The good points of writing everyday

segbedji le avril 15, 2020

The good points of writing everyday.

I’ve been writing daily for… I don’t know, over 160 days. Really on a lot of topics. From my work, to my passion for WordPress, to the questions I ask myself.

One thing I find super interesting in this regularity is that I (almost) always have a resource on hand to share. When I’m talking to someone, there’s a chance that I’ve already written about the topic we’re talking about. This chance would obviously be much lower if I didn’t keep a regular « journal ».

So I’m really glad I made this decision a few months ago.e

Moving data around

segbedji le avril 14, 2020

Moving data around

Sometimes I get pearls of tweets on Twitter. I talked about it once before here.

Yesterday I saw another similar tweet from Kelsey Hightower asking to say in three words what software engineering is all about.

Well, my simple answer

I don’t remember where I heard that, but I found it very relevant.

Is there an « after »?

segbedji le avril 13, 2020

Is there an « after »?

I learned some tragic news last week. After that, I’ve been wondering a lot about what happens next. If there is an after.

What happens when you die? When the deceased is a young person?

Is it normal for a young life to end? Cease to exist? Or does it continue to exist afterwards?

Should I feel guilty of not reading enough?

segbedji le avril 12, 2020

Should I feel guilty of not reading enough?

When I was still in high school, I was an avid reader. I think that for two years, between 2014 and 2016, I read every book that could be borrowed from the CAEB departmental library. That’s to say ?.

After my high school diploma, I turned more to e-books, which I read avidly for a year. Then, after that, nothing. I kind of lost my enthusiasm for reading.

Since then, I’ve been reading sparsely, when I come across a very interesting book, or recommendations.

And often, I feel guilty for not reading enough now. I know I shouldn’t, but that’s just the way I am.

Went live (finally)

segbedji le avril 11, 2020

Went live (finally)

Well, I finally did my first live coding session. It was super interesting.

Honestly, I was a little bit stressed and I was hoping it would go well. Finally, I think I finished without messing up (well, not too much).

The session was an introduction to CSS Grid. There were about 15 participants. Pretty cool.

Introduction to CSS Grid
CSS Grid Masonry

The most important thing, in my opinion, is to have a clear plan (at least in the main lines of what you intend to present). Even when you know the subject very well. A code may not work well; in that case, you need to be relaxed enough to find out where the error (if any) comes from and fix it.

All in all, a pretty cool experiment.

Depending on my availability at work next week I’m willing to do one or two more live coding sessions on WordPress theme development.

Life sucks

segbedji le avril 10, 2020

Life sucks

Last night I was glad, calm, maybe happy.

Then I learned that a person I knew, and whom I considered a friend, an inspiration as well as a role model, passed away.

He was just in his early thirties. Honestly, I’m still having a hard time understanding, processing and accepting what happened.

I first knew Jon at OpenCon 2016 in Berlin. We lost contact with each other for two years, and then our common interests (open science, open access) brought us together in 2018.

Right now, I don’t know who I can talk to about this, I can’t figure it out. I feel so sad, and I have so many questions.

Life really sucks.

May your soul rest in peace, Jon.

Introductory video for Module 1 of the Open Science MOOC, introducing the principles of Open Science.

What you’re leaving behind is so big, Jon. It’s hard that you left so soon.

Wearing the mask

segbedji le avril 9, 2020

Wearing the mask

Well, I’ve been working from home for almost three weeks. I haven’t had much need to physically get to work yet. But I do now.

The Covid-19 situation in Benin has changed. The government has therefore decreed the mandatory wearing of masks for all persons moving within the established sanitary cordons.

Well, I didn’t have any masks left. I live « almost » alone, and I don’t go out. I didn’t feel the express need for them.

So I took out a mask made by local artisans that had been given to me by my cousin, a doctor. It was rather (very) uncomfortable. It was squeezing my face and scratching me too.

Note that this mask made my ears stand up like a goblin ?.

When I arrived at work, I took a mask that was available (we bought a number of them from the very first cases of the epidemic in Benin). It’s a pharmaceutical mask. This one was great though. It didn’t itch, and I didn’t feel like I had a muzzle on my neck.

Maybe I’m the one with goblin ears after all.

But then, after I got home, I realized I was wearing it upside down, and spilled ?.

The struggles of going live

segbedji le avril 8, 2020

The struggles of going live

Disclaimer: this note has nothing to do with the one I made a few days ago titled « Going live« . Here, I rather want to talk about the challenges I encountered while testing setups to do live coding sessions.

I admire people who manage to code live. I think it’s something that requires both technical skills and a lot of self-control.

Because anything can happen during a live session. The connection can fuck up, the camera can fuck up, the mic can fuck up … ??. In short, anything can go wrong.

I started this week to do some tests of a live broadcast from my computer. Hardware side, perfect. Connection, average. The big snag is the setup of Streamlabs, the software I plan to use to stream my video feed.

It’s the first time I’m programming a live coding session, so I’m going to say that I’m having a bit of a hard time. But I’m gradually getting used to it. And I think everything will be fine when the time comes.

To stop relying on hardware

segbedji le avril 7, 2020

Have you ever lost your computer, your phone and become totally disoriented? Because all your work was on it? Well, it actually happened to me. A few years ago. And since then, I’ve decided to stop relying on hardware.

I’m a big supporter, fan and user of the internet. And I’m always happy to see that there are more and more « reliable » options for backing up our data online. It is now possible to have a real-time synchronized copy of our data available at any time. All this thanks to advances of cloud and online storage.

Of course, there are privacy and data management issues that can arise. But then again, there are other options available to set up your own secure online storage, which is not dependent on any firm or company.

This is definitely a good time to be alive.

Practice makes perfect

segbedji le avril 6, 2020

Practice makes perfect. And I believe this is especially true for software engineering roles.

I’ve been following since last week a series of lives coding sessions by Florian Truchot; on advanced WordPress integration with Gutenberg. And as he’ s progressing, I realize that where he is today is the result of several years of assiduous practice.

Beyond having or not having skills, it’s also important to have confidence in yourself; and to have confidence in what you conceive as a software engineer.