I quit Evernote: why a company shouldn't choose good looks over their core functionality

I used to love Evernote. "Remember everything" is their headline. People talk about "outsourcing your memory" with Evernote. And I did. I made Evernote the hub for most of my work that didn't require documents. I stored everything, from meeting notes and blog post drafts to notes about our cats' health and even kept a shared notebook for our favorite recipes.

One of the things I loved most about Evernote was its ability to keep all my notes synced across multiple devices. Sounds great, doesn't it? Yeah, except things don't "just work" anymore.

---

Note: This is just an archive post. The blog has moved to a new home at blog.ialja.com, where you will also find a copy of the entire blog.

---

When magic happens at Rails Girls Ljubljana

What happens when you fill 2 classrooms and 1 big conference room at Telekom Slovenije with over 70 girls of all ages, who want to build their own web app, and 30 coaches, experienced web developers? No, it's not a rhetorical question, it's a real challenge!

Over a hundred people at the first Rails Girls Ljubljana workshop! Photo by: Katarina Jazbec

Sure, the girls are among the most enthusiastic out of the 586 that signed up for Rails Girls Ljubljana, a free two-day workshop. But most of them have no experience with programming whatsoever. And the coaches sure are all excited to help and hope to see more girls among their ranks, yet most of them have little or no experience with teaching, especially with teaching complete beginners. Even after more than a month of intensive planning, countless emails and meetings, I, as the main organizer, can't help but feel nervous on Friday, December 14, the first day of the first ever Rails Girls Ljubljana. Is anyone even going to show up?

---

Note: This is just an archive post. The blog has moved to a new home at blog.ialja.com, where you will also find a copy of the entire blog.

---

Explaining the web and web programming with Octocat, sushi and fish

One of challenges of organizing Rails Girls Ljubljana was coming up with short lectures that would prepare the girls, absolute beginners, to understand the basic terminology of the web and what they would be working on.

Sure, there are some existing presentations online about what programming is and where Rails fits in the whole story, but I thought beginners could benefit from something a bit more simple, funny and thus memorable. Which is why I borrowed GitHub's mascot Octocat and sent him off on a journey to find sushi without fish on the web. Wait, what?

---

Note: This is just an archive post. The blog has moved to a new home at blog.ialja.com, where you will also find a copy of the entire blog.

---

Why I write at least 750 words a day

One year ago I first came across this strange website, 750words.com (thanks, Swizec!). Simple concept, simple instructions. Write 750 words. And come back again tomorrow, write at least 750 more. Rinse and repeat. 750 words. Each and every day in the past year. Now a total of 356,548 words, 367 days.

---

Note: This is just an archive post. The blog has moved to a new home at blog.ialja.com, where you will also find a copy of the entire blog.

---

Forget email, send me a raven!

The Game of Thrones TV series gave me a much needed kick in the ass to start reading the A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin. Again. I actually read the first book or two a couple years ago, around the time when the fourth book was coming out. Even though I found the story amazing, I somehow never got to the other books.

Watching the TV show did however remind me of the books, and considering the fact that I recently plowed through all three Fifty Shades books without punching something or somebody, I decided it was about time I actually read something brilliantly written for a change.

And I've been completely immersed in the series for a while now. It's probably one of the only reasons why I still voluntarily put up with the awful public transit in Ljubljana - I found out that I can read a lot on my iPhone while waiting for the bus or riding the bus in peak hours. Which is probably why you always find me at the bus stations minutes before the bus is scheduled to arrive. More time waiting for the bus = more reading time.

One of the reasons why I love the series so much is the fact that it gives you a very realistic feel of the world. It's crude, it's real, and it's full of complex characters that actually feel human. There's nothing romantic about Martin's knights. They bleed like everyone else, drink like most, and smell rotten after a week in prison. On the other hand, I can’t really say I know Aragorn that well.

And there is a particularly interest aspect in the books for me: the slowness of communication and how utterly unaware most characters are about what's going on in the rest of the world. They don't have Twitter to cover the latest rumors about the dragons from across the sea. They don't have paparazzi following queen Cersei around King's Landing. They can't make threats to distant foes in a blink of an eye through SMS or email. They don't have people making "King Joffrey totally looks like his uncle Jaime" posters on meme sites.

---

Note: This is just an archive post. The blog has moved to a new home at blog.ialja.com, where you will also find a copy of the entire blog.

---

Instagram and the new renaissance of visual communication

There's a big shift happening in the world of consumer applications. The web is finally becoming a true visual medium. We are finally leaving the limitations of the early, text-based web and computers and embracing visual creative thinking.

Want some proof? Instagram. Photo sharing mobile app with artsy filters sold to Facebook for 1 billion USD. 50 million users, popular among teens. Pinterest. One of the fastest growing social web sites, centered around visual bookmarking, easily beats Google+ on engagement. Draw Something. Insanely popular mobile game, making millions of users finger paint with a childlike joy. Something is going on.

---

Note: This is just an archive post. The blog has moved to a new home at blog.ialja.com, where you will also find a copy of the entire blog.

---

I'm in love with Pinterest (and why that matters)

I've got a confession to make. There is a new website that is capturing an increasing number of spare minutes in life. It provides an endless stream of visual inspiration, and every time you use it, you can't help but feel a bit more creative. Yep, I'm in love with Pinterest, the latest over-hyped tech media darling.

I did try to resist it, I swear. When I saw the first blog posts about it, I thought I didn't need a service like that. I tried to convince myself that Tumblr and Instagram were enough for me. And I didn't want to fall into the whole "women love Pinterest" stereotype. But then, as the hype kept growing, I gave in to my curiosity and a professional dedication to trying out all the new cool social services in town. And I haven't looked back ever since. Why is that, and why does it matter?

---

Note: This is just an archive post. The blog has moved to a new home at blog.ialja.com, where you will also find a copy of the entire blog.

---