Friday, October 28, 2022

Friday Links 22-35

AI art: steampunk keyboard with nonsensical keys
A mixed bag of goodies this week. 

Since Twitter might get even worse, I am now also publishing on Mastodon.

Leadership

Communication Models and How They Scale - "almost any model works for a group of <100" - I think the problem is that people cling to that for too long

3 big moments that can define your leadership career - start, choose, do

Being a Dynamic Leader - not every leader is the same and not every situation is the same. You have to find your place and also adapt.

Engineering 

Modern PHP features explained - PHP 8.0 and 8.1 - I haven't done PHP for a while, but I still think it is a great community and good to see that they are still iterating. 

Why and how GitHub encrypts sensitive database columns using ActiveRecord::Encryption - the key management is interesting 

How We Use Terraform At Slack - looks like this can get quickly out of hand, even when it seems easy to get started 

Work

Managing and Leading Globally Distributed Teams - mostly common-sense stuff, but I really like Etsy's blog

Environment

Michael Liebreich’s Keynote Speech at World Hydrogen Congress 2022 [Vimeo] - I wonder why they invited him, he is definitely not a fan of hydrogen.

The state of the energy transition - Bill Gates about where we are going. Things I disagree on: "CO2 capture" and "Net zero"

100m highly polluting cars could appear on Europe’s roads after EU move - the industry won

EU reaches deal to ban new combustion engine cars by 2035 - too late

Urbanism

Weatherwatch: how cycling can measure local air pollution - just strap a battery-powered sensor to your bike … brilliant.

Bikes will be kings of the road in Bruges' city centre from now on - we have similar rules in Barcelona

Volker Wissing hat es nicht eilig [German] - in Germany, cities can only implement 30 km/h or car-free zones if they have been proven dangerous. The cities would love change, but the central minister is blocking it.

Sperrung der Friedrichstraße für Autoverkehr rechtswidrig  [German] - one of the effects of the above: judge ruled to revert a car-free street in Berlin.

Plywood Gourmet How thousands of restaurants speedily, messily, and probably permanently took over the street. - taking over streets: good, taking over pavement: not good

2022 10 11 SUPERILLA BARCELONA ENG C40 - promotional video about the new Barcelona Superblocks

Random Keyboards

Review of the Kinesis Advantage360 Professional - This might be my future keyboard.

Modern Warfare 2 Amsterdam Mission (Ridiculous Graphics) [YouTube] - I don't have time to play games, but this is just looking so good. I miss Amsterdam.

Mexico falls back but won’t spring forward as summer time abolished - I, personally, would choose summer-time. 

An inventory of SFPD's Killdozers - we know the US police has lost it a long time ago

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 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, October 21, 2022

Friday Links 22-34

AI Art: two men in suits in front of a cloudy landscape with a robot in the distance
A few articles about writing stuff down this week. 

I love the long read about NTP and the podcast about 1984.

Leadership

Putting Amazon’s PR/FAQ to Practice - I am not good at writing long documents, but I like the idea and even one-pagers would be already an improvement to most processes 

Three main reasons I write stuff down - if you can explain it to paper you can explain it better to others and yourself 

The Friday Update: On journaling to get things done - I am currently doing a morning journal, maybe I extend this a bit

Friction Between Product and Engineering; Lack of trust and collaboration slowing down product growth - another interesting part of this series. And another focus on the "First Team" as a solution.

The Three Tech Projects You Meet in Hell - weird, but entertaining take

Technology 

Pocket Casts Mobile Apps Are Now Open Source - this is nice. My favourite podcast player. This could lead to some delightful user contributed features or fixes. 

The Thorny Problem of Keeping the Internet’s Time - I love NTP, it is basically magic 

Environment

Greta Thunberg: “Our politicians will not come to the rescue of planet Earth” - Greta started her protest with 15, she is now 19.

Low Earth Orbit Visualization - so much stuff in space

Random Dystopias

Nineteen Eighty-Four [Podcast] - Maybe it is time to read that book again, the last time was probably around 1984

Your Brain Absolutely Can't Handle More Than 5 Projects at Once, New Science Shows - I might have a bit more currently, but some of them are on suspend mode

What JK Rowling and John Cleese get wrong about cancel culture - "A belief in accountability does not involve condoning threats or violence – and freedom of expression does not mean freedom from consequence."

Chemical attraction: some people really are ‘mosquito magnets’, study finds - sorry everyone else 

Study shows e-bike riders exercise less than conventional bike users – but there’s more to it than that - I am not surprised

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 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, October 14, 2022

Friday Links 22-33

AI art generated image: man between two gorillas in front of modern city

I forgot about the bottleneck series, the new part about Product v Engineering is nice. 

William Shatner's reflections on space are also not what I expected.

Leadership

How Slack’s SVP Approaches Culture, Focuses on Outcomes, and Provides Flexibility (with Brian Elliott, Executive Leader of Future Forum and Senior Vice President) [Podcast] - Plenty of good ideas in here. I like the hybrid meeting moderator and surveying your teams. 

