The IndieWeb Made It: My First Post Interview (On Coding, Writing, And Side Projects)

17 May 2026 #misc

Another victory for the IndieWeb and my blog: My first “post interview.”

Wait! Did I just invent a word?

Last week, Ismael from Turkey found my blog and reached out. After some emails, I accepted his invitation to answer his questions.

Here are Ismael’s questions—I’m answering in a single-take with no editing, apart from fixing typos and adding a few links:

1) Can you introduce yourself?

Hi, I’m Cesar from Colombia (not Columbia). A lifelong learner, I’ve been coding for over 10 years now. I’ve seen bad code and written my own. And I’ve broken a lot of things in all these years.

These days, I code in the mornings as a contractor/freelancer and write the rest of the time. I’d like to think I’m a simple man making my way through the galaxy, writing as I go.

2) How did you get into this field?

I don’t have a fancy story. My father didn’t buy a computer, and I got hypnotized when I saw it.

I’ve always had many interests. When I finished high school, coding wasn’t my first option. Younger me started to narrow down options until Software Engineering (the equivalent) was the one left.

3) What is the most difficult part of starting to develop a project?

Professionally, trying to figure out what clients truly need. Then, keeping a balance between quality, working code, and deadlines.

For personal projects, finding the time to work on them and keeping yourself grounded. You don’t know how many times I’ve heard from friends dreaming about the next big startup without writing a single line of code.

Funny story: one of them asked me to sign an agreement before sharing his idea. It wasn’t that good.

4) What motivates you most in this work?

Is money a valid answer? LOL.

More seriously, seeing the software I help build being useful for someone.

I remember the first piece of code I wrote professionally. It was a migration from an old tech to a C# desktop application. When I showed it to the colleague who needed it, seeing him smile was motivating and rewarding.

5) What do you enjoy doing in your free time? Do you have any hobbies?

These days, reading, writing, and watching TV shows.

After binge-watching a TV show, I need to write about it to feel less guilty. But they end up being a good source of writing ideas.

I’ve been paying more attention to my health, so I’ve been going to the gym and running lately.

6) Which technology blogs, podcasts, or communities do you follow? What resources would you recommend? (Blogs, YouTube channels, books, movies, TV series, etc.)

From the top of my head, here are a couple: Scott Hanselman, Joel on Software, The Pragmatic Engineer… The first two aren’t that active anymore, but they were inspiring on my journey.

I tend to keep an eye on r/programming, dev.to… And now with more blog aggregators, I sneak around every other day to see what blogs keep popping up.

Books? Everybody talks about Clean Code, but I like The Clean Coder more. You shouldn’t miss it. Check mine too. LOL!

TV Series? Mmm…I like spy shows. Recently, I finished PONIs and Slow Horses season 5… Oh, House M.D. I loved it.

7) What advice would you give to those who want to enter this field? Everyone is entering through AI or other means. What advice would you give to those who want to improve?

There’s a lot of hype in the headlines. Understand CEOs saying “coding is dead” have other incentives to make those statements. Hype is real.

We’re in the best time to learn coding. Decades ago, our parents had to pay for compilers, buy magazines, and learn from instruction manuals. Today, we have a coding coach in a text-box for free. Just don’t use it to think and code for you.

While you’re learning, don’t ask AI to generate code for you. Otherwise, it’ll be like sending someone else to the gym, then complaining when you don’t see your muscles growing.

8) What tools do you use?

I don’t have a fancy setup.

I use Visual Studio (not the “Code” one, the other), Notepad++, Notable (it’s dormant. The guy found a job or something and forgot about the tool), pocket notebooks… The regular tools: multiple browsers, terminal, etc.

9) Do you have an application you want to develop? Which platform or application would you like to be the founder of?

Not exactly an app. But the other day I had the idea of vibecoding a dozen of small websites I’d like to use: like a pill-time optimizer, a bullet list “my way,” a time-off finder…

These days, I’m more into writing. Before I retire, I’m leaving everything I’ve learned in books.

I’d like to start an indie creative studio. To help people write their books and businesses with their online presence.

Instead of founding a platform, I’d like to be an investor. Maybe, after I retire. Who knows!

10) Who else is currently working on fun or creative projects?

I don’t have a name on the tip of my tongue.

I like to sneak into people’s /now pages to see what they’re up to. That reminds me I should write mine too.

But I bet there are a lot of people in the IndieWeb doing cool things. For example, just recently,

• Someone started Bubbles, a blog discovery platform
• Someone else started Discover, another blog discovery concept.

