We use ws(https://github.com/websockets/ws) in prod. Clean, fast, and simple. Plus it supports browsify using native implementation but wraps it to fit the server side api.
It is a newer pattern so I would expect there is friction. The problem is if there is any serious amount of depth to your app you need to overflow the access to the other features somehow and this is, in my opinion, a good way to do it. I think that given enough time and it becomes a pretty common pattern the pain of discoverability that the article brings up will not be an issue. Most of the arguments brought up in the article are only valid in apps with focused small sets of functionality. I think the move Google did with the Google+ app is a good(bad) example, they got rid of the hamburger menu in favor of a combination of several menus (bottom menu with a expanded menu at the top). I find trying to find things in this new app painful. The hamburger menu excels as a landing point or a dashboard access to functionality.
The book The Man Who Lied to His Laptop [1] shows that if you asked a person if they view a computer they have iteration with it view it as a person to person engagement they would say no, experiments show otherwise. There is a base emotional impact from these things that people don't obviously notice. Sure the user would not think that message seems impolite they will notice it at least subconsciously. A good example is when rating a piece of software via a electronic survey the group that took the survey on the same computer they used the software on consistently gave it better scores. Its a very interesting book.
Lets not forget Chester and Coatesville I don't know if every area has these sink holes or its just the NE's reliance on those lost jobs and the population density that make these places occur.
If he really is bipolar (manic-depressive is an outdated term that most of us don't use) this sounds like a very manic period after coming out of depression. The truth is somewhere in the middle. If he sustains this for more than 6 months it might be sustainable, otherwise his mania will run out and the depression will set back in.
Samsung's processors are not powerful enough for LTE, at least that has been the reasoning in the past. I'm guessing the new lower power Octa cant push LTE, and being that LTE is still pretty much a US thing we get different SoC.
It's cleaned up, but looks like its missing something. I waited for a while after the page loaded expecting more style/design. I would think they could come up with something a little more exciting.
For startup projects I love Mongo because we can get a product up and running very quickly. However I always feared in the back of my head we would have to move off of it if our service got too big. Maybe it is all the complaints from a small portion of heavy users. Regardless, big updates like this are going a long way to help make me feel content on continuing to use it as we grow.
NFC only adds a little convenience to the setup, but you can call Tasker from the NFC tags. So when doing repetitive things it makes it easier. The problem as I see it is NFC security. You need to unlock the phone to turn NFC scanning on, but at that point why not use a shortcut. There needs to be a way to differentiate innocuous tags and critical tags in Android so you can scan with the lock screen up and execute these simple tasks.
I created a Tasker that when I scan my key fob will:
-Get GPS coordinates
-Get corresponding address
-SMS my wife that I am at that address and leaving along with a Google maps link