One of my favourite movies of all time is Arrival. I can't believe the character of Louise Banks. She is so amazing and so focused and so passionate about what she does. She is such a role model. I love her quiet joy. I love her quiet gratitude and her quiet genius. I love her quiet focus. I love her true genius. Today's blog post is named after the song that is used in the intro of the movie. (And also interestingly, in Shutter Island).
I want to be like Louise Banks, right? Focused. Quietly passionate about what she does. Knowledgeable. Dedicated. A lifetime dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. A true love of what she does.
On Why Software Matters in Renewable Energy
No other industry evolves as fast as software.
The faster that tech evolves, the faster it has the capacity to evolve. Isn't that miraculous? And marvellous? It is inexhaustible. Like the energy of the offshore wind farms, it is inexhaustible. And like all of us.
And it is worth re-iterating one more time: we will need people who are experts in both. We will need people who are experts in both software engineering and renewable energy.
And this is what I aim to do. This is my life's journey. Care to join me on this path?
Happiness (and Software) Can Be Found In The Most Unexpected of Places
I was watching a video about the energy grid last night. I was inspired to do so by reading over the blog post that I had just written. I couldn't have expected what was about to happen - it was the best thing in the world!!! The guy in the video started talking about exactly what it is that I am most fascinated by - software engineering x renewable energy.
It's such a great video, and I really recommend giving it a watch!!!
What do computers and software do best? Well, apparently, it's "take in and process huge amounts of data to help us make decisions about how we manage the grid." I guess that he means in the context of energy and renewable energy, as computers and software do other things best as well in other domains.
"Take in and process huge amounts of data to help us make decisions about how we manage the grid."
But what are smart grids, and why do they matter?
What is the "smart grid"?
Well, according to the IEA (International Energy Agency):
"Smart grids are electricity networks that use digital technologies, sensors and software to better match the supply and demand of electricity in real time while minimising costs and maintaining the stability and reliability of the grid."
Let's have it one more time for the kids at the back. I feel so alive:
"Smart grids are electricity networks that use digital technologies, sensors and software to better match the supply and demand of electricity in real time while minimising costs and maintaining the stability and reliability of the grid."
What could this possibly mean? I never realised that there was anything so cool and so exciting as this. I feel alive like never before in my life.
Another definition:
"A smart grid is an electricity network that uses digital and other advanced technologies to monitor and manage the transport of electricity from all generation sources to meet the varying electricity demands of end users".
Why do we care about the "smart grid"?
"Clean energy transitions entail large increases in electricity demand and the widespread rollout of variable renewables like wind and solar, placing greater demands on power grids. Smart grid technologies can help to manage this transition while reducing the need for costly new grid infrastructure [omg! there is is again! it's the most common theme so far - hardware vs. software - omg omg omg!!!], and can also help to make grids more resilient and reliable".
"Smart grids can help on the demand side as well". Apparently smart grids can help users to make better decisions e.g. around energy and when it's best to use it and how it works.
About when electricity is cheaper. Omg.
Final Quote From The Guy In The Video Again
"Ultimately, the smart grid can help us use and take care of this huge machine - this shared resource we call the power grid - more effectively and efficiently now and into the future."
Hello from Susanna Codes! Hi everyone, My name is Susanna and I'm a 28-year-old aspiring software engineer from Brighton! As I type this, listening to music from "Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulain" (it reminds me of home, in Luxembourg, where I am from - I'm missing home quite a lot lately!) and look forward to some Irish Cream tea in my afternoon break, I am thinking: How lucky I am that my amazing colleague Rosana helped me out with a plan for my software engineer journey (she directed me to the front-end first). How HTML and CSS would not have been my first languages of choice had I not been guided in this direction, as in my head they were seen as 'less-serious' langages. How done I am with what other people think of me and if other people see the 'front-end' as softer then so be it! Everyone has to start somewhere. I am so grateful to be on this journey, with Codecademy's Front-End Engineer Career Path. Thank you to Async Brighton as
Yosemite I'll never forget the first time I head the song Yosemite by Lana del Rey. I very nearly clicked away. It was quite near the start of my Software Engineering journey, right near when I start learning the Front-End/Web Development. I was listening to Arcadia by LDR before, maybe twice, and then Blue Banisters came on. I nearly clicked away in the first 30 seconds but I forced myself to keep listening anyway. I'll never forget how that song has made me feel. It became my song of 2022 even though I only discovered it in November. I can still listen to it every day and get that complete sense of wonder and of awe that I felt the first time that I heard it. That ending of the song is completely amazing, and it just completely just blows me away every time. "Withstanding all the time, changes, and seasons..." - LDR Concise Body Arrow Functions Why am I so bad at arrow functions? Whyyyyyyyyyyy? Just kidding, I am beginning to get them. But why are they so hard? &
Two Lines of Thought, Makes Me Wonder What I'm Missing "Lines of Bamboo, See What You Do To Me..." Bamboo by Elder Island is one of my ultimate 'becoming a Software Engineer songs'. (I prefer the original, but here is a great live version. ) There's a story behind this. I met a man named Mark. He was an SWE approaching retirement - he was down in my hometown with his wife, visiting. I won't go into the context of how we met, but it was a miracle. It was a complete miracle. It was just meant to be. We chatted for at least two hours and at the end of the conversation he said to me "All the best of luck with your new career". I couldn't believe what he'd just said - I hadn't even committed to it yet! A few weeks later, I did, though. After I walked out of that cafe where I had been sitting and talking to Mark and his wife though, I felt like - even though I didn't "feel ready" yet - Mark had predicted something that I didn&
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