Marketing Haikus
Just a list of haikus, mostly written when I was working (and being bored out of my wits) in marketing. Making fun as a tool to push through.
Read this essay →Finally learning a new language
For years, people around me have been telling me to learn new programming languages—that I shouldn’t corner myself with Ruby (and Rails). And for years, I couldn’t muster the mental energy to do it.
Read this essay →Domain complexity vs applicative complexity
For years, code would fall into two categories: easy (good!) and hard (bad!). Recently, I've realized that not every piece of _hard_ code is created equal. Complex code often encompasses two kinds of complexity: domain complexity and applicative complexity. And I often failed to identify which is which.
Read this essay →Algorithms are fun... I guess?
Something happened to me last week I didn't expect: I enjoyed working my way through algorithms. You may find me overly dramatic, but remember, I'm from the art world. Algorithm is a fancy term to describe the act of painting rectangles of colour in a specific pattern.
Read this essay →How to write better specifications for your features
For years, I've worked without thinking much about feature specifications. Many teams endure empty Trello cards, neglected Jira tickets, and misaligned communication. So today, I want to share how to write better specifications for your features.
Read this essay →The never-ending days of DEI's importance
A few weeks back, the creator of Ruby on Rails wrote a pamphlet rejoicing on - what appears to him as - the waning days of DEI's dominance. This rebuttal talks about how diversity, equity, and inclusion were, are, and will always be essential to workers.
Read this essay →Building large features: my process for branches, requests and reviews
Working on large features can be tricky. I've spent the last few months refining a process that makes it easy to keep in touch with the main branch, to make reviews more manageable, and with little GIT overhead.
Read this essay →How to wrap your head around a new codebase
For the last eighteen months, I've spent my time trying to understand bits of code I'd never seen before. Eighteen months later, I still don't know every corner of the codebase, but what I do know, is how to get efficiently familiar with new parts of a codebase.
Read this essay →How not to live stream your code
This week, I did my first live stream on Twitch and it didn't turn out so well (to say the least). Here's a recap of my rookie mistakes, what I liked about it anyway, and what I'm planning on doing.
Read this essay →Keep your finger on the pulse with RSS
Social media turned our lively corners of the web into glum ones. Let's breath life back into them with fresh signals.
Read this essay →Debugging PGError: ERROR: column of relation already exists
How do you fix a corrupted database's schema? Here's a hands-on tutorial on restoring your local database.
Read this essay →WTF is time complexity? 🤔
People who learn web development through coding bootcamp aren't (usually) familiar with time complexity. They might have read the words, but that's it. I know I tried to look up the Wikipedia page only to fall asleep at the end of the first paragraph. When I finally woke up, I thought "Nevermind, I'll never have to deal with it anyway". And boy, was I wrong.
Read this essay →Life After Bootcamp: Always Be Shipping
Last week was the 9th and final week of my Ruby on Rails Bootcamp at Le Wagon Paris. My buddies and I showed to the public what could be shipped in two weeks. A lot of great projects stood out that night. But now, it’s Monday morning. The excitement has worn off over the weekend, the many naps and the odd drinks. What shall I do?
Read this essay →How to set-up a lead generation strategy for small businesses: do’s 👍 and don’ts 👎
You’re building a product that can be used on the Internet? Good for you! But then, the thought of finding customers start to creep in. Should you talk about it now? Later? Should build a marketing war machine? Should you play it safe? After a few years of generating demand for companies, here is the gist of what I believe to be the best bet.
Read this essay →How to make Open Data sexy: 10 lessons learned while building opendatainception.io
In June 2015, Nicolas Terpolilli and I were ranting about the difficulty to locate Open Data portals. Poor SEO seemed to result in poor rankings. Existing listings were either outdated or partisan. We started joking around with the idea of building a truly comprehensive resource. A resource that would gather every single Open Data portal we could lay our hands on.
Read this essay →What is an API?
Wrapping your head around APIs can be challenging for non-technical users. What’s an API? What can be share through an API? Data? Services? How does one design an API?How do you code an API?
Read this essay →Recruiting Your Next Marketing Talents? Give ’em a Technical Test
Over the past years, I’ve been invited to several interviews for marketing positions. Yet, I’ve not been asked a single time to do a marketing technical test. And you know what, this sucks!
Read this essay →