Two Black Nerds

In this episode of Two Black Nerds, Romeo and Iheanyi catch up on life and talk about how they've been during the COVID19 pandemic. They talk about how their cities have handled the pandemic, how they have been coping with the isolation through hobbies, and what the pandemic has also taught them and made them grateful for.LinksThe song used for the intro is 1.26 beat1 by BOPD.

In this episode, Two Black Nerds take the time to discuss Romeo's career transition from being an Electrical Engineer to a Software Engineer from beginning to end. Romeo guides us through his thought process behind switching careers, his plan of attack for making the transition, and also shares insights he learned throughout the entire process and what excites him about being in software now.LinksKameCrypto - Romeo's side projectPythonFlaskSQLiteJetBrains PyCharmThe song used for the intro is 1.26 beat1 by BOPD

Two Black Nerds return to the microphone after a two year hiatus. In this episode, they discuss relationships, technological advancements since 2017, a little bit about crypto and what they don’t understand about it, and the moral responsibility of tech companies. Links The song used for the intro is 1.26 beat1 by BOPD.

In this episode, Two Black Nerds talk about habits, inspired by the book "The Power of Habit". They discuss the theory behind habits and habit loops. They discuss how to create, change, and getting rid of habits. They also talk about habit loops they've successfully created in the past, and which ones they want to change. Links Our intro and outro music is Sorry by Comfort Fit. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.

In this episode, Two Black Nerds go back to their roots and have a casual conversation where they reflect on 2016. They briefly talk about shows and films that they watched recently, including the amazing show Luke Cage and reflect on the state of politics in the United States after the election. They also talked about their goals and close the discussion with books they read. Happy Belated New Year! Links Our intro and outro music is Sorry by Comfort Fit

In this episode, TBN has a conversation with Rohini Pandhi and James Norman from Transparent Collective, a non-profit that helps founders from underrepresented groups access the resources they need in order to create successful companies. We talk about the history of TC, the progress that they’ve made so far, in addition to how they’ve structured their past events. They also give really helpful advice on the do’s and don’ts of making a pitch deck and discuss the plans for the future of the organization. Links Airbnb’s First Pitch Deck Transparent Collective’s Twitter Transparent Collective’s Website Our intro and outro music is Sorry by Comfort Fit

In this episode, Two Black Nerds talks to Deandra and Taeyin, founders and visionaries of Stage for Change. Stage for Change is a nonprofit dedicated to using storytelling and the arts to build inclusive communities, on college campus and beyond. They talk about the mission Stage for Change and how it evolved from a campus community theater production, to a not for profit with a great mission. Deandra and Taeyin explain the process of and lessons learned from “scaling” their nonprofit from one university to another, in addition to future plans for Stage for Change. They also discuss the process of starting a nonprofit 501(c)(3) company. This episode is a discussion on how to approach diversity and inclusion from the perspective of the personal narrative. If you enjoyed our diversity in tech episode, you will definitely enjoy this episode! #Links If you feel so inclined, consider donating to their generosity campaign Learn more about the guests and their mission at stage 4change.org Connect with them on Facebook and on Twitter @stageforchange Watch Romeo’s performance here Learn about the community theater program where it all started Show Some Skin: ndshowsomeskin.com #Credit Our Intro and Outro music is Sorry by Comfort Fit

In this episode, Two Black Nerds talk to Courtland Allen, MIT graduate and YC Alum and the founder of IndieHackers’. Courtland tells them about his career as a programmer and how he made the progression from developer to founder and the lessons and skills he learned while at MIT and YCombinator. They also discuss the history of IndieHackers and how it was initially founded and created and the future direction of the website, with snippets of technical discussion here and there. Links Taskforce YCombinator IndieHackers IndieHackers: How to Come Up With a Business Idea NomadList Levels.io Courtland Allen’s Twitter Our intro and outro music is Sorry by Comfort Fit

