Christof Damian: 2025

Friday, October 17, 2025

Friday Links 25-23

coffee, cake, bicycle helmet, glasses, and gloves on a table with bicycle leaning against it

A few interesting articles about AI this week. A good interview with Jane Goodall from 2020, and a weird assembler tutorial game.

Also check out the link from Jason at the bottom, I could have copied them all.

Leadership

The illegible nature of software development talent - boring work is important work, and invisible.

Research: The Hidden Penalty of Using AI at Work - people think you are not as good, for the same result.

Engineering

Autonomous AI Hacking and the Future of Cybersecurity - we are all well buggered.

AI Bug Hunter Sets Milestone By Claiming Top Spot on HackerOne’s Leaderboard - leaderboards are now useless too.

Customize Claude Code with plugins - let's see if there will be anything useful.

AI-Generated Tests are Lying to You - it is just telling you what you want to hear.

10 Things Bikepacking Taught Me About Software Development - crossover!

Large language models for patch review - 50% success rate

EmuDevz - fun assembler tutorial game

Environment

Plug-in hybrids pollute almost as much as petrol cars, report finds - they are not worth the hassle any more anyway.

Climate investment is only growth opportunity of 21st century, says leading economist - if we don't do it, everything else doesn't make sense either.

Urbanism

The Amazing Story of the Ukrainian City That Built Its Own Tram in 1949 - Konotop [YouTube] - scrappy and amazing.

New Study Shows How Paris Pedaled Its Way to a Cycling Revolution - In the end, the French capital didn’t just build bike lanes—it built belief.

I'm so Sick of this Lazy Excuse ... [YouTube] - with good infrastructure, people also cycle in "bad" weather.

Cardiff set to tackle SUV ‘carspreading’ in UK first - nice.

Random Coffee

Coffeeneuring Challenge 2025: You’re Only 15 Once - it's an easy cycling challenge. I already tried some new coffee stops.

The Life Scientific: Jane Goodall [Podcast] - repeat from 2020.

A digital dark age? The people rescuing forgotten knowledge trapped on old floppy disks - sorry, I love that jumper.

‘It’s a question of humanity’: how a small Spanish town made headlines over its immigration stance - still some decent people around.

The Big Interview: Tim Curry - more about Rocky Horror

Three Years After Trial Launch, Ireland Is Making Basic Income for Artists Program Permanent - programmers are artists, right?

Photos show polar bears chilling at home in abandoned Russian research station - cuddly

Friday, October 10, 2025

Friday Links 25-22

This week, I remembered Jane Goodall. I love the interview with her in The Live Scientific.

Some reasonable predictions for the future of AI, too.

And the progress of public transport in Medellín should be an example for everywhere.

Leadership

25 proven tactics to accelerate AI adoption at your company - Some good and some awful ideas.

People not Resources - there is even a domain for it!

Engineering

UNIX For A Legacy TI - mind blown!

Monolith-ifying perfectly good microservices | Brian Scanlan | LDX3 London 2025 [YouTube] - I like his very pragmatic approach.

Using GitHub Copilot CLI - my experience with this hasn't been great compared to Claude Code.

Abusing Notion’s AI Agent for Data Theft - we will see a lot more of this with tighter AI integration.

90% - code written by AI … unlikely anytime soon. There are some areas where it works.

GenAI Predictions - very similar predictions from Tim Bray.

Environment

‘I couldn’t look’: European farmers on losing crops as the industry collides with worsening drought - meanwhile they are lobbing to worsen it.

Environmental damage is putting European way of life at risk, says report - and still nobody cares.

Global renewable energy generation surpasses coal for first time - some good news.

Urbanism

How NYC Is Banning Cars on Broadway [YouTube] - I walked most of this the last time I was in NYC. It is quite nice.

The Battle for New York's Subway [YouTube] - I agree that it will probably never improve.

How has Medellín’s cable system changed communities? [YouTube] - this is remarkable. A whole modern transport system in a bit over 30 years!

Random Primates

Jane Goodall, Iconic Chimpanzee Expert Who Was Subject of Dozens of Films, Dies at 91 - what an inspiration.

Jane Goodall, world-renowned primatologist, dies aged 91 - :-(

The Life Scientific: Jane Goodall [Podcast] - Interview with her from 2020.

A new start after 60: I rented out my flat and bought a bike. Now home is a tent and the open road - I love this series. I couldn't live in a tent, though.

Every Level of Wealth in 13 Minute [YouTube] - most of us a very well-off in comparison, and there is something wrong at the very top.

Collected vehicle registration data - by energy type and country/region.

Eat, sleep, rave, ribbit! How Tribe of Frog became the UK’s trippiest, happiest club night - psytrance lives!

