Matthew Lang

Some months ago I'd decided to use Atom as my go to text editor for day to day programming. I had been hearing good things about Atom for a while and the popularity of its packages means that I could easily switch to Atom with no major interruption in my workflow. There was one thing I wasn't counting on though.

Atom is slow. Not slow that it makes a huge impact on my day but slow enough that it leaves me hanging for a few seconds after certain operations. Even opening a project can have a lag of a few seconds.

Coming from Sublime Text this was a huge disappointment. Sublime Text has always been a fast text editor. Even the indexing of files within the project you are working on is fast. Opening files, creating panes, finding and replacing, all lightning quick. And much faster than Atom.

Speed isn't a major factor when you've done a single days coding but adding all those little seconds up over a period of a year and you'll have a significant amount of time.

Fellow Scot Ian Dick highlights some areas of technology where Apple are falling behind.

Apple also seems to be out of the AR/VR loop. It’s computer hardware can’t drive an Oculus although on the mobile side it could easily launch AR support as the hardware in the iPhone is extremely capable.

— Placing Bets by Ian Dick

I can't help but wonder though if things like VR are at the stage where Apple or any other company should be worrying about it.

Zapier is an automation tool that integrated with hundreds of products and services on the Internet. It makes integrating tools together simple and also has multiple step workflows.

The problem with Zapier is that while all this automation is handy for repetitive workflows, I started to question the need for such automation and whether I truly needed it.

Let's take FormKeep as an example. I use FormKeep as a way of allowing people to contact me regardless of the blog platform I am using. I have a contact form on this blog and one on my web development blog. If I receive a contact form submission from someone, FormKeep will send me an email to let me know.

Using Zapier I could do the following with the submission:

1. Send the clients details to my CRM
2. Create a task to review the client's request
3. Create a task to reply back to them within two days

I would do all this anyway, so is there any need for me to automate these steps? Probably not.

Also not all form submissions I get are potential clients looking for me to work with them. Some submissions are general questions about Ruby on Rails, some are offers of full-time work and some are questions about previous topics I have written about. So automating this can result in a false positive and mean that I have to remove tasks from my task manager and contact details from my CRM.

The false positive of automation means that it only works if the intended result of the automation is always going to be the same. If there's a shadow of a doubt that there could be a wrong end result then automation isn't a good fit.

Automation isn't all bad and I still need an automation tool so I have created an account at IFTTT as it offers the simple automation I need but without the cost. I'm not worried if IFTTT disappear over night as it's a form of automation that I can happily live without but I use it just because it helps.

I've been scaling back on a few tools that I use regularly and it's made working a lot easier and removed the need for automation. Zapier is great for multi-step workflows that will always deliver the intended result, but for me it's become a tool I can do without.

Many people use Buffer as a tool to automate the process of sharing links to social networks. I even used it for a while to do this. I have no complaints with the Buffer product. It's reliable and user friendly. A couple of weeks ago though I decided to cancel my subscription with them. There's a number of reasons why I did this.

Limited value in sharing

One of Buffer's unique selling points is that it automates the step of sharing a link at a specific date and time. This allows you to queue links to your social media accounts so that you gradually share these links over a period of time. Recently though I've started to question the value in regularly sharing other people's links on social media.

My preferred programming language is Ruby. I already subscribe to a number of blogs, podcasts and newsletters about this language and the Ruby on Rails web framework. As a web developer I see the value in consuming these links for myself but I don't see the value in sharing these links on social media. There's already a good content funnel for digesting these links, other developers just need to find it.

I do share the odd link every now and again but not at the volume that warrants my use of Buffer.

Better analytics with Twitter

When Buffer first started one of its unique selling points is that it has analytics on the links that you shared to your social networks. I can't say how good these are for other social networks, but the analytics on Twitter links are good.

Recently though I've added the analytics on both of these accounts and I've found them to be more informative than what Buffer has to offer as Twitter's analytics cover more than just clicks. I'm not religious about my analytics but once a month I'll check them to see if there was anything that received significantly more clicks.

Minimal social media footprint

I've got two accounts on Twitter that I use. One is my own account and the other is for my freelancing business. With just two accounts to manage and the fact I only use one account for sharing links on a frequent basis, I can't see the point in using Buffer for queuing up links when I can easily do it on my own.