In this episode, Romeo interviews Tre Haskins, a friend and fellow Notre Dame alum. They discuss the transition from his job as Technology Consultant at Deloitte to a Production Manager on Celebrity Cruises. They discuss Tre’s mentality entering Deloitte and how he went about finding his new gig and leaving his “comfy” job and the challenges it presented. They talk about how he convinced himself about the change, how talked to his parents about it, and becoming comfortable with his decision and finding the courage to pursue a different path to fulfill his passion. Links – The United States Institute for Theatre Technology USITT Our intro and outro music is Sorry by Comfort Fit

In this episode, we answer questions from recent college graduates. We talk about everything from our salaries, what we spend money on, taxes and what to do if people do not take you seriously at work, and much more. If you don’t want to listen to the whole episode, feel free to skip around the episode using the timestamps (with links) below: Questions Answered 00:06:20 - How much do you make? 00:08:55 - What are taxes and why do they suck? 00:14:22 - Financially what do you do? Resource: Use the Mint App to track your expenses 00:25:05 - What can we do to build a strong financial foundation upon getting our first job? Resources: A book on finance: Ramit Sethi: I Will Teach You To Be Rich An Article: The Psychology of Automation: Building a Bulletproof Personal-Finance System A book on cooking: Tim Ferriss: The Four Hour Chef 00:30:00 - Balancing research with family/social life (or how to have work life balance?) Resource: An article on work life balance: Fixed Schedule Productivity Method by Cal Newport 00:38:00 - How do you make new friends and have a social life if you are moving to a new area? Resources: A website: Meetup.com A Two Black Nerds episode: “Wait I’m not the only minority anymore!” 00:41:20 - Your thoughts on dating while black after Notre Dame/PWIs 00:49:20 - Do you really have to go to work when you're hungover or can you use a sick day? 00:53:30 - I would like advice about cold-emailing/-calling people and companies when they don't have jobs posted but you still want to work for them. 01:03:34 - How can I break into a major industry if I don't come from a top tier college? 01:11:00 - How do you avoid getting depressed after you achieve your goals and lose your passion for doing things? Resource: A book: Chapter Six of Scott Adams book How To Fail at Everything and Still Win Big 01:22:30 - How should I go about evaluating if the work I'm doing is worthwhile? How much does whether or not you think your job is improving people’s lives weigh into it? Resources: A website: Professor William MacAskill 80000 hours. It discusses how to evaluate your work A TED Talk: William MacAskill “Want to make a difference? Don't Work for a Charity.” 01:30:55 - How do I deal with people that won't take me seriously in the workplace? Resource: A book: Dale Carnegie “How to Win Friends and Influencing People” 01:36:35 - What are the best ways to keep learning new things? Resources YouTube channel: Ted ED TED Brainpickings - Interdisciplanary musings on the intersection of philosophy, science and literature. Twitter. Find smart people and follow them A Podcast: TED Radio Hour Odds and Ends We are also giving away two copies of Ramit Sethi’s I Will Teach You to Be Rich. The details are in the show. The giveaway will last until June 15th, 2016. So first people to follow the instructions get dibs. Our Intro and Outro music is Sorry by Comfort Fit

This episode is long overdue. We recorded at the end of last year, and just now got around to publish it. We discuss the difference between static and dynamic site, native vs. web apps, iOS vs Android, Front End vs. Back End developer and much more. We give our personal opinion on which coding languages are best to start with, and give recommendation on which resources we think are best. ###Links: Learn front end and backend development at CodeAcademy Learn via online classes at Udacity and TreeHouse Exploring Coding Bootcamps: Iron Yard, General Assembly, Hack Reactor Learn Android Development at Vogella and at the Big Nerd Ranch Learn iOS Development with Design+Code Learn Code The Hard Way LxTHW Read Paul Ford “What is Code?” Our Intro and Outro music is Sorry by Comfort Fit

In this episode, Two Black Nerds hosts reflect on 2015 and share what they have learned through the year. They discuss this new year’s goals and how they plan to go accomplishing them. They also share the books they intend on reading, trips they want to take, and as usual, they get side tracked and talk about random things. Links Iheanyi’s Year In Review Post Alternative to Eames Chair : The Ikea Poang Chair Cal Newport’s new book: Deep Work: Rules of Focused Success in a Distracted World Grid Systems in Graphic Design: A Visual Communication Manual for Graphic Designers, Typographers and Three Dimensional Designers Credits Our intro and outro music is Sorry by Comfort Fit

In this episode, Two Black Nerds interviews Justin Carson from YikYak. They start off talking about his journey to becoming a Product Designer and where he is now, starting from his high school years. They also take a moment to discuss his current job at YikYak and the role of the designer in a product based around anonymity and other topics, such as diversity in tech for designers and Twitter as a product. Credits Our intro and outro music is Sorry by Comfort Fit.

