Eleven from “Stranger Things” loves Eggo waffles. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live on pizza. Harry Potter routinely chugs Butterbeer. What do you think your favorite characters eat? What does Katniss Everdeen in “Hunger Games” eat when she’s hungry or the Incredible Hulk when he is hangry? Does Baby Yoda eat baby food?
Chelsea Monroe-Cassel is currently developing a recipe for a dish whose traditional version she’ll never be able to taste, and whose place of origin she’ll never be able to visit: Plomeek soup, a staple on the fictional planet Vulcan. In writing “The Star Trek Cookbook,” out next March, she has spent hours watching old episodes and movies from her home in West Windsor, Vt., trying to deduce what might be in the reddish soup.
“We know shockingly little about Vulcan cuisine, given how much of a fan favorite Spock is,” she said. Some people believe that Vulcans are vegetarian, as their strong morals and fear of their own capacity for violence would mean they avoid food that requires slaughtering. But do those arguments hold up, she wondered, in a universe where meat can be replicated with machines?
The result: “A cold gazpacho with tomato and strawberry and a little bit of balsamic.”
For fans like her, “it is a big way, a new and tangible way, of connecting with a world that they love,” she said.
“Video games are a form of escapism and books are a form of escapism,” she added, “and I think this is a form of escapism that appeals to extra senses.”
The article continues:
As fan cultures have deepened, these cookbooks have evolved, too. Less prevalent are the ones that simply name recipes after characters. Today’s pop-culture cookbooks are heavily researched tomes about their fictional worlds. They consider climates and character motivations. They fill in gaps in the narrative. Authors pore over every element — down to the props in recipe photos — so fans can feel fully immersed.
“For better or for worse, if a brand isn’t publishing and merchandising itself,” Mr. Miers said, “it isn’t as alive as fans want it to be.”
“If we had written this book 15 years ago, you probably could have gotten away with including a lot of things from the entire continent of Africa without giving explanation to why they existed,” saidMx. Banda, 39. “There is this need for people coming up with these recipes to know what they are talking about” in terms of both the comics and African foodways.
Mx. Banda’s recipes — like chambo, a traditional fish dish from Malawi — speak directly to Wakanda’s varying locations in Africa throughout the run of the comics.
Mx. Banda considered the role that colonialism played in adding a Western influence to certain African dishes, and how to explain that influence when they included those foods in the book — since Wakanda is supposed to be isolated from the rest of the world. (Mx. Banda found a solution in referencing more recent comics about Wakanda opening itself up to outsiders.)
This approach is a far cry from the early books in the genre, which place little emphasis on compelling recipes and complex storytelling.
What do you think your favorite book or movie character eats or drinks? Tell us your most beloved character and make the case for what you think his or her favorite foods are. Justify your claim based on what you know about the character. What do you think this food reveals about that person?
What do you think of all these fictional cookbooks coming out? Are they silly? Fun? Informative? Have you ever read or purchased one? What do you think this growing genre says about pop-culture fandom?
The article says that there are cookbooks for “World of Warcraft,” “Harry Potter,” “The Simpsons,” “Game of Thrones” and “The Walking Dead.” Which of these titles interests you most? Which dishes and recipes would you most likely try? Which pop cultural book, movie or television show would you like to see a cookbook published for?
What other types of information about your favorite characters and stars would you like to know? Maybe the music they like? Preferred mode of social media? Favorite book or sneakers?
The article refers to “the Narnia problem”: when children who read about Turkish delight in “The Chronicles of Narnia” later tried the actual candy and were greatly disappointed. Have you ever eaten or cooked something because it was in a book, movie or show? How did it go?
Want more writing prompts? You can find all of our questions in our Student Opinion column. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate them into your classroom.
Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
This lesson is a part of our new Accessible Activities feature, which aims to welcome a wider variety of learners to our site and to The Times in general. Learn more and tell us what you think here.
Greenland is the world’s largest island, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, and it has rare minerals needed for green technology like electric cars and wind turbines. But protesters are blocking a project to mine those minerals, sending a message to mining companies that they can’t exploit people or their land without a fight.
In this lesson, you will learn about the predominantly Indigenous residents of the village of Narsaq, Greenland, who stood up for their home and fought the outside mining companies. Then, you will write about a time when you stood up, spoke out or took action for what you thought was right.
Warm-Up
What are you willing to stand up and fight for?
Brainstorm a list of things — people, places and issues — you would fight for. Your list could include your family and friends, as well as animal rights, the environment or a good education.
Next, find a partner and share and discuss your lists.
Finally, reflect together: Why is it important to stand up for what you believe? What if nobody did?
Vocabulary
Here are 10 words you’ll find in this article that you may not know:
1. Look at the photos: What can you learn about Greenland from them? What story do they tell about the anti-mine campaign on the island?
2. What group of people has led the effort to block the mine near the village of Narsaq? How has Mariane Paviasen in particular been important in this fight?
3. Why did the farmer Aviaja Lennert say “I feel I have a responsibility” to support the protest group? When have you felt a strong responsibility to speak up or take a stand?
4. What does Elna Jensen, an activist, love and appreciate about Greenland and the way of life there? What things do you love most about where you live?
5. What is your reaction to the article? Pick one quote or image that stands out most and explain why.
6. What inspiration can we take from the women profiled in the article? Does the article change any of your ideas about how protests can bring about change?
