Sprinkle a little fairy dust over on the ole’ <a href="https://github.com/kittabit" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">GitHub profile</a>, mix up the <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholasmercer/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">LinkedIn profile</a> with some spice, preparing to build my little freelance shop up again, and the roadmap is starting to come together in this next phase of things (more details to come soon).



But, I need to be a bit honest for a moment before diving into this actual post.



While I never quite “fell out of love” with programming at any point in my life, it is a fair assessment to say that it lost a bit of its luster over the past couple of years &#8211; but programming wasn’t to be blamed in full and complete honesty &#8211; it was 100% on me.



When you walk into a new job with a specific set of goals, and live by a mantra of “automate yourself out of a job” &#8211; sometimes you hit a wall;&nbsp; the engine is running so efficiently and so well, that you just feel like you’re going through the motions.



So the question became clear a few months back; do I change jobs, look for a new set of challenges, or do I stay where I am (with a team I actually love) and revamp the way we do things to be more prepared for the future?



The choice was clear;&nbsp; stay and “start over.”



<h2 class="has-large-font-size">NextJS Entered The Chat Room</h2>



While my day-job went through some serious changes behind the scenes, this was something I’d wanted to jump on for quite some time now (through old management into new management), but it was scary for folks &#8211; how does this work?&nbsp; How does it change the development pipeline?&nbsp; How does it affect processes, testing, time estimates, and the list goes on and on.



But it’s 2022, we have to stay nimble, we have to stay ahead of the curve, and most importantly, we have to provide our clients with the best possible websites and applications they can have &#8211; as they deserve it.



Going from PHP/Python eating the majority of my daily lines of code written and switching over to JavaScript primarily was a big shift, but man oh man, it’s been so worth it &#8211; sites we would have had running with Google Lighthouse scores around 20% in today’s tests are hitting 95% and above now; engagement is higher, conversions are higher, user experience is so much better, build processes just flow together as smooth as butter, and… I’m in love again.



The passion that was somewhat lost in routine was refreshed and brought back to life; the excitement that arises with a new build, an excited client with the experience of their new sites, the better rankings, it’s just all so wonderful.



But, and there is always a but, I can’t even explain how excited I was this week while watching the <a href="https://nextjs.org/conf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NextJS 2022 Conference</a> &#8211; seeing everything new whether it be layouts, data fetching, server side components, more optimized build tools (I see you <a href="https://vercel.com/blog/turbopack" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Turbopack</a>) &#8211; it just made me feel like the old days when watching an Apple conference and getting excited.&nbsp;



<h2 class="has-large-font-size">Rehacker, the NextJS Hacker News Clone</h2>



With all of that out of the way though, NextJS 13 is not ready for production in my opinion, but the start of some serious changes in the way you build sites is coming &#8211; and I want to start working this into my builds and processes.



To help with this, I built something super simple; <a href="https://rehacker.xyz/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Rehacker</a> (Tailwind + NextJS 13).&nbsp; It’s nothing fancy at all, but it shows off the basics of fetching data, routing dynamic URLs, using the new `use` logic from React, new `HEAD` logic for SEO, caching, and more.



Links:



<ul>
<li><a href="https://github.com/kittabit/rehacker" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Repo</a> (GitHub)</li>



<li><a href="https://rehacker.xyz/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Demo URL</a> (Rehacker.xyz)</li>
</ul>



It’s nothing fancy, but it’s a solid way to take a look at something simple and understand the changes; where or how would I fetch data via client/server side components?&nbsp; How would I make `[slug].js` within the new configuration?&nbsp; How would I use the new `layout.js` and implement my design?



It’s all there &#8211; so, don’t go in thinking it’s the next greatest thing since sliced bread, but it’s a great live example of it all working together.&nbsp; 



To give a basic overview, take a look at the following three folders after cloning (or while looking within GitHub):



app



components



lib



`app` is the newest addition to NextJS (<a href="https://nextjs.org/blog/next-13" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">see this page for more information</a>) which contains server side functions; this includes the major changes to the builds such as how to handle site wide / section specific layouts, fetching data server side, caching data, etc.&nbsp; `components` and `lib` are just a personal preference for organizing code;&nbsp; these include small reusable pieces of code from the site along with data calls to the HackerNews API.



