Category: Uncategorized Page 24 of 30

My Attention So Far

On April 5, 2014

In the recent past I blogged about my trials and tribulations with my experiences with ADHD working at Automattic. I figured it was time to give a follow up on how things are going!

Back in October last year I started on a medication called Vyvanse to help me cope with the problems that ADHD had been presenting. My ultimate goal with the medication trial was to keep it just that – a trial. I’ve lived with the spastic brain patterns all my life and I just wanted a few months of clarity so I knew what to work towards. Late February, I decided to take myself off the medication.

The first thing I realized when I was on Vyvanse is that my eating patterns got all screwed up. I started losing weight which I felt was a great side-effect since I was almost at my heaviest ever prior to starting the medication. It gave me the jump start I needed to drop the weight. I also stopped a different medication before starting Vyvanse that may have caused an interaction – one that helped alleviate Cluster Headaches (a whole other set of posts for this). Turns out that medication in itself caused the weight to pile on and made it very difficult to lose it.

Immediately after stopping the medication for ADHD I discovered I was somewhat back where I was last summer. Scatter-brained, overwhelmed with the communication from coworkers, and unable to focus on long-term goals. I had to force myself to use the tools my counselor encouraged me to develop while I was on the medication:

Centering yourself
Exercise to reset your day (yoga, aerobics, a quick walk)
Elimination of distractions
Listening to your own mind

and one of the ones I recently rediscovered myself:

Writing stuff down in a paper notebook makes me remember it later

Exercise has been a big part of my success, I believe. Three to four days a week I will do some aerobic exercise which usually ends up being step aerobics. It’s simple enough to do at home and it is a great workout. I set up a workout area in my basement so that I can leave the equipment up and it gives me the locale change I need. I also track calories with MyFitnessPal, movement with the Nike+ FuelBand SE and RunKeeper for the social aspect. I have a Withings Scale to help with tracking weight and it syncs across all of the apps to help with calorie burn calculations. Good stuff. I’m down 30lb from my heaviest last summer!

So how’s it going? Well, actually. After a month of the difficulty of readjusting myself to being off the medication I re-discovered one of the things about my personality I missed – my random thoughts and internal tangents. I think that’s one of the reasons I didn’t feel just right – I missed seeing the weird things, the small things, the things people easily pass by. I’m embracing my ADHD and I’m learning how to control it so I can use it as an advantage.

Software I Use Every Day

By Aaron Douglas

On April 4, 2014

In Uncategorized

In the spirit of yesterday’s post, I’m going to list out what I use every day in terms of software. This isn’t exhaustive but it’s pretty darn close.

General Utilities

1Password – Probably the best password manager out there combined with mobile apps
Cloudup – quick way to share images, videos, text (ask me for a referral code)
Coffitivity – coffeehouse sounds to help boost productivity
Cyberduck – SFTP client
DaisyDisk – finding where all my space has gone
Dropbox
Evernote – where I keep my larger notes, graphics, PDF files
Parallels Desktop – for the occasional booting of old Mac OS & Windows VMs
Radium – menu bar radio streaming
Rdio – monthly subscription-based song streaming
RescueTime – track my app usage to determine if I’m distracted
Simplenote – for my quick note taking needs
Skype – sadly yes
Slack – communication for our team – web socket-based system like HipChat but better

Graphics

Adobe Photoshop CC – go-to app for image editing
Aperture (more for personal use)
Balsamiq Mockups – easy mockups
Bartender – organize your menu bar extras area
Camtasia 2 – screen casts
Color Picker
Join.me – easy screen sharing – I use it more for helping people fix computer problems remotely
Pixelmator
SnagIt

Development – General

Base – for digging around SQLite files; especially handy debugging Core Data
Charles – proxying application for testing remote calls
HockeyApp – binary distribution for testing
Kaleidoscope – arguably the most beautiful diff tool – ignore whitespace is still not a feature 🙁
PHPStorm – for when I have to get into WordPress and WordPress.com API coding
TextMate – Still my favorite text editor
Textual – Mac IRC client