Going Further
Write about a time when you stood up, spoke out or took action for something you believed in.
Did you get involved in a protest, a march or a demonstration? Did you step in to break up an argument or a fight? Did you give something up, like eating meat?
Keep in mind that your action doesn’t have to be big or dramatic. Sometimes standing up for what you believe in can just mean offering a kind word or a hand on the shoulder, or simply saying, “I disagree.”
Take a few moments to reflect on these questions, then respond in writing using the sentence starters below as a guide:
A time when I spoke up, spoke out or took action was when I _________.
I felt I had a responsibility because __________.
My efforts helped to make a difference because _________.
Additional Teaching and Learning Opportunities
Learn more about the anti-mine efforts in Greenland. Watch the short video “Greenland Election to Decide Fate of Rare Earth Mining” by TRT World. How does what you watched add to or change your understanding of the issues you learned about in the featured article? If you lived in Greenland and could vote, would you have voted for political leaders and parties who supported the development of mining? Or would you have supported the efforts of Ms. Paviasen and her anti-mine party to protect the land and people from the dangers of rare mineral extraction? In general, how should we decide how to balance business and consumer interests (being able to buy things cheaply) with the rights, safety and well-being of local communities?
Learn more about growing up in Greenland. Watch “Arctic Boyhood,” a five-minute film that explores the lives of the coastal inhabitants of Greenland’s Tasiilaq villages, and in particular, of Asser Boassen, an 8-year-old Tunumiit boy. Afterward, discuss with a partner: What are the joys, beauties and challenges of growing up in Greenland? How different is it from your own childhood? What further questions do you have about life there? Would you want to live there?
Want more Lessons of the Day? You can find them all here.
What’s your favorite thing about this time of year? Describe it as vividly as you can.
Or, if you aren’t a fan of October, tell us why — but, again, try to be as descriptive as possible.
Post your writing in the comments, then read the related article to learn about all the “szns” happening right now.
Want more Picture Prompts? Find them all in this column.
Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
The word bode has appeared in 84 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on July 26 in the Opinion essay “This ‘Shazam’ for Birds Could Help Save Them” by Margaret Renkl:
Naturally, I had to try out the new technology. I am far from an expert birder, but I do know my avian neighbors, and I figured a good way to test Merlin’s accuracy was to try it with birds I can already recognize by ear.
The first test didn’t bode well. I was reading on the sofa when I heard a Carolina wren singing just above my head. It was hopping around in a hanging basket barely a foot beyond the glass and singing its head off. That wren was as close as any bird was ever going to get, but the app was stumped. “Merlin has no matches,” it reported. Merlin fared no better in the two other recordings I made indoors.
Daily Word Challenge
Can you correctly use the word bode in a sentence?
Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.
Then, read some of the other sentences students have submitted and use the “Recommend” button to vote for two original sentences that stand out to you.
If you want a better idea of how bode can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com.
Students ages 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, can comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff.
I wasn’t sure what to expect. LinkedIn Learning was hyping the “Hub” to be a new experience, an LXP with Skills and Experts. The marketing for the Hub really told a story, to the point, that it will be something so original, unique and well, even better than LinkedIn Learning.
I got the sense this would be a new platform, completely different than LinkedIn Learning.
What I saw and experienced, well, left me asking “This is it?”
Learning Hub
The marketing pitches it as an LXP, and I would definitely concur with an asterisk. An LXP today, must-have skill capabilities, and while Learning Hub has some, they already existed in LinkedIn Learning. Skill ratings, for example, do not appear in Learning Hub, which is weird considering how many learning systems already offer it.
The likelihood it will eventually appear in a future release is more than likely, but for the first rollout, and the time they had for Hub, it is odd.
What I found with Learning Hub was in essence around four to five new features/capabilities to the existing LinkedIn Learning platform.
There isn’t a totally new platform, nor are the changes so dramatic, that if you are a current client of LinkedIn Learning (the platform), will you, or at least should you be in a wow factor. As one current client of LinkedIn Learning told me, “We were underwhelmed”, upon seeing the new features with Learning Hub.
This is not to say, that some of the new capabilities offer no benefit (depending on how you use it), rather it points to a somewhat rush job to roll out the Hub, especially when considering all the new capabilities the Hub could have included, that scream future tech or at least standard can match some of the top learning systems that are out there.
Learning Hub Features
Campaigns
One of the new features (that is part of Hub) in Linkedin Learning are campaigns. The premise is that you can create a campaign that will appear on the top of the system in the banner header.
Campaign Banner
The banner is no longer a static image, rather you can add any piece of content, from a course to a video, to a document, a collection, even a learning path.
This is a part that I liked in the banner angle. In the above example, the learner can click the icon and it takes them right to the content, in this case, the “Become a Tech Recruiter” learning path.
Roll the tape – “Learning for Humans” learning path campaign.
Learning For Humans Learning Path tied to a Campaign
Creating a Campaign is straightforward and pretty easy to do.
Creating the CampaignPreview Banner
All the above appears on the “Create a Campaign” screen.
Simple. But, it does have flaws.
Limited on the end date
The biggest flaw is the “End Date”. Linkedin Learning allows only 30 days for the end date. This means if you want your content to be promoted or 3rd party or LinkedIn for that matter, and you want it to go past 30 days you cannot.
