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General

2nd January 2023 by Ben Barden

Review of 2022

2022 felt like things getting back to normal: food, walks, trips to the office, though still plenty of working from home (a good thing).

Highlights, not all pictured:

  • getting the flat decorated: this started in 2021 and was finished in March. Also got a new sofa and put up some artwork.
  • learning to drive: not finished yet, but I passed my theory test and will continue having lessons for a while yet.
  • releasing more music: though I took a bit of a break in the second half of the year, I’ve been working on some new tracks over Christmas. More soon!
  • changing roles/teams at work: I needed a change, and it’s going good so far. Also glad to still be in the company.
  • gaming: I got a PS5 in January and have played a lot of games this year. Maybe too many!
  • starting a product blog: aka quickproduct.tips – it’s early days but I’m hoping to keep up a rhythm of posting ideally weekly, if not every couple of weeks. Better than nothing, right?

Next year I have some aspirations (I dare not call them resolutions) but I’ll post most when things happen. Setting resolutions and posting them online can be motivational, but I find it stressful. I’ve got a few things planned though.

Reposted from instagram

Filed Under: General

29th October 2021 by Ben Barden

On encouraging others

From my very first full-time job, I’ve always noticed ways that software, processes, and documentation could be improved.

Obtuse software design and jargon-filled descriptions are things I find frustrating.

However, early in my career I often shared my thoughts in a negative light. Because I was highly critical, I was labelled a moaner, and sometimes ignored.

My comments could have been phrased more positively, but the ideas were there.

Over the years, I’ve learned that phrasing is important – but also that you’ve got to pick your battles. Some changes will be more valuable than others.

Social media sites such as LinkedIn are full of people with lots of great ideas. Lots of suggestions for how to improve. But many posts focus on YOU, more than anyone else.

There will always be fresh faces joining the workforce. People who haven’t yet figured out which ideas are worth fighting for. People who don’t know how to phrase things in a way that will convince other people that they have merit.

We can help to get those ideas heard, by listening and asking why they matter to the person. We can back those people, help them to pitch their ideas, and – most importantly – ensure they are credited for them if they are taken forward.

A simple acknowledgement, or a “great idea!”, or a thumbs up emoji is a good start.

The more we encourage people to share their ideas, the more they’ll do it.

I could’ve done with more encouragement when I was younger. Luckily I did find enough people who looked out for me, but I had to push past a great deal of resistance.

Don’t be someone who holds others back.

Filed Under: General

20th September 2021 by Ben Barden

New Twig-based theme, now with added Bootstrap 5.1

After an unsuccessful attempt to update the theme on my blog last night, I’ve had a second attempt. This one works better. As always, there are things still to be tweaked – but it’s a start.

To catch you up on yesterday’s post, I’ve installed Timber, a handy plugin that allows you to build Twig-based themes in WordPress. I’ve modified the starter theme and added Bootstrap 5.1, which makes it a lot easier to do a sidebar and will help with future edits.

Here’s a screenshot of how things look at the moment.

It looks ok. It might look better when I tweak things a bit more.

The code is on Github if you’re interested to have a look.

Filed Under: General

19th September 2021 by Ben Barden

A small blog refresh

I’ve been thinking whether to move to a different blogging platform, roll my own, use static files, or simply change the theme.

This is far from the first time I’ve come to this point. Years ago I wrote my own CMS. Prior to that I used static HTML. I’ve also used lots of different platforms. In short, while the tech behind the blog is important to a point, I feel it’s secondary to the posts. I don’t want to focus too heavily on the tech and lose sight of the content.

For the time being, I’m sticking with WordPress and taking Timber for a spin. Timber allows you to create Twig-based themes and abstract the WordPress-y bits out of the templates. I use PHP for Switch Scores, but it’s a different world when you use Twig for templating, and Laravel for the framework. I’ve never really wanted to build a WordPress theme, as it feels like the “old days” of templating, with a mixture of PHP, HTML, and arbitrary WordPress functions all over the place.

My blog theme isn’t the smartest – it’s a poor imitation of the previous WordPress theme I was using – but something I’d always wanted to do was displaying lozenges, or “badges” (a la Bootstrap) for the categories on each post. Voila!

It’s got a bunch of things I need to fix (maybe don’t look at it on mobile), but it’s a start, and hopefully gives me a nudge to start posting content again.

Edit: Famous last words – I’ve temporarily reverted to the previous theme as it looks like there are a few things to fix.

Filed Under: General

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