Comments | boshvark: Taking a break in January

boshvark

Taking a break in January

Jan 14, 2012 11:57

Now that the Zyzzyva iPhone app has been released and some of the frenzy has died down, it's time for me to take a break from Zyzzyva development for a bit. I'll be abstaining from development until the end of January, and then it will be time to get back to work ( Read more... )

personal, zyzzyva

Comments 6

backhoeing January 15 2012, 07:07:28 UTC

Mike, thanks so much for everything you've done for the Scrabble community. Enjoy your break. You definitely deserve it.

boshvark January 16 2012, 01:31:31 UTC

Thanks! I'm trying hard to relax and enjoy it, and I think I'm doing pretty well so far.

cesarsalad January 16 2012, 07:38:47 UTC

i'm glad you like programming enough that working on Zyzzyva isn't too much of a chore. Programming is a lot of fun. I understand your insane schedule. When teaching myself Django/Javascript for the Webolith launch I spent almost every waking moment after work for approximately 2 and a half months developing it, and were it not for my girlfriend's equally crazy medical school schedule I think it would have taken its toll on us. Anyway, not trying to make this about me, but just empathizing with you :) Although it was a tough experience, I learned SO MUCH. I'm looking forward to see what Zyzzyva evolves into, and as soon as I get time again to work on Aerolith I'm picking that up again. Let me know if you want to port it to Android (not that I know how to, but maybe I can help! Like many months from now....)

Also, I concur with Dave's thanks. Thank you! I use Zyzzyva every day on the bus to and from my new job on my laptop (I hope I don't get mugged).

boshvark January 18 2012, 20:42:35 UTC

You're awesome, too! I'm really glad I accomplished what I did, but I'm also really glad for a break. I do want to port to Android, but yeah, that will be a while. Sooner rather than later, I'll want to look at replacing word definitions first. I think the crowdsourcing idea we talked about before is a great one, and getting closer to reality. I personally have a bunch of reorganizing work to do before doing anything to set it up, though.

I also feel the same about getting mugged! I used to whip out my laptop on the train all the time, and now I use my iPad. I'm not sure which one I'm more nervous about people trying to steal.

j_is_worth8 January 17 2012, 20:50:49 UTC

" ... it constantly pops up when I'm thinking about other things."

When I've been working intensely on something, and then want to set it aside for a time, related items keep popping up in my head for quite awhile after. I find that if I jot the things down on a piece of paper I can get my head to stop listing and relisting the items like a grocery list. The act of writing them down seems to get my brain to let them go.

boshvark January 18 2012, 20:48:24 UTC

Thanks for the tip... a few years ago I jumped on the Getting Things Done wagon. Dutifully capturing all the tasks that pop into my mind is just about the only practice from the GTD method that I've completely mastered. I'm not so good an organizing and processing them lately, but at least they are written down. It does help a lot to get it out of the head and into a system. Now I just need to work on the system!