Author: Daniel

Daniel https://turnings.phrasewise.com/ In the 4th grade Daniel was asked to step in into the hall because he was coaching fellow students on a similarity assignment he provided the class. Since then, Daniel’s passion for helping people has propelled him to be a creative developer of software and systems, and a team coach who excels at successfully delivering business value. Daniel founded QuietlyHelping in 2009 in order to have a direct hand in helping families with the struggles of debilitating disease. QuietlyHelping is an organization of compassion and empathy that brings ease, comfort, smiles, laughter, healing, and love to people battling cancer and other diseases. Spare time activities include cycling, occasional work as a musician, woodworking, photography, and reading books he never got around to in school. Unsurprisingly, Daniel is able to cook minute rice in just under thirty seconds.
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Inspiration vs. Imitation

Inspiration vs. Imitation:

1. It’s OK to copy people’s work.[GIANT ASTERISK!]

2. Not everything you make should be on the internet.

3. Diversify your inspirations.

4. History is important.

5. Train your eye.

6. Just because it’s not illegal doesn’t mean it’s ethical.

7. Everybody knows everybody.

Most of the time the offenders aren’t aware of how obvious their inspiration sources are. We’re all guilty of it when we’re starting out, but hopefully this article will remind some of you to keep that practice work out of your portfolio, which will keep the angry blog commenters off your back.

Always keep practicing (and practicing, and practicing), keep looking at beautiful work, keep researching others to look up to and be inspired by. In no time you’ll be making beautiful original work of your own.

[There’s a lot more to this piece. And the issues are often complicated. But no doubt there is value in being yourself. First and foremost is… no one can be a better you than you.]
Source: Jessica Hische

The economics of Christmas lights

The economics of Christmas lights:

Two asides: First, it’s interesting to note that no one (zero) gets paid to put up Christmas lights, but some towns are awash in them.

and second, I think there’s a parallel to the broken windows theory here. Broken Windows asserts that in cities with small acts of vandalism and unrepaired facades, crime goes up. The Christmas Light corollary might be that in towns (or online communities) where there’s a higher rate of profit-free community contribution, happiness and productivity go up as well.

[Nice.]
Source: Seth’s Blog

Firefox faces uncertain future as Google deal apparently ends

Firefox faces uncertain future as Google deal apparently ends:

It might be worthwhile for Google just to keep Microsoft from buying that promotion for Bing. Because if anyone’s willing to throw massive piles of money at gaining marketshare that isn’t worth anywhere near what they spent to gain it, it’s Microsoft. Given the history between Firefox and Internet Explorer, though, it would be pretty entertaining if Microsoft made such a deal, effectively sponsoring Firefox’s continued development.

I’m a bit sad for Firefox. It used to be the fast, powerful, progressive browser that finally broke IE’s era of stagnant dominance and saved web developers’ sanity. Now, it’s a bloated, slow, unstable monster that’s often a pain in this web developer’s ass.

It’s losing marketshare to Chrome for very good reasons. There’s no place for it in mobile, where most of the growth and action is happening in the industry, and most of their other recent attempts at new platforms and products have fizzled out.

I’m not sure Firefox can be saved. It might continue for a long time as a fringe browser choice, like Opera, but I don’t see how its marketshare will ever increase again.

[It certainly lost a lot of ground with my circle of developers. They went from using it as their only browser, to also using it alongside of others. Trust me to know these guys, that’s two miles of bad road. Ya know? Onward!]
Source: Marco.org

Fresh Goods: Soul Poles Bamboo Ski Poles

Fresh Goods: Soul Poles Bamboo Ski Poles:

Everything old is new again: Soul Poles has gone back to one of the original materials used to make ski poles, bamboo, and there are compelling arguments in its favor, aside from the fact that the poles look bitchin’. The fledgling brand, launched by World Cup skiers Erik Schlopy and Bryon Friedman, makes the sticks by hand in Utah from sustainable bamboo and mostly recycled materials, including a recycled polypro strap, recycled plastic in the basket, and 80 percent recycled aluminum in the tip. SP is also a member of One Percent for the Planet and Protect Our Winters and good on ‘em for it.

