Published
Weekend Reading — Fuck aboot, find oot
Tech Stuff
Karri Saarinen: 10 Rules for Crafting Products That Stand Out Linear’s CEO shares his approach to quality and craft:
- Commit to quality at the leadership level
- When it comes to building teams, go small and aim high
- Do away with handoff
- Resist creating specialized product teams
- Consider the spec your baseline MVP, not your goal
- Quality is not perfection
- The best design is opinionated
- The simplest way to increase quality is to reduce scope
- Don’t get locked into one way of doing things
- Data can be a crutch
Linear, if you forgot, is the excellent app for managing your product development. It’s the anti to the JIRA nonsense, more feature complete than GitHub projects would ever be, and it does add/remove/change features on a short notice, which is exactly how you deliver a remarkable product — try, if you made a mistakes, correct, repeat.
Imagine if a product's user messages were honest....
"This release, that you will eventually have no choice but to install, contains a shiny looking new thing that you certainly won't use but is designed to distract you from the removal of two rather popular interoperability features. The new install size is still much larger because we fired the lead developer who was standing in the way of us bloating the code with humongous and brittle third party libraries"
"We messed up (again!) and the software we supplied for you has a pretty crazy security vulnerability that puts your personal data at rush. This is due to its unnecessary over-complexity and our desperate need to rush things to market as quickly as possible"
"Congratulations on being part of our success. We now enjoy a large enough market share to begin "the squeeze". Customers looking to postpone (temporarily) the imminent and continuing service deterioration are requested to join our premium tier“
Continue AI code assistants that run in VS Code and JetBrains. You can write your own assistant, or find and use the ones that are right for you, from a huge collection of different assistants. Includes assistants for Next.js, React, Prisma, and many many other choices. They also have MCP servers for Docker, Playwright, etc. 25K autocompletes a month for $20 is not a bad deal. It’s early stage, so I’d stick with Cursor for now, but looks promising for the future.
trylonai/ts-result TypeScript implementation of Rust's Result type for explicit and type-safe error handling.
A = IPv4 DNS record
AA = battery size
AAA = automobile association
AAAA = IPv6 DNS record
AAAAA = me yelling about DNS issues
Errsole Open-source logger for Node.js that comes with built-in log viewer to view, filter, and search logs. It does have some advanced functions you can use, but also collects all console.log calls, which is exactly how it should work.
Meet Declarative Web Push Safari planning to lower the development cost of Web Push from “where do I even start?” to a simple, practical API:
Declarative Web Push allows web developers to request a Web Push subscription and display user visible notifications without requiring an installed service worker. Service worker JavaScript can *optionally* change the contents of an incoming notification. Unlike with original Web Push, there is no penalty for service workers failing to display a notification; the declarative push message itself is used as a fallback in case the optional JavaScript processing step fails.
SetApp I just renewed my subscription to SetApp which gives me access to 250+ apps, so I can choose the apps that are right for me, even if sometimes it’s an app I will only use once. And they have a really good selection of apps, I already installed 7, and 3 more I had from before. Also, SetApp comes from Kyiv so my money is going to a good home.
Kagi Search Stats Kagi Search Stats lists the most promoted and blocked domains on Kagi, and the super cool thing about this is how you can easily update your custom search setup by clicking on domain to switch it between block -> lower -> normal -> raise -> pin. Going through this list, I updated at least 10 domains in my custom configuration.
bribecoding is a new phenomenon where you pay open source developers a living wage to work on projects that your business uses
Transkribus OCR for handwritten text. I'm pretty sure the official use case is for analyzing historical documents.
Nebo Another choice for handwriting recognition, this one is designed to convert your writing in real time on your phone or tablet.
Stackfield Am I imagining things, or does this UI look exactly like Slack? Yes, it does more things than Slack ever will (Slack hasn't developed much in years), but the communication portion looks not much different. Anyway, check it out, your team may like it.
Vibe Coding Manifesto So there's a Vibe Coding Manifesto, because of course, and I'm pretty sure they didn't just prompt an LLM to generate the manifesto.
Improved Relative Time JavaScript module that can handle relative times in all sort of logical formats, like 18AiP (after iPhone), 136ABP (after Ballpoint Pen), 2ACGPT (after ChatGPT) and so forth. For when you get bored of BC/AD and need something different.
Magic Pages I just switched this Ghost server from using DigitalOcean, where I had to manage my own instance and run periodic updates and also pay $32/month (and additional Mailgun charges for my newsletter) to MagicPages which is a much better deal at $15/month and also includes 10,000 emails/month. Jannis was super helpful in helping me migrate the database and content over to MagicPages. There’s a lot of good stuff there, and also if you're considering moving away from US infrastructure, MagicPages is “100% hosted in EU-based data centers”. 🎁
Cal AI Take a photo with your phone and let AI track how many calories are in that <whatever you're eating next>
Ever ordered a replacement part online, only to find it doesn’t fit your device?
