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Pet Ownership

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Pet Ownership

Adoption and foster rates for pets soared during the pandemic, as people sought furry friends to make their isolation more bearable. Did your family get a pandemic pet — or did you already own one?

Tell us about a pet you own now or owned in the past. What is he or she like? What does this pet add to your life, or the life of your family? What questions do you have about his or her behavior?

Tell us in the comments, then read the related article to learn about six podcasts The Times recommends for pet owners.

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.

Word of the Day: fervid

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Word of the Day: fervid

1. characterized by intense emotion

2. extremely hot

_________

The word fervid has appeared in 16 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on July 10 in “At Wimbledon, Men’s Final Takes a Back Seat to England vs. Italy” by Ben Rothenberg:

After 55 years of waiting for another shot at a trophy since their 1966 World Cup win, England fans aren’t ready to shut up just yet, even during the matches here. Sporadic cries of “It’s coming home,” a verbal meme for England fans, are breaking the otherwise reverent silences at Wimbledon with increasing frequency as England advances.

… Tumaini Carayol, a tennis correspondent for The Guardian, said he believed the fervid interest in Emma Raducanu, who was the last British player in contention in the singles draws, had been fueled by the patriotic passions roused by soccer success. “The England run went hand-in-hand with a young British girl making the fourth round,” Carayol said.

Can you correctly use the word fervid 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 fervid can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com.

If you enjoy this daily challenge, try one of our monthly vocabulary challenges.

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.

Our 3rd Annual STEM Writing Contest

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Our 3rd Annual STEM Writing Contest

How do daddy longlegs grow such strange legs? Can genetically engineered bacteria help us detect buried land mines? Why does snow sometimes turn red? Can Saturn’s rings help to reveal what’s happening in the planet’s core?

If you click on any of these articles, you’ll see that they are written for a general reader. Special technical or scientific knowledge is not required, and each is designed to get our attention and keep it — by giving us “news we can use” in our own lives, or by exploring something fascinating in a way that makes it easy to understand and shows us why it matters.

That’s what Times journalists do every day across our Science, Health and Technology sections, and it’s what Science News and Science News for Students do on their sites too, where journalists explain things like the moon’s orbital wobble, “zombie” wildfires and how sleep may affect test scores.

For this contest, The Learning Network invites you to bring that same spirit of inquiry and discovery to finding a STEM-related question, concept or issue you’re interested in, and, in 500 words or fewer, explaining it to a general audience in a way that not only helps us understand, but also engages us and makes us see why it’s important.

So what questions do you have about how the world works? What science, technology, engineering, math or health questions might be inspired by your own life or experiences? What innovations, processes or problems in any of these areas puzzle or intrigue you? What concepts in STEM — whether from biology, physics, psychology, computer science, algebra or calculus — have you learned about, in or out of school, that might be useful or fun to explain to others?

The best of this kind of writing includes three elements we’ll be asking you to include, too:

  • It begins with an engaging hook to get readers’ attention and make us care about the subject.

  • It quotes experts and/or includes research on the topic to give context and credibility.

  • It explains why the topic matters. Why do you care? Why should we care? Whom or what does it affect, why and how? How is it relevant to broader questions in the field, to the world today and to our own lives.

Take a look at the full guidelines and related resources below. Please post any questions you have in the comments and we’ll answer you there, or write to us at LNFeedback@nytimes.com.

This contest begins on Feb. 2, 2022. We will add links to the submission forms here on the day the contest opens.

Students ages 11 to 19 anywhere in the world attending middle or high school can participate. Students ages 13 to 19 years old in the United States and the United Kingdom, and students ages 16 to 19 years old anywhere else in the world, can submit their own entries. Younger students can have an adult submit on their behalf.

1. Choose a STEM topic you care about.

Maybe it’s something personal — you just found out you’re nearsighted and you want to know what that means, or you want to learn about the brain and how to create more efficient study habits.

Or, maybe it’s something cool you observed in science lab that you’d like to explain, or a phenomenon you’ve noticed in your own neighborhood, school or backyard that you’d like to investigate. It could be a topic you already know a great deal about and want to explain to others, or something you’ve never thought about until now.

Please choose something you are genuinely curious about. We’ve been running student writing contests for over a decade, and one thing we know for sure is that the best writing is inspired by students’ real interests, not from a one-size-fits-all assignment given to an entire class.

2. Make sure your topic is narrow enough that you can cover it well in 500 words or fewer.

You probably can’t explain the entire circulatory system within our word limit, but you probably can explain why the heart keeps beating. You probably can’t get across all the thinking and research on the science of happiness, but you probably can choose one research-backed recommendation and explore it.

3. Do research, and cite your sources.

For this contest, we are partnering with Science News. At least one of your sources must be from either The New York Times, Science News OR its sister site, Science News for Students. But of course you can use all three, and any other additional sources.

We provide you with a separate field to make a list of sources you used to write your article or essay. You can format your list however you want; we will not judge your entry based on formatting in this section. And, internal citations are not necessary.

We also encourage you to interview experts whose work is relevant to your chosen topic. But that doesn’t mean you have to call the head of the U.S. Forest Service if you want to write about butterfly habitats. You can talk to a local park ranger or gardener who has experience with and extensive knowledge about the topic.

And, of course, part of your research can be your own investigations. Let’s say you’re writing about teenagers’ use of e-books. You might survey your own class or grade about their habits and preferences, then use those findings in your piece.

4. But be very careful to put quotations around any direct quotes you use, and to cite the source of anything you paraphrase.

If we put a sentence from your submission into a search engine, we don’t want to find it anywhere else — unless you’re clearly quoting or citing that source.