“Should I create a Performance Improvement Plan for my direct report?” - good Playbook on why and when to start a PIP. 

Reminiscing: the retreat to comforting work. - I have been guilty of reminiscing and snacking 

Failed #SquadGoals - an old post about the "Spotify Model" and suggestions to improve it

Bottleneck #03: Product v Engineering - numerous things I recognise happening around me and bad smells I have seen too, especially the "us vs them" attitude.

Making Finance Fun: The Motley Fool's Errand - I like the idea. It is kind of like chaos engineering for HR.
"a monthly company wide drawing takes place to find the employee selected to run a Fool’s Errand. [...], that person is forced to take two weeks off and cut off all contact from the office. [...] The Motley Fool’s ultimate goal is to make sure each team can operate while any member is out. "
How to plan? - not too much

Engineering

A Love Letter to React Native - someone coming from native apps and PWAs

Fewer, happier incident heroes. - I noticed the jumping on incidence in a previous job. Having a well-defined incidence process can really help.

Work

How We Set Communications Expectations As A Fully Remote Team - good idea to write these down. Often the expectation is that everybody is naturally aligned. 

Pay Transparency: What you need to know for 2023 - it is coming, better prepare.

Job Search Retrospective (2022 edition) - Julie has a great blog with many insights and good ideas about jobs. Also see: Anatomy of Julie's Job Search

Urbanism

Road Space Comparison [Comic] - XKCD joins the war on cars! 

'It's a scam': Even after $100 billion, self-driving cars are going nowhere - another $100 billion and another 10 years will surely fix this 

Developing and implementing 20-mph speed limits in Edinburgh and Belfast: mixed-methods study [Paper] - "the overall percentage reduction in casualty rates was 39%"

Cities around the world offered chance to win $1m to build cycle lanes  - money is usually not the problem, political will is

Male drivers three times more likely to be in road collisions with pedestrians - I am not surprised

Random Gorillas

Case of The Missing Gorilla [Podcast] - multitasking doesn't work, even for women

Making a Fremen Thumper [Video] - you never know when you need it

podcast.ai [Podcast] - "a podcast that is entirely generated by artificial intelligence." - scary

‘It felt like a funeral’: William Shatner reflects on voyage to space - not quite what he expected. (Also:  William Shatner: My Trip to Space Filled Me With ‘Overwhelming Sadness’ (EXCLUSIVE) and Blue Origin crew returns from edge of space [YouTube])

‘Absurd’: British Cycling faces backlash after announcing partnership with Shell - what were they thinking? Money, probably. 

1979 Technics Tape Deck Repair (RS-M17) [YouTube] - tape deck repairs are my favourite

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, October 07, 2022

Friday Links 22-32

AI generated Image, cyclists near a road leading to a city

The second part of the interview with Meri Williams is interesting. 

I have been playing more with Emacs and got a bit depressed after watching what Toronto has done to the city.

Leadership

Ep - 13 - Why does feedback matter? feat. Meri Williams (ex-CTO Monzo, MOO, Healx) [Podcast] - second part of this great interview 

new little song: "The Re-Org Rag (I'm My Own VP)" [Tweet, Video] - hits a bit close to home

How Uber is Measuring Engineering Productivity - interesting, maybe open source this?

Engineering

Cloud desktops aren't as good as you'd think - I really prefer having local environments, but the setup is just getting too complicated. Especially since people insist on running OS X. Remote desktops are a step too far, though. 

Why haven’t PWAs killed native apps yet? - still missing some features, discovery, and installation is clunky.

Technology 

NVIDIA and nouveau [LWN] - I am so happy that I got rid of my NVIDIA card. But equally glad that people are still working on improving the situation.  

Emacs Tips - How to Give Presentations with Org Mode - since I am back on Emacs thanks to org-roam, I obviously try to do everything in Emacs now.

Work

What Does an Office Mean? Two Architects Discuss - remember offices?

Urbanism

Eight years of works to revamp La Rambla begin - I am excited for this. I am not certain, if they will be able to get rid of tourists. 

How Toronto Got Addicted to Cars [YouTube] - this is depressing and in parts unbelievable

The tunnel where cycling was mandatory [YouTube] - what happens if you think about cyclists too

Edinburgh 20mph speed limits: Deaths, crashes, and casualties reduced by 20mph limit, researchers say - surprise! 

Business Grew After Controversial Bike Lane Installed, Data Show - more surprises!

Random Cyclists 

‘Dreams can come true’: Uganda’s first female pro cyclist aims for the Tour de France - Nice to see more diversity. I am expecting great things from African cyclists in the future.

All the Docks: How it Went - people make up the weirdest challenges 

Die wir verloren haben [German] - 150k corona deaths is Germany

Opinion Thousands were released from prison during covid. The results are shocking. - 0.15% re-offenders 

Finland ends homelessness and provides shelter for all in need"Finland is the only country in Europe where homelessness is in decline"

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 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.