Important Note:&nbsp; If you’ve used NextJS before, or have existing builds (such as this site), your `pages` folder will still work for the time being.&nbsp; The `app` folder is not required.



I plan to write (code, projects, and tutorials), a lot &#8211; I’m starting to love this idea of “build in public” mindset where you build, write, and learn/teach as you’re moving forward.&nbsp; 



With this site, and with my own personal goals, you’re going to start seeing a great deal of NextJS, Rust, Tailwind, Typescript, headless, etc topics start to popup.



For now though, please feel free to fork the repo, make/suggest changes, let me know ideas on how to better use newer functions/features, and until next time &#8211; have an amazing day.

The NextJS Journey

Note:&nbsp; While I’ve stated&nbsp;<a href="https://kittabit.com/notebook/bubbles-of-champagne-bring-alignment">some of this in the past</a>, it’s been more specific to being a developer or my career – this is a personal post, something from the heart, and something I need to “let out” before moving forward into focusing my writing on coding, technology, and the next chapter. As a kid, there was this big thing I wanted to do for my dad at some point in my life – one of those “thank you” style ideas that meant something to me; I wanted to be able to buy him his dream 1940’s Chevy pickup truck.



Over the years, time flew past me (partially due to being a father myself to an amazing kiddo) and this dream would fall to the wayside – I’ve mentioned it to my wife many times over the years, but it’s never been feasible.



So here we are, some time since Father’s Day, and my dad got his truck – not from me, but he finally gave in and got one himself. But I haven’t even seen it – while I might try to be the best father to my son daily, I’m not the greatest son myself.



After my mother passed away a few years back, life changed – I hadn’t been in her life for years due to our relationship, and quite honestly, she came back into my life at the craziest of times.



Driving down the road back to our house at the time, I broke down in tears one day in the car – all over this truck dream.&nbsp; I had my own family, my little three amigos, but I had this gut feeling that something was coming down the pipeline I wasn’t prepared for, whether about my mother or my father.



Now you see, my real “father” wasn’t in my life, and my dad didn’t have to step up to take on the role of being there for me – but he did; he raised me the best he could, instilled the best values possible, and the idea that family was always first.&nbsp;&nbsp;



A mentality, especially now, which I do not take lightly.



But when my mother came back into my life (which wasn’t long after the above) – I wasn’t wrong, something bad was coming – I only got about six months with her before cancer took her from this world.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Cold, callous, blind, and uncaring – if it wasn’t coding or working, I was failing at it, but luckily I’m amazing at putting on a facade for those around me.



When she came back, it was like the old version of my mom was alive; the person who honestly and truly did love those around her, the person who only wanted the best for me, and someone who wasn’t looking for a reason to attack or argue… not something we’d had for almost 20 years.



As an adult, and having never lost anyone or anything in my life at that point, losing her was a death blow for me – I almost lost my wife, I almost gave up on my career, and I almost let it all eat me inside and out.



The reason I say all of this is because Father’s Day and the anniversary of my mother passing away fell on the same day this year – something I thought would be very hard on me, but for the first time since she’s been gone, I saw a Moon Pie today (her favorite snack) and didn’t cry or become sad, I remembered that she’s in a better place and she’s looking down on me wanting the best.



She’s been the silent hand helping move pieces back into the right places in my life; the things that I completely broke and/or tore apart since the days she been gone have come back together and it’s time (even I can’t count the number of people I’ve hurt during that era of my life).



It’s time for a big, fantastic, and powerful reboot of my life.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">
IF YOU FAIL TO PLAN, YOU PLAN TO FAIL.
</blockquote>



You see, I love to write, and I use to do it constantly – a love passed down from my mother.&nbsp; If I had a history of every blog, every article, and all of my notebooks from over the years you’d see all of this – but I’m thankful for a fresh start.



