Friday, May 31, 2024

Friday Links 24-16

Alice in Wonderland themed tea mug with writing "Drink me"
This week, the "City in A Bottle" JavaScript demo blew me away. 

The podcasts in the leadership section are also pretty good. 

Leadership

Albert Strasheim, CTO at Rippling, on Embracing Rapid Iteration and Setting Goals for Accountability [Podcast] - interesting ideas about project management and also insights into our competition.

A company is not a family with Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky [Podcast] - I didn't know the origin of the name! I also think that overcommunication is a good thing. I am working on that. 

How Can I Set the Right Boundaries in a New Job? [Podcast] - another great coaching session.

Engineering 

Why, after 6 years, I’m over GraphQL - I have always been sceptical.

Environment

What does China's green tech revolution mean for the world? [Podcast] - for some reason, they focus on the negative.

What are PFAs? Everything you need to know about the ‘forever chemicals’ surrounding us every day - we are all plastic!

Random Tea

For seven years, I have been caffeine-free. Here’s how it has changed me - I can't remember when I stopped, probably around that time.

Remembering ICQ: A Page Out of History - I don't have that rosy memories. I am from the IRC generation.

Heura Launches Plant-Based Butcher’s - I really like Heura's products. This is a gimmicky way of marketing products.

City In A Bottle – A 256 Byte Raycasting System - this is just remarkable.

The Space Quest II Master Disk Blunder - oops.

Google: Stop Trying to Trick Employees With Fake Phishing Emails - I am not a big fan of tricking employees either.

The greatest clock (and map) ever made [YouTube] - definitely not the greatest. Pretty good, though.

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, May 24, 2024

Friday Links 24-15

Mocktail on a dark table
This week I enjoyed the podcast with Vitaly Pecherskiy, and the one about improv and presence. 

If you like alcohol-free cocktails, the article from The Guardian has a good list, with some weird tricks, like clarifying coconut milk.

Leadership

Vitaly Pecherskiy, Co-Founder at StackAdapt, on the Role of the CEO, Mental Models, and Employee Onboarding [Podcast] - I liked the insights about leadership composition and constantly improving yourself. 

Presence: 'Yes and...' - how the secrets of improv can teach us about work [Podcast] - some interesting ideas between all the self-promotion.

Beyond the Bias: The Truth About Remote Work vs. Returning to the Office [Podcast] - Co-founder of product for remote "goes beyond the bias" … right. 

Leadership, Decision Making, Work-Life Balance, and Everything in Between with Kendall Miller [Podcast] - Kendall about everything.

Making engineering strategies more readable - nice tips.

These People Aren’t Gods: How European Founders Can Stop Making The #1 Mistake in US Recruiting  - "What happens when a culture of understated accomplishment meets a culture of overstated achievement?"

Engineering

Never, Ever, Ever Use Pixelation for Redacting Text  - The Unredacter!

Environment 

Alarm as German climate activists charged with ‘forming a criminal organisation’ - similar development to the UK. 

Toxic Gaslighting: How 3M Executives Convinced a Scientist the Forever Chemicals She Found in Human Blood Were Safe - it is always the same, the polluters know before the rest of us.

Urbanism

How did Helsinki make transit work in the suburbs? | Navigating Urban Transit with George Liu [YouTube] - those are some fancy bus / metro terminals. 

“Pure bile and prejudice”: Cyclists slam local government’s proposal to introduce “mandatory bike insurance” and urging cyclists to “encourage overtaking” in Spanish city - it is the usual anti cycling policies of some cities. This is not far from Barcelona. 

Random Drinks

The experts: bartenders on how to turn 16 classic cocktails into mocktails – from a negroni to a mojito - nice ideas for all us teetotals.

Specialized SL8 Index: How Long Does It Take to Afford S-Works SL8 Around the World? - it is a toy for the rich. 

The KeePassXC kerfuffle [LWN] - I think I have disabled most of these options.

An exercise in frustration - more fun with AI image generators. 

1152. Waro Kishi /// Kim House /// Ikuno Ward, Osaka, Japan /// 1986-87 - I like these small houses more than the usual villas on the site.

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, May 17, 2024

Friday Links 24-14

A collection of vinyl single records

This week's recommendation is everything in Urbanism. It's all about improving cities. Two podcasts and one YouTube video.

