I have been on vacations, which means today is a bit longer than usual. AI stuff is taking over, so there is a new section. I’ll keep it balanced, as I bounce between loving and hating it.
If you are looking for something good, check out the videos about Spike Jonze’s skate video and about Belle and locations.
Leadership
The corporate wellness disconnect - fully agree.
The Mario Meeting - interesting framing around budget planning for teams, even if this seems too easy.
Generated and suppressed demand - nice model. “A team is innovating when their technical debt is sustainably low, morale is high, and the majority of work is satisfying new user needs.”
Engineering
Make no assumptions: working with messy code and reasoning horizons - more nice models from him.
What does the future of software engineering look like? [Podcast] - we don’t know.
How Kent Beck shapes the software engineering industry [Podcast] - he is great on podcasts, and so reasonable. I really should pick up his new book.
Always Go With a Monorepo - I am a big fan.
Kitty chases the mouse - you can never have enough terminals.
Microsoft Comic Chat has been open sourced - I forgot about this one.
AI
Is AI Going to Take PM Jobs? - product person says no.
The cost of saying yes has changed - “The cost of writing code dropped; the cost of owning it didn’t”
Protecting our FLOSS commons from LLMs - while it is annoying for some of my projects, I fully support the decision.
Debating the role of large language models in the kernel community - the kernel is a bit more open.
LLMs can’t program - one experience.
DSLs Enable Reliable Use of LLMs - I am not a fan of DSLs, they often add complexity where not required. But LLMs are good with text, it makes sense.
Experiences with local models for coding - it’s not great.
The Pulse: Interesting AI coding stats from Cursor - some good stats. half of the people are vibe coding.
Companies Are Throttling Employees’ AI Use Because It’s Too Expensive - for some companies.
AI Mania Is Eviscerating Global Decision-Making - “It has become outright dangerous to even raise the possibility that AI might not be the solution to a problem”
Urbanism
Amsterdam Just Keeps Getting Awesome [YouTube] - fewer cars equals happy people.
Dogs weighing up to 40kg to be allowed on all Renfe trains - how about four dogs?
A final farewell to bike-sharing in Barcelona: 3,500 bikes, 5,400 fines, and more than 2,000 bikes towed away - that’s just the dockless ones.
Report: Congestion Pricing Had No Impact on Parking Availability - that is surprising.
Congestion Pricing and EMS Response Time: Evidence From New York City - not surprising.
Emergency hospital admissions fell after introduction of London’s T-charge and Ulez - also not surprising.
Spanish government moves forward with anti-smoking law - great to see, and apparently thanks partly to the EU.
Environment
This week it’s all about Europe burning.
- Climate crisis-driven heat ‘sucking soils dry’ as extreme drought hits Europe
- ‘It’s only going to get worse’: wildfires forcing firefighters to make impossible choices
- Wildfires in southern Spain kill 12 amid soaring temperatures
- More than 150 wildfires recorded in Catalonia since start of summer
- Els focs i incendis de Catalunya, en temps real [Catalan]
- Els Agents Rurals [Catalan]
Barcelona Zoo activates animal welfare protocol in face of extreme heat - poor animals.
Random Skateboards
Spike Jonze’s Explosive Skate Video That Changed Filmmaking | EPICLY LATERD [YouTube] - amazing
Belle and the Meaning of Place [YouTube] - This makes me want to watch it.
Mastodon, The Only Good Choice - still.
Writing by Hand is Good for your Brain — Here’s how to do it - I do keep a handwritten journal, but that’s about it.
The rave secret: why middle-aged women are larging it – and seeing big health benefits - and men!
Renault 5 Turbo 3E: The 555hp “Mini-Supercar” [YouTube] - not quite the Renault 5 Turbo from the past, but pretty nice. Out of my price range.
The Evolution of Trees [Podcast] - it obviously starts with a vague definition of trees.
Fitbit, Google Health, and What’s Next - oh bugger, I liked that tool.
Other Links
- John Freeborn: Weekly Design Links – 07/14/26
- John Freeborn: Weekly Design Links – 07/07/26
- Jason Yip: What I’ve been reading week ending 12 July 2026
- Ben Crowder: Links #165