Top of the Line
I’m not rich, but when I buy technology, I always get the top-of-the-line model within my product range. Why? Longevity and Productivity. I choose the range to suit my needs and skill levels. And the long-term benefits of productivity and time savings way exceed the short-term incremental cost.
All my devices last forever because I purchased the top-of-the-line within the range I needed. In 1998, I purchased the best Dell Inspiron laptop, it lasted until 2003 when I moved to the best Titanium PowerBook, which lasted until 2009 when I acquired my current MacBook Pro. In each case, I maxed the CPU, RAM and Disk size, allowing me to operate them without suffering any performance penalties. And these devices each handled several generations of operating system upgrades without changes or noticeable loss of performance.
Writing on the iPad
This comment by JohnDoey (reproduced in full without permission) on the Asymco article The new feeds and speeds: iPad vs. MacBook Air and iMac sums up the iPad writing experience beautifully (although I think the iPad is a good production system too):
I’m a writer also. You missed a key point about writing on iPad.
Writers who are using iPads are not using them like Macs (or Mac clones,) they are using them like typewriters. A writer with an iPad is exactly the same as a writer with a typewriter or a filmmaker with a movie camera or a singer with a microphone. Those are capture devices, not editing devices. You just write, shoot, or sing with as few interruptions and as little technical overhead as possible.
iPad - On Two Years of Use
Can you believe it, the iPad has been around only two years, two! Yet it feels like there was never a time before we had them.
I was one of those who pre-ordered the original iPad on launch (and the iPad 2 on its launch). I also wrote three blog posts back then, and it seems my usage patterns have not changed that much:
- Apr 4, 2010 iPad First Impressions - written after 24 hours of use
- Apr 12,2010 It’s Been One Week Since You Looked at Me - after 1 week of use
- May 15, 2010 iPad Update - After Almost a Month Traveling With It - in Eastern Europe as my only computing device.
Back then, email, news, and twitter were primarily consumed on the iPad using the built-in mail app, using NetNewsWire and Twitterrific. Today, still the same, just using Reeder and the amazing Tweetbot instead.
The Markdown File Extension
The correct file extension for markdown files is:
.markdown
That is all. No others.
Make it so!
Update: It seems the GitHub .md extension is becoming canonical for those who prefer shorter file names. And Dr Drang @drdrang uses it. Who am I to argue. But I’ll be sticking with .markdown.
I suppose I’d better say why:
- We no longer live in a 8.3 world, so we should be using the most descriptive file extensions. It’s sad that all our operating systems rely on this stupid convention instead of the better creator code or a metadata model, but great that they now support longer file extensions.
- Markdown is text but text is not markdown. It’s a few seconds work to associate an application to edit text and another to edit markdown files, so use that. I use different editors for them, so its best to help the operating system here.
- (No longer applicable)
.md(a.k.a the GitHub extension) could be mistaken for GCC Machine Description files, confusion is bad, don’t do it. - All the others are just shortened forms on the canonical
.markdown, so use the canon. Avoid.mdown,.mkdn,.mdnor even the horrible.mdtext. - If you have made the mistake in the past of using the wrong file extension, write a script to rename the old files now. Ok, now run it. Good. Problem solved.
You Are Not Ruthless Enough
Chris Parker writing in You Are Not Ruthless Enough on being ruthless instead of lax when crafting software:
Being ruthless to yourself is having the discipline to become a better developer - not letting yourself get away with the easy or convenient. Being ruthless to your objects is having the discipline to write the API which separates their responsibilities effectively. The combination is what enables you to produce consistent results - to keep shipping, to keep creating great software, and to keep improving.
The 10 commandments of good source control management
Troy Hunt lists the The 10 commandments of good source control management in his blog. I use git and github for eveything, including this web site and blog.
- Stop right now if you’re using VSS – just stop it!
- If it’s not in source control, it doesn’t exist
- Commit early, commit often and don’t spare the horses
- Always inspect your changes before committing
- Remember the axe-murderer when writing commit messages
- You must commit your own changes – you can’t delegate it
- Versioning your database isn’t optional
- Compilation output does not belong in source control
- Nobody else cares about your personal user settings
- Dependencies need a home too
None of these things are hard. Honestly, they’re really very basic: commit early and often, know what you’re committing and that it should actually be in VCS, explain your commits and make sure you do it yourself, don’t forget the databases and don’t forget the dependencies.
Is Antivirus Software a Waste of Money?
Not astonishing at all in Wired’s Is Antivirus Software a Waste of Money? by Robert McMillan:
He doesn’t use antivirus software. As it turns out, many of his security-minded peers don’t use it either. The reason: If someone is going to try and attack them, they’re likely to use a new technique, one that most antivirus products will miss. “If you asked the average security expert whether they use antivirus or not,” Grossman says “a significant proportion of them do not.”
Presenting a Professional Indie Image
In Presenting a Professional Indie Image on the Noverse Blog, I present a checklist of all the things you need as an indie to present yourself to strangers via email with some credibility:
You are what you do, not what you say. – C.G. Jung
As my Hiltmon.com blog takes off, I am starting to get emails from indie developers promoting their wares. This is great, I love getting them, looking at new products and helping out where I can. But many of them fail on the basics of presenting themselves as the professionals they are.
Serious and Snark
One of the key reasons I separated hiltmon.com and noverse.com at the start of this year was to separate my serious business voice from my larrakin personal voice.
Last evening, on twitter, it seems some of the indie celebs are doing the same:
@marcoarment @gte @gruber My only handicap is I am afraid to tarnish red-sweater with too many crazy posts, so I’m building a new blog… @danielpunkass, Twitter
David Barnard points out that your business should have a voice:
Thank you for a great February
It’s been two months since I consolidated all my sites into this blog and started writing more. This blog just has a great February and I thought I’d share some stats.