Very solid mini intro to Git by Tobias Gunther over at A List Apart. You can find this content virtually anywhere by running a simple Google search, but Tobias makes a stronger case. First he succinctly lays out the reasons why Git is such an improvement over older repository systems like Subversion. There’s also some great use of visuals here to lay out what happens during core commands like ‘git reset’ and ‘git revert’.
If there’s something I do frequently at work, it’s take screenshots and send them to coworkers. There is your usual stable of options like Cloud and Droplr, but my storage live mostly revolves around Dropbox, and I wanted to stay in-house. Enter this great workflow by “Carlos-Sz” on the Alfred forums. I run a simple global keyboard shortcut, take a screenshot, and it’s saved a public folder in Dropbox, along with an auto generated short bit.ly link copied to my clipboard.
Developer Michael Church writes about the difficulties a friend of his has at getting a senior development job:
This whole issue is about more than what one knows and doesn’t know about technology. As programmers, we’re used to picking up new skills. It’s something we’re good at (even if penny-shaving businessmen hate the idea of training us). This is all about social status, and why status is so fucking important when one is playing the work game– far more important than being loyal or competent or dedicated.
Low and high status aren’t about being liked or disliked. Some people are liked but have low status, and some people are disliked but retain high status. In general, it’s more useful and important to have high status at work than to be well-liked. It’s obviously best to have both, but well-liked low-status people get crap projects and never advance. Disliked high-status people, at worst, get severance.
Michael’s main argument is that the overwhelming majority of those who remain software engineers – even those that are highly talented – can never can crack out of a low social status. Very interesting and depressing nonetheless.
Like many other developers and designers out there, almost every day I make the rounds of Designer News, Hacker News along with occasional forays into Sidebar and Dribbble.
Usually that involves a lot of Safari tabs and context switching. Panda aims to change that: it’s a simple, well designed web app that puts many of these popular sites side by side. As a Chrome extension, it can be the default state of any new tabs you create. There’s a few minor customization issues that keep me from diving fully in but it’s worth a look.
Anthony Colangelo, writing for A List Apart:
When you hear the word “just” being thrown around, dig deep into that statement and find all of the assumptions made within it. Zoom out and think slow.
Your product lives and dies by the decisions discovered between ideation and creation, so don’t just put it up on a server somewhere.
MacStories’ Federico Viticci:
There are hundreds of new features in iOS 8 and the ecosystem surrounding it that signal a far-reaching reimagination of what iOS apps should be capable of, the extent of user customization on an iPhone and iPad, or the amount of usage data that app developers can collect to craft better software.
Seven years into iOS, a new beginning is afoot for Apple’s mobile OS, and, months from now, there will still be plenty to discuss. But, today, I want to elaborate on my experience with iOS 8 in a story that can be summed up with:
iOS 8 has completely changed how I work on my iPhone and iPad.
I’d consider Federico a much more hard core power user than most, but his argument is pretty sound. For years I’ve been extremely envious of Android users and their custom widgets, keyboards, and third-party sharing capabilities. No more.
Many tech and productivity blogs promote device convergence: with a single smartphone, tablet, or laptop, you’re ready for almost any activity, from gaming to video production. After years of experience with assorted tech gear, I’ve found convergence overrated. It’s the exact opposite – device specialization – that’s a lot more effective.
More concretely, the next time you unlock your phone or sit down in front of your laptop, ask yourself: “what works best here for my needs?” Isolate the apps that you use regularly and that feel natural in context; keep them on your home screen or otherwise easily accessible. Bury the rest in folders knowing full well you’ll probably be faster and more efficient if you wait to perform those activities on another device.
For me, multi-device specialization translates into a set workflow:
My iPad is for daily scans of news feeds (Mr. Reeder), long reads (again, Pocket) and classic strategy games (Hearthstone, Ticket to Ride) that don’t rely on awkwardly tacked-on control schemes.
My Macbook Air is mostly used for writing, development, and design.
The PS4 is optimized for most of my gaming needs. It’s essential for any game that plays better with traditional controller input. With the comfort and immersion factor of a large screen and sound system, it’s also ideal for play sessions longer than thirty minutes at a time.
There are exceptions to the above (e.g. occasional writing edits on Writer Pro with my iPhone when I’m in the subway), but I’m generally more productive if I delay work until I reach the right device. I also happen to be someone who actively uses all this gear; some may successfully embrace a simpler workflow around a single device. But that’s not for me, and I suspect it isn’t for many others.
Overall, if you’ve found yourself struggling with your device’s size, context, power, or input method for certain activities, try changing your workflow. Move away from convergence and toward multi-device specialization.
In light of today’s annual big Apple media event, Quartz’s Dan Frommer crunched the numbers of how these events historically play out. Frommer examines average presentation time, video style, Steve Jobs’ stage time versus Tim Cook’s and other material. Very interesting.
Sam Adams, writing for Indiewire:
In [Verge writer] Pierce’s rationale — or, more to the point, rationalization — downloading the movie in advance is like peeking at a band’s setlist before the concert…”The Expendables 3,” you see, “is meant not to be watched but to be experienced. As art becomes commoditized experience becomes the only thing worth paying for, and there’s evidence everywhere that we’ll pay for it when it’s worth it. We don’t want to pay for access, but we’ll gladly pay for experience.”
Of course, commodities are things you pay for. What Pierce really means by “commoditized” is “devalued,” and what he means by that is that since ‘The Expendables 3’ isn’t worth anything in the first place, there’s nothing wrong with taking a copy for yourself.
Working as a web developer/designer myself, I tend to support policies that push technology forward. But there’s no justification behind David Pierce flat out stealing a movie with the justification that it’s “access” over “experience”. Technology has limits; it’s worrisome to see Pierce, a senior writer at what’s normally a pretty solid tech news site, adopt this sort of blind “techno libertarianism” bent.
Facebook engineer Carlos Bueno, writing a post already heavily passed around tech circles about the Valley/startup insular culture:
The problem is that Silicon Valley has gone completely to the other extreme. We’ve created a make-believe cult of objective meritocracy, a pseudo-scientific mythos to obscure and reinforce the belief that only people who look and talk like us are worth noticing. After making such a show of burning down the bad old rules of business, the new ones we’ve created seem pretty similar.
It’s been over a month since this was published, but Carlos’ post struck a cord with me and is worth revisiting. I suspect it’s going to be one of those posts that I revisit from time to time long from now, especially as I reach more positions to hire and shape the culture of a company.