This is an article written, live, from the MMA in 2021.

Perfect Media Server

Hacker News discussion on a media server, half open source (?).

Tags: hacker-news, media-server, perfect, tool, software

Id: c37b0f2a-4dc5-11eb-8048-0242ac110002 Read: Sun, 03 Jan 2021 13:15:34 +0000

How your startup can survive technical debt

Mentions the paradox of success: you need debt to start quickly, yet too quickly leaves no time to pay debt. Hence your prototype turns into an MVP, and that is your first piecce of technical debt.

Tags: andre-schweighofer, technical-debt, analogy, working-software, paradox

Id: dfd6d710-4dc7-11eb-b0a9-0242ac110002 Read: Sun, 03 Jan 2021 13:30:41 +0000

What I’ve Learned in 45 Years in the Software Industry

Some thoughts from a person in the software industry, 45 years in.

Focus on the fundamentals: teamwork, trust, communication, seek consensus, automated testing, Clean, understandable, and navigable code and design

Tags: reflection, team-work, career-management, peter-principle, simplicity, joel-goldberg

Id: 8f34ebda-5317-11eb-a356-0242ac110002 Read: Sun, 10 Jan 2021 07:43:41 +0000

Retrospectiva 2020

Vicenç reflects on his 2020, both laboral and professional, while working at Voxel from the UK.

Lower in salary rates, twice (first as reducing rates from a previous engagement, then lowering rates for the pandemic).

Explains his goals for the upcoming year.

Tags: vgaltes, vicenç-garcia-altes, retrospective, end-of-year, 2020, goals

Id: b7809eea-533a-11eb-99a9-0242ac110002 Read: Sun, 10 Jan 2021 11:55:21 +0000

How to write a programming book

Tags: book, book-writing, aquiles-carattino

Id: b19e2f4c-5349-11eb-9a89-0242ac110002 Read: Sun, 10 Jan 2021 13:42:34 +0000

Do the Real Thing

Fake activity is great for making yourself feel better, but lousy for actual results.

Rules for Doing the Real Thing

1. Nothing is often better than something.
2. The hard way is the easy way.
3. If you’re not sure what the real thing is, just ask.

Tags: ultralearning, scott-young, real-thing, distinction, focus, career

Id: b3b254f6-534a-11eb-b65b-0242ac110002 Read: Sun, 10 Jan 2021 13:49:47 +0000

The Eternal Novice Trap

• Do learn new programming languages and paradigms, but learn them from a place of confidence and mastery with your primary tool of choice.
• Don’t fall for the trap of perpetually chasing after the bright shiny thing that’s hot right now. Recognize that what’s new isn’t necessarily better. Take what will meaningfully help you advance your career and let the rest flow by. There’ll always be more tomorrow.
• Do keep having fun! You’ll learn more quickly and retain more if you’re finding enjoyment in what you do. Sometimes it means looking at things a little differently, but often that open mindedness can pay off.

Tags: chris-patti, new-shiny, career-management, feoh, journeyman, dreyfus-model, acquisition-of-skill, learning

Id: 8679135c-534b-11eb-815f-0242ac110002 Read: Sun, 10 Jan 2021 13:55:40 +0000

Eisvogel: pandoc latex template

This is a tool / template to translate markdown files to PDF/LaTeX. This can create a cover page, code listings

Tags: latex, tool, eisvogel, pandoc, template, document, publishing, book, markdown

Id: ede18e32-5965-11eb-bb25-0242ac110002 Read: Mon, 18 Jan 2021 08:19:48 +0000

A MiniZinc Tutorial

A MiniZinc Tutorial, explaining the language, the runner, the IDE

Tags: minizinc, csp, constraint-sastifaction-programming, maximize, n-queens, np-hard, kim-marriott, peter-stuckey, cop, constraint-optimization-programming, milp, mixed-integer-linear-programming

Id: 2f6217dc-5966-11eb-824f-0242ac110002 Read: Mon, 18 Jan 2021 08:21:38 +0000

Property-based testing in Rust with Proptest

A guide on how to do property-based testing in rust

Tags: property-based-testing, rust, guide, tutorial, zach-mitchell, logrocket, pbt, pest, sentence-parser

Id: 8101544a-5966-11eb-8133-0242ac110002 Read: Mon, 18 Jan 2021 08:23:55 +0000

NSA urges system administrators to replace obsolete TLS protocols

NSA is urging to drop SSL2.0, 3.0, TLS 1.0, 1.1. Prefer TLS1.2, 1.3.

