Computer Engineer. Prog Rock Enthusiast. Podcaster. Coffee Roaster.
Inspired by Matthew Cassinelli’s call to share useful Shortcuts we’ve created, I wanted to share my Translate Tweet Shortcut, which is actually an adaptation of Matthew’s Tweet Deets Shortcut.
Here is my Translate Tweet Shortcut. I find it useful when following accounts like Wojtek Pietrusiewicz which post in multiple languages.
2018 was my first time documenting, and in many ways even creating, yearly resolutions. To start 2019, I want to look back and see how I did and make some goals for 2019.
My first resolution was to stick to a budget. As I mentioned in my mid year review, after proposing, budget tracking became a team sport. I think we did really well this year. We reached our savings goals and gathered a lot of data about how we spend money. Our 2019 budget includes a few new lines that take some of the miscellaneous purchases like gifts and gives them their own trackable budget.
I did cook more and eat out less this year, but there is still room for improvement. I think this goal will be a several year process. One challenge is our desire to try many local Baltimore restaurants while still cooking for ourselves and sticking to our budget. Late this year we decided to make a dedicated date budget that we had to use each month to make sure we take the time to go on dates, even when our schedules get particularly busy. That budget item has helped us explore our city a bit more.
Here is a graph of my weight loss in 2018.
I use Happy Scale to track my weight lossAs you can see, the second half of the year was really great, and around the holidays I tailed off. I didn’t reach my goal of dropping 24 pounds, or 2 pounds every month, but I did lose 20 and am very happy about that. As we discussed in the latest episode of Overanalyzed, I experienced some injuries near the holidays and overall lost my rhythm, but I am making strides towards continuing with this goal in 2019.
I mentioned in my mid year review that I was no longer going to focus on creating an iOS app this year but I was doing some iOS development at work that was scratching an adjacent itch. Unfortunately, that effort simmered out shortly after posting as other more pressing things were put on my plate. I’m not sure how iOS will fit into the 2019 plan.
Overanalyzed is doing well and I’m excited to see how it will grow in 2019. We are on iTunes and releasing regularly.
Now onto 2019. In the spirt of Cortex I have decided to give 2019 the theme of Creativity. I want to create more in 2019, be it music again or continue to expand Overanalyzed. This goal will really kick into gear after I finish my masters degree in May. I’ve really enjoyed the last month or so of not having coursework to worry about and am excited with what I can do with that new found time.
Earlier today I posted that the iOS Shake to Undo feature needed to improve. When @martinfeld challenged me to suggest a better way, it got me thinking.
First of all, I don’t think this proposal has to replace Shake to Undo. It was a novel solution to a hard problem that many users now know and use. I also don’t think that a system-wide option means apps shouldn’t have an Undo button or custom gesture. But I do think a single, consistent, works-in-every-app option needs to exist that isn’t picking up your 12.9 inch iPad and shaking it.
In short, here is my proposed solution.
Control Center is a huge area of unused space, and I think a useful landing spot for an Undo button. As I later mentioned in the thread, I could see this button revealing a list of previous states to revert to, even a clipboard manager!
I hope iOS 13 has many new user interactions and the designers at Apple have come up with a better solution than tacking on a button in a relatively inaccessible, niche location like Control Center. But I do think its a reasonable approach given iOS’ current mental model and that a good bit of customers know about the area because of commonly used features like media playback control as well as brightness.
What do you think?
As I was discussing yesterday with a friend when talking about our new iPads, I think I would prefer a iPhone X like screen with 120Hz over an OLED at this point.
Dear phone display manufacturers…
120Hz all the things please
Ok cool that's it thanks bye— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) November 18, 2018
People who don’t see the use case for the “desk” mode of the Smart Keyboard Folio clearly haven’t sat in a recliner with their iPad.
Mind you I was only able to thumb around the iPad for a few minutes while it was still redownloading everything before having to head out but here are some quick thoughts.
By the way, I suppose I am officially ready to get rid of my 10.5 inch iPad Pro2. If you’re interested I’m looking to sell it for 700 with Smart Keyboard, Apple Pencil, and the Lightning to USB and Power adapter which is 950+ new from Apple today.
