Ahoy dear readers!
I’ve written this post a whole day in advance as I’ll be at the YOW CTO Summit tomorrow delivering an expanded version of “Code Review-Review is the Manager’s Job”. I really hope some fantastic tech news doesn’t crop up overnight and I look like a real goose for not covering it in the newsletter.
Keep an eye out on the company twitter for the slide-deck and a bunch of good links related to the topic in the evening.
Tech
Easy-To-Read Summary of Important AI Research Papers of 2018
Are you like me in that you want to use all these powerful new machine learning techniques but are generally lazy and balls at reading academic papers? This post is a super handy summary of some of this year’s best ML papers and very intelligible.
Consistent terminal colors with 16-ANSI-color Vim themes
Will be interesting to see the click-through rate on this one. Very niche, but relevant to me and I’m sure one or two more.
Zeit 2.0, and building smaller Python Docker images
Straightforward and very specific post on how to take a big fat docker image and make it smaller and then smaller again. A task that will 100% be in your future if you adopt Docker for anything ever.
NES-style CSS Framework
Is it too late for me to re-brand everything? Yes. Will one of you use it for some fun side project so I can live vicariously through you?
Business & Management
Building Healthy Organizational Incentives
Stand out post of the fortnight for me. Great tactical management advice for structuring incentives (no, not just pay) within your team for best result. Read it.
Do NOT Measure Developers - Measure Projects
This post is a little too heated but does a reasonable job taking down some of the “vanity metrics” some tech management tools spit out and why you should avoid them. These are things I’m trying to not build into Hecate.
The New Bootstrappers: How Alternative Funding Models Are Embracing Founder Lifestyles
The Road Now Taken: 4 SaaS Start-ups And Their Quest For Independent Growth
A couple of well paired posts on funding models for startups beyond the classic venture capital path.
Why Don’t They Trust Us?
A slightly reductionist but still pretty useful post to help understand why trust between teams in an org, particularly product teams can erode so quickly.
Culture
How To Digest Books Above Your “Level” And Increase Your Intelligence
Some tips on how to read difficult books. I’m not above finding my bearings in a tough book by checking the wikipedia page and it comforts me to know I’m not alone.
The prince of the people: Machiavelli was no ‘Machiavellian’
Speaking of books your should read. Get on Machiavelli. It’s nowhere near as evil as you think and it’s incredibly useful. Take it from me, a fan, and definitely not evil at all.
Oscar Wilde’s Radical Wit
Fantastic essay mostly about how Oscar Wilde uses wit to make you think harder but mostly a reminder that Oscar Wilde is great and that I’m due a re-read of everything he wrote.
Swarmlike collective behavior in bicycling
Apparently fluid dynamics apply to peletons. The more you know.
Contractually Obligated Nautical Fact
Preliminary report on the prediction of “afternoon effect”
This week I learned that submarines are often harder to detect in the afternoon because of temperature differences between layers of water. It is also apparently quite difficult to predict on which afternoons the effect would develop upon.
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