Back on rails

Rails

So... I've been watching lots of Ruby on Rails screencasts on the bus, as part of my strategy of switching from iOS to a website/SaaS business model in my starting-my-own-business pipedream. I dare you to try watching screencasts on the bus (2 hrs a day) for a month and not get carsick!

I think there's an important lesson out there for everyone trying to give it a go: if things aren't working out, you have to be prepared to change tack and try something else (in my case, avoiding the app store and trying my luck at a SaaS web-app). You've likely got plenty of years ahead of you, so don't give up - just try a different approach. You have to be relentless in your efforts to suceed, because you'll encounter a lot of setbacks before you find your groove.

iOS

Well, Apple's WWDC is in 10 days or so! Very exciting. I really hope iOS7 is previewed, and that it's awesome, and it fixes the awful bug that plagues the firmware on Australian iPhone 5's: a couple of times a day, they freeze when you hit the home button and won't wake up from sleep for a few minutes. I know half a dozen people with the problem, some of whom swear to me that they won't be buying an iPhone again. I don't blame them, but what else is there? Android? Yuck. I've heard windows phone is nice?

Progress

Not much to report here: House is almost all bricked up. Soon the plumbing and electrical stuff happens. We now need to choose interior stuff. Let me tell you, choosing a toilet isn't as easy as it looks! So just a few more months, and phase one of fixing 2012's screw-ups will be complete: we'll have a house.

Phase two (paying off the extra debt incurred from the builder's bankruptcy) will take a lot longer though. Looks like i'll be contracting for a while yet, unless anyone wants to buy a kidney? On the plus side, recruiters tell me that the market for iOS contractors has picked up again in sydney, and should be solid by the time my banking gig expires.

Positivity

I've been trying to concentrate on wiping out a couple of unhelpful thoughts lately. The concept is from Dr Leaf's books: you take some time in the evening to think about what you've been thinking about, come up with replacement (positive) thought, and then 7 times during the day you deliberately focus on the better thought. Eg try replace 'My career's stuck' with 'I'm making great progress'. It's working for me so far. Maybe you should give it a go?

By the way, I daren't re-read the above paragraph - i bet it'll sound embarrasingly corny ;)

You guys

So this newsletter I'm happy to announce a friend has launched his own app. It's called Yodito, and it's a cross between an iPhone app and a website SaaS app. It looks like a neat diary/journalling app. Congrats on launching, Joao!

If anyone on the mailing list has an app they're launching, let me know, i'd love to give it a mention.

All the best, everyone, and best of luck with your micropreneur dreams!

Chris Hulbert

(Comp Sci, Hons - UTS)

iOS Developer in Sydney.

I have worked at places such as Google, News Corp, Fox Sports, NineMSN, FetchTV, Woolworths, and Westpac, among others. If you're looking for a good iOS developer, drop me a line!

Get in touch:
[email protected]
github.com/chrishulbert
linkedin
my resume

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