You would need to create another campaign and redo the entire process.
My gut says the reason LinkedIn Learning did this, was to ensure that the campaign was fresh with new promoted content on an ongoing basis.
Banner Customization and Preview
Banner Box
Banner customization and Preview are integrated in such a way, that the only way to explain it, is to watch the following video:
There are two flaws when selecting the content.
First, with audio files – the type appears as “video”.
However, the bigger item, likely a “bug” is in the case of this audio file, the banner default text comes from the author themselves.
I tested this “issue” and realized that it appears only when you “Create a Campaign” the first time, and only withcertain content (not all) and when you decide to “Create the Campaign”.
It does not appear when you decide to remove the content and select another piece of content, or the collection or learning path.
Buggy
The Learning Hub is currently not available to everyone, but only to those who already have LinkedIn Learning. Thus bugs like this are likely, and it is up to the client to find them and notify LinkedIn. Not an ideal way, to have your clients be Quality Assurance for you.
Let’s though assume you picked something to add, where this bug does not appear.
To change the text or add it (normally it is blank), you simply add your own text. But, sometimes the box is not blank, and instead shows your previous text tied to another piece of content. Ignore the “green G” that you see, that is my spell checker. You will not see this with your view. However, and once again, this is a flaw, when you remove the content or path or whatever, and put a new one in, the text from the previous message remains.
Example 1
Watch for the “Bug”See the “bug”?
The way it should work is when you remove the content and select a different one, the preview box removes the text, and the banner message goes back to blank. It is easy to forget this, and thus, a quick click of “Publish” will have this banner live, with the wrong text.
Oh, the banner message is always in “italics”. Again, you should have the option to change that.
Publish
The Publish button is at the top of the screen. I wish it was right under “Preview” or on the side.
Publish
Once the campaign is published, you will see a new screen
Your Campaigns
Under the “More” option, you can edit, delete or view a “live preview” – this means the banner is now live, with your promoted content.
If you want to restart a campaign that has ended, sorry you are out of luck. You would have to create a whole new campaign.
Campaign Banner Confusion
Let’s say you wanted to have multiple promoted content, etc. on your banner so that when a person clicks the arrows, it goes to your next promoted content.
Sadly this is not possible. You can have only one promoted piece of content, collection, learning path, etc., at any given time. A carousel approach would have been the right way to do this, with the ability for you to have multiple campaigns running at the same time.
Instead, you get the same stuff that was on the banner, in the previous version of LinkedIn Learning, which is from them.
First your promoted content, then their stuff.
No narration.
The “New” and “Popular” existed in the previous version of LinkedIn Learning and suffers the same flaws as the first time. Popular seems arbitrary, because there are courses, videos etc from the LL library that has more views than the ones selected. And new doesn’t mean, this week or last week. It could be months old.
3rd Party Content Providers
To be an LXP, you need to have 3rd party content providers. Preferably a minimum of ten, but nowadays vendors claim to have an LXP or be one with only a few providers.
LinkedIn Learning Hub is no exception. They note they have “several”, which uh, means only seven.
getAbstract
Pluralsight
Harvard Manage Mentor
Harvard Manage Mentor Spark
edX
O’Reilly Media
Udemy Business
It’s not like LLH had a lot of time to find 3rd party providers, oh wait, they did. I was stunned they didn’t have any aggregators such as Open Sesame or GO1. Nor did they have common ones such as Biz Library, Video Arts or Intellezy.
As with any 3rd party content – you still have to buy it – it doesn’t come free.
If you want to add your existing provider, no worries, just let LL Hub know and then wait. And wait. And wait.
I should add that with LLH there is no scrubbing of the net to find free content tied to skills, interests, topics and so forth. Something I am seeing more frequently in various learning systems. Hard to say “content curation” and forget something, called curating of external free content.
Actually you can share the content via LinkedIn, or as a link or in Teams.
Live Office Hours with Experts
I will readily admit, I was very excited about this capability, it just oozes unique – a story if you will. Kudos to LinkedIn for the spin, because live is heavily misleading, office hours is bogus, and experts – are well, I guess experts.
Here is how it really works
Uh, office hours?
Clearly, office hours how everyone on the planet defines it (especially if you attended a college or university), is not how LL Hub defines it. You see, office hours in LL Hub means events. As in you (in LinkedinLearning) can create your own event.
None of these folks in these events are “live”, until they do their presentation, and prior to that, as the “expert” you can choose to have an area where folks can leave comments/ask questions before the event, or choose not to have it on (I saw this with one “expert”).
Expert(s) can decide if they want to show you who gave them accolades in the form of the emojis that are everywhere on LinkedIn or, again in multiple cases not. I mean you see them, but click and nothing shows.
Interested simply means that you – by clicking “Attend” means you are saying you will attend.
An expert – before their live event with them turning everything on.
I got to this screen, by clicking on the person’s event on my Office Hours Playlist.
Expert has activated the area you can leave comments/ask questions
Yet with another expert, I did not go directly to their event screen, instead I got this:
Different view
To get to the screen where you can ask questions ahead of time, you have to click the “event link”. Confusion reigns. Why not have it so that it is universal – upon clicking to attend the event or learn more, it takes you to the screen where you can ask questions, etc.
