Friday Links 25-01

Very random collection of links today. 

The podcast about how cars change us is pretty good, so is the one about how drugs can influence the brain.

Leadership

Managing Up - I agree that it is mostly about buttering up your boss, while it should be a collaboration.

Engineering

Fish 4.0: The Fish Of Theseus - I am not a fan of rewrites, but this is a good read and apparently a successful rewrite. Moving bits by bit is also a practical approach.

Urbanism

Cake by the bike lane: Cyclists bring cake, mince pies and non-alcoholic Prosecco to thank workers for building new segregated cycle lane - nice idea.

These Two Cities Used to be the Same  [YouTube] - Canadian vs Dutch city.

Das Geld hilft, Carsharing mal auszuprobieren [German] -  The city of Marburg pays people who stop using their cars. It also helps to save money for the city.

Barcelona underground reaches 100 years approaching maximum capacity - 100 years! 

Welcome to the Congestion Zone: New York Toll Program Is Set to Begin - about time. This has started now. 

How Cars Change Us with Tara Goddard [Podcast] - lots of good stuff about language, car-brain, and how your race affects living in cities.

Random Spreads

Watch Bill Nighy's epic rant about Marmite [YouTube] - I smuggle Marmite and Yorkshire Tea too! 

‘If 1.5m Germans have them there must be something in it’: how balcony solar is taking off - I think this is starting in Spain now too. I am not sure about the legality.

The Ecstasy of an Open Brain [Podcast] - Certain drugs could bring us to a childlike state and open us up to new and faster learning.

The return of OSCILLOSCOPE MUSIC with the N-Spheres EP [YouTube] - weird and beautiful.

Meet the long-haul trucker who’s clocked 600+ hours on his bike this year - that's pretty impressive

Single cigarette takes 20 minutes off life expectancy, study finds - I can't understand why people still smoke or even start smoking now.

Just Hard Work - Rands talking about RLS, which you probably should join. 

Why OBLIVION Refused to Settle For Green Screens [YouTube] - impressive, time for a rewatch.

On Asphalt We Grow - skateboarding in Ukraine 

Morse code: Ready to transmit [Podcast] - the speed of the masters is pretty remarkable.

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.

2024 in Books

I kept my reading in pretty light. I mostly read crime series, I am following and binged a new one.  

There were some books I have been pretty disappointed with. At least this will reduce my future reading list. 

You can also check out My Year in Books on Goodreads.

Non-fiction

Kanban: Successful Evolutionary Change for Your Technology Business - I was joining a company focused on Kanban, which I never used fully before. I wanted to catch up with the ideas and concepts. This is a great book for that. Overall, it turned out the company actually used a long to-do list for their planning and not the more advanced ideas.

Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts by Oliver Burkeman - I liked his previous book: "Four Thousand Weeks", this is related and extends some concepts. It is also packaged in a nice one-chapter-a-day way.

Fundamentals of Software Architecture: An Engineering Approach - I wish the updated version would be out already, but this is pretty good. I had it on my to-do list for a while, the great podcast Book Overflow finally triggered me to read it.

My Animals, and Other Animals: A memoir of sorts by Bill Bailey - I like the author and his humour and this is a fun read. 

Bill Bailey's Remarkable Guide to Happiness - also great. Some chapters are shared between his two books.

Fiction

Slough House Series by Mick Herron - I binged books 1-8 with some novellas between. The TV series is great, but the books are even better. It is just the right combination of humour, suspense, and action. Highly recommended. 

Levon's Scourge: A Vigilante Justice Thriller by Chuck Dixon - continuing with this series. It was OK. It feels like the series has run its course.

Charlie Cooper Thrillers Series, John Milton Series, Atticus Priest Series by Mark Dawson - I am still following all of these, and they had some new releases this year. 

There now is also an "Atticus Priest Casebook" series. I read the first one, which was pretty bad. They are novellas, and I am going to skip the follow-ups.

The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin. I read books 1-3. They are OK, are far too long, and are stretching out some concepts until you get bored with them. Some characters are also completely unbelievable. I suggest you stick to the TV series.

How It Unfolds by James S.A. Corey - this is a new universe and a pretty fun read. This book is also well contained, even though it kicks off a new series. 

The Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey - I think this plays in the same universe as the previous book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Livesuit by James S.A. Corey - a novella in the same universe as the previous one. Pretty good, though the ending was also predictable.

Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente - some good jokes in the style of Douglas Adams, but overall pretty boring. 

The Thousand Dollar Man by J.T. Brannan - OK, I guess? I am not going to continue the series. A bit too much random killing for my taste. 

The Seventh Floor by David McCloskey - from the Damascus Station Series. Not as good as the previous ones. I love the style though, a lot of it feels pretty realistic.

DCI Logan Crime Thrillers Series & Robert Hoon Thrillers Series by J.D. Kirk - a friend suggested these, and I am currently binging through all of them. They are easy and quick reads. I love the setting in Scotland and the large consumption of tea and square sausages. All the recurring characters have their background and stories, which are interwoven with the main story of each book. This would make a great TV series. 

The Cracked Mirror by Chris Brookmyre - I found this through a book podcast. The beginning was pretty good. A bit like Miss Marple meets Bosch. At some point, it turns very weird, though, and not in a good way. 

The Waiting by Michael Connelly - another book in the Renée Ballard series and the Bosch universe. This was possibly the worst book I have read by the author. Too many unrelated story lines, unbelievable coincidences, and random unnecessary cameos.