is above 475km, which is a very great distance for an all-electric vehicle.

Tesla Model X 

https://www.teslamotors.com/tesla_theme/assets/img/modelx/section-hero-touch.jpg

Telsla unveiled the model X in 2012, but the first production models were delivered in late 2015. It is Teslas first SUV, capable of comfortably seating 7 people. With a special Ludicrous mode the model X can accelerate to 100 km/h in less than 4s.  Out of many features that the new model X has the falcon doors are worth mentioning. They not only look great but also help getting kids in and out of the car.

Tesla Model 3

http://i0.wp.com/cdn.bgr.com/2016/04/tesla-model-3-8.png?w=952

It’s the latest car that the tesla introduced. It was first shown to public in March 2016, with an estimated price of 35000$, making It the first widely affordable all-electric car. No one knows yet what features will be available, what specs will the car have and even the delivery date but there are already people waiting in line to register for their own model 3. 

I think that the electric car market will grow and we can expect to see many more cars such as the ones above. I am definitely looking forward to seeing what the future of  these cars ad Tesla has to offer.  I encourage You to read about the company and its CEO – Elon Musk.

Questions:

1.  Have You ever heard of the company?

2. Would You like to own an electric car?

3. Do You think that electric cars will take over the car market?

Sources:
1. www.teslamotors.com
2. www.cars.com
3. Wikipedia

Week 7 [13.06-19.06.2016] WYD 2016 | NATO SUMMIT

World Youth Day 2016

As some of you might already know, in this year World Youth Day event will be held in Kraków ( from 25th to 31st July) by Poland, for the second time in the history.

Let’s have a little look into it:

World Youth Day is a recurring international meeting of youth, founded by St. John Paul II in 1984. Since that time it became more and more popular to get it current status, biggest religious event of youths from all over the world. Young people gather together with their catechists in order to profess and strengthen faith in Jesus Christ. 

Last time WYD event occured in Poland in 1991 in Czestochowa. Every event has it's own anthem and theme.  It's one of the biggest recurring events in the world which is held every 3 years, in different locations around the world. From some independent estimations it looks that there will be approximatelly 2 millions of people gathered in Kraków. 

if you think that 2 millions is a record, you're not correct!, current frequency record belongs to Brazil WYD event, which occured in 2013, and it held around 5 millions of pilgrims, below some photos, to show you how big it was.

I don't wanted to focus on religious aspect of this event, as I thought you can easily read about that on official webpage if you would like to. I just wanted to give a short notice about it.

 With such events there are also some controversy, as most of the costs are covered by country in which event is organized, it's a very common practice, ( like with Euro 2012, VolleyBall championship etc). It's a big chance for organizing countries to open for tourists, and show from a good side, but it's also a big challenge, due to international status and risk of organizational failures.

WYD 2016 Promo video:

On the other hand It wouldn’t be possible to host such big amount of pelgrims without help of volounteers, so if you would like to participate in this big event, you can easily register on WYD webpage and contribute.

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NATO SUMMIT 2016

Almost at the same time, from 8th to 9th July, first time in the history, we will host NATO summit in our capital city. It's a very big international meeting at which Head of States and Head of Government of all NATO members meet and discuss in which direction alliance will go, furthermore, major decisions are made.

Some of the people are saying that location is a very big advantage for eastern europe as according to current political situation, eastern-european NATO countries could force alliance to move nearest military base's from Germany to Poland or even closer to Russian borders.

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Questions : 

1. What do you think about such mass events, do you think that it's a good or a bad idea?

2. Are you okay with paying for such events from your taxes ? What's your opinion about that ?

3. Would you feel safe and comfortable joining similar mass event, according to current terrorist attack risks ?

4. What’s your opionion about volounterring ?

links : 

http://www.krakow2016.com/en/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Youth_Day

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_summit

https://www.google.pl/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwi48Z--uqPNAhVGtxQKHblpC8oQjhwIBQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nato.int%2Fcps%2Fen%2Fnatohq%2Fnews_129642.htm&psig=AFQjCNFsY5siECrxs7ZL7MLEIZg7-20awA&ust=1465854172741263

Week 7 [13-19.06.2016] Best Presentation

Dear Students, 

Vote for the best presentation made this term. Justify your choice please. 

Week 7 [13.06-19.06.2016] Eating disorders

source: http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/2014-04/enhanced/webdr07/25/15/enhanced-16081-1398455899-2.jpg

Nowadays the media are showing us more and more images of body. In magazines or fashion blogs  we could read how our appearance  changes our life. It should be stressed that usually such articles are illustrated with photographs of slim, even skinny models. For example,  in recent years there  has been a new trend a  hole between women’s thighs. I'm afraid that the media make us brainwashed. In consequence, a number of diseases such as depression and eating disorders have increased.

A radical and restrictive diet can not only reflect badly on our body but on our psyche. Underfed body begins to go crazy with it, us. Body malnutrition is the cause of eating disorders. These include compulsive overeating, bulimia and anorexia.

source:http://www.humanillnesses.com/original/images/hdc_0001_0002_0_img0094.jpg

Compulsive overeating can be described as uncontrollable fits of gluttony. A person eats a large amount of food very quickly to improve his or her mood.  But after this attack of hunger, a person feels remorse, guilt. People who have a problem with compulsive eating are usually people who are overweight or suffering from obesity.

Bulimia  is characterized by strong gluttony. A person in the course of the attack is able to accept up to 10,000 calories. But when a person returns to reality, he/she feel guilty. The consequence of it is  vomiting, exercising and the use of laxatives.

Anorexia is long-term destruction and starvation of the body. In my opinion it  is the hardest and most difficult eating disorder. The first visible symptom is large weight loss in a short period of time, increase of aggression in such a person caused by hunger. Cause of its dependence on not eating, such a person is getting  more and more isolated from the society. Long-term anorexia results in tooth decay, hair loss,  impaired vision, impaired bone problems - bradycardia. Each lost  kilogram becomes a reason for satisfaction. 

Methods for dealing with anorexia include psychotherapy and treatment with antidepressants. The most popular therapy for the treatment is a cognitive behavioral therapy. During its course the therapist tries to find the problems that caused the disease. This is usually an event from the patient's childhood, which they do not remember, because they wanted to soothe the pain. Therefore they escape into food and it becomes their meaning of life and the main thing to worry about. In the treatment of patients with eating disorders,the support of people close to them and their understanding are very invaluable. With family and friends a sick has chance to regain inner sense of security. Family and friends of people with eating disorders need to remember not to treat this disease as trivial. Only through the support and understanding they can help them, with this serious disease. 

So let us consider: is it worthwhile  to lose weight to the degree that threatens our lives? I don’t think so. Our size will not change our lives, but our approach to it will.  Eating alone doesn’t make us happy. Only our positive attitude and approach to life can make us happy. taking care of health and shedding a few kilos is something entirely different  from a strict fast devastating the body. Therefore,  in state of trying to lose weight, just take care of your  health and mental  state. In particular, accept yourself .

 

Sources:

   http://bulimia.mam-efke.pl/

   http://www.jedzenie-kompulsywne.pl/

Questions:

1.  What do you think about eating disorders?

2.   Which beauty canon do you find the most attractive ?

3.   Have you ever  had critically thoughts about your body?

4.  What do you think about on basis of someone’s appearance?