A black and white figure's thought-hive
Aspects of software construction, deconstructed
Code Complete is like the reference manual of software development, regardless of the technology, industry or language you’re working in. And there are really good reasons for that. Let me tell you what I thought of this book.
Having the tedious work done for you
A while ago I explained how I use Google Calendar as my time-tracking system. I did mention, but did not explain, how I made this into an automatic system of timesheets for JIRA, the system some companies I work for use for time tracking. It just involves Google Docs and a little bit of JavaScript.
MOOC by the University of Maryland
Yes, I continue to go on courses. Now I just finished the Software Security course, from the University of Maryland.
As usual, let me give you a quick review of what it was about, what you need to get into it and what you can get out of it as well.
Quick guide to get these bad boys cooperating
A few days ago I got the combination of Angular + Protractor + TravisCI + SauceLabs working together. There are a few quirks into making this work, but nowhere I found a comprehensive description to jump all the obstacles. Here I’ll describe what I did to get there.
That little green trash can
Yes, I continue to go on courses. Now I just finished the Android Development Part 1 (or “Programming Mobile Applications for Android Handheld Systems: Part 1”), dictated by the University of Maryland.
As usual, let me give you a quick review of what it was about, what you need to get into it and what you can get out of it.
Automatic players that don't complain when they lose
I’ve recently taken and finished the course on General Game Playing, by Stanford University. Let me tell you what it was about and what the experience was like.
Boxes and colors, what's left to ask?
Long time ago I wrote about a proposal from a StackExchange user about how to use Google Calendar for task planning across projects and activities. The idea seemed good, and after months of making it my bread and butter, I think I have perfected it to address most of the problems I had with my workflow in Trello. It’s not the holy grail of productivity, but it has helped me a lot.
Let me explain it to you, because if you use Google Apps or GMail, you’re most likely to benefit from this.
A success story from the side of the doubtful
Software engineers, amirite? They keep blabbing about this fancy-pantsy weird wibbly-wobbly stuff nobody understands and they just want to keep things complicated. They want to test things even before they are done and then develop the app. Are they insane? And it even takes more time, so it’s a waste of money.
Well, my little friend-that-does-not-adhere-to-software-methodologies, they are right on what they do. And it does pay off. Let me tell you why.
(In here also: an update on the mongo-faceted project.)
Smart alarms
Many of you that know me also know that it has been forever a problem of mine to get to sleep properly. Not to sleep early. Not to wake up early. It’s about the quality of sleep. I’ve tried many things to address this problem, raging from hormones to witchcraft, but something seems to be making a difference: smart alarms.
Spoiler: not a journal about guns
I have just learned about this technique called Bullet Journalism, which seem to have revolutionized daily planning for lots of people. I’ve tried it out myself and it has been definitely something to share. Let me tell you more about it.