Family guy and web developer
Perfect time to be reading this again.
Even if nobody reads them, you should write them. It's become pretty clear to me that blogging is a source of both innovation and clarity. I have many of my best ideas and insights while blogging. Struggling to express things that you're thinking or feeling helps you understand them better.
— You Should Write Blogs by Steve Yegge
Marco Arment on what could be Google's biggest challenge yet.
Shallow social-shareable listicles and clickbait headlines have always been plentiful on the web, but it does seem clear that they’re getting much worse and more dominant recently.
Google is making the problem worse, but they’re not the root problem. In fact, the real problem is a pretty big problem for Google, too:
Everyone’s spending increasingly more consumption time dicking around in apps and snacking on bite-sized social content instead of browsing websites and searching Google.
— Google and blogs: "Shit" by Marco Arment
Does this explain why Google are going to show tweets in their search results?
Even before I started freelancing, I always got confused by the almost interchangeable career titles of freelancers and the jobs that were available to them. Contractor, consultant and freelancer. Are they specific to the type of work freelancers do?
When I started freelancing, I decided to market myself as a "Freelance Web Developer". I had thought about the different titles I could use but I paid more attention to the technology field rather than the type of work I would be doing. I stuck with the title of freelancer as I simply thought it best described who I was. This was almost right, I wanted to freelance but what I wanted to start work on was contract work.
To begin with I was keen to look for roles where I could gain a bit more experience working as part of a remote development team. I wanted to work in remote teams to see how they continue to progress with projects. In the past I worked in teams that shared the same physical space and therefore communication with other team members was easy. How does this affect remote teams?
I also wanted to gain more experience in my preferred choice of technology stack. I had a number of roles working with Ruby on Rails, but I was definitely far from being an expert on the framework. A few gigs working in different teams would quickly identify areas where I might be short on knowledge. Thankfully this wasn't a problem.
Armed with these two goals, I found out that contracting would be the best work for me. As a contractor I can market myself as a development resource to clients. They might be looking for that extra programmer needed to finish a project or they might need a developer with experience in a technology stack that they are lacking in. Whatever the reason, my primary role as a freelancer so far is as a contractor.
I don't want to be a contractor forever though. In time I would like to gradually move across to being more than just another "butt in a seat".
Contracting is good because it means the decisions are largely removed from your hands. Your clients decide the work for you and you as the contractor fulfil your client's needs. While this type of work does pay the bills and keeps my career going, I don't believe that this should be my long term goal.
Doing the work is one thing, but advising the client in the way in which they can best achieve their aims is the work of the consultant. While I could market myself exclusively as a contractor, I would in fact like to be more than just another programmer in the team. I would like to be more of mix between contractor and consultant.
This is where I believe the term freelancer applies to the type of business I want to have. I love programming, and being able to work with a client's team and help fill a gap is where I'm comfortable and productive. It shouldn't be my only selling point though. To do this, I'm going to need a web site that focuses on business and freelancing and nothing more. It's going to need material such as test cases and examples of work that back up my abilities as both a contractor and a consultant. I'll see what I can come up with.
Routine & Ritual. Get the critical stuff, the vital stuff, the oh-so-easily-neglected stuff embedded. Make it a ritual. Make it a routine. Make it a habit. Every other drink is a beaker of water. No 'if's, no 'but's.
— What's More Important Than Ever? 7 by Nicholas Bate
Read on for the remaining six nuggets of wisdom from NB.
It was a good weekend for the members of Elderslie's Junior Newton Shield squad. Coaching on the Saturday with the club pro followed by an opportunity to play on the course for all levels of members in the junior section on the Sunday. All those involved with this in the club should be commended. It's great to see kids of all ages being encouraged to play and compete.
I've always been the quiet type, often electing for the quiet corner of the room rather than being the speaker on the platform. Paul Dessert's guide to getting noticed as an introvert though has me thinking I need to shake up this behaviour if I'm to push my career forward as a freelancer.
Here's his take on going to meetups:
Seriously, do it. I know what you're thinking, "screw that, why do I want to talk with a bunch of random strangers? Most people that go to those are greasy salespeople". Guess what, you're right. Most of them are filled with people handing out business cards. Ignore them. Find people that are interesting. They don't have to work in the same industry as you, in fact, I'd suggest seeking out people in industries other than your own. You spend most of your time at work or school associating with like minded people, step out of that bubble and understand the needs and pains of others.
Want to know the secret to a good conversation? Shut the fuck up. Plays right into our wheelhouse, right! People LOVE to talk about themselves. Let them. Just listen and learn. You'll make new friends and gain a potentially valuable contact you can lean on in the future.
— The introverts guide to getting noticed by Paul Dessert
Well that was a crap movie.
Junior squad out with @ElderslieGcPro working on their short game. Good turn out as well. #growingthegame
Fixie or Singlespeed? Who cares. This Czech built bike is definitely a great looking bike.
via Cycle EXIF
A brilliant five minute guide to the history of the One Ring.
via kottke.org