5. Your submission must be 500 words or fewer, not including the title.

6. Here is the rubric that shows exactly what we’re looking for.

7. Please submit only one entry per student.

Write your essay by yourself or with a group, but please submit only one essay per student. If you are working as a team, just remember to submit all of your names when you post your entry. And if you’re submitting as part of a team, you should not also submit as an individual.

8. The deadline for this contest is Wednesday, March 9, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time.

We provide a small window of time after that deadline to allow for technical difficulties. However, at some point after the deadline, our contest submission form closes and you will not be allowed to submit an entry, so please be mindful of the deadline and submit early.

Answers to your questions about judging, the rules and teaching with this contest. Please read these thoroughly and, if you still can’t find what you’re looking for, post your query in the comments or write to us at LNFeedback@nytimes.com.

QUESTIONS ABOUT JUDGING

How will my essay be judged?

Your work will be read by journalists from The New York Times and Science News as well as by Learning Network staff members and STEM educators from around the United States. We will use this rubric to judge entries.

What is the “prize”?

Having your work published on The New York Times Learning Network.

When will the winners be announced?

About two months after the contest has closed.

My essay wasn’t selected as a winner. Can you tell me why?

We receive thousands of entries for this contest, so, unfortunately, our team does not have the capacity to provide individual feedback on each student’s essay.

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE RULES

Who is eligible to participate in this contest?

For this contest, we invite students ages 11 to 19 in middle school or high school to enter. For students in the United States, we consider middle school to begin in 6th grade; students outside of the United States must be at least 11 years old to enter.

The children and stepchildren of New York Times employees are not eligible to enter this contest. Nor are students who live in the same household as those employees.

If you are not sure if you are eligible for this contest (for example, if you’re taking a gap year), please see our more detailed eligibility rules.

My essay was published in my school newspaper. Can I submit it to this contest?

No. We ask that your essay be original for this contest. Please don’t submit anything you have already published at the time of submission, whether in a school newspaper, for another contest or anywhere else.

Do I need a Works Cited page?

Yes. We provide you with a separate field to list the sources you used to write your essay. You’re allowed to format your list however you want; we will not judge your entry based on formatting in this section. Internal citations are not necessary.

Can I have someone else check my work?

We understand that students will often revise their work based on feedback from teachers and peers. That is allowed for this contest. However, be sure that the final submission reflects the ideas, voice and writing ability of the student, not someone else.

Who can I contact if I have questions about this contest or am having issues submitting my entry?

Leave a comment on this post or write to us at LNFeedback@nytimes.com.

QUESTIONS ABOUT TEACHING WITH THIS CONTEST

I’m a teacher. What resources do you have to help me teach with this contest?

Start with our unit plan for informational writing. It includes writing prompts, mentor texts and lesson plans that can support this contest.

You might also invite your students to read the winners of last year’s contest to get inspiration for their own work.

Do my students need a New York Times subscription to access these resources?

No. All of the resources on The Learning Network are free.

If your students don’t have a subscription to The New York Times, they can also get access to Times pieces through The Learning Network. All the activities for students on our site, including mentor texts and writing prompts, plus the Times articles they link to, are free. Students can search for articles using the search tool on our home page. In the rest of The Times, they can access up to five free articles a month.

How do my students prove to me that they entered this contest?

After they submit their essays, students should receive an email from The New York Times with the subject heading “Thank you for your submission to our STEM Writing Contest,” which they can forward to you to show their entry has been accepted.

This contest is a collaboration with the Society for Science & the Public, publisher of Science News, a source of independent nonprofit journalism on the latest in science, medicine and technology since 1921, Science News for Students and the Science News in High Schools program.

Should There Be Limits on How Much Time Young People Spend Playing Video Games?

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Should There Be Limits on How Much Time Young People Spend Playing Video Games?

China announced this summer that children and teenagers can now play just three hours of video games a week. Young people under 18 are barred from online gaming on school days, and limited to one hour a day on weekend and holiday evenings.

Chinese government officials — and many parents — have long worried about the potential downsides of playing video games. Do you see any downsides? Do they worry you, too?

Do you think there should be limits on how much time young people spend playing video games? If so, should the government make those limits? Should parents and families?

In “China Tightens Limits for Young Online Gamers and Bans School Night Play,” Chris Buckley reports:

China’s strict limits on how long minors can play online video games just got stricter. Chinese children and teenagers are barred from online gaming on school days, and limited to one hour a day on weekend and holiday evenings, under government rules issued Monday.

The rules, released by the National Press and Publication Administration, tightened restrictions from 2019 aimed at what the government said was a growing scourge of online game addiction among schoolchildren. Under the old rules, players under the age of 18 were limited to no more than 90 minutes of gaming on weekdays and three hours a day on weekends.

Parents had complained that was too generous and had been laxly enforced, the administration said. The new rule sets the permitted gameplay hour to 8 to 9 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The government said it would step up inspections to ensure that gaming companies were enforcing the restrictions.

And in “New Limits Give Chinese Video Gamers Whiplash,” Paul Mozur and Elsie Chen report:

Minors still find ways around government blocks. Chinese tech companies, like Tencent, are cornerstones of the global gaming industry. The country has also been quick to embrace competitive gaming, building e-sports stadiums and enabling college students to major in the topic.

Yet China’s relationship with games is decidedly complex. A major source of entertainment in the country, games offer a social outlet and an easily accessible hobby in a country where booming economic growth has disrupted social networks and driven long work hours. The multiplayer mobile game Honor of Kings, for example, has more than 100 million players a day.