Coffeeneuring Challenge 2025: You’re Only 15 Once - in case you need another reason to cycle.

‘Deadly but unforgettable’: conversation pits make a comeback on and off screen - I completely forgot about this trend!

We need to adapt to the new rhythms of work - Leesman’s conclusion is that the commute ‘sets the tone for the day’ and should be seen as part of the workplace experience.

DHH Is Way Worse Than I Thought - so bad!

AI Slop Is Destroying The Internet [YouTube] - We are already seeing this. I think it will also kill services like Instagram and TicToc.

Babiš is back [Podcast] - some not so good news from Europe.

From the archive: Forgetting the apocalypse: why our nuclear fears faded – and why that’s dangerous [Podcast] - I still can remember not being able to sleep because I worried about a nuclear war.

Friday, September 26, 2025

Friday Links 25-21

Comic strip with a bird thinking "I don't need money. I'm rich in happiness" - Man handing over envelope: "Sir, the bill for your happiness." - Letter says: "$4000"

Don't Need Money
by Poorly Drawn Lines

Some "AI" related stuff today, with the idea of prompt engineering being requirements engineering and how these new tools can enable non-programmers to get closer to the code.

I also liked how much Wil Wheaton likes a new metro line.

Leadership

RTO mandates lead to us questioning leaders - it was never about RTO.

Engineering

Prompt Engineering Is Requirements Engineering - I don't think we were ever good at requirements, how are we going to be good with prompts?

URL Pattern API - this is new, and took quite a while

How I, a non-developer, read the tutorial you, a developer, wrote for me, a beginner - :-)

To vibe or not to vibe - good compact framework to think about vibe coding … or not.

Developer Productivity With and Without GitHub Copilot: A Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Case Study [Paper] - "We did not find any statistically significant changes in commit-based
activity for Copilot users after they adopted the tool, although minor increases were observed."

Mean time to shared understanding: Bridging the gap between citizen developers and developers [Podcast] - citizen developers, aka normal people changing the code.

RPM 6.0.0 released - RPM v4 turns 25! See here for some history: Evolution of the RPM package format

Environment

Troubling scenes from an Arctic in full-tilt crisis - the Arctic is not completely frozen any more

Urbanism

“…we are all Angelenos who love our city of angels. Our Metro system is an expression of that love for our communities.” - Wil Wheaton attending a new metro line opening

Good cities can't exist without public order - it isn't as bad as in the US, but crime does affect transit ridership everywhere.

Random Money

Minimum Wage Machine - that is a good visualisation of minimum wage

Rails Needs New Governance - guess who misbehaved again!

The Ruby community has a DHH problem - yes, he did.

C2PA Investigations - I'm not really concerned about C2PA or see it be more widely available. It is interesting and probably worth looking into if you are a photographer.

The Life Scientific: Doyne Farmer [Podcast] - Hacker who became economist.

Friday, September 19, 2025

Friday Links 25-20

If you have a weird fascination with trams, you should probably check out the full World Tramdriver Championship video.

Otherwise, the podcast with the author of Code Complete is great, so is the one about a train ride through Canada.

Engineering

Hashed sorting is typically faster than hash tables - in case it comes up in the next interview :-)

"Shai-Hulud" NPM attack runs malicious GitHub Action - more NPM fun

Netscape Navigator 2.0 was released 30 years ago today - frames and JavaScript - thank you very much!

Code Complete with Steve McConnell [Podcast] - great interview. I don't think I ever came across the book.

Environment

2025 Sustainability Report - Meta also adding nuclear power to the mix to support AI.

Record sea temperature in June and July: 2ºC above historical average - this is for Catalonia

Barcelona ranks third in Europe for climate change heat deaths, study finds - winning!

Side-by-Side Glacier Photos Show Extent of Retreat Over The Decades - just from the US

Urbanism & Transit

Highlights First World Tramdriver Championship, Vienna 2025 [YouTube] - this time it's a world championship. Watch the full video if you have the time.

Almost 2,000 vehicles per hour on Barcelona's busiest streets: Gran Via and Aragó - it is pretty bad, but it is getting better. 15% down on previous years.

Barcelona ja té el seu primer mapa de circulació ciclista carrer per carrer [Catalan] - first cycling traffic map for Barcelona

This Train Just Keeps Getting Worse 😢 [YouTube] - they still look pretty great to me, at least the old cars

Germany's 'Deutschlandticket' price rises again - the current German government are continuing to make everything worse for non-drivers.

Random Dumpster Fire

I made myself an Emotional Support Dumpster Fire - cosy

Why Billionaire Productivity Hacks Won’t Work for You - we are not the same

Two Slice 2px font "somewhat" readable

Eye drops could replace glasses or surgery for longsightedness, study says - this is pretty cool, if it ever becomes usable

Enjoyed the blogging about blogging about blogging - adding another level to this. I am not a big blogger. I am more on the consumer side.

