Day 31: endurance
I’m not someone that does endurance training, but I do enjoy a good bike-ride once in a while. It helps if the bike path is pleasant. #mbmay
🔗 How I Experience the Web Today (via Daring Fireball)
I think most people have seen this. What got me to post it here, apart from bookmarking it, was wondering how anyone with a real website like this expects visitors to stick around, let alone visit it again in the future.
Day 30: fish
Haven’t got a good photo related to fish, so I figured a photo of a kingfisher would do. #mbmay
Working on another component design for work. Actually, it’s closer to augmenting an existing system to accommodate a new requirement.
I’m taking this opportunity to try and keep my design as simple as possible. I’ve written design proposals in the past that were just too much, and a hatchet was taken to it when I showed it to the rest of the team in order to get the number of changes down. I’d like to see if I can avoid that for this one.
So, using as much of the existing stuff as we’ve got so far, and following the idea of “you ain’t gonna need it” are going to be my north star for this one.
Humour In Conference Videos — Less Is More
It might be just me but I get a little put off with over-the-top attempts at humour in developer conference videos.
I’m four minutes into a conference video which has already included some slap-stick humour (with cheesy CGI), and someone trying to pitch to me on why what they’re talking about is worth listening to. This was done in such a way that it actually distracted me from the content, a.k.a. the reason why I’m watching it.
This sort of thing is really a turn-off, almost to the point where I feel like turning it off. I also don’t think it helps you that much either. If you open your talk by pretending to get zapped by a piece of lab equiptment, I’m probably not going to assume the same level of sincerity in your presentation as I would for someone who is just trying to get their message across.
I like a joke as much as the next person, and one or two small, well contained jokes like substituted words in the slide pack is fine. But it really needs to be dished out in small doses, and it really shouldn’t distract from the content. Less (and much less than you think) is more in my opinion.
Day 29: stripes
#mbmay
Day 28: fair
Four people, two balls each. A fair game of bocce played on a fairly nice autumn day. #mbmay
🔗 Don’t defer quality
This resonated with me today. I’ve been thinking on how we can use what we’ve built a few months for something new, and just how much easier it would have been if we’ve built it as designed, rather than rushed it out to meet a deadline. A perennial problem.
Day 27: written
A page from my on-again off-again attempts at carrying a physical notebook with me. Surprising how much the phone case obstructs the notebook while I’m trying to take it out. Right page contains a free idea for a Play.date game for anyone who wants it. #mbmay
New mug today.
Not as large as the last mug-related merch I’ve received — that crown is retained by the Stratechery mug — but still a decent size.
It was only after I switch to Ecosia that I realised how often I use DuckDuckGo’s shortcuts like !g. It would be nice if Ecosia had them as well. Maybe it’s time to look at a launcher so I can get it at the OS level. 🤔
P.S. Point 4 of this post is the reason why I switched.
Day 26: schedule
Made it to the bus stop on time. Fortunately, so did the bus. #mbmay
Listening to today’s Stratechery on Microsoft Build keynote. Sounds like Microsoft wants to offer AI-assisted developer tools to “keep developers in flow.” I wonder if a better solution to maintain flow would be to build an AI that can go to the dev’s meetings for them.
I really enjoy using terminal UI tools, like Vim and K9S. They’re not easy to pick up, but there’s just something so satisfying about using them. I think it’s because you feel so close to the thing the tool is manipulating. There’s not a whole lot of UI standing in the way.
Day 25: mountain
Warburton, taken in March 2020. #mbmay
Day 24: intricate
#mbmay
Day 23: plain
Although quite plain in appearance compared to other native birds, what the currawong lacks in pigments they more than make up with their wonderful melodic calls. I never get tired of listening to it. #mbmay
Day 22: textile
Wool shopping with my Nonna about a month ago. Trying to decide the best colour and thickness for a blanket. #mbmay
Day 21: symmetry
Okay, I’ll come clean. I have no idea what this is. It’s located in a park I usually walk through, and there’s nothing else like this around. In any case, it’s the closest thing that’s symmetrical I see in my daily life. #mbmay
The cafe that I go to on weekends is just across the road from a polling station, so it’s having a bumper of a day. A lot of people getting take-away coffees before lining up to vote. I’ve not seen it this busy since it opened two years ago.
Day 20: beverage
Enjoyed during the same meal I had yesterday: a mixed-berry smoothy. #mbmay
Day 19: indulgence
Full disclosure: this isn’t the type of muffin I actually ordered. My goto is usually raspberry and white chocolate, but today the cafe made a mistake. Even so, I got to admit that this was nice. 😋 #mbmay
Booked flights yesterday for Canberra. Got my itinerary and confirmation email. Ok, good.
Then got an email offering “ideas” of places to go in Canberra. Then one welcoming me to the booking agent’s newsletter.
Stop! Guys, you had it right after the second email.
Day 18: random
Tails. #mbmay
Day 17: hold
Holding my reusable cup as it’s holding my morning coffee. #mbmay