A start to see something beautiful; a chance to truly chase my real goals and passions (not some idea generated from imposter syndrome or depression), a chance to take care of my family, and an opportunity to be the best I can be in life.



Much like your muscles when working out – they require being “damaged” in order to heal and grow – your brain is the same; time, healing, therapy, and processing generates the same strength.



Seeing as how my mother died young, or I should say young to me, I had this idea that I’m only going to live to be the same age and I just need to make it that far – that’s no longer the case and I know where I want to be in life.



As I sit (err… lay) here with one cat curled up next to me, my wife sound asleep on the other side, another cat at my feet, another under the bed, my kiddo passed out from swimming all day, a house over our heads, a career, and job I’m blessed to have – I realize it’s all okay.



While I might not be where I expected to be by this point in my life, I’m not quite “late to the party” as the party is just getting underway – while I’m still figuring out all of those “next moves” and creating the plan of attack for the next chapter of my life, also knowing that every choice comes with a sacrifice, it’s time.&nbsp; It’s time to join the party, it’s time to take a chance on the next era of life.



There is no parachute, there is no guarantee, but… it’s time to say goodbye to an era.

Welcome Back Little Soldier

Ever wanted to get rich with your very own coin?! Well, let me just tell you – this guide is going to help you get started… with just becoming more knowledgeable, but not adding any money to your real-world wallet (haha).



Amongst all of my&nbsp;<a href="https://kittabit.com/bubbles-of-champagne-bring-alignment">coding lately</a>, dApps/Web3 is definitely a huge part of the learning, so today we’re just going to be walking through the process of building and deploying your own coin / smart contract on the test network.



<h2 id="before-we-can-get-started">BEFORE WE CAN GET STARTED</h2>



Unlike in our last&nbsp;<a href="https://kittabit.com/getting-started-with-python-3-web-scraping">Python snippet</a>&nbsp;where I made fun of recipe sites for their long intros and text-heavy tutorials, before we can get to the code today, we do need to dive into a few key terms &amp; pieces of information.



<h3 id="what-are-smart-contracts">What are Smart Contracts?</h3>



Trust is something we don’t give to many people or things;&nbsp;<code>smart contracts</code>&nbsp;on the other hand allow us to no longer need to trust a third party, instead, we can trust the contract (or&nbsp;transaction) is being self-executed within a trusted network by computers.



Let’s break it down into three simple items:



<ol>
<li>An agreement is made between two parties in the form of computer code; this then runs on the blockchain, it’s stored in a public database, and it cannot be changed or modified.</li>



<li>The contracts (again – also known as a transaction) are processed, all automatically, and without a third party – no one to rely on at all.</li>



<li>The transaction is ONLY completed when the conditions in the agreement are met – no issues of trust or delays, all completed based on the contract.</li>
</ol>



What could be a real-world example of this idea?



There is a beautiful brand spanking new Omega Railmaster for sale online – as someone who hates salespeople, commission, extra fees, etc – you agree on a price of&nbsp;1.75ETH&nbsp;(roughly $4,500 USD as of writing) with the retailer. That makes your&nbsp;<code>contract</code>&nbsp;simple – once ETH has been received, the watch ownership will become yours and will be delivered. The price is locked, there can be absolutely no changes, all information is public, and is documented.



Short and simple version – they are simply programs that run on the blockchain when a set of predetermined conditions are met.



<h3 id="what-are-decentralized-applications-dapps">What are Decentralized Applications (dApps)?</h3>



Writing an application right now is&nbsp;simple; you write code, store information in a database, manage a server (or cluster of servers), load balance, ship new code, etc. This is all “centralized” in that the app will not work unless it’s in contact with its server. Ship out broken code, server(s) go down, etc – the app will fail for all users. Think of Facebook, Twitter, NetFlix, etc.



Decentralized applications – aka dApps – are a&nbsp;bit&nbsp;different; they run on the blockchain network – rather than connecting to a copy of your application, you instead download a smart contract to your device which creates a new “block” in the chain. This means the application runs across a Peer to Peer (P2P) network of computers versus a connection to a “centralized” location.



