Jobs: the story of Dmitry honest, popular blogger, developer of many useful programs

Today our guest is Dmitry honest with very extensive story about how it works. Dmitry - the founder of a small company that produces a hell of useful software for Mac and Windows. In fact, people like him are called "shareware" and if you belong to this profession or want to do, the story will be on working methods to guide you, and to all the programs that necessary.

Also, we often reproach that our guests almost all Mac-users. Dima - too, but he has a very complicated relationship Macs that will delight Mac haters and fans zastyaavyat think that the "poppies are not the same." Dima walked and GTD, neither add nor take away :)

Enjoy reading!

What do you do in your work?

I come up and write the program, draw graphics, making the site have a blog, do marketing, answering letters in support of the Coding Robots. I also have a blog in Russian Sellme.ru.

How does your workplace?

Something that is outside of a laptop screen in little interest to me. I rarely find myself in the same position: that sit at the table or on a chair or on the chair, then another chair without a table, I lay on the couch, then sit on the balcony. The toilet also work, yes. In the summer occasionally I am leaving to work in the cafe, and several trips to the car somewhere far away in the forest.

What hardware are using?

Two years ago I wrote an article "Why do I have three poppy”. Briefly, because one of them is always in repair. Now I have four poppies, and three of them are broken, and one does not suit (it is on PowerPC).

I will not use the platform Lifehacker, to complain about the quality of Apple, but briefly explain. Now I have a new little white plastic unibody MacBook (2.26 GHz Core 2 Duo, 4 GB DDR3, 250 GB HDD). After three months of using it waits for the replacement of the motherboard and display. He is not yet dead, so I'm on it now and I work. The cabinet is MacBook Air, which is waiting for December replacement screen loop - they have collapsed for the second time, and this is the second Air. Still have an old 17 "MacBook Pro, which has a display of some debris wound. Actually, there was originally a display It not intended for anything other than the EGA graphics. Ancient iBook is not suitable, because the Mac OS X 10.6 on PowerPC there.

So, when it's the year of Linux on the desktop when I stop to program for Mac, MacBook, and when this breaks down again, I'll move to another technique.

At home I have two Wi-Fi router: one - D-Link for ADSL-provider (7 megabits), the other - Asus for Ethernet-provider (15 megabits). Still have AirPort Express, but it does not support VPN, so is not used.

Phone - iPhone 3G. Previous was a first-generation iPhone, but it broke when he fell on the tiled floor (the lower part of the screen is no longer to feel the touch, which is very funny - imagine me, trying to unlock the phone and did not understand what was happening: include turned-off, because the little thing that you need to do is pull the top, but to unlock - in any way). iPhone chosen because there was nothing better, and would like to program for it. Once Apple action in relation to the developer to program for it perehotelos.

There are Apple keyboard (transparent, not aluminum) and Mighty Mouse. What's the first that the second - the horror. Lie idle, only sometimes use the mouse when you need to draw something that the trackpad does not work (cheap tablet as there is, but it was never used).

What software use?

The three main programs: a word processor, browser and Xcode.

With a text editor, I still have not decided: I use it TextMatethen Emacsthen MacVimThen vim in console, then gedit. Conveniently, the text fields in Cocoa imaksovskie take some key (e.g., C-a, C-e to go to the beginning or end of the line).: wq

Browser I recently is Chrome, or before that, I used Safari. There are Firefox, which sometimes use for Firebug, YSlow and Page Speed, but in Chrome / Safari Web Inspector has already become quite tough to replace them.

The use Chrome extensions FlashBlock, Docs PDF / PowerPoint Viewer, Send using Gmail (no button) and modified Keyboard navigation for Chrome. The latter is very like - instead of targeting the trackpad on the links, I press "/", putting a pair of letters of reference on which I look and I press "Return". The disadvantage of the original extension that he is looking at all of the links on the page and scroll the screen, although it is obvious that the user wants to "click" the link you see, so I changed it a little bit - my version seeks only visible on the screen links. I I posted the source codeBut not published in the Extensions Gallery... In fact, specifically for Lifehacker readers just He published it :-) There is also a video on how it works.

Xcode. A good IDE for Cocoa-programming. I use the "Low Key" color scheme and Google release pluginThat removes extra spaces when saving files.

Since ancient times, I use Gmail, but only recently switched from Mail on its web-based interface. Trade - it is very convenient.

In Gmail Labs I have included: Advanced IMAP Controls (when I used Mail, was very helpful), Create a Document, Custom Date Formats, Flickr previews, Google Docs previews, Google Voice player, Navbar drag and drop, Picasa previews, Quote select text, Signature tweaks, SMS in Chat, Title Tweaks (transfers "Gmail" in the end "Gmail header - Inbox (10) - [email protected] ").

When processing the mail, I follow the principle Inbox-nearly-Zero. Something that needs to be answered immediately answer, and archive. Where you have to think a little, I leave to lie in the inbox. Where you have time to think or expect something, I put the label "Later" and archived. Sometimes "nemnozhno think" is delayed for a long time and accumulate in the incoming 10-15 letters. I process them about once a week (or forget to say).

By Gmail is moved to mainly using the keyboard (press "?" If you do not know how). Generally, guglovtsy fellows that do such things: I use a keyboard and Google Reader, and Google in the search (for this you need to turn on an experiment Keyboard shortcuts). Without the latter, I do not represent the search: how to stick his arm into links if faster to navigate through search results using j / k, and open the right of Return?

