Name:James T Lake
Alias:CptJamesT
Student Number:s3936965
Student Email:s3936965@student.rmit.edu.au
Nationality:Australian
Education:HSC 2005
My interest in IT started when I was 13 years old, and I got my first computer; it was a big deal at the time. I got my first computer primarily because of my dyslexia and its help with school work. Spell check and Dragon Naturally speaking were able to help me complete my school work with more minor mistakes.
While it may have started as an assistive device, it quickly became something I took a keen interest in, figuring out how to talk to friends on MSN messenger or later IRC and, of course, games and creative endeavours.
I have worked with computers for over ten years, mainly repairing hardware and software. I chose to come to RMIT to get a degree to finally further my career in IT. I am hoping to develop my software skills, in particular coding. I want to build apps from start to finish. It's something I have wanted to do for a long time, and I am hoping that I will be to accomplish that with my current studies.
My ideal job is to work for myself; in my wildest dreams, I create something akin to a Flappy bird that has become a worldwide phenomenon, and I continue to create little games or apps that make people happy. However, I have chosen a Machine Learning Engineer for the exercise, primarily because I find the field interesting.
Machine learning is a field that I find interesting, dealing with large data sets and teaching machines how to think and interpret data in oversimplified terms. I find this fascinating because, in my head, it is about providing context to data and teaching computers how to provide this context. I love puzzles and enjoy seeing patterns that align with interpreting large data sets and giving context to the data. This is also something that aligns with the role of a data scientist. However, the machine learning engineer is more focused on the code aspect of the interpretation. The data scientist will deal primarily with the data, and the machine learning engineer will write the code that interprets the data.
The primary duties of the above role focus mainly on coding, deploying and moderating Machine Learning code. This involves communicating with the data scientists and documenting ideas and processes involved in the code creation. They reference the Agile framework in the job ad, which refers to a framework for managing, planning and executing work.
They require experience in Microsoft Azure, a cloud computing service, and multiple apps associated with the service, including Azure Databricks, Azure Machine Learning, Azure Kubernetes. Most of these services revolve around large data sets and provide computing power to analyse large data sets that would be beyond the abilities of your primary workstation.
They also focus on proven ability to work with data scientists, architects and platform engineers. Most of the work and communication with these other professionals revolves around MLOps (Machine Learning Operations) and ML code.
Finally, practical experience in Python, a coding language, and Apache Spark, an application for managing large sets.
Most of the above are far beyond my current skillset; I have no experience in Machine learning. I have used Microsoft online cloud computing tools such as Microsoft BI (Business insights), similar to Azure but very different in implementation. I also have essential experience coding some C++ and Python, but I would need a better grasp to communicate with the other mentioned professionals.
The Best way for me to obtain the nessasery skills to apply for a job like the one that is mentioned is to continue my studies; achieving different experience around the field and preliminary use of the products mentioned in the app will provide me with a great foundation to begin to pursue a job like this. I will also need practical experience working with professionals mentioned in the ad, which will come from finding work experience within the same field, potentially as an intern, or working in a lower set role, before applying to a job like the one mentioned.
Personality Type:Architect (INTJ-A)
Traits:58%, Intuitive 76%, Thinking 57%, Judging 68%, Assertive 67%
Role:Analyst
Strategy:Confident Individualism
Auditory:15%
Visual:55%
Tactile:30%
Your creativity score is 68.815
We all live in communities both online and physically, and between all members, there exists an overwhelming amount of tools and skills, most of which are rarely tapped into. Today's world, thanks to information technologies, is amazingly broad. We are all-access a world of skills and people that not so many years ago would have seemed far out of reach. Neighbourhood Supply is about communities pooling resources from a drill, mower, 3d printer or any other tool or skill that could be used in your local area. People can list items or abilities available to borrow or rent to their communities.
While I know this idea may not seem completely new, mainly because it's not. It borrows from many great ideas and creates a new one, a local supply store within an app where people can locally post the items they have available for the neighbours to borrow. They could charge a small fee to borrow the item if they choose or offer it free. You know who borrowed it, and if it is returned broken or in bad condition, you could charge the neighbour for replacement within the app. Need your lawn mowed? You can find that here too. This is micro classifieds and looking at the world of social networking through a narrower rather than broader lens, connecting people within a limited radius has many benefits that have quickly been forgotten as the world has become more connected.
Have you ever found yourself in a position at home where you need, say, a drill? Buying one seems a little unnecessary this is the first time you've needed one and probably won't need one again for a while, so you open the Neighbourhood Supply app, as it turns out your neighbour two doors down as a drill you can borrow for $5 a day. To rent the drill, you need to be a member will a credit card or debit card attached to the app; you are told that the replacement fee for the drill is $99, which is held until the drill is returned. You are charged $104 and refunded 99 dollars when the drill has been returned in good condition.
This same model could also apply to skills and general labour tasks, think of washing as an example; you might have a broken washing machine or dryer, perhaps you need someone to iron your shirts. While you could take them to the laundry mat, you jump onto the app and find out that Terry will do a bag wash for $5. He lives two streets away, and that seems a bit far for you; after all, you don't want to drive there or walk a bag to his house, but then you notice he will pick up the bag and deliver it for another $5.
The idea here is that it connects people and provides community value. While most other similar services and apps focus on social as a driver, this will primarily revolve around commodities found within our communities.
This type of local venture is becoming more and more critical as the world continues to change. Issues such as inflation are driving the price of most goods up due to how our economy is structured, but by using the power of information technology, we could help find some of those small-town values our world was built on.
Keep in mind that while this app will not be targeted at professionals, it will not stop professionals that live in your local radius from promoting their services potentially at a discounted rate after all you are neighbours, but primarily focus on the ordinary people skills set or no training required.
The app, in its essence, is not designed to compete with Facebook or Neighbourhood, two apps that promote social connection as a foundation both on a local scale and offer similar services as an add on but offer the services as a primary feature and social connection a secondary benefit to the user.
The most crucial part of structuring the app will be defining a radius for local connection for most services and rentals. A maximum of 3km should be applied, but for some speciality services or rentals, up to 5km could be suggested, especially if the user is prepared to travel. Allowing the user to apply a radius of their own is also an option.
Primarily a developer would need to code the app and integrate payment options. I am not familiar with either of these fields but could create a prototype using Figma to create wireframes of a finished version of the app could look like.
The app's services would need cloud hosting for user-profiles and listings, which I am unfamiliar with.
Beyond the above skills, tools such as a computer with development software and a potential testing device would be required, both of which I have available to use.
To launch the app, an apple developer account would be required, and the app would also need to be approved by Apple to be listed on the app store.
All of the above are accessible and could be found with enough time. The main focus would be on the technical skills to launch something of this scale. If something like this were to become a reality, it would be worthwhile investigating similar ideas to see what technology and skills they have implemented to bring their ideas to life.
Should this app become a reality, we will have created a service that connects neighbourhoods to pool skills and tools, allowing people to find value from the products they buy but do not regularly use and even find some extra time while allowing neighbours to help out with household chores.