Development – iOS

AppCode – alternative IDE for Objective-C – I switch between Xcode and here for specific reasons (future post?)
iExplorer – could not live without the ability to dig around device filesystems
PaintCode – easiest way to get Core Graphics code from images or hand-drawn UI elements
Reflector – transmit your iOS device screen to your computer for recording
Spark Inspector – interactively debug your UIView layers & NSNotificationCenter calls
Xcode
xScope – helpful UI tools for your Mac

Development – Android

Android Studio
Genymotion – Android VM manager – lurv

I’ve moved my blog over to WordPress.com from my self-hosted server. I had to change the domain name to http://astralbodi.es because my old WordPress site had a funky permalink structure to match how my post links were with Octopress. So, for now, astralbodies.net will redirect to astralbodi.es and maintain any links over to the posts. Please let me know if you see any weird glitches, missing text, etc.

By Aaron Douglas

On April 4, 2014

In Uncategorized

My Desk Setup

By Aaron Douglas

On April 3, 2014

In Uncategorized

I always like seeing people’s desk setups so I figured I would post mine. I didn’t pretty everything up for the photo.

UpDesk v1
Retina MacBook Pro 15″ + Thunderbolt Display
iPad Air, iPod touch 5th gen, iPhone 4 + personal iPhone 5s taking the photo
Wired Apple keyboard (I like the number keypad)
Magic Mouse
Creative GigaWorks T20 speakers
Vornado “Zippi” Fan
Griffin Elevator stand
Some crappy corner monitor stand from Amazon
The trippy light fixture is to help me with my attention span – it does help! – Homedics Mood Wave

[Edit] A few additional items from conversations on Twitter and alike:

Sun Drop soda – a swell caffeine supplement much akin to Mountain Dew
M2 & P2 iDevice stands by Elago
Pencil by 53 – stylus for Paper app

Xcode Presentation Mode

By Aaron Douglas

On April 2, 2014

In Uncategorized

Giving a presentation with Xcode on screen? Don’t forget about Presentation mode in Fonts & Colors!

It doesn’t help with the text size in the navigator but at least everyone will see your code nice and clear!

Nerdy Fitness

By Aaron Douglas

On March 19, 2014

In Uncategorized

Nerds are notorious for being the most disinterested in staying fit – well at least our stereotype. I’ve definitely yo-yoed in weight over the years, being at my best weight about three years ago. Job and other life changes got me distracted and I ended up 40lb heavier in a relatively short amount of time.

When I started working at home, I decided change was in order to make me a bit more aware of myself. I ended up getting a standing desk and a really great Herman Miller chair as part of my office setup when I started at Automattic. Standing throughout the day, and sitting at strategic points of fatigue and after exercise, has made a significant difference in my attention levels and I believe my overall health.

I also exercise at home fairly often. I bought a stepper platform from Amazon – the ones used in gyms/clubs – and I do mostly step aerobics over my “lunch” time. I shoot for 3 times a week and four if I’m feeling frisky. Since coming off my ADD meds I find that exercise realigns my focus for the day. I also put yoga into my routine although my goal at the moment is to drop weight so that yoga is easier. 😀

I’m definitely into metrics being a geek. I wear a Nike Fuelband SE to track general movements, use a Withings WiFi scale to record weight daily, and record calories using MyFitnessPal. I’m not looking for a highly accurate measure out of any of these devices but they do provide the barometer reading of my activity levels, general level of success, and help with planning the next step. Since Fall 2013 I’ve been able to drop 30lb!

I’m seriously looking forward to spring/summer so that my partner and I can get out with our bicycles!

CocoaConf Chicago – Advanced Core Data

By Aaron Douglas

On March 8, 2014

In Uncategorized

I was lucky enough to be able to speak at CocoaConf Chicago 2014 about some more advanced Core Data topics. The bulk of the talk surrounded concurrency and data model migrations but I did touch on a number of other things. Sadly the session wasn’t recorded, but I am considering recording a screencast if there is enough interest.

