Ten pieces of software that removed roadblocks

Successful software is not defined by the number of lines of code or number of clever algorithms. More often than not, successful software is defined by how many roadblocks it removes for the user. Sounds obvious, right? But it usually takes a few iterations before software gains critical mass. And for a (critical) mass number of users, you need to remove roadblocks. Roadblocks that power-users or early adopters don’t mind… Read More »Ten pieces of software that removed roadblocks

The Trial – Franz Kafka

Max Brod is probably the worlds’ greatest publicist. He famously refused his writer friends’ dying wish to destroy all his work after his passing. This friend was of course, Franz Kafka. And against Kafka’s wishes Max Brod did publish his works and subsequently Kafka became known to the world as an absolute literary genius. The Trial The only other Kafka I read before this was one was The Metamorphosis and… Read More »The Trial – Franz Kafka

Cruddiy: a no-code Bootstrap CRUD generator

So you have a MySQL database and a user who should be able to do some standard database actions, like Create, Read, Update or Delete database records. Nothing fancy. And, this is a non-technical user, so you don’t want to give them access to phpMyAdmin, which is too difficult. Or let alone give them command line access. So you need some simple database forms, built on top of your MySQL… Read More »Cruddiy: a no-code Bootstrap CRUD generator

Use find (1) as a quick and dirty duplicate file finder

Run the following two commands in bash to get a listing of all duplicate files (from a directory or location). This can help you clean out duplicate files that sometimes accumulate over time. The first command uses find to print all files (and specific attributes) from a specific location to a file, prefixing the size of the file in the name. This way all files with the same filename and… Read More »Use find (1) as a quick and dirty duplicate file finder

Dylan Thomas – Sidney Michaels

This book is a play from 1965, based on several accounts of the infamous travels Welsh poet Dylan Thomas made in the early 1950s to the US. If you know anything about Dylan Thomas you probably know he died young (39), and that he was an alcoholic. This play captures the last two or three years of his life rather vividly. It’s an alcoholic mess and it details an explosive… Read More »Dylan Thomas – Sidney Michaels

My Music Discoveries of 2019

Here are my favorite music discoveries of 2019. Earlier editions are here: 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 (part 1) and 2018 (part 2). You know the drill. A few sentences and a YouTube video. No less than 19 videos. All songs need to be listened to. And all songs I obsessed about at one point or another in 2019. Here we go — in no particular order. The first and last video on the list… Read More »My Music Discoveries of 2019

Corona Links

This is a collection of COVID-19 related information links. Stats Worldwide map, with counts https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/685d0ace521648f8a5beeeee1b9125cd Worldwide stats with specific recovery stats https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ Worldwide charts and figures split out per country https://covid19info.live/ Different dashboards updated hourly http://covid19dashboards.com/ Direct link to the Dutch RIVM URL with national stats https://www.rivm.nl/nieuws/actuele-informatie-over-coronavirus Background A collaborative guide to COVID-19 care https://covid-at-home.info/ Corona Science Journal (very thorough but broad information): https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/corona-science/ How to explain to children why… Read More »Corona Links

Remote – Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

I saw this tweet yesterday, and If you know me, you know I will not pass on an opportunity for a free book! But more seriously, I have known Jason Fried and DHH for some time now. From their blog, their Twitter and multiple different podcasts. They have built their company around very clear and levelheaded thinking. So I wanted to read this anyway, and not just because it was… Read More »Remote – Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

The Quotable Walt Disney – Disney Book Group

I picked up this book on our honeymoon to Disney World. But I never read it, because; how do you read a book full of quotes? The answer is slowly! Just grab it every now and then. And read a few pages. Of course this is probably a heavily edited and well scrutinized book. Assembled under brand protection of the Disney Company, one of the biggest media companies in the… Read More »The Quotable Walt Disney – Disney Book Group

Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! – Ralph Leighton and Richard Feynman

The next day I rolled up my picture, put it in the back of my station wagon, and my wife Gweneth wished me good luck as I set out to visit the brothels of Pasadena to sell my drawing. Richard Feynman Well, I definitely wasn’t expecting such sentences in this collection of anecdotes from famous popular physicist Feynman. But I can safely say, it certainly is in line with the… Read More »Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! – Ralph Leighton and Richard Feynman

Infinite Jest – David Foster Wallace

Today is February 21st, David Foster Wallace‘s birthday. So it’s rather fitting that today I finished reading his magnum opus: Infinite Jest. The notoriously long and difficult book from 1996 with visionary insights on modern life. Infinite Jest is one of the biggest books ever written, and it certainly is the biggest book I have ever read. It took me somewhere between 50 and 60 hours over the course of… Read More »Infinite Jest – David Foster Wallace