2016 In Review
January 6, 2017
2016
In continuation of last year’s post, I present my year in review.
Open Source Projects Published
- go-json-rest-middleware-formjson - This package provides a Go-Json-Rest middleware useful for converting request data with the content type “application/x-www-form-urlencoded” to “application/json”
Open Source Projects Contributed to
Start-ups still standing
Cool start-up checkboxes checked
- Selected as one of 5 companies to participate in Techstar’s Startup Next 2016 Austin program. Great experience and connections, can’t say enough good things about the program or the organization.
New side projects in the works
- DoorMatX - Very excited to be collaborating with Daniel Johnston on getting his iconic “Hi How Are You” artwork onto doormats all over the world.
Favorite books read
Full list of books read here.
- American Gods (American Gods, #1) by Gaiman, Neil - Unique tale intertwined with powerful critique on our changing culture of worship.
- Book of Numbers: A Novel by Cohen, Joshua - Postmodern fiction, but more accessible than David Foster Wallace, especially with the focus on Silicon Valley Culture.
- Tarzan of the Apes (Tarzan, #1) by Burroughs, Edgar Rice - Timelessly crafted tale with every angle well thought out and explained.
- The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World by Ferguson, Niall - Intriguing history of money and finance and its powerful impact on the course of human history.
- The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World by Deutsch, David - Thought provoking combination of mathematics, physics, and philosophy.
TV Series Watched
- Walking Dead - Still. Love dystopian enough to stick with it, but didn’t love the season.
- Game of Thrones - Still. Top 5 series of all time.
- Daredevil - Not historically a comic book fan, but NetFlix’s superhero series are drawing me in with their character depth and production value.
- Jessica Jones - Thought I was a comic book series convert, but didn’t love this one. Weaker character development and storytelling.
- Sons of Anarchy - Soap opera for those who love violence. Over the course of the entire series, oscillated between intrigue and disgust. Stuck with it to the end, but not highly recommended.
Courses Taken
As Human Planet took up more time, continued education took a hit. Hope to work in more in the coming year.
Programming Languages/Frameworks/Technologies/etc. used
- Golang
- React
- Angular
- GraphQL
- Relay
- PostgreSQL
- PHP
- MySQL
- Drupal
- Wordpress
- Python
- Ruby
- Jekyll
- JavaScript
- jQuery
- SASS
- CSS
- HTML
- AWS [Amazon Web Services]
- S3
- EC2
- CloudFront
- Route 53
- SNS
- Heroku
- Azure
- Websockets
Review Plans for 2016
Implement daily planning and time management
Grade: C-
Went through streaks, but didn’t settle into a nice rhythm. Definitely see better flow when doing daily planning, but when the tasks start piling up, I tend to grind instead of plan.
25+ Blog posts (setting a more realistic goal this time)
Grade: F+
I posted, but was once again considerably short of my goal.
Secure angel-funding for Human Planet
Grade: D-
Schedule was pushed back a bit, just now hitting the road trying to raise a seed round. Did manage to make some great progress launching iPhone app, taking part in Techstar’s Startup Next Program, and launching our beta.
Beta launch of Human Planet
Grade: A
By the skin of our teeth, but we launched with Kome Sushi in December.
Plans for 2017
- Implement daily planning and time management (carry over)
- 12+ Blog posts (for real setting a more realistic goal this time)
- Secure seed-funding for Human Planet (carry over)
- Work out at least 3 times per week. Fitness has taken a back seat to work this year, and it’s time to right the ship.