<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<opml version="1.0">
  <head>
    <title>cmdln.net_2008-08-13</title>
    <expansionState>1,3,4,6,15,20,26,36,41,51,63,67,76,77,85</expansionState>
  </head>
  <body>
    <outline text="Intro" Offset="00:17"/>
    <outline text="Word of the Week: deflicted" Offset="04:09">
      <outline text="http://catb.org/jargon/html/D/deflicted.html"/>
    </outline>
    <outline text="Inner Chapter: Inspiration" Offset="05:14">
      <outline text="How do you deal with coding block?">
        <outline text="Depends on if the block is on a started project or on starting a new project"/>
        <outline text="On a started project, usually a bit easier">
          <outline text="Already know the problem you are trying solve"/>
          <outline text="May get stuck on a detail"/>
          <outline text="Reading, researching what others have down is an easy answer"/>
          <outline text="Even if you don't find an exact solution, may give you ideas"/>
          <outline text="Usually it is a small detail stumping you"/>
          <outline text="Something you perhaps have not done before"/>
          <outline text="Just need to find some guidance, how to extend what you know into what you don't"/>
          <outline text="Is it like I/O programming or a certain type of threading?  Resource access like a database?"/>
        </outline>
        <outline text="On starting a new project, much more difficult">
          <outline text="Easy answer is scratch your own itch"/>
          <outline text="However, this may be frustrating if there are existing solutions"/>
          <outline text="Don't be afraid to  write your own if you feel strongly"/>
          <outline text="Don't expect anyone else to use if it is too close to other programs"/>
          <outline text="Can be satisfying, regardless">
            <outline text="Its valid practice to improve your coding"/>
            <outline text="May also help spur other, unrelated ideas"/>
          </outline>
          <outline text="With open source, you can also be inspired to hack on someone else's code"/>
          <outline text="Can work on a smaller problem, borrow inertia"/>
          <outline text="The act of reading existing code may help give you ideas"/>
        </outline>
      </outline>
      <outline text="Personally, I have a lot more trouble with starting new projects">
        <outline text="I often feel like my day job consumes my inspiration"/>
        <outline text="Recent experience has taught me that is just because I use the same technology"/>
        <outline text="I experience some fatigue trying to use the heavier weight, more complex tools"/>
        <outline text="For smaller projects, there is just too much grunt work to start a new project"/>
        <outline text="Discourages me from hacking on my own time"/>
        <outline text="Taking some time to learn something lighter, smaller, like Python has helped"/>
        <outline text="Also helps me keep projects more separate in my mind"/>
        <outline text="I'm sure there will still be some cross pollination"/>
        <outline text="Using a different set of tools makes my personal projects feel less like work"/>
      </outline>
      <outline text="Always take time to just think">
        <outline text="In either case, stop coding or trying to code"/>
        <outline text="Get up and walk around"/>
        <outline text="Talk about your ideas with someone else"/>
        <outline text="Talking shifts modality, helps you use other parts of your brain"/>
        <outline text="Draw your code, sketch in new parts as they occur">
          <outline text="Diagramming also uses a different part of your brain"/>
          <outline text="Only keep what you need, make sure to simplify"/>
          <outline text="Have seen to many people obsess about their drawings"/>
          <outline text="The ideas are more important"/>
        </outline>
        <outline text="If you keep coding, you run the risk of remaining blind to problems, opportunities"/>
        <outline text="If you shift to another way of thinking, you may see something you over looked"/>
        <outline text="Thinking, talking and drawing are cheaper than coding"/>
        <outline text="Can generate a lot of ideas and just see what sticks"/>
        <outline text="Reading can also be helpful, make a practice of always trying to learn new things"/>
      </outline>
      <outline text="Silver lining of alphabet soup - chock full of ideas">
        <outline text="It is easy to make fun of alphabet soup"/>
        <outline text="Technologies and standards that exist mostly for their own sake"/>
        <outline text="XML, SOAP, SOA, et. al."/>
        <outline text="Studying them can reveal some interesting smaller pieces in the details"/>
        <outline text="Very often these monstrosities started as collections of good, smaller ideas"/>
        <outline text="If you can uncover those original good ideas, they can be inspiring"/>
        <outline text="Be careful of golden hammer, though"/>
        <outline text="The veneer of a proper acronym can encourage some to think they should use"/>
        <outline text="Not all specs, tools are equally"/>
        <outline text="Be skeptical, take them with a grain of salt"/>
        <outline text="Strike a balance, don't dismiss them out of hand either"/>
      </outline>
      <outline text="Be persistent, even in the absence of inspiration">
        <outline text="See the Inner Chapter on Will"/>
        <outline text="Sometimes just coding, even without an idea, can spark ideas"/>
        <outline text="Very often avoiding it because you don't think you have an idea is a false barrier"/>
      </outline>
      <outline text="The more ideas you use, the more occur to you">
        <outline text="Like static friction, getting started is often the problem"/>
        <outline text="Once you start brain storming, ideas come more easily"/>
        <outline text="Personally, if I take the effort to put an idea down, it seems to clear the way for more"/>
        <outline text="If I hold an idea in my head too long, I get stuck in it"/>
        <outline text="If you take good notes, an excellent practice for many reasons, you can revisit later"/>
        <outline text="I use either a notebook or a personal wiki"/>
        <outline text="Both encourage just recording ideas as they come"/>
        <outline text="Can organize them later"/>
      </outline>
    </outline>
    <outline text="Outro" Offset="22:06">
      <outline text="Contact me">
        <outline text="Email to feedback@thecommandline.net"/>
        <outline text="Web site at http://thecommandline.net/"/>
        <outline text="IM to command.line@skype"/>
        <outline text="Listener comment line is 240-949-2638"/>
        <outline text="del.icio.us tag is &quot;for:cmdln&quot;"/>
        <outline text="http://twitter.com/cmdln"/>
      </outline>
      <outline text="I'd like to thank libsyn.com for AAC hosting and Wouter de Bie for MP3 hosting"/>
      <outline text="These notes and the show audio and music are covered by a Creative Commons license">
        <outline text="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/"/>
        <outline text="Attribution, non-commercial, share alike"/>
      </outline>
    </outline>
  </body>
</opml>