Wait, it happens once again – a different screen. When clicking to learn more about this session, and hoping to see where I can ask questions/discussion/comments, I saw this instead
Job Search
I would think that LL Hub would recognize this as a UX issue and resolve it, so people – your learners are not bouncing into different screens. I was unable to test on whether upon creating your event, you get a variety of options, but based on my sample, it implies you do.
How can you claim “live” office hours, when in the very remote angle here, an expert can turn off the area where folks can ask questions ahead of time?
If everyone who did a presentation where folks can ask questions in the comments area, then based on how LL Hub defines it, we can all say “office hours with live experts”. Total nonsense.
Attendees
Attendees?
In the playlist of “live office hours” experts, you see interested, which then upon clicking in becomes “attendees”, but since this event isn’t live yet (at the time I captured the screen), there isn’t any way, LL Hub actually knows if these folks attended.
Past Events
These are events that have already occurred. It is easy to get to, by simply selecting “Past Events”.
Past “Office Hours”
In the “AMA” event by Michael Boyle it notes “606” interested. In the event itself, 34 folks attended. I apprecaite that the acutal final attendance count appears. I also liked that you can see the emoji accolades appearing on the screen while the person is presenting – similar to what you see with Instagram video and Tik-Tok.
The comments start to roll, as the presentation is going on – I do wish though that I could see the comments, ahead of me starting the event, but that’s just me. I say this because the comments roll by quickly (if there are a lot) and it is hard to read them.
For this session, AMA – means Ask me Anything – and its Popular on Reddit. A typical AMA session, the person who is providing the AMA, actually answers some of the questions (not all). This AMA session – the expert did not respond to any – at least not in the comments.
Again, this is up to the speaker, but it eliminates the “communicate with the expert” approach, if the expert decides not to respond.
But WAIT!
I selected a different past event, where the 100 interested, all attended according to LL Hub. In fact, of the five sessions I tested, four of them, matched total numbers 100%. Which as anyone knows who has ever presented an event, is extremely unlikely.
But WAIT!
Remember when I noted the fast pace of the comments? Well, in another “past event”, the event showed 22 comments. And yet, while watching the presentation, not one comment was visible.
Which again, defeats the purpose of the whole talk with an expert.
Social Panel
That is their wordage that LL Hub refers to when showing folks who are taking the same content as you are, and where you can see who they are. LL Hub spins it as an employee can see if any other employees are taking the course/video at the same time, and thus can notify them, plus can see others, who are not in the organization.
This gets a bit confusing, and thus the best way is to see it in action.
It isn’t just your organization
You will see “Active” which to me implies that these individuals are currently in the course/video at the same time you are OR at least the same time frame.
However, that is not accurate.
Active learners means people in that course, learning this week.
I noted in the video about how you can see some of the folks – and thus their profiles when you click their name, but you can’t see others.
I added that initially I thought it was because LL Hub only showed those folks who I am connected with. I found this to be, uh, not accurate.
In a FinTech course I selected, there were folks who I have no connection with, appearing in the social panel. And again, the list of “others” which are not visible.
I was unable to test if an employee can notify another employee thru the panel, but I did see, just as you could/can do in LinkedIn, that you can leave a message on the person’s profile.
As an end-user, if you do not want other learners to see that you are viewing this course, you can opt out. However, you will no longer see the other folks who are currently active.
To “opt out” you have to click the settings icon in the social panel window, and then turn off to view”.
To turn off, slide to no
Once you slide the button to no, the social panel will now change to this:
Can’t see
Two Points
a. Once you click “Update activity setting” – the social panel turns back on and you can see the folks again
b. In my tests, when I saw the “people with the job title of CEO”, which only appears when you turn off the setting to hide others, not one of the folks I could see, had the title of CEO. It was as though the system was saying, if you turn this feature back on, there will be others just like you with the same job role – sort of alignment – just like you and me.
The premise of the social panel is intriguing, but it still needs a lot of work to be useful and beneficial to other learners at your company or organization.
Skills Screen – Dashboard – Admin Side
LinkedIn captures a lot of data, and yet the skills dashboards are below par. For a company that is worth billions you would think they would invest in better data metrics and visualization.
There are three sections on the “Skills” screen
Pin the SkillsDeveloping skillsSkills Not met.
Pinned Skills
I strongly recommend that any client of LinkedIn Learning and thus LLH go to the Customer Success Center, and find the video that covers LL on the admin side.
Because if you don’t, you are going to get beyond frustrated. It is surprising that while some capabilities such as creating campaigns for example, are easy to setup, the pins thing is not. Sure, once you learn it, it is, but it should be pretty straightforward on that screen itself.
Instead you get this
Actually, you would just see “Pin your Priority Skills” and not the above graphs, which only appears after you pin the skills, which are the skills you selected in this section (by clicking the pin)
The easiest way to solve this -= is to have a quick how to in the pin your priority skills box, rather than telling me what it is, and then let me try to figure it out. Sure, you can say, well that is what admin training is for. Okay, but what happens when the admin is out that day? Exactly.
Hours viewed – LL shows data based on hours viewed, but in their reports, which you have to download they can get to milliseconds/seconds. If you have learners or a learner on that skill, or even with the content, who never went 60 minutes or more, that info won’t appear on this screen or even the dashboard screen. Nor will your data be completely accurate, if hypothetically the total running time of Technical Recruiting is 54 minutes. Because it isn’t an hour.
