111–120 of 459 posts
1. I was coding in public. (Lesson: Be transparent)
2. I was working in a language that was starting to vanish which meant that there were fewer people writing about it like me. (Lesson: Find a niche)
My blog is a lot of personal updates, technical things I'm learning/wanting to teach, and updates on my projects.
It helps me realize that even one post a month is enough to keep track of something.
My blog isn't very popular mainly b/c I don't market it anywhere, it's mostly used to reference things I've done in the past and quickly find information.
Last year, I started working on a project called BoardSearch (https://boardsearch.io) and right around that time my interest in mechanical keyboards was at a peak so it helped me share thoughts about building the website and also about keyboards I was interested in. This led to getting a bunch of organic search visits and now I'm doing 500-1000 views without any new content about keyboards most of the time.
Plus having my own domains (at pair.com) gives me much more control over my email, without having to manage my own smtp server.
I've worked in 4 companies over the last 20 years - two of those begun as a recruiter finding me on LinkedIn.
Part of making sure I am "findable" for the right opportunities is refining how I describe myself and the work that I do. That has naturally translated into a better resume and ability to talk about my work well in interviews and elsewhere.
This blog post on my personal blog did have a wider effect: https://blog.jgc.org/2009/06/alan-turing-deserves-apology-fr...
Three months later: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/sep/11/pm-apology-to-...
This blog post on my personal blog did have a wider effect: https://blog.jgc.org/2009/06/alan-turing-deserves-apology-fr...
In reality, I like writing, and I often go back and read what I've written, either to see how my views have changed, or to reference previous (technical) work. Putting it on the web is mostly a way to make it accessible from anywhere, but also makes me put a tiny bit more effort into it, since it is public. I do find it to be a continuing source of fun, though!
A side effect is that I occasionally see folks run across particular pieces and use them in their own work, which is always satisfying.
It's never led to any job-related benefits, and may even be a liability, since my site is purely personal adventures...I stay away from work topics.