For years, though, officials — and many parents — have worried about the potential downsides, like addiction and distraction. As a more paternalistic government under the Chinese leader Xi Jinping has turned to direct interventions to mold how people live and what they do for fun, gaining control over video games has been high on the priority list. In addition to other pursuits, like celebrity fan clubs, Mr. Xi’s government has increasingly deemed games a superfluous distraction at best — and at worst, a societal ill that threatens the cultural and moral guidance of the Chinese Communist Party.

Students, read one or both articles, then tell us:

  • Are Chinese government officials and parents right to worry about negative side effects from playing video games? Why or why not?

  • How much time do you spend playing video games? Have you ever experienced negative side effects? Do your parents set rules about how much you can play? If you were a parent, would you set rules?

  • The U.S. government already prohibits young people from drinking alcohol or smoking. Should governments create limits the way China did to prevent children and teenagers from playing video games for too many hours? Why or why not?

  • If the government doesn’t set limits, should parents and families do so? Why or why not?

  • Is there an age when a young person should be mature enough to make their own decisions about how much time they spend playing video games? If yes, what is that age, and why?

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.

Why did you buy your learning system?

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Why did you buy your learning system?

We all believe we make the right decisions. Sure, there are times we second guess ourselves afterward, for any number of reasons.

Some due to a last-minute, “I need this” near the checkout lane. Others, a “well I did the research, but I am having second thoughts,”. Perhaps it is an intensive search, analysis, comparison, contacting, repetitive follow-up, and then, just when you think it is done, someone else isn’t sure, so the whole thing comes crashing down, and the process goes into limbo.

Maybe, just maybe you are ready to purchase, the decision is made, everything is set, just a signature is required. New System X is announced that it is coming out and is made by a well-known brand or a brand that you hear is great, didn’t like the first time around, but this is a new version, and just perhaps, perhaps it is a better fit. So, you hold. Then, rollout and you buy – ignoring everything you have already done.

The Mustard Aisle

I’m the worst. I’m the guy who goes into a supermarket, makes a b-line to the condiments aisle, knowing that I need mustard. I find the mustard options and stand there. So many choices. Yellow? Spicey? Horseradish? I am not a yellow mustard fan, so I remove those immediately from consideration. Wait, there is a special going on, buy one, get one free – maybe Yellow mustard isn’t so bad. Nope, it’s out. What about this brand? Never heard of it, not sure.

Time goes by, and there I am still debating on mustard. Price becomes a factor, but this mustard just seems like the right one, so I could find a way, to make it work. $8 for mustard? What, no way – wait, it does seem to have all-natural ingredients, not some things I can’t figure out, like others.

I will think, okay, this is the right mustard, then second guess and put it down. More time.

At some point, I have to make a decision. I do.

When I get home and make myself a plant-based burger, I use my new mustard.

It was the right decision.

Decision Making

Let’s go back to the start. Why, did you purchase your learning system?

If I or someone else was to reach out to everyone who has purchased a learning system in the past year (the reasoning, Pre-COVID in some cases, no longer applies), trends will show up.

Trend 1

  • I need one quickly. This is directly tied to the pandemic, and for those who were on the fence or holding back jumping into the e-learning world, could no longer wait. The office workforce, was now at home, fully remote.

Downside 1

Because time was quick, the decision-making process was cut down. Focus on brand names, well-known based on some comparison sites – the bigger name ones, led to the buy.

Trend 2

  • Aligns with my use case. I have a use case here, I spent a lot of time on it, or not, but it provides everything I need. The vendor says they can meet my use case, it’s a perfect fit, I move forward.

Downside 2

I didn’t provide extensive details, with various scenarios based upon a set of roles, from the blue-collar employee (if they are at your company), to the new employee, to the established manager, the recently promoted manager, the senior executives, the employees who are in this department, which might be different from that department. The employees who are not interested in switching roles or departments, or even going for leadership opportunities. Managers who you know, have a poor track of mentoring. Your business approach, now changing to either a hybrid workplace model or full remote.

Access to the system – how will employees get on the system? What is the browser? At work, everyone uses the same one. Now? At work, everyone is at the same speed. Now? At work, we discourage the use of mobile devices. Now?

We used to do a lot of on-site ILT. Now?

The details. The scenarios. Way too many focus on the job role, but that likely won’t change – unless it is company-wide, and different companies do different things or identify different skills. That information is not, nor should be the focus of a use case.

The other items? Well…

Trend 3

  • Extensive RFPs – This is one trend that has gotten worse this past year. Which is hard to believe, because it was pretty bad, prior to. Well, more is better, right?

Downside 3

60 pages. 48 pages. 503 questions, all focused on security. Everyone at the company or place of business, putting their two cents in – even if it is the same request. Functionality. Every single item is based on that use case, which may or may not provide the right information.

Not seeing the system beforehand, leads many times to this idea of an extensive RFP submission. Which is, honestly, the worst idea anyone can make. Even worse than the idea that people want cola which looks like water (Pepsi Crystal).

A lot of people continue to just send out a lot of RFPs, without looking at the system first, then make their decision on the RFP. What they should do -0 is look first at the system, see if it has some things you are thinking about or automatically know you want – and if yes, then send out your RFP.

I use only one RFP. It has a lot of line items on it, extensive to say the least. You can adapt it. You can add or reduce. You force the vendor to provide details. You see the key “new” features that either exist today or are coming, that you never even thought about. It provides the right questions to ask around support. Training. Security. Oh, Privacy of data too.

If a vendor is using AWS, the security information, the data center information you are requesting – well, the vendor is going to either send you a link to the AWS site or just cut and paste it into your RFP. Save time – Find out where their system is hosted. Then go to that provider’s website. Now you just saved yourself 500 questions around security.

Trend 4

  • Limit the scope of looking for a learning system, focusing on the brands you hear the most, regardless of the sources, or see the “great reviews” from others, or see listed everywhere thanks to marketing. If you never heard of it, pass.

