2013 Year in Review

I’ve just built 2013 Year in Review which summarizes my 2013 in 10 lessons & memorable moments. I’m quite satisfied with that (time & efforts spent to build & write that)

Here’s a quick list of things I proudly did in 2013:

– Get my heart broken

– Convert my cash flow from paper to sys (G. Spreadsheet) – much more cleaner & comprehensive

– Buy a great membership for the first time

– Have a lean team

– Travel a lot lot

– Have a new close friend

– Donate

(to be updated)

Rexy.me goes minimalist

I started revamping the site as early as Sep 13. After so many delays, it’s first launched at Nov 17 & then took me roughly 2 weeks to complete all the makeover. Alright, let me go through some of the major changes in this latest, minimalist design.

What’s new?

To begin with, font size is probably the most striking difference. I’ve increased the base font size from 16 to roughly 20px (1,25rem). The left side animated line which makes use of HTML5 canvas is another highlight. It’s absolutely a fun replacement for the navigation line “flop” which was somewhat minimal and creative but didn’t seem to pass the usability test in the last design ;( The search and footer are both removed as part of a cleaner, more minimalist theme.

In the blog home page, there is no more page pagination – meaning there is only 1 page now featuring current month’s best moments (I create it for me not only to save my good moments but also to be grateful for everyday I have – which I shouldn’t let it pass wastefully), 3 latest posts & the Best of Rexy. Archive page is used in favour of the unnecessarily long blog page pagination.  As you may notice, the page is completely redesigned (partially based on Paul Irish’s if I’m not wrong). One of my favourite new design!

One of my favorite new function is the so-called magic dot button which is always flashy after a few seconds and will lead you to a random old post of mine upon click. I steal the idea from my friend’ tumblr blog, which I find it very useful in such a way that I’m now able to read my old posts randomly. This is also where the small & hidden navigation is located.

There is a header banner at the top in each post just before the title which now actually consists of a link to facilitate sharing (testing). Inside the content, blockquote & links are changed dramatically. The post footer is also vastly changed to an awesome and minimalist way. The original date of publish comes first followed by the latest modified time if applicable then there is my nickname, post’s categories & tags & lastly <3 love it –  a personal “facebook likes”.

Another feature worth mentioning is the brand new 404 page – which bases on my fun song & animation. Click here to see it in action 😛

Admin-wise, there is no more wp annoying “top fixed” admin bar. Post edit is now still conveniently at each post’s footer.

Design makes what is complex feel simpler, and makes what is simpler feel richer — John Maeda

Last but not least, this design is responsive – meaning it would work well in various devices no matter it’s desktops, tablets or mobiles.

What else?

Search which is deemed unnecessary for a personal blog is removed. So do the comments – bad news for spammers. Sometimes comments serve good purposes but usually it’s a bad thing to have. It’s only closed by default not completely removed. I do leave it open for some posts.

This launch also marks a new milestone where What I wish I had done has topped Money won’t make you rich to be the number one article in Rexy. It’s justified by growing number of regrets of people who have lived more than two third of their lives.

Unlike the last 2 major revamps, I think this minimalist theme will last long – much longer than its predecessors. For me, this version is absolutely stable (framework-free, styling-free), minimal & overall fantastic – my most enjoyable design thus far!

Colophon

Version 2.0 – minimalist
Built on WordPress. Make use of HTML5. jQuery. CSS3. SASS.

ps: I’m gonna release this  rexy theme – standalone version – for free. Will try my best to release it asap. As of now, it’s still a child them with minimal dependence on its parent’s

Freedom in Discipline

Freedom

We should be free from any taboos, brainwashing and propaganda.
We should have the rights to talk, to learn & to express our opinions…

We were born under various environments & conditions but have the same abilities.
We have freedom to choose!

Discipline

Without discipline, freedom and rights would likely be used arbitrarily. Guidelines & penalties should be in place when necessary.
Everyone should have their own principles and stick with it.

But…

We’re still human after all. We aren’t robots. We have emotion & feelings. So…

We shouldn’t follow instructions, requirements, etc. blindly.
We should listen to advices but then make our own decisions.
We should live the life we wanna live not the one we’re expected to.

You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough. – Mae West

We are all different by nature. So don’t try to act and live the same way as others.

Quick Fixes

Quickfix is a fast, dirty & temporary solution or workaround to a complicated problem. They’re generally easier, less costly to implement and faster to get results. Because of their short-term advantages especially in such fast-paced work environment nowadays, they’re often times favorable and the person who do those quick fixes is usually praised as “clever”.

Fix the root not the roof!

Unfortunately, these quick fixes have too many downsides. They’re temporary, create dependencies and don’t mean to last. Most importantly, they fail to address the underlying problems. It’s like giving fishers a life vest so that he doesn’t die at sea today without teaching him how to swim.

Update on Dec 31, 2014: In Vietnam, they want to have buses specifically for women to avoid sexual molest. Sure, it certainly would help a lot of women avoid sexual abuses. But the root problem is apparently not the men or the sexual abusing acts themselves; it’s the education, the laws, etc. These buses should only be used as simply a temporary solution while they popularize sexual education and increase the abuse penalties, etc. It could never be a real & permanent solution.

You can’t solve a problem by avoiding it. Face it instead!

Worst still, a quick fix might solve or offer a workaround to a (minor) problem but in return could cause potentially bigger problems to be solved.

Quick fixes are particularly popular in the world of programmers where they often have to write some quick fix codes to keep their programs working.

For example, MVC is a good old programming design which separates Model (database) from Controllers (does the name already tells it all?) and Views (display). It means you’ve gotta design your database on Model, do the logic on Controllers and display the results on View. However, sometimes some `clever` programmers want to fix a logic issue directly on the View. They may somehow manage to fix that problem but it will leaves its team mates facing serious consequences in the near future.

Quick fixes are a damaging approach. They are for cleverly lazy people.

Trang & Ngọc

Ngọc nào mà Ngọc chẳng sáng
Trăng nào mà Trăng* chẳng tự ngắm mình!
Đẹp là đẹp thế đó đấy,
như Trang như Ngọc như Hiền như Chi.

12.30am dec 02

Đẹp đến thế nào rồi nhìn hoài cũng chán, cũng biết là vậy, nhưng vẫn cứ phải nhìn!

* sun dec 01

December 2013 Highlight

Ikea – Unwrap Xmas

It’s one of my biggest projects this year. It’s lauched today. Just jot down some of its features & what I’ve learned:

• Responsive mobile first
• Tree Animation
• Grid boxes – enlarging for today box
• Email share
• …

—-

• GA Event tracking
• Facebook share -> use lint tool (og:: meta tags alone will do) || share URL(!!)
• Google share -> auto fetch
• Weird characters in email phpmailer

$mail->CharSet = 'UTF-8';