Ahoy there readers!
I’ve just returned from my trip to San Francisco with Startmate. Met a lot of interesting people and had a lot of good conversations about Hecate. I’m really, really excited to start putting the fruit of those conversations into the product.
Sydneysiders: I’ll be running a mini-booth for Hecate at Web Directions Summit November 1-2. Come say hi and grab a sticker.
Tech
ORM: We Approve
I really like this approach of “approval testing” for the SQL your ORM spits out. Seems like a good tradeoff of ease of dev cycle and protection against unexpected database surprises. Will definitely look into implementing it myself.
A Great Old-Timey Game-Programming Hack
Fun little story of all the wacky assembly hacks that go into making a ye olde video game fast. Kids these days have no idea. Get off my lawn.
Jepsen: MongoDB 3.6.4
I love reading Jespen posts on how they test distributed databases for their failure modes. This is one of those. Maybe you will love it too.
Microsoft’s problem isn’t how often it updates Windows—it’s how it develops it
In depth look at the problems in Microsoft’s dev and planning processes and how they’re hindering the company. I would not want to be in charge of trying to turn that particular ship.
Exploring the Human Implications of Conway’s Law
Really interesting second order take on what Conway’s Law can mean for how you manage your team. Strong recommend.
Business & Management
Capturing resources.
Short post on how dysfunctional resource allocation in companies to get and how to try and avoid falling into that trap yourself.
Weatherproofing your startup for any financial climate
A handy list of practical business things to do with your startup so it’s ready to handle bad financial times. Assuming that’s a thing you think might come up some time soon. Hashtag trade war.
Roadmap to a SaaS IPO: unicorning your way to $100M revenue
I can’t say unicorning my way to anything is on my roadmap, but if it’s on yours this is a pretty good guide to the pace you need to hit.
Building Apps for Shopify: Fall In Love With The Problem
I was less interested in the theme of this post and more on the details. It amazes me how much money floats around in the Shopify ecosystem.
Culture
Jeff Bridges, John Goodman And Steve Buscemi Talk ‘The Big Lebowski’
The Big Lebowski is probably my all time favourite movie so of course I’m gonna post some interview with the three main stars.
What duelling can teach us about taking offence
Super interesting take on how duelling historically worked and how it can give a new wrinkle on what it means when someone gives or takes offence.
The New American Songbook: The oldies of the future.
Some guesses on what current songs we’ll be hearing on GoldFM in the future. Someone stick this in a time capsule so we can verify later.
Master of his universe: the warnings in JRR Tolkien’s novels
Thinkpieces I didn’t expect to read in 2018: the former Archbishop of Canterbury declaring Lord of the Rings anti-fascist.
Contractually Obligated Nautical Fact
World’s oldest intact shipwreck discovered in Black Sea
Thanks to Jon Rowe for sending this one over. They’ve found a 2,400 year old ship at the bottom of the black sea. I’m looking forward to learning more about it as more data gets published.
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