Earlier this week, I read a post titled “Build Libraries, Not Apps“, where the author (Nicolás Ortega Froysa) puts forth an idea that software developers should create the main part of their applications as libraries, then create APIs so that other developers can create alternate user interfaces in other clients if desired. I can see that being an appealing goal for developers who want their application to be used in lots of other settings. However, I do not think that most applications are designed to have alternate user interfaces. For myself, I think of the user interface that I want my application to have, and then create it, and then create the logic that powers that interface. It is not a design goal for me to support an API. Froysa mentions different ways that Unix/Linux applications can interact with libraries (GUI, text interface, command line interface). To me, if a design goal of the application is to support multiple clients, or provide services to other applications, then including an API makes sense.
Thoughts on losing weight
Like many adults, I have “a few too many pounds”. I have been on Weight Watchers twice, with not too much success. A few years ago, I was able to lose 20 pounds (at the rate of about a pound a week), but I was pretty disciplined about what I was eating. I haven’t been that disciplined since that time, and it shows. Recently, I am trying to eat a smaller amount at breakfast and lunch, with a regular dinner. So far, when I stick to that, I start making progress again. The thing is to keep on track with small meals – when I get off track, weight loss slows or reverses for me. I think the main thing is to hang in there – it’s a marathon, not a sprint – it’s ok to get off track as long as I get back on track….thanks for listening.
Owning your tools
In the engineering world, the phrase “make or buy” or “build or buy” is common. It represents a design choice/decision to purchase components/equipment/software for a project (buy) or create it yourself (make/build). Things that are considered include cost, ease of inclusion in the design, flexibility, and other attributes. For software users, a similar choice exists, which could be called “set up your own tools, or use services provided by others”. Things to consider are cost, ease of use, features, and portability and ownership of data, among other things.
I use River5 as a feed aggregator, and create single page apps to display combined feeds (Andy Sylvester’s Reading List). There is some friction to start (get a server if you don’t have one, install software, set up single page apps) and some friction for updates (have to FTP subscription list updates), but after the setup is complete, I have had almost no problems. I could have used some online service (Feedly, Flipboard, many others), but then I would be dependent on those services (could have outages, terms and conditions might change, other restrictions on the service might occur, the service could go out of business). Similarly, I use my own install of WordPress on the Bluehost hosting service. I control it, I decide when it gets upgrades, and I can keep backups and move it to another service if I want.
To me, the cost/inconvenience is worth it to own/control the tools I am using. Whatever you do, be mindful of the choices you make….
Building community
Ton Zijlstra commented on a post by Chris M about what would be a critical mass for a community. In Ton’s reply, he links back to a post, which links to a presentation on steps to consider in building/starting a community. I think the presentation contains some excellent material. I participate in a biweekly meeting of software engineers at my workplace (using the Lean Coffee format), and feel we have made some good progress in turning that into a community of practice. Reviewing this presentation, I can see some areas that we might be able to improve on. I hope to pass on some thoughts to the group leadership..
Please have a little respect for the past
I enjoy reading Philip Greenspun’s weblog, and he certainly has experience in aviation and software development. His recent post on visiting the Museum of Flight in Seattle throws quite a few digs at the US space program and people who have been a part of the effort. I worked at NASA and Lockheed in Houston from 1985-1997 on the Space Station program, and had the opportunity to work with a great group of people, both contractor and civil servant employees. Things were contentious at times (usually dealing with funding issues from Congress and the Administration), but we got the job done (flew Space Shuttles, came back from the Challenger accident, got the Space Station program back on track). I know that Philip likes to find fault with many things in the United States (and I agree with most of it), but I think he might want to stay with areas he has expertise in and not look for other ways to poke people in the eye.
Looking for some music tools to try
I am looking for a music production/DAW tool. I have done some playing around with the Web Audio API (see my series of articles on Theresa’s Sound World, and exploration of the Tone.js library), but found it difficult to use those tools for music composition. Some apps I am going to review (Windows versions) are:
My main interest is in algorithmic composition, so I am hoping to find a tool that can be scripted or programmed, or accept input files generated by a script or program. A tool I once looked at was Pyknon, a Python library for generating MIDI files, in conjunction with the book Music for Geeks and Nerds. If any of my three readers has any suggestions, let me know!
Using the tools at hand
Om Malik posted recently about his use of pen and paper, and what he likes about it. I am also a fan of making a task list on paper and crossing items off – it feels so good! Even if I do not complete everything on the list, getting everything down on paper feels good (see Getting Things Done Step 1 – Capture). However, there are times when other tools could and should be used. I have written about my use of Personal Kanban for organization, and I have dabbled with Google Tasks to replace my pen and paper list. The mistake I try to avoid is continuing to look for another tool when the one or ones I have at hand are “good enough”. I know of several people who always seem to be looking for another tool that will do the job better, when they could have used a tool they already have or that they are already familiar with. Use the tools you have at hand – see how that can make you more productive.
@Ron @kicks @bradenslen, I referenced your directories in this post: http://andysylvester.com/2019/08/16/why-make-a-directory/
Why make a directory?
Here are some answers:
Collection – This could be as simple as making a list. The most common directory in use is the Contacts list on your smartphone (people and phone numbers, sorted in alphabetical order)
Curation – Seeking to list the “best of” resources for a topic
Examples
Feed Handbook (by Andy Sylvester) – Information on feeds of many types (RSS/Atom/etc)
Radio Userland Resource Directory (by Andy Sylvester) – created in 2007! (have to hover in front of the entry to see the link, need to update this sometime…)
Bob Dylan Bibliography (by Ron Chester) – created in 1996!
Indieseek XYZ (by Brad Enslen) – A human edited Indieweb directory
href.cool (by Kicks Condor) – in the style of the old DMOZ and Yahoo directories
Tools
Web page – make a ordered list or an unordered list and – voila! – a directory is born
Hugo – static site generator, used for the Feed Handbook above
OPML – XML file format used for subscription lists for podcast players
OPML Editor (for editing OPML files)
Little Outliner 2 (for editing OPML files)
WordPress – use of categories could create a directory structure, also there are many plugins to support creating directory websites (like Yelp, etc.) or simple directories
Getting motivated, taking action
I read Josh Bernoff’s post this morning (Simple Motivational Hack), and found it very practical. Step 1 (figure out a worthwhile career goal) can be generalized to be “decide on a goal” (it doesn’t have to be a career goal), which is the start of anything productive. His next steps (create some intermediate steps, set up reminders, think about your goal often, do a reset if needed) are also excellent, but Step 1 has to happen before you can move on the other steps.
I am also finishing reading Atomic Habits by James Clear, and have used two of the concepts from the book this week on starting a new habit. The first concept I used is “make it easy as possible to start”. I chose to write 100 words per day, and decided to do it in the form of blog posts. The second concept is to set up a reward after achieving the goal. Usually, there is a website or two that I read at lunchtime. I decided to make sure to accomplish my goal before I look at the websites. So far, I have been successful (today is day 3)!