Matthew Lang avatar

Matthew Lang

Family guy and web developer

As I analyze, reflect, and write, I found myself scratching out my own list; my own criterion for what I want from this finicky thing I’ve been given, this life. Wandering around the world, writing, running, thinking, touching, laughing, dancing: what’s most important? What is not important? What should we be doing? Or rather, what are we doing? And if given the choice, how will I live? Are there any criteria that resonate across all that I do?

How To Live by It Starts With

A deep and thoughtful analysis of life through writing.

Marco Arment, the man behind Instapaper, has a new venture called The Magazine. It's a fortnightly magazine for people who love the internet and technology.

After reading the articles from the first edition with the free trial, I immediately subscribed. It's that good.

Wishlist Wednesday - A better career 7

Freelancing has been on my mind recently. If I start going down this path, then I will be taking it a lot slower than I previously did.

  • To wake up on a work day and look forward to it
  • To engage with customers and provide answers to their problems
  • To have one day a week to brush up on new skills and work on products
  • To call the shots on the work that I want to do
  • To have a flexible work day
  • To progress further in my field of expertise faster
  • To have a better career

Invent the right thing

This doesn’t mean new problems shouldn’t be tackled and new techonologies should not be invented. It applies mostly to reinventing wheels. That is, a project starts with level 1, not level 3 or 4. Apply a technology and improve it before you push the edge. In fact, you must push the limits of an extant technology before level 4 is the right answer. No skipping allowed.

The Real Adam Invent The Right Thing by Adam Keys

A solution to a problem or level one according to Adam's post. That's how it all starts and that's how Journalong started. I needed a way to keep a journal in my Dropbox without needing a fancy app or special editor to write the journal entry.

I suppose you could say we're at level two at the moment based on Adam's levels. It integrates with Dropbox and uses it as a storage facility for your journal. As for level three, I don't think I'm at the stage where I can call Journalong a better journal than say Day One, but it's different. It's minimal. And that's what I wanted when I initially scratched the itch for a plain text journal.

Maybe one day, I'll take Journalong to level three, but for the moment it works and that's enough for now.

The best Kindle Paperwhite review I've read so far

I gushed over the new Kindle Paperwhite when it was released a few weeks ago, however after reading Scott Hanselman's review of it, I'm glad I've not been able to buy one yet.

It's fine. OK, it's "fine." But let's be serious for a second. Every technology site is gushing about this device. They're saying this is the e-reader to end all e-readers. It's glorious, it's perfect. Friends, it's not. And this is from a Kindle Fan.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 3G WiFi Review by Scott Hanselman

Read the rest of Scott's review if you're considering the Paperwhite. Scott goes into more details than many of the so-called technology sites.I can see me holding on to my Kindle Keyboard for as long as it's serving up my books. I too like the physical buttons for page turning and the keyboard does come in handy for taking notes on books (which I do a lot of). I don't know how I would get on with a button-less Kindle.

Instant Business Speak - Geeks

Nicholas Bate gets us geeks. It's a shame that others don't.

Organisations love to use the term geek in a derogatory manner. Often dismissive. Often excluding. And yet when we have a problem be it IT, medical or simply plumbing we would love to have access to a geek. A person who is so good that they understand the simplicity the far side of complexity. They look at the problem and they know what to do.

Instant Business Speak 38 - Geeks by Nicholas Bate