Friday, July 26, 2024

Friday Links 24-22

Library with seating area in front

This week, I can recommend the long read about the Stream Deck, the one about books, and the discovery about a 55 year old bug in a game.

Last week, my automation for these failed, so you have to endure twice as many links today.

I also said that I wouldn't post depressing news any more. I am sorry, but the climate crisis and pollution made me do it, so it is your fault really.

Leadership

Gossip, Rumors, and Lies - About staff meetings.

3 reasons to stop hating one-on-one meetings - "After all, what’s a manager’s job? To get results and to grow people."

Developing domain expertise: get your hands dirty. - interesting approaches for different companies. Using the product, and shadowing customer support, seem to be good approaches. 

No More Mandatory - "By making something mandatory, you’re taking a rip at my autonomy."

The SECRET To Improve Developer Productivity Is... Being HAPPY?  [YouTube] - surprise! The mentioning of The Mythical Man-Month was unexpected. "Job satisfaction is the no.1 predictor of organizational performance"

Work

The Data Is In: Return-to-Office Mandates Aren’t Worth the Talent Risks - I see many advantages of offices, but this is the one you should care about.

Engineering

Open Source AI Is the Path Forward - is it really open source?

Switzerland now requires all government software to be open source - the real open source. "public money, public code"

How to use the new counted_by attribute in C (and Linux) - you look away for a decade and everything changes. This appears to be quite useful for safety. 

How I Found A 55 Year Old Bug In The First Lunar Lander Game - nice detective work.

Environment 

Urban air pollution and time losses: Evidence from cyclists in London [Paper] - increase in pollution reduces cycling speed. Or: clean cities to go (a bit) faster.

Kew Gardens prepares for climate change tree loss - this is a well-maintained park, now think about all the trees.

PFAS widely added to US pesticides despite EPA denial, study finds - thank you, America!

Sick leaves: tea growers’ climate misery leads to jump in UK prices - this should mobilise the Brits, right? 

Ireland’s datacentres overtake electricity use of all urban homes combined - thank you, Ireland!

Sunday was world’s hottest ever recorded day, data suggests - some of these links could be related. 

Five protesters and one police officer hurt in French reservoir demonstration - the water wars part #113.

Data centers draining resources in water-stressed communities - "Data centers are not a renewable resource."

The band that doesn't want you to drive to their concerts - artists who care about sustainability. 

Microsoft and Google's electricity consumption surpasses the power usage of over 100 countries - no comment.

Urbanism

The Problem with Cities & The Urban Doom Loop Could Still Happen

"To truly recover, cities must diversify their economic base, streamline the construction and conversion of new housing and mixed-use neighborhoods, enhance public services, and double down on what makes urban life attractive in its own right — not just as an employment destination."

Putting design first: six social housing projects from around the world - annoyingly, Denmark is doing it the best again. 

BikeBus Summit ‘24 - all a bit different, all good. 

Cycling your commute can lower risk of death by 47%, as long as you aren't hit by a driver - roll the dice.

Stuttgart's Urban Rack Railway [YouTube] - if you like trams & co.

The qualities of a great bike city aren't what I expected [YouTube] - cities with higher density help, so do politics and vibes. 

Carspiracy - You’ll Never See The World The Same Way Again [YouTube] - sadly, GCN is preaching to the choir.

Random Books

No one buys books - and most books don't earn anything.

Decoding Gen-Z slang and grammar pet peeves with linguist Anne Curzan [Podcast] - I am going to start using "a couple" as meaning "a few" again! Who is with me? 

The Famous Computer Cafe 1985-07-12 Joel Berez (Infocom) and Jack Anderson (Young Astronauts) [Podcast] - a bit about Infocom. 

VNC Resolver - peek into someone's VNC.

'Not harmful to health': Korea's Buldak spicy noodles return to shelves as Denmark reverses recall  - Koreans are still wondering what is going on. 

'Superlubricious' coating radically drops friction between metal parts - is it just me, or is everybody thinking bicycle gears? 

Scared [Comic] - trust the pros. 

[Essay] The Breaking of a Social Contract, or Why I am Switching to Copyleft Licensing - good thinking about the decision. 

Munich, home of the Oktoberfest, to open alcohol-free beer garden - "noting that while there were patrons who could drink 10 beers in a night, few would order 10 fruit juices." someone tell them about non-alcoholic beer. 

How the Stream Deck rose from the ashes of a legendary keyboard - cool story.

Hackers Steal Text and Call Records of ‘Nearly All’ AT&T Customers - snowflake leak.

Friday Links Disclaimer
Inclusion of links does not imply that I agree with the content of linked articles or podcasts. I am just interested in all kinds of perspectives. If you follow the link posts over time, you might notice common themes, though.
More about the links in a separate post: About Friday Links.

Friday, July 12, 2024

Friday Links 24-21

Octopus in aquarium
Good news for the environment. 

I enjoyed reading the PySkyWiFi hack! This happens when engineers are bored.

Engineering

Just Use Postgres for Everything - I have opinions …

PySkyWiFi: completely free, unbelievably stupid wi-fi on long-haul flights - how many programmers have thought about hacking the Wi-Fi in planes? All of them! 

