Greetings and salutations! It’s been two and a half months since my last blog entry. I became quite busy, but nonetheless my blog has been needing an update! I spent the past few months finishing up my Full Stack Application Development Manager course under Per Scholas, experimenting a bit with Amazon Web Services (AWS) Artificial Intelligence services thanks to a free virtual workshop organized by Women in Big Data, and moving to Alaska!

Here are some screenshots from a personal use of AWS AI services, to scan the first two minutes of the “Popstar” by DJ Khaled ft. Drake music video. Surprisingly, even though Justin Bieber is the main actor in the music video, the “Celebrity” part of the AI Analysis didn’t recognize him at all! But I did learn who Logan Richardson, with his brief 5 second appearance in the video, was. Apparently he is a celebrity.

Drake appears to AWS AI

DJ Khaled appears to AI!

But poor Justin Bieber. AWS doesn’t recognize him.

I will be writing individual articles regarding my Full Stack training, how I used AWS AI services to analyze a viral music video from DJ Khaled and Drake, as well as other entries not dealing with code.

I will also continue experimenting with Jekyll to make this blog a bit more interesting. I’m thinking to include a projects page, a reading-list page, and an arts page (for my digital art and visual/audio elements).

And finally, probably the news I am most excited about : after months of following OpenAI’s progress, I was accepted as a Private Beta Developer! In short, I get a bit of extra privelege for accessing the docs and tutorials, a playground, and even being part of a community of other AI/ML enthusiasts. The journey is only beginning, and it really feels like I want to just learn and create as much as I can.

It’s gonna take patience, focus, and consistency, for as long as it takes. There is no off-switch for passion, but I do need to make sure I’m enjoying Alaska, keeping active, and prioritizing what really matters.

Good evening from the Northern Pacific and the Gulf of Alaska,

Chris