Even though the Ruby programming language is no longer flying high as the most popular language for web applications, it’s rich community of people and gems remains strong.
Going to mix up my learning goals for 2020 by focusing on Go and React. Picking a couple of technologies that are popular and quite different. Hopefully Go will provide an alternative as Ruby for the command line and who can argue with React’s popularity.
NYT subscription
I’ve been toying with the idea of taking a New York Times subscription. I find myself on their website quite a lot, so I thought it would be worth removing the limit on the number of free articles that I can read.
At £10 per month though, I’m not sure it’s something that I really need. There’s also the annual subscription that I can find through their iOS app but not on the website. If I take this, then I find myself taking a bigger initial hit of £99, but I end up saving over the 12 months.
I think what’s putting me off is the fact that the monthly subscription is double digits. It’s £10. I usually don’t hesitate are subscribing to services under the £10 mark as they are only a few quid for the first few months and then I can decide if it’s worth the cost.
The New York Times subscription though starts above that single-digit level. And that’s got me thinking that I would rather not have it at all, instead of giving it a try for a few months.
I get why subscriptions are great for journalists and news sites. I’d rather pay a subscription for a high-quality source of news and be able to read it while not being hit with adverts everywhere, but I find both the monthly and annual options just a little bit too high.
A larger company might afford better long term prospects with it being more secure and more stable. However, being a company of one puts you in control of ensuring your company is secure for the foreseeable future. I much prefer the idea of the one being in control rather than taking a backseat.
There’s nothing more I miss about freelancing than being a company of one. Setting your own work, your own hours, your own workplace, your own day. Someday I hope to return to this work.
Woebegone. Never was there a more suitable word for British politics.
On a brighter note I did ship my random writing prompt web page.
I’m not sure about the name, the domain choice or what the future holds for it, but it felt good deploying it again.
I must admit, I rather like the look of Tesla’s new Cybertruck. I’m also starting to wonder if this design will herald the beginning of a number of lookalikes in the truck market.
A cup of tea, some Ruby code and having a little hum along to Bloc Party. I like these kind of Friday nights.
Shattered & Hollow. Just one of the many great tracks on First Aid Kit’s Stay Gold album. Recommended by my wife a couple of weeks ago.