Downside 4

There are vendors who I consider masters of marketing. That said, the industry as a whole is awful. I can name the top five systems who are the kings of getting their name out, right now. I won’t because I am not their marketing machine or robot.

If you heard a brand a lot, does it mean it will automatically go up in your consideration process? If it is well-known, does that play a larger role, than the system which isn’t?

Is that how you buy your television? Your grocery items? Your car? If yes, then why is TCI, constantly being purchased? Why do people pay Eight bucks for a mustard they never heard of? (I bought a mustard I never heard of, but not for eight bucks). How did Kia achieve success in the U.S? It wasn’t like it was a household brand name for cars.

Here is what I will promise – the systems you see on any of my lists, or feedback, are 100% independent. No favorites. No quid pro quo. Based on accurate data and analysis. There are always ones in the lists, you will have never heard of. It doesn’t mean they are bad. It just means, they are not well-known.

As for user reviews, unless the review is from an actual customer, consider them a grain of salt, or just another tool in your toolbox. There is a reason that Amazon recommends people focus on reviews of three stars, over five stars. With Yelp, search the ones that they do not show (often under blocked or not recommended). Watch Yelp Bully – trust me, after that, you will see Yelp in a whole new perspective.

If the person leaving the review, isn’t a registered user and a customer then it could be anyone. Leaving a review on a system that may not align specifically to your use case, budget, and all other factors and then basing your decision on that, is not a good idea. This isn’t you dropping $45 for a nice meal. This is you paying the majority of your budget, for the right system.

Trend 5

Downside 5

For all those who are needing a system right now, there is an increase in folks who can’t click the “Go”. It is getting worse. At some point, it has to be done. Just because a system has been around since the early 2000’s, doesn’t mean it is dated. Nor a system that is brand new, doesn’t mean it has all the latest features and is “new” thus, elite.

Cornerstone (for Learning) is on my NexGen Grid – Leaders area for 2020. This was based on a tier system I use, that anyone can see, and a tier 3. Every vendor says they are NexGen, which really is just marketing hype. My next, NexGen Bracket is coming out next month. You will see the features and criteria it is based on – Tier 5, and Tier 4.

I saw a system, last week, who told me they had all of Tier 3 and 4. No, they did not. They were missing most of Tier 4. And a chunk of Tier 3.

Personally, I am not a fan of outsourced implementation, but there are vendors who did it. I believe you will see more in the coming year, as it is a cost saver to outsource. But it can backfire and when it does, it is bad. There are less than a handful, I would recommend, i.e. the outsource partner.

Do you go “all-included” or buy the base, then buy the add-ons if you need them down the road? Do you buy the base – i.e. the main learning system, assuming that everything you read or saw in the marketing is in there, or do you ask “is this included at no charge”? A few vendors that I like, go add-on, even within their base – i.e. main learning system, that go this way, and it isn’t a one-time cost, rather yearly.

I recommend “all-included”. You can always “turn off” that capability or capabilities. And when you are ready turn it on. Just think how many L&D and Training Execs selected a system, who never thought skills would be a hot, must have in your system, thus bought a system, was an add-on (additional cost), which they now must buy.

Remember, add-ons, means add-on costs down the road. All-included, means you get it all – now.

Trend 6

Downside

I’ve written extensively about MAU. There is only one vendor, that I have found so far, and which I rank as a “must buy” for 2021 – that actually does the “only charge” per month (with invoices going out quarterly, rather than the “up to” or you paying upfront.

The Keys to remember about MAU – aka Monthly active users

  • If the vendor requires you to pay up-front – then it is not based only on the numbers each month. I mean, it can change in four months, so what do they have? A time machine?
  • If they ask for the total number of active users for the entire year, and base the price on that with “up to”, then why the need to know how many active users per month, and then it goes back to zero for the following month, spin?
  • SkillJar spins a MAU bucket – but it is really the “up to angle”. If you need more, then you buy another bucket of seats. There are other vendors who follows this approach – i.e. buying in buckets of seats. This pricing model has been around since 2000. Just different words. Others go per seat, but will show you the additional cost, then at the end of the year, charge you for those additional seats.

I like Docebo, but they go “up to” in their pricing model. So does SAP Litmos. Frankly, the majority of the industry. It is a common practice, and again, has been around since the early 2000’s, just a different vernacular spin.

Focus on the final price, that is what you are paying.

And Remember the Big Three

  • Never tell the vendor your budget
  • Always sign for only three years. You can always renew after that. A three-year deal should and you a discount. In fact it is common.
  • Itemize everything. When you get the final proposal, you want to see each item listed, including that discount. Otherwise, who do you know you really got it?

Trend 7

Unprofessional Proposals.

Downside 7

This is on the vendor side, but it is something you should pay attention to. This is a big purchase for you. This is from the vendor perspective (or should be)the last time, they get to WOW you about their system, benefits, aligning to your use case and needs.

The majority of proposals are boilerplate. Everyone gets the same design and look and information – excluding the cost. Of course, the pricing will be different based on your seats and requirements.

Assuming that is, they did a professional proposal.

Lately, I have seen an increase in proposals that are nothing more than a spreadsheet. No additional materials are sent. Just here is the price. I am a fan of putting the price upfront, but you need and should have additional materials to support and empower your system.

Spend the time to do so. If you use a template, then just add the text around the client’s use case and how your system aligns perfectly to it.

The lazy approach is the lack of professional design proposal.

Bottom Line

Why did you buy your system?

When you saw, in the response from the RFP, misspellings, did that tell you anything? Besides the fact, that the salesperson couldn’t spend a few minutes with a spell checker and then, a second set of eyeballs if need be? (I recommend a third party solution to review).