11) How do you write so well? :) Share the secret to your fluent writing. While reading your blog, I suddenly found myself on page 25 and thought, “Wow!” :)

The other day, I checked my stats and saw some visits to page 25 and I thought it was a bot. But it was you. LOL!

Thanks for that compliment. Seriously, read a lot and write a lot.

That’s not a secret, but here it is: Hand-copy your favorite writer. Literally, grab a pen and paper and write a post or a book passage you like. Then, notice the headline, the first line, the introduction, sentences you like…

And when reading, read through a writer’s lens and see how the piece is written.

Oh, more recently, I’ve learned to write every sentence in its own line.

12) You have a book, a newsletter, and projects. How do you manage to keep up with all of them?

That’s a challenge.

I’ve been trying to simplify and create systems. These days, I’m considering quitting social media, for example.

It all comes down to having a writing system. My reading habit feeds my newsletter. My best posts feed my books. I don’t do coding projects that much anymore.

I put all my attention into one project or experiment at a time, even when that means letting everything else suffer a bit.

13) I’m curious, why don’t you use a custom domain name?

I should blame younger me.

I started my blog to improve my coding and wasn’t serious about my online presence or writing. And when I tried to buy one, the domain I wanted wasn’t available. But that’s one of the improvements I’ve planned for my blog.

Funny thing: trying to find a domain, I realize there’s a soccer player, a movie director, and a singer with my exact name.

14) Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Let me blow my own horn here for a second… If you’re learning to code, check out Street-Smart Coding. If I’ve done my job well, you’ll find it in the top of Google or ChatGPT results. That’s the book I wish I had 10+ years ago when I started coding.

And thanks for taking the time to reach out and for your questions. May the Force be with you…Live long and prosper…Happy coding…Peace!

PS: If you’re a Turkish speaker, here’s the Turkish version of the interview on Ismael’s site.

The IndieWeb Revival Is Here (After a Quiet Season)

16 May 2026 #misc

Blogging isn’t dead.

OK, it is dead if blogging means stuffing posts with keywords to chase Google rankings and ad profits.

But personal blogs have always been there, away from the buzz, whistles, and follower counts of social media.

Recently, Minifeed, Bubbles, and other aggregators have made blog discovery easier. And lately, David from Forking Mad has encouraged the IndieWeb to start conversations.

In the last week, I’ve received more emails than usual:

• Brine sharing his new feed aggregator.
• Ismail encouraging me to keep writing my Friday Links.
• Alexa asking me for an archive of my posts to see how my writing started—to start her own blog.

Oh, someone else pitched a tool, asking me to add it to an old post. Still stuck in dead blogging. I’m not counting that email as part of the revival moment.

I’ve reached out to my blogging heroes to thank them for inspiring me back to writing.

Blogging never died. Now it’s reviving, and it feels less lonely than ever.

Friday Links: Don't use AI, learn smarter, and productivity tools

15 May 2026 #mondaylinks

Hey there.

Here are 4 links I thought were worth sharing this week:

#1. Like construction workers and athletes with short-lived careers, we may be the first generation of software engineers without lifetime careers (5min)

#2. Apart from stealing the fun part, here’s a good list of reasons not to use AI (14min).

#3. If you want to learn a new subject on your own, here’s a field guide to learning (8min). When there’s too much noise and AI slop, simply searching on Google or YouTube isn’t enough.

#4. While reading about how to configure Librewolf (4min) (a Firefox fork), I found these two productivity extensions:

• vimium to scroll and navigate using Vim shortcuts
• news-feed-eradicator to replace feeds with motivational quotes and reduce your doomscrolling.

---

And in case you missed it, I wrote on my blog about my love-hate relationship with coding (2min) and coding being just a side quest (2min).

---

(Bzzz…Radio voice) This email was brought to you by… Street-Smart Coding, 30 lessons to help you code like a pro. From Googling to clear communication, it shares the lessons to help you stand out in the age of AI.

Keep coding smartly,

Cesar

My Productivity Mentor, Life Coach, And Therapist Is 4 Years Old

14 May 2026 #productivity #wellness

“Godfaaather,” he called out from his balcony.

I’m my best friend’s oldest son’s godfather. Tradition says if anything happens to my best friend, God forbid, I become his son’s paternal figure. I hope I don’t have to play that role ever.

The notebooks…

I’m visiting before the school year starts. I’m bringing my godson some hero-themed notebooks—he adores superheroes. The first two pages of every notebook are full of superhero stickers.