Buffer is a useful tool if you have a content sharing funnel that needs regular updates to your social media accounts, but as I'm running just a freelancing business and regularly post in my own links to my blog, I don't see the value in having a Buffer account, even if it is just the free account. The benefit to this is that I've got one less account to worry about.

Some suggestions for alternatives to the workplace social network.

Excited about this bike with it being a steel hardtail, but I really wish we could settle on one or even two wheel sizes for the mountain bike industry.

via Singletrack Magazine

Wins the race.

This morning, just as a test, move very slowly. Avoid scanning material. Read it carefully. Sense the rhythm of the words. Make all of your actions as precise as possible. Be in the moment, whether you are sipping coffee, writing a note or talking to a customer.

‐ Slow and Precise by Michael Wade

All this week I’ve been writing about finding value with social media. Social media as a mainstream communication is already ten years old if we start the clock from 2006 when Twitter began. In that time, it’s seen an explosion of growth but as it becomes more mainstream is it’s attraction and value wearing off?

I don’t think so. I think more people are simply using social media in a way that suits them. I know that my own way of using social media has changed over the years. No longer am I sending over 20 updates a day. I keep my interaction down to a minimum preferring to only dip into my timeline a few times a day. Sure I might miss something, but I gave up on staying on top of my timeline a long time ago. It just isn’t possible.

There’s also the changing landscape of social media. In the beginning there were people. Just people chatting away and sharing links, pictures and other content. Then the corporate companies got wind of the possibility of getting the brands and products in front of these millions of people. I’d like to say it’s a good thing, but the use of ads as a revenue stream is a poor way of ensuring your startup is profitable unless this is the startup’s business plan from day one.

Then there’s the new kids on the block. Snapchat is fast becoming as popular as Twitter and Instagram (from what the kids tell me), but I think I’ll stick with what I know. That is until they are eventually surpassed by other social media platforms.

There’s still value in social media, but it needs like anything else, time spent curating the good from the bad, managing your time on social media wisely and knowing the limits of social media. That's how you get value from social media.

A lot of people use social media as their means of keeping up with news, topics and communities. I’ve always struggled with this aspect of social media, as the number of accounts I end up having to follow results in a constantly updating timeline that often just makes me turn away. It’s too much.

It’s just an observation on my part, but I think more and more people are looking elsewhere for their fix of valuable content. Social media is a firehose of data and digesting it at a sustainable pace is close to impossible unless you keep a tight reign on how many people you are following. Thankfully there are other means of finding valuable content.

Newsletters

The humble email is still the most reliable and manageable form of content that you can get. Which is why newsletters are probably more popular than ever. Subscribe to the topics that interest you and digest them in your own time. It’s that simple.

Newsletters are more valuable than social media in this respect because they are curated so that you can read the entire thing in a few minutes and get all the relevant information.

You also know when it will arrive. Newsletters are delivered on a regular interval and that consistency means that you always know when you’ll get the next edition of that newsletter.

RSS

Social media networks might not be keen on including RSS feeds in their own websites or even for individual users, but the RSS is still as popular as ever.

Although Google retired their Reader app, there’s now an abundance of RSS reader apps available and almost all websites include an RSS feed to subscribe too.

This openness on the web means that you can pick and choose the content that you want to follow, including the most valuable of content.

Subscriptions

A newcomer to the digital world but certainly not to the old paper-based world of publishing is magazine subscriptions. I’m surprised that these are now offered on an increasing number of sites, but when you think about it, they’re a great way of digesting your topic of choice.

I’ve got a subscription going at the moment with [99U] and I must say I have enjoyed having the magazine sent out to my home so that I can enjoy it in a more offline environment.

Podcasts

Podcasts have also risen in popularity over the few years. The audio version the blog offers a much more personal experience when you listen to the host and possible guests discussing a particular topic.

I like to listen to podcasts while I’m coding. I probably shouldn’t, as I do notice that I miss half the things mentioned on the podcast, but it’s the only way that I can listen to them on a regular interval.

If I was being honest then I would say that this is my least preferred way of digesting content from the web. I like podcast shows that keep their episodes short, but many of the shows I listen to a close to an hour in length. Even with the speed boost on Overcast, it can still take a fair amount of time.

Social media is a great tool and it does have value but relying on it as the means of consuming information will have you checking that timeline more often than you need to. For the content that matters you should consider exploring some of the options above. They're easier to manage and you'll know exactly what you'll be getting rather than the mixed bag of emotions, rants and knee-jerk reactions that social media provides.