Author: James Reed

Well, she finally came. Lucy joined us last week and has been keeping us busy at the house. My toddler is adjusting pretty well but I have forgotten how long the nights can get when you have a new baby. With this said, I feel I can no longer keep up with my schedule of posts. I run a couple other blogs and with the current chaos in my life I will have to change my blog schedule. Check back at the beginning of July for my next post.

Thanks y’all!

James

Why? because it’s healthy to tweak things until it’s good.

Google+

The most recent-ish changes google has done to Google+ or Google plus as it’s pronounced has done some UI changes to their apps and layout along with adding some functionality back in Nov 2015. They have recently just added some more. It’s currently in beta but they’re doing some public testing now at the time of writing this blog post. They are rolling out a new layout and possibly some more features but I just haven’t found them yet.

Google Analytics

Well this particular part of google is probably the most important to keep track of if you’re a web dev guy. Over the past years google is constantly changing the rules to their algorithms This started at 2000 and is still going. Rules change mostly to help people have a better search and web experience. If you want to take a deeper look at all the changes they’ve done over the years here’s a decent list from moz.com. At the time of writing this, the new most important update they’re doing is called RankBrain, I will do a post about it in the semi-near future.

Youtube

Youtube has recently rolled out a new feature called Youtube Red. A service where you pay for a premium service. Which is basically a way for the user to not see ads anymore. Coincidentally I have noticed an increase on how many ads I’m being exposed to on youtube. Think they are related? *shrugs* On top of having no ads while looking at youtube ads, you get access to exclusive content made available to certain youtubers who are participating. The initial roll out has created some backlash. From a marketing point of view, making your users pay for something that they haven’t had to do for years, expect backlash.

A couple of years ago, they tried to do a subscription service for music, which I had no idea they have done, but in all fairness the service is not available in Canada. According to an article I saw over at reelSEO they mentioned that Youtube is changing 33% a year. If you want to see the details of the article go here.

Gmail

Google gmail has multiple apps within it, one of which is called calendar. Google has recently released a new feature in the calendar called goals. You can set goals like to to remind you at incremental/repeatable times. Here’s a video on it!

Anywho here’s a short list of some changes google has done to their products in the past few years. Do you have any changes that you’d like to share with us?

So I have been busy this past week and a half. I promised I would write a blog post and because of today, not all of them are going to be about my experience in the industry of 3d, graphic design or web development.

You see. I have been busy packing and unpacking, scrambling to finish up or start projects before the move. The new place we moved into, had a dog living there for 6 months. Normally not a big deal except my wife is allergic to dogs, and the other tenants hadn’t really cleaned up after themselves. I have spent every day since April 1st, cleaning and trying to get rid of the odour and hair that was left behind from the last people.

I’m not sure when this has changed, but not cleaning after you move out has become the new norm. I don’t think it should be. Just clean up after yourselves that’s all we ask people.

Anyways, 4 days of scrubbing floors and carpet and walls. From Baking Soda to Vinegar to commercial/industrial cleaners that professionals use and I’m still waiting for the odour to move out.

I cannot wait until we can start unpacking our boxes. Everytime I think the smell is gone and I unpack a few boxes, then, I find the dog smell again, so I move all my newly moved boxes into a corner again and start spraying down the room, again.

On the bright side. Our place is immaculately clean and the odour gets less and less everytime I clean. So I’m doing one more day of cleaning and then just unpack boxes and keep the windows open for the next month.

One of the fun sides of moving, he says sarcastically, is getting all your services moved over. The address change is hilariously difficult. Most places won’t change your location without you showing them a bill with your new address change. But who is going to be the first to do it so we can get it changed everywhere else. To add to this annoyance. We are in the advent of paperless world. So do I just show them an email? Log into another service and show them my online account as proof for changing the address?

If any Canadians read this (cuz I’m sure it’s different in other countries) let me know what’s the easiest way to do this tricky  maneuver.

This phenomena happens in the work field as well. When first starting out, its really hard to find a job, or a company that is willing to take you on as an employee as you just don’t have the job experience. Who is going to be the first to take a chance on you? How do you find a job with little or no work experience?

I have been listening to a podcast “Late Nights with Trav and Los” one of their episodes talk about how to get a job and keep it. Check it out for some extra advice. I love these guys. Entertaining and educational. They just talk about things that a school or most people in the industry won’t talk about. That’s usually workflows and struggles or just habits to form to help better you as someone who works in this field of work. Web dev or graphic design, writing, etc.

Here’s a link to that podcast.

I planned a nice long post about a different subject but I’m exhausted. Maybe I’ll post it next week once this week slows down a bit for me I’ll be able to dive into the subject a bit deeper. Keep an eye out for my next post on Things I’ve learned in the industry these past 15 years.

Thanks for reading and have a good one.