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Full steam ahead - weeknotes #32

For the first time since I was awarded the grant, I got to spend several consecutive days on the Digital Evidence Toolkit. I liked this pace: it felt like this wasn’t a hobby, but my job proper. I hope this continues through the spring and summer.

It currently feels like I am in a jungle, surrounded by tall grass and trees. I’ve got my imaginary machete and am just whacking trying to find a way through.

This week, I whacked at ledger ideas and offerings:

Both systems are built on this idea that the log is the database – not the documents it contains or their relationships between one another.

Prototype Fund pays for two days of professional coaching (to pick from a set of companies they chose), on a variety of topics from security to user-centered design.

I figured I shouldn’t pass on an opportunity to do something new, but I really didn’t know what to expect. I ended up having a short intro call with a product strategist at Zero360 – and I found it to be a very interesting experience.

It was kind of like seeing a shrink: I started talking to them to explain why I wasn’t sure about this appointment, what my project was about, what I thought my challenges were at the moment, etc.

On the fly, I had to order my thoughts a little better, so as to communicate them to someone else (duh, that’s what language is about).

The person I spoke to didn’t even say a great deal, but I thanked them for “a helpful conversation,” and I thought it was a pretty funny experience.

We’ll do this again.

It’s also the first time of my new career, i.e. my solo freelance one, that I look for external paid help. I’ve hinted at this in previous weeknotes but am more and more serious about it.

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