2020#39 Readings of the Week

February 23, 2020 5 minutes read | 929 words by Ruben Berenguel

Skipped ehem a few weeks (I can blame one on my birthday).

NOTE: The themes are varied, and some links below are affiliate links. Data engineering, software engineering, Python, work stuff, formal methods. Expect a similar wide range in the future as well. You can check all my weekly readings by checking the tag here. You can also get these as a weekly newsletter by subscribing here.

Randolph diagram

I wanted to mention this in the intro to my Wardley mapping talk, but couldn’t find a way. It’s interesting though.

How to do High-Bar Code Review Without Being a Jerk

Good, good.

Age of Invention: Where Be Dragons?

Why role playing games were not invented earlier? Dice and stories have existed since the beginning.

Five Interesting Data Engineering Projects

I’ve been mentioning some of these (and tried some others already) for a while. Obviously an article that agrees with me is good.

The Most Annoying Corporate Buzzwords

Let the Agile synergy be disrupted.

We Are All Ancient Mapmakers

Not sure what it was about, but was entertaining, as any Nautilus article.

The Horrifically Dystopian World of Software Engineering Interviews

I’ve always hated “smart” problems with a passion… I don’t think I’d make it (or even want to) through the interview hoops at those companies

How This One Font Took Over the World

No, it’s not Comic Sans (or Helvetica).

State of Remote Work 2020

A set of interviews yield some data. Here’s the data (from Buffer).

Hallucinogenic fish - Wikipedia

Not much more to say. Puts fish stew in another, more colourful light.

Python ‘!=’ Is Not ‘is not’: Comparing Objects in Python

Nothing I was not aware of, but I always enjoy RealPython’s writing on technical points.

How Segment sped up its serving systems by using shared SQLite. Also opens up the idea of using SQLite files as data interchange files. Mentioned elsewhere (SQLite’s docs?), using it to store machine learning models, for instance. Interesting, isn’t it?

In Case You Ever Want to Unicycle 21,000 Miles…

I have a unicycle. Never used. Yet.

It’s Official: Open-Plan Offices Are Now the Dumbest Management Fad of All Time

I wrote about office stuff on a post on my LinkedIn account. This could be added to it.

The Best Board Games of the Ancient World

The expected classics. If you have never played Nine Men Morris (it’s quite unknown in many places), give it a go, is quite fun. Also, Tablut/Hnefatafl varieties are super-fun (and good-looking). And Backgammon, a more “modern classic”.

A Year’s Worth

How do you visualise a year of work? Kent Beck recommends circles: they automatically create gaps you can’t infinitely fill (well… dependson what you work on)

Master of Orion

A dig through Master of Orion by The Digital Antiquarian. I played a lot of MoO2, so fun.

The man who discovered umami

I’ve been meaning to buy some MSG for some time now.

How an Optimizing Compiler Works

Classic Li Haoyi quality here. He gave a talk on the subject in Scala Days 2019.

How knitters got knotted in a purity spiral

My partner is a pro knitter, and explained me these situations in real time (they were somehow close in time with some stuff happening in the Scala community I was explaining her). As I have said before, groups of humans always end up creating turmoil.

How To Take Smart Notes: 10 Principles to Revolutionize Your Note-Taking and Writing

Having a go at a Zettelkasten. I have been a pretty consistent note taker for many years, but getting knowledge/new ideas from them is hard. Let’s see.

Pablo Escobar’s hippos have become an invasive species in Colombia

This title has everything to deserve being here, even if the article was empty.

The Woman Shaking Up the Diamond Industry

It’s a suprisingly interesting and profoundly dull read. I can’t wrap my head around these conflicting emotions. Caveat emptor.

How Pi Connects Colliding Blocks to a Quantum Search Algorithm

Pi is everywhere, but the quantum connection is interesting

Today I Learned That Not Everyone Has An Internal Monologue And It Has Ruined My Day

Wait what?

RIP Pipenv: Tried Too Hard. Do what you need with pip-tools

I tried pipenv. Liked parts, hated many. Eyeing poetry for the next stuff.

The Business Case for Formal Methods

How about finding bugs before you even write the code? Isn’t that appealing?

Lean Coffee Facilitator’s Guide

The lean coffee framework seems super interesting, and I need to gather a few friends and do one soon.

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