When you click show details, it just pops up the same screen as the pinned data screen
The Graph
The only difference between this and the pinned one, is that you can click the dots on the chart.
Skills Insights
No data
Skills Added to Employee’s profile
I went thru a lot of information on LL how to area, and could not figure out if the results are based on the skills you, the learner added to your own LinkedIn Profile, or from those who say you are good in a skill or a combo of the two. I still can’t figure that out.
Skills Insights
Skills Insights is only available for organizations who have at least 15 employees on LinkedIn with public member profiles and have LL Pro License
You cannot view individual learner skill(s) information at what LL refers to as an “employee level”, what you get is an aggregate, based on job function, and so forth.
Peer Companies – This is a data point where you can compare your company with other companies/organizations that are similar (LL refers to it as closest) to you in terms of industry and size. The comparison is up to 10. I’ve seen this in action before – shown to me privately – and came away impressed, although you have to apply the premise that Company X thinks the same way around a certain set of skills for this job role, as you do.
One other item, that LL Hub notes is the whole customization angle. But what I saw was the same ol same. You can’t can’t change the colors, or remove LinkedIn’s name. Your logo appears quite small in comparison.
Bottom Line
LinkedIn Learning is pitching the Learning Hub as something that is out of this world, unique, an enriched LXP with skill effectiveness and experts just a click away.
Curation at its finest. Office Hours. Skill Insights that will knock your socks off.
Yet
There is no digital coaching with video built-in capability. There are no role plays or sims. No, built-in authoring tool or even extensive skill capabilities.
You can’t curate content off the web such a manner that so many other systems can and do. There are no app integration/exchange that again, many systems offer, with a simple click and go.
Skill ratings? By the learner and reviewed by the manager? Not available.
Data visualization that even can match what folks such as Fuse, and EdCast can produce- not even close.
I understand this is the first version, and each version should add new capabilities and improve upon the previous version.
But this isn’t something rolled out by a start-up or a few folks who have little funds.
It’s LinkedIn.
And if this is what they see learning as or should be,
It doesn’t matter if you’re just learning how to code or if you’re a seasoned programmer, solving code challenges is a great way to sharpen your skills. Not only will they help you learn more about coding, but they’re a standard part of technical interviews, so being comfortable solving code challenges can give you a competitive edge over the competition. But these aren’t the only reasons to test yourself with code challenges.
Another reason is to put the knowledge you gained through online coding courses and books to use. Coding is a skill that requires practice, and code challenges are a great way to use your coding skills. They provide a quick way to learn the concepts you’ll use later throughout your career.
But code challenges can also be fun. Conquering a complex problem is very rewarding. In this article, we have 10 advanced Ruby code challenges to get you started. Try a few today and come back later to complete the rest. If you get through all of these, we show you how to find more at the end of the article.
10 code challenges for experienced Ruby developers
So let’s get started. To complete these code challenges, you’ll need in-depth knowledge of the Ruby programming language. There are many reasons to learn Ruby if you don’t already know the language. To get started learning Ruby or refresh your skills, take our Learn Ruby course.
1. Re-inventing multiplication
In this challenge, write a function in Ruby that takes two parameters, both of them are numbers. The function should multiply the numbers and return the result, but there’s a catch. You’re not allowed to use the * symbol.
2. Calculate a javelin throw
In this challenge, you’ll calculate a trajectory.
Create a Ruby function that takes two parameters. The first parameter will be the initial speed of the javelin in meters per second. The second parameter will be the angle the javelin was thrown in degrees.
The function should return the maximum height that the javelin will reach and the maximum range of the javelin as a string. Results should be rounded to the nearest whole number. To help with your calculations, gravitational acceleration is 9.81 meters per second.
3. Calculate the bonus
A certain business that provides professional services charges their customers based on the person-days their staff works. This business also created a bonus system to reward and motivate the team to work harder.
They pay a bonus for each day a staff member worked for a client over a threshold target. The target threshold for a staff member is to bill 32 days out of the quarter. Here’s the breakdown of the bonus schedule:
0 to 32 days: $0
33 to 40 days: $365 per day
41 to 48 days: $525 per day
More than 48 days: $625 per day
These bonuses are also calculated progressively.
Here’s an example of how the bonus would be calculated for an employee that worked 44 days in a quarter:
320 + 8365 + 4*625
Write a function in Ruby that accepts the number of days that an employee worked in a quarter and returns the bonus the employee will get.
4. Recursively reverse a string
For this challenge, write a Ruby function that accepts a string as a parameter and returns the string reversed. This would be easy to write, but for this challenge, you have to use recursion.
5. Map the letters of a string
For this challenge, you’ll need to write a function that accepts a word as a parameter. The function should return a hash that stores the indexes of each letter in an array. For example, if the parameter is ‘dodo,’ the function should return “{ :d=>[0, 2], :o=>[1, 3] }”.
6. Count the arguments
Write a function in Ruby that accepts an unlimited number of arguments and returns the count of those arguments. This challenge may seem simple at first, but you really have to know Ruby to complete it.
7. Is it a new number?
A new number is defined as a number that is not a permutation of any smaller number. For example, 859 is not a new number because both 589 and 598 are smaller than it.
Leading zeroes don’t count, so 30 is a new number. Write a function that accepts an integer as an argument and returns true if it’s a new number and false if it’s not.
