Marc Menghin's blog

Design Thinking + Lean Startup + Agile Development

2019-01-03T11:14:00.000+01:00

This summs it up pretty well:

Design Thinking, Lean Startup and Agile: What is the difference?

I personally put this all under "Lean Development". Of course stretching that definition a bit especially with the Design Thinking part. But overall a very good approach to good software development.

Why do I think the "Customer is King"-Mentality of some software development companies will create all kinds of ugly failed projects as a side-effects and them blaming the processes and/or developers instead of mismanagement?

Slack slowly dying?

2018-10-09T09:40:00.001+02:00

I have been using Slack a lot in the first half of 2018. Multiple servers, different people, customers, everything. In recent months it looks a lot like slack is slowly dying as activity is far less then it used to be. Some of the servers I participate are already closed down and moved on to other services.

Since I first used slack I really couldn't get comfortable with it. It just has a few things that just don't work like I want them to (e.g marking a server read, handling of servers and users). That is why my company used Discord from the start and not the then "industry standard" slack. Also, all these integrations are nice but I have jet to see a useful usage that people actually use for a longer time.

So I came to the conclusion that slack is dying a slow death, if they don't change some fundamental things.

My new machine is a beast!

2018-08-04T15:35:00.001+02:00

I've been waiting a long time for a new development machine. With founding my own company I've finally been able to allow myself to buy one. There are still a few things missing as I wait for updated Hardware (like a graphics card, hey nVidia hurry up!!). But apart from that it's super fast, perfect for development. All in all I'm quite satisfied with the hardware so far. I'm mostly running Windows 10 Pro but occasionally ArchLinux as well.

Hardware Overview:

Intel Core i7-8700K
Asus TUF Z370-PRO Gaming
G.Skill DDR4 32GB PC 3866 CL18 RAM
Watercooled using a CoolerMaster MasterLiquid Pro 240
In Win 101C Midi-Tower
1TB Samsung 960 PRO SSD
About 25% Overclocked
Dell U2718Q Monitor 27" 4k display
Das Keyboard 4 Professional
Logitech MX Master 2S
Sennheiser PXC 550 for amazing sound

My workplace power machine!

My new company Enaweg

2018-07-31T09:52:00.002+02:00

With February I officially founded my own company! It is called Enaweg and creates software on demand among other things. This has been a busy time, planning for almost two years, reading lots of business stuff, calculating costs, getting enough financing going to start, talking to banks aso.

Also long time no post here! :( A lot has changed since 2013. I married a wonderful woman, become a father twice, first a girl then a boy! Furthermore, I travelled some parts of the world (Cuba, USA, Mexico, Island, Italy, North Germany, England, Ireland, Portugal). And there is even more, like I bought a house with a nice garden and am self-renovating it, almost finished with that! Also got a Surface Pro and bought a new powerful desktop system for work, newest stuff, watercooled. Maybe I find time to post more about some of that stuff. And I'm now converted from using Ubuntu to Arch which is awesome!

Anyways, nice to post again after way to many years, and check out ENAWEG!

The Humble Double Fine Bundle

2013-05-11T12:01:00.001+02:00

And an other great Humble Bundle. The Humble Double Fine Bundle (pay what you want and help charity)

Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition

2013-05-11T11:57:00.000+02:00

I kinda like the XPS 13. Good hardware and looks nice. I just checked the Dell site and found the same with Windows 8. It looks to me like its exactly the same hardware, just different OS. So what's the difference in price then?

The Ubuntu one costs 1049 EUR and has a 50 EUR discount which puts it at 999 EUR. The same one with Windows 8 costs 1169 EUR and has a 120 EUR discount which puts it at a 1049 EUR price-point. So it's 50 EUR cheaper to buy the Ubuntu one. But somehow the Windows version has 70 EUR more discount. Which would make the Ubuntu version 120 EUR cheaper. I can buy a Windows 8 OEM version here for 80 EUR. So without the discounts it would even be cheaper to buy the Ubuntu version and a Windows 8 copy.

Additionally you wouldn't have all the preinstalled crap on your machine. The last two Dell laptops I reinstalled even before booting them once. Anyway I really like the XPS 13. Especially with this shiny full HD display.

Humble Bundle with Android 5

2013-03-13T21:05:00.001+01:00

wonderful new games. Get them before it's too late...

Humble Indie Bundle 7

2012-12-20T19:18:00.001+01:00

new bundle, wohoo :) ...

Ubuntu Powering Wii U Demo Booths?

2012-11-28T18:47:00.001+01:00

Is Ubuntu Powering Wii U Demo Booths? | OMG! Ubuntu!

great! Ubuntu is just everywhere. And in lots of places you wouldn't know it is.

Game performance improvement for Ubuntu

2012-11-28T18:26:00.001+01:00

Losca: Game performance improvement for Ubuntu available for testing

good that this issue is finally/soon resolved. Still waiting for my Steam beta invite. ... but not in a hurry, rather want things to work out of the box. I guess much more stuff like that will be introduced/fixed in the next year or so. Like how Steam pushes things there, will get easier and more straight forward to port other games.