[slideshare id=32054049&doc=advancedcoredata-140307170729-phpapp01]

Working at Automattic

By Aaron Douglas

On February 11, 2014

In Uncategorized

Some people have asked me what it’s like working for Automattic. Every employee of Automattic has a different perspective on what it means to work here. Here are a few things I feel are important to me.

Work Wherever, Whenever

Automattic is a completely distributed company. We have a headquarters in San Francisco, CA USA but only a small percentage of us work out that office. Most of us work from home, some of us work on the road, others work from a coworking space. Sometimes it’s nice being able to change your location once in a while – I pretty much like working from my home office. I like working a regular day, usually 7am – 4pm my local time and I fit some sort of exercise routine in there half way through. We have flexibility to make our own hours and take the time off we need to. We’re adults and we’re treated as such.

Equipment for your Job

First thing asked of any employee starting is to order their computer. You’re allowed to order the equipment you need for your job – usually a Mac laptop and a large display. You’re also given a budget amount for your home office furniture – desk, chair, lighting, monitor arms, etc. I got a really nice standing desk from UpDesk and a Herman Miller Aeron chair. I love standing during the day!

Your Team

Everyone at Automattic is on a primary team, sometimes on a secondary one as well. We work virtually using IRC, Skype, and private blogs to communicate. Sometimes we even do a Google Hangout when we want to see face to face:

The Automattic Mobile team Hangout this past week

One every 3-4 months you meet up with your team in real life. In January our team met up in Tokyo, Japan. We spent seven days coworking and having fun at night. It’s a team-building exercise as well as a chance to get some high-velocity work accomplished. It’s a great way to recharge your team dynamic and to meet the new people! Once a year Automattic hosts a Grand Meetup when we all converge in a single place. We like to create special teams for the GM and either ship new real features within that week or do code training teams. It’s a great way to meet people outside of your normal team and fun to boot!

Culture

It takes the right person to work at Automattic. You have to be a self-starter and have the ability to stay focused on your work. I’ve discovered more about myself than I thought I would almost immediately and working here has made me a better person. Every position, regardless of it being technical or not, goes through a multistep process for hiring. Matt Mullenweg, the founder and CEO, reviews every application submitted to Automattic. If an application passes his muster, it’s forwarded onto the team or teams responsible for hiring. The hiring lead reviews the application and scheduled a text-based Skype chat to see if they’d be a good fit for the position and company. One or more people from the destination team may be involved, too. If that goes well, the applicant is directed to complete a pre-trial project. This small unit of work will show the applicant’s domain knowledge and ability to communicate. After the pretrial work, if the team agrees to move forward, the applicant enters into a trial period. You are paid to work on a part time basis with your team on a real piece of work. This is your chance to integrate with Automattic and immerse yourself in the culture. Take it all in – the process is a trial for Automattic to hire you and also a trial to see if you’re going to like working here. If the trial is a success for both sides, then Matt makes the final call on hiring.

It’s not the fastest hiring process, but it’s definitely the most straightforward and transparent hiring process I’ve ever been involved in. It takes about a year, so I’m told, to get a real grasp on all of the moving parts at Automattic. I’m still learning every day and continue to work on how I want to accomplish my work every day. It’s a lot of fun and rewarding!

We’re Hiring!

We’re always looking for more people to join Automattic. Take a look at the open positions and apply if you see something you’re interested in!

Fix ScanSnap on Mac not opening Evernote properly

By Aaron Douglas

On December 27, 2013

In Uncategorized

Do you have a ScanSnap scanner on your Mac and scan things to Evernote? You notice that if you have Evernote running, ScanSnap can’t launch Evernote properly? You might get an error message like the following:

Failed to start up Evernote for Mac.
Make sure that the selected application is installed correctly.

Turns out Evernote is broken. EvernoteHelper.app is an embedded application that runs while Evernote is running (or while it’s in the background) and if you’re set to English, its name is the same as the main Evernote application. Technically, the CFBundleName is being overridden in the InfoPlist.strings file. You can verify this by running /Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor.app and seeing:

How do you fix this? Well, Evernote should really fix it. In fact, I’ve opened a support request with them. But until then, you can follow these steps to modify the bundle name by hand. Follow these directions at your own risk.

