Mike Robbins · Rockford, Illinois, USA
I write software for a living. This is the rest of me.
Personal writing on what I'm building, reading, and thinking about. The technical deep-dives moved to DataTek Software so this place is off the clock.
Writing
Latest from the blog
Fourth Time Through Words of Radiance
Book 5 came out almost two years ago and I still haven't read it. Instead I started the series over from the beginning, for the fourth time. Here's what a re-read actually gets me: the details I've forgotten, the things I only catch knowing what I know now, and the highlights that tell me how much I've changed.
Rules for a Knight
The following are excerpts from <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307962334/" target="_blank">Rules for a Knight</a> by Ethan Hawke.
Pluralsight, Training for Serious Learners
There are few learning platforms that provide quality, on-demand training for such a wide variety of software development and design topics as Pluralsight.
Budgeting ... Simplified
I struggled with budgeting for years and then I found the app and the process that made it all work for me. Introducing YNAB! You Need A Budget!
Projects
Things I've built
Bookshelf
On the shelf
Recently finished books
A very small part of an historical piece of fiction I stumbled upon: the hero goes through a prison. He crosses path with a very secondary character locked behind bars that say to him: "Hero, I envy you to go on adventures while I rot here in prison with a life sentence. I deserved it but now my life is useless, I'll spend it here in this small cell, there's no point to it." Poor man. He can't have a family, accumulate wealth or be useful to his community. The hero then tranquillises him: "Don't worry friend, because even in prison you can still practice and live a virtuous life."