Did you go RFP first, rather than looking at the system first?

Did you follow an extensive in-depth internal scenarios based on something similar to what I wrote above, or was it too generic, to “fits in the box” approach?

Did you ask the right questions on your demo? And if the vendor said, “Ask me questions at any time”, and you do, and they ignore you – did that send you a warning sign?

Buying a system is not something that is done quickly, but equally it shouldn’t take you nine months to assess, before you decide.

When it is all said and done,

How do you feel right now?

Happy?

Regretful?

Unsure?

I hope, that it’s happy.

Otherwise, you will be looking for another system

Soon.

E-Learning 24/7

Introducing Docs: Your New Go-To Resource for All Things Programming

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Introducing Docs: Your New Go-To Resource for All Things Programming
Introducing Docs - Your New Go-To Resource for All Things Programming

While our courses go a long way toward helping people achieve various technical and professional goals, our community plays just as big a role. In our forums, chapters, social channels, and more, you’ll find new and experienced programmers alike supporting one another’s growth — clarifying concepts, troubleshooting, and more.

Now, we’ve made it even easier for you to share your programming knowledge and experience with our new open-contribution project: Codecademy Docs.

A useful resource for reference materials

In Docs, you’ll find coding documentation about popular programming languages and frameworks, such as:

Many entries were written by the experts and educators behind your favorite courses. Others were written by learners like you, who returned to Codecademy to share their knowledge and experience.

Docs is a great resource for new learners. When you’re just stepping into the world of code, it’s easy to get lost in all the arrays, classes, and strings. But now, you have easy access to reference materials about various tools and concepts.

But it’s not just new developers who can benefit from Docs. It’s great for those who are already established in their fields, too!

Breaking into open-contribution projects

Docs is a great introduction to open-contribution projects. Getting a few entries under your belt will make you much more comfortable contributing to similar projects like MDN Web Docs.

It’s also a great way to give back to the community. Think back to when you were first starting out. How often did you find yourself stuck on a problem or struggling with a particular method or function?

Every day, countless people from all over the world face many of the same challenges. And now, with Docs, you can help them find the answers to their questions and guide them along in their development. Plus, as an open-contribution project, Docs can be a great addition to your portfolio.

How to contribute to Codecademy Docs

In short, Docs is a helpful resource that’ll help improve your understanding of various programming-related tools and concepts. It’s also a great way to give back to the community and contribute to other learners’ development.

As Sonny L., one of our Senior Curriculum Developers who played a big role in Docs’ development, explains:

“Codecademy Docs is a low-key big step for us because it’s our very first step into the realm of open-contribution and UGC (user-generated content). Our north star is a world where developers, educators, learners around the world come together and build/maintain tens of thousands of high quality coding documentation entries for everyone to use.

This is our Day 1, but we are very excited to innovate in this space and push the boundary of what a coding documentation could be.”

But wait — if anyone can contribute, how do you know you’re getting accurate information? Rest assured, each entry is reviewed by a member of our team before being published.

Ready to make a difference? First, check out this contribution guide. Then, take a look through this list of issues to find a topic that aligns with your area of expertise.

30 CSS Snippets For the Most Frequently Used CSS Tasks

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30 CSS Snippets For the Most Frequently Used CSS Tasks
30 CSS Snippets For the Most Frequently Used CSS Tasks

Code snippets are blocks of code that are usually:

  • Shared between developers.
  • Added to articles and blog posts, like this one.
  • Posted on cheat sheets.

Code snippets save a lot of development time. With them, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel or delve into a language’s documentation. In other words, they’re great if you just need a solution to finish up a project.

If you’re a Front-End Developer who’s been working in JavaScript all day, writing good CSS can be frustrating. Or, if you’re a Full-Stack Developer, you must do this as well as work on the back-end code of an application.

To make this process a little smoother, we’ve collected 30 useful CSS snippets that’ll help you style your app.

3 CSS snippets for shadows and gradients

The snippets below will help you get shadows just right.

1. Add a shadow to borders or images

This will make your borders and images stand out on your page.

.shadow {
  box-shadow: 0px 5px 5px rgba(0,0,0,0.4);
  -moz-box-shadow: 0px 5px 5px rgba(0,0,0,0.4);
  -webkit-box-shadow: 0px 5px 5px rgba(0,0,0,0.4);
}

2. Add a shadow to text

You can even add a shadow to your text if you want the text to be more visible.

.text-with-shadow { text-shadow: 4px 4px 8px #000; }

3. Add a linear gradient

You don’t need an image to create a gradient — you can do it with pure CSS. Play around with the to and from values below and see what you get.

.gradient { background: -webkit-gradient(linear, left top, left bottom, from(#000000), to(#ffffff)); background: -moz-linear-gradient(top, #000000, #ffffff); filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.gradient(startColorstr='#000000', endColorstr='#ffffff'); }

6 CSS snippets for images

Make your images do what you want them to using the CSS snippets below.

4. Use an image as a border

You don’t have to settle for the default borders. You can set your own using an image.

/* You have 3 options for the type of border (repeat / round / stretch) */
bordered-image { border-width: 20px; -moz-border-image: url(border.png) 30 30 stretch ; -webkit-border-image: url(border.png) 30 30 stretch; }

5. Add a loading image for images

If you have large images on your page that take time to load, you can use the following CSS snippet to load a smaller loading graphic until the full-size pictures appear.

img { background: url(loader.gif) no−repeat 50% 50%; }

6. Create a button rollover sprite

The CSS code below will create a hover effect for a button. When it’s hovered, the image will move down.

a.button { display: block; background: url(button.png) no-repeat; height: 50px; width: 150px; } a.button:hover { background-position: 0 -50px; }

7. Flip an image

If you need to add a caret image to an accordion, you don’t need a separate image for both the up and down carets. Just flip one of the images using CSS like this:

img.flipped { -moz-transform: scaleX(-1); -o-transform: scaleX(-1); -webkit-transform: scaleX(-1); transform: scaleX(-1); filter: FlipH; -ms-filter: "FlipH"; }

8. Rotate an image

The CSS code below will rotate an image. Adjust the degrees to fine-tune it to what you need.

