Matthew Lang avatar

Matthew Lang

Family guy and web developer

Disappointed to hear that Nock is winding down its retail store. I managed to grab a couple of Hightower cases before all the store stock disappeared. One as a backup replacement for my current Hightower and the other, a Christmas present for my youngest.

My youngest drew me a picture of Discworld’s best wizard, Rincewind. Thanks Drew!

When we moved into current house, we had three oak trees across the street.

A few years ago, they had to cut one down as it was dead. Today, they’re cutting down the remaining two for the same reason.

I know they need to be cut down for safety reasons, but still sad to see.

Great day with Jen and the boys walking around Luss on the shores of Loch Lomond. It helped to clear the cobwebs.

The family has upped their Hobonichi Techo Planner order to three this year. One for me, one for Jen and now one for our oldest Ethan.

Build paths first

Michael Wade explains the sidewalk rule and why we should build paths first.
Keeping things simple and action-oriented is difficult and yet if that orientation is not present from the start, it may be too late. Territory may already have been seized and boundaries drawn.

The Sidewalk Rule 
In a recent project, I took the advice of another team when setting up a new project and categorising the work involved based on a template this team used. In doing so, I complicated the project before it even began. I should have built paths first before building sidewalks.

More recommendations from humans please

This blog has been quiet of late. I haven’t felt the need to share much of anything over the last year. In fact, in the previous few years, I’ve bounced back and forward on the want to keep running this blog. The motivation to blog has waned, but it’s something that I still want to do. It’s a strange feeling to have.

One of the things that I enjoy about blogging is the passing on of information. In the past, I would often share links to stories and posts that I have found through my daily read of the websites that I follow. It’s an excellent way of passing on the good stuff on the internet. The old fashioned way. Without the vanity metrics of likes and followers. Without the need for algorithms to find you the right content.

I should do this more often. I should share more links to the things that I find interesting on the internet. Not because I want more followers or readers, but for the intention of passing something else on that I found fascinating as an individual. As a reader of my blog, you might like it; you might not like it. However, there’s one thing that I can guarantee you. Each of the links I share on my blog is a post or a story that I found interesting and recommend as a human and not as an algorithm.

Maybe that’s something that we could do with more of on the web.