We’re excited to introduce the Device Compatibility Checker, taking the guesswork out of finding the right part!
Tim The UI is not obvious, but it does work, and I did just bounce my Microsoft 365 subscription back to $99 with a few clicks:
Have you had that "Upcoming price change for your Microsoft 365 subscription" email yet? They want to charge you an extra 50%ish for AI features, and they do not make it easy to find the way to turn it off. It took me minutes of searching - this is a particularly evil dark pattern.
"Switch plan" just lets you pick between annual and monthly billing. You want "Turn off recurring billing" and then "Current subscription without AI".
bool: true/false
bool (quantum): true & false
bool: (AUS): nah yeah/yeah nah
bool (consulting): it depends
bool (LLM): I like bowls!
bool (politician): It is disgraceful that our opponents seek to politicise what should be a common sense choice
agsb/milliForth-6502 "A Forth in 328 byte is the smallest real programming language ever, as of yet."
Damn. Forth was one of the first programming languages I mastered (Basic -> Assembly -> Forth), and I learned Forth on a 6502 BBC Micro, but just a few weeks ago I got rid of all my old books, two of which were about Forth! I feel bereft. 😢
Jen Gentleman “Consider yourself warned”
Eye for Design
Graham Sutherland / Polynomial
application settings should ideally always have a way to distinguish between "this variable is set to the default value" and "this variable has been explicitly set to a value by the user, and that value just happens to be the same as the default value", so that updates can make an informed decision about how to modify / remap a setting value as part of a new feature release.
the group policy "not configured" model and the Visual Studio "inherit" model are pretty good examples.
Supernote Nomad I 100% do not get why people still buy Kindles when the world has evolved decades beyond, offering you devices like the Supernote Nomad, which runs Linux, has a user-replaceable battery, comes with a pen for note taking that can feel like drawing on real paper, does screensharing on Zoom, and much more. And you can also dial it up to 10" by opting for the Supernote Manta.
Peoples
Dextr App A contact manager app that helps you remember the people you meet by adding notes, noting places, social graph, etc.
Communicating Across the Divide How ND do, or don't, communicate the way NT expect them to:
Neurodivergents and neurotypicals understand themselves a lot better than they understand each other. It's not a moral fault, and I’m not criticising: it's very hard for us to understand how a different brain processes the world. But it's also not insurmountable. A lot of neurodivergents are nearly fluent in neurotypicalese, and neurotypicals are kind of defined as "those who get social stuff easily", so y'all should be able to learn to understand most of what we're (not) saying.
The 10x engineer stories never include: added meaningful tests, updated documentation, created onboarding materials, mentored juniors, or improved runbooks.
There is no glory in these things. Yet those who do them will find themsleves 10xing their team.
Okay, so, these "Vivb coding" gigs? Turns out, they're a thing. And apparently, you need to be a coding wizard who's seen the future, because they want three years of experience... on tools (AI IDEs) that are barely a year old. Classic HR folks.
Business Side
Dollar Tree sells Family Dollar to private equity firms after a decade A new episode of The Dollar Wars just dropped:
Dollar Tree is selling Family Dollar to a pair of private equity firms for $1 billion after a decade of trying to make its acquisition of the bargain chain fit.
Dollar Tree Inc. acquired Family Dollar for more than $8 billion in 2015 after a bidding war with rival Dollar General.
Virtual Post Mail Starting at $20/month you can get a physical address for receiving mail — they’ll scan the mail and email you the scans, and can also deposit cheques for you. Starting at $250/month you can get a residential address, which you might need for proof of address. They can also tack a utility bill (sometimes you need to show multiple docs with the same address). And starting at $500/month you can get an office address, which you would need for business bank account, to setup Amazon store, etc. And if these sound like they're diminishing “proof of residence” checks, yes they do, but people with more income have been doing this forever, now it’s affordable to your everyday person.
a16z- and Benchmark-backed 11x has been claiming customers it doesn’t have In Silicon Valley, innovation is all about seeing the future in advance:
- 11x saw the future consists of AI SDRs, even though present-day AI hallucinates a lot
- 11x saw the future consists of many long term cash cows, even if those companies cancelled their trials
- Which is why they calculated “contracted ARR”
- a16z saw the future where a company with 70% churn rate is a great return on investment
But also, minor detail, ”employees were generally expected to work at least 60 hours a week”.
How celebrities like Mark Wahlberg and Gwen Stefani are monetising spirituality through the Hallow app The thing about meditation is that it's totally pointless unless you can somehow monetize it. And this Alex Jones (not the other Alex Jones) managed to monetize it. And we got the Jesus-blessed rug pull:
On that day, Sewell launched his own crypto memecoin called Lorenzo, urging people to invest in it in the name of Jesus. The coin has since suffered a dramatic crash, losing 93 per cent of its market value in just one day.
