As far as web development goes, I’ve spent the last week mostly focused on preparing and gathering materials for my final project. I’ve already had to change some of my plans. For instance, instead of being about the process of making mead, it’s now going to be about the process of eighteenth century weaving. It turned out that the day I was in Williamsburg was much too hot to open or really approach my friend’s beehive. (Opening the hive on a dave that’s 95 degrees or above is really really bad for the hive apparently. Something to do with the queen and cooling.)

Of course, this same friend happens to be the weaver’s apprentice at Colonial Williamsburg. She offered to let me come in after the tourists were gone so I could get some photographs. I’m rather pleased with the outcome for the stills, but the videos are just okay. It was insanely hot and humid out, which both made for an impatient photographer and difficulty in effectively capturing good light. I did, however, get one good one of a spinning wheel spinning. It’s pretty cool, and I look forward to you seeing it. There’s some good negative space that I think would be good for a title bar.

Anyway! On to project management. (Thank you very much for recording the class and sending it to me. I greatly appreciate it.) Watching the Agile video really drives home the fact that project management is a delicate balance—especially in coding. I read that Jaclyn wrote that the Agile Manifesto reminded her a lot of the Zen of Python. I felt the exact same way. It had the same clear constructs that attempt to manage and define seemingly abstract ideas.

I also read the article on design thinking—I loved how Jared Spool compared design thinking and designers to the children’s book Stone Soup. It really helped it make sense to me. Also, since my final project is going to be fairly design-heavy, it was a helpful read. (I’m fairly self-conscious about designing things, but I’m also quite picky.) As long as I thoroughly research the issues I face and stay focused on the product, it should be okay.