In this episode, Two Black Nerds catch up and talk about mathematics before talking about Khan Academy and how it changed the way we learn and it’s future potential through Artificial Intelligence. They also briefly discuss the value of data in “free” services before discussing the college education’s future and viability due to increases in tuition and degree inflation. They also discuss how people in STEM fields do not necessarily have an ‘education’ but rather ‘training’ for solving problems. They also enter a discussion around coding bootcamps and their viability before concluding that they are definitely fulfilling a need. Lastly, they close out by discussing the Stanford 2025 project and other non-traditional forms of education. Links and people mentioned in this episode In praise of idleness by philosopher Betrand Russel On Shortness of Life The Stanford2025 Project Peter Diamandis - really interesting individual. David Heinemeier Hansson on writing software and how it’s different from computer science Aunalytics Credits Our intro and outro music is Sorry by Comfort Fit.

In this episode, Two Black Nerds talks to the founders Chi and Jide of the HBD app, an application aiming to change how we think about and celebrate our friends’ birthdays. In this interview, we discuss how they juggle their venture and their careers, talk about how they approached creating an application without knowing how to code, the biggest lesson they have learned so far and much more. Notes Learn more at thehbdapp.com Get the HBD App here Reach out to the HBD app on Twitter: @theHBDapp) Credits Our intro and outro music is Sorry by Comfort Fit

In this episode, Two Black Nerds finally record an episode in-person and catch up on life. They discuss the differences between electrical engineering and software engineering and the different paths it takes to get better at both. Additionally, they catch up on life, discussing new projects, recent purchases and books, personality types, and projects at work. Notes MUJI for the notebooks mentioned Von Shelf Egg Steamer for fast and easy hard boiled eggs and no guess work You and Your Research by Richard Hamming for a perspective on how to be better at engineering Experiences of an Academician in Industry by Dr. Amar Bose for a view of life after graduation while remaining in academia. Credits Our Intro and Outro music is Sorry by Comfort Fit

In this episode, Two Black Nerds discuss phones: what they like, what they dislike only to have a moment of clarity. They also talk about the legendary Nokia 3310, T9 Keyboards and and phone platforms. Credits The Intro and Outro music is Sorry by Comfort Fit

In this episode, Two Black Nerds talk about giving technical presentions. Romeo interviews Iheanyi, who recently has been giving talks about Ember.js around Austin. They discuss overall content, steps for preparation, and advice for anybody thinking about doing a talk. Notes Iheanyi’s Ember.js and Ember-CLI Slides Credits Our intro and outro music is Sorry by Comfort Fit

In this episode, Two Black Nerds discusses the difficulties of discussing the state of race relations in the office, especially after tragedies involving police brutality. Along the way they correctly identify some events, but also get confused by some. They talk about the feelings, and thoughts that go through their minds after such events, and how they try to cope with it. They also talk about their day to day lives and the lives of their relatives are affected. Notes Article on All Lives Matter for Zachary Hammond Credits Our intro and outro music is Sorry by Comfort Fit

In this episode, Two Black Nerds have a discussion around privacy, inspired by the recent Ashley Madison hack. They attempt to give their own answers to the question, "How much do we really care about our privacy?" and how lack of privacy can be both a positive and a negative. They also talk about Facebook Graph project, Google Location History, and targeted advertisements. Notes You can find a short summary of the Ashley Madison hack here You can read the Shazam Paper here There is a good narrative of Facebook’s graph project by Wired and if you want to learn about it’s architecture and behavior Facebook has you covered. Credits Our intro and outro music is Sorry by Comfort Fit