A year to support Mémoires Cathodique and users, I use FogBugz (free account for students and start-upsHehe), but do not advise anyone to do it, and soon going to get rid of it and move on to Gmail. My colleague and to support BlogJet ScreenSketcher uses Gmail users and content.
Mail us so arranged: codingrobots.com runs on Google Apps. For each program, we have a separate address support. Mail BlogJet and ScreenSketcher is login colleagues, post Mémoires Cathodique and forwards to my FogBugz, the remaining number of addresses Forward to my Gmail. At support @ filters are: If a message contains a word or BlogJet ScreenSketcher, then forwards a letter to a colleague, others leave me. Sometimes there are schools (eg, in support BlogJet write about Mémoires) and we will mail the letters to each other, but this rarely happens. Still better than FogBugz.

Bug tracker I have almost none. If someone finds a bug in the program, I try to correct it immediately. Crash reports pile up in a separate label in Gmail and look through it if the same fall is greater than two, then it's some kind of bug program, which must be corrected. If someone requires a feature, I will not write, but simply memorize. Because if this feature would often ask, I did not forget and will. And if rarely - then she does not need. At first I was worried about it and tried all sorts of bagtrekilki, but because learned that 37signals are doing the same, and calmed down. Each one of our program developer, therefore the main function of bagtrekilok - change responsibility for the bugs ( "you wrote this garbage, you and correct" - "No, blame your code") - we do not needed.

We turn to the arts. To draw all sorts of small things (buttons, small icons, graphics for the site) I use Acorn and sometimes GimpWhen Acorn'e lacks functionality.

Vector graphics (icons for programs, logos, MacBook) Draw in Inkscape. Of course, I was not an artist, but Inkscape I really like, despite the disadvantage that it is that Gimp working on X11 and do not look native on Mac.

I spend a lot of time in the terminal. I've got a little bit with a normal bash changes in the configuration: Green $, display the current directory in a row and, if the directory is a git-repository, displaying current brunch. Plus aliases at ls: "la" to display hidden files and "ll" for a detailed list.

To facilitate the transition of the directories use autojump. Handy thing she remembers where I often go to, and then instead of cd ~ / Projects / cathodique can type only part of the directory names: j cat, to go into it.

To install the different packages I used to use MacPorts, but he always set your library (to put some small change, shakes a bunch of different versions of perl, etc.), so I moved on homebrew - he uses the library, which is already in Mac OS X.

Sometimes, instead of rm, use trash - it does not actually delete the files but places them to the trash. Just in case.

Git - my favorite version control system. I started to CVS, then switched to Subversion (all sludge), then at the Git, Mercurial's later on, later on Fossil and returned to Git. And somewhere in between I tried Bazaar. Mercurial and Fossil have liked me, but Git is still more. In addition, GitHub just taxis. In addition to the console interface, I sometimes use GitX for easy browsing history.

Their programs, I also use :-) In Cathodique I am looking for and watch videos, and Mémoires I keep a small note. Last prevents the use of the full extent that I have it always is in debug mode, and how it is impossible to focus on writing something, you always want something to scratch in the most program.

Notes to the blogs I write in the program MarsEdit (LRA good replacement BlogJet on the Mac, especially with the third version, which recently came out :-).

The Twitter account I have four, so to use the web interface is not possible. I use Tweetie (A free version with ads).

IN VirtualBox I have 6 virtual machines: Windows XP, Ubuntu 9.10, Ubuntu 10.04, PC-BSD, Mint Linux, Arch Linux. Windows need to test our Windows-based programs and running a reseller control panel, and Linux and BSD - for experiments. VirtualBox - a normal program, but with each update here and there there is a bug. But free (though, Oracle probably already making plans for the money with eminent domain users). I used to use the Parallels, but dropped as soon as it became too much brake on the MacBook Pro. I do not know why everyone else works fine.

To upload files use two programs: Cyberduck and Interarchy. I enjoyed only Interarchy, but it does not support Rackspace Cloud Files, which we host program distributions.

In addition to Gmail web using Google Reader, Docs, Calendar, GitHub, Flickr, and Picasa Web.

Calendar I use mainly for recording past events, which then will have to remember, to calculate how much time has passed, as well as to see when the next race Formula 1. Some events and things that need to be assigned to a certain time I have almost no. List to do I do not use: I work in the default mode of unreliability. It is necessary to buy batteries? Forgotten, well, okay, I buy the next time. It is necessary to reply to the letter? If I forget, I kicked. Of course, I'm not so often forget something, and I'm not really nihilists. But the point "Getting Things Done" - written down on paper and throw it, and head, and then periodically review and remember - me does not work, because when I practice the GTD, I think only about GTD. 5 pieces already programs to create to-do lists, write unfinished. enough :)

Even Google Analytics uses almost every day: watching the traffic and prick.

IM not use it because I do not like to be distracted. Worth Skype, which sometimes comes in handy, plus when someone asks for something quick to discuss, turn on Google Talk in Gmail.

In Mac OS X Dock I to the right, and recently I began to hide it. To move the program windows and use keyboard shortcuts. To run programs - Spotlight (previously used Quicksilver and Google Quick Launch Box).

Desk is used for temporary files that are somewhere then I drag or delete. Desktop picture sometimes changes in mood, but usually it's just a gray (# 2D2D2D). Not a bad mood, and for aesthetics.

Spaces do not use - I breaks out moving to and fro. It is much easier to hide a program (Cmd + H) or all programs except the current one (Cmd + Opt + H).

Is there a place in your paper work?

Hardly ever. I have a notebook, but I go there very rarely write. Sometimes I draw sketches of the interface.

Is there a dream configuration?

I want my current computer has worked at least 10 years. Are satisfied, is it possible that a couple of years to change the traditional hard drive to an SSD and DVD-drive throw.

Really want a good operating system, because no Mac OS X, or the Linux, or even more so Windows does not suit me. I feel that you can work much more efficiently, but that's how it is - I do not know :-)