Better Wrongs

Finding better ways of making decisions while developing software

Read this first

Why Developers Underestimate: One Reason That Will Change the Way You See Projects Forever

I, like many developers and tech consultants, am a chronic underestimator. When I make an estimate, I do so believing that the estimate encompasses the effort necessary for me to accomplish each and every goal for that project.

And I’m wrong, nearly every time.

People have a completely skewed perception of time. Checkout this excerpt from a Huffington Post article from last year.

This vs That’s initial research is in line with previous research into time estimation, which has revealed that our ability to accurately estimate time is influenced by our emotional state, how hungry we are, how tired we are, whether our eyes are open or closed, what we are doing, among many other factors.

Aside from the fact that people in general are terrible time estimators, it’s also my opinion that estimating a multi-stage project all at once is about as useful as guessing who will win March Madness...

Continue reading →


Quick Tip: Serve Parse Files via HTTPS

Trying to serve your Parse files via SSL/HTTPS? You’ll notice that you can’t force it, and Parse doesn’t support this via their file URL scheme. But you can use the same trick Parse uses on Anypic.

Replace http:// with https://s3.amazonaws.com/.

So if you start with this:

http://files.parsetfss.com/b05e3211-bf8b-.../tfss-fa825f28-e541-...-jpg

The final url will look something like this:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.parsetfss.com/b05e3211-bf8b-.../tfss-fa825f28-e541-...-jpg

In ruby, that’s:

url.gsub "http://", "https://s3.amazonaws.com/"

In JavaScript:

var url = // your url...
var subbedUrl = url.replace("http://", "https://s3.amazonaws.com/");

Boom - fully secure Parse files.

You’re welcome.

Continue reading →


“Proof vs. Polish” - a free preview of Hacking the Impossible

Go check out the newest free preview of Hacking the Impossible now!

Proof vs. Polish

As always, please let me know what you think by Tweeting at me at @jcutrell.

View →


The Path to Productivity: 7 Hacks, Principles, and Patterns

Share this article on Twitter

Productivity is such a huge focus in our lives. We are all allocated the same amount of time, so how do some people do amazing things while others always seem behind the curve?

The answer, in some ways, is that those who are on their game have learned how they themselves can be productive. Certainly there’s no one shot solution, and productivity isn’t the only answer to rising above average, but I would argue that those who are above average absolutely cannot ignore the importance of finding ways to stay productive with their time.

In this article, I will discuss my tips for finding personal productivity.

1. Start Treating Time as a Precious Resource

Time is your most valuable resource. It is the resource that no one can leverage against another person, because we are all given the same amount of time in a given day. The only way we can rise above...

Continue reading →


7 Tips for Hyper-productive Wunderlist-ing

I’m loving the newest version of Wunderlist. Honestly, I’m not even sure what all has changed, but here’s what I know: Wunderlist is probably my favorite ToDo management application thus far.

That’s a big deal, you know… there’s about a thousand ToDo managers.

Here’s how I’m using it.

1. Put it everywhere

One of Wunderlist’s primary killer features is the fact that it is available everywhere. Native apps for Apple devices, and a web interface. It really is everywhere.

So make your to-dos accessible everywhere. Unlike your email, having your todos accessible actually helps your productivity if you know when to look at the list.

3. Use Tags to Sort by Energy/Time Required and Context

Who knew you could do hashtags in Wunderlist. This allows for clickable searchability. Adding some kind of context allows you to do things like: “Clean out closet. 15m home busywork”. When you’re at...

Continue reading →


Announcing Hacking the Impossible - The Developer’s Guide to Working with Visionaries

I’m more than excited to announce that I will be publishing a book soon that’s all about the work I do on a day-to-day basis with some incredibly creative people here at Whiteboard.

In the book, you’ll find ideas that I believe could change the way developers and visionaries work together, and I’m really excited to share it with you.

If you’re interested in learning more about the book in the upcoming days, drop by http://hackingtheimpossible.com and sign up for the mailing list, and then follow @hackimpossible on Twitter.

About the book

hti_cover.jpg

If you work at a creative agency, you’ve almost certainly experienced the phenomenon of personality difference that Hacking The Impossible is all about. The two polar creative opposites - The Developer and The Visionary - sit in their corners of the room, each with entirely different understandings of what it means to work. The developer believes...

Continue reading →


Steal these Startup Ideas: Collection Two

As I’ve said before in collection one of this series, ideas are everywhere. Furthermore, I certainly don’t have time to make all of my ideas a reality. I want them to be real, and truly would use each and every one of these.

If you like one of the ideas and want to take it and make it a real thing, let me know! I’m not going to try to take a piece of your company (unless you offer and the deal is a good one), and I’m not going to sue you. I just want to hear from the people these ideas are influencing. It fuels me! Tell me on Twitter (@jcutrell) or email me at jonathan@whiteboard.is.

Enough of the introduction - let’s talk about things that would make the world a better place, shall we?

1. Service Butler

How many services do you subscribe to? Sometimes I even forget how many I’m subscribed to. However irresponsible that may be, I certainly get a lot of benefits out of services. But...

Continue reading →


Make Me Work for It: Challenge Psychology

Fifth-degree black belt.

Doctorate.

Rocket scientist. Triathlon competitor. Fighter pilot. Franciscan Monk. Astronaut. World-record holder. Five-star General. Firefighter. Navy SEAL. Everest scaler. Antarctic explorer. Olympian.

What comes to your mind when you read these titles?

For some, these titles were the answer to “what do you want to be when you grow up”, before they grew up. For others, these titles represent an obvious demand for respect. What’s invariably true is that none of these titles is easy to attain. In fact, quite the opposite; to earn any one of them, one would have to invest an enormous amount of energy and commitment.

What’s more - we attach a sense of elitism to these labels. Perhaps that’s why we wanted to be one of them when we grew up. We naturally have an appreciation for the difficult-to-attain. But why?

Our Addiction to Simplicity Ignores Our Affinity To

...

Continue reading →


Create Small Things

Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.
- Vincent Van Gogh

Rule of Parsimony: Write a big program only when it is clear by demonstration that nothing else will do.
- The Unix philosophy

How many of your successes came from complex, massive projects?

The world is made up of simple things, and when we try to create our “big” ideas, we have a tendency to fail. The idea of making something simple does not mean making something easy - it means putting more concentrated attention into fewer details.

WhatsApp. A brilliantly simple concept. I don’t care to discuss the valuation - I care about the fact that it’s used and validated widely. I care about the fact that the design and conceptual approach worked, and all it does is… something small.

At Whiteboard, some of our most effective work has happened over the course of afternoon sprints. This happens because...

Continue reading →


Getting Past Writer’s Block: Break the Rules

One thing I’ve been able to do in my writing career is… well, write. Perhaps the better way to describe this is to say that I have a knack for not getting stuck in writer’s block.

I didn’t realize this was a skill until a coworker recently asked me about my writing process, and inquired into how I get from zero to finished without many hitches.

(He should see how many unfinished articles I have in my Svbtle queue, but nonetheless…)

I started explaining my process. Usually, my ideas come from a conversation (as an example, see the article you are currently reading). Next, I write what I’m thinking.

I don’t marinate on the idea for very long. I don’t try to fully construct my argument. I don’t map out the sections. I just write, unadulterated and usually raw.

Most of the time I make many references to things that others don’t understand. I’ll make some strange comparisons and...

Continue reading →