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The Week #5
by James- I gave a presentation about towncrier, a utility to help generate changelog files in Japanese. Summary of the talk is as follows: For each branch that you're working on, you create a changeling file e.g.
12345.feature.rst. When you run towncrier it will group changelog files based on the type (feature, bug fix etc...) and prepend it to your changelog file. Having those changelog files in your branch makes managing multi-branch staging/test branches. And since you can put whatever you want in the content of the changelog file, you can add release instructions, which makes manually/semi-automatic deploys easier. - On my run on Monday morning, I ran towards Sakaigawa river. I used to live on the other side of it and run along it regularlly. I was hoping to run on it longer than I did, but it was about 0.5 - 0.75km further than I had anticipated to get there. On the way back, one of the houses close to the river's rooster started crowing. I'm sure the neighbors love that.
- Went to Ikea by car for the first time. Still getting used to Japanese highways and learning where lanes come and go, so it's always an adventure. The cafe was as busy as ever, but they didn't have any meatballs :(. Slowly getting used to the ACC (adaptive-cruise-control) and LKA (lane keep assist) on my Honda Freed. ACC and LKA combined and it drives itself down the road. Looking forward for this all to be over so can do some road trips.
- I gave a presentation about towncrier, a utility to help generate changelog files in Japanese. Summary of the talk is as follows: For each branch that you're working on, you create a changeling file e.g.
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Checkin to IKEA Restaurant & Cafe (IKEAγ¬γΉγγ©γ³&γ«γγ§)
First time by car.
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by James
Run down to Sakai-gawa and mostly back. Used to run along it when I lived in Shonandai. Miss those summer rice paddies.
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by James
Love these Shinkansen videos. Fun to watch with Leo in the mornings while we play trains. Learn new things and get to see the Japanese countryside.
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by James
Another hot run. Short so I donβt die.
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The Week #4
by James- The rain season officially ended. Gone is a month of rainy weather cool-ish weather and here are blue skies and 30+ degree weather. That's still a good 10 degrees cooler than Houston summers, but you're outside / exposed to it more in Japan than in the US so it feels hotter. Autumn, please hurry.
- Went to Handy, a Home Depot-lite over the weekend and picked up some new storage and picked up a cooler to use this summer. Trips to Ayase are always fun because the streets are so wide and there's a lot of green, it reminds me of being in the US. Looked at the BBQ's - really thinking about getting one. Since we have a farm and a field next door for neighbors on one side, BBQing out front shouldn't be a problem.
- I read an interesting article It's time to start writing. It's mostly about how Jeff Bezos and Amazon have banned PowerPoints and has a culture of writing instead. Writing has two benefits: it clarifies your thinking and it creates a history of why decisions were made. Clarity through writing is something I think of a lot at work lately as I've been writing more specs and documentation.
- Justin linked me to an article from a decade ago called Stop trying to delight your customers. The title alone has some solid advice in it. People use your service because it saves them time/money/provides value - not because it causes delight. The focus on "providing delight" vs solving a problem causes a lot of startups to miss their product market fit. You don't need a whizzbang SPA to start when a simple server-rendered form will solve the problem. Expectations of software has risen in the past decade, but if your app solves a painful enough problem your customers won't care if it has some rough edges.
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by James
Apple Watch automatically unlocking your computer when you open it from sleep is :chef-kiss:
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by James
Another hot 5km π₯΅.
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Checkin to St. Marc CafΓ© (γ΅γ³γγ«γ―γ«γγ§ ε±±ζε°εΊ)
Fika with Leo
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Trying to Retain More of what I Read
by JamesI rarely finish books that I start reading. Usually I'll get what I need out of it, plan to finish it, and start a new book in the mean time. Some may shake their heads in disbelief, but I don't think this is a problem.
While I feel like retain "a lot" of what I read, a few months down the like and I usually only remember the gist. I'm wondering if I couldn't retain more details if I were to take notes when I read. Writing down notes physically on paper is an option, but transcribing them so I can easily reference them becomes a burden. My handwriting is also horrible as I write with paper so rarely.
One thought that comes to mind is to setup a personal wiki where I can just store anything and everything, including notes on book and articles that I read. I could easily link/categorize content. I don't necessarily want to make everything I read and write fully public and managing which page are private, which are public could become a chore.
The other thought is, I have this blog why don't I just write what I learn here. Start interspersing notes about books / magazines that I read here on this blog. It should help me retain more of what I read as well as help people discover new and interesting topics.