Microservices [YouTube] - funny, also use better names for your stuff!

PagerDuty Incident Response - looking at this at the moment..

Work

A growing body of data is debunking myths about remote work

Environment 

Amazon meets 100% renewable energy goal 7 years early - maybe Google should take notice.

Energy boss backs lower bills for those near wind farms - that's a good way of spreading them. Germany does this badly.

Labour lifts Tories’ ‘absurd’ ban on onshore windfarms  - yay!

Urbanism 

Cities are failing women on bikes, but we can fix it  [YouTube] - you have to make it easy and safe for everyone.

Review of City-Wide 30 km/h Speed Limit Benefits in Europe  [Paper] - up to 38% reduction in road crashes, 18% less emissions

Random Octopuses

Is it Octopi or Octopuses? | Correct Plural of Octopus - both work, apparently.

The Famous Computer Cafe 1984-11-17 Bill Gates and Kazuhiko Nishi [Podcast] - early Gates and MSX.

Nike killing app for $350 self-tying sneakers - internet of sh*t.

Spanish town acting as 'rear guard' for charity boats rescuing migrants - nice

Friday Links Disclaimer
Inclusion of links does not imply that I agree with the content of linked articles or podcasts. I am just interested in all kinds of perspectives. If you follow the link posts over time, you might notice common themes, though.
More about the links in a separate post: About Friday Links.

Friday, July 05, 2024

Friday Links 24-20

Vintage Atari ad: One word for these prices: Rip-off

This week I have been enjoying the audio archive of The Famous Computer Cafe, a radio show from the eighties with many famous guests of the home computer area. There are definitely some parallels to the present. 

The X Windows history is also great. 

Today's post does contain plenty of throwbacks.

Leadership

TBM 297: Staying In Touch - keeping track of things helps, people forget, and we can't see trends 

On Burnout, Mental Health, And Not Being Okay  - take care of yourself.

Engineering

X Window System At 40 - about the history, and why it is still around. 

Serious vulnerability fixed with OpenSSH 9.8 - seems to be difficult to exploit, but possible.

Environment 

‘It needs to stay in the loop’: German reuse schemes turn shopping upside down - some of this is happening in Spain too. 

Our 2024 Environmental Report - from Google, pretending everything is fine 

Google’s emissions climb nearly 50% in five years due to AI energy demand - it's not fine.

Heatpumpmonitor - database with ratings. 

World’s largest plane to carry wind turbines and save Earth - I don't even understand if this makes sense.

Understanding the large role of long-distance travel in carbon emissions from passenger travel [Paper] - turns out long-distance travel is increasing and also especially bad for the environment. 

‘We can’t let the animals die’: drought leaves Sicilian farmers facing uncertain future - maybe everybody has to migrate north.

Urbanism

In this satirical city builder, your goal is to convert walkable cities into parking lots and use propaganda to convince everyone it's what they want - too real!

The REAL reason America can’t go Dutch [YouTube] - because they don't dare to do it. 

Read this at my funeral - all cyclists know how they die ... most likely die anyway.

Random Home Computers

The Famous Computer Cafe 1985-02-08 James Copland [Podcast] - I have been going through the backlog of these radio recordings. They are all fun, even the commercials. This one is about Atari.

The Famous Computer Cafe 1984-12-21 Douglas Adams and Steve Meretzky [Podcast] - Douglas Adams talking about the Infocom HHGG text adventure.

Fiio’s reboot of the Walkman no longer hides those glorious cassettes - I am pretty sure the quality will be bad. I might still get one. 

Sony Walkman Turns 45  - not much of an article ... but yeah!

German cannabis clubs face jungle of bureaucracy - who is surprised? 

The Circle Back Initiative - interesting initiative to make sure companies get back to you when you apply for a job.

Here is your demo version of Energize for Solaris - those are some pretty CDs!

Friday Links Disclaimer
Inclusion of links does not imply that I agree with the content of linked articles or podcasts. I am just interested in all kind of perspectives. If you follow the link posts over time you might notice common themes though.
More about the links in a separate post: About Friday Links.

Friday, June 28, 2024

Friday Links 24-19

Philips D8444 stereo radio recorder (boombox, ghettoblaster)
Clearing up my backlog again!

A lot of fun stuff in the random section. I did enjoy the podcast about getting or not getting into Berghain, and the one about the Stereophonic play.
The ongoing research into the XZ backdoor also continues to be interesting.

Leadership 

Seven Conversation Hacks - some of this is harder, when working remote.

The route to better culture? Better managers - mostly quoting research.

The State of Teams - Atlassian data.

TBM 295: Going Deep  - "There is a thoughtful way to connect with your team, mentor, and coach and give useful feedback. It takes time and energy. By all means, be good managers."

Sharing Our Latest Culture Memo - from Netflix - "People over Process: Our goal is to inspire and empower more than manage because employees have more impact when they’re free to make decisions about their own work." 

Engineering

XZ backdoor: Hook analysis - more analysis on how that attack was supposed to work. 

