Matthew Lang avatar

Matthew Lang

Family guy and web developer

The boys had a great time tonight at the club’s junior fun night. They even walked away with a prize each!

Tried Todoist yesterday for about five minutes and then deleted my account. The reason? I don’t want a task manager app that is available everywhere.

I’m happy to keep using Things even though it doesn’t have a web client. Sometimes restricted availability can be a good thing.

Paid version of Firefox

I’ve seen a lot arguments for and against Mozilla’s paid version of Firefox. I wouldn’t be adverse to paying for a service that values my privacy and in turn helps an organisation try to keep the web open, fair and secure.

I do have some reservations about a paid version of Firefox. Privacy shouldn’t be something you need to pay for, but I am hoping that this paid version is very affordable so that it’s accessible for as many people as possible.

Raptors were so close last night! Need to wait until Friday morning now.

I must admit, I’m not a die-hard basketball fan, but I’m chuffed to bits that my second city’s team is so close their first NBA championship. 🏀

Where have all the good programming and development blogs gone? Maybe I’m not looking hard enough, but I struggle to find good programming blogs to follow that post on a regular basis.

Two wins this week for the Paisley juniors. Good start to the season! Also good to see Ethan win his match tonight. 🏌️‍♂️

Part-time career?

Personally, I do think working fewer hours makes me more productive. But that’s not why I do it. The real reason is that I have other things I’d rather do. An hour that I don’t spend working (and I work hard, believe me, and like what I do), is an hour sitting on the couch with my kids, reading a science-fiction novel and pausing intermittently to chat about their video games or YouTube favourites. It’s an hour cooking a meal, going for a walk or doing volunteer work. It’s when I can act as one node in the lively neighbourhood web of parents, grandparents and afterschool programmes for kids, organising hangouts and snacks. It’s also when I pay bills, run errands, execute minor home repairs, and hire others to tackle major ones – so neither I nor my husband have to do that stuff on weekends.

Part-time work is humane and should be respected and encouraged

Just imagine what you could so with a few hours extra a week. Home cooked meals, helping the kids with homework before dinner, time to enjoy more of the daylight through the darker months, the chance to fit more in during the evening. Deifnitely something I would like to see happen, for all these reasons and more.

Fan-made version of Star Wars scene 38

Also, I wonder if we’ll get a new version of A New Hope with this included as an option?

“We were inspired by the Vader scene in Rogue One,” Christopher Clements from FixitinPost says in an email to Fast Company. “We felt like the fury and power from that hallway scene should be present in the Vader/Kenobi duel that happens very closely in the Star Wars timeline. It was essential to update the emotion of the scene given the history we are now aware of between these two. Telling the story of these two was our main goal when setting out to create Scene 38.”

This fan-made, nerd-approved edit of an iconic Star Wars scene took 2.5 years to make

Prefabricated future

Prefabricated and self-contained homes are becoming increasingly good alternatives to traditional homes. These homes are often cheaper and quicker to build and are usually more environmentally friendly than conventional homes.

There’s a new housing development down the road that is being built on the grounds of an old industrial site. Looking at the foundations being created, the timber frames being put up and all the disruptive roadworks that come with it and you wonder when these style of homes will fall out of favour with people. I think that time is coming as people are increasingly more aware of the environment.

I don’t know what the majority of people’s perceptions are of these prefabricated and self-contained homes, but I am curious to see one up close.

I can see the environmental benefits of downsizing your home to something smaller, but I’m not sure that I can give up the feel of a traditional home. Ideally, I’d like something in between. A prefabricated and self-contained home with just slightly more space.

Also, wouldn’t hurt if it was zombie-proof as well.