Project Relaunch

    Going blindly into this class, I'm told I can do whatever I want.  I'm completely and utterly lost, so I spend a lot of time brainstorming and come up with a super cool idea: I'll integrate two software together to make the most impressive project of all.

    That's what happened last year.  My ambition wanted me to make this great project, and then I practically ignored the project the whole semester.  In my defense, I was taking 3 of the hardest classes in my life concurrently and I was just a college freshman, but in the end, nothing came out of it.

    Now I'm back, not with a vengeance, but incredibly humbled.  So this time I'm going to start with an idea that's not do or die - something that I can manage one step at a time.  Something that plays to my strengths in programming while allowing me to branch out into creativity.  Something that will be simple, but unique and useful.

    Or, I could buy that launchpad thing.  It looks really cool.  Its hackability is infamous.  I could use it in so many ways, some for good (composition tools) and some for EVIL (playing funny sounds over discord).  It could be anything I want it to be.

    "Now hold on there," I said to myself, trying to forestall a terrible decision.  "You shouldn't do this.  How's this going to look on your resume as you apply to programming jobs?  Do you even have any idea what your final product will look like?  What are you even working towards?"

    I was making some pretty good points.  Unfortunately for me, I was feeling pretty hyped to get one.

    So, I bought a launchpad.  Ok, maybe I'm still not the best at making smart decisions.  But now its too late to turn back.  Its in my hands.

    I have some vague ideas as to what I'm going to do with this, but there are a few steps in my process before I start.

STEP 1: Use it the normal way.  As Sun Tzu once said "To know your enemy, you must become your enemy."  Yes, that's hardly relevant.  My point is I need to first see how its creators intended its use.

STEP 2: Hack it.  I need to find the way in.  The project can only work if I find the back door.

STEP 3: Make my interface.  I'll need to be able to control and recieve inputs.  Once this step is complete, I will have won.

STEP 4: Let ambition take the wheel.  Only now can I freely figure out what I can do and what I will do with this newly aquired tool.