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Issue #551
What Current & Future Engineering Leaders Read
Friday 20th September’s issue is presented by AssemblyAI
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— Wes Kao
tl;dr: “Just because you feel defensive doesn’t mean you should act on your initial impulses. Instead, assume positive intent. Find out more about what caused the person to say what they said. Wes shares a couple of examples of what to initially say and how to respond when receiving negative feedback.”
CareerAdvice
— Jim Nelson
tl;dr: So often in design, engineering, or product, you’re faced with this decision: how do we pare down what we have to something that feels like a cohesive whole? “Rick Rubin gives this advice about working in the studio with artists when making an album: Let’s say We’ve recorded twenty-five songs. We think the album is going to have ten. Instead of picking our favorite ten, we limit it to: “What are the five or six we can’t live without?” Then you say: “Ok here are the five or six we can't live without, now what would we add to that which makes it better and not worse?” It puts you in a different frame when you start with building and not removing.”
Management CareerAdvice
— Kelsey Foster
tl;dr: Discover how this game-changing technology powers everything from voice assistants to real-time transcription. Our comprehensive guide explores the fundamentals of speech recognition, its diverse applications, and the unmatched benefits for productivity and accessibility. Ready to build the next breakthrough?
Promoted by AssemblyAI
AI
— Hillel Wayne
tl;dr: “Goodhart's law is a warning for pointy-haired bosses who up with terrible metrics: lines added, feature points done, etc. I'm more interested in how it affects the metrics we set for ourselves that our bosses might never know about.”
Management
“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”
— Kent Beck
tl;dr: “Tidying up works through a series of small, safe steps. In fact, Rule #1 is If it’s hard, don’t do it. I used to do crossword puzzles at night. If I got stuck and went to sleep, the next night those same clues were often easy. Instead of stressing about the big effects I want to create, I am better off just stopping when I encounter resistance.” Kent shares his approach.
CareerAdvice BestPractices
tl;dr: Calling all developers! Take the Developer Nation Survey to shape the future of tech. Share your insights to help spot new trends and win amazing prizes like hardware, software, and more! Plus, get a Virtual Goody Bag with free resources. Join thousands of devs worldwide. Start now!
Promoted by SlashData
Survey
— Jon Seager
tl;dr: “I’m always fascinated to see how people use their computers - which applications they choose, how they set up their desktop environments and even how their screens are laid out on their desk. I’ve learned some great tricks from friends and colleagues over the years, so I thought I’d write up how I use my machines in 2024.”
Guide
— Lyra Rebane
tl;dr: “In my security research I often come across weird quirks and behaviours that aren’t particularly useful beyond a neat party trick. It’s always a good idea to keep track of them though, perhaps one day they’ll be just the missing piece you need.”
Security
— Armin Ronacher