I could write an entire post as to the pro’s and con’s of each – let’s just say do your research before you make a decision on how you want to build and scale your application; some of the links below are well written and contain more information on this exact topic.



Reading Material:



<ul>
<li><a href="https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2001/6/7320-centralization-vs-decentralization-of-application-software/">Centralization vs. Decentralization of Application Software</a></li>



<li><a href="https://www.aceinfoway.com/blog/centralized-vs-decentralized-apps">Centralized vs Decentralized</a></li>
</ul>



<h3 id="erc-20-tokens">ERC-20 Tokens?!</h3>



The&nbsp;<code>ERC-20</code>&nbsp;(“Ethereum Request for Comment”) is considered the technical standard used for all smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain as it provides a list of rules that all tokens must adhere to – some of these rules include how tokens can be transferred, how contracts are approved, how data about a token can be access, the total supply of tokens, etc.



ERC-20 is similar to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, etc; they have value and can be sent and received, but instead of running on their own blockchain, they are issued on the Ethereum network.



Each of these ERC-20 tokens includes six basic functions:



<ul>
<li>balanceOf</li>



<li>totalSupply</li>



<li>transfer</li>



<li>transferFrom</li>



<li>approve</li>



<li>allowance</li>
</ul>



These functions are absolutely essential in your token implementation as they are used for determining the total number in circulation, storing and returning balances, making transfer and withdrawal requests, granting approvals, and agreeing to automated transfers.



Reading Material:



<ul>
<li><a href="https://ethereum.org/en/developers/docs/standards/tokens/erc-20/">ERC-20 TOKEN STANDARD</a></li>
</ul>



<h3 id="solidity">Solidity</h3>



Solidity is an object-oriented language, which can&nbsp;look&nbsp;similar to JavaScript or even Python, used to create smart contracts that automate transactions on the blockchain.



Smart contracts built with Solidity can be thought of as a way to automate non-business and business processes between different people and/or organizations; this helps to ensure that people making the transactions on the blockchain do not have to distrust the process, worry about fraud, or even being able to use the same currency.



Reading Material:



<ul>
<li><a href="https://soliditylang.org/">Solidity</a></li>



<li><a href="https://docs.soliditylang.org/en/v0.8.12/">Solidity Documentation</a></li>



<li><a href="https://moralis.io/solidity-explained-what-is-solidity/">Solidity Explained</a></li>
</ul>



<h3 id="metamask">MetaMask</h3>



MetaMask is simple – it’s a browser plugin that serves as an Ethereum wallet that can store ETH along with any other ERC-20 tokens while also being able to interact with dApps within the browser/device (you will need this installed to continue).



Once installed, enabled, and connected to your wallet – you can use it for rewards on websites, stake tokens in gambling, spend stars/coins within games, and it’s all done over the trusted decentralized exchanges.



Note: Please, please, please – for the love of God – do NOT ever share your MetaMask “Secret Backup Phrase” or accidentally upload this information into something such as a public GitHub repository.



Reading Material:



<ul>
<li><a href="https://metamask.io/">MetaMask</a></li>



<li><a href="https://docs.metamask.io/guide/">MetaMask Documentation</a></li>
</ul>



<h3 id="remix">Remix</h3>



The Remix IDE, much like MetaMask, is quite simple to understand – it’s an insanely powerful open-source tool that helps you to write your Solidity contracts straight from the browser. It’s written with JavaScript and supports usage from within the browser, but can be used locally and in a desktop version. Remix includes modules for testing, debugging, and deploying smart contracts along with much, much, more (spend some time reading doc’s).



