Open Grid

Full-stack webdeveloper link dump

I'm experiencing information overload. My head is about to EXPLODE. And I'm going to drop huge link dump on you right now.

Articles

There is this article How Jeff Bezos owns the web in my "read it later" list and 10 things they don't teach in college. There is a huge pile of work to be done. Messed up projects, started not finished. But this is not your problem.

If you're like me, I'm sure you have to find the time to learn new stuff to be shameless full-stack web developer every day.

Frameworks

This time it's Backbone.js which I will use in all my upcomming projects. It's a JavaScript lightweight MVC framework.

Starting (and finishing) is always the trickiest part. We, developers like to see quick results. That's why we love mockups and prototypes so much. We like to add some slipsum, cupcake ipsum, placekittens and flickrholdrs. All of this is nothing without good, simple and fast server side framework like Code Igniter Kohana and a boilerplate like Bootstrap from Twitter.

Design

I had to swallow a bitter pill during CSSOff contest when I had to learn a lot about:

• glyph spacing vs. letter-spacing and kerning using JavaScript
• bulletproof webfonts (more about web fonts)
• text-shadow graceful degradation, :before, :after pseudo elements use cases,
• responsive layouts,
• custom styling of select elements,
• html5 boilerplate
• working with a grid layout psd design
• Gridlover helped me setting proper margins on my blog for headings and paragraphs
• Great design helps to build that trust for me that crappy design sometimes just can’t overcome. Why I need great design?

JavaScript libraries

• IcanHaz is almost perfect templating solution but
• Weld.js is ultimate Model-View separation solution in JavaScript
• jwerty helps you take care of all keystrokes and keyboard shortcuts on your site

Version control and Git

• Think like a Git helped me understand better and use Git more productively

Managing energy

Wait there is more. I'm facing a project with a killer deadline. My sleep hours just shifted, I mean I don't sleep at all. You may ask how it is possible to have a lot of energy and not fall of the chair or wake up on a keyboard. Maybe stress is one of possible answers but I think it is a consequence of a diet change to low carbohydrate.

I don't have energy slumps or sleepiness anymore. I started low carbohydrate diet after reading "Good Calories Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes which explained to me how our bodies react in a short and long term to easily digestable foods. I started eating high fat (70%), moderate protein (25%), complex carbohydrates (5% in green vegetables). I won't go into details right now because there is a lot of better sources on the subject but I can only suggest if you have a sedentary work type and you don't want to get fat or feel like shit all the time, quiting all sugars is a good starting point. Meanwhile you can follow fit2fat2fit a personal trainer who decided to get fat and then loose it all in 6 months. I think he is awesome Internet marketer too.