Abstractionist by Keenen Charles (Page 3)

Abstractionist by Keenen Charles

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My Favorite Things This Week (2019 #9)

My Favorite Things This Week (2019 #9)

Articles Slack has decided to somehow make its icon even duller and less notable [https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2019/2/26/18242369/slack-icon-android-ios-white-purple] I really didn't mind the new Slack logo. It's fine. But why would they replace the iconic purple with white? Why not just use a different

Instantly Infectious

Instantly Infectious

Last week I found a new artist I really like (AMA). I was reminded of how some music can instantly hook me when I first heard her song, Monochrome. From the moment the beat kicked in I knew I loved it. Instantly loving a song is a rare occurrence for

Value Your Products

Value Your Products

I launched InboxReads back in September of 2017 with the intention that'd it be a long process to grow the site to a point where it could possibly make some money. In most of the time since I focused on just that. I tried new tactics to grow traffic, I

Innovating

I've been watching videos and reading articles about all the new phones being announced at Mobile World Congress this week. I've noticed many of the companies who've been struggling to compete with Apple & Samsung are now taking wild swings to differentiate their phones. Most of their ideas seem unlikely to

Managing Anxiety As a Maker

Managing Anxiety As a Maker

Being a maker requires you to put yourself and your work in front of the world. You are required to share your passions, your goals, and more. You have to be ready to face negative feedback or even worse, deafening silence. Many of our projects are labours of love. They

The Limits of Social Media

The Limits of Social Media

As humans, we're naturally social creatures. We all fall somewhere along the spectrum of sociability. Some crave it but few completely despise it. When you're born your immediate family forms your first social group. As you get older it expands to your wider family, classmates, and friends. These groups are

The Trap of Building More

The Trap of Building More

Being able to code can be a blessing and a curse as a maker. It's easy to fall into a trap of building more features when you should be working on other things. Typically you're drawn to the kind of work you're most experienced with or enjoy the most. As

My Favorite Things This Week (2019 #7)

My Favorite Things This Week (2019 #7)

Articles Amazon cancels HQ2 in New York after backlash [https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/14/18224993/amazon-hq-2-queens-new-york-backlash-pulls-drops] After a ton of backlash Amazon changed it's mind on builing HQ2 in Queens. It's a complicated issue, it would've brought jobs, but negatively affected lower income families. Also why did New

Every Opinion Isn't As Valuable

Every Opinion Isn't As Valuable

I was scrolling through Facebook today when I saw a survey from the local government asking for input to deal with traffic issues. What a nice improvement on our government's part to get actual data to make a decision. But no that's not all it was. The entire survey basically

Changing Norms

At every time in human history, the norms and customs of the time have been challenged. Usually by some small but growing fringe group with the belief to demand change. Looking back on previous societal norms we're shocked and sometimes appalled at what was deemed acceptable back then. Most religions

Maintaining New Habits

Maintaining New Habits

I have a deep fear of losing momentum when I've found some. It feels amazing when your efforts are paying off, you can see the rewards, and it all feels like it's been worth it. No matter what you're doing you still would like to see some quantifiable progress. It

My Favorite Things This Week (2019 #6)

My Favorite Things This Week (2019 #6)

Articles The cheapest Chinese electric cars are coming to the US and Europe—for as little as $9,000 [https://qz.com/1541380/the-cheapest-chinese-electric-cars-are-coming-to-the-us-and-europe/] $9000 for an electric car? That could be revolutionary but will consumers go for tiny cars? I'm skeptical. Sprint is suing AT&T over ‘5G E’

A Jobless World

A Jobless World

How does society change when there aren't enough jobs for anyone? This video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW5ktbit2s0] got me thinking about the implications of automation. Pretty soon jobs that employ thousands and probably millions will be done by algorithms and machines instead. For most of human history,

My Favorite Things This Week (2019 #5)

My Favorite Things This Week (2019 #5)