Reading Material:



<ul>
<li><a href="https://remix-project.org/">Remix</a></li>



<li><a href="https://remix.ethereum.org/">Remix IDE</a></li>
</ul>



<h3 id="test-network">Test Network</h3>



If we were creating a&nbsp;serious&nbsp;project, we would deploy our&nbsp;<code>smart contract</code>&nbsp;onto the Ethereum mainnet, but because we’re learning and&nbsp;<code>gas</code>&nbsp;ain’t cheap; we will be sticking to a test network. This allows us to use free&nbsp;<code>rETH</code>&nbsp;(more on this in a moment), make modifications (which cannot be done once deployed to&nbsp;<code>mainnet</code>), deploy via Remix, test, tweak, etc – all without costing our real wallet any money.



Reading Material:



<ul>
<li><a href="https://101blockchains.com/what-is-a-mainnet-in-cryptocurrency/">What is a Mainnet?</a></li>



<li><a href="https://ethereum.org/en/enterprise/">Ethereum Mainnet</a></li>



<li><a href="https://ropsten.etherscan.io/">Ropsten Blockchain Explorer</a></li>
</ul>



<h2 id="lets-get-started">LET’S GET STARTED</h2>



<h3 id="building-our-token">Building Our Token</h3>



In this example, and you’ll of course need to change this for your own testing, we’ll be naming our token&nbsp;<code>ToeBean</code>&nbsp;(<code>TBEAN</code>&nbsp;as the symbol); classes, files, workspaces, etc will be named accordingly to make things easier for you to understand and follow along.



<h4 id="step-1-open-up-remix-ide">Step #1: Open up Remix IDE</h4>



To get started, go ahead and open up the&nbsp;<a href="https://remix.ethereum.org/">Remix IDE</a>&nbsp;in a new tab; once inside, go ahead and create a new workspace and name it something along the lines of&nbsp;<code>YourCoinName_WorkSpace</code>&nbsp;(ie:&nbsp;<code>ToeBean_WorksSpace</code>) – once done, you should see something like the following:



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="636" height="816" src="http://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/remix_new_workspace.png" alt="" class="wp-image-48" srcset="https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/remix_new_workspace.png 636w, https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/remix_new_workspace-234x300.png 234w" sizes="(max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px" /></figure>



<h4 id="step-2-create-our-solidity-smartcontract">Step #2: Create our Solidity SmartContract</h4>



First up, let’s clean things up a little bit and get our files ready; to do that, go ahead and delete the following files within “contracts” folder:



<ol>
<li><code>1_Storage.sol</code></li>



<li><code>2_Owner.sol</code></li>



<li><code>3_Ballot.sol</code></li>
</ol>



Once done, inside of your “contracts” folder, create a new file named&nbsp;<code>YourCoin.sol</code>&nbsp;(ie:&nbsp;<code>ToeBean.sol</code>).



Now let’s get some code; copy and paste the following into your new Solidity file (changing the token name and symbol):



<pre class="wp-block-code"><code>// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
pragma solidity ^0.8.11;
import "https://github.com/OpenZeppelin/openzeppelin-contracts/blob/master/contracts/token/ERC20/ERC20.sol";

contract ToeBeans is ERC20{

 address public admin;
 constructor() ERC20('ToeBeans', 'TBEANS'){
 _mint(msg.sender, 100); 
 admin = msg.sender;
 }

}
</code></pre>



This code is pretty simple – we’re importing the ERC20 to inherit all the required functions for an ERC20, creating a token with the name “ToeBeans,” assigning a symbol of “TBEANS,” minting a total of 100, and assigning all to myself (the creator of the Solidity Smart Contract).



If you’re making more updates, the “Auto compile” checkbox is very handy – if not checked, once done and saved, let’s go ahead and click on the&nbsp;<code>Compile ToeBeans.sol</code>&nbsp;button within Remix:



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="569" src="http://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/compile_sol_file-1024x569.png" alt="" class="wp-image-70" srcset="https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/compile_sol_file-1024x569.png 1024w, https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/compile_sol_file-300x167.png 300w, https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/compile_sol_file-768x427.png 768w, https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/compile_sol_file-1536x854.png 1536w, https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/compile_sol_file-2048x1139.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