Friday, September 12, 2025

Friday Links 25-19

Screenshot from War games, computer screen reading "Seattle Public School District Datanet - With User Password: pencil"

Small selection today. Some good reads, about the job market, corporate job, and a good podcasts about teams & AI.

Leadership

Organizational design and Team Topologies after AI [Podcast] - a much more balanced view on the changes AI brings to teams

MIT report: 95% of generative AI pilots at companies are failing - a bit older article

AI Adoption Rate Trending Down for Large Companies - this is more interesting, maybe theory is hitting reality now

The Job Market Is Hell - another thing buggered up by AI

The death of the corporate job. - I like it. I never worked for a corporate job, so I don't know how true it is.

Engineering

npm debug and chalk packages compromised (Aikido) [LWN] - The aftermath of this is still happening.

Environment

This is amazing: The @esaclimate office have produced a beautiful set of easy to access tools for using with their satellite data products. [Mastodon] - Quite a treasure chest

Urbanism

The Genius Plan to Make Amsterdam Car Centric [YouTube] - luckily it didn't happen.

s the Tube strike turning London’s cycle lanes into a New Amsterdam or a “mosh pits on wheels”? - this looks nice. It also shows how many people use bicycles and public transport.

I Rode the Longest Waterfront Path in the World [YouTube] - we need more waterfront rides.

Why Paris Is Extending One Of Its Metro Lines... With A Cable Car [YouTube] - weird, but pretty solution.

Random Hackers

Children hacking their own schools for 'fun', watchdog warns - didn't everybody at least try this?

Greece announces €1.6bn relief package to tackle population decline - more EU countries will follow, or allow more migrants in.

“Some of this stuff is harder to get hold of than rare analogue synths”: Why we’re in the midst of a vintage software revival - keeping old software alive is important

Friday Links Disclaimer

More about the links in a separate post: About Friday Links.

Friday, September 05, 2025

Friday Links 25-18

Quick selection.

This week I liked the podcast with the whaler, and the Chinese cycling industry.

Leadership

Rate My Manager - Oh, no! It's pretty new. (Side note: This looks vibe coded)

Engineering

Bringing BASIC back: Microsoft’s 6502 BASIC is now Open Source - very nice. It is one, 7000 line file.

Browsh - new text-based browser.

BYTE - visual history - I still have my favourite issues, like the one with the Amiga 3000 on the cover. I also remember one about Desqview/X, that I probably have somewhere.

Urbanism

Safety and space at risk as SUVs reach 30% of car market in English cities, researchers warn - we replaced family vans and station wagons with something that is much worse

Barcelona metro opens Correus and Gaudí ghost stations for first time - I am probably not going to get a ticket. This looks fun. See also: Barcelona opens doors to key public transport sites during European Mobility Week

What the end of The Block means - is there something good in the suburbs?

Radverkehrskonzept 2030 [German] Tübingen cycling plan. Apparently, the city in Germany who spends most on cycling per person.

GPS pay-as-you-go rail tickets to be trialled in England for first time - Why would we need this kind of tracking when we have tap-to-pay?

Random Whales

Extra: A Modern Whaler Speaks Up (Update) [Podcast] - finally an interview with a whaler.

ReThinking: How you can do more for others with Rutger Bregman [Podcast] - inspiring episode.

Is China ready to take over the cycling industry? [Podcast] - talking to some Chinese producers. Another interesting shift in the cycling industry.

Why is the EU not acting on Gaza? [Podcast] - looking at the EU politic side.

Visualised: Europe's population crisis - sadly nobody cares for 2100, especially not the politicians

Alcohol is AMAZING [YouTube] - maybe not.

As beer sales fall, young Germans develop taste for alcohol-free lager - this can only be good, I wonder how this will change the culture.

The Drug To Master Reality [YouTube] probably not either.

Daniel Popper - I love this artist!

3,000 Eggs Daily: The 400-Year Japanese Tamagoyaki That Still Sparks Dawn Queues [YouTube] - those look a lot better than mine.

Friday Links Disclaimer

More about the links in a separate post: About Friday Links.

Friday, August 29, 2025

Friday Links 25-17

This week I enjoyed the post about dealing with abandoned EV charger hardware and of course, the video about the TI 99/4A.

Leadership

Nobody Wins at Calendar Tetris - busy doesn't mean productive

Tech debt isn’t an ‘IT issue.’ It’s a business strategy - yep.

The Management Skill Nobody Talks About - how to fail good.