8. Create a custom subtraction function
For this challenge, create a Ruby function that accepts two positive integer arguments. The function should subtract the second argument from the first.
The catch is that you can’t use any of the common mathematical operators. This includes -, %, /, *, or +. But, you can use any of the bitwise operators, including <<, |, ~, and &.
9. Poker hand ranking
Write a function in Ruby that accepts five arguments that represent five cards. Each card will be represented by two characters. The first character is the value of the card: 2-9, A, K, Q, and J. The second character is the suit: h, s, d, and c.
The function should return the Poker combination the hand contains. Return values include royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, pair, and high card. It should return the highest-ranked combination only.
10. Sum of digits
Write a function in Ruby that accepts two integers as arguments. The function should sum all the integers from the lowest parameter to the highest one.
For example, if the two arguments are 1 and 10, the function should return 55, which is 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10.
Build your Ruby and code challenge skills
So, how did you like these challenges? If they made you want to check out more, then we have even more challenges for you.
You can sign up here or download our app and participate in our daily and weekly code challenges to help keep your programming skills sharp. You can also check out some of the past coding challenges in our code challenge forum.
If you’re new to the Ruby programming language or want to expand your skills in Ruby to tackle advanced code challenges like those above, our Learn Ruby course will teach you what you need to know. And, if you find out you really like Ruby, check out Learn Ruby on Rails and Learn Authentication in Ruby on Rails. These two courses will teach you how to use Ruby’s famous framework to build web apps quickly and easily, just one of the many things Ruby is used for.
So, you’re interested in becoming a developer? Congratulations, and welcome to your new career! As you’ve started looking into different developer career paths, you’ve probably come across web development.
But what is web development exactly? Why is it important, and what kinds of Web Developers are there?
In a few words, web development involves the creation and maintenance of websites. By “website,” we mean a collection of web pages that are publicly accessible on the internet, such as:
Modern web development also includes web applications. Web applications are software packages that run on a web server and are accessed through the internet. This is unlike a traditional application that runs on your computer, tablet, or phone.
In this article, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about the basics of web development, including:
Front-end vs. back-end web development
Even if you’re new to web development, you’ve probably heard the terms “front-end development” and “back-end development” before. But what do they mean?
Front-end web development has to do with the interface that you, the user, interact with when you visit a website or use a web application. Front-End Developers create everything you see on a web page, including:
Back-end web development has to do with the parts of a website that you can’t see, particularly how website information is stored and retrieved.
When you access a webpage in your browser, you’re essentially requesting to see a file stored on a server somewhere. When you load a webpage for the first time or sign into a website with a username and password, it’s Back-End Developers who make it possible to access website information efficiently and securely.
Now that you understand the basics of web development, let’s look at how a website or web application comes to life from two perspectives: the web development process and the web development team.
The web development process
Suppose that a new client needs a new website and has asked you to develop one. Where do you start, and what do you do next?
Whether you’re creating a website or web application with a team of three or 300, web development tends to follow the same seven steps.
Information gathering
Information gathering includes addressing internal factors (like the website’s purpose) and external factors (like information about the target audience and competing websites).
Questions you’ll need to answer during this stage include:
Why is the client creating a website?
Who do they want to visit the site?
What will people be able to do on the website or in the web application?
Why will people want to use the client’s website instead of someone else’s?
Planning
Once you understand the purpose of your website and what kind of people you want to visit, it’s time to start planning. During this stage, dev teams put together an outline of the website and its web pages. This is known as a sitemap.
Think of the sitemap as the skeleton of the website. Web Developers use sitemaps to flesh out how webpages will link to each other through menus and how website data should be structured on the webserver.
Design
In the design phase, the dev team begins to create something like an actual website. Layouts, images, logos, colors, fonts, and other aesthetic features are put together and visualized during this phase. The client may provide an existing logo and color scheme or be open to designs your team presents.
Next, you and the client will agree on a layout, information structure, and aesthetic direction to guide the rest of the web development project.
Content creation
Until now, the web development team will have put in placeholder images and text in the website design until the real content is ready to be inserted.
Typically, it’s up to the client to provide the content. And because content creation can be done throughout the rest of the web development process, the content should be ready as soon as the design phase is finished.
At this point, the web development team may work with the client to adjust word counts and character limits for menus and ensure that image and video files look full size.
Coding
Once the website design and content are finalized, it’s time to start coding. At this point, both Front-End Developers and Back-End Developers will work to turn the website design on paper into a working reality that functions within a browser.
The coding process itself depends on the size of the project and the design approach of the development team. For example, a small project for an informational website might involve just a couple of programmers working together. A large-scale web application might involve teams of developers adopting an Agile approach like Scrum.
Testing and launch
Just like with software, websites need to be tested and debugged before they’re ready to go live. That means developing test cases and ensuring that the website code follows the client’s QA/QC procedures.
Web development testing might include checking all hyperlinks, searching for typos, and ensuring that the website works well on different browsers and devices.
Finally, the website is ready to be uploaded to the webserver and accessed publicly on the internet.
Maintenance
After the website is up and running, it still needs to be maintained. Websites need to be updated for dozens of reasons — team member bios are added and removed, product and service descriptions change, and blog posts are published.
On the back end, a website or web application that stores customer data will need to ensure that databases are secure and comply with the latest data privacy regulations.
