Family guy and web developer
No, not me. It's an idea proposed by Kurt Harden. And I have to say, it sounds like a great idea.
We ought to sign off on each day. We should take an account of what has been accomplished - cleaned car, solved these four problems, made these contacts, closed this deal, cooked a good meal, read these items - and then sign off.
— Signing off on the day by Kurt Harden
I’m a user and fan of the private social networking app Path. I love the constraints on their product. You can’t post from the web, just your phone.
It’s also private for you and your family and friends. I like that. We don’t always need to tell the world everything. I’m as guilty of anyone as this. I share links, photos and videos on Twitter like everyone else, but I do question the real value that comes from just throwing out content for the world to see, whether it takes the form of a link, an image or even a tweet.
I would love to see another service like Twitter, but one that focuses on privacy and constraints. Private timelines that are accessible only by the people involved in that timeline, Enough space in each post for a couple of hundred words. And maybe even limiting the posting frequency to a couple of posts a day, maybe even one. Sounds like a blog, sounds like a private RSS feed, it even sounds like an email newsletter subscription. Sounds like a lot of things.
One thing it isn’t is public. The other is that it isn't adding to the noise levels. Maybe we need something like that.
A couple of years ago I took the decision to limit my home screen to eight apps. The goal was to limit my the apps I use on a daily basis to just the essential ones.
With eight apps on my home screen I wouldn't be spending time looking for those apps I rarely use or being distracted by other apps. I would unlock my phone, do what I need to do and then put it down.
It started well but over time, the number of apps on the home screen gradually grew and grew until I had two screens filled with apps.
Since the start of the year I've been trying to get the number of apps on my home screen back down to just eight apps. Last weekend I finally got down to my target number. Here's the list of apps I have now on my home screen:
I stick to Apple's own offerings for communication using Messages, Phone, Mail and Safari. I've tried different apps to do each of these, but Apple's own apps are proven apps that meet all my needs. These sit on the menu bar at the bottom of the screen.
Technology is great, but it can start becoming a hindrance if it isn't kept under control. For me, eight apps is enough.
Jeb Bush has ended his 2016 presidential campaign.
Bush, the son and brother of US presidents, made the announcement in a somber speech before supporters in Columbia after earning just 8.3% of the vote with 67% reporting in the third primary contest of 2016.
— Jeb Bush ends presidential bid after Donald Trump wins in South Carolina The Guardian
What I find strange about US presidential campaigns is the amount of money that that candidates use in their campaigns despite being rank outsiders. Jeb Bush is reported to have accumulated $100m for his campaign. A vast amount of money but I have to wonder who even thought Jeb Bush would succeed in being a successful candidate for the Republican party?
Sounds like a gamble to me.
via Primicicli
Be nice if @duckduckgo’s instant answers were wrapped in a native desktop wrapper. One app, hundreds of uses!
Thanks NB!
AgileBits have announced their new plan for families.
It’s never been easier to share 1Password with your whole family. There’s no sync service to set up, vaults appear automatically, and there’s an Admin Console where you can invite people and manage sharing with your family.
Every family member gets their own copy of 1Password, and their own personal space to store private information. With this, you can give them the tools they need to stay safe without taking away their independence.
1Password itself is an excellent tool, but this just makes it so much better.
I've been reading George Leonard's book, Mastery after seeing it recommended by fellow blogger Nicholas Bate. The book has been a real eye-opener in terms of the difference between what I perceived mastery to be and what mastery is.
I like this highlight from the book explains what mastery is:
The people we know as masters don't devote themselves to their skill just to get better at it. The truth is, they love to practice — and because of this they do get better at it.
Take my own career for example, the web developer. I've tried so many times in the past to pick up different languages and experiment with other frameworks, but each time I've rarely got passed the basic steps of a simple application. It's all well and good learning something new, but have I gained the level of knowledge and experience that I should have as a web developer before moving onto mastering other languages and frameworks?
I'll be honest, no. In no area of the stack of tools and technology that a typical web developer uses have I amassed a level of familiarity and knowledge that a master of web developer would have. Am I knowledgable and confident with these tools? Yes, but there's still places where I can improve.
So I'm changing focus. Gone are the plans to try out different languages and frameworks and in are the day to day practicing of the tools that I need to make a living. A relational database (PostgreSQL), a dynamic language (Ruby), a web framework (Ruby on Rails), and there's JavaScript, HTML and CSS. Not only that but there are also skills that I use daily like agile practices and writing that need work. I don't need to master all of these but I am going to focus on a handful over the rest of the year.
I love writing software, but rather than focusing on practicing other languages and frameworks as possibilities for future work, I should focus on practicing with the development tools I enjoy using now. Ruby on Rails has been around for ten years, who's to say it won't be around for another ten years.
And thanks for the book recommendation NB!
2/ The Twitter mob rule seems to be one wrong move and you’re out. Must be hard being perfect like those who are too quick to comment.