Engineering

Building your own CLI Coding Agent with Pydantic-AI - lots of them are popping up now. It is a good intro to the tools and libraries.

mise-en-place - I hate having multiple environments. But I have to, this seems nice.

Escaping the chains of tethered products: the Juice Rescue project - hardware and software hacking of abandoned hardware

Urbanism

What is the real cost of free parking? [YouTube] - all the NIMBYs you expect.

This Might Just Be the World's Best Metro System [YouTube] - that is massive

Random Home Computers

How the TI-99/4A Home Computer Worked [YouTube] - my first computer was the TI99/A4 - it was so much fun, and weird. It also was the first assembler I learned.

Possible Causes Of Your Problems [Comic] - you can adapt the right side to different minorities.

Spy Novels: A Starter Pack - some more for my long reading list

Heatwave that fuelled deadly wildfires was Spain’s ‘most intense on record’ - it didn't feel that hot here, but it was long.

Friday, August 22, 2025

Friday Links 25-16

Lots of good stuff again this week.

I recommend listening to the history of TrainingPeaks and coding in the red-queen area.

Leadership

Using postmortems to break out of infinite loops | Adnan Karač | LDX3 London 2025 [YouTube] - a quick talking about how to make them useful.

Team OKRs in Action - they have to be co-created, not top down.

Why Do Interviewers Ask Linked List Questions? - tradition. I last worked with linked lists in C on the Amiga.

AWS CEO says using AI to replace junior staff is 'Dumbest thing I've ever heard' - “How's that going to work when ten years in the future you have no one that has learned anything,”

Engineering

The International Obfuscated C Code Contest is back for 2024 - I think that is cheating.

Vibe Coding: The Shadow IT Problem No One Saw Coming - I recently vibe coded a simple version of Officevibe. I am sure it is full of bugs and security issues, but I could easily have started using this in a company. Now it is sometimes easier to vibe code something, than ask for subscription to some SaaS tool.

Email is Easy - test your email parsing skills

opencode - kind of open-source Claude Code

This Website is Served from Nine Neovim Buffers on My Old ThinkPad - well, that's one way to do it.

Coding in the Red-Queen Era [Podcast] - you have to figure out what you can do, what the machines can't do.

Urbanism

I went to America's road trip hell [YouTube] - pretty, in an ugly way.

Dear Britain, it’s now clear: 20mph zones save lives and don’t slow traffic. Implement them - Sadiq Khan - Dear Germany too.

States rethink a long-held practice of setting speed limits based on how fast drivers travel - this is even worse than the German way

Use of Bicivia bike lanes up 21% in five years, with 75,600 daily users in 2024 - these are inter-city routes

Online tools for IRL amateurbanism - some new ones for me

I changed my mind about these bike protests [YouTube] - I miss critical mass

David Seymour was right to question our compulsory helmet laws - cycling without helmet can be unhealthy, not cycling is worse

Global Insights from The Future Design of Streets [Podcast] - reports from different cities and roles.

Environment

Spain wildfires are ‘clear warning’ of climate emergency, minister says - most are burned ever.

‘Unlike any other kind of fear’: wildfires leave their mark across Spain - this numbers are old, I think it is up to 400,000 hectares now

Spain faces its worst wildfire season in 30 years, with 40 active blazes and more than 30,000 evacuated - a bit newer

Civio - Forest fires map - surprisingly many in the north-east

The Future of Climate Change Is on Mauritius - today's dystopia

Random Raves

The Butterfly Who Flew Who Into The Rave - RISING 2025 (Trailer) [YouTube] - love it. Via The Guardian article.

Accidental Icons: The Roland TR-808, TB-303, SP-404 and More - if you never played around with a 303, you got to try it, in the best case a hardware one.

ChatGPT will apologize for anything - "they're just continuing with your improv session."

There's a Reason Bar Ice Looks Better Than Yours (And You Can Fix It) - my first try at this was a failure. I have to dig out my insulated container.

Why Leather is Unbeatable - Motorcyclist Review while Sliding [YouTube] - I am more a textile guy, but this is fun.

Why isn't anyone Talking bout the INSANE CASSETTE PRICES [YouTube] - my taste is cheaper.

‘I didn’t realise pigs were like, massive’: the London rapper who fell in love with farming - this is a fun watch, and free on YouTube.

Amiga Developer Docs - I am still sad that I threw all of them out, except of the Design Manual.

Scroll bleedthrough - more realistic e-book reading in the browser.

"It's one of the most powerful software sound design tools on earth – and it's free" - Composers' Desktop

How Spain put up wealth taxes – without chasing away the billionaires - seems to mostly work.

AI Is a Mass-Delusion Event - yep

Say farewell to the AI bubble, and get ready for the crash - we will see, the money has interest in it going on.

