Top posts of 2011
The top ten posts for 2011 according to Google Analytics were:
- Installing Python, MatPlotLib & iPython on Snow Leopard.
- Finding duplicate files using Python.
- Getting started with Python.
- Praise for Python.
- Basic Graphing with MatPlotLib.
- Graphing real data with MatPlotLib.
- Extracting image EXIF data with Python.
- Python 2.7.1 Goodness.
- Running WordPress on Mac OS X with XAMPP.
- John Cleese on creativity.
Eight of the top ten are Python related, the top twenty is more diversified:
- Querying Reddit with Python.
- Barbara.
- Processing Perforce command output with Python.
- Downloading wallpaper images from Reddit using Python.
- Why scrum fails…
- Hacking work manifesto.
- The ascendeancy of JSON.
- Using Perforce counters to control syncing.
- Why work doesn’t happen at work.
- Small steps to big goals.
On a personal note I hope 2012 will bring more posts and less personal tragedy..
Friday Linkage
This weeks interesting links:
- Why Functional Programming Matters
Not a new paper (1984!) but interesting take on the usefulness and potential scalability of functional languages. - Learn you a Haskell for great good!
An excellent online book for learning the Haskell functional programming language. - How we Scrum
A description of the scrum process at an indie game developer and how they’ve tailored it to their needs. - Best resources for iOS programming
A current summary of good online resources for programming Apple’s iOS devices (e.g. iPhone & iPad). - Can you really get great shots with a point and shoot?
Inspirational article about getting great photographs from compact point and shoot cameras rather than large, expensive DSLRs. - The Fall Event
Apple has ran a iPod music event every year in the fall until this year, this article speculates on what this means for the future of the iPod and on Apple’s changing priorities.
Friday linkage
Some pages I’ve found interesting recently:
- Online Python Exercises
A good summary of some of the Python exercises available online. If this interests you also check out my ‘Getting started with Python’ post. - The New Apple Advantage
An insightful piece on Apples successful strategy of offering minimal configuration options for its phones, tablets and computers as a way to simplify the buying process and improve revenue. - Developing Razor Sharp Focus
Worth it alone for the very useful mind map. I like his focus on creating rituals, managing email distractions and taking time to reflect and review. - Why I Go Home: A Developer Dad’s Manifesto
A very good post on work-life balance for software developers. I especially liked the following observation: ‘If you screw up at your job you can always get another one, but if you screw up your family, especially your relationship with your children, it will stay with you and stay screwed up forever‘ so many people seem to fail to realise that jobs are temporary but family is forever.. - XKCD: File Transfer (Comic)
Just why is transferring files still so awkward in this day and age?
Friday Linkage
This weeks intersting links:
- Lawyers: You’re Being Played By Twitter.
An interesting post about how social media sites like Twitter are exploiting positive feedback loops and gamification to motivate users. - How HTML5 will kill the native app.
Does the trend for business to replace native smart device (e.g. Android/iOS) applications with HTML5 web applications mean the days of the native application are numbered? - Why Can’t Developers Estimate Time?
This post discusses the issues observed with Developer time estimates and proposes an alternative solution: teaching junior engineers the meaning of ‘done’. - A Hard Thing is Done by Figuring Out How to Start.
Rands discussing various strategies for getting started on a project: the hard part being figuring out where to start. - Four Reasons We Choose Amazon’s Cloud as Our Computing Platform.
Explaining the reasoning behind NetFlix’s adoption of the Amazon Cloud as its software platform.
Friday Linkage
This weeks interesting links:
- How Digg is built.
An tour of Digg’s shiny new architecture. - Ten lessons from Git Hub’s first year.
A delayed but interesting reflection on Git Hub’s first year. - Nine Women Can’t Make a Baby in a Month.
A discussion on the dangers of taking on VC funding too early in a startups life. - If You’re Not Gonna Use It, Why Are You Building It?
This point cannot be made often enough, if you don’t need it then don’t build it. - Where meritocracy fails.
A thoughtful post on why code changes should be judged on technical quality and not on ego. - Downloadable Content in a Nutshell (Comic).
An amusing take on the common flaws of downloadable content.
Friday Linkage
This week’s interesting links:
- 20 percent time spent coding in the clouds.
An interesting post by a Google engineering director about how he recently used his twenty percent time developing his first App Engine application on a long haul flight to Japan. - Do or do not.
The author has an interesting take on not using asserts in favour of using unit tests instead. Reflecting on this I find asserts and unit tests essential for C++ projects however for projects in Python I tend to just use unit testing. - How not to get things done.
This ironic post makes a case against those engineers with a knack for ‘getting things done’ usually at any price (e.g. gratuitous hacking) can be dangerous to the project. All engineers require leadership on code quality, testing and maintenance not just those who get things done. - A Hundred Machines for Only Ten Dollars an Hour.
An interesting presentation on just how the Amazon cloud makes massive parallel data processing using Hadoop very cheap: $100 in this case. There is also a warning as the author ends up spending $3000 in legal fees convincing FaceBook that he didn’t do anything wrong with his $100 of data processing! - How to polish a turd.
A post about the process of developing and evolving a game concept from conception to shipping. I have had the opposite experience from the author with publishers being the main source of change requests. - Are gas prices really that high?
As a European living in Canada it is easy to appreciate just how much cheap fuel is here. This graph maps out petrol prices for the whole world relative to the US prices which are even lower than Canada’s prices. - Time Management (Comic).
An amusing take on time management blog posts.