<h4 id="step-3-testing-our-deployment">Step 3: Testing Our Deployment</h4>



Now that our contract is ready to be deployed, let’s deploy within a “JavaScript VM” inside of Remix. To do this, click on your “Deploy” tab and just ensure the “Contract” is correct and “Environment” is set to “JavaScript VM.” If everything goes smoothly, you should see something like the following with a success response in the console:



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="567" src="http://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/compile_sol_success-1024x567.png" alt="" class="wp-image-69" srcset="https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/compile_sol_success-1024x567.png 1024w, https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/compile_sol_success-300x166.png 300w, https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/compile_sol_success-768x425.png 768w, https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/compile_sol_success-1536x851.png 1536w, https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/compile_sol_success-2048x1134.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



More importantly, you should see the following in the bottom left of the screen under “Deployed Contracts:”



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="536" height="1024" src="http://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/sol_deployment-536x1024.png" alt="" class="wp-image-45" srcset="https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/sol_deployment-536x1024.png 536w, https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/sol_deployment-157x300.png 157w, https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/sol_deployment.png 614w" sizes="(max-width: 536px) 100vw, 536px" /></figure>



These functions are all of the ones that are available to you; orange means that you will have to pay gas fees and anything that requires changing the balance of an account as they need new blocks saved on the blockchain. The blue ones are anything that just looks through the blockchain to find information; thus no gas is required.



<h4 id="step-4-deploying-to-ropsten-test-network">Step 4: Deploying to Ropsten Test Network</h4>



Since we’ve compiled our contract, validated it within the virtual machine, and ensured it’s ready for “prime time,” we can now deploy our token over to the Ropsten Test Network.



First things first, let’s change our “Environment” from&nbsp;<code>JavaScript VM</code>&nbsp;to&nbsp;<code>Injected Web3.</code>



Once selected, as long as MetaMask is installed and configured, you should see a small popup asking you to connect MetaMask with Remix. Ensure this is set to&nbsp;<code>Ropsten Test Network</code>&nbsp;as we don’t want to incur any real costs or fees. If you do not see&nbsp;<code>Test Networks</code>&nbsp;available,&nbsp;<a href="https://devtonight.com/posts/metamask-testnet-wallet-setup-for-blockchain-development#:~:text=Add%20Custom%20Testnet%20Networks%20To,%2C%20RPC%20URL%2C%20chain%20ID.">click on this</a>&nbsp;to read a bit of documentation on adding them to your wallet.



Once configured, we’re going to need some free gas – rETH – to do this, visit any of the following “faucets” to have it send you free rETH.



Ropsten Ethereum (rETH) Faucets



<ul>
<li><a href="https://faucet.metamask.io/">MetaMask Faucet</a></li>



<li><a href="https://faucet.dimensions.network/">Dimensions Network</a></li>



<li><a href="https://faucet.egorfine.com/">Egor Egorov</a></li>
</ul>



Note: As a reminder, if you’re deploying to a non-test environment, this is going to cost you real ETH (aka real money) for “gas.”



After obtaining the rETH, just like you did with the test in step 3, go ahead and click on the “Deploy” button. This can take a few minutes, but you can watch the progress within MetaMask; once completed, you should see something along the following lines:



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="567" src="http://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/deployed_sol-1024x567.png" alt="" class="wp-image-68" srcset="https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/deployed_sol-1024x567.png 1024w, https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/deployed_sol-300x166.png 300w, https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/deployed_sol-768x425.png 768w, https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/deployed_sol-1536x850.png 1536w, https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/deployed_sol-2048x1133.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



Within the terminal response, you should see a success notice and you’ll see a handy link – “view on etherscan.” If you click on this link, you’ll see all of the information and validation of the contract creation within the blockchain:



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="575" src="http://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ropsten_etherscan-1024x575.png" alt="" class="wp-image-47" srcset="https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ropsten_etherscan-1024x575.png 1024w, https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ropsten_etherscan-300x168.png 300w, https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ropsten_etherscan-768x431.png 768w, https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ropsten_etherscan-1536x863.png 1536w, https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ropsten_etherscan-2048x1150.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



