Heh, sorry, this made me chuckle. I'm sorry you're right, but ya know, it's a GNU project, so there's always room to contribute. :)
1,079 karma · joined December 29, 2010
My last solid OS X machine was a 17" MBPro with a G4. I forget the OS - Cheetah maybe? That year I also had a developer Intel box. It seems like it was that transition that I could really feel things were going awry.
I'm not talking about the dev box, it was what came after. I had a MBPro 15" Intel machine that was really buggy hardware-wise. yOu could no longer apply updates without rebooting (something we all disapprovingly looked down on at Windows). The software just didn't work anymore either, or at least it felt like it didn't.
I think a lot of this was tied to more and more embedding of Apple apps, just like Microsft did. That and gaining some sort of complacency because they were not the scrappy underdog.
I've been waiting for another Snow Leopard where Apple just says "no more 'features', just bug fixes and stability" (for iOS as well). bUt I think that's just a pipe dream at this point and the train of more is better had already left the station.
Impossible how? If anything, web/api dev has become way easier than it was 10 years ago.
I've been thinking quite a bit over the years that this isn't how raising a family should be. I remember growing up and when my dad got home, work was over. Fat chance now with sms, slack, email, etc - you're never off work anymore.
One one hand, I love tech and it's how our family survives. On the other hand, we're completely disconnected from our planet and appreciation of generations before. We are modern and life is fast paced, but for what reason?
I keep the discussions going in my head and let the glaring issue just kinda dissolve as we go thru another day. That issue is (for me) that this probably isn't how - as a society - we should be living nor should we be valuing the things we do. :-/
I found Rails during the 0.9 releases. Coming from the horrific world of Java web frameworks like Spring and Tapestry, it was a revelation to see how fun and productive web programming could be again.
When I saw things like 2.times, 1.day.ago, and ActiveRecord, I knew I was done with Java web development. This isn't a knock against Java per se, but I just spent so much time in the trenches having to do busywork and configuration that isn't necessary if authors of those frameworks put programmer productivity and enjoyment first.
Thank you DHH!
There's something to be said for those old machines. Basic was a good learning intro and assembly is still valid today. I remember Logo too.. I'm just chomping at the bit when my kids are old enough to dust off the C-64 and start diving in.
Another thing I'll add is people just standing around waiting for something - anything. For the light to turn green at a crosswalk. Waiting for a friend to get done using the restroom after a movie lets out. Waiting for coffee or food. Having a drink. Phones are everywhere, all the time. Nonstop.
The internet has provided a way for me to sustain my livelihood and I love it for that. The same way I love electricity and plumbing. But, I feel like this is just the beginning and there might be some day where no one will pay attention to anything around them. Only their devices.
http://www.amazon.com/Commodore-Company-Edge-Brian-Bagnall/d...
Yah, I don't necessarily disagree with their mindset. I've crossed a lot of spectrums, including chilling and rubbing shoulders with the rich to scraping by. I definitely do agree with a lot of the lofty 'moon shots' and some of these people have achieved remarkable things not just for themselves, but for society as well.
But, with Zuck, I just don't know. Gates got rich off operating systems and crushing opponents at all costs (a success story for capitalism). Zuck, from advertising and selling 'your' data. It's admirable that he's giving 99% away, but, I just don't get a warm fuzzy feeling about it.
Time will tell and I hope it turns out good.
I agree with all the points listed. Knowing your competition is a very big deal. And knowing how they market (even if it's not how you would) is very smart. There are various services out there that can help you with competitive analysis from competitors ads (What Runs Where) to backlinks (Ahrefs) to other seo aspects (Sem Rush). They're all not cheap for a reason, but usually provide a free test drive.
As for the App Store, you really need to look into ASO. Probably the majority (or a good chunk) of apps on the App Store do not do any sort of optimization or planning. Check out Sensor Tower or App Annie for more on this.
Content. This is a must. You can drive traffic to your site if you can be perceived as an authority. (Well, that, and you actually are into what you talk about - you have to be genuine in this regard.) Check out Brian Dean's Backlinko for tons of great strategies that you can use to boost your content marketing. Start blogging/posting and creating content your users will find interesting and will keep them coming back.
You're going to have to tie all this into social as well. The two biggies (of course) are FB and Twitter. G+ also probably won't hurt. You'll have to spend time engaging on this level if you want to drive users to your site.
Ads can work too, but are a little tougher since they will require money up front. But, despite what some people may say, you can drive traffic to your site for a few dollars a day. I have been doing this on google for a long time. Set your daily budget to $2/$3 and see what keywords perform. Tweak these and keep adjusting. It is not a ton of traffic, but once you can get cheap click throughs and then some conversions, then you can grasp how it all works and scale up. $10 a day. $25, etc. Mix all your ad copy too and see which of those performs best as well. I don't usually recommend ads because it's the hardest, but it can also be pretty fun too. YMMV.