Open Terminal.app in /Applications/Utilities.

Type the following command and hit enter:

curl -o /Applications/Evernote.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/EvernoteHelper.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/InfoPlist.strings https://i.cloudup.com/ovQskXFl1h.strings

Type the following command and hit enter:
```
killall EvernoteHelper
```
Restart Evernote and try scanning!

Please note that this fix will most likely break every time Evernote is updated. Like I mentioned I submitted a support request to their team to see if it can get fixed permanently. This was attempted with the stand-alone download of Evernote, not the version available in the Mac App Store (it may work with the App Store version too).

Updated 2014/01/02 – The team handling support at Evernote has acknowledged receipt of the problem and is forwarding it to the product team for review.

Cable companies: Please, take my money!

By Aaron Douglas

On December 24, 2013

In Uncategorized

I cut the cord two years ago from cable TV but am interested in using apps for the iPad and Roku to watch live cable TV. I called Time Warner Cable today to ask them if they offered a cable TV package that wouldn’t require a physical installation. TL;DR – using the TWC TV apps (iPad, Android tablet, Roku) requires a physical install.

My Situation

Most of the summer (April – October) I’m not home on the weekends as we have a seasonal spot at a campground about 3 hours away from home. We ended up cutting cable two years ago and don’t really miss it for what we used of it. At one time I ran a MythTV server with two tuner cards, and it worked well. I have since moved to two dual-tuner HDHomeRun units with Elgato’s EyeTV running on a Mac mini. It works well enough and it allows me to stream and download any recorded content to my iPad/iPhone. I can even watch live remotely and not pay anything extra.

There are a couple cable shows that I pay for per-episode on iTunes since cutting the cord. I’m happy to do so as they are high quality recordings that don’t get permanently erased when the shit cable DVR craps out. Some cable channels stream their content on their site for free with ads included – some are even at HD quality. There are a couple channels that I really want to watch, but I can’t without an active cable subscription – CNN being one of these.

I recently moved into a new house and it was not wired for cable TV. I use ethernet and WiFi to pull content from the networked tuners, so it didn’t matter. The less infrastructure, the better in my opinion. I do not want cable lines strewn through my house or outside along the siding because the installers can’t take the time to fish cable properly. No thanks.

What I Want

I want a subscription to cable TV that is solely supported by two things:

All of their apps (iOS, Android, smart TVs, and Roku)
Third-party sites requiring cable subscriptions

Zero infrastructure in my house is a requirement – I already pay for broadband Internet from the cable company. There is a cable line in my house, terminated at the modem in the basement. I shouldn’t need anything else.

I want to be able to watch shows live – on demand would be great – through the devices I already own. I want to be able to log into websites and watch their content which should be offered to the public anyway supported by ads.

Why Cable Companies Won’t Do It

Well, at least why they won’t do it soon.

Cable companies have invested a LOT in their television signal processing and distribution technologies. They’ve made the move in the past five years to going to a switched (IP-based) network to allow them to grow outside the constraints of electromagnetic spectrum limitations of cable line medium. They also have a lot of people working for them to support the networks including sales staff, engineers, technicians and all the associated management around that.

There are also several legal limitations to take into account. Local municipalities and States levy heavy tariffs [examples] against cable companies that are passed onto the consumer. Internet service is typically not covered by this – only sales tax. TV not limited to a physical location gets tricky when taxation is involved.

This move means their primary bread & butter will be broadband Internet. More people are ditching cable TV and keeping their broadband Internet. Internet access is now a utility and is as difficult to live without at home as it would be without gas or water. Requiring people to have broadband Internet service keeps a good portion of that cable network support staff employed.

The Sad Reality

Finding content that you want to watch can be really difficult. Studios and distribution companies have made it way too complicated (if not impossible) to legally purchase or view some shows. Sadly, people are still going to turn to BitTorrent to find the shows they want to watch. It’s lost revenue for advertisers, cable companies, and software developers for cable companies not to support this new model of accessing TV.

Cable companies need to adapt and quickly. We’re only going to say “TAKE MY MONEY!!” for so long before we move on!