Denmark to abolish VAT on books in effort to get more people reading - from 25% to 0%.

"In addition to reading and writing SQLite database files, the sqlite3 program will also read and write ZIP archives." - what?

Building TrainingPeaks [Podcast] - another lovely podcast looking into cycling related businesses.

The Life Scientific: Anthony Fauci [Podcast] - more than the Covid guy.

Friday Links Disclaimer

More about the links in a separate post: About Friday Links.

Friday, August 08, 2025

Friday Links 25-15

I liked the work bringing Doom to the Amiga, without actually using Amiga code.

And I learned some new things about the history of Civility in the BBC podcast.

Leadership

How We Encourage Self-Improvement at Buffer - $1000 is nice, it is more than in many organisations. I don't think it is enough.

TBM 370: Dependencies Aren't Your Problem - "Shift the goal from managing dependencies, to focusing on the throughput of potentially value-creating activities"

Vibe Engineering: A Field Manual for AI Coding in Teams - rather than "vibe coding". I think this mostly has to come bottom up.

How Octopus Energy used culture to reach the top - some good ideas, and some of them might actually be in place. I like that they don't use "no-reply" emails.

Engineering

Cordoomceps - replacing an Amiga's brain with Doom - I used to juggle the Blitter and Copper a bit, but this is pretty out there.

How far can we push AI autonomy in code generation? - not quite there yet, especially about implementing the functionality

Measuring the Impact of Early-2025 AI on Experienced Open-Source Developer Productivity - in this research, the developers think they are faster, but are slower.

Vibe code is legacy code - fully agree.

On the use of LLM assistants for kernel development [LWN] - mostly about the policies.

From the archive: Bicycle graveyards: why do so many bikes end up underwater? [Podcast] - because we can't have nice things.

Urbanism

Summer Streets returns with uninterrupted car-free stretch across Manhattan - only in the summer, only some roads, only on Saturday, only in the morning, … well, it is something.

Girona to count number of tourists and map their routes across Old Town - by monitoring mobile phone signals.

The Case AGAINST One-Way Streets [YouTube] - Superblocks are one-way streets, it's not all bad. Big one-way roads are bad.

La nova Gran Via des de l'aire [YouTube] - some more drone shots of the new bits of Barcelona

Random Fires

Visualization of forest fires 2025 Provisional data - I finally found the current data and a visualization about local wildfires.

I Deleted My Second Brain - this was in one of the extra links yesterday. If I deleted my second brain, I had no brain.

The NNCPNET email network [LWN] - go weirdly old school. I used to use UUCP for email.

Germany’s ‘oldest and biggest’ gay nightclub declares bankruptcy - killed by Berlin and apps.

Civility: talking with those who disagree with you [Podcast] - I wasn't even aware of the reformation origins.

Friday, August 01, 2025

Friday Links 25-14

These are too many links. I was on holiday … twice.

I could stagger these, but there will be more next week.

There are still many good things here.

Too many.

I am sorry.

Leadership

How We Plan Retreats, After Hosting 14 over 12+ Years (+ Get Our Retreat Planning Playbook!) - important for fully remote companies, and I didn't often see this done right

Middle managers fade as AI rises - Six people doesn't seem too bad.

Failure to communicate - nice way of putting levels on failures.

Why workplaces should be doubling down on DEI - everybody knows that. We shouldn't listen to the trolls.

Moving from an orchestration-heavy to leadership-heavy management role. - different companies, different types of approaches.

Rands Cheat Sheet, #1 - 1:1s

AOE Technology Radar - A static site generator for AOE Technology Radar

Cofounder & CTO of Geordie AI on the paradox of giving control with Benji Weber - you can't give control to people, you have to create the environment where they can take it.

Engineering

I still care about the code - working with LLMs

de-pixelate_gaV-O6NPWrI - removing pixelation from videos.

State of Developer Experience Report 2025 - "The widening disconnect between leadership expectations and developers' actual experiences"

Using Radicle CI for Development - interesting distributed CI

Cursor makes developers less effective? - apparently you spend more time checking the results.

The JavaScript Date Quiz - this was fun

Shifting Left on Security - The DevOps Handbook [Podcast] - maybe I have to read it after all. (there are more podcasts in that series)

Amazon, Google and Vibe Coding with Steve Yegge [Podcast] - some insights into the companies and why he is back to "coding"

Inside the 3rd largest Rails monolith in the world with Cisco Tech Lead Ed Gibbs [Podcast] - being an outlier is nothing to be proud of.

Environment

A change in the Southern Ocean structure can have climate implications - "we’re seeing that the Southern Ocean is drastically changing, as sea ice coverage declines and the upper ocean is becoming saltier. This could have unprecedented global climate impacts."

