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From time to time I go back to the problem of switching Node.js versions. Sometimes it's enough to just go to the node.js website and install a new version but if you have to switch versions between different projects all the time then you soon realize you need a tool for that. I know of two such tools: https://github.com/tj/n https://github.com/creationix/nvm N has really nice UX and it's really intuitive to work with it. The problem arises if your different projects use different versions of global packages - you have to deal with it yourself. The biggest advantage of NVM is that it switches global packages with the node version so you really get a clean slate with every version. The biggest problem I have with NVM is that it's UX is really bad and I found myself explaining the same things over and over again to my colleagues. Because of the global packages, I found myself advising NVM to people last couple of years... At the same time, I ha...

Video of my Meet.js Summit talk is finally online, so if you missed please let me know what you think about it. I have learned a lot from feedback at the conference and I have heard some great comments that I feel  add a lot of value to my talk. Important message from @krzychukula : Learn the language well and don't expect frameworks be solution for your laziness #meetjs16 — Mariusz Nowak (@medikoo) March 19, 2016 First, I really like the tweet by Mariusz Nowak. That's something that I haven't mention in the talk because I have assumed that people would do that before going for frameworks. Only when I've seen this tweet I've realized that it's not always the case and I should have emphasized that before moving to new tools and frameworks. I have advised people to use Editors instead of IDEs but many people told me later that they don't want to miss on refactorings and all the ease of use they provide. To me that was the exact reason why I wan...

Last week I have attended Craft Conference for the first time and I've decided to share my experience. My favourite presentations: Dan North - "Embracing uncertainty" Jez Humble - "You Can Have It All: Software Development at Ludicrous Speed" Some other worth mentioning: Adrian Cockcroft - "The Evolution of Microservices" Marty Cagan - "Great Product Team, Successful Product" Doc Norton - "The Technical Debt Trap" Yao Yue - "Toward Better Design and Code" Most important takeaway : Most important lesson for me was to be reminded about happiness and job satisfaction. The best way to make sure that something will be done is to let people have fun doing it. For example: if a developer can use this new language or framework she is enthusiastic about it's more likely she will do it just because it will be fun for her. No one likes to do chores, and getting money for that is not going to h...

Artur Skowroński  recommended me:  Want a Better Pitch? Watch This. by Andy Raskin  and I think it is so great and applicable to all kinds of talks that I want to help it get more popular. So the plan of presentation is going to follow these steps: Enemy - Problem Why now? - call to action Show how the world will look like without the problem Problems Evidence that you fixed the problem The image at the top is because it reminds me of Hero's Jurney . It has fewer steps but there is a lot of similarities. Especially #3 made me realize that grand vision of the future is something that I should have used in my talks.  The result at the start of the presentation makes a lot of sense actually. Everyone already knows that I speak about something because I probably fixed it and if you tell about it at the end then it might be hard for some people to see the bigger picture in the solution you're going to present. 

I haven't really think this through but I have read really interesting articles recently and I just wanted to write for myself later. Life is Short by Paul Graham It's just that, learn from people older that you what is most important, and that life actually is short... Instead of Goals or Resolutions, Try Creating Rules by Leo Babuta In the time of New Year Resolutions, it's good to read something that is proposing different way of achieving things. Still I see much more value in habits than setting goals. But... The Easy Way To Learn Hard Stuff by Per Harald Borgen It's something that I read from time to time and I know it works sometimes for me. The things I learn then are really learned and something Jakub Wasilewski   has told me many times to do. Still it's uncomfortable and for some reason, I have failed to use this method more than once or twice. Writing it here so maybe I can think about it more and figure out how to do that more often. Towa...

I have expected a book about music theory, but it's something completely different. You can learn about history and origin of music and how music industry evolved to its current state. It was intriguing to read about amateurs and how that music was played locally before recording technology emerged. Book motivated me to finally learn guitar and explained a lot about the music industry. Rating: 6/10

One of the best books I have ever read. Do you feel that you don't really have the passion for your work? If you have passion then maybe you feel that you don't have any particular mission? Long story short this book will liberate you. Your gain your passion with work and effort you put into something you do - preferably that pays your bills. If you like something or you have no other choice and you have to do something you still can make it your passion. In my opinion, that's liberating. What's the alternative? For me, I would need to be sad that I can't make reading fantasy books my job... Mission: After watching Brett Victor Inventing on Principle,  I was thinking about my mission... What should it be? Cal Newport puts that into another perspective. First you have to gain expert experience and skills to have a mission. With enough knowledge in your field, it will be obvious next step to do. Keep build your skills and mission will show up eventually....