Plenty of Internet and Writing Every Day

Last month, I tried to reduced my internet time. To keep it short: It's didn't care. After some days I just saw no point in downloading YouTube videos to watch them offline. I saw no point in deactivating my wifi to read that specific article just from the browsers window without being able to click on a link. I hated it first, Then I didn't give a ..
What I've learned anyway: I am dependend on the internet in a very strong way. More than I realized before. So there's more than one reason for me to speak up for a free (free as in free speech) internet.

So... what will I do this month?
I will work. I will procrastinate. (Heck, I procrastined even writing this article. I played kingdom rush, I talked to my friend, helping him finding some verses from the bible about door-knocking, I showed a comedy video about the struggled of being a woman in our society to my wife, I played some more kingdom rush.) But I will also learn and create.

So here are my rules for this month.

I write everyday at least 200 words.
I write everyday about something you have learned today.
Everthing I write, must be written between 0:00 and 24:00 on that day. Pre-writing does not count.

To help me accomplish this, I will rewrite my BIBEL-lesen Web App to a mobile web app, using *drum rolls please*, AngularJS, Ionic and Cordova. I will have to implement some simple backend service, for user accounting and "cloud" syncronization. I will get bonus points, If I manage to make it work with some more motivation stuff like achievements. I will also get bonus points if I manage to set up a welcome page.

I will get in charted waters with those. But why I do this. It will be horrible. And awesome. Both. But horrible first.

So long,

Lorenz

Can You Go With Less?

Some days ago my trousers got ripped. Since I have already decluttered my wardrobe almost to the minimum, I immediately thought: Oh, I have to buy a new one! I already planned where to buy that new jeans, what kind of jeans, was thinking about the color that new jeans should have, and so on. But then I stopped: Hey, just step back a little bit. You do still have one more pair of jeans. You actually have enough trousers. So do you really, really need that new pair of jeans? Could you without that replacement? Could you go with less?

No doubt, I wanted that pair of new jeans. I wanted to purchase something, I wanted to renew my wardrobe, I wanted something new and fancy and fashionable. Even it's just something as boring as jeans.

So I put my which on hold. First, I waited and watched, whether I could still find something to dress without buying new stuff. I gave that experiment some time to either work or fail: About one week should be sufficient. Long story short: It worked just fine. I just don't need it.

This approach also works in the development of web apps. Before rushing into thinking about new features, before starting to adding new functions to your web app, just ask yourself: Will the effort be worth it? Will this function or that feature really add value to my program? Will it be so much better?
Because, just as buying unneeded items, it's not finished after paying the price on the price tag: Clothes need washing, need some place to lay them down when they're not in use, which also costs money (rent, furniture). Software is just the same. The work is not finished after having built the feature: Every feature also must be cared for. Every feature must be debugged. And, the worst of all: every added feature adds over-linear more complexity. This slows down the addition of new, really important functions.

My credo, either in real life, or in software development: simpler is better.