Dev Christmas Got Early for DataMom
I applied for a Github for Education Developer Tools backpack four months ago when I went back to grad school. I wanted to check out some new developer tool offers out there and I found some pretty neat ones that I can use for my current and future projects as a data nerd. Last night, I learned that I was able to unlock the treasure chest and I was able to activate SEVEN cool free premium tools that I intend to use more frequently in the coming days.
For this term, I only kept whatever is suitable for my context at work and in my personal projects. I resisted my hoarder complex and prioritized not bloating my machine at the moment.
So I activated the following which has use for me in the next 3-6 months: Bootstrap Studio prototyping tool, Jetbrains, Better Code Hub (for analyzing my code), DeepSource code health tracker, PageClip lead capture (still a technical marketing person at heart), PopSQL (pronounced popsicle with a cute logo and will allow me to play more with databases!!!), and ScrapyCloud.
Resisting Shiny Objects with “Just in Time Access”
Right now I am using Miro with pro education license for doing some diagrams for technical content. I’m also bundling the webinars I need to listen to by using them as podcasts or background while I do my articles or school work. This does not always work; if there is a particularly intense bit of thing that needs my concentration, I stop everything else. I just find a benefit in tapping my affinity for auditory cues in hacking my productivity.
Visually I also make sure I have 5 open tabs or less on my browser or on my PDF reader. Anything beyond that and it begins to clutter my head and add a psychological heaviness to me while I conduct my tasks. This was in part influenced by Cal Newport the famous professor and proponent of the digital minimalism movement.
The other goodies I opened up which will be used soon but not at the moment are stored in a page on my Notion PARA system as shown below:
So I have taken stock of the goodies from Github in a single place and if in case I have need of one of the tools for a project, I know where to find the information. This whole approach to personal knowledge management has been quite useful to me lately.
How to Get Your Own Github Goodie Backpack
If you are currently enrolled in an educational institution or teaching at one, you can also get your own Github Student Developer Pack and begin exploring developer tools that can help you become a better coder and technology professional. I just had to upload a proof of my current enrollment in the university (registration card or an ID, for example) and Github did the rest after approving my application.
While googling what other organizations provide premium software access to students, I found this really nice article that lists a bunch of other stuff that I missed. The internet is really full of gifts that keep giving, to be quite honest.