The Digital Landscape

Kai's Howdy World #3 - Priming Your Space + Understanding the Internet

Remember in the first newsletter, I said to figure out your main WHY for learning something new or difficult?

Write that down.

Save it to your desktop or bookmark it.

Do whatever works for you to keep it readily available.

In Newsletter #2 – I talked about the framework of learning and its iterative nature. I also encouraged you to figure out your learning style.

Soooo… what’s next?

James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, talks about the “power of priming the environment.” It’s where you organize a space for its intended purpose. It’s the step right before action.

For me, I have a Notion workspace. My “Learning to Code” initiative is saved near the top of my favorites, right under my digital home.

I have an education tracking system to keep track of my priorities, and I favorite the most pressing things.

Within this note, I keep all my notes and learning journey. I heavily utilize toggles and also have a little learning diary where I jot down the concepts and insights I gain each day.

Do you have something like this? Feel free to share your system in the comments or reply to this newsletter!

Where does the code even go?!

Creating an optimal learning environment is crucial, but so is understanding the environments where your code lives and runs. One of my readers asked after the last issue, "Where does the code EVEN go?" What a great question!

Obviously, if you’re trying to code, it helps to know the different environments in technology. But even if you’re not, understanding these basics can be incredibly useful for these reasons:

Problem Solving:

When you understand how things work, you’re better equipped to troubleshoot problems. Instead of feeling lost when something goes wrong, you have a foundational knowledge that can guide you toward finding solutions.

Enhancing Communication

For designers and non-technical people, knowing the basics can significantly improve communication with developers and other technical team members. When you speak the same language, collaboration becomes smoother and more efficient.

Boosting Creativity

A basic understanding of technology can also enhance your creativity. When you know what’s possible with the tools at your disposal, you can dream up more innovative solutions and designs.

Staying Relevant

Technology is an integral part of almost every industry today. By understanding the basics, you stay relevant in a rapidly evolving landscape.

So let’s break it down…

The Difference Between the Internet, the World Wide Web, and Localhost

The Internet

Think of the internet as a huge, global network of computers connected to each other. It’s like a giant highway system that allows computers to send and receive information.

The internet includes the physical infrastructure – the cables, satellites, routers, and other hardware – that connects computers around the world.

The World Wide Web

The World Wide Web, or WWW for short, is a part of the internet. It's a collection of webpages that you can access using a web browser (like Chrome, Firefox, or Safari).

The World Wide Web is like a library full of books (webpages) that you can read. These books are stored on special computers called servers. When you use a web browser to go to a website, you are requesting a specific book from this library, and the server sends it to your computer so you can read it.

Localhost: Your Miniature Internet and WWW Inside Your Computer

Imagine you have a tiny version of the internet and the World Wide Web right inside your computer. This tiny version is called "localhost."

You can create a website with a text file saved on your computer, using HTML code.

You can use software like XAMPP, WAMP, or a simple Python server to run a local server on your computer.

Then, you can open your web browser and type "localhost" in the address bar. Your browser will show you the webpages stored on your local server, just like it would show you a website from the WWW.

Recap:

• The Internet: The highway that connects all computers globally.

• The World Wide Web: The library of books (webpages) accessible via the internet.

• Web Pages: The books in the library.

• HTML/CSS/JS: The language rules from the books

• Localhost: Your personal, private mini-internet and web library inside your computer

It’s fascinating to see microcosms of bigger systems, right? Our bodies and the makeup of our internal ecosystem are as rich and complex as the Amazon forests across the world. Maybe this tidbit about internet/www/localhost will be useful, or maybe not, but there are plenty of parallels to take from it.

Do you have questions for me? Any ideas on what I should tackle next? I’d love to hear them!

Goodbye Goody:

Today I leave with you a TV series recommendation.

Halt and Catch Fire is a completely underrated and mesmorizing TV show set during the tech explosion of the 1980s and early 1990s. It follows a group of engineers as they navigate the rapidly evolving computer industry. The show digs into the personal and professional challenges of creating groundbreaking technology, from building early personal computers to exploring the World Wide Web. With its fantastic writing/acting and nostalgic setting, you’re teleported back to a time of floppy disk drives and dial-up modems.

Halt and Catch Fire illustrates some basic understandings of the internet. It shows the early development of computer networking, the challenges of connecting devices, and the birth of the online world. By watching this show, you can gain a dramatized historical perspective on how the internet evolved from a novel idea to an integral part of our lives today.

A final note: it’s rather dramatic, raunchy and not safe for kids! You can find it on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or AMC.

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