I read a lot of random stuff. Link Dumps are the things I think are worth remembering. Every Sunday (if I remember) I will send out my weeks worth of links. You can always check out my Link Dump Tag if you’re looking for even more to read and please forward these if someone might find them interesting.
On the Education of Children. Very interesting article that’s pretty relevant to the whole vibe here on this Substack.
Sean Goedecke: Software engineers don’t get to be Luddites about AI. This is, I think, my biggest quibble with the curmudgeons in the software industry regarding AI so I’m right there with Sean.
Hugh Howey: The AI Bubble Explained. I really enjoyed this piece. I think Howey has a great ability at seeing through some bullshit and offering insightful commentary that I don’t see in other places and there’s some of that on highlight here. I’m not sure I agree with everything about his Cassandra fortune-telling but some of it I sign on with for sure.
You Are No Longer Invited to Dinner. I really appreciated the analysis in this piece, some stuff to mull over.
Demand for wine is crashing so farmers can’t find folks to buy their grapes anymore.
It’s rained in Tokyo 34 days in a row, a new record. Holy shit.
The Five Camps of Data Modelling. Great read, especially for someone who has lived in all of these worlds at one point or another. Thinking about the stuff I’m currently working on I can see where I, thankfully, have learned to reach for tools from different camps depending. My least favorite is honestly probably relational because it is the “least” like the real world in many ways I think? Something driven by technical necessity and limitations?
Sean Goedecke: Shipping is the Foundation. I’m a sucker for metaphors that overlap completely different problem spaces with the same concepts so I adore this one, and the math one that he linked to.
Electrification and the big problem. First time actually hearing about this “trilemma.” Good thoughts here.
The religious “Nones” - a good piece.
Solve the problem, not a different more difficult problem. One of the biggest issues in engineering is failing this exact guideline.
Noah Smith: What the AI boom is doing for Americans. This is an interesting piece, it feels a little pretzel-brained but, at the same time, it fits the world I see around me?
Trucks with side-rails are safer and this guy is pushing for them in NYC
The influence of “super” individual contributors. Never read something like this, was quite interesting.
Sean Goedecke: Software’s centaur age may last decades. I like the concept of the centaur and how Sean frames this. I am curious if we ever actually see the age end, but I feel like if we do we will have hit AGI anyways.
Derek Thompson: Why Americans Stopped Falling in Love. Well, now I’m bummed for Squirt’s future.
PVC pipes swept away by Hurricane Helene flooding still dominate cleanup of North Carolina river. Some of these pictures are pretty astounding.