/ for Firefox, Safari, and Chrome /
img { -webkit-transform: rotate(90deg); -moz-transform: rotate(90deg);
/ for IE /
filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.BasicImage(rotation=1);
/ for Opera /
-o-transform: rotate(90deg); }

9. Create a full-screen background

The CSS below will cover your HTML page with the background image.

html { background: url('background-image.jpg') no-repeat center center fixed; -webkit-background-size: cover; -moz-background-size: cover; -o-background-size: cover; background-size: cover; }

6 CSS snippets for text and fonts

Below are some style snippets that’ll help you with the fonts and text on your page.

10. Create a drop cap title

This CSS will make the first letter in each paragraph a larger font than the rest.

p:first-letter { display:block; margin:5px 0 0 5px; float:left; color:#000; font-size:60px; }

If you want to show your company’s logo instead of header text but keep the text for SEO purposes, here’s how you would do that.

h1 { text-indent:-9999px; margin:0 auto; width:300px; height:200px; background:transparent url("logo.jpg") no-repeat scroll; }

12. Resize a background image

You don’t have to make the background image the same size as an element to fit it. You can adjust the size with CSS.

resize-image { background:url(image_1.png) top left no-repeat; -moz-background-size: 200px 300px; -o-background-size: 200px 300px; -webkit-background-size: 200px 300px; }

13. How to use @font-face

If you use the CSS @font-face rule, you don’t have to use web-safe fonts. You can define a name for the font you can use throughout your CSS file.

@font-face { font-family: 'NameYourRont'; src: url('font-webfont.eot?') format('eot'), url('font-webfont.woff') format('woff'), url('font-webfont.ttf') format('truetype'), url('font-webfont.svg#svgFontName') format('svg'); }

14. How to use Google fonts

Using Google fonts means you don’t have to mess with font files. Here’s how to add a Google font to your CSS.

Add this to the head of your html file:

Add this to your CSS file:

body { font-family: 'Droid Serif', serif; }

15. Add a custom background color to selected text

Using the CSS below, you can make the background of text selected by a user blue (#0000ff).

p { ::selection { background: #0000ff; } ::-moz-selection { background: #0000ff; } ::-webkit-selection { background: #0000ff; } }

2 CSS snippets for reset

CSS resets will return your styles to a consistent baseline. Here are some snippets for resetting your styles.

16. Reset backgrounds

This CSS will reset the background of your web page to the default styles.

{ color: black !important; background-color: white !important; background-image: none !important; }

This CSS will reset the links on your web page to the default styles.

a:link { font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; color: #06c; }

2 CSS snippets for corners

These CSS snippets will add something extra to corners in your page.

18. Make every corner rounded

The border-radius CSS property is used to make rounded corners. Here’s an example that’ll round all the corners of an element. You can adjust the radius by adjusting the pixel size.

.round{ -moz-border-radius: 5px; -webkit-border-radius: 5px; border-radius: 5px; -khtml-border-radius: 5px; }

19. Make some corners rounded

You don’t have to apply rounded corners to the whole element. You can also do this selectively.

.top-right { height: 50px; width: 100px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 10px; border-top-right-radius: 10px; } .top-left { height: 50px; width: 100px; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px; border-top-left-radius: 10px; } .bottom-right { height: 50px; width: 100px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 10px; border-bottom-right-radius: 10px; } .bottom-left { height: 50px; width: 100px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 10px; border-bottom-left-radius: 10px; }

11 CSS snippets for other page features

20. Create a pull quote

Many articles and blog posts use pull quotes to emphasize some text in the content. Here’s a simple way to do that. Adjust if necessary.

.quote { width: 300px; float: right; margin: 10px; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font: italic bold #777777 ; }

21. Center a page horizontally

In today’s world, you can never count on what resolution people will view your site at. An easy way to not worry about this is centering the page with the CSS below.

.wrapper { width: 1024px; margin: auto; }

22. Add page breaks for printing

When you print a web page, sometimes it doesn’t turn out the way you expect. The code below will break the page at a specific CSS selector when printed.

.new-page { page-break-before:always; }

23. Center content vertically

This is probably one of the most common search queries for Google when it comes to CSS. Here’s one way you can do it.

.content { min-height: 10px; display: table-cell; vertical-align: middle; }

24. Make something transparent

Opacity is the CSS property you want to use to make something partially transparent. The CSS below will make an element 50% transparent.

.transparent { filter:alpha(opacity=50); -moz-opacity:0.5; -khtml-opacity:0.5; opacity:0.5; }

This CSS will make your footer stay at the bottom of the screen.

.footer { position:fixed; left:0px; bottom:0px; height:32px; width:100%; }

26. Create columns for your content automatically

Creating columns out of your content with CSS is easy. The code below with turn your content into three columns with a gap of 15px and a black rule between them.

