07 Aug 2025 #coding
While curating this week’s Friday Links email, I found out about Dense Discovery and got inspired.
That newsletter features a section called Worthy Five where a subscriber shares 5 things worth watching, reading, asking…
So I’m stealing (like an artist) that idea, and tweaking it for new coders:
#1. A video worth watching.
Well, it’s more a lecture series. Watch Stanford CS106A on YouTube.
That’s an introductory course to programming. I watched all the lectures in the 2010s while learning to code. I loved the energy of the teacher and the exercises using video games to teach programming concepts.
Watch the first few lectures, you’ll love it.
#2. A question worth asking.
Ask what you want out of your career.
I jumped from job to job without any plan until I got bored or fired. At the end, I burned out after trying to make a “good” job work for me. I never took the time to set an intention for my career.
Come up with a career plan or goal. Remember you can always change it.
#3. A book worth reading.
OK, let me give you two.
First, Clean Coder. I enjoyed this one more than Clean Code. Clean Coder isn’t about writing code, but about being a professional developer. It covers professionalism, unit testing, and estimates.
The other one? Code That Fits Into Your Head. This isn’t precisely a book on syntax, but rather one about programming practices. Its main point? Write code in such a way you can keep its details in your head.
If you don’t know which one to pick first, go with Clean Coder.
#4. An activity worth doing
Write!
I’m biased here. I love writing. But, seriously, write anywhere online. To put your thoughts on paper. To document your learning.
Writing opens doors you can’t even imagine. For example, my blog has done more than a portfolio.
If you don’t know how to start, write TIL posts.
#5. A piece of advice worth passing on
Back at my first job, a coworker gave me this piece of advice:
Imagine you only make half of your salary, save and invest the other half.
Probably the best piece of advice I’ve received for free. Here are another two I never asked. That one helped me survive a layoff. Definitely worth passing on.
06 Aug 2025 #coding
Leon Martin wrote on dev.to that programming is becoming prompting.
And that’s true. The barrier to entry for coding is getting lower and lower.
A few years ago, it was the “Learn to Code” movement. Even Barack Obama replied to a coding question in an interview. One about sorting algorithms.
These days, with AI, anyone is one paragraph away from creating something that works.
Leon made two interesting points in his post:
#1. Too much AI is bad for your health
“…when you start writing prompts instead of functions, you stop flexing those problem-solving muscles that got you into programming in the first place.”
Been there! I’ve been using Copilot during my coding sessions. And the other day, I felt the urge to use AI instead of working through a simple problem.
And that’s the real danger of too much AI. Like the coder who asked on Reddit how to get his coding skills back after vibing for too long.
#2. AI needs the right hands
“Knowing how to code is still the superpower. The prompt is just a shortcut.”
Absolutely! AI is just like calculators in math class.
You could have the most powerful calculator in your hands during an exam, but if you don’t know what you want to compute, it’s useless. You will fail that exam.
AI is like an Iron Man suit. But it still needs Tony Stark inside it to save the day.
05 Aug 2025 #writing
Since January 2024, I’ve been growing my LinkedIn account.
As soon as you join the creator crowd on LinkedIn, you step into the gurus’ land with all kinds of advice:
- Comment more: Comment for 1 hour a day.
- Don’t schedule your posts: Always hit “Post.”
- Engage in the first hour to “warm up” the algorithm.
Follow the gurus’ advice, revealed after exclusively deciphering the algorithm, and you’d end up offering comments to the LinkedIn gods, writing your post of the day, and then commenting for another 1 or 2 hours under top creators’ posts to beg for their attention.
After writing over 300 posts, I’ve decided to ignore all those pieces of advice.
Instead, I batch and schedule my posts, and only engage to support fellow creators. And, I also make sure to reply to any comment on my posts.
Because you don’t have to play by anyone’s rules or follow anyone’s revealed secrets. You have to come up with an easy and sustainable strategy to show up consistently. And that’s true not just for LinkedIn, but for any creative pursuit.
04 Aug 2025 #misc
When you’re a teenager, you get invitations to “sweet 16” or quinceañera parties.
When you’re in your 20s, you get wedding invitations. In your 30s, baby shower invitations.
This week, my best friend invited me to her first baby shower.
That made me think of other types of “shower” celebrations we as adults could host:
#1. A business shower: Guests support your new business by buying your product, leaving a 5-star review, and maybe even donating to cover some business expenses. Maybe a little something to cover your accountant’s fee. Taxes don’t file themselves.
#2. A breakup shower: Guests show up with breakup survival kits: ice cream, wine, a sad playlist, and romantic movies. Or whatever people eat and drink to get over a breakup. Maybe a guest can introduce you to someone or arrange a blind date for you.
#3. A new apartment shower: If you leave your parents’ nest or just get married, you can host a new apartment shower. Guests bring utensils and cleaning supplies to fill your empty new apartment.
#4. A divorce shower: This shower is for turning “that page.” Your guests help you throw away stuff from your past life or simply buy anything that reminds you of your ex.
#5. A college shower: About to start college? Invite your family and friends to help you with… Wondering what college students need these days? Probably notebooks, a laptop and a ChatGPT subscription. And maybe ask for some extra money to pay for the college tuition.
#6. A first job shower: Got your first job? Congrats! Host a first job shower. Guests give you a jacket and tie, help you with a professional headshot to update your LinkedIn account, and buy you a Netflix subscription so you can unplug after a busy day.
#7. A layoff shower: Got laid off? Sorry to hear that. You’re not alone. Host a layoff shower: guests help revamp your CV, write LinkedIn recommendations, or maybe offer a referral. Now that I think about it, this would be like a breakup shower. These days I think pretty much everybody in tech would run this one. Wait if I got laid off more than one year ago, can I still host one? Asking for my LinkedIn account.
03 Aug 2025 #misc
Recently, I learned about the 10,000 experiment rule.
I found it on Skip The Line by James Altucher. That is, instead of aiming for 10,000 hours to mastery, run quick, cheap, and easy-to-do experiments.
Yesterday, as part of my daily routine of writing 10 bad ideas a day, I thought about experiments I could run this month. So here are 7 of them.
#1. Change my LinkedIn bio to include “Ghostwriter.” Often the only thing we need to start with a new offer or service is changing our headline and email signature. I’m changing my LinkedIn headline and bio to start my LinkedIn ghostwriting gig.
#2. Upload my coding courses to my Gumroad store. I offer three C# coding courses on Udemy. The thing is, Udemy keeps students contacts and takes a big cut.
Instead of growing Udemy’s business, I’m hosting my coding courses on my Gumroad store too. I control the course prices and have direct access to my students.
#3. Change all prices on my Gumroad store to end on 99. There’s a lot of psychology research behind pricing. Long story short, products with prices that end in 99 sell more. Let’s see if that’s true.
#4. Instead of giving away some ebooks, charge $1. Or $0.99 to follow #3. I’ve read that $0.99 is the new free for books, given that “free” readers rarely convert to paying ones.
#5. Reformat my free ebooks and point to my paid ones. I’ll add a “From the same author” section to each book.
#6. Increase the suggested prices of all my free products. I offer free books on Gumroad, with pay-what-you-want pricing. I only set a suggested price. I’m increasing that price from $5 to $7. Maybe I can subconsciously influence my visitors to leave a higher tip. Muahaha!
#7. Offer all my C# coding courses on a “C# Fundamentals Bundle.” After following #2 and #3, I’m bundling my C# courses together and offering it for $12.99 or something. If I sell one or two bundles, that’s a win!
Let’s see which ones take off. Either way, I’ll learn something… and keep my daily streak alive.