Topic: RAWK Web Development Circle

[Claire.]

Maybe joining a group like this: https://www.meetup.com/OWASP-Liverpool-Chapter/

There's probably others as well, I only looked at one term on meetup, people who work in the field or just have an interest will likely to be able to help you out with what's worth doing.

As for the time it takes and the degree, there really isn't any quick fixes or shortcuts so it might be a good option to be honest, bootcamps and stuff, might just be my route skewing my opinion of things but I can't imagine I'd have any sort of depth in any tech in the time spans, cos you don't really know something until you've had time to apply the knowledge and practise.

[AndyMuller]

Maybe joining a group like this: https://www.meetup.com/OWASP-Liverpool-Chapter/

There's probably others as well, I only looked at one term on meetup, people who work in the field or just have an interest will likely to be able to help you out with what's worth doing.

As for the time it takes and the degree, there really isn't any quick fixes or shortcuts so it might be a good option to be honest, bootcamps and stuff, might just be my route skewing my opinion of things but I can't imagine I'd have any sort of depth in any tech in the time spans, cos you don't really know something until you've had time to apply the knowledge and practise.

Thanks a lot for your help and advice once again Claire! 

[Claire.]

https://www.reddit.com/r/learnprogramming/comments/oktcmx/udemy_11_100_off_coupons_programming_courses/

Few Udemy courses on for free at the min.

[Rhi]

Ideal situation would be to land somewhere in a entry/junior role and get on a course through them but that is very rare.

Have a look at degree apprenticeships. I decided to change careers a couple of years back, and am 2/3rds of the way through one in data science. If I’m totally honest, I learn way more on the job than I do on the degree part, but it’s been a great way to move into a new career and learn from scratch. They definitely have software engineering ones, and I think I’ve seen cyber security focused ones too. If you go on the government’s apprenticeship service website you can search and set up alerts for them.

I did move 350 miles to do mine but I don’t regret it. I don’t see how I would ever have got into a technical field like this without doing it the way I did.

Like Claire has said above, Python is a good place to start for whatever you end up doing.

[AndyMuller]

Have a look at degree apprenticeships. I decided to change careers a couple of years back, and am 2/3rds of the way through one in data science. If I’m totally honest, I learn way more on the job than I do on the degree part, but it’s been a great way to move into a new career and learn from scratch. They definitely have software engineering ones, and I think I’ve seen cyber security focused ones too. If you go on the government’s apprenticeship service website you can search and set up alerts for them.

I did move 350 miles to do mine but I don’t regret it. I don’t see how I would ever have got into a technical field like this without doing it the way I did.

Like Claire has said above, Python is a good place to start for whatever you end up doing.

Thanks a lot Rhi! Just had a look and applied for a cyber security apprenticeship that is local so hopefully hear something 

[Crimson]

Thanks for the links and advice from me as well  I'm working in IT as a QA Manager, but have been looking to improve my coding knowledge and skills for some time.

There is a ton of courses and videos guiding me on, but I need to be confident that the one's I choose, will elevate my knowledge as I don't really have time for training during normal working hours...

[PaulF]

Have a look at degree apprenticeships. I decided to change careers a couple of years back, and am 2/3rds of the way through one in data science. If I’m totally honest, I learn way more on the job than I do on the degree part, but it’s been a great way to move into a new career and learn from scratch. They definitely have software engineering ones, and I think I’ve seen cyber security focused ones too. If you go on the government’s apprenticeship service website you can search and set up alerts for them.

I did move 350 miles to do mine but I don’t regret it. I don’t see how I would ever have got into a technical field like this without doing it the way I did.

Like Claire has said above, Python is a good place to start for whatever you end up doing.

Oooh data science I would love to get into that.
Got maths , programming, SQL under my belt. Python might be a problem as I hate snakes.

[Rhi]

Oooh data science I would love to get into that.
Got maths , programming, SQL under my belt. Python might be a problem as I hate snakes.

