Friday Links 21-29

Pets, Mssks & 12 Minutes

This week I was mostly thinking about Scrum and how it can affect developer happiness and productivity. I have certainly an opinion, but I am still in the data and information gathering phase. 

I also caught up with podcasts again. Lots of good stuff about management.

Management 

Introducing DecisionOps - I am not sure that word will catch on, but still a nice post

Should Scrum Teams feel guilty for taking a break? - no

5 Common Mistakes In User Stories [YouTube] - all very good points

Stop Directing People, Start Designing Systems: How to Design Optimal Work Environments with Daniel Terhorst-North (Lean and Agile Methods Expert)  [Podcast] -  very nice episode

How Facebook Works: Comparing its Engineering Process to Google, Microsoft, and Amazon [Podcast] - talking about his book

Leading leaders who lead engineers [Podcast] - tricky, but can be fun. Lara Hogan is always great in interviews.

Engineering

Upgrading Webpack 4 → 5 - seems easy, until you hit Rails

Data Lineage at Slack - very interesting and possibly over designed? 

Migrating Facebook to MySQL 8.0 - this doesn't sound fun. "The 8.0 migration has taken a few years so far."

Technology

T-Mobile Data Breach - oh no

Swiss researchers calculate pi to new record of 62.8tn figures - mining without the money (but New mathematical record: what’s the point of calculating pi?)

Remote Work

How to work remotely: 5 people-first principles for your team - the usual good tips, but well written

Research Shows Working From Home Doesn’t Work. Here’s How Employers Should Tackle the Problem - even I don't believe that

Why the 'Great Remote Work Experiment' may have been flawed - because we couldn't leave the house and saved time on laundry!

Environment 

Restoring More Water Than We Consume by 2030 - I never thought about water instead of just energy. Facebook is making an effort.

How environmentally sustainable is your cycle clothing? - meh! I for one try to buy less and use longer

This Is Your Brain on Pollution [Podcast] - pollution is basically where lead was when we banned it

Germany ‘set for biggest rise in greenhouse gases for 30 years’ - go Germany!

Urbanism

Accessible Places - "Automobile Poverty"

Death of Bridget Driscoll - first time I hear about the first pedestrian killed by a car. 

The jury returned a verdict of "accidental death" after an inquest lasting some six hours. The coroner, Percy Morrison (Croydon division of Surrey), said he hoped "such a thing would never happen again"

SUMMER SPECIAL: Being Gary Fisher, the Interview [Podcast] - good to see him join the war on cars!

Do people really walk this much in the UK? - Americans are funny

Transport for the North boss calls for debate on raising cost of driving - there goes his job

Traffic Crashes Are Getting Worse. Car Ads Are Part Of the Problem. - fast cars are pointless and dangerous 

A magic change in Groningen when 2 tramlines finally were canceled in 2012 - [YouTube] - I prefer trams, but this is pretty good. I wonder how the policing of the bus lanes is. This wouldn't work in Barcelona for example. 

Marble Arch Mound: Deputy leader resigns amid spiralling costs - I have some questions: what? why? how?

Random Pets

Someone's gotta stop giving Lena Dunham pets - funny, except for the animals

Don’t Be a Schmuck. Put on a Mask. - Schwarzenegger is trying to appeal to the patriotic Americans.

Twelve Minutes review – a tense time-loop thriller - it arrived. I am playing it. It is 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 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.