M25 protester sorry for delays but has no regrets - It's unfortunate to see where the UK is going.

Afghan taxi drivers beat the heat with handmade air coolers - as all ACs, probably worse for the environment.

First electric flight lands at Gatwick Airport - currently mostly useful for training.

Dams around the world hold so much water they've shifted Earth's poles, new research shows - they also affect sea levels.

The Scale of China's Solar-Power Projects - the future - it's not in the west.

Atommüll bleibt finanziell eine Ewigkeitslast [German] - nuclear waste is a financial burden forever. Germany spends 1.7 billion Euro of their 2.7 billion Euro environmental budget on nuclear waste management.

Primer mapa global de la contaminació lumínica a Catalunya desenvolupat mitjançant modelització avançada [Catalan] - light pollution map of Catalonia

Motherfucking Wind Farms - "like a middle finger to CO2"

Urbanism

Die Stadt der Viertelstunde [German, Paper] - 15 minute city. Many German areas are already 15 minute cities, or can easily reach this goal.

Percentage of Airbnb's in Barcelona - interactive map. It is pretty centralised.

Barcelona moves to limit cruise tourism by reducing terminals from 7 to 5 - are they just going to build bigger ships?

Some nice drone videos from redesigned public spaces in Barcelona

Recorre la nova via Laietana amb dron [YouTube] - the missing bike lane going down is a mistake. There will be accidents with cyclists.
Sobrevola l’avinguda Diagonal, de Glòries a Verdaguer [YouTube] - So nice from above, I haven't used that tram yet.
La ronda de Sant Antoni, a vista d’ocell [YouTube] - the one most tourists are probably not going to see

Between two trees: Vancouver man maps more than 2,600 places to hang a hammock - brilliant idea.

The world's most liveable cities for 2025 - and what it's really like to live there - it's pleasant.

Bicing bike sharing reaches 100m trips since 2019 - The previous one started in 2007.

FEATURE: The pros and cons of the UK’s Low Traffic Neighborhoods - not that many cons?

NYC’s Congestion Pricing Is Paying Off As Motor Traffic Drops Through July - surprise!

Helsinki goes a full year without a traffic death - nice.

Random Cyclists

Cyclists [YouTube] - Frankie's cultural observations. I like this weird channel.

BERLIN VETERANS [YouTube] - more observations

WTO: EU, Germany push for new world trade body - more ways the EU is filling the void

Boys Go to Jupiter - Official Trailer (2025) Cole Escola, Janeane Garofalo, Elsie Fisher [YouTube] - that looks fun and weird

The real Salt Path: how a blockbuster book and film were spun from lies, deceit and desperation - oops.

Barcelona promises 'most spectacular' Grand Départ in Tour de France history - can't wait!

The life swap dream – or a marketing gimmick? The Italian towns selling houses for €1 - I like the idea. It isn't easy.

Commodore emulation packages Amiga Forever 11 and C64 Forever 11 released - I might have to go to emulation.

Sweden set to rent cells in Estonian jails as it runs out of room for its prisoners - sad.

Watch Queen’s Brilliant Live Aid Performance: It Happened 40 Years Ago Today (July 13, 1985) - I was stuck to the television back then.

The Case for Urban Staycations - or just experience the area around you in general.

"Visit Dubai!" - "If you try to humanise the place you will lose your mind."

‘It can bring you to tears’: is this the world’s most beautiful sounding nightclub? - Open Ground in Wuppertal

40 years of Amiga – the wow machine - my first proper computer. I learned so much.

‘Everybody was fondling underwater!’: the Rocky Horror Picture Show at 50 – an oral history - these anniversaries just make me feel old. I didn't see this on release though.

When We Get Komooted - what happens when our services die.

What you need to know about The Greatest Gathering - best event ever?

Tooth and Claw: Praying Mantises [Podcast] - we sometimes see them in our garden.

Dragons [Podcast] - another great In Our Time.

Tooth and Claw: Leopards [Podcast] - TIL: panthers are leopards

Max Kidruk: Imagining the future in a science fiction trilogy [Podcast] - this sounds a bit like The Mars Trilogy?

Back To The Future with Bob Gale & Back To The Future Part II with Bob Gale - I love the movies and I learned something new.

Friday, July 04, 2025

Friday Links 25-13

Delorean from Back to the Future with open wing doors

Photo: Oto Godfrey and Justin Morton
Wikimedia Commons - CC BY-SA 4.0

Too many random links this week.

The interview with the creator of Praise You (sampled by Fatboy Slim) is pretty good, what a strong woman.

If you need some inspiration to get on a bike, watch the video about riding 2500 km in London.