Articles Android TV Is Good Now [https://gizmodo.com/android-tv-is-good-now-1832053190] I got a Android TV box recently and I have to agree. It took a few tries but the UI and features Google has now create a great smart TV experience. Apple is getting closer and closer to spelling out

Fake News & The Need for Internet Literacy

Fake News & The Need for Internet Literacy

This week the situation in Venezuela took a new turn. The country's assembly leader, Juan Guaidó, announced himself as interim president and declared the rule of the current president, Nicholas Maduro, illegitimate. Soon the US and other countries followed in supporting his claim and calling for new elections in the

How Do You Measure Progress In Writing?

How Do You Measure Progress In Writing?

I've been thinking a lot about how much I've written since I started writing 200WordsADay [https://200wordsaday.com/] and the progress I've made. But I'm also curious about the benefits writing consistently has for my writing. I'd like to become a better writer. I'd like to write pieces that move

Building Dynamic Emails with HEML in Node & Express

Building Dynamic Emails with HEML in Node & Express

There's a ton of email services out there to reach your users. There's Mailchimp, Revue, Sendgrid, SES, etc. But costs can quickly rise if your sending regular emails and as an indie maker that can keep you back. I initially launched the beta for Wave Radio [https://waveradio.co] with

Resisting Our Preconceived Opinions

Resisting Our Preconceived Opinions

A lot of time our opinions on things are formed before we ever experience them. It applies to new food, movies, and even people. The scraps of information we've gathered before experiencing something tend to shape our first impressions. Your experience with a new video game can start from a

My Favorite Things This Week (2019 #4)

My Favorite Things This Week (2019 #4)

Articles Cities Are Tucking Climate Change Fixes Into New Laws [https://www.wired.com/story/cities-are-tucking-climate-change-fixes-into-new-laws/] An interesting story about how US cities are creating more policies that tackle climate change through land use and zoning reform. Kids’ movies are ready to escape Amblin’s influence [https://www.theverge.com/

The Struggle To Finish A Side Project

The Struggle To Finish A Side Project

After a lot of technical and design work in the past month to get Wave Radio [https://waveradio.co] ready for launch, I'm finally launching the beta today. I started working on this project in August 2018 but progress completely stalled when I found some technical issues with the stack

This Ain't For You, This Be For My Health

This Ain't For You, This Be For My Health

After reading Sam Altman's post How To Be Successful [http://blog.samaltman.com/how-to-be-successful] today this section stood out to me. > The most successful people I know are primarily internally driven; they do what they do to impress themselves and because they feel compelled to make something happen in the

Putting Your Thoughts Into Words

Putting Your Thoughts Into Words

Some time ago I wrote a post [https://200wordsaday.com/words/how-i-d-like-to-write-9775c196707cf289] about the characteristics I'd like to include in my writing. I've always had these ideas in my mind, but writing them out has helped me a lot. Since then I've found myself writing with a conscious reminder of

Don't Take The Money

Don't Take The Money

It's a privilege to be able to forgo money for less tangible things. Experience, passion, or duty. Not everyone has that luxury. Money is tempting even when you don't need it. It's no surprise that most of the wealthy seek to get wealthier. In your career, there's pressure to constantly

Accepting The Risk of Embarrassment

Accepting The Risk of Embarrassment

I recently finished Auston Kleon's Show Your Work and this quote he used stuck with me. > "Compulsive avoidance of embarrassment is a form of suicide." - Colin Marshall It can feel like embarrassment is the worst pain one could bear. You wish you could cease to exist until it's all

My Favorite Things This Week (2019 #3)

My Favorite Things This Week (2019 #3)

Articles Facebook’s 10-year glow-up challenge reminds us that Facebook used to be fun [https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/14/18182052/facebook-10-year-challenge-glow-up-profile-picture] I loved this look at how Facebook and our relationship has changed in the past 10 years. It inspired me to write my own perspective [https://keenen.