Haha! If you've got good maths and programming you're basically there. The language you code in isn't too important, although I think the machine learning libraries are most extensive for Python. At work though, and I expect this is true or will become true of most large organisations, we are switching to a Spark-based platform (Databricks) and I think I'll predominantly use PySpark (which I find really fucking clunky in comparison to Python!) and associated ML libraries in my work from now on. My colleagues with a software engineering background seem to take to it more easily than my colleagues with analytics backgrounds.

Thanks a lot Rhi! Just had a look and applied for a cyber security apprenticeship that is local so hopefully hear something 

Nice one mate. Good luck! Would just add that if you don't get this one, doing a couple of little online courses will really boost your application for next time. If you want a good intro to Python before using it for something more specific (cyber security) I think "Automate the Boring Stuff with Python" is really good beginner material. The website version is free, but I did it along with a Udemy course, which is also often offered for free. The author of the book/course posts discount codes on reddit each month. Here's this month's thread, but you might have to wait for the next batch of codes: https://www.reddit.com/r/learnpython/comments/obq077/automate_the_boring_stuff_with_python_online/ . You can also just get started with his website, but I found it easier to code along with the video when I did it a couple of years ago.

[AndyMuller]

Nice one mate. Good luck! Would just add that if you don't get this one, doing a couple of little online courses will really boost your application for next time. If you want a good intro to Python before using it for something more specific (cyber security) I think "Automate the Boring Stuff with Python" is really good beginner material. The website version is free, but I did it along with a Udemy course, which is also often offered for free. The author of the book/course posts discount codes on reddit each month. Here's this month's thread, but you might have to wait for the next batch of codes: https://www.reddit.com/r/learnpython/comments/obq077/automate_the_boring_stuff_with_python_online/ . You can also just get started with his website, but I found it easier to code along with the video when I did it a couple of years ago.

That looks great that, is it worth me paying the £19 it is asking for now or wait until the author drops discount codes next month?

[PaulF]

Hi rhi, do you not need a good level of understanding of stats and Bayes theorem? What kind of projects are you working on?

[Claire.]

That looks great that, is it worth me paying the £19 it is asking for now or wait until the author drops discount codes next month?

Not the one Rhi mentioned, but there's some free python courses on the other reddit link above.

[Rhi]

That looks great that, is it worth me paying the £19 it is asking for now or wait until the author drops discount codes next month?

I'd wait to be honest, it's free really regularly! You can also watch the first ones for free on YouTube to get started while you wait for the next codes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F_OgqRuSdI&list=PL0-84-yl1fUnRuXGFe_F7qSH1LEnn9LkW

And it's all the same content as the book which he has published on his website: https://automatetheboringstuff.com/2e/chapter0/

Or Claire posted a link a bit further up that had quite a few free ones on. I only recommend ATBS because I did it and found it quite good. I'm sure there's loads of decent ones about!

Hi rhi, do you not need a good level of understanding of stats and Bayes theorem? What kind of projects are you working on?

This is a really hard one to answer because it's so company or even department specific. I work for a multinational insurance company, and we have different arms of the business, and all of us to completely different stuff and are at different stages of maturity in terms of data science work. At my place (medical insurance) we aren't doing anything majorly complex - hypothesis testing, dynamic pricing models and we're currently working on a tool that will automatically approve claims that have a high probability of being approved anyway (using random forests, so you don't even need to really know the stats!). Personally I've been working on creating structured data from free text, using some software engineering type stuff (some mad regexes) and machine learning to predict whether something is a drug dosage or strength. As a team we also work a lot on fraud detection, but again more about applying appropriate methods than coding the maths ourselves.

My colleagues in other parts of the business do much more complex stuff with mathematical models, and our "Group" operations do some mind-blowing research into machine learning and computer vision and stuff. One thing I know the home insurance part have been working on is using satellite images to infer the slope of a roof on a house, and therefore price the risk appropriately (flat roofs are more risky or something). I can't begin to explain the technical aspects of that

But basically, everything across that spectrum is lumped in as "data science", even though it's quite different and needs different skill sets.

