Scripting Ruby with no Internet
As I sit, I’m riding on the commuter rail as it creaks and staggers its way North. I intended to write some thoughts down, but got distracted in the hassle of touching a new Jekyll post.
What Is a Timestamp Post?
I was reading a short post by Max Fenton about reading books in 2015 and I had an idea to timestamp my current experiences. Partly to highlight idiosyncrasies that I notice now, partly to find them later on.
Timestamp - Chicago Tech Meetup
I leave work just before 6pm, walking about a mile to an office in River North. I stand outside the front door of the building with a small group of other attendees, waiting for someone upstairs to unlock the door remotely.
Cubic Mapping of Text
For the past several months, I’ve taken daily notes. Previously, I scribbled and jotted thoughts into several paperback notebooks, but now I type daily into my iOS/OSX Notes application. Each day begins with a new note, date stamped at the top.
Few Things
Note from my journal, 2015/06/18:
GitHub as Social Media
GitHub already allows you to follow other users publicly. It displays your followers publicly, too.
Hard Numbers Calculator
When you’re leading a team of developers for a startup company, you often get asked to define hard numbers. You get asked questions like:
Fiction - Raising Robots
It wasn’t as if she were the only one to figure it out how to build an intelligence. Not even near the first.
Theory of Push & Pull
I’ve been forming a theory of team management. In explaining it, I’ve been talking about it in terms of push and pull.
Narrative arcs in the code
A good method has narrative structure. There’s an establishing scene, a rising action, and a conclusion to tie up loose ends. After reading more fiction recently, I’ve been finding fictional story structure seep into my code - for the better.
The Electrician
At our office, we have desks for everyone. We have multiple televisions, each with an Apple TV. We have high ceilings and handmade wooden meeting tables. We have walls covered in chalkboard paint and walls covered in dry-erase paint.
Many A Hubot
I’ve spent the last few nights working and reworking through a tangential thought.
Could Be Harnessed For Energy
- Physical exertion
- Especially in the city, there is a vast amount of kinetic energy that could be recaptured in our steps.
- Online activity
- Imagine how much computation could be completed passively if every webpage could increment a procedural calculation.
- Lack of physical exertion
- What if you sat eight hours a day in a chair that uses your weight to grind out frictional energy, slowing sinking over the course of the hour? Reaching the bottom each hour is a good reminder to stand up and stretch.
People will always personalize
Some time ago, a group of us from ThreadMeUp took a trip out to one of our suppliers’ warehouses. We were given a tour of the packing floor, one with over 200 employees actively carrying products to and fro.
Client-side Tracking Revisited
Robert Katzki recently asked me if I still hold on my lack of Google Analytics/other tracking.
Analyzing Data Through Sound
Why isn’t more data analysis done over mediums of sound? It’s one of two senses nearly all my electronics engage me with. The other is visual, and is the main/only way people analyze large data sets. Why not take advantage of the other?
How To Link Like You Mean It
Links within your text do two things:
Your App Is Not Better Than An Open Protocol
Open protocols power the web. They should be powering the interactions to your next application, too. RSS, SMS, plaintext-email, HTML5 - these are the easiest, fastest ways to get users into your system. Open protocols are the lowest barriers to entry. Your potential users already have them and know exactly how to use them!