Curtis McHale offers some advice for those looking to get more from their mobile devices when it comes to deep work.
One of the final big ways to stop your phone from wasting your time is to not have it near you unless you need it. When I’m at home, I don’t need my phone because my family is downstairs. If there is something I need to deal with they’ll call up to me.
— Setting up iOS for Focused Work bby Curtis McHale
The Trinet (Amazon, Facebook, Google) is a depressing prospect for the future of the web.
The War for Net Neutrality in the USA won a battle in 2014, but in 2017 we are seeing a second battle which is more likely to be lost. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are probably soon going to dictate what traffic can or cannot arrive at people’s end devices. GOOG-FB-AMZN traffic would be the most common, due to their popularity among internet users. Because of this market demand, ISPs will likely provide cheap plans with access to GOOG-FB-AMZN, while offering more expensive plans with full internet access.
— The web begain dying in 2014, here’s how by André Staltz
There’s still one thing that the web has in it’s favour. People are still willing to make it the best open platform it can be.
Google might have shut down their RSS reader but there’s been a number of replacements sprung up that people are willing to pay for like Feedbin.
Facebook might have the social internet sewn up just now, but people are continually challenging that with alternatives like Mastodon and Micro.blog.
Amazon might have the shopping internet market share, but how long can they continue that success? Retail is a never-ending cycle of new companies and stores trying to sell products. Can Amazon remain on top?
I’m optimistic that the web can still be and open platform for all. It comes from educating people about the sacrifices they’re making in using the Trinet’s applications and services and what the trade-off is. I suspect most people are not too bothered though, but there are people who are willing to support and work towards an open web.
40 day writing streak on 750words.com. The daily habit is getting easier to do now. Here’s to another 40 days of writing!
Nice. You can now click the labels on a Trello card and it will show the text for the labels on all cards.
Running Hyper this week instead of Terminal just to see what all the fuss is about.
Finally, bobble hat season is here! #ynot #ynotmade
Back to winter coaching with the RGU boys and David Orr. A few takeaways to work on.
I haven’t seen the Buffalo Bills play like this for years. Great game to watch.
Trying to put together the parts for a monthly newsletter aimed at both Rails developers and Rails product owners/team leaders. We’ll see how it goes.
Just discovered the attribute_was method in Rails.
Everyday is a school day. #til
For a long time, I’ve been a user of Path. A social media network for those who want a level a level of privacy. It was another Twitter or Instagram but only for those that wanted to keep their timeline limited only to a few people.
In a time when everyone was sharing everything and anything, it was great to see a product that changed it’s approach to sharing.
I was happy for a few years there. Sharing moments with the family and knowing that anything I shared there would be private.
As other social media networks started to move on with new features, it felt like Path was falling behind.
To make themselves relevant again, Path split their app into two different apps. One for sharing to your timeline and another for messaging. The messaging feature was simple, but the decision to share the messaging to a separate app just looked crazy. At the time I already had many other messaging apps. I didn’t need another.
Thankfully, they’ve since merged the two apps again.
Then Path decided they needed a little extra money. So they decided to launch a subscription tier that would include a bunch of stickers on your account so that you could, you know, put stickers on your posts and comments on Path. It’s not the kind of feature that I would want to pay money for, but that’s what they were offering.
As time marched on, I slowly reduced my posting frequency to Path and instead opted for an Instagram account. Despite my preconceptions about it, I’m happier posting stuff on Instagram than I ever did on Path. The whole experience is spot on for me, and there are very few elements of the social media network that I don’t like. I even use it for messaging with Jennifer and family in Canada.
Having not posted to Path in some time I revisited the app a few weeks ago and discovered some changes.
First, you can now share stories on Path, much like Instagram and Snapchat.
Secondly, you can now share your Path moments publicly and even follow other people, even if you don’t know them. There is still a level of privacy with Path, but it appears to have been eaten up by the need for Path to be a competitor with Instagram.
With Path changed so much in the last few months, I’ve entirely stopped posting to it and now post to Instagram which in turn, posts to my micro-blog.
My problem with Path isn’t that they’ve started charging for a premium tier, it's a fact their now another Instagram clone and sharing many of the same features that Instagram has. I don’t need another Instagram but nor do I need Path these days. I’m happy to share moments on Instagram, and that’s it.
I never thought I would see the day where I would be dissing on Path, but their recent changes have been features that I will never use.
The last nail in the coffin for me and Path though is that you can’t export your content from Path in any form. I emailed Path’s support team about this. They answered that I should disable my account. Not what I was hoping for, by my request for an export facility has been passed onto the Path team, but I’m not holding my breath for it to appear anytime soon.
One of many nuggets of advice for programmers who feel they are lagging behind.
The goal is become aware of the range of technologies available, and get a superficial understanding of theirs strengths (“React has a bigger community, but skimming the Vue tutorial was easier”, for example). This process can therefore be done over the course of a few hours, at most a day or two, during your work day in-between scheduled tasks.
— Your technical skills are obsolete: now what? by Itamar Turner-Trauring
Last night I started down-sizing my Twitter account. Here’s a few things I did.
I suspect that I’ll always have a Twitter account, but I’ll be interacting with only a couple of times a day. My main source of news and updates will be through other places like Instagram, Feedbin and of course Micro.blog
Part of my web development toolbox for years. Saying Goodbye to Firebug
New home for my micro.blog - mattisms.blog.
A reminder from Nicholas Bate that the Internet serves both the good and the bad.
False news on what a politician said. Dubious claims on the power of a particular asian fruit.
— Jagged Thoughts for Jagged Times, 250 by Nicholas Bate
Gregory Brown is closing his Twitter account (@practicingdev).
In 24 hours I’ll be shutting down this Twitter account for good. I am OK, and will resume blogging at practicingdeveloper.com. A few months ago I tried to take a break from Twitter and (once again) failed. I don’t like that feeling, so need to take stronger action.
I’ve been following Gregory for a few years now. I like what he writes about and subscribe to his blog.
I have mixed reactions on his decision to leave Twitter. I’m sad for others that follow Gregory on Twitter but happy that he’s taken this step and will continue blogging.
I’ve often thought about deleting my Twitter account but I’m not quite ready to do it. I’m quite happy to let Micro.blog cross post what I need from here to Twitter for the time being. I think the time is coming though. The day when I say goodbye to Twitter.
One again I’ve made Kurt’s list and he now he’s planning a surprise visit!
Family guy and freelance web developer, Matthew Lang publishes regularly from Paisley, Scotland on apps, life, and business. Some day, I plan to meet him in person. I just don’t plan on telling him when. Want it to be a surprise.
It would be great to meet up with Kurt. One of those few blogs I have followed for years.
I would love to be able to pin cards at the top of each list in Trello. Just saying.
Great first episode of the new season of The Walking Dead. Good pace and build up to the next episode.
Reviews of it online I think we’re a bit unfair. I seen a few reviews saying it was too slow. I think people forget their watching a single episode of a television series. There still more to come.
Back to work this morning after a week off.
Half of these ideas on making Slack less of a time suck are terrible suggestions. Just because you can make todo lists in a Slack, doesn’t mean that you should. Less is more with Slack. Use it for what it’s good at. Messaging. Anything else is a distraction.
Subscribed to the Hurry Slowly podcast this morning. Expecting good things.
Nice start to the day.
Great first lesson of the off-season for Ethan with Andy, our club professional. Plenty to work on for next year!
