Year of Money | Month 2 | Update #2
Problems from the community with our How Often Do You Think About It? App
Quick version
- The interface needs a lot of improvement.
- Integrate with e-commerce for more value.
- The app does not include anything with price, which has interesting potential to track how much you save.
- Add a feature that nudges removal of items.
Long version
Interface Improvement (Everyone)
Yep.
We are living in the tension of speed and quality (as we talked about last week). Moving forward, we hope to use more tools such as no code development to spend less time building and more time designing. Since we are not making anything earth shattering, there is no need for us to reinvent the wheel every time. Hopefully this…
Year of Money | Month 2 | Update #1
Our problems with our How Often Do You Think About It? App
Preface
A quick reminder to everyone (Jimmy and Neil included):
We are intentionally making minimum viable products. In a conscious effort to prevent us from becoming too dedicated to any one problem and to increase our throughput, we are pushing for basic products that are distilled down to the core elements. With this in mind, we are still figuring out how to make distilled solutions that look simple, not half-baked. As always, this is a journey, and feedback is always appreciated.
The Quick Version
As always, we have beef with our solution. …
Year of Money | Month #2 | The Drop
Our solution to the scary big purchase problem
Introduction
Welcome to month two of Jimmy & Neil Have Problems. We are excited for this month!
As of now, we are keeping the same structure of quick and long version, with each detailing the problem and solution.
The Quick Version gets the special prize and includes the most exciting part, The Drop, in addition to the problem and solution.
The Quick Version
Problem
We are attempting to kill 2 birds with one stone this month.
The first problem we are tackling is:
- It is challenging to make big purchases because they are infrequent, which makes them hard to learn from.
The second problem we…
Yet another shift in my publication’s direction
A while ago I wrote that I was tired of writing and considering a new direction after my loooong, “Idea of the Day” series. Since then, I’ve done a lot of thinking about my next move. I’ve started a few new things that will eventually trickle into the publication, like rewriting my old work (I’m starting from the beginning, so it will take a while).
More relevant for this publication, is the beginning of some collaborative work. I’m not 100% what shape it will take yet. …
One man’s arrogant choice to stop chasing fame
I’ve wanted to be famous for as long as I can remember. Not the “name in lights” kind of famous but the “he’s so smart” kind of famous. I guess you could say I wanted to be King of the Nerds. My silent hope was that one day, people would look back and say they never could have thought like me. They would marvel at the ideas I came up with and hold my words close. My throwaway lines would be written down in a little book and sold by my descendants. …
Year of Money | Month #1 | The Recap
A look back on the last month and a sneak preview of next month
Week 1
We released a Chrome Extension to show people the opportunity cost of online purchases. If you still want to try the chrome extension, you can get it here.
Week 2
Jimmy and Neil wrote up critiques of the extension. From platform to customization, we detailed several problems that the two of us have encountered and our initial thoughts on how to solve them.
Week 3
We showcased a community sourced problem on dealing with ranges in price values. Just as a reminder, we would love to hear your thoughts and comments. …
Lever of the Day #1
How I’m using cold turkey blocker to make the most of my time online
In the past, when trying to figure out my online life, I went the abstinence route. Using Cold Turkey Blocker, a website blocking software, I blocked myself from every site imaginable.
The blocking worked for like a day.
Then I got desperate. I downloaded a web browser that Cold Turkey Blocker can’t touch (Sidekick) because it is so new and resumed roaming Twitter with impunity.
The problem with my abstinence approach is that it never taught me what I needed to know:
How to spend my online time well
It just said online time was bad, which is untrue. Since…
Year of Money | Month 1 | Update #2
Problems from the community with our How Much Does It Cost Chrome extension
Quick Note
In the third week, we plan on profiling community suggestions. Just as a reminder, we would love to hear any comments or suggestions.
Quick Version
One of our first users, Chihee Kim, brought up our Chrome Extension’s struggles with price ranges.
Long version
There are times when websites provide a range of costs. This is not something that we anticipated, so the logic in the extension is a bit clunky.
Pulling the curtain away from the innards, the extension is searching for a numeric value after a dollar sign. …
Idea of the Day #70
Why I stopped writing daily to reread my work
Including today, I’ve written for 70 days (almost) in a row. And as I said in an earlier post, I am tuckered out. I do not want to write another word.
The other day, while writing the aforementioned story, which laid out 3 new topics to tackle, I realized that the problem wasn’t the topic, it was the writing. I’ve simply worn myself out.
So I decided to change course. Instead of writing more, I’m going to read more. Of my own work. …
What I would say to perfect if I weren’t captive to it
In the spirit of anti-perfectionism, I’m publishing this piece with minimal editing. This is basically my first draft — I made some edits at one time but I forget what they were.
The first part of the letter is my letter to perfection, while the last section is a random riff I thought I’d keep in to see what folks thought.
Letter
I’ve known you since I was a child. At first we were good friends. You helped me line up my match box cars in pleasingly perfect rows and won me praise for my immaculate behavior. Your whispers in my…
Jimmy Cerone
I ask tough questions because I'd rather know hard truths than comfortable lies. https://mailchi.mp/e1b0dc1230df/thgispeed
