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Showing posts from July, 2025

End of Week Update - 006

End of Week Update - 006 By A.A. Lopez     This is the actual EoW update for this week. Gods, I did a lot this week, and yet I did basically nothing at the same time. Or at least that's how it always feels when it comes to Sundays, especially if it's 3 in the afternoon and the only thing you've seen outside your apartment is the local 7-11 for an apple and some Monster.     But in all honesty, I did do quite a bit. Heck, looking at just my posts today, I worked on nearly all of my would-be nice list. And while I don't have it listed, I also have the GUI done for the coworker's tool. Actually, let's break down what happened this week. Tool GUI     For the coworker's toolset, I went ahead and created a PyQt5 GUI that uses his JavaScript, allowing for a modular design and updates. Even did some UI design work, focusing on the color schemes and design. Ended up using Adobe XD as a playground for designing instead of using Lucid this time.     Honestly...

Silver Forest (Originally Logger Extension) Devlog - 002

 Silver Forest Devlog - 002 By A.A. Lopez     This will be a quick devlog following the Logger Chrome extension that I've been working on for work. The main focus will be the updates from Alpha 1.0 to Beta 1.1.1 and not much else. There is mention of a companion extension called Ash Leaf (introduced as Ash Branch but changed in 0.0.2).      Outside of the name being updated to Silver Forest, to be named after the coworker who came up with this idea, there's really not much else I can add. I'll most likely put a more in-depth log later on this or next week. But without further ado, here is the list of updates from Silver Forest Alpha 1.0 to Beta v1.1.1 and Ash Branch 0.0.1 to Ash Leaf 0.0.2. Silver Forest Alpha v1.0 Note-taking text area Multiple notes FPS attained from DOM Issue Level Drop-down Issue Type text area Sidebar location Silver Forest Alpha v1.1 Shortcut key added to open new notes, “z” Timecode attained from the DOM Issue Type Drop-down Screensh...

Project://JUNO Devlog - 003

Project://JUNO Devlog - 003 By A.A. Lopez Introduction With the longer and louder cries of folks talking about hating on dating apps, I feel like that is a call to really dig down deep and work hard on JUNO as much as possible now. It might just be my algorithm being playful, but I can’t really ignore the fact that it’s nearly constant. People are complaining about the current dating culture/environment. After all, I’m in the same boat as them, just annoyed at the end of the day that it seems like apps are festering fields of bots, scams, and people too wary to be sure that anyone is actually there to date beyond hookups. So let me finally break down what Project://JUNO is. Breakdown Honestly, the fact that I’ve gotten this far in the devlog series for this project without explaining what it is is both impressive and just head-shakingly worrisome for my marketability skills. As pointed out that Project://JUNO is an application that focuses on the dating field, which hopefully is ...

WT: Thrift Tycoon Devlog - 001

WT: Thrift Tycoon Devlog - 001 By A.A. Lopez Introduction      I don’t really play many mobile games; actually, the only ones I play are chess and a crossword game. But seeing the success and replayability of match-3 games such as Candy Crush or even Magic: The Gathering PuzzleQuest, I’m intrigued by attempting to create my own.      Taking inspiration from my own mother’s recent obsession with watching thrift Etsy resale and YouTube videos, I figured that would be the baseline for the game. A match-3, crafting, resource managing, decorating game. It’s a bit ambitious in scope, I’ll admit, but the challenge of it is pretty fun for what it is. And as someone who enjoys games like Alchemy2 and Minecraft, there’s a certain dopamine I’ll get from creating something along those lines, or similar. Gameplay      The basic idea for the gameplay would be as follows: Starting on an 8x8 grid, 3-5 different items of various item types will be di...

Start of Week Update - 006

 Start of Week Update - 006 By A.A. Lopez     All right, so two weeks of relative silence aside from one journal update, not great, but sometimes it happens. I can't get hung up on that too much. So what happened in these past two weeks?     Let's see:  Did get the logger extension, now called Silver Forest, up and running along with a companion extension.  Recorded, edited, and have a rough edit of "Voices in Transit" spec ad done.  Worked and have a near working version of the On-Screen Text detection software done, just have to get a few more tests done with some edge-case uses.  Working on creating a Creative Brief for "Monterey Grove" a 4 episode TTRPG podcast (I'm pretty sure I've made reference to it at the very beginning).  Updated the pseudo-code to Project://JUNO and on the first part of creating the flowchart for it as well     I believe that's all I had done... Oh! Right, also working on making a match 3 mobile game...

Building Up Anytime and Always Studios - Studio Journal - Issue #3

Lego Coding A Simple Way to Learn How to Code Using AI  By A.A. Lopez Introduction                   I am not a huge fan of the use of AI in various forms, especially those in the creative realm. Does that mean I think AI is the devil and should be tossed out? Not entirely, I do believe that there is some use out of this tool, but I do believe that it needs to become more refined and set up in a way that it is not damaging to the environment or be used as a substitute for actual knowledge. As I said, this is a tool, and like any other should be limited in what it does and how useful it is. After all, while you can use a screwdriver to hammer a nail in, a hammer will do a much better job.                   So why then am I writing this post about using it to learn how to code? Doesn’t that...

Start of the Week Update - 005

 Start of the Week Update - 005 By A.A. Lopez     Been a second, huh? Well, I'm finally back from a well earned vacation. One that wasn't tied to any family tragedies, mental/emotional breakdowns, or happenstances beyond my control. Just a relaxing time away from work and focusing on just being with family and sleeping past 6 in the morning (which is honestly very hard to do no matter how late I went to bed).     So what does that mean for me and these next few weeks? Well if you read the previous "Building Up" journal entry you saw all the things I'm trying to learn to show off to actual hiring managers, with 9 roles in total to try my hat at. Then on top of that we still have all the other projects I have going on, so I think the best thing before we layout what this week will entail is layout what's pulling me in every which direction. The 9 Roles : So I have 9 roles that I'm trying to emulate with the help of AI being my boss and giving me items to wor...

Building Up Anytime and Always Studios - Studio Journal - Issue #2

  Building Up Anytime and Always Studios Studio Journal - Issue #2 Production Design - Botanist's Workshop - Portfolio Build By A.A. Lopez Quick Learning     There are times when I hear the words "quick learner" and get reminded that you shouldn't put that down on your resume. I forget the exact reasoning why, though. It's either because it's something a lot of folks think is just a flash in the pan sentence, or that there's really no way to back it up. But whenever I look at the stuff I do, that's just the reality.     From my current day job to these creative briefs I'm doing, I'm diving headfirst with little to no understanding of what I'm doing. Heck, for the first six months of my job, I was certain I was gonna get canned cause I didn't understand a bit of the business jargon they were spouting, and I still don't. But I was able to figure out what the things they wanted me to understand, find the spots to finagle with, and see ...