Pete Corey’s Minimum Viable Phoenix is a great starting point for those looking to learn the Phoenix web framework.
Right, made it through this morning’s RSS feeds without seeing any spoilers from last night’s final episode of Game of Thrones. Just need to make it through to tonight when the rest of the UK are watching it.
Interesting programming problem I solved this morning. Rewrite a regex expression so that it doesn’t use any escape characters that would break the Yaml file it is being saved in.
Also, added Regex101 to my list of great online tools for web development.
Starting to think I might just have enough features in place for a new landing page for Markcase.
Essential career advice for software developers
Scott Hanselman nails it with his advice for a young university student attending the Microsoft BUILD conference.
For the young person I spoke to, yes .NET Core may be a little different from .NET Framework, and they might both be different from Ruby or JavaScript, but strings are strings, loops are loops, memory is memory, disk I/O is what it is, and we all share the same networks. Processes and threads, ports, TCP/IP, and DNS - understanding the basic building blocks are important.
It’s all just building blocks. Whatever the language or framework is, the building blocks are still the same. Great advice for those just starting their careers in software development, but also a reminder for the older or more experienced software developers who are struggling with the ever changing landscape of programming.
The personal website is back.
The importance of doing nothing.
I don’t use GitLab, but the way the company is run and managed is really refreshing. Everyone remote, and the company is transparent with just about everything.
A shame to see that Eastwood golf club is facing closure. A nice course with great views on the outskirts of Glasgow.
Golf clubs are facing challenging times ahead. I can see most clubs making it through these challenges, but there will be a number of clubs who won’t make it.
Creative screen time
Over the last few weeks, I’ve noticed that my youngest son Drew is spending a crazy amount of time drawing. You can usually find him sprawled out on the floor of his bedroom with sheets of paper everywhere and a circle of Sharpies around him. He loves it, so what harm can come from it?
The thing is, the source for his new love of drawing comes from a Youtube channel that we found one day while he was looking for some drawing inspiration. The channel is the Art for Kids Hub.
After we checked it over, we thought it was okay for him to be left alone with it for an hour. Now though, we’re at the point where he doesn’t draw without it.
I remember being slightly older than Drew when I first started taking an interest in drawing. I did the same thing, except instead of watching Youtube videos, I frequently drew from books and comics that I had in my room. After a while, I realised that I had enough of the basics down that I could pretty much draw anything. And I did.
The concern we have now is that he’s using a screen to do it. Sometimes he can be in his room for hours drawing. When’s he’s done he will come down with about ten drawings from a single session. Is that amount of time spent in front of a screen good for him?
There are so many conflicting reports and findings of kids and the amount of screen time they should have. The saving grace here I suppose is that he’s not just sitting there doing nothing. He’s doing something creative, and the screen is only a guide.
As long as he’s producing drawings, I can’t see any harm in it. I think in time, he’ll realise that he doesn’t need the iPad and he’ll start drawing on his own.