Google will develop Android OS entirely behind closed doors starting next week Android is going to be a little bit less open source next week (100% less but who’s counting?):
Google is adjusting how Android is made, with the AOSP branch moving behind closed doors, leaving the entire OS to be privately developed.
It’s easy, all you need to do is open your Gmail settings, scroll past the “smart features” options that are all set to off, find the Data Privacy menu, scroll past the “smart features” options that are all set to off, then go into the Google Workplace smart features menu where the smart features that should all be forced off per domain policy set in the admin panel are turned on because what does “permission” really mean really if you think about it, and turn them off, then choose “done”
Machine Intelligence
buttplug.io “I really cannot stress enough how much of an unexpected marketing gift the term "vibe coding" has been for us.”
How Software Engineers Actually Use AI
We surveyed 730 coders and developers about how (and how often) they use AI chatbots on the job. The results amazed and disturbed us.
As AI Takes His Readers, A Leading History Publisher Wonders What’s Next The goal of AI was always to never pay, but at what point do we run out of content to repurpose for free, and does Google even remotely care about that, or will they find some other source or revenue?
His World History Encyclopedia — the world’s second most visited history website — showed up in Google’s AI Overviews, synthesized and presented alongside other history sites. Then, its traffic cratered, dropping 25% in November.
Notification Summary Miscues Some more Apple AI notification summaries for your amusement.
Studio Ghibli has few legal options to stop OpenAI from ripping off its style This will be interesting to watch because Studio Ghibli animations are distributed by Disney, and Disney is extremely protective of its IP, after all it make a ton of money on side hustles (toys, amusement parks, etc), and this is a clear IP violation by OpenAI. And to be clear, I despise the Mickey Mouse law which gave Disney excessive copyright terms, but I think some trademarks protection is healthy. If you look at this image and immediately think of Studio Ghibli or any of their movies, that's a trademark infringement.
Insecurity
J Lam “And the award for the best meme goes to …”
A Sneaky Phish Just Grabbed my Mailchimp Mailing List Here's the thing: never ever submit username and password on a website without going through 1Password Autofill. Autofill verifies that it’s sending your credentials to the approved destination. With this one simple trick you don't need authentication tokens or SMS texts or code emails. For the one or two exceptions you may have, I suggest setting up 1Password to have the username, but storing the password in another field, so you have to do some extra work to sign in to these sites. That annoyance for only a handful of sites will keep you safe for all other sites. 🔑
ublock origin and youtube are at a forever ad blocking war and it's kinda funny that billions of dollars can't challenge the sheer power of autism and hating ads
Wipr 2 This looks cool. Ad blocker (because you need one) that blocks ads, popups, trackers, cookie warnings, crypto miners, etc. Updated continuously, $4.99 to run on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac, from an indie developer.
The stats we collect for the SpamAssassin project (mass-scan results from participating sites) have long shown that spammers are more consistent at making SPF, DKIM, and DMARC correct than are legitimate senders. DMARC in particular has no discernible benefit for most senders, so it is a useless signal.
Rejecting mail based solely on authentication failures of those deeply flawed authentication methods does more harm than good.
Why I recommend against Brave I keep posting about Brave because good people I know keep falling for their “privacy browser” shtick:
If you are keen on personal privacy, you might have come across Brave Browser. Brave is a Chromium-based browser that promises to deliver privacy with built-in ad-blocking and content-blocking protection. It also offers several quality-of-life features and services, like a VPN and Tor access. I mean, it's even listed on
Samsung One UI 7's ‘Automatic Verification’ Promises to Solve CAPTCHAs for You Cool, your phone can now solve CAPTCHAs for you and Samsung is pretty straightforward on what CAPTCHA is:
The feature "prevents websites from using data collected during the user authentication process to track your activities" according to the notes accompanying the latest app update.
Ironically, coming to an Android (Google) phone near you.
Everything Else
Wooden Desk Drawer 8 – Light Oak 5007111 When you need to give your living room more of that stylish Lego feel.
"I've seen smarter cabinets at Ikea." - quote of the day
"Is there a reason you're packing up that keyboard better than the china?"
Even Realities G1 Review Not bad 😎 Quite stylish prescription glasses, with HUD that can show you task lists, teleprompter, live translator, navigation, notifications, etc. $599 and no subscription charges, magnesium/titanium alloy, 15 day battery life. No camera! What’s not to like?
Her: I even got the 8-1/2 x 14 paper so I can fit more on the page.
Me: Is that Legal?
sure hosting fungus is tough at first, but i hear it grows on you.