Tags: ssl, tls, nsa, security, recommendation

Id: c5c1038c-5bdc-11eb-a789-0242ac110003 Read: Thu, 21 Jan 2021 11:35:33 +0000

Read this quarter:

• 12 rules for life; Peterson; own-it, non-technical, philosophy

12 rules for life

The book contains some rules, some principles to remove doubt and uncertainty from life.

There are plenty of mentions to the Bible, although I consider the book to the secular in its contents.

There are few personal stories on the book (e.g., about his daughter Mikhaila Peterson), which makes it readable and enjoyable. The philosophy behind it is sometimes not-politically-correct.

For each of the rules, he has a setup of “introduction - main - conclusion”.

From wikipedia 0:

The book is divided into chapters with each title representing one of the following twelve specific rules for life as explained through an essay.

1. “Stand up straight with your shoulders back”

2. “Treat yourself like you are someone you are responsible for helping”

3. “Make friends with people who want the best for you”

4. “Compare yourself with who you were yesterday, not with who someone else is today”

5. “Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them”

6. “Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world”

7. “Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient)”

8. “Tell the truth — or, at least, don’t lie”

9. “Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t”

10. “Be precise in your speech”

11. “Do not bother children when they are skate-boarding”

12. “Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street”

Read this quarter:

• Bushido, the soul of Japan; Nitobe; own-it, non-technical, philosophy

Read this quarter:

• Skunk Works; Rich; own-it, non-technical

Skunk Works

This book describes Ben R. Rich’s adventure of creating the F-117A, the stealth plane with a triangular shape.

Describes how he won a bet against legendary plane designer Clarence ‘Kelly’ Johnson. How he got the 25 cents from his old mentor and friend.

Later, the book reviews Kelly’s history as the manager of Skunk Works, how it works, the principles (Kelly’s 14 rules), etc.

Later on, he retrospects on his own career, and the principles on which Skunk Works has thrived on.

Kelly’s 14 Rules & Practices

By Kelly Johnson

1. The Skunk Works® manager must be delegated practically complete control of his program in all aspects. He should report to a division president or higher.

2. Strong but small project offices must be provided both by the military and industry.

3. The number of people having any connection with the project must be restricted in an almost vicious manner. Use a small number of good people (10% to 25% compared to the so-called normal systems).

4. A very simple drawing and drawing release system with great flexibility for making changes must be provided.

5. There must be a minimum number of reports required, but important work must be recorded thoroughly.

6. There must be a monthly cost review covering not only what has been spent and committed but also projected costs to the conclusion of the program.

7. The contractor must be delegated and must assume more than normal responsibility to get good vendor bids for subcontract on the project. Commercial bid procedures are very often better than military ones.

8. The inspection system as currently used by the Skunk Works, which has been approved by both the Air Force and Navy, meets the intent of existing military requirements and should be used on new projects. Push more basic inspection responsibility back to subcontractors and vendors. Don’t duplicate so much inspection.

9. The contractor must be delegated the authority to test his final product in flight. He can and must test it in the initial stages. If he doesn’t, he rapidly loses his competency to design other vehicles.

10. The specifications applying to the hardware must be agreed to well in advance of contracting. The Skunk Works practice of having a specification section stating clearly which important military specification items will not knowingly be complied with and reasons therefore is highly recommended.

11. Funding a program must be timely so that the contractor doesn’t have to keep running to the bank to support government projects.

12. There must be mutual trust between the military project organization and the contractor, the very close cooperation and liaison on a day-to-day basis. This cuts down misunderstanding and correspondence to an absolute minimum.

13. Access by outsiders to the project and its personnel must be strictly controlled by appropriate security measures.

14. Because only a few people will be used in engineering and most other areas, ways must be provided to reward good performance by pay not based on the number of personnel supervised.

Source: https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/who-we-are/business-areas/aeronautics/skunkworks/kelly-14-rules.html

This is an article written, live, from the MMA in 2020.