Leadership

Expert Generalists - "But we've found that our most effective colleagues have a skill in spanning many specialties."

The Illusion of Control - work is not your life, don't even try to control it.

Engineering

Gemini CLI: your open-source AI agent - still needs some work to keep up with Claude Code.

Augmented Coding: Beyond the Vibes - adding things like TDD to coding with an LLM.

Environment

Plastic bag fees and bans are working–big time, researchers say - "We find that plastic bag policies lead to a 25 to 47% decrease in plastic bags as a share of total items collected relative to areas without policies”

Spain records temperature of 46C as Europe heatwave continues - I can confirm.

Political cowardice hindering Europe’s climate efforts, says EU’s green chief - the recent news show this even more.

Barcelona's leading food waste initiative recovers 850 tons of food in a year - nice, and this was just wasted before.

Urbanism / Transport

Night Ride - plan your night trains in Europe.

The Best-Designed Town in the Netherlands (and therefore, the world) [YouTube] - it does look dull. Not as boring as a US suburb.

Barcelona metro to add 39 new trains by 2029 in €331m investment - yay!

The link between low-stress bicycle facilities and bicycle commuting [Paper] - if you build them, ~~they~~ we will come.

I Cycled 2500km in London — Here's How It Changed My Life [YouTube] - it is always delightful to hear these kind of experiences I can relate to. And it isn't just about cities, or cities where you live, it is everywhere.

Random DeLorean

‘The film wouldn’t even be made today’: the story behind Back to the Future at 40 - forty!

Tens of thousands defy Hungary’s ban on Pride in protest against Orbán - I am so glad to see this resistance.

We're Buying COMMODORE and Bringing It Back?! • Let's Buy Commodore p2 [YouTube] - YouTubers earn too much. I appreciate it in this case.

Out of Pocket and into the wallabag [LWN] - another Pocket replacement, if you want to self-host

Foxes in Love - Bike Ride [Comic]

Some Thoughts on the Shortcomings of Stoicism. - I was never a fan, or maybe a fan of people pursuing it. Where is the fun?

1275. Waro Kishi /// House in Higashinada /// Higashinada Ward, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan /// 1995-97 - I don't know why, but I love this style.

1277. Koh Kitayama (architecture WORKSHOP) /// Lime House /// Ota City, Tokyo, Japan /// 1996-97 - another nice house. I would have skipped the round roof.

Japan loves them. And now they're in the UK - strawberries and cream sandwiches - I am up for this.

9 Cold Soup Recipes for Hot Summer Days - I am seeking alternatives to a warm lunch in this heat.

Why don’t people hitchhike any more? Is the world more dangerous or just meaner? - they still do.

Aphex Twin: a case study in nostalgia [YouTube] - "have become nostalgic for a past that they weren't even a part of"

The unbearable obviousness of AI fitness summaries - here is a summary that you could have figured out yourself.

Face it: you're a crazy person - "When you fully unpack any job, you’ll discover something astounding: only a crazy person should do it."

The grindification of hobbies [YouTube] - this has happened to me before. I am trying hard to just have fun now.

Getting 'Accidentally' Cast In War Games Made Michael Madsen Into An Actor - He already impressed me in this small scene - RIP

Up the kriek: Apple gets punchy in Brussels DMA compliance workshop - Apple is the new Microsoft, everybody should stop defending them.

Praise You: A forgotten love letter to black men [Podcast] - Interesting interview with the original artist.

Vera C. Rubin Observatory first images [Podcast] - that sounds spectacular. I had to google some pictures.

Friday, June 27, 2025

Friday Links 25-12

Today is apparently the Urbanism YouTube edition.

I also really liked the podcast about Hindenburg, and the video about the bikepacking trip (in Germany, sadly).

Engineering

Annotation Mono v0.2 - a pretty new mono font

Libxml2's "no security embargoes" policy [LWN] - It is a pretty drastic move, and I wonder if anything will change after this.

Setting Up MCP Servers in Claude Code: A Tech Ritual for the Quietly Desperate - I have to give some of these a go.

Environment

Batteries are so cheap now, solar power doesn’t sleep - "In 2024 alone, global battery prices dropped 40%"

Transporting a DYNAPAC Electric Road Paver with my Iveco S-eWay Electric Truck [YouTube] - the future is already here.

Urbanism

When Building a Brand-New City Doesn’t Go as Planned [YouTube] - OK, maybe South Korea isn't so great after all.

The Life-Sized City - Calgary - S04E03 - Full Episode [YouTube] - a rare view on North America.

Why U.S. Cities Don't Build Metro Systems [YouTube] - no political will.

