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SiteGround →

Hosting for a better web

At SiteGround, we believe in supporting open and independent publishing online and offline. We specialise in web hosting for open-source applications that let you keep control over your content, get crafty with your design, and move freely between platforms. Offscreen readers enjoy up to 50% off!

Apps

Annotate →

Capture and share what's on your screen

Older Mac users will remember Skitch, a simple screenshot annotation tool. I used it every single day until it was acquired and became a bland part of a bloated product suite. Annotate gets that ‘old skitch’ feeling just right. Take screenshots, draw arrows at things, upload. Job done.

Bear →

Beautiful note-taking for Mac and iOS

I had been using Apple Notes for all my freeform writing so I could work on ideas on either my phone or laptop. When it was time to polish, I would move up to a real text editor. Bear sits in a sweet-spot where it’s just as easy to get started as with Notes, but it has good formatting and file organisation so I can do everything within the one app.

Rainy Mood →

Relaxing sounds

My go-to app when I need a little bit of calm. I use the website on my computer and the app on my phone. Helps me sleep on planes and get through anxious moments.

Gear

X-Bows →

Compact ergonomic keyboard

The past few years I’ve been stuck in the middle on keyboards. Love the feel of mechanical keys and old style Microsoft Natural keyboards but not a fan of the full split super techie ergo keyboards on the market. X-Bows will hopefully hit the sweet-spot for me: mechanical and ergonomic but still essentially a regular keyboard.

Signal →

Flexible, industrial desk lamp

I’ve been reading Offscreen since issue 1. I know ‘proper’ web folks go in for the expensive lamps. If I was going to drop big money on a lamp, this would be the one. It’s beautiful and I believe it would shine light out of it as per requirements.

Fostex TH-X00 Ebony →

The rebirth of classic headphones

The Denon AH-D* series of headphones were absolute classics with polished hardwood cups that looked and sounded perfect. They were discontinued years ago, but Fostex (the original manufacturers) brought them back. Too late for me as I had to replace my stolen pair with second-hand ones.

Perusal

Read →

Hard and Soft Skills in Tech

As tech has been coming to terms with the human consequences of both being in our industry and the output of it, the importance of ‘soft skills’ in engineering has come to the fore. This article makes a great case for integrating those skills in a way that I think is respectful to (and hopefully effective) with those in the industry who aren’t comfortable having their definition of engineering challenged.

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Culture is the Behavior You Reward and Punish

What does it take to get ahead in your organisation? The advice you’d give to a junior staffer on the way up is a truer statement of values than anything hung on the office wall. If you are trying to make a change in a company culture, this is the best way to gut check if you’re making a dent in it or not – have you changed how people are rewarded.

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“Irony Doesn’t Scale”

This essay on what Paul Ford has learned about leadership is a personal favourite. There’s lot of useful bits in there, but the important part for me is about needing to be less open as a leader. Learning to live in the fishbowl a leadership role can be tough, but necessary to make a safer space for the team you’re leading.

Quote

50% of computer programming is trial and error, the other 50% is copy and paste.

– Pawan Sharma