51–60 of 104 posts
I've been doing this as well. Does anyone have advice on pens? This is what I'm currently using and I really like them: http://amzn.com/B0027AEKJ8 they come in a 4 pack of different thicknesses, and are only $12 at Staples. I'm sure there's better however!
As long as we're on this subject, I'd like to strongly encourage programmers to adopt a "pen-and-paper" approach to problem solving. Just like mentionned in the article, there are great benefits coming from actually writing down the problem. For the past year or so, every time I worked on a non-trivial problem, I did it on a sheet of paper. It definitely took discipline at first but now I couldn't do it any other way…
> "One second of CPU time per day" got me thinking. Sure there are benefits to having modernly cheap computers, but how did they do it before? By this argument, do you also pay your bills manually by check at the end of each month? And book all your air travel by calling a travel agent? There's nothing wrong with trying these things to see what advantage they have, but advocating the old ways of doing things purely b…
The appropriate question is whether or not the move to computers has improved things. Not every step forward technology-wise is an improvement. Some things need to be walked back.
For example, as a Physicist by training, most of the math I had to do was far more easily worked out by hand than fiddling around with a computer to do it.
When you're thinking through a problem pencil and paper are often a better medium than computers. Conversely where once I would have drafted letters and articles by hand, it's way faster nowadays to type into a word processor or tool like Evernote and keep coming back to improve something.
I still pay some bills by check as it fits the specific case better. But some online bill payment, or travel booking is better done online, as you correctly suggest.
...that being said, I wish I could call a travel agent and get it all booked nowadays, but they've been put out of business by book-it-yourself websites. Before these sites you may have been calling a travel agent but they were using a computer too so it's not so much the move to computation that's changed this last 10-20 years but disintermediation of the middle man. However those middle-men actually provided value that I'm only realizing now I'm older and would rather pay a little premium for the convenience of not wading through a gazillion different sites to get the right bookings and prices for a complex itinerary.
New way is always the best way seems more like religion than science to me.
I would disagree about the author's advice to use page numbers and table of contents, though; these add overhead, and for me the main advantage is ease-of-use, including close to zero extra work when writing something down. (Dates are useful, I admit.)
I keep a paper coding notebook of anything I might possibly refer back to ever -- things like basic how-to's on using new technologies, or diagrams of how I'm structuring my code.
I also use a simple open source work journal (nicknamed wj) that helps me make sure I'm on track in the scope of days and weeks. My plan is to end up with one or two sheets of paper that summarize what I did throughout a year - this is a great personal motivator to make sure I'm doing work that a future-me will be happy with. http://tylerneylon.com/a/wj/
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"If the notebook is bound (can't add or remove pages), with pre-numbered pages (proves no pages added or removed)..." Does anyone know of a good place to get an inexpensive (and leatherless) one of these? I would say any notebook would work, but I haven't ran on to many with numbered pages.
The National Brand Computation Notebook is popular. $12 from Amazon. I have used them for years.
As long as we're on this subject, I'd like to strongly encourage programmers to adopt a "pen-and-paper" approach to problem solving. Just like mentionned in the article, there are great benefits coming from actually writing down the problem. For the past year or so, every time I worked on a non-trivial problem, I did it on a sheet of paper. It definitely took discipline at first but now I couldn't do it any other way…
After switching to a Model M keyboard a few years ago (one that I found in a shed covered in 10yrs of dirt and grease that still worked like new once it was cleaned up), I switched to writing conference call notes on a Mead notebook instead of typing them, because the keyboard was so loud. After a few weeks of this, my handwriting got back to a decent quality and efficiency and now I find that I take notes on paper f…
I am sometimes ridiculed for such low technology though which I find rather strange. I think there are some serious cultural identity problems at the moment.
As long as we're on this subject, I'd like to strongly encourage programmers to adopt a "pen-and-paper" approach to problem solving. Just like mentionned in the article, there are great benefits coming from actually writing down the problem. For the past year or so, every time I worked on a non-trivial problem, I did it on a sheet of paper. It definitely took discipline at first but now I couldn't do it any other way…
I strongly encourage the "write it down" method of problem solving, aka the Feynman Algorithm. Making a text record is often a good idea, for remembering information as well as solving problems. I disagree with using paper and a pen. Why spend time drawing these letters out when we can just type them? Is it just a strategy to force yourself to slow down and think about what you're writing? There's nothing magical abo…
And I get an automatic, permanent record that I can review anywhere or when without having to print it out.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"If the notebook is bound (can't add or remove pages), with pre-numbered pages (proves no pages added or removed)..." Does anyone know of a good place to get an inexpensive (and leatherless) one of these? I would say any notebook would work, but I haven't ran on to many with numbered pages.
The National Brand Computation Notebook is popular. $12 from Amazon. I have used them for years.
I've been after a decent notebook for about 10 years but all you can get here is crap.
Paper and pen(cil) notes are the ultimate in low-overhead for a temporary close-to-mind data store. I would disagree about the author's advice to use page numbers and table of contents, though; these add overhead, and for me the main advantage is ease-of-use, including close to zero extra work when writing something down. (Dates are useful, I admit.) I keep a paper coding notebook of anything I might possibly refer b…
http://lifehacker.com/281626/jerry-seinfelds-productivity-se...
I used to like putting stickers on a calendar as a kid for this sort of thing, and I wanted to do that on the phone but found that most electronic calendars aren't so good for that. So I developed an app to let me do that. http://www.ooghamist.com/shinycal/
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The National Brand Computation Notebook is popular. $12 from Amazon. I have used them for years.
Thanks for the tip - nice notebook - I wish I could get a nice hard cover book WITH numbered pages.