Humble Bundle for Android 4

2012-11-13T23:16:00.001+01:00

late, I know. But here it is. The newest humble bundle :). Still great, still drm free ...

Ubuntu UDS R - Keynote

2012-10-31T21:07:00.001+01:00

like the stage, looking good. Good things to happen in the next cycle but a lot of it on the back side. Which isn't a bad thing at all.

Coder Radio - Jupiter Broadcasting

2012-10-31T09:59:00.000+01:00

The Modest Rockstar | Coder Radio | Jupiter Broadcasting

Coder Radio turns out to be a really good show. Nice to listen to in the morning..

Valve/Steam Linux Beta

2012-10-29T19:38:00.001+01:00

[Phoronix] Apply To Be Part Of The Valve Linux Beta

Valves Linux beta, finally here. Of course it did arrive just as I wasn't anywhere near my computer.

Google Nexus 10

2012-10-29T19:35:00.001+01:00

Nexus 10 available November 13th starting at $399; hands-on photos and video | The Verge: "EASILY THE BEST-FEELING AND BEST-PERFORMING 10-INCH ANDROID TABLET WE'VE SEEN"

sexy, sexy thing that Nexus 10 Tablet. Wonder when I'll be able to buy it over here.

Mono 3.0 is out

2012-10-24T20:52:00.001+02:00

Mono 3.0 is out - Miguel de Icaza

hmm .. so now how do I get that onto my Ubuntu box. Hope this is also soon used within Unity3D.

Team Fortress 2 Is Coming To Linux

2012-10-24T20:47:00.001+02:00

[Phoronix] Ho-Hum: Yes, Team Fortress 2 Is Coming To Linux

more good Steam games is always a good thing :). Hope the beta is still on track for this month ...

Ubuntu 12.10 (Quantal Quetzal) release

2012-10-20T14:41:00.001+02:00

Ubuntu 12.10 (Quantal Quetzal) released!

.. this is the first release in years I didn't have much time or motivation to install prior to release. Ubuntu 12.04 is a great release. And I haven't seen any compelling new feature that makes me switch. My laptop has Ubuntu 12.10 installed now. I'll post my usual findings as I used it for some time.

Open Source Culture: Problem #1

2012-10-20T13:44:00.001+02:00

I like how Canonical decided to be more open about secret projects they work on. At least that they now involve some people outside of Canonical to get feedback is great. I think a lot of problems with the new "Amazon Suggestions" feature could have been avoided like that. Sometimes it just takes an outside perspective to see some problems.

And I don't think it is a problem between Open Source and secret projects. Sometimes this is a much better approach then to be open from the start. It's more about the psychological side than code improvements or testing. Often Projects fail because motivation of the contributors fades away. People just tend to move on as they loose interest.

That's why I really dislike bad comments to some newly released code. It's new, surely it has it's problems, just like anything new has. At least some others seem to share my opinion. I think Jono Bacon put it right on his blog:

The Genesis Of Free Software Projects | jonobacon@home: "when sometime decides to create Free Software either as an individual or as a company, they have the right to create the first iteration of that feature however they choose. Their investment of time, money, or both in building Free Software earns them a right to put together a first cut that meets their needs…this is the very nature of scratching an itch."

Comments like "you should have used X instead!" are just wrong. Especially for things that are open and you get for free. Even more so if the one releasing something didn't event get paid to do so. The only thing these comments do is discouraging someone which cares about free and open software. So people writing such bad things are only discouraging other people to do such tings. You are destroying your own system here.

This is something I still see way too often on blogs. This is really bad for open software ...

The Three Pillars of Nokia Strategy

2012-10-14T00:16:00.001+02:00

Communities Dominate Brands: The Three Pillars of Nokia Strategy - Have All Failed. Why Nokia Must Fire CEO Elop Now

poor Nokia. Shame as they still make great hardware ... should have stayed with MeeGo and the working old strategy.

Galaxy S III Mini

2012-10-11T21:06:00.001+02:00

Samsung officially launches the Galaxy S III Mini with a 4-inch display, 1GHz processor | The Verge

finally someone releases a decently sized phone that looks ok .. can't seem to find a new phone I actually want. All are just too big.

Choice: None

2012-09-30T23:34:00.000+02:00

Right now the only reasonable choice seems to be Unity3D. Developing from Windows instead of my beloved Ubuntu Linux. Shame ... Within Unity3D things are looking good so far .. tbc.

Moai SDK 1.3 released

2012-09-30T23:21:00.001+02:00

New Moai SDK 1.3 release now available | Blog

nice, but how do I develop with this from Linux? I could use Chrome or Android theoretically. Where is native support? Can't seem to find anything ...

Tears of Steel

2012-09-30T22:11:00.001+02:00

really cool new Blender movie ...

XCOM: Enemy Unknown

2012-09-30T10:41:00.001+02:00

Pre-purchase XCOM: Enemy Unknown on Steam

can't wait for the game's release. Looking really good so far...