Posts

Showing posts from November, 2014

New blog domain: kula.blog

It's still work in progress but new posts will be published on  https://kula.blog/ Thanks to 11ty base blog RSS is working from the start so it should be easy to add to your reader if you still use any :) If now then I hope you can sign up to the newsletter where I'll be publishing new posts and interesting articles to it from time to time. Please use  kula.blog  from now on.

Boook Review: iOS Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide (4th Edition) (Big Nerd Ranch Guides) by Joe Conway, Aaron Hillegass , Christian Keur

Image
Really good book if you seek to learn a lot about writing iOS apps in OjectiveC. Right now I would prefer one in Swift but in my opinion at such early stage of Swift language it is better to learn iOS SDK and XCode with proven language. If anything I would prefer to have more chapters incorporate Storyboards. Rating: 8/10

Priorities

Image
You can probably see that I do a lot of things lately and my plans for next month are always long and ambitious.  I commit publicly to them so that I feel accountable but recently more important for me is following my Priority List during the day. What is a Priority List? I want to start from the beginning. My interests go from programming and reading books to learning to play guitar and how to draw. How do I make progress in any of them? I have a strong feeling of  stretching too thin and doing too many things at the same time. There are days when I can do them all and days when I hardly have time for one or two. Am I making any progress? Am I wasting my time? I strongly believe in Habits that Leo Babauta writes on his blog  http://zenhabits.net/ . The idea is to not think about what I should do, just follow the good habits. When I have to think consciously I often fail and do something stupid like read 'news' or facebook. I want to fight with that. I have re...

Book Review: Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark

Image
I wanted to read something outside of my comfort zone. As I try to learn English and I am writing blog posts in English it seemed like a good idea to read something about writing. My choice of a book was more accidental than deliberate, but I am pretty happy with what I have learned. Of course, it did not make me a writer in a couple of hours. I have gained some insight into writing, practical use of grammar and structure of stories that was interesting just in itself, but there were also some more general ideas included. How to think about writing, how to deal with critics and knowing your colleagues and they craft (like photojournalism and design) can be applied to any craft you do. Writing big books, should be divided into chapters, parts, that you can think about - something that fits in your head. It is much too easy to be overwhelmed by a 300 pages you have to write. Divide those into smaller parts. When you write the first version, you should lower your standards. Tr...

Book Review: An Introduction to Programming in Go by Caleb Doxsey

Image
Short but pretty nice book about Go language. It was recommended to me and I am really glad that I read it. It is much easier to follow than GoTour and in my opinion sets up much friendlier learning curve. Book is available for free online  and on Amazon. I have learned most in part 9 about Structs and Interfaces. Really interesting is chapter 13 about the Core Packages so I can recommend those two if you already know the basics of the language but want to see more practical usage. Rating 8/10 (just keep in mind that it is an introductory book)

October Update

Image
Finished Duolingo: English for Polish Speakers The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Ed Catmull, Amy Wallace I have a new Mac Pro 13' Memrise - Advanced Vocabulary (unfortunately it still grows) The Mastery by Robert Greene Learning How to Learn course on Coursera Failed & Gave up Game Programming Patterns - not even stared Spanish on Duolingo - done a couple of lessons, but I am going to drop it Todo: One-week vacation on Malta Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark IOS Programming by Big Nerd Ranch An Introduction to Programming in Go by Caleb Doxsey Reality is Broken by Jane McGonigal The Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam The Power of Full Engagement by James E. Loehr Game Programming Patterns  by Bob Nystrom Refresh  Healthy Programmer December: Buy device (to read programming books) for examp...