If you actually click on the token itself (within the “Tokens Transferred” section), you’ll see the full details of all transactions/information related to the singular token across all users:



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="565" src="http://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ropsten_etherscan_single_token-1024x565.png" alt="" class="wp-image-46" srcset="https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ropsten_etherscan_single_token-1024x565.png 1024w, https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ropsten_etherscan_single_token-300x166.png 300w, https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ropsten_etherscan_single_token-768x424.png 768w, https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ropsten_etherscan_single_token-1536x848.png 1536w, https://wp.kittabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ropsten_etherscan_single_token-2048x1130.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



<h2 id="conclusion">CONCLUSION</h2>



There, you’re rich, you happy?! Just kidding, but knowledge is power, right?



You’ve just learned and familiarized yourself on how to successfully create a smart contract (albeit a very basic one), deploy to the Ropsten Test Network, and use Etherscan to review transaction information in a matter of a few minutes. Go read documentation, mess around in Remix, and at a later date, I’ll write a follow-up with more complex scenarios and capabilities of smart contracts (along with the use of&nbsp;<a href="https://maticnetwork.github.io/matic.js/docs/get-started">Matic.JS</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://web3js.readthedocs.io/en/v1.7.1/">Web3</a>, etc).

How To Create Your Own ERC-20 Token in a Few Minutes

Getting Started with Python 3 Web Scraping

<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">
THERE IS TRULY NO SUCH THING AS A PROBLEM, THERE ARE ONLY SOLUTIONS.
</blockquote>



The steering wheel starts to shake, the tires feel off, just slightly imbalanced, and something feels odd – you as a driver go to the mechanic, then you have them realign things to get you back on the road and driving smoothly.



That’s how my life felt for quite some time – you know, just minus the actual fixing the problem and getting aligned – just driving down the road shaking, no direction, in need of a tune up.



To be as honest as possible, my personality is one of chasing things that make me happy – or&nbsp;trying&nbsp;to find things that make me happy, even if only for a brief moment in time.



We’re not talking about big things; it could be as simple as taking photos, it could be drones, it could be racing RC cars, it could be anything – but none of these things ever made me feel fully aligned; they still left me feeling hollow like I was still searching for the “right answer” or “bigger picture.”



Life is weird like that; you say things like “I’m so competitive,” but really you’re just repetitive and running on repeat or like you’re a robot on a major sedative…. plain and simple – numb.



The root cause hasn’t been found – the alignment hasn’t happened, and you still don’t know where you’re going or what you’re doing.



I do now.



It’s taken a great deal of time to process losing my mother, it’s taken a long time to get past imposter syndrome, coming to terms with massive changes with my day job / team; it’s taken therapy, long talks all day and night with those that understand, but I finally am in a place where things feel like it’s on the right path.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">
ONE CANNOT BE PRESENT WHEN LOOKING BACKWARDS
</blockquote>



The visit to the mechanic happened, the tune up was applied, the ECU was upgraded, and I feel like a brand new machine running on all cylinders, race slicks equipped, and ready to run the track &amp; nail the apex of each corner.



All that to say, it’s time for more – not more endless hobbies or random things to try and fill voids, but time to chase what actually matters and what I actually want vs what I think I want.



Thus the title of this entry; bringing alignment (and my love of champagne).



You see, I’ve pigeon holed myself into a strange position career wise – while I’ve built some amazing things for clients over the course of my career, I still just look like an “agency developer” versus anything more than that which has been disheartening to hear/see.



For years, I’ve built anything and everything for everyone around me, but my notebook of ideas sat on the sidelines – and while I have zero intention of leaving my day job as these guys are like family and I love our clients, it is time to bring out a bit of well… me.



For those of you who don’t actually know me; I’m an oddball to say the least – I have an unhealthy obsession with my cats, I have tattoos all over (with plenty more to come) which all mean something to me, fingernails constantly painted random colors, random rings &amp; bracelets, bright and colorful Crocs, I collect vinyl records, I dig every type of music, I put my family above all else, and I like being me; I like being weird – I like being the oddball out in the sea of normal.