I don't know who needs to hear this but if you freak out whenever your kid does somthing recklessly, next time they will be more careful... to keep it a secret.
Long wait for a rushed doctor's visit? Maybe you'll get more with a 'membership' fee So the new and improved US “healthcare system” expects you to pay for a health insurance plan, pay your co-pay, pay your deductible, and now also subscribe to a membership plan?
Concierge medicine is a business model in which a doctor charges patients a monthly or annual membership fee - even as the patients continue paying insurance premiums, copays and deductibles.
A Chandelier of 28,000 Eggs and Other Scrumptious Delights Reframe our Consumption of Food I present to you the world's most expensive chandelier when measured in United States dollars.
One iconic installation is a chandelier made from 28,000 eggs, a figure that represents the average number of eggs every Japanese person consumes in their lifetime.
Inside arXiv—the Most Transformative Platform in All of Science
Modern science wouldn’t exist without the online research repository known as arXiv. Three decades in, its creator still can’t let it go.
Stoop Coffee: How a Simple Idea Transformed My Neighborhood Cool story, and I’m thinking of doing something similar once I move to warmer LA.
Max Leibman “Millennial: Kids today! In my day, we would have KILLED coffee.”
I won't connect my dishwasher to your stupid cloud When I was in Paris for a week, we rented a hotel apartment, which came with a Bosch dishwasher, and indeed it had Home Connect over WiFi, which I didn’t appreciate. They also had WiFi thermostats, which I thought was a bit more practical. And they had induction cooking, which was really cool and that I want to have in my home in the future. It’s better than gas or electric, it won’t start a fire because the plates never get really warm, it uses a magnetic field to warm your food. And it warms stuff up pretty fast.
LA-to-Shanghai United Airlines flight turns back after pilot forgets passport I think this airplane pilot is showing the right level of competence to be appointed as the new minister of transportation:
United confirmed on Tuesday to AFP in an email that the plane, a Boeing 787 with 270 people onboard, made a stop in San Francisco as the pilot did not have their passport onboard.
YouTuber custom builds fully functional crab-shaped PS One with movable arms for controller
Kansas babysitter checking for monsters finds man hiding under bed 🤭
“One child complained there was a ‘monster’ under their bed. When the victim attempted to show the child there was nothing under the bed, she came face-to-face with a male suspect who was hiding there,” police said in a statement.
“An altercation ensued with the babysitter and one child was knocked over in the struggle. The suspect then fled the scene before deputies arrived.”
After police got to the property the victim identified the suspect as Martin Villalobos Jr, 27, who once lived there.
Why airlines spend millions on safety videos Hollywood movies are nice and all, but airline safety videos are where it's at:
We often see a strong lift in Net Promoter Score (NPS) directly attributable to the airline safety video
They’re not going to rent a billboard outside LAX for 30 days. It’s hard to even track the eyeballs on that and the ROI
But also:
the more entertaining the video, the worse passengers performed in recalling key safety information. And recall of the material was never more than 50%, regardless of video type.
To Save Money, Maybe You Should Skip Breakfast If you're wondering whethere this is a real article or fake, it's real.
Depressed tech workers can’t stop talking about Zuck and Musk, therapists say The techies are not all right:
Therapists say their tech-worker patients are extremely stressed over the changes in their industry and feeling a measure of guilt about their perceived complicity.
The problem is, techies can't afford to leave their high paying job while also living in a highly priced area, so they need to embrace the new vibe:
Company culture was really important to me, but I can’t be as picky, because I’ve only got so much savings.
Nobody likes Bryan Johnson’s breakfast at the Network School Ok, we got a woman that goes by the name Electra Frost, who talks about "the real technology of crypto and blockchain with AI”. We got "a cafe run by immortality-obsessed multi-millionaire" serving what people describe as “bunny food.” We got “crypto-funded Network School”. We got “night-time erections" lasting 179 minutes. We got “creating God in the form of superintelligence.” What’s not to love about the tech scene in the Bay Area?
You Can Still Read NASA's Deleted "First Woman" Graphic Novels (Update)
“The 40-page comic book highlights NASA technologies for traveling to, landing on, and exploring the Moon. The digital format comes to life, letting readers engage and interact through augmented reality elements using the First Woman website or their mobile devices.”
The Pitt So I just finished watching The Pitt and it is good. ER medical dramas are usually interesting TV for reasons, but The Pitt, which takes place over a single day’s 15-hour shift, is more like a high intensity workplace drama laced with medical emergencies, politics, drug abuse, human trafficking, autism, and more, which makes it much more engaging than any regular old ER drama. And also it's starring ER's John Carter. Recommended.
Also, Dinosaur An amazing show about a real family in real life situations laced with real life humor and if you — or someone you know — is on the spectrum I think you'll enjoy watching it, and I gathered it's coming to Hulu April 5th.