Others have also mentioned influencers. My current company has done well with this, but it's a constant process. You don't just get one or two and it's all good. You have to keep pulling in new influencers who can keep the momentum going.
I saw a post earlier and just want to say whatever you do DO NOT DRIVE TRAFFIC FROM FIVERR. This is shit and Google knows. Amazon knows. They all know. Fiverr is ok for logos, voice overs, translation, things like that. But never buy likes or follows or tweets or traffic. It's all junk and will get you no where. I've tested it and Google has never bumped my sites up in rankings using crap traffic.
Lastly, you have to be serious and engaged. Marketing is not luck and it's not just set it and forget. It's dynamic and requires time. Face to face if need be. You need to be clever and resourceful on getting your message out there. It's been said in other posts, but quality traffic and attention (that converts) are the hardest parts to making a product & company successful. You will not figure this out overnight, but you need to stick with it. Measure everything.
Good luck!
When we first moved into our place last year, the internet was stable and worked well enough (I say well enough because the d/l speed would fluctuate pretty consistently at night). Sometimes there was a hiccup, but overall, it worked.
Then this summer hit. No warning, no reasons, nothing - internet no longer stayed stable. It was all over the place. Some nights, 2mb down. So, you have to spend the time to talk to tech people since it's late at night and the kids are asleep and you just don't feel like getting on the phone to battle.
Got the usual excuses that service was being upgraded in the street, the line looked fine to them, it must be something on our end (that one's always predictable). Annnd of course, a tech came out, twiddled and fiddled and discovered our signal was low. Weird that it just happened now and now when the second cable run was installed when we moved in.
Because my wife and I (sadly) work from home after hours, when you have no internet, you're screwed. We weren't watching tv anymore and when we did it was netflix or game of thrones or silicon valley - all watchable via hbo go. So, I switched to Sonic.net (the best isp in the bay area in my mind) and haven't looked back.
Sure, we're running over at&t fiber (sigh) and capped at 50 down/5 up (sigh), but it just works. We're not running 50 one day, 80 another, 10 another and we're paying about the same for internet as we were on Comcast.
I think there's a lot of room for devs that will stand for their users. My friend is actually releasing a pretty killer, no holds barred blocker (it's in the approval process):
Halcyon Blocker: http://www.halcyonblocker.com
He's the only one I've seen come forward saying he's 100% committed to privacy and his app does not download anything. He curates the lists himself (I've helped profiling some of his block rules).
I have a beta and it's fast, clean, and works. Can't wait for it to come out. He's pretty excited too.
I remember the first time I went to Japan in 2000. I was a little shocked how everyone seemed to be buried in their phones on the subways. Seemed a little weird, but after a while, I was like, meh, it's Japan.
Fast forward to 2015 and everyone has their face buried in their devices in the states. Walking. Driving (ugh). Bus. Stores. Subway. You name it. I do it too, of course, but not all the time. I still enjoy my walks around my city even if it's to re-appreciate the same things along the same route. There's something about disconnecting now; funny you have to even do this at all.
Books are a part of this. Not only the physical aspect, but words on a printed page that never change and always just are. It wasn't until recently that it dawned on me how important physical book authors are to society and culture. It's so easy to watch videos, movies, tv shows and nothing else. I love movies, but it's not the same thought process. I feel bad for people who are not encouraged to read more because they definitely do not know what they're missing.
To read a book...., that is a bicycle for the mind.
I don't get to read as much as I want to, but whenever I go on vacation (which doesn't happen much either :-\) I always being a few hard cover books. Yah, u lug them around, the additional weight sucks. But, having that book and picking out that chair or hammock, that's one of the best things ever.
What I think ultimately happens is Google is notified and these sites are eventually deindexed. But this still leads me to really question the whole duplicate content theory sometimes. If Google was so tight about this, these sites would never show up in the first place.
It could also be that the tech terms searched for are not as competitive as, say, medical or diet or celeb terms. Maybe Google's just grabbing at any kind of relevancy at this point, duplicate or not.
It was a bummer Solar Impulse wasn't able to do the non-stop pacific ocean leg, but still, it's pretty amazing. I'm surprised that this just hasn't picked up more news coverage. :( It's completely historic..
Exactly, so why give them any credence now?? You only give these people power if you do. That's great that's what Sam Altman thinks; he's "young", but ya know, when he's 50, then what? He'll probably say "oh, that's obviously not how I see things now". Or Zuck. He's ancient to a 19yr old and the only reason he doesn't care about this is because he's rich and runs Facebook.