.columns-three { text-align: justify; -moz-column-count: 3; -moz-column-gap: 15px; -moz-column-rule: 1px solid #ffffff; -webkit-column-count: 3; -webkit-column-gap: 15px; -webkit-column-rule: 1px solid #ffffff; }

27. Force vertical scrollbars

If your content is shorter than the browser height, you can use this CSS to force them to appear.

html { height: 101% }

28. Add zebra stripes to a table

Zebra stripes make HTML tables easier to read. You can create them easily with the CSS code below.

body tr:nth-child(odd) { background-color: #d3d3d3; }

29. Add triangular list bullets

The CSS code below will replace the standard dots for unordered lists with triangles.

ul { margin: 0.75em 0; padding: 0 1em; list-style: none; } li:before { content: ""; border-color: transparent #111; border-style: solid; border-width: 0.35em 0 0.35em 0.45em; display: block; height: 0; width: 0; left: -1em; top: 0.9em; position: relative; }

30. Force a pointer over clickable items

The pointer cursor tells users that they can click an item. This CSS will force that to happen.

a[href], input[type='submit'], input[type='image'], label[for], select, button, .pointer { cursor: pointer; }

Brush up on your CSS skills

Hopefully, the snippets above will help you style the website or app you’re building. Just remember to learn from the snippet. Figure out how it does what it does. Then, you’ll be able to use that knowledge for other CSS styling tasks.

If you’re depending on snippets too often, maybe you need to brush up on your CSS skills. We have a wide range of coding courses on HTML and CSS that’ll teach you what you need to know to become a skilled Web Designer or Developer.

To learn the basics of CSS, check out our Learn CSS course. If you already know CSS but want to build even more skills, then Learn Intermediate CSS is the course for you.

HTML & CSS Courses & Tutorials | Codecademy

HTML is the foundation of all web pages. It defines the structure of a page, while CSS defines its style. HTML and CSS are the beginning of everything you need to know to make your first web page! Learn both and start creating amazing websites.

Word of the Day: lugubrious

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Word of the Day: lugubrious

: excessively mournful

_________

The word lugubrious has appeared in eight articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on July 29 in “Review: ‘The Pursuit of Love’ Against All Odds” by Mike Hale:

Mortimer generally follows the novel’s plot and incorporates a lot of its words directly into Fanny’s narration, and her “Pursuit of Love” is better the closer it sticks to the book. Unfortunately, when she strays from it, expanding on Mitford’s story, she has mostly bad ideas.

Her changes, particularly her elaboration of Fanny and Linda’s relationship, push the show in more literal, more lugubrious and, fatally, more melodramatic directions. The tragedy of Linda’s misbegotten attempts at love no longer slips in through the seams of the narrative. Things that were implicit and largely unjudged in the book, filtered through layers of stiff-upper-lip irony — Fanny’s self-pity, Linda’s obliviousness — are now foregrounded and, for the most part, rendered banal, with “Beaches”-level platitudes and sentimentality. Mortimer casts herself as the Bolter, in a role whose expansion has no obvious point beyond increasing our sympathy for Fanny.

Can you correctly use the word lugubrious 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 lugubrious can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com.

If you enjoy this daily challenge, try one of our monthly vocabulary challenges.

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.

Lesson of the Day: ‘How Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu, Knocked Down Stereotypes’

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Lesson of the Day: ‘How Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu, Knocked Down Stereotypes’

4. How did the creators reboot the original comic book series to counter these stereotypes? Why was it important for the creative team that the updated character of Shang-Chi be “relatable — even funny”?

5. The article concludes with a quotation from the screenwriter David Callaham reflecting on his experience creating the script and realizing how one scene mirrored his own lived experiences:

“I suddenly felt myself overwhelmed with emotion,” he continued. “Generally I’m hired to write a movie-star role so that we can attract a movie star, and typically those have not been Asian faces. It’s usually a beautiful white man named Chris or something. And all power to those guys, but I’ve always had to put myself in a position of imagining what it would be like to be somebody else. This was the first time in my life I’ve been able to sit back and not have to imagine it anymore.”

What is your reaction to Mr. Callaham’s quote? Why is it important to see, and in this case write, oneself onscreen?

6. Have you seen “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”? If so, what was your reaction? Do you think that it successfully broke stereotypes? If you haven’t seen it, does reading the article make you want to? Why or why not?

In “Asian Americans Are Finally Getting the Heroes We Deserve,” Jeff Yang writes:

Shang-Chi isn’t the first Asian protagonist we’ve seen on a screen. But as a big-budget, big-screen Marvel superhero, he’ll be ubiquitous. Superheroes today are on every screen, device and platform, visible to every demographic in our society. Shang-Chi will usher in the next cinematic phase of the most successful franchise in global history. In his wake will come more Asian heroes: Gemma Chan and Kumail Nanjiani as Sersi and Kingo in “Eternals,” Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel in “The Marvels.” Their casting ensures that a generation of young Asian Americans will, for the first time, see themselves front and center, larger than life, on the biggest of screens.

So will the rest of the world, which is arguably even more important — when people see us as heroes, they’re forced to see us as humans.

That can mean the difference between life and death. Throughout our history in this country, Asian Americans have seen the dire consequences of compliance and invisibility: exploitation, exclusion, internment. We’re seeing them again today in the time of Covid, as the pandemic has underscored our country’s xenophobic hostility, and unleashed a wave of violence against the most vulnerable in our communities.

Read the entire article, and then respond to one or more of the following prompts in writing or through discussion:

  • Do you agree with Mr. Yang that it is important for people to “see themselves front and center, larger than life, on the biggest of screens”? What difference does it make for young viewers? For you personally?

  • Mr. Yang writes that “when people see us as heroes, they’re forced to see us as humans.” How do you think heroes like Shang-Chi can shatter stereotypes, discrimination and even violence toward Asians?

  • Mr. Yang writes:

“When I and many of my Asian American peers were growing up, we were so hungry to see ourselves represented that we’d scream and call the family to join us in the living room when an Asian guest star wandered into a scene on TV or a commercial came on featuring an Asian family.”

