Scribbled notes: podcasts I like, learning as a developer, the advantage of blogging ordinary things.

I am going to play with an idea I got from this podcast and another:
https://developertea.com/episodes/24531

The idea is that we should share un-refined lessons we are learning as IT workers.  The basic idea is that you should share things you learn, without fear, because it helps everyone (I can learn by expressing, you can learn from me--or I hope so).   I'll see how it goes for me.  Maybe I won't do it much.  But I'll try it out.

By the way, Developer Tea is a great podcast.  I listen to podcasts on my 30+ minute commute. Go check out some of the episode titles and see if you like the gist of Developer Tea.  It's short--episodes range from 5 to 30 minutes, but are never too long (I stopped listening to the 2 hour "this week in tech" a long time ago.  Sorry, too much fluff, too much time).

"The Web Ahead" and "Javascript Jabber" are fairly good podcasts too.  If you're a Java developer, "Java Pub House".   If you do AngularJS, try "Adventures in Angular".

If you know any wiki pages with a good list of podcasts (current, updated), let me know in the comments.

(I used Player FM on Android to listen to my podcasts; I thought Podcast Addict was fairly good too).

Notes from the Developer Tea episode:
It's difficult to learn on the job.  How do we shift our and others's perceptions to enable learning?

• Don't be a closet learner.  You may get opportunities to do new things.  You will have more conversations, which helps you and others.
• Don't share what you are learning right away.  If you fail, it looks bad.  Show successes and value, not failures.
• Focus on learning in low stakes situations.  Especially on the job.
• Early in projects.  
• 1 or 2 new technologies within your current stack, not a new stack all at once.
• Spend time with someone who already knows more than you.
• Don't be needy, exhaust their energy.
• Gives you things you can't manufacture on your own.
• They can know you and your mind and learning style.

Here's the Web Ahead episode that also inspired me, with some transcript, that influenced me to write here more.  (note, they were talking about how simple boring blog posts make a big difference, the quote is slightly out of context)

Jen

I think it can overwhelming when you're trying to get work done. I think it's fun when you realize how lucky we are to be at the beginning of something so new. Anyone listening can investigate something, write a blog post, and influence the entire industry. They can change the shape of the medium itself. Which is so crazy.

My notes: I should interject here, I think the idea is that Jen and Jeremy feel ordinary, yet have been influential to others.  And they see other people in the same boat.  They talk about influencing just a few people, if I recall correctly.

Jeremy

[00:48:51] I wish people would write more. For that reason that you mentioned. In the future, we would have a better understanding of what people are thinking now. I'm very glad that I've been doing my blog for 15 years. I can go back to 2002 and get a feel for what it was like to build websites. Back then we thought X was true or hadn't even considered Y. You forget these things. Having these written records — not of anything important or groundbreaking — but just the day-to-day. The boring stuff. That's actually what's most interesting over time. I wish people would write more boring blog posts. [Both laugh] “I went to work. I did this. Nothing groundbreaking. Nothing revolutionary. But that's how we build websites today.”

Jen

We used to write a lot of boring blog posts. Then we stopped when it felt like audience was so important: “I don't want to say something that's going to embarrass me later. Everything should be really well-written and polished. I don't have time to write something that great.”

Jeremy

I hate it when people self-censor like that. They feel like it has to meet some standard. Again, it's the web. The whole point of the web is there isn't a gatekeeper. There isn't someone with a red pen saying, “That isn't good enough to be published. That's not up to scratch. You're not allowed to publish it.” There's no app store keeper for your writing. Yet people impose it on themselves. “I'm not good enough. My writing isn't good enough.” It's the web. It could be the worst thing ever and you still have the right to publish it on your website. You should do it. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I feel like a lot of people have this self-censorship thing.

http://thewebahead.net/110

Let me know if this turns you off to reading my blog (all 4 or 5 of you who read this).  Or if it inspires you.

Anyway.  That's it for now.