Hi nerds -

I salute you from Panama City.

Today, I'm happy to announce I've been chosen as Mentor for the upcoming Write of Passage cohort!

One of the best online courses I've ever taken, WOP is 5 intense weeks of online writing, where people from all around the world coach each other on living as an online citizens.

I can't wait to get started!

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3 brain farts

🐛 The OG bug: Programming has taught me that nothing is random.

Not the pop-up that shows up when I open the browser, or the headache I get monthly, or the off-comment I said to a friend earlier.

Everything comes from somewhere: a bug in the code that will persist until we find its origin.

We can add make-up to the pimples and hide under the self-imposed façade, but until we fix our dirty code and deal with what gives us anxieties and stress, we won't prevent the bug from popping-up again.

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🧐 Finding bugs in our code:

1. Error messages:
   • Error messages are the computer's way of telling us there's something causing havoc in our codebase.
   • It's our body screaming there's something we need to investigate. Whether it's a mood we're suddenly in, a tummy ache, or a gossip we shared of someone to make ourselves feel better, our body is constantly yelling messages if we're willing to listen.
2. Diagnostics:
   • The error message tells us something is wrong, but we still have to dig deep to know what that is. We test every line of code and back-trace the stack to understand where the bug was created.
   • Finding an objective diagnostic about ourselves takes a lot of introspection, self-awareness, and, often, when we're truly honest, tears.
3. The fix:
   • Once we know what's wrong, we have two options: (a) leave it as is - the fear of changing is bigger than the bug itself, or (b) change our habits.

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👩🏻‍💻 The power of learning to code: The most valuable lesson I got from learning to code was realizing that everything is learn-able if we dedicate enough energy and research.

When we think of fixing education we usually tend to discuss content: which subjects students should take, what topics should be covered, etc..

But a successful student is not one that knows A or B, but one that knows how to follow their curiosities effectively.

With most content already online, making sure student's learning interests are empowered with the right tools is way more important to career success than learning what adults think is important in that point in time.

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2 intellectual goodies

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't – you're right.”

~ Henry Ford

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"Long-term, you can’t solve problems by working more or trying harder. If you want persistent change, you have to fix the underlying system."

~ David Perell​

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1 funky audio

A few weeks ago I recorded this podcast with one of my favorite geeks and someone I truly admire, Felipe Echandi.

On this podcast, we discuss: my journey from politics to software, the power of blockchain in government, how coding bootcamps are changing the education model, and how we transition to living as sovereign online citizens.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts 😛 (It's in Spanish, but you can find it with subtitles here)​

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Thanks for reading.

As always, feel free to connect by hitting reply and sharing a juicy thought 💡.

We all help the curious community grow 🧠.

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Best,

Jules 🤸🏻‍♂️