Latest Posts - Page 88 of 180

November 29, 2019November 23, 2019 Special Topics

Making The Most Of Time Off and Holidays

We wrap up Thanksgiving week with some recommendations for making the most of that time off. While you may be working frantically on Black Friday, there will be a time where you can take a day. Those days off and vacation times are essential to take advantage of. You can even become a better developer by making the most of your “downtime.” Get Some Rest Our lives are incredibly hectic, and the days of often long. That can chip away at our energy levels and even our health. One of the primary goals of a day off should be to get some rest. Take a nap, sleep in, or at least do something mindless. This is a time to get... Read more

November 27, 2019November 22, 2019 Special Topics

Thankful For Friends, Family, Even Co-Workers

We continue our focus during the U.S. Thanksgiving week with a look at things to be thankful for. This episode, we look at people in our life. These can be friends, family, and even co-workers. Each relationship has its unique traits, and now is an excellent time to consider them. Let’s look at some reasons to be thankful for these people that make life’s journey with us. Co-Workers We do not often get to choose the people we work with. Our career or job tends to lead us into these relationships instead of the other way around. Nevertheless, these are people that are fellow travelers in a fashion. They often have similar interests, goals, and even approaches to problem-solving. While... Read more

November 26, 2019November 26, 2019 Tools We Use

Using Dropbox To Provide A File Store and Reliable Backup

We use a broad range of tools to create content and software for this site and in our consulting businesses. Dropbox may be the most integrated into our work. Thus, this is a near-perfect solution to a common problem. We would not be doing it justice if we did not highlight it as one of the tools we use. Life Before Dropbox I first was introduced to Dropbox many years ago as a solution to one of my most annoying problems. I had gotten to a point where I used multiple devices for work daily. It was not at all uncommon to need to access the same files on a desktop and my laptop even within a single hour. The... Read more

November 25, 2019November 20, 2019 Special Topics

Being Thankful For Effective Tools

The Thanksgiving holiday is upon us in the United States. That allows us a week that is a little lighter than our normal workload and time to reflect. In this time of reflection, one of the things to consider is the effective tools we have for doing our jobs. Avoid Software Piracy The first thing to consider is the people and companies that provide all of those effective tools. Therefore, we should be respectful of their efforts and ensure we are compliant with licenses. I have heard all of the excuses for software piracy, and none of them hold water. In particular, we need to set an excellent example for those that do not make a living creating software. If... Read more

November 22, 2019November 18, 2019 Three Ways To Improve

Season of Lists Wrap-Up and Becoming a Better Developer

We have reached the end of season 10. This episode wraps up our look at how lists can be a quick way to cover a lot of ground as topics go. This season was a broad range of subjects, and here are a few others to review to become a better developer. Upcoming Hiatus We will be taking a break from Thanksgiving to New Years with only a few Holiday episodes. That will have us starting season 11 at the beginning of 2020. Of course, that break makes it a perfect time for you to catch up on anything you missed in season 10. The Complete Season 10 Episodes Past Seasons That Are Recommended We covered a broad range of... Read more

November 20, 2019November 11, 2019 Three Ways To Improve

3 Lessons We Can Learn From Lists

This season has been an homage to clickbait and lists. Nevertheless, some values come from using lists to communicate. There are some critical concepts behind this approach to writing and even sharing ideas. Therefore, it makes sense to offer an episode that looks at three things we can learn from lists and how to make them work for us. A Simple Summary One of the most significant values we derive from a list is the ability to grab a summary quickly. Lists are made for scanning and speed reading. Think about how often you read an article first by looking only at the section titles or list items. That is just a smart way to scan for the key points... Read more