https://hansspaans.nl/Hans Spaans - Posts by Hans Spaans2024-03-16T09:58:51.614864+00:00ABloghttps://hansspaans.nl/blog/2023/reading-books-for-work-and-pleasure.htmlReading books for work and pleasure2023-06-01T00:00:00+00:00Hans Spaans<section id="reading-books-for-work-and-pleasure">
<p>In my childhood I basically lived in the library for comics and what can be considered now as business kind of books. The storytelling books never attracted me to seek them out actively and even today most are recommendations from others or an algorithm telling me that I may like those as well.</p>
<p>It wasn’t until I started to join the workforce that storytelling books really took off as they became available as usenet download and I could read them on my commute to work, or better said listen to them during my commute as they were audiobook downloads. It was a solid 10 to 15 hours every week listening to an audiobook instead of the radio and wasting my hours.</p>
<p>As YouTuber <a class="reference external" href="https://www.youtube.com/@CGPGrey">CGP Grey</a> said in an earlier episode of the <a class="reference external" href="https://www.youtube.com/@cortexFM">Cortex Podcast</a> that this is a method to tell your brain about all kinds of situations in the hope it will remember it when the time is there. If it is true time will tell, but in a lot of cases it will also shape your view on certain subjects as you gain more knowledge.</p>
<p>With this in mind I still buy audiobooks and physical books to gain more knowledge and insight. I even have my wishlist filled with some retailers to buy them when there is a discount and you don’t want to break the bank. Another option are public libraries which are great for storybooks and business books that have earned their place. For more recent IT books buying may be the better option unless you can wait and you know your local library will have them.</p>
<p>Another benefit of buying those books is that you can sit down and read them, but also to make notes for later and easily go back. Something that doesn’t work for me correctly with just a book in PDF or ePub format, but Google Play Books makes it easier nowaday for you to make remarks and highlight sections that also are visible on Google Drive.</p>
<p>Especially the changes that are coming with <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing">cloud</a>, <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_data">big data</a>, and <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_trust_security_model">zero-trust</a> require that we start thinking differently about the whole IT-landscape. Taking your time to explore and think about it takes time and I would recommend taking that time now that you have it. It also gives you the freedom to take your chances with another position or company, or even start your own. Always keep exploring, reading, and learning.</p>
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In my childhood I basically lived in the library for comics and what can be considered now as business kind of books. The storytelling books never attracted me to seek them out actively and even today most are recommendations from others or an algorithm telling me that I may like those as well.It wasn’t until I started to join the workforce that storytelling books really took off as they became available as usenet download and I could read them on my commute to work, or better said listen to them during my commute as they were audiobook downloads. It was a solid 10 to 15 hours every week listening to an audiobook instead of the radio and wasting my hours.2023-06-01T00:00:00+00:00https://hansspaans.nl/blog/2023/why-start-blogging.htmlWhy start blogging2023-05-01T00:00:00+00:00Hans Spaans<section id="why-start-blogging">
<p>Learning new skills and improving existing skills was and still is important, and especially communication and planning skills are in higher demand than ever. These skills aren’t learned and mastered overnights which also came to light in conversations with different software and infrastructure engineers as they were looking on where and how to make their next step in their career.</p>
<p>One option is to make it part of a development plan to get training and coaching, but this requires that you already have a clear goal. A second option is to start developing yourself to the point where you know what you want or others see a path for you. This seems to be a daunting task but in the current day and age may be easier than ever before.</p>
<p>Inexpensive courses on any topic can be found on known video streaming sites for free or for about 10 USD on some online-education sites. These courses can teach you anything from coding in Python or Java to become a better technical writer or making presentations to look fantastic. The online thing these courses can’t teach you is to master the course material as that takes time and some say up to 10.000 hours, but at least you should apply the knowledge to really understand it.</p>
<p>Starting a blog can help you with this as it teaches you so many things like writing understandable articles for strangers to read and finding out what really works in the end. If done correctly and long enough this can also help to become an authority in your field and help others to make better decisions. While blogging has its ups and downs over the years, a lot of useful blogs exist from how to do data governance, running your business, optimizing code, or explaining concepts in a simple form.</p>
<p>While I’m already writing for other sites, I’m following my own advice to blog as well from a more personal point of view. The other writings are especially more technical instead of telling a story. Lets see how this journey goes and if I can keep up with my own advice but also it inspires others to join this journey on better expressing yourself in writing.</p>
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Learning new skills and improving existing skills was and still is important, and especially communication and planning skills are in higher demand than ever. These skills aren’t learned and mastered overnights which also came to light in conversations with different software and infrastructure engineers as they were looking on where and how to make their next step in their career.One option is to make it part of a development plan to get training and coaching, but this requires that you already have a clear goal. A second option is to start developing yourself to the point where you know what you want or others see a path for you. This seems to be a daunting task but in the current day and age may be easier than ever before.2023-05-01T00:00:00+00:00https://hansspaans.nl/blog/2023/first-post.htmlFirst blog post2023-04-01T00:00:00+00:00Hans Spaans<section id="first-blog-post">
<p>This is my first blog post to test Sphinx with Ablog. There isn’t a lot here right now, come check back later.</p>
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This is my first blog post to test Sphinx with Ablog. There isn’t a lot here right now, come check back later.2023-04-01T00:00:00+00:00