Web development teams and roles
As you might guess, the full web development process requires a lot of effort and different skill sets. That’s why web development teams include various kinds of roles. Below are some of the main roles on a web development team.
Web Designer
Before starting the first line of code, the web development team needs to understand what the website should look like. That’s where web design comes in.
Web Designers focus on the look and aesthetic of a website during the web development process. This might include working closely with the website owner or marketing team to develop a look and color scheme.
Web Designers also work with Front-End Developers to assess any practical or design constraints of the website. For example, if a project implements Bootstrap or another framework, the Web Designer must create a compatible design.
Web Designers typically work with graphic design software such as InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop. While many Web Designers know the basics of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, they’re not expected to know these languages as well as a Front-End Developer.
Front-End Developer
Once the Web Designer has put together the project’s design, the Front-End Developer turns drawings and concepts into reality.
The front end includes everything a user sees or interacts with, from drop-down menus to background colors and font text. This is also known as the client-side.
The principal coding tools of the Front-End Developer are HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Still, many Front-End Developers are familiar with several other programming languages, frameworks, and libraries, including:
In short, Front-End Developers are responsible for ensuring that websites and web applications look great and work well, whether you’re using them on a phone, laptop, Mac, PC, or any browser.
Back-End Developer
Would you move into a beautiful house if you discovered it lacked electricity, internet, or running water? While Web Designers and Front-End Developers are responsible for the look and feel of a website or web application, Back-End Developers make sure that the website is connected correctly and that you can get the information you need from the site and its servers.
For example, when you clicked on the link to read this article, it’s because of Back-End Developers that your browser could request the article’s content, retrieve the information from our website servers, and quickly load it onto your laptop or device. This is also known as the server-side.
Back-End Developers often work with servers and databases, which means their technical skill sets include programming languages like:
Full-Stack Developer
Full-Stack Developers are, for lack of a better phrase, the full package. They combine the skills of Front-End Developers and Back-End Developers. That means they can take part in developing the client-side or server-side of a web development project.
A Full-Stack Developer may work on both sides of web development on smaller projects, or they may focus on one side or another on a larger project. They may also be assigned to do other tasks that take advantage of their full skill set, such as:
Considering security and scalability during the web development process
Content Developer
Imagine clicking on a link to an article that promises to teach you all about web development. The website looks great on both your laptop and phone, it loads quickly, but when you open the article, it just says “Lorem ipsum…”
This is why we need Content Developers. While most of the web dev team focuses on making the website beautiful and functional, Content Developers create text (or “copy”) to put on the website, from landing page text to blog posts and technical articles.
Because Content Developers don’t interact directly with the website, they don’t need the typical web development skills. Instead, they’re usually skilled in the subject matter of content, marketing, and writing clearly and effectively.
Content development teams also include Copy Editors to correct formatting and grammar, fact-checkers to ensure accuracy, and marketing professionals to ensure that the content message reflects the company’s values.
Webmaster
So, your amazing web development team has designed, created, and published its new website. That means you’re done, right?
Wrong.
While getting a website designed and published can take a lot of time and effort, the work doesn’t stop there. Someone needs to make sure that it stays current and gets enough visitor traffic. Enter the Webmaster.
The Webmaster updates the site, monitors site analytics, and communicates with the rest of the web development team to keep the website or web application up-to-date and engaging.
Other stars
Depending on the company and project, a web development team might include other key roles. For example, a client may want to involve their own business and technical teams to improve communication and feedback, while an Agile web development team will include a Scrum master and product owner.
Web Developers use various resources, frameworks, tools, and software packages to make their lives easier throughout the development process. Here are a few of the most common:
Web design:
WordPress
Photoshop
InDesign
Sketch
Google Web Designer
Front-end web development:
Back-end web development:
Website and web application testing
If you’re interested in specializing in web development, we recommend that you look into some of these tools and resources to help deepen your knowledge and build up your skill set.
Why web development is important
It wasn’t too long ago that companies thought their web presence was peripheral to their day-to-day business. Today, they rely on their websites to attract new customers and communicate with existing ones.
Still, business owners want to focus on their actual products and services rather than building and managing their websites. That’s why web development is so important. Professional Web Developers provide an essential service to businesses and organizations for a few reasons.
Web Developers are specialists
Is it possible for a small business owner or marketing professional to learn about web development? Absolutely. But, building and maintaining a good website today takes a lot of time and skill. As more people realize this, Web Developers are becoming more and more in demand.
Web Developers keep up with the latest tools
Not only are Web Developers trained in today’s web development tools, but they’re always learning the newest ones because, well, that’s their job. And, with programming and development tools constantly evolving, keeping up with the latest in web development is a full-time job.
Companies can make the most of their websites
A company website can be used as a tool for inventory management, payment processing, marketing campaigns, customer service, business intelligence gathering, and much more. A website that’s built and maintained by professional Web Developers is more likely to collect relevant information to help improve customer experience and increase sales.
Ready to start your new career in web development?
The exciting world of web development is changing every day, but one thing is clear: Web Developers are in demand now. Companies all over the world want Web Developers, and they’re willing to pay for talented Web Developers — people like you.
Now that you know all about the basics of web development, it’s time to take the next step in your new career as a Web Developer. Whether you want to become a Front-End Developer, Back-End Developer, or Full-Stack Developer, now is a great time to get started.