Leadership

Wisdom for Work #23 - Cultivating Conditions of Courage [Podcast] - how to lead with honesty and foster psychological safety 

Sociotechnical Maestros with Gene Kim [Podcast] - I am not a big fan of most of Gene Kim's books, but this interview is pretty good.

Five Tips to be Happier at Work (Dr Laurie at SXSW) [Podcast] - why do you want happier employees? Because they are more productive.

Urbanism

Can we build better cities for mental health and the climate? [Podcast] - we could if we wanted.

Some Business Owners REALLY Hate Bike Lanes (with Bike Curious) [Podcast] - you just can't use logic with them.

What is the "Correct" Speed Limit? [YouTube] - it's 30 km/h

Random Records

"I was probably off my head... it wasn't meant to be a novelty record, it was meant to be an underground record": The story of The Prodigy’s cartoon-sampling rave hit Charly - from 1991!

Reimagining technology – and talking to animals – with Aza Raskin [Podcast] - using AI to talk to animals, and what that could mean for us.

Stop Trying To Defeat Racism With Logic - the announcement of the new Assassin's Creed game led to the expected racist backlash.

Why clubbers are raving about Germany’s cross-country Techno Train - a round trip is a bit boring

BreakTime - kill the meetings!

Most common 4 digit PINs - mine are also on the bottom left.

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, May 03, 2024

Friday Links 24-13

Eurobeat 2000 club flyer

This week I enjoyed the interviews with Hazel Weakley and Melinda French Gates.

For some reason, I also have a few clubbing related links. If you like electronic music and play around with it yourself, I recommend the podcast with Alex McLean about live coding.

Leadership

Software Development As Collective Learning With Hazel Weakly [Podcast] - Very thoughtful interview about Hazels journey and her views on leadership.

TBM 274: How Capable Leaders Navigate Uncertainty and Ambiguity - this was mentioned in the podcast above. Prompts and example interview questions. 

Constraints on giving feedback. - how to think about feedback.

A Software Engineering Career Ladder - another one!

The Power of Rituals at Work 6 | 16 [Podcast] - he clearly has a book to sell. 

Presence: Presence starts with positive leadership [Podcast] - another book to sell? Presence doesn't have to be in person.

Engineering 

PHP from 2014 to 2024 [YouTube] - it has been a while since I last worked with PHP. I still think it is underrated and one of the languages that is developing the fastest and with a great ecosystem.

With Backstage, Spotify’s getting serious about its enterprise and dev tools business play - I still haven't seen this in action. It seems to be mostly focused on organisations with many services.

VASA-1: Lifelike Audio-Driven Talking Faces - scary … but also: rapping Mona Lisa!

OMG! We’re at forty! (Announcing the release of Fedora Linux 40) - I can't believe it has been 20 years since I complained about the switch from RHL to FC.

Environment 

Europe baked in ‘extreme heat stress’ pushing temperatures to record highs - the summer will be fun.

Ocean spray emits more PFAS than industrial polluters, study finds - it's not the ocean's fault!

Urbanism

‘Urination equality’: Amsterdam women win fight for more public toilets - we just need more public toilets for all genders.

Is Europe Sprawling? [YouTube] - yes, but not if compared to the US.

How to Remove a Highway [YouTube] - nice.

Lawmakers to allow NYC to lower speed limit to 20 mph - Germany started this idea, and now it is lacking behind.

Random Flyers

george georgiou clubart - flyers and clubart.

Wherein the Millennial influencers weigh in on staying until last call - I can relate. 

“I'm almost ashamed to be known as a DJ”: Dave Clarke on the state of dance music and the making of Archive One

The magic of ALGORAVE: Why We Bleep podcast with Alex McLean [YouTube] - Alex talking about live coding, Tidal Cycles, and Strudel.

8. Melinda French Gates [Podcast] - I just discovered this podcast now. It is great to have Kirsty Young back. She is such a great host.

The Millennial CAPTCHA - fun. I qualify, apparently. 

Teslarossa Ep10 - 2000 mile road trip [YouTube] - I want an electric classic car, but something more practical. French rest stops are also the best.

The Fifth Floor: My emergency kit list [Podcast] - I have been looking into this since last year. The forest fires are coming closer.

‘In the US they think we’re communists!’ The 70,000 workers showing the world another way to earn a living - maybe I have to get an Orbea after all.

Five of Europe’s best national parks – with all the beauty but none of the crowds - I have been only to two of these.

podcastindex - nice initiative.

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.