Do Mr. Yang’s experiences with movies, television and popular culture in general resonate with your own in any way? Do you see yourself reflected in the characters, themes and stories of superhero comic books, television shows and movies? Does the identity — race, ethnicity, gender or sexuality — of a comic book character matter to you?

  • Do you feel that we need a more diverse universe of superheroes? Why or why not? Do you think Marvel, DC and other companies have a responsibility to ensure that their products are culturally and socially representative?

Additional Teaching and Learning Opportunities

  • Challenge existing stereotypes. Return to your list of stereotypes from the warm-up activity: What comic book or superhero stereotype would you most like to see go and why? If inspired, write a letter to Marvel or DC explaining your thoughts and calling for a change.

  • Pitch a superhero reboot to a comic book or movie company. Is there a superhero you would like to see rebooted or reinvented? Or do you perhaps have an idea for a brand-new character? Pitch an idea for a character, story or film that would break stereotypes. Describe the stereotype, where you have seen it, and explain how your idea transforms, subverts or breaks free from it. If inspired, include a sketch or a drawing of your character.

  • Learn more about being Asian in America today. The article “How It Feels to Be Asian in Today’s America,” offers 27 perspectives on fear, pride, identity and belonging from Times readers. How do these reflections resonate with your own experiences and identity? How does the article add to your understanding of stereotypes and the Asian American community? What further questions does it raise for you?

How Does Social Media Affect Your Mental Health?

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How Does Social Media Affect Your Mental Health?

What is your relationship with social media like? Which platforms do you spend the most time on? Which do you stay away from? How often do you log on?

What do you notice about your mental health and well-being when spending time on social networks?

In “Facebook Delays Instagram App for Users 13 and Younger,” Adam Satariano and Ryan Mac write about the findings of an internal study conducted by Facebook and what they mean for the Instagram Kids app that the company was developing:

Facebook said on Monday that it had paused development of an Instagram Kids service that would be tailored for children 13 years old or younger, as the social network increasingly faces questions about the app’s effect on young people’s mental health.

The pullback preceded a congressional hearing this week about internal research conducted by Facebook, and reported in The Wall Street Journal, that showed the company knew of the harmful mental health effects that Instagram was having on teenage girls. The revelations have set off a public relations crisis for the Silicon Valley company and led to a fresh round of calls for new regulation.

Facebook said it still wanted to build an Instagram product intended for children that would have a more “age appropriate experience,” but was postponing the plans in the face of criticism.

The article continues:

With Instagram Kids, Facebook had argued that young people were using the photo-sharing app anyway, despite age-requirement rules, so it would be better to develop a version more suitable for them. Facebook said the “kids” app was intended for ages 10 to 12 and would require parental permission to join, forgo ads and carry more age-appropriate content and features. Parents would be able to control what accounts their child followed. YouTube, which Google owns, has released a children’s version of its app.

But since BuzzFeed broke the news this year that Facebook was working on the app, the company has faced scrutiny. Policymakers, regulators, child safety groups and consumer rights groups have argued that it hooks children on the app at a younger age rather than protecting them from problems with the service, including child predatory grooming, bullying and body shaming.

The article goes on to quote Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram:

Mr. Mosseri said on Monday that the “the project leaked way before we knew what it would be” and that the company had “few answers” for the public at the time.

Opposition to Facebook’s plans gained momentum this month when The Journal published articles based on leaked internal documents that showed Facebook knew about many of the harms it was causing. Facebook’s internal research showed that Instagram, in particular, had caused teen girls to feel worse about their bodies and led to increased rates of anxiety and depression, even while company executives publicly tried to minimize the app’s downsides.

But concerns about the effect of social media on young people go beyond Instagram Kids, the article notes:

A children’s version of Instagram would not fix more systemic problems, said Al Mik, a spokesman for 5Rights Foundation, a London group focused on digital rights issues for children. The group published a report in July showing that children as young as 13 were targeted within 24 hours of creating an account with harmful content, including material related to eating disorders, extreme diets, sexualized imagery, body shaming, self-harm and suicide.

“Big Tobacco understood that the younger you got to someone, the easier you could get them addicted to become a lifelong user,” Doug Peterson, Nebraska’s attorney general, said in an interview. “I see some comparisons to social media platforms.”

In May, attorneys general from 44 states and jurisdictions had signed a letter to Facebook’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, asking him to end plans for building an Instagram app for children.

American policymakers should pass tougher laws to restrict how tech platforms target children, said Josh Golin, executive director of Fairplay, a Boston-based group that was part of an international coalition of children’s and consumer groups opposed to the new app. Last year, Britain adopted an Age Appropriate Design Code, which requires added privacy protections for digital services used by people under the age of 18.

Students, read the entire article, then tell us:

  • Do you think Facebook made the right decision in halting the development of the Instagram Kids app? Do you think there should be social media apps for children 13 and younger? Why or why not?

  • What is your reaction to the research that found that Instagram can have harmful mental health effects on teenagers, particularly teenage girls? Have you experienced body image issues, anxiety or depression tied to your use of the app? How do you think social media affects your mental health?

  • What has your experience been on different social media apps? Are there apps that have a more positive or negative effect on your well-being? What do you think could explain these differences?

  • Have you ever been targeted with inappropriate or harmful content on Instagram or other social media apps? What responsibility do you think social media companies have to address these issues? Do you think there should be more protections in place for users under 18? Why or why not?

  • What does healthy social media engagement look like for you? What habits do you have around social media that you feel proud of? What behaviors would you like to change? How involved are your parents in your social media use? How involved do you think they should be?

  • If you were in charge of making Instagram, or another social media app, safer for teenagers, what changes would you make?

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