Did you know that Designer Blogs has an affiliate program? Well, we sure do, and we’d love for you to become a part of it! Joining our affiliate program gives you the opportunity to earn cash by promoting our products on your blog, social media pages, and/or in an email. Affiliates can earn a 10% commission on any of our downloadable digital products, including our Planners, WordPress Themes, Accessories, and Blogger Templates.
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In Blogger
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Scroll down until you find the HTML/JavaScript gadget. Click the “+” button to add it to your sidebar.
Paste the URL to the ad into the Content box, add a title if you wish, and then click Save.
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In WordPress
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Select the widget area you’d like to place the ad. If you are unsure where to place it, your Primary Sidebar area is usually the best place. Then click Add Widget.
The widget will automatically appear at the bottom of the widget area you selected. Paste the URL to the ad into the Content box, add a title if you wish, and then click Save.
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Step 4: Watch Your Balance Grow
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Since 1976, Metropolitan Diary has been a home for reader-submitted stories about those “only-in-New-York experiences.” Each week, its editors write, New Yorkers and visitors to the city “share anecdotes, memories, quirky encounters and overheard snippets that reveal the city’s spirit and heart.”
What we like about this column is that it is an excellent model for narrative writing. Each story focuses on a small, memorable moment — an overheard conversation, an encounter on the subway, a small act of kindness — that often ends up saying something bigger about human nature, the world we live in or just the uniqueness of New York City.
What stories do you have to share about a community you belong to, whether that’s your city, your school or even somewhere online? In this lesson, you’ll read several stories from Metropolitan Diary and then write your own about a memorable encounter you had that surprised, delighted or inspired you.
Have you ever had an encounter in your city or community that surprised, delighted or inspired you? Perhaps an interaction with a friend or a stranger at the bus stop, in a skate park, at your job, in a classroom or online, in a video game chat or the comments section of a post? It might be something that happened to you, or something you observed or overheard.
Take a minute or so to brainstorm places in your community where you often see special, unusual or funny things happen.
Then, use the sentence starter below to write for a few minutes about whatever comes to mind:
An encounter that I had that I’ll never forget is …
You might read one together as a class, one with a partner and one on your own. For each story you read, respond to the questions below.
Questions for Writing and Discussion
As you read, annotate and take notes on what you notice about the way these pieces are written. Here are some questions to consider for each story:
1. What is the event or small, memorable moment that this story focuses on? Why do you think the writer might have chosen it?
2. Ed Shanahan, the editor of Metropolitan Diary, says that he often looks for stories that have “sharp memories of people, places and things” and “settings that instantly put the reader in the city.” Circle or underline the descriptive details in the story. What do these details contribute to the story? Why do you think the author included them?
3. The purpose of Metropolitan Diary is to share stories that surprise, delight and inspire. What kind of response or reaction do you think the author of the story you read was trying to elicit from the reader? What word choices, literary devices or other “writer’s moves” help achieve this response?
4. Many of the stories readers submit impart some kind of universal message about human kindness, happy coincidences, making connections or what it’s like to live in New York City. What do you think is the message of the story you read? What lines help communicate that message?
5. Mr. Shanahan says he also keeps a close eye on the kicker, or the last line of the story, and almost always cuts commentary such as “that’s why I love New York.” Why do you think he does that? How does the story you read end? Do you think the ending is effective? Why or why not?
6. Which of the stories did you find the most interesting, meaningful or compelling? Why? What did the author do that you admired that you might like to try in your own writing?
Going Further
Now, it’s your turn: Write your own story modeled after Metropolitan Diary about a memorable encounter in a community you belong to. You might continue what you started in the warm-up or write something entirely new.
Here are some guidelines:
Your story should be about a small, memorable moment — and it should be true (that is, it happened to you, or you were there when it happened).
Metropolitan Diary stories are all about New York City, but your story can be about any community you belong to.
Try to make your piece fewer than 300 words, the way Metropolitan Diary pieces are. Yours can even be fewer than 100 words, like many of the stories you read, as long as it has a beginning, middle and end.
Play with form. You can write your piece as a traditional story, but it can also take the form of a poem or a short play.
Consider the larger message you want your piece to impart. What does this anecdote say about your community? What does it tell us about the world we live in, human nature or life itself? Then, see if you can employ some of the writing moves you noticed in the Metropolitan Diary pieces you read to help communicate your message — descriptive details that evoke a sense of place, literary devices that elicit a reaction and a kicker that subtly, but effectively, tells your reader what your piece is about.
If you want to go further, try making your own pen and ink drawing, like those created by the Metropolitan Diary illustrator Agnes Lee, to go with your piece.
If you like, post your finished work in the comments! (You can post comments up to 1500 characters — or about 250 words. If your story is longer than that, you can post it in two comments.)
Want more Lessons of the Day? You can find them all here.
A recent Times article described how the Abushi brothers, four siblings in Queens, take car customization to the next level — like the $770,000 Rolls-Royce Cullinan Mansory SUV belonging to the Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. that the brothers body-wrapped in Beckham’s signature traffic-cone orange.
What is your dream car? How would you want it customized if you could afford to do anything? Why?
Tell us in the comments, then read the related article to learn more.
Want more Picture Prompts? Find them all in this column.
Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
