For some weeks now, I keep a folder in my bookmarks bar named "Learned this week". Whenever I stumble upon something interesting I learn during the week, I save the according page there. Aditionally, I keep a note in Bear for everything I learn that is not savable as a bookmark (i.e. is not a Webpage). Usually on sundays, I comb through that folder and the notes and prepare everything so that I can possibly come back at it later.
I used to do this for myself, in private, but I might as well do it here.

This week is rather short on content, since I dove into React Native for the most part and did not really go much deeper than the documentation and some usual pitfalls. There's two things though:

Why is using “for…in” with array iteration a bad idea?

I tend to forget the right way to loop over an Array / an Object in JavaScript about every 3 to 6 Months. While I was refreshing my memory on the topic, I also stumbled across this question on StackOverflow.

Demystifying Multi-file Searches in Vim and the command line

I've been using vim exclusively for more than two weeks now, and it's going pretty well. When I was pairing with a co-worker on Friday and he told me to do a project-wide search for a string, I had to open Sublime Text for the first time since moving to vim.
In an effort to avoid future embarrassements, I did some research on searching project-wide in vim. I always thought I'd need a plugin like the silver searcher for that, but vim actually provides satisfactory methods by itself.

I suck at traveling. I’m okay in making plans, but then I’ll show up everywhere way too early, be anxious about missing my train/flight all the time and just hate the whole process of traveling.
I especially suck at packing. I tend to take way too many things with me. One time, when I still owned a car, I even took an Xbox and a TV to my parents over Christmas. I take all these things with me because I think they may come in handy at some time. Possibly.
Here’s, for example, what I used to take with me when I was visiting my parents for a few days:

• My iPhone, my iPad, my MacBook and my Kindle. Of course I’ll need my phone. And my MacBook as well, to get some work done. In my free time, I’ll read a book on my kindle. But what if I want to catch up on my Instapaper or RSS feeds? Sure, would work with my phone or laptop, but it’ll be much more convenient with the iPad. I better pack that as well
• A physical book. Yes, I know, I packed the kindle, but I started this book a while ago and the trip might be a good time to finish it.
• My Camera. My parents live in a nice area with lots of nature. I may go out, and I may want to take pictures then. Yes, I already have my phone, but those pictures can’t possibly as good as the ones I’ll take with my SLR. I also better pack some lenses then, just to be safe.
• A spare part of every kind of clothing I already had packed. Because, what happens if my pants get dirty? Or all my shirts? I better bring a backup pair.
• Comfortable clothing. Even if I’m just there for one evening, I may want to have some comfortable clothes for the evening. Sweatpants and a cozy zipper!

There’s a lot of “ifs” and “maybes” in the packing list. At the end of the day, I did not even use half of the things I brought with me.
For a while now, I put some effort into minimalizing my life. Mostly, by getting rid of physical things I don’t need, but also in other areas, like my digital life. So when I traveled to my parents over the holiday a few days ago, I tried to involve that minimalist mindset in my packing as well. Here’s what I went with for a 5 day stay:

• 4x underwear and socks
• 2 Shirts and 2 Sweaters
• My MacBook, my Kindle, my Headphones and the matching rechargers (2 cables)
• My (paper) Notebook
• Bathroom stuff

I used all of the stuff I packed this time and did miss nothing. I even felt better because I did not have to think about what I want to do and what not so much. I already made that decision when I was packing.
Following are some takeaways.

• With having packed less, I was able to travel with just my Backpack where I had to take a weekender and often times also my backpack. This makes traveling as a process more comfortable. I have free hands and do not have to look after so much stuff all the time.
• Cotton sweaters take up loads of space. Even though I’m rolling all my clothes, cotton sweaters take way more space than shirts. That’s just logical, but I did not think about that too much while packing. I’ll probably try to pack more shirts the next time, to save some space.
• I did not use my kindle. Thats mostly due to a new book I was gifted for Christmas and in an effort to minimalize it as soon as possible, I started reading it right away. In general, packing a Kindle instead of a paperback sounds like a good idea, because you can have all the books in the world with you on one device. On the other hand, it adds a new decision. When you have only one book with you, well, its that book that you’re going to read.

With having packed less, I felt way better than the times before, both during the travels and during my stay. In some way, it’s really a nice way to try out minimalist living for a few days. I’m looking forward to also have that feeling of space when I’m at home.

Water taps are great right? You approach them, demand for clean water and (given they are connected to a water pipe) they just give you some. Not too long ago, that was a task that took people half their days. Heck, even today in some countries thats the case.
The design of water taps is more or less the same across all the various models you can buy. Sure, they have subtle changes, but the vast majority of them has some kind of control atop with which you can control the the amount and (in the most cases) temperature of the water.
It never occurred to me to even think about that design. Thats just the way it ever was. I just accepted it as perfect. If it works for so many people across so many countries for such a long time, water taps surely must be a solved problem.

A few days ago, I watched this video about a guy who lives in an old silo with his daughter (which is, by the way, pretty cool). At one point in the video, he demonstrates his water tap, which is controlled with feet. He says, he’s wasting a lot less water this way, and since the house is not connected to the grid, they need to be mindful about the amount of water they use.
And he’s definitely right. When I’m washing my hands, while applying soap, the water is running for a second or two, when it really doesn’t have to be. This might not be a huge amount of water, but it sure will add up over time.

Having foot controls on a water tap seems to be a huge improvement. So why are almost none of the water taps you see controlled by foot? A quick google search did not yield many results. There is one entry on quora that asks this exact question. Some people do have some valid points there.
For example, you cannot control the amount an temperature of water with a basic foot control. While that is true, I’m sure there are some ways to work around this and make such controls possible. Another valid point is that people that cannot use their feet for any reason may not be able to control the tap that way.
It seems like a simple foot control is not the best solution for the problem, but neither is the current design of water taps.

What I’m going for with this post is not to challenge the way water taps are designed today (well, maybe a little), but to just point out how things do not necessarily need to be “right” just because they have always been that way. I may have used water taps as they are today for my entire live, but show me a solution to get fresh water that is just as good and leads to 50% water savings for a reasonable price and you'll most likely have a new customer.