DPL Reading List – January 6, 2017
Here are some of the articles we’ve been reading around this office this week.
10 things I learned making the fastest site in the world (Thanks to Jarrod Wubbels for recommending this article) – “Writing a fast website is like raising a puppy, it requires constancy and consistency (both over time and from everyone involved). You can do a great job keeping everything lean and mean, but if you get sloppy and use an 11 KB library to format a date and let the puppy s–t in the bed just one time, you’ve undone a lot of hard work and have some cleaning up to do.”
To save Windows 10 Mobile Microsoft claims Surface ‘category creation’ is the key (Thanks to Brian Zimmer for recommending this article) – “Category creation, especially for the mobile space, is something I have been harping on for a long time now. It’s also why I shrug off the current “Windows Phone is dead” claims because technically it is true and has been for a while. When it comes to phones and mobile Microsoft is looking to change the concept. All their work in the last two years has been about positioning themselves to do just that.”
6 Brutal Truths About Productivity No One Wants to Talk About – “Every one strives to do better every day. But the harsh reality is that until you are 100% committed to doing actual work, nothing else matters. Your fancy goals and weekly to-do lists won’t help you if you can’t commit to doing them.”
Making the Switch Away from Icon Fonts to SVG: Converting Font Icons to SVG (Thanks to Jarrod Wubbels for recommending this article) – “If you’re reading this article, then I can probably assume you’ve already decided to switch from using fonts for icons to an SVG icon system. Or maybe you’re pondering the idea and want to get an overview of how that would be done and whether or not it’s worth it. Either way, this post is here to help you with that.”
From startups to spaceships: Ten top books for geeks to read in 2017 – “We’ve put together a top-10 list of books on a wide spectrum of geeky topics, all published over the past year. Some of these picks should help you prepare for what promises to be a … well, let’s call it an “interesting” year for geeks and everyone else. Others will provide an opportunity for respite and reflection, with a few geeky tweaks.”
Stop Setting Goals You Don’t Actually Care About – “Selecting what you want to work on, though, can often feel easier than actually moving toward those goals, especially when you’re faced with other work commitments. In order to reach these objectives, you need to ensure you’ve aligned your time with them as well.”
A Cautionary Tale: DOJ Intervenes in Another Web Accessibility Lawsuit (Thanks to Jarrod Wubbels for recommending this article) – “Fighting a website accessibility lawsuit is very tempting to many frustrated businesses, but can be a risky decision. One such risk – Department of Justice intervention in the lawsuit – came to fruition for one such business on Monday in Gil v. Winn Dixie, when the DOJ filed a Statement of Interest in the case pending in the Southern District of Florida.”
