How Mozilla Defines Webmaking

Web developing is a lonely world. Laying the cable to connect the disparate messages of business’, blogs & social site self-pimping.

All of these connections, forged in isolation. I sit on a yoga ball, in front of a tv tray with my Toshiba in my underwear.

Web developing was not a natural transition for me. I began my professional and academic life in auto mechanics turned Earth Science.

Dynamic, young, powerful woman don’t fare well in uber conservative Utah. I started with HTML & CSS classes ala professional education at my alma mater. Then onto a community college to learn Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Premiere Pro and some programming basic, basics.

I said “yes” to every project, every phone call. I had to, there weren’t many calls or projects. I felt I could just never know enough. I looked at jobs, in case I couldn’t make this rickety self-employment boat float- they all wanted every skill under the sun for little money. I grew deeply concerned and tired but I kept going. I had to keep going.

I learned from Lynda.com and others. I kept practicing and trying. Now, miraculously I am very good at what I do, without compromises. The tools and hacks for developers aren’t cheats. After all, I don’t care if my mechanic uses a hand tool or a pneumatic wrenches. Faster, easier, cheaper, better quality- that’s what counts. That’s not all that counts: ethics. Ethics and learning.

I’ve begun to use Mozilla’s P2PU or Peer-to-Peer University to learn more, in a less isolated yet still cybertronic method. The P2PU website defines itself:

The Peer 2 Peer University is a grassroots open education project that organizes learning outside of institutional walls and gives learners recognition for their achievements. P2PU creates a model for lifelong learning alongside traditional formal higher education. Leveraging the internet and educational materials openly available online, P2PU enables high-quality low-cost education opportunities.

 

This is my first assignment. I’m excited. The web is shaping up to a a largely egalitarian system. Provided you can afford a computer with internet access.

Off I go.