As soon as he opened them, he set aside a couple of notebooks for his little brother and started to use the stickers on his own. His dad hid the notebooks on a shelf. Otherwise, they’d lose every sticker and blank page before school started.

Lesson: What’s the point of having something but to share it?

The heroes’ competition…

I had started small talk with my best friend when my godson pulled a huge receptacle full of toys out of his bedroom.

He started to show me his collection. Every action figure is there. Batman, Wolverine, all the Avengers, Goku and his friends… You name it!

Then the action figure parade became a racing competition. The couch was an imaginary obstacle course. The last hero reaching the bottom was suspended. Gravity chose the winner. But the rules kept changing to bring back suspended characters. For some reason, Freeza from Dragon Ball Z was always suspended even before starting.

As the game went by, I tried to keep the small talk with my best friend. But when my godson noticed I wasn’t playing my role as the referee, he tapped my cheek, called my name, and pulled me back into the game. And when the phone rang and he was told, “It’s grandad. Are you going to say hi?,” he simply said, “I’m playing with my godfather.”

He was still learning to read and write, but he was already a productivity expert.

Lesson: Do one thing at a time and give it your full attention.

The innocent gaze…

After countless rounds and suspensions, the game stopped for a second.

My godson noticed my Viking-styled bun. He looked at my hair from one side and the other. I expected an innocent, but uncomfortable question—one only kids dare to ask. But after the pause, the game continued. No questions, no judgment.

Lesson: Recognize others’ differences and keep playing without judgment.

The semaphore…

Once my godson had dinner and a shower, the heroes’ game became the semaphore game.

Green allowed you to move. Yellow made you slower. Red froze you. The couch wasn’t an obstacle platform anymore. It was the finish line for a race with his little brother.

I didn’t check my phone while I was there. Playing, laughing, and bending the rules of physics with a toy semaphore lifted my energy. I felt like I was six again.

More recently, on my birthday, he sent me a WhatsApp voice note. He wished me lots of presents. It was the first birthday I celebrated after my mom passed away. He didn’t need motivational quotes or a psychology degree to cheer me up. He did it in a few seconds with only a few words.

Lesson: Find someone who lifts you up…or borrow my best friend’s son. Just be aware his schedule might be packed. He’s a productivity mentor, life coach, and therapist—and he’s only four years old.

How My Book Experiment Hit #1 on Amazon (For a Few Days)

13 May 2026 #experiments #bookwriting

Last February, I started a book experiment.

I turned my most popular self-help post into a mini book. If you’re curious, here’s the final result:

10 Surprisingly Simple Ideas That Changed My Life And Could Change Yours Too.

The success metric was 1 organic sale. By that definition, the experiment was a success. I announced it on Friday Links and it made 1 direct sale on Gumroad. Then I gave away some copies and it got its first Amazon review.

To keep the experiment going, I tried two promotion strategies:

#1. Use a promotion site.

I paid for a mention on RobinReads.

The day of the mention, my book got 19 sales on Amazon and 9 the next day. It went from #165 to hitting #1 in Personal Transformation & Spirituality.

The sales spike lasted 2 days, then the #1 spot disappeared. By week’s end, the book ranked #44 in One-Hour Health, Fitness & Dieting Short Reads. Still on the first page.

Overall, the RobinReads mention brought 33 sales that week. One was refunded—hopefully not because of a typo.

#2. Use ads.

I placed 4 ads using BookBub.

To cap my budget, I limited each ad to $5, paying per click. Not much, but it was enough to test the ad copy and to learn about book ads.

Here are the stats of the ads I tried:

Over 22,000 people saw my book cover in one day. Wow!

The ad on April 23rd had the best clicking rate. It drove 4 clicks and 3 book sales.

But there was a catch with the experiment: Book promotion sites expect discounted prices. Despite 38 sales in total, pricing at $0.99 wasn’t profitable.

Some final lessons from the experiment:

1. Don’t just publish your book and expect sales.
2. Book promotions bring more conversions than ads.
3. Ads alone aren’t profitable. Use them to test headlines, taglines, and copy.
4. Target specific book categories and authors.
5. Use book promotions/ads for the first book on a series.
6. Amazon chooses categories they want.

For the time being, I’m declaring this experiment a double success.

If you want to change your life and don’t know how, check out 10 Surprisingly Simple Ideas That Changed My Life And Could Change Yours Too—the same copy that made my best ad a success. Let’s see how far it can go.