On AI Coding
AI coding isn't about thinking or understanding less. It's about leveraging it more.
Martin Rue
I build things on the internet.
Latest posts
JavaScript Chose Violence
Let's take a short tour through the slums of JavaScript.
A quick review of 2024
In 2024 I lived in 3 countries and 5 different cities. My favourite is Bangkok. Da Nang is a very close second.
I built a community of 1,600... accidentally
When I say community, I mean social network. Yes, I made my own social network. It doesn't get much more narcissistic than that.
Be Indistractable
We live in a mega distracting world. Being indistractable is rare – so rare it may even be your edge.
Success
5 traits that disproportionately contribute to success.
The simple life
More things should not be used than are necessary.
A little bit of delusion
94% of people believe they're above average, but a little bit of delusion is a good thing.
What if you hadn't?
"Had I not..." is a calling. It's a manifesto of living in every direction at the same time, driven by curiosity and a desire to learn and experience as many things as possible.
Just Do It
13 years ago I wrote my first ever article, “Do”. It tells the story of how my mother became really good at Counter Strike. But less about her… I want to talk about a murderer.
Now
What I'm doing now
Embrace Slowness
Can slow also be a good thing? In my own life, I've been trying to slow down with some things lately, so I've been thinking about this question.
5x5, But For People
To be more creative we need more inputs. To see what's next we need to be like water and follow the flow of ideas.
Make Cool Shit
There's nothing new under the sun. The new things are just remixes, put together by people who've listened to way more music than you.
An Ode to Language
Language is profound. It's an essential part of everything we do. Few things in our lives aren't, at their core, just an application of language.
Tune In
While negative visualiation is a profoundly useful mental tool to bring you back into the present, sometimes you just need to tune in.
Consistency
Don't get fooled into having a plan of what you'll do without a plan of how you'll keep going.
Creativity: My Top 5 Feelings
Hearing that someone has enjoyed or found your work useful is an indicator that you're achieving the goal you set out to achieve, and that's an amazing feeling.
Carving My Own Path
It's time to pack a small bag, leave my current world behind and begin overusing the word "nomad".
Creative Writing Systems for Esperanto
The problem with an obsessive compulsion to be clean is that the shower is a dangerous source of ideas, and I can't in good faith claim that all of them are sensible.
Creativity Is A Muscle
Creativity is a muscle. Progressively overload it so it keeps growing, and whatever you do don't forget to rest it.
Get Into Motion
Microdose progress and remind yourself what a tiny dose feels like. More often than not, that's all you need to become much more willing to switch gear and go for a bigger hit.
Nothing Matters
It's far too easy to be passive and experience life as the default, but it's clear to me that it works the other way around.
Nenio Gravas
Multe tro facilas vivi pasive, kaj sperti la vivon kvazaŭ ĝi estas la defaŭlta stato, sed estas inverse.
On Always Doing Your Best
As squishy, brain-carrying flesh bags we simply cannot operate at 100% consistently. If we insist on doing so, we inevitably fail and the consequences can be severe – from fatigue and burnout to losing the will altogether.
Station: The Social Network for Gemini
Station is a micro text-only social network for the Gemini network.
On Achieving Goals
To make progress, you need consistency and to keep upping the pace. You're getting better all the time, so up the work rate to stop yourself from slowing down.
10 Slightly Odd Things I Want To Do
I've always felt that with such a puny serving of breathable days on this rock, it's worth throwing yourself into new, crazy-esque (or even full-blown crazy) things in pursuit of new ideas, better habits, and fresh perspectives.
What Have You Changed Your Mind About?
This question is my secret weapon to create interesting conversations. Aimed at the right target, it cuts right to the good bits.
Highlights: Almanack of Naval Ravikant
I've just finished reading the very enjoyable Almanack of Naval Ravikant. It's one of those rare books that made me want to read it as slowly as possible so I could really take in all the bits that resonated with me.
Silence
Let's be honest, silence is not usually considered an exciting subject. Despite Depeche Mode's ironic effort to convince us, the idea that we should enjoy silence seems like a stretch. So why am I writing about it?
My Engineering Axioms
A few months back I gave a talk in which I shared a list of my personal engineering axioms – things that, over the years, I've come to think of as generally true and useful to have in mind when writing code, building things, and working with others.
Head Up, Head Down
There are few things more enjoyable to me than the mental solitude that hand-delivers interesting shower thoughts, or that let's me sit in a bustling coffee shop contemplating life.
Progress Is Hard
Today wasn't a failure because I've not reached those states. It was a success because I've followed the process – a process that accrues results over time. I'll be back tomorrow for my next batch.
Coding Stories: Me vs. The VNC Guy
I've told a few different coding stories over the years on this blog. I enjoy reminiscing about the silly things I used to do. So, in that vein, here's one I haven't told yet.
The Equality of Esperanto
A few days ago I was hanging out in a coffee shop with my Russian friend. We meet every week to chat over coffee.
How Does Esperanto Sound?
When people hear Esperanto for the first time, they sometimes think they're hearing Italian, or maybe Spanish. A good amount of vocabulary in Esperanto is taken from romance roots, so this isn't totally surprising.
Feliĉan Zamenhofan Tagon
Hey, it's Zamenhofa Tago, otherwise known as Esperanto Book Day. Read on to learn more about the international language and why it's so cool.
Seek Out New Experiences
We ofen hear the advice “get out of your comfort zone”, and in my experience it's good advice to avoid becoming stationary in whatever it is you're trying to get better at.
Thoughts on Crypto Currency Mania
It's the end of 2017 and right now there's a huge amount of interest in buying [insert any crypto currency coin here]. Everyone wants to buy everything, and as a result we're very much in a bull market at the moment.
The Gym
Anyone who knows me will know that the gym is a fairly big part of my life. While my goal certainly isn't to become the next Eddie Hall or Phil Heath, during the last 3 years the gym has been a valuable source of discipline and improvement for me.
You're Not Ready
I heard something a few days ago. You know, the kind of thing where you stop and think for a while, and then the significance starts to become really clear to you.
Give Yourself More Playtime
I remember my first computer fondly. As a kid I was more than addicted to the Commodore 64 – perfectly happy to sit and endure at least 5 minutes of the most colourful, potentially epileptic attack you can imagine, simply to have a few games of Boulder Dash.
Why Read?
It seems like a stupid question – obviously, we read in order to process written material until we understand it.
Be With Your Thoughts More Often
Whilst walking to work this morning, I noticed myself doing something that I wouldn't normally give a second thought to. I took out my phone and checked Twitter.
Understand How It Works
One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was from my grandfather. He didn't visit very often and so conversation often felt a bit like an ice breaker.
Growth Is Not The Goal
In the startup world we hear a lot about growth. Startup accelerators focus on being the facilitators of quick growth and the term is thrown around like it's universally a good thing.
To Be Productive, Be Prepared
Motivation by itself gives us the willingness to do something, but nothing more. Once we make a start, the game changes and it becomes about knowing how to make progress.
Stay Young Enough To Try Anything
I am not young enough to know everything. This is one of my favourite quotes.
What Is 'The Zone', Anyway?
Recently I've been thinking more and more about the zone. I've been trying to work out what it actually is. Most often it's described as being in a super productive state for short periods of time, where the best code you've ever written just flows from your fingertips.