Matthew Lang

... Raiders.

I loved this movie as a kid, but equally amazing is that my oldest son also loves this movie. It's a real testament to a movie when it can be appreciated across multiple generations.

While I would love to work with some programming languages full-time I know that it will unlikely be the case. However, being able to split my job into smaller jobs seems like a more feasible idea. My bread and butter is Dynamics NAV, but I also like working with Ruby, Go, Dart and Coffeescript.

This is where having a portfolio career would be nice.

Working a couple of days a week doing Dynamics NAV work, then a couple of days a week working with Ruby and then hopefully leaving myself the Friday to work on my own products would be a great way to balance the week out. It also means of course that I keep a broader range of skills updated rather than focusing on just the one.

What's not to like about this build? And you can't say the colour!

via FGGT

... idea books. Think of it as topical journals. I currently post everything into the one journal, but I do leave a few things out as I feel they should be elsewhere. Taking a note of this to try from next month.

Seriously, who can't write two sentences every day? That's all it takes to keep a journal for yourself going. Just two sentences. What's stopping you from keeping a journal?

Is $5 the magical number when it comes to pricing your product in the SaaS market?

Here's my current list of subscriptions:

• Github - $12
• Instapaper - $1
• The Magazine - $1.99

I have other subscriptions as well that are on an annual price that I haven't listed here, but it's safe to say that most subscriptions fall in and around the $5 mark. Don't just set a price though, do some background work on your product and market and get feedback on what your customers are prepared to pay. It might surprise you.

via Ahmet Alp Balkan

Fix it on, ride your bike, take it off again.

Today's essential reading comes from Patrick Rhone.

I have come to believe that the best and most cost effective technology upgrade that one can make is to themselves. I’m not talking cyborg implants here. I’m speaking about knowledge. That is, increasing your skill, aptitude, and understanding when it comes to any device, application, or tool.

— The Best Upgrade Is You by Patrick Rhone

The FBO V3. Allows you to make notes from your books without writing in the margins of said books.

Nothing like an Apple product launch to get a hacker debate going. Me, I can take it or leave it. I've grown increasingly immune to these product launches over the years. And I'm glad I have. I've come to realise that it's not the tools (computers, netbooks, tablets etc.) that are the most interesting thing here, but the end product that you have made with those tools. That's a much more interesting story.