Matthew Lang

I think I made it through Micro.blog’s Microblogvember. It’s been fun to do and has helped keep me posting. I aim to keep it going through December.

I’ve started using Todoist again.

Bullet journaling on its own doesn’t cut it and Things is limited by the fact that it’s only available on Apple devices. I’ve only been using Todoist for a few days but it’s like I never stopped using it.

Last day of my two month focus on basic functionality for my Rails product. For December and January the goal is to refine these basic features and also integrate social media into the application.

An interesting look at choosing the right messaging app.

I use iMessage as my default messaging app, closesly followed by WhatsApp. From time to time I use Instagram’s built-in messaging as well, but that’s a rare occurence and always reserved for one-liners from friends and family.

Ideally I’d like to be using Signal as my default messaging app, but getting others on board with it is a problem. Most people I know are not aware of the privacy implications of most messaging apps they are using, so they just use what everyone else is using. The big problem here is that many of these now fall under the control of Facebook.

CJ Chilver’s reminds us that we can reduce our anxiety by reducing the number of inboxes that we have.

There’s a lot of productivity advice out there about what to do to organize and process your many inboxes. But the best rule is often forgotten: have as few of them as possible.

— Eliminate Extra Inboxes

I still use Feedbin on a daily basis to filter for the important stuff, and I even follow a few accounts on Twitter using it.

The biggest benefit I get from using Feedbin is that I’m in control over what I choose to see and read. That’s a big positive in a time where platforms are pushing algorithms that decide for us what we should read.

The themes I’m building for my Rails product are hardly fantastic to begin with, but they are improving with each iteration. The goal isn’t to have themes with the best design, it’s to simply be better than what’s already out there for my target market. I’m close to doing that.

I wonder if this idea for an iPod app will make Kurt ditch his beloved iPod?

I suspect not.

A few better alternatives to hunting for bargains for #blackinkfriday. Golf, gaming, coding and reading.

If my website is my little corner of the Internet, then I need to invest a bit of time in ensuring it’s a worthy property to visit.

Another Lego set is complete for Drew!

This year’s Christmas set, with the light brick and the detail inside, has some nice little touches. We just need to dig out the other sets tomorrow night when we put the tree up!

Michael Wade’s rules for Thanksgiving officially mark the start of this fine holiday. Yes, I know we don’t celebrate it in the UK, but it’s definitely a holiday that I would like to adopt.

Even though the Ruby programming language is no longer flying high as the most popular language for web applications, it’s rich community of people and gems remains strong.

Going to mix up my learning goals for 2020 by focusing on Go and React. Picking a couple of technologies that are popular and quite different. Hopefully Go will provide an alternative as Ruby for the command line and who can argue with React’s popularity.

I’ve been toying with the idea of taking a New York Times subscription. I find myself on their website quite a lot, so I thought it would be worth removing the limit on the number of free articles that I can read.

At £10 per month though, I’m not sure it’s something that I really need. There’s also the annual subscription that I can find through their iOS app but not on the website. If I take this, then I find myself taking a bigger initial hit of £99, but I end up saving over the 12 months.

I think what’s putting me off is the fact that the monthly subscription is double digits. It’s £10. I usually don’t hesitate are subscribing to services under the £10 mark as they are only a few quid for the first few months and then I can decide if it’s worth the cost.

The New York Times subscription though starts above that single-digit level. And that’s got me thinking that I would rather not have it at all, instead of giving it a try for a few months.

I get why subscriptions are great for journalists and news sites. I’d rather pay a subscription for a high-quality source of news and be able to read it while not being hit with adverts everywhere, but I find both the monthly and annual options just a little bit too high.

A larger company might afford better long term prospects with it being more secure and more stable. However, being a company of one puts you in control of ensuring your company is secure for the foreseeable future. I much prefer the idea of the one being in control rather than taking a backseat.

There’s nothing more I miss about freelancing than being a company of one. Setting your own work, your own hours, your own workplace, your own day. Someday I hope to return to this work.

Woebegone. Never was there a more suitable word for British politics.

On a brighter note I did ship my random writing prompt web page.

I’m not sure about the name, the domain choice or what the future holds for it, but it felt good deploying it again.

I must admit, I rather like the look of Tesla’s new Cybertruck. I’m also starting to wonder if this design will herald the beginning of a number of lookalikes in the truck market.

A cup of tea, some Ruby code and having a little hum along to Bloc Party. I like these kind of Friday nights.

Shattered & Hollow. Just one of the many great tracks on First Aid Kit’s Stay Gold album. Recommended by my wife a couple of weeks ago.

I didn’t miss much then with last night’s election debate.

BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said it was not clear if either men had won or lost the debate but it was striking how the audience had been ready to laugh at their statements.

— Election debate: Johnson and Corbyn clash over Brexit - BBC News

And that pretty much sums up UK politics just now. Two guys making empty promises and being laughed at by the very people who have the choice to vote for them.

This election is the stuff of nightmares.

Nicholas Bate starts another essential series of posts, life reminders

I’ve been giving a second look at React over the last few weeks.

What I like about React is that it’s widely adopted and has a large community. I still need to find some time to build something with it though. I have enough tutorials to get me started which is good.

It seems we now need naps at work.

A recently published study from Indiana’s Ball State University, which examined self-reported sleep duration of 150,000 people, found the numbers of respondents who got seven hours of sleep per night or less rose to 35.6% in 2018 from 30.9% in 2010. About half of the respondents who were police officers and healthcare workers reported not getting enough sleep.

— Should workers be allowed to nap at work?

Is there more to this story?

Are there any other causes of sleep deprivation? Perhaps mobile phone use? The rise in sleep deprivation since 2010 is eerily close to the rise in mobile phone use, especially with the increased use of social media.

How many times do you find yourself surfing on your phone in bed?

It’s a terrible habit that I’ve been trying to break to give myself more sleep. Not only that, but I’m trying to set a good example for my kids. They need their sleep even more than I do.

Even so, if sleep deprivation is not related to this, there’s another argument. If you are allowed to nap at work, then why not offer employees a small reduction in hours so that they can get the right amount of sleep?

We all have to take responsibility for getting the right amount of sleep. However, in this age of always on technology, there has to be a way in which we can get the work-life balance right so that people shouldn’t need to nap at work.