Friday Links 22-35

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

• Weekly Design Links – 10/25/22 - I haven't seen these for a while. I just love to look at the pictures.
  

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 Links 22-34

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 

• Tim Bray: Long 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 Links 22-33

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 Links 22-32

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

• Bruce Lawson: Reading List 295

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.