The Weekend

So with all this work during the week, how should you spend your weekends?

You know what they say... all work and no play makes Bobby a sad little boy.

Welp, here are some recommendations.

Quick Overview

  • Attend Meetups
  • Work on side projects
  • Participate in Hackathons
  • Host LAN parties
  • Watch TED talks
  • Become a warrior on Code Combat
  • Fight as a Ruby Warrior

Attend Meetups

Meetup is a website that helps groups of people with shared interests plan events and facilitates off line group meetings in various localities around the world.

For tech-related meetups around the Hampton Roads area, check out Section 7.3.2 - Local Meetups.

Work on side projects

“The work you do while you procrastinate is probably the work you should be doing for the rest of your life.”

— Jessica Hische

  1. They don't have to provide you with a living. You can still eat if they fail.
  2. They don't have a deadline. And as there is no time pressure, you don't revert to your usual formula. You try new things. You experiment. You take risks.
  3. This is a labor of love. You provide the labor and you provide the love. So when you spend time on it, it is because you really want to. That keeps you coming back and pushing it on.

source

Participate in Hackathons

Definition according to the Oxford Dictionary

an event, typically lasting several days, in which a large number of people meet to engage in collaborative computer programming

i.e. "a series of 48-hour hackathons to build new web and mobile services"

Definition according to the Urban Dictionary

Having company employees come in and work all night under the guise of innovation and opportunity with little or not reward to ones self for the sole purpose of benefiting the company.

i.e. "Please join us in our hackathon next week we will provide pizza and beer in exchange for you burning yourself out."

For popular hackathons around the Hampton Roads area, check out Section 7.3.2 - Hackathons.

Host LAN Parties

A LAN party is a temporary gathering of people with computers or compatible game consoles, between which they establish a local area network (LAN), primarily for the purpose of playing multiplayer video games. Wiki

Watch TED talks

The speeches featured on TED are not only motivational, but informative as well. TED is a reliable resource you can use to get ideas and resources for your projects.

Try your hand at Code Combat

Learn programming with a multiplayer live coding strategy game. You're a wizard, and your spells are JavaScript.

Fight as a Ruby Warrior

A triumphant quest of adventure, love & destiny all within a few lines of code. Learn Ruby on Rails with Bloc, the world's largest online bootcamp.