The Trough of Despair - it will get worse, before it gets better. 

Urbanism / Transport

Germany's autobahn bridges falling apart - here is an idea: if you can't maintain your infrastructure, try building less

Is it even a city? [YouTube] - "Everything is just so … available"

What is the future of Barcelona’s Superblocks? - model for other cities, fighting for survival in Barcelona. 

I Rode the Craziest Trains in Japan [YouTube] - I'll take the bicycle train, please.

Lebensadern für Velofahrerinnen [German] - Utrecht's way to a better city. 

Environment 

Why is defending forests so deadly? [Podcast] - first I thought this was about South America, but this is in Europe!

How Spain's tourism industry is dealing with drought - not well! 

‘Whack-a-mole situation’: Algerian officials wrestle with water shortage anger - the water wars are coming! 

BHP rejects hydrogen and hybrids, will go straight to electric for giant haul trucks - meanwhile some politicians continue to sell us hydrogen as the future. 

Solar modules deployed in France in 1992 still provide 79.5% of original output power - as batteries, they last longer than expected. 

Too much of a good thing? Spain's green energy can exceed demand - we need more electric consumers (cars, factories, ...)

Random Boomboxes

Sharp's Back-to-Back Boombox mixtape madness [YouTube] - should I have a separate cassette section every week? Better not. 

Tape Player/Recorder Diy - Final Circuit and Demo [YouTube] - building a tape head from scratch.

The disturbing online misogyny of Gamergate has returned – if it ever went away - some gamers are weird.

How I Stopped Fearing Boredom [Podcast] - boredom is the best! Or just call it the slack between the busy times. 

Overnight Success: How the founders of Kona Bikes saved their company [Podcast] - sounds like a bunch of hippies … nice.

592. How to Make the Coolest Show on Broadway [Podcast] - I am not a fan of plays or musicals, but this sounds intriguing. I did like the Fleetwood Mac documentary.

Why didn’t Chris and Dan get into Berghain? (Part 1)  & Why didn’t Chris and Dan get into Berghain? (Part 2) [Podcast] - I don't get the hype about Berghain. This is well told and funny. 

Falling Sand - want to waste some time, here you go …

SANDTRIS - you have more time, here you go …

How TED talks became the Picotop of millennial intellectualism - I noticed that I haven't seen any TED talks in a long time.

‘Thought Leader’ gives talk that will inspire your thoughts | CBC Radio (Comedy/Satire Skit) [YouTube] - and now that I have seen this, I can never unsee it for future TED talks.

Style Different Fonts [Instagram Reel] - quite fun for font fans.

Other Links

Friday Links Disclaimer
Inclusion of links does not imply that I agree with the content of linked articles or podcasts. I am just interested in all kinds of perspectives. If you follow the link posts over time, you might notice common themes, though.
More about the links in a separate post: About Friday Links.

Friday, June 14, 2024

Friday Links 24-18

Polaroid photo and camera
I really love the photograph series in the random section, it is a great concept.

The videos about the busiest train station and buying a train are also great … if you like trains.

Leadership

Beyond 'Sorry': How to Apologize and Mean It 6 | 22  [Podcast] - most apologies are just deflections.

TBM 293: Where More Effective Product Teams Spend More (and Less) Time - "Navigating proxies" - good collection!

Engineering

Story: From Burnout to Breakthrough  [Podcast] - I didn't know about Hedy before, it sounds quite interesting. The origin story is well told.

Regexle - who doesn't like regexes? 

The Documentation Tradeoff - "Nobody _wants_ documentation. They want to know enough to change the code quickly"

New York Times source code stolen using exposed GitHub token - oops!

Environment

Whose Truth?: Climate change denial  [Podcast] - part of a BBC series about misinformation.

Swiss parliament defies ECHR on climate women's case - Swiss being Swiss.

Urbanism

Galway City produces local version graphic showing space used by transport modes

I Visited the World's Busiest Train Station [YouTube] - three million!

Rushing to McDonald’s, sneaking into Trump Tower: the desperate struggle to find a public toilet in New York - a problem in most cities. 

Decoding the 15-Minute City Debate: Conspiracies, Backlash, and Dissent in Planning for Proximity - conspiracies are always weird, but this one is the weirdest.

Random Photographs

A Black photographer added himself to places where history didn’t want him - so cool.

591. Signs of Progress, One Year at a Time  [Podcast] - fun stories, some I knew already.

Whose Truth?: Russia v Ukraine [Podcast] - another episode in this series

Death from the Skies, Musk Edition - filling the sky with satellites and the ground with rubbish.

Will a personality test cost you your dream job? - "workplace horoscopes"

I Got My Own Train [YouTube] - everyone's dream.

It’s another Guardian Blind date wedding! How a lockdown love story ended in ‘I do’ - yes, I am a sucker for Guardian's blind dates, and especially the successful ones.

Friday Links Disclaimer
Inclusion of links does not imply that I agree with the content of linked articles or podcasts. I am just interested in all kinds of perspectives. If you follow the link posts over time, you might notice common themes, though.
More about the links in a separate post: About Friday Links.