$99-$295 LINK

[Bamboo is everywhere these days. Nice.]
Source: adventure journal

By Accident : Red Kite Prayer

By Accident : Red Kite Prayer:

I got hit by a car and learned how large my ego had become, learned that, more than anything, I was in my own way, and that the best way to get where I wanted to go, i.e. everywhere, was to let myself be small and let the world be big. I can, if I squint, see the accident again. I’m riding along. A Volvo passes me on the left. Its brake lights blaze purposefully. I back off on the pedals. A turn signal. I brake. Nothing to prove. And then the car turns in front of me. Its shocks make a hiccuping sound as it bounces into the driveway of the grocery store. I glance over my left shoulder and then guide my bike out into the open lane to glide past the Volvo’s bumper.
And then I ride home. Whole and well.

[The world is always ready to humble and caution us. It’s why “no fear” is a mantra for some. But none of us leave this world undefeated. I for one accept the path to smaller in everything I do, even if some parts of me will fight it until my final defeat.]

At Sloth-Like 3.5 MPH, M50 Bus Wins This Year’s Pokey Award

At Sloth-Like 3.5 MPH, M50 Bus Wins This Year’s Pokey Award:

Want to understand why more Manhattanites don’t ride the bus? Look no further than this year’s Pokey awards, given out annually by the Straphangers Campaign. Manhattan buses, as usual, top the list of the year’s slowest service.

The Pokey this year goes to the M50 crosstown bus, which averaged a mere 3.5 miles per hour at noon (imagine it at rush hour!). The 14 slowest lines are all in Manhattan, with the Bronx’s Bx19, which runs down Southern Boulevard and into Harlem, clocking in as the slowest bus in the other boroughs.

[Of course, I had many runs in with the M50 while empty (and I presume going home). The drivers were super aggressive, cutting off other drivers, not letting anyone into the lane. And they make a left hand turn onto 9A/12th from the right hand lane of 49th street. I know the turning radius is large, but there was no communication of their intent. It was always dangerous to watch as time after time unknowing people would pull up on the M50s left assuming that the bus was going to make a right turn… so a big NY raspberry in the direction of the M50.]
Source: StreetsBlog

inessential.com: Pub Rules

inessential.com: Pub Rules:

Almost of the above stuff is easy. Most of it is just avoiding stuff that’s stupid, but that lots of publications do. (And that make their jobs harder, for no gain.)

The challenge belongs in one place: the quality of the writing. And that’s it.

If the articles were poorly-written or not interesting or both, the site would fail.

But I believe, though I can’t back it up with numbers, that such a site with good, interesting articles would succeed very well.

[Noting for myself. Good stuff.]

How to take advantage of Redis just adding it to your stack

How to take advantage of Redis just adding it to your stack:

However one thing I like about Redis is that it can solve a lot of problems just adding it to your stack to do things that were too slow or impossible with your existing database. This way you start to take confidence with Redis in an incremental way, starting to use it just to optimize or to create new features in your application. This blog post explores a few use cases showing how people added Redis to existing environments to take advantage of Redis set of features. I’ll not report specific use cases with site names and exact configurations, I’ll just try to show you class of problems that Redis can solve without being your primary database.

[It’s the way I got Redis in the door with a team very wary (and weary) of adding anything to the stack.]

McDougall Newsletter: November 2011 – Why Did Steve Jobs Die?

McDougall Newsletter: November 2011 – Why Did Steve Jobs Die?:

Neither Steve Jobs’ vegan lifestyle nor turning down surgery were the acts of an insane man. Rather both decisions demonstrate his rationality, genius, intuitiveness, and internal strength to stand up for what he knew to be right. The truth may now give family and friends some peace of mind. Also those who tied Jobs’ cancer to his vegan diet can now go back to healthy eating. Understanding and publicizing the cause of his cancer should also focus more attention on the serious harms caused by chemicals used in the electronic industries.

Consider the misfortune that happened to Steve Jobs, one of the wealthiest and most powerful men to have ever lived. A little cost-free, harmless, and honest counsel would have greatly improved the physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing of Jobs—especially during the last 8 years of his life, when he gave so much to us.

[Interesting stuff if only conjecture.]
Source: Dave Winer