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In Support of Officer Anand Badgujar

In Support of Officer Anand Badgujar

First published in Source of Silver Spring on August 9, 2018.

In reference to the recent fatal police shootingof an unarmed, black man in Silver Spring, MD- my home- let me start by saying black lives matter. Robert White was shot by Montgomery County Police Officer Anand Badgujar in an altercation that was captured on his body camera. My initial reaction was one of outrage at yet another case in…

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Crypto Party: 3 Easy Steps You Can Take Right Now to Improve Your Online Privacy

With more of our lives online now than ever, the potential for compromising data to be leaked is more frightening and possible than ever. Cryptography isn’t something reserved for government spooks, criminal hackers, or computer nerds. It’s something we should all be taking seriously. And it’s not as hard as you think! Here are three simple actions you can take right now, in less than 20…

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It's Working! ChiPy Mentorship Next Steps

It’s Working! ChiPy Mentorship Next Steps

This triumphant scene is from everyone’s favorite installment of Star Wars: when young Anakin Skywalker, played by Jake Lloyd, fires up his pod-racer for the first time– and it works! The sentiment is akin to running a program, again, and for the first time, returning the desired results instead of error messages.

Well folks, 13 weeks later, I’ve gone from a tinkering script kiddie to a Padawan…

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Falcon, JSON, APIs, Oh My!

Falcon, JSON, APIs, Oh My!

This is the final blog post of the ChiPy 2017 Spring Mentorship, but the experience is far from over! I began the program as a timid, self-concious, and novice programmer. Only one of these three conditions remains true. While I might not be an independently amazing, full-stack developer just yet, the weeks which have transpired since the beginning of the mentorship. Not only do I feel confident…

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#ApplyingForRmotr Advanced Python Course

#ApplyingForRmotr Advanced Python Course

This post is the third component of my scholarship application for the RMOTR Coding Bootcamp Advanced Python Course <https://rmotr.com/advanced-python-programming>.

#ApplyingForRmotr

Hot on the heels of the ChiPy Mentorship Program, I am proud to have worked on several projects automating the inventory reconciliation process at work and holding federal employees accountablefor taxpayer dollars…

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ChiPy: Pixie Killing, Imposter Syndrome

ChiPy: Pixie Killing, Imposter Syndrome

Adventures with Python continued this past month with the Chicago Python Mentorship Program. I’m pleased to announce significant progress with two projects that have been the focus of my participation, both the inventory control script for my work and a meeting cost calculator for Federal employees. However, the biggest gains in the past month manifest not in lines of code, but rather feeling for…

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Protesting doesn’t “DO” anything

Protesting doesn’t “DO” anything

The other day a colleague told me that he doesn’t understand why people block the streets and disrupt his commute to protest. According to him, protesting doesn’t “DO” anything.

Immigration Ban Protest at Chicago’s Federal Plaza | source: wikimedia

When I questioned him further he told me “no serious policy change” has come about as a result of protest action. After I cited the civil rights…

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ChiPy: Python, Snake Charming, and Civic Tech

ChiPy: Python, Snake Charming, and Civic Tech

ChiPy (pronounced ‘chi,’ as in “chip,” ‘pee’) is a Chicago-based Python user group. Opening their doors to members of all-levels, ChiPy is a supportive space where novice programmers like me can sharpen their skills in a non-judgmental community. I was thrilled to be part of a small group selected to participate in ChiPy’s sixth iteration of of its nationally acclaimed Mentorship Program.

Upon…

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Free Maribel Trujillo Diaz CLINIC needs your help as we work to keep Maribel Trujillo Diaz, a mother of four from Hamilton, Ohio, from being deported back to Mexico, a country she has not called home in 15 years.

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Make Big Waves in Indigenous Guatemala The Alpha & Omega English Academy was a cornerstone of my Peace Corps service. Alpha y Omega…

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Peace Corps: One Year Later

Peace Corps: One Year Later

July 17, 2016 marks one year since I closed my service with the Peace Corps in Guatemala. Since I was a child, I dreamed of traveling to a remote pocket of the world with nothing more than I could carry. Living off the land, the people around me, and striving for something larger than myself, I forwent the trappings of modern life and headed south to the Land of the Eternal Spring.

Crossing…

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CHIditarod

Friends, family! I am happy to announce that I will be participating in the 11th annual CHIditarod.

CHIditarod is Chicago’s 100% volunteer-driven epic urban shopping cart race, charity food drive, costumed beauty pageant, talent show and chaos generator, all in one. It’s a micro-grant fundraiser for the CHIditarod Foundation, and probably the world’s largest mobile food drive, benefiting the Grea…

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On Fleek, Swipe Right Sitting on the subway and minding my own business was suddenly made incalculably more difficult when she got on the train.

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Southern Mexico: Oaxaca City

Southern Mexico: Oaxaca City

The South Oaxaca, Mexico

Home to a US Consulate, Oaxaca is not a big city. However what it lacks in size it quickly makes up in flavor. Oaxaca is Mexico’s largest Mezcal producing region. Mezcal is a unique spirit distilled from the agave plant. Unlike other agave liquors such as tequila and pulque, mezcal is made from a variety and often blend of agave strains native to different regions,…

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Southern Mexico: Tuxtla Gutierrez

Southern Mexico: Tuxtla Gutierrez

The South Tuxtla

Tuxtla Gutierrez or “Tuxtla” as the bus drivers shout, is the largest city and capital of Mexico’s southernmost state: Chiapas. Unlike it’s charming, colonial neighbor 45 minutes to the southeast, San Cristobal, Tuxtla is a sprawling modern city where Chiapas goes to work. My first impressions were also my last as I did not feel the city had much to offer in terms of culture or…

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Honduras: Ruins of Copán

Honduras: Ruins of Copán

After deciding to take the Peace Corps’ offer to end my service early due to escalating violence in Guatemala, I traveled Honduras via the ruins in Copán, San Pedro Sula (vying for the title of “world’s most dangerous city) and La Ceiba on my way to Utila in the Bay Islands.

For travel from Antigua, Guatemala to anywhere in Honduras I would recommend the Hedman Alas bus line. Their vehicles are…

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