Maryland was deemed gerrymandered af. Glad they plan to fix it. Here’s the thing – it’s a solved problem. If they don’t use a purely algorithmic approach, I don’t think we’re making progress.
Early in the year, my old coworker, Jun, and I were discussing how we missed our lunch time chats where we’d overanalyze various things going on in our lives. As two people who love podcasts, naturally we thought why not make a show of these conversations.
It has taken some time for us to get in a rhythm and find our stride, but today we’re announcing our fortnightly podcast Overanalyzed. There are six episodes up. The most recent one is fitting for today – it’s about taxation. Subscribe if you’d like and tell a friend!
When I got the email that Alter Bridge recorded a live album with a full orchestra I was extremely hyped. Strings sections with rock music is my kryptonite, in a good way. I’ve greatly enjoyed listening to it and I recommend you check it out too. If you like what you hear, I recommend you to sit down with the Blu ray and a surround sound set up and soak it all in. With a full orchestra, the added channels of separation make for a clearer and more nuanced experience.
The Blu Ray also includes interviews with the band and the various people who made this special set of shows a reality. It is cool to hear them talk about Words Darker Than Their Wings which was a stand out track during my first listen. Apparently its been a fan favorite they have considered playing live for years, but Myles wasn’t so sure about it. Once you hear it, you’ll understand why. He hits a note at the end that is in the stratosphere. With the swelling crescendo of the Parallax Orchestra behind him, it is a goosebump inducing moment. I’m glad they played it and hopefully next time I see them live the ice has been broken and they’ll play it again.
This is one of the better live concert videos I’ve gotten in some time. I’m excited to see what Alter Bridge does next.
At the beginning of the year, I decided to craft some resolutions and for the first 3 months I did a good job of reflecting and providing updates.
The next three, not so much. I missed recapping April before leaving for our big vacation in May and since May was mostly spent on travel, there was nothing to say about my goals. I decided to skip June too and craft a midyear review article. It took me longer to get around to this than I wanted, but such is life.
Rather than concentrate on my progress, I want to talk about my goals at a macro level. I think its time to reevaluate them.
Ever since proposing and talking wedding, Rachel and I have started to budget together. I tried really hard to track my individual spending but it became really difficult though vacation and in a way, it doesn’t matter. As much as I want to track my own habits, our budget is now a team sport. So long as we get to where we want to be by the end of the year, I’ll consider it a success. This weekend we had a nice conversation about our budget and the next 18 months or so and I am really happy with our progress thus far.
Cooking for myself has been fine, but I have been eating out more for lunch lately as I create more work friends who want to eat out. I like to think of these outings as professional development and again – as long as I stay within the budget, I suppose its not the end of the world. The key is to not get lazy in the kitchen both in what I prepare and how often I make things.
Weight loss has been an interesting one. Looking back at March I remembered that I went under 230 that month. Well, vacation wasn’t kind despite walking 9+ miles a day. Luckily I have been hovering around 228 the last week. While in London, I was consistently filling my rings due to all of the walking. At that time, Federico posted about his health journey and I felt inspired to try and do the same. According to Activity++ (which allows for the 2 “rest” days in there) I have a 62 day streak of closing my rings. I’m really happy about that, particularly since my move ring is set for 750 calories. I have to work up a sweat and be intentional to break that. Like Federico, I have decided to put my health first and I recommend everyone give it a try. Its one of the best ways you can treat yourself.
iOS development is another interesting one. With grad school and work, I feel like I have no programming left in me. I’m done with this goal for this year, and frankly, for a while. Luckily, I am scratching my iOS itch in a much nicer way – I recently got the go ahead to try and do some ARKit work. I have been watching WWDC sessions and working in Xcode at my day job. Hard to beat that! I’m really excited and mildly terrified of this opportunity. I hope I am able to deliver something useful.
Finally, I am looking forward to finally getting this podcast out. It’s already up if you know where to look for it, but we haven’t officially launched because of our summer travel making it hard to get in a rhythm. We should be good now. Episode 4 is recorded, and 3 is 95% edited. With some work to the website and a submission to iTunes, we’ll be a real show. Though still green, I think the show has potential and it’s a lot of fun to make something with a friend again.