I'm older than you and have been through enough startups and honestly I've dealt with ageism enough to the point that it doesn't even phase me anymore - I've moved past it. But this is because I've made it that way. If people don't want to work with me, np, there are plenty of other opportunities out there.
Sure, you might not get hired at the hot startup you just interviewed at. But honestly, if that's the case, who cares? Make your own way, your own rules and then you can decide to hire young or older people or not.
The people that are resourceful will always find a way. Sometimes this may mean on your own, sometimes with a group. But as long as you can keep learning and just 'do things', you will be light years ahead of those that don't know what to do and look to other people to tell them.
From Steve Jobs:
"Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use."
It's hard sometimes (a lot of the time??) to get over that bit where 'no one is smarter than you'. (I'm not as smart as a Google PhD, am I??..) Once you can and you chart your own course because you are resourceful and confident and someone who can do things, then you won't need to ask the question you asked. :)
Good Luck! (I'm still on this journey)
I ended up going back to my manual drip cone; I feel like you can't get any more stripped down than that.
My go to for all this stuff is Sweet Maria's: https://www.sweetmarias.com/brewinstr/brewing.inst.drip.php
1. Got back on my bike. I try to do about 40-60 mi a week. Of course, I am already seeing results after 4 weeks of doing this.
2. This was unexpected, but I started using Rise.us and got a great registered dietician. My wife's been using the app since last year and has lost 40lbs. It was interesting always seeing her taking pictures of food everywhere we were. At first I didn't really get it, but now, I'm doing the same thing. It's really good for me having someone who can help me make better decisions about what I'm eating. Lots of veggies, moderate portions of meat, little fats. It's working well for me.
3. Cut out booze. Having young kids and non-stop days with something always going on; it's very easy to have a few glassed of wine a night. Now I'll maybe have two glasses a week. This helps with just feeling better all together.
4. Stand & sit at work. I try to stand 1/2 the time at work.
5. Water. I'm pretty strict about having enough water throughout the day. For my brain to work, it needs to stay hydrated.
All in all, I'm happy with where I'm going. I'm down about 5 lbs from when I started 4 weeks ago (started at 193) and my goal is 180. Maybe 175. I can't just do it biking and eating crazy and I see my Rise coach being a huge part of this.
It's funny how that translated - for decades to come - into real movie usefulness. In reality, of course, it was ridiculously painful.
Man, I grew up with all their games. Such good memories..
I have real print magazines from 81-89 and you can always get all this stuff from archive.org (support!!).
Hayes modems. Compuserve! The 80's were so simple. Every computer back then was awesome and it was all about getting your hands on them and just trying stuff. Aka, hacking - before it was 'illegal'.
I'll never be able to impart on my kids what it was like pre-internet. (Btw, it was great!) But, like anything, you can bring these lessons forward and present them with some context that makes sense.
When I was young, this was all positive and all inspiring. I guess that was possible through the 6502. If someone could invent a time machine - what a magical time...
Hands down that ^^^^ is correct.
I've spent the last year doing a lot of what the OP has done, sans the link spamming. I've built sites, did white/gray/black hat link building, promoted cpa offers with media and traffic buys, and even offers via kindle books.
What might not be clear to everyone here is that this is still going on and there is still a huge market for this thing and thusly, quite a few people making a lot of money.
I have spent a long time building software. All kinds of it - client, server, web, mobile, now watch. I'm good at this and it's second nature. I've also made a lot more money doing this vs. any type of IM or AM.
However, after getting into IM last year, part of me felt like I missed a whole part of the web 'growing up' because I was focused on spending huge amounts of time building building the tools & platforms vs. using them. Part of this was my disdain for advertising and marketing in general. However, in the last year I have developed a new found respect for those aspects of business - they are required nowadays and you can't avoid them. The few get lucky sites or app builders are just that - lucky. For the rest of us, it's marketing hard work.
I actually didn't do that bad during my foray into this last year. I probably made back 75% of my spend, which was 'only' about $5k. The easiest was bing ads -> clickbank offers. I'm still amazed that tinnitus or diabetes are still big sellers...
I feel like we programmers tend to look down on this or feel it's beneath us. I used to but I don't anymore. I posted before on HN how I thought Pat Flynn was doing a great job and got comments that what I was talking about was spam, not sustainable, etc. But Path's now up to about $1m/yr by becoming his own brand. He engages with his audience and has figured out how to bring a lot of these different types of marketing and educational aspects together.
Another great one is Brian Dean - his posts on driving traffic and capturing audience are amazing. He's definitely a hacker seo guy and I like that.
So, to each his own, but this was a great read.