What I don’t care about though is being famous – years ago, success meant a beautiful car, a Rolex on the wrist, giant house, etc, but here’s the thing – none of that means anything when you still look down at that watch and know lunch hour is ticking down or you’re racing back to the office in that fancy car.



I want what I want; which might not match others or the ideas some around me think I should be doing, but I want to build; I have an obsession with taking something from a blank slate into something people use, people profit off of, people are proud of, as it’s just who I am.



I’ve just never taken the risk to do it myself out of fear of failure – what if it costs me too much to do this crazy idea, what if it doesn’t play out, what if no one uses it, what if it’s time wasted?!



The realization is that this doesn’t matter – it’s education, it’s community (that one open source project might inspire someone else to do something so much better), it’s truly the art of pushing myself out of my comfort zone on a day to day basis.



But I want to circle back for a moment; why does this “just an agency developer” concept bother me so much?



As someone who has been coding since being a wee little lad starting with BASIC and then C/C++, my resume and throughput doesn’t quite showcase that; what you don’t see is all the late nights building insane projects like a fantasy stock trading platform (which even Mark Cuban tested), the Roku channels used by thousands, the product helping get kids active in classrooms, the excitement/fear of scaling a website on Shark Tank, etc.



At the same time, I got stuck in my ways – I did become an “agency developer” to an extent where I wasn’t pushing the envelope and using the newest / best technologies available as sometimes… it’s just not what a client needs (or can afford to invest into).



This is why 2022 is so important to me on so many levels, and yes I’m late on the “new year, new me” bandwagon – it’s the first chance I’ve had at stable footing in a long time and a chance to PUSH the envelope.



The reason I’ve failed for so long is simple – the list is large, it’s massive, and if not 100% completed overnight, then I’m a failure in my own mind. I put so much pressure on myself that I was almost guaranteed to fail – but the solution is simple, and it’s been right in front of my face:



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">
1%
</blockquote>



If you put every ounce of pressure onto yourself to complete 1,000,000 things a day, yet you end the day only accomplishing X percentage of your goals, it feels like failure – if you truly break those items down into smaller pieces and focus on becoming 1% better every day, in 100 days, you’re already 100% better than you were 3 months ago.



This seems “slow” progress wise, but if you’re building gradually and succeeding, you’ll become faster, more efficient, and always growing &amp; learning – which is the end goal – be a better version of yourself.



We also have to give ourselves credit for successes – as well as for making it through failures. While this notebook’s intent is not to be personal or form of “diary,”, and instead focus on code, for an “intro” post it’s important to be real, be honest, set the tone for who I am – and I’ve been through hell and back over the past few years on a personal level.



Feeling alive, feeling free again, feeling like it’s time to define the next chapter of my life, it’s just an insatiable feeling that I don’t want to stop chasing; eating a frog off my list, having one ounce of weight removed, freeing my mind to focus, allowing myself to “have fun” while still chasing goals and dreams – I am ready.



So if you’re still reading this, please know this isn’t the tone of the future in regards to “woe is me,” instead it’s a playground – it’s about being woke and ready to be in the battlegrounds, starting over, feeling refreshed, and ready to take on the world.



Whether it’s Python, NodeJS, ReactJS, PHP, WordPress, or [insert any other random keyword / trend here related to coding], I’m here for it – I’ve got several projects in the pipeline, tons of tutorials to help people get started and get involved in the community, and I’m ready to start networking.



The goal at first is to keep GitHub active, with projects listed on the site shortly, along with one long form tutorial/article per week on this site – pushing myself, pushing new content, and just growing 1% every day of my life.



So, the paper is clean and empty, the pen is ready, and it’s time to write…<a href="https://kittabit.com/"></a>

Notebook

The NextJS Journey

Welcome Back Little Soldier

How To Create Your Own ERC-20 Token in a Few Minutes

Getting Started with Python 3 Web Scraping

Bubbles of Champagne Bring Alignment