Pick for the Week of 21 January 2019

I am bringing back my picks of the week with a bit of caffeine bliss! I have been an ardent support of the AeroPress, and I am still am, yet I just rediscovered the coffee bliss that is the French press (I know that drip is supposed to be the best way to prep coffee, yet I am a bit impatient when I need my coffee). 

So, without further ado, my pick of the week is the Bodum Chambord French Press! I originally picked up the 1 cup Brazil version for the home and it turned out I drank more coffee than I could quickly make with this version and it is currently being used at work. The larger Bodum Chambord French Press allowed me to make coffee for both Shiori and myself and have a bit extra left over to top off our cups. Flavor-wise, we both preferred the fuller flavor that the French press produced compared to our AeroPress…again, your mileage may vary. The press is easy to disassemble and clean and comes with the press itself and a measuring spoon. So far, unless time is of the essence, French press it is and this product sold me on it!

Please Let me know if you have any questions in the comments or any of the places that this article will be posted!

Link to Pick: 

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Small Kine Developer Interview

For an online course homework assignment, it was requested that I interview a couple developers (luckily I was able to interview a few of my friends) using a specific set of questions (I also had the option of adding more questions yet I wanted to keep the questions simple as I knew my friends were busy).

Here is the list of questions:

  1. How did you learn to code?
  2. What advice would you have for someone learning to code for the first time?
  3. Would you work with me on a project? Why/why not?
  4. What qualities do you look for when hiring a developer?
  5. If you and I were to work together, what skills do you think I most need to improve right now?

My first friend and coworker that I interviewed was Ilin. He recently started with us and I have already worked on a couple of projects with him. He was initially surprised that I am asking him these questions and his unease was put to rest once I explained what the responses were being used for.

Without further ado, here is my interview with Ilin:

  • Jerome: How did you originally learn to Code Ilin?
  • Ilin: I started off by reading programming books and then started to pick the brains of my co-workers. From there I attended training sessions, university classes, and took online courses.
  • Jerome: What advice would you have for someone learning to code for the first time?
  • Ilin: I would make sure that the person actually likes programming. I would have them work on a small project and see if they enjoy finding the solution and putting to use what they learned.
  • Jerome: Would you work with me on a project? Why/why not?
  • Ilin: Yes. In my option you are easy to communicate with and learn quickly when you don’t know something.
  • Jerome: I hope I won’t disappoint you in the future Ilin…some of the more difficult concepts I am learning are acting as roadblocks. For the next question, what qualities do you look for when you hire a developer?
  • Ilin: Apart from having the knowledge, I look to see if the person is a team player, goal-oriented, and loves to learn!
  • Jerome: Last question, if you and I were to work together again, what skills do you think I most need to improve right now?
  • Ilin: I have nothing to say here, I see that you are currently learning about your new position…keep on learning and improving your skills.

Interviewing Ilin was a blast as he always has a sunny disposition and always wants to help…if he doesn’t know the answer, he will look it up and share his findings with the team.

The second developer I interviewed was Sebastien. His disposition is a bit more serious and his responses were much more terse as can be see in the responses he provided to me.

  • Jerome: How did you learn to Code Sebastien?
  • Sebastien: The same a person learns anything: looking at examples, lots of coding and repetition.
  • Jerome: What advice would you have for someone learning to code for the first time?
  • Sebastien: It really depends as not everyone learns the same way. Don’t be afraid something is not going to work…if it doesn’t work, try to fix it and figure out what is causing the problem.
  • Jerome: Would you work with me on a project? Why/why not?
  • Sebastien: It depends on what my end goal is and what skill sets are needed.
  • Jerome: What qualities do you look for when hiring a developer?
  • Sebastien: Someone willing to think through problems, has at least a base of knowledge for the job, wants to keep learning and trying things out.
  • Jerome: Last question, if you and I were to work together again, what skills do you think I most need to improve right now?
  • Sebastien: Make sure you start and finish larger project…don’t try to multitask too much. Stay organized!

As you can see, this interview was a bit different as Sebastien’s personality was unique and different form Ilin’s. Both provided some great answers that will hopefully help me become a better developer later down the road…most of it does depend on my interest and capacity to learn!

Mameshiba Catch

The Japanese have some interesting cartoon characters in their country and Mameshiba is one of them. So, what is Mameshiba? It is a combination of both a soy bean and a dog. They released a little game for iOS that allows you to catch all the characters in the Mameshiba universe and each has this utterly cute saying. This was one of the more interesting quick reviews I have created just due to the type game and the music and soundeffects that are present.

Enjoy!

Other Links

Pick for May 18th, 2015 – Drafts iOS App

Pick for May 18th, 2015 – Drafts

Back in the dark ages of iOS, I used to utilize the Notes app for all of my note-taking needs for meetings, jotting down important tasks, etc. The application became a repository for much vital information yet it was lacking so much functionality. Enter Drafts, a supercharged version of the Notes application. Not only does Drafts allow the user to sync their documents via CloudKit, it also allows you to quickly jot down notes and then use actions to send the documents to different applications on your iOS device. For example, I took some notes during a meeting and now I need to send them out via email. I would click on the action menu, choose the Email option, and Drafts opens up the Mail application on my iOS device and populates the body with the notes I have taken. Drafts has a plethora of different ways of reaching out to other applications and even syncs the notes between different iOS devices utilizing the Simperium service.

Not only is the app a very helpful utility, the developer is very responsive and continues to improve upon the application as new iterations if iOS are released and new feature requests are submitted. The bottom line is that is app rocks and has had a spot on my dock ever since the application was released. Keep up the good work Agile Tortoise!

Tip – Resizing Finder Windows

As you know, when running your business, time is money. This week’s pick is a tip that will save you, our awesome reader, a bit of time when resizing multiple columns inside of a finder window. To resize multiple columns at once, you will need to be in the column view (by clicking on the 3rd little view near the top left of the finder window or pressing CMD-3) before you can perform the task. Once you are in column view, hold down the option key, click on the edge of a column (see the attached screenshot for details on where to click), and drag to resize. Once you are done resizing the columns, let go of the option key and the edge of the column and, similar to magic, you are finished!

March 23, 2015 Pick – WordPress App

Pick for March 23, 2015 – WordPress App

As more and more users flock to content management systems like WordPress (I personally utilize this CMS for my art business’s storefront), more and more business professionals need to update their blogs on the go. You might have an important event that needs to be publicized as soon as possible or you want to take advantage of some down time to update the information on your site. At first, the WordPress mobile application wasn’t that great due to a lack of features and stability so I only used it for. It has come a long way, though, and now I don’t know how I was updating my blog without the application. The universal WordPress mobile application runs great on both your iPad and iPhone and allows you to manage multiple sites’ comments and blog posts, check on a site’s statistics via JetPack, and easily access the admin module if required to make changes that are not available in the application itself. For users of 1Password, the WordPress mobile application integrates 1Password for easy vault access. Best of all, this application is free download making it a great bargain. Happy posting!