I see quite a few job adverts for data scientists where the requirements are basically "can you code a bit and do you understand numbers" so I'm sure you'd be in with a shot!

[AndyMuller]

Thanks Rhi and Claire, I’ll have a good indulge this weekend on some free courses and see how I get on!

I was speaking to somebody at CodeNation earlier regarding the bootcamp and they only do full time courses but they did recommend me to check these out:-

https://www.manchestercodes.com/?utm_term=manchester%20codes&utm_campaign=Brand+Campaign&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=4219584815&hsa_cam=973925948&hsa_grp=51195941914&hsa_ad=399300350121&hsa_src=g&hsa_tgt=kwd-380100275891&hsa_kw=manchester%20codes&hsa_mt=e&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9dWww9Hn8QIV42DmCh21MgoEEAAYASAAEgKT6vD_BwE

I might give the free introduction course a try and see how it goes as part time would be perfect for me but it does cost £5.5k!

[PaulF]

Wow rhi. That's fascinating.
I'm kind of aware how that industry has exploded. It's only the bigger companies that have a handle on it right now but the possibilities are terrifying. With great power comes great responsibility!

[AndyMuller]

Nice one mate. Good luck! Would just add that if you don't get this one, doing a couple of little online courses will really boost your application for next time. If you want a good intro to Python before using it for something more specific (cyber security) I think "Automate the Boring Stuff with Python" is really good beginner material. The website version is free, but I did it along with a Udemy course, which is also often offered for free. The author of the book/course posts discount codes on reddit each month. Here's this month's thread, but you might have to wait for the next batch of codes: https://www.reddit.com/r/learnpython/comments/obq077/automate_the_boring_stuff_with_python_online/ . You can also just get started with his website, but I found it easier to code along with the video when I did it a couple of years ago.

Managed to get this course for free last night, thanks again Rhi. Am I right in thinking I do the course alongside the website version?

[Claire.]

https://beamerycodingchallenge.splashthat.com/Email

coding challenge (js, ts, go is what the email said but haven't taken it myself) with a prize of an M1 MBP and they're also hiring.

[Claire.]

code nation offering their free courses again: https://www.reddit.com/r/Liverpool/comments/pgeheg/free_3_week_virtual_coding_courses_for_merseyside/

[AndyMuller]

code nation offering their free courses again: https://www.reddit.com/r/Liverpool/comments/pgeheg/free_3_week_virtual_coding_courses_for_merseyside/

Thanks Claire. I’ve just had a look at that and unfortunately don’t qualify as neither unemployed or earning £18.5k or less! I can’t see an option to pay for the course either 

[Claire.]

Thanks Claire. I’ve just had a look at that and unfortunately don’t qualify as neither unemployed or earning £18.5k or less! I can’t see an option to pay for the course either 

Give them an email and explain what you want to do and see if they can help.

[Andy @ Allerton!]

Some great courses on Udemy as well.

Just finished that Complete Web Developer Course 2.0 (I'm not a web dev, but like to keep up to speed with stuff going on in the other departments and quite often get pulled in to help with the Devs; only stuff like Node, C#, Go and stuff like that, but reasonbly interesting when I'm not building Plataform stuff)

[Claire.]

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/find-a-skills-bootcamp/list-of-skills-bootcamps

Lots of digital skills boot camps listed there, lots of suppliers so not sure on entry reqs but hopefully it helps someone out.

[PaulF]

Hi. Does anyone know someone competent in fabric js? I'm trying to build an app. The JavaScript bits I can do, and fabric is making the visual side of things much easier, but I'm struggling with some bits and need pointers beyond what I can Google.

