David Sparks shares the aftermath of the California wildfires.
The last double shot from Mike
Sad to see that Mike Gunderloy is bowing out from software development and the Internet. He was one of the first Ruby developers that I followed on Twitter and through there I subscribed to his blog, A Fresh Cup, where he posted his Double Shot posts.
Looking back, I’m also not super-happy with how the industry has evolved. There was a time when I could believe and hope that software was making the world a better place. Looking around, I’m not so sure any more. Money and power have seized pretty much everything related to software, and the rising tide of surveillance, manipulation, and generally rapacious behavior appears to be getting worse all the time. It’s become harder and harder to find any industry niche that I feel comfortable in working any longer. My sincere blessings to those of you who are still fighting the good fight, but as I said, I’m tired.
I can understand his reasons for bowing out from the world of software development. I’ve been feeling the itch to leave as well, but I still think I have a few years left before I completely think about trying something else for a career.
Ordered the Shape Up book from Basecamp. Sure I could read the book for free on the website, but having my own copy means I can put my own notes on it as I read.
What did I miss from last night’s Apple event?
As far as I can tell, a new iPhone, a new mini HomePod and a new feature in iOS called Intercom. I’m quite happy to just catch up the morning after now with these events now.
My patience for software development over the last couple of years has grown to the point where I would love to throw in the towel with it. A defeatist attitude perhaps, but it’s a feeling that I’ve been unable to shake off in the last few months.
Friday night dinner at the golf club with a cracking view. Great start to the weekend.
Another Sunday. Another nine holes with Drew. Cracking day for it and he managed to play most of the holes from the junior red tees. He even managed a double bogey on one hole, which for his age, is great going.
The Coalition for App Fairness launches
In an effort to address issues with Apple and their App Store, several companies have founded a non-profit organisation that hopes to address these issues.
As a developer I hope they put enough pressure on Apple to change their App Store policies for the better, but as The Verge puts it, I don’t see Apple backing down on this.
The Coalition for App Fairness is hoping to gain influence over Apple through a united developer front. But even if other developers flock to join, Apple still holds all the cards; while Spotify, Match, Basecamp, and the rest are protesting Apple’s rules, at the end of the day, they’re still putting their apps in the App Store and paying Apple’s fees. As long as that’s the case, short of legal intervention, it’s hard to see Apple acquiescing to any of these demands — no matter how many developers complain.
— Spotify, Epic, Tile, Match, and more are rallying developers against Apple’s App Store policies
I just setup a Windows laptop for the first time in over 15 years. Saying no to ads and declining to take up third party offers like Dropbox isn’t how I remeber my last setup. If this is the way that Microsoft is going, you can count me out.
Reading Twitter lists in Feedbin has been largely a painful process. With some lists containing 50+ accounts, it becomes more of a chore than anything else to get through them. Might be time to extract just the key accounts to follow individually or scale the lists back a bit.