Fighting air pollution: Cars no longer welcome in French city of Lyon • FRANCE 24 English [YouTube] - I love the boat to cargo bike transfer.

paper "Wheels of Change: Transforming Girls’ Lives with Bicycles" - improving girls' education and wellbeing.

Nearly two-thirds of Catalans exposed to air pollution above 2030 EU limits - that what happens if cities don't change.

What Makes a City a Cycling City? [Podcast] - including research into African cities.

Random Bikepacking

Ein Bikepacking Trip als Abenteurer ohne Navi & Smartphone [German] - fun cycling trip with Rick Zabel and André Greipel, where they are not allowed to use digital tools.

railfinder - new rail travel planner for Europe.

Catalonia's wildfire strategy - Insights from a world-class brigade [Podcast] - OK, compared to the 90s we are doing pretty good.

Paul von Hindenburg [Podcast] - he seems like a bit of a dick.

Anthropic destroyed millions of print books to build its AI models - that's one way to do it.

S Rower Turns Your Smart Trainer Into Smart Rower: First Look! [YouTube] - nice hack.

Friday Links Disclaimer

More about the links in a separate post: About Friday Links.

Friday, June 20, 2025

Friday Links 25-11

Headphones and other electronics charging in a hotel room

My YouTube links got lost because of my new workflow. It is working now.

This week I enjoyed the Podcast about copyright and the video about cycling couriers in Seoul.

Leadership

The Heart of Innovation: Why Most Startups Fail - long read about demand.

Your Manager Is Not Your Best Friend - your manager should be thinking about the company and the team, then the individuals.

Engineering

TDD, AI agents and coding with Kent Beck [Podcast] - I appreciate Kent's perspective here.

Work

On How Long it Takes to Know if a Job is Right for You or Not - probably shorter than you think.

Breaking down the infinite workday - interesting numbers from their work report.

Environment

How the threat of extreme heat is starting to change our holiday plans - I think this has been happening already.

Urbanism

Thousands of cyclists take to the streets of Berlin to demonstrate | DW News [YouTube] - I never managed to take part in one of these.

TfL drivers play Train Sim World 5 | Transport for London [YouTube] - no a game for me, but fun watching the pros playing.

Així és el parc de les Glòries des de l’aire [YouTube] - redevelopment of Glories in Barcelona, which used to be a massive elevated round about.

From Scratch: the only bike messengers in Seoul // Eui Ho Kim at Gig Courier 무(無)에서와 다른 이야기들 [YouTube] - that is such a pretty town.

Verkehrsberuhigung im Neuköllner Reuterkiez: Poller-Gegner scheitern in letzter Instanz [German] - two locals and a random person try to get a Kiezblock removed, and fail before court.

Barcelona rents down 8.9% a year after cap introduced - interesting that this works in Barcelona, but not in Germany.

Random Headphones

Sony’s WH-1000XM6 Gets a Repair-Friendly Upgrade - nice to see this. I am still on the MX4's, but these are tempting.

007 First Light - Announcement Trailer | PS5 Games [YouTube] - I am mostly interested in how much of Hitman mechanics are left.

Fixing the AMIGA 1200 with a cheap meter! [YouTube] - That is quite a dedicated repair.

TePhOS - alternative OS for the TI99/4A

Start your own Internet Resiliency Club - I never heard of LoRa before, this could be fun.

Spanish minister rules out cyber-attack as cause of April blackout, after expert report - it is just a complex system. It is surprising that this doesn't happen more often.

Friday, October 17, 2025

Leadership

Engineering

Environment

Urbanism

Random Coffee

Other Links

Friday, October 10, 2025

Leadership

Engineering

Environment

Urbanism

Random Primates

Other Links

Friday, September 26, 2025

Leadership

Engineering

Environment

Urbanism

Random Money

Other Links

Friday, September 19, 2025

Engineering

Environment

Urbanism & Transit

Random Dumpster Fire

Other Links

Friday, September 12, 2025

Leadership

Engineering

Environment

Urbanism

Random Hackers

Friday, September 05, 2025

Leadership

Engineering

Urbanism

Random Whales

Friday, August 29, 2025

Leadership

Engineering

Urbanism

Random Home Computers

Other Links

Friday, August 22, 2025

Leadership

Engineering

Urbanism

Environment

Random Raves

Friday, August 08, 2025

Leadership

Engineering

Urbanism

Random Fires

Other Links

Friday, August 01, 2025

Leadership

Engineering

Environment

Urbanism

Random Cyclists

Other Links

Friday, July 04, 2025

Leadership

Engineering

Environment

Urbanism / Transport

Random DeLorean

Other Links

Friday, June 27, 2025

Engineering

Environment

Urbanism

Random Bikepacking

Friday, June 20, 2025

Leadership

Engineering

Work

Environment