[PaulF]

Reaching out for more help. Given the 1990s style html and css below, can anyone advise on how I can modify this so the buttons take up the full width of the browser (including mobile) and the font is as large enough as possible for it all stay on a single row? Maybe with me being able to set a maximum size for the font too?
(Is the br tag the right thing to use too? )

    <ul class="date-button-row">
        <li><button>Thu
01</button></li>
        <li><button>Thu
02</button></li>
        <li><button>Thu
03</button></li>
        <li><button>Thu
04</button></li>
        <li><button>Thu
05</button></li>
        <li><button>Thu
06</button></li>
        <li><button>Thu
07</button></li>
    </ul>

    .date-button-row li {
        display:inline-block;
        font-size: 8px;
      }

[Claire.]

The font sizes will need some tweaking but flexbox will do this: https://codepen.io/claicham/pen/WNMaNEd

[PaulF]

Brill. Thanks Claire. I keep seeing mention if fkexbox. Time for some bedtime reading!

[Sangria]

Brill. Thanks Claire. I keep seeing mention if fkexbox. Time for some bedtime reading!

Try Bootstrap as well, which is based on Flexbox, but is even more developer-friendly.

[Claire.]

Try Bootstrap as well, which is based on Flexbox, but is even more developer-friendly.

BLASHPEMY!

Brill. Thanks Claire. I keep seeing mention if fkexbox. Time for some bedtime reading!

There's a css tricks flexbox (and grid tbf) cheat sheet that is really useful and of course there's https://flexboxfroggy.com/ & https://cssgridgarden.com/

[Malaysian Kopite]

Anyone dealt with a redirect malware on a WP page? It doesn't seem too harmful as it keeps redirecting to a single link (some law firm) so I'm hoping that by using the target link I could search for any references to it in the index.php or .htcaccess files. Wordfence and Google scans have shown nothing so far although they've got a bunch of plugins that aren't updated and are running on an older PHP version.

I was thinking of duplicating the site on my own servers so I could try to reproduce the redirect and test fixes (deactivating and updating plugins), but I'm worried about the malware potentially corrupting my own server.

[PaulF]

Could you build a server in VMware?

[PaulF]

BLASHPEMY!

There's a css tricks flexbox (and grid tbf) cheat sheet that is really useful and of course there's https://flexboxfroggy.com/ & https://cssgridgarden.com/

flexboxfroggy is great fun. I've "wasted" so much time on this since you recommended it!
I've been getting my head round vue and PWA, development is so much easier these days.  All these tools for free too.  I'm expecting to get hit with a bill somewhere!

[Claire.]

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/free-open-university-courses-worth-up-to-ps3200-northern-ireland-only-at-open-university-3985106

Some tech/engineering course listed that might interest someone in here!

[Claire.]

flexboxfroggy is great fun. I've "wasted" so much time on this since you recommended it!
I've been getting my head round vue and PWA, development is so much easier these days.  All these tools for free too.  I'm expecting to get hit with a bill somewhere!

css is ridiculously fun, can't believe I get paid to write it 5 days a week and still see it the same way, guess that's what you call true love

[Claire.]

https://skillsforlife.edx.org free front end bootcamp funded by dept for education (England but not west mids, no fucking idea why!)

[AndyMuller]

https://skillsforlife.edx.org free front end bootcamp funded by dept for education (England but not west mids, no fucking idea why!)

Thanks a lot Claire just enrolled 

[PaulF]

https://skillsforlife.edx.org free front end bootcamp funded by dept for education (England but not west mids, no fucking idea why!)

Are villa in the west mids? That'd be your answer .

[Sangria]

I'm looking to do a Lords of Midnight type display, where there are multiple lines of images to create a 3D effect. Is there a CSS property or trick that allows me to keep the size of the image, centre align the line of images, but crop the images that drop off the edges of the container?

Ie. The images are 150 px wide each, and I want to provisionally display 12 (1800 px). If the container is 1200 px wide, I want to display the 8 in the middle (1200 px), with 2 on either side not displayed (300 px each).

Will I need to get the width using javascript before deciding what to display, or is this achievable via css?

[Claire.]

Just use overflow: hidden and size the container in pixels?

[Sangria]

Just use overflow: hidden and size the container in pixels?

I will try that later. Thanks.