Randy Pausch’s Time Management Lecture Summary and Notes:

<h1>Randy Pausch’s Time Management Lecture Summary and Notes:</h1>
<h3>Who was Randy Pausch? What did he do?:</h3>
<p>
    Randy Pausch was a professor in CMU’s department of Computer Science. He was diagnosed with end-stage pancreatic cancer. When researching a bit more about his life, I discovered that he was the creator of Alice (an educational block-based programming environment for creating 3D animations (S, n.d.) ).

His lecture was aimed at giving the audience concrete advice on how to make the most out of their limited time. 

<h3>Key Concepts:</h3>
<ul>
    <li>Time IS money, and it should be treated as such. </li>
    <li>The end goal of managing your time and to maximize fun. If you aren’t having fun then why do it.</li>
    <li>Experience develops over time, especially through bad judgement and mistakes.</li>
    <li>80/20 rule: 80% of the results come from 20% of the work. Therefore, prioritize what gets you the most value.</li>
    <li>You MUST have a system for organizing everything in your life. From your goals to your tasks and even to your files and work. The best system is the one that caters best to YOUR needs.</li>
    <li>Always make a plan. You can change it later, but it has to exist before it can be improved.</li>
    <li>Find your creative time and protect it. Find your dead time and do what doesn’t need you to be at your best.</li>
    <li>Always make time for sleep</li>
    <li>A vacation is a vacation. Don’t spend it checking your emails, your work, etc.</li>
    <li>Prioritize what’s important and what’s urgent, and ignore/delegate the rest.</li>
    <li>Learn to ask. If you want something from someone; the first step to obtaining it is just asking for it.</li>
    <li>Not everything needs to be done perfectly. Some things need to just get done.</li>
</ul>

<h3>Key Actions:</h3>
<ul>
    <li>Create a plan and a to do list that breaks down big tasks into smaller, more manageable steps.</li>
    <li>Use Covey’s Four-Quadrant to do list to help you prioritize tasks</li>
    <li>Learn to say no and set boundaries.</li>
    <li>Monitor how you spend your time (you could set up a time journal) and then analyze where you can improve.</li>
    <li>Cut off distractions by turning off notifications, having dedicated times for checking your emails, and making it harder to stray off-task.</li>
    <li>Set up fake deadlines and pretend they're real in order to deal with procrastination.</li>
</ul>

<h3>5 things I found interesting:</h3>
<ol>
    <li>The concept of a collective time famine </li>
    <li>The introduction of a time journal as a means of tracking how I am spending my time.</li>
    <li>The 80/20 rule </li>
    <li>Treating time as a form of currency and budgeting it the same way.</li>
    <li>Considering the opportunity cost before taking up any new tasks.</li>
</ol>

<h3>References:</h3>

S, P. (n.d.). Randy Pausch Lecture on Time Management (Transcript). The Singju Post. https://singjupost.com/randy-pausch-lecture-time-management-transcript/
</p>

<hr>

<h1>Research Updates</h1>

<h2>Giselle Reis - Programming Languages</h2>

<ol>
    <li><h3>Why did we move from punch cards to programming languages? What does that tell you about the purpose of programming languages?</h3></li>
    <p>The use of punch cards to write code came with various disadvantages including but not limited to:
        <ul>
            <li>Each card had very limited storage which required the use of multiple cards for a single program.</li>
            <li>It was incredibly difficult to reconstruct a program if any accidents occurred. </li>
            <li>In order to fix a simple mistake you would need to rewrite the whole card.</li>
            <li>They can’t be reused and are bulky to handle; therefore, they were expensive to produce and store.</li>
            <li>Easily damaged, lost, or stolen which results in a loss of data.</li>
        </ul>

        The rise of programming languages provided a solution to these problems. Ultimately, the purpose of programming languages was making the programming process more efficient by making it easier for humans to write and store their code. 
    </p>
    <li><h3>There are hundreds of different programming languages out there. Why do you think we need so many?</h3></li>
    <p>There are hundreds of problems that we need to code solutions for; therefore, we need various programming languages, each designed to specifically address each of these problems. For example, when you need to manipulate and analyze data you would use SQL and R, languages designed specifically to handle analyzing large amounts of data. On the other hand, in web development you would choose a versatile language that can be used for interactivity and animations such as Javascript. </p>
    <li><h3>What are some drawbacks of a programming language you use? How would you like it to be different? Think of specific examples.</h3></li>
    <p>Python’s main drawback is its execution speed. Since python isn’t pre-compiled, its execution time is higher relative to other languages.  This drawback is emphasized in tasks where you need low-latency and quick execution (such as in animations and video games). It would be better if python’s interpreter can be optimized for faster code execution.  </p>
    <li><h3>If you were going to create a new programming language, how would you start? What do you need to define?</h3></li>
    <p><ul>
            <li>The first thing I would need to define is the purpose of the programming language. i.e. What problems do I want to solve with this new language? and What features do other languages lack that I want to include in my own language? </li>
            <li>The second thing I would need to design is the language’s structure and syntax </li>
            <li>Finally, I would program an interpreter that would allow the computer to understand my language and execute my code.</li>
        </ul>
    </p>
</ol>

<h3>References:</h3>
<p>https://medium.com/dataform/sql-vs-r-which-to-use-for-data-analysis-5bac46f91610 </p>
<p>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/383942383_Punch_Card_Technology_Data_Storage_and_Processing_in_Early_Computing</p>
<p>https://www.coursera.org/articles/what-is-javascript-used-for</p>
<p>https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/cpp/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-cpp/</p>
<p>https://drewdevault.com/blog/How-to-design-a-new-programming-language/</p>


<h2>Christos Kapoutsis - Theory of Computation</h2>
<ol>
    <li><h3>What is a decision problem?</h3></li>
    <p> A decision problem is a task where a given input is evaluated based on whether or not a property is present. The solution is always one of two outputs, either true or false.</p>
    <li><h3>What does it mean for a decision problem to be decidable?</h3></li>
    <p>A decision problem is decidable when it has a solution that can be calculated by an algorithm in a finite amount of time</p>
    <li><h3>What is the class P? What is the class NP?</h3></li>
    <p>Class P and NP are used to classify a problem's complexity. The P class is the class of problems that can be solved using deterministiic machines(a machine that returns the same output for the same input such as our computers) in polynomial time. P problems are usually easy to compute. NP problems ,on the other hand, are ones that can only be solved by non-deterministic machines in polynomial time. This makes them hard to compute but easy to verify.</p>
    <li><h3>What is the intuitive meaning of the “P versus NP” question?</h3></li>
    <p>P is the set of all problems whose solution can be computed easily. NP is the set of all problems whose solutions can be easily verified. NP vs P asks if NP problem's solutions can be easily verfied then can they also be calculated in polynomial time by deterministic machines. </p>
    <li><h3>If you resolve the P versus NP question, how much richer will you be?</h3></li>
    <p>One Million dollars richer</p>
</ol>

<h3>References:</h3>
<p>https://simran-tinani.medium.com/decision-problems-decidability-verifiability-and-complexity-classes-79336746cbbd</p>
<p>https://concurrent-rt.com/redhawk/what-is-deterministic-computing/</p>
<p>https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/dsa/types-of-complexity-classes-p-np-conp-np-hard-and-np-complete/</p>
<p>https://news.mit.edu/2009/explainer-pnp</p>


<h2>Amy Melniczuk - Human Computer Interaction</h2>
<ol>
    <li><h3>What is human-computer interaction (HCI), and which disciplines contribute to it?</h3></li>
    <p>HCI is a field that aims to improve the interactions between humans and computers/machines. It combines various disciplines including computer science, psychology, design, and social science</p>    
    <li><h3>What is the difference between a system being useful and being usable? Can you give an example of a system that is usable but not useful for a particular person or task?</h3></li>
    <p>A usable system is one that is easy to use and intuitive to navigate. On the other hand, a useful system is one that actually serves a meaningful function/purpose. For example, let's say you want to build a volume controller. You can decide to make a single button which you click and it gives you a random volume. This system is usable. All you need to do is click a button in order to change the volume. However, this system is utterly useless as it just gives random volumes and gives you no control over the actual value, hence rendering it useless. </p>
    <li><h3>Find an everyday interface that is confusing to use. What is the person trying to do, and which design decision causes difficulty? Suggest one improvement.</h3></li>
    <p>One everyday interface that is confusing to use is the dorm's washing machine's keypad. A person using the washing machine would want to pick an 
        appropriate cycle for the type of clothes they are washing; however, a new resident is hindered by the buttons that are only labeled with random symbols. An improvement would be to properly label the different buttons to indicate the appropriate cycles.</p>
    <li><h3> What is a prototype, and how can testing one with users help a designer? What is one thing that asking “Do you like it?” would not tell you?</h3></li>
    <p>A prototype is an initial model that is made to test the product's functionality and design before its released to the masses. 
        Testing a prototype with users provides the designer with feedback that would allow them to fix any problems that they might 
        have not noticed and ensure that the launched product is actually functional and useful for potential buyers. Asking "Do you like it?" often prompts a yes or no answer which doesn't pinpoint areas of strengths nor of weaknesses. </p>
    <li><h3>Find one example of interaction beyond a keyboard and mouse, such as voice input or a tangible interface. Who might benefit, and how would you test whether it helps them?</h3></li>
    <p>A voice control feature on mobile devices. This feature would benefit the visually-impaired by allowing them to utilize their phones without needing to see the interface. 
        In order to test whether this is a beneficial feature or not, I would utilize the accessibility evaluation tools + user feedback through surveys.</p>
</ol>

<h3>References:</h3>
<p>https://blog.uxtweak.com/usability-vs-usefulness/</p>
<p>https://www.getsmarter.com/blog/what-is-human-computer-interaction-hci/</p>
<p>https://www.coursera.org/articles/human-computer-interaction</p>
<p>https://uxdesign.cc/5-ways-to-improve-your-prototype-testing-3cce3465a7d5</p>
<p>https://www.w3.org/WAI/test-evaluate/</p>


<h1>Links</h1>

<p>https://github.com/Nourhan-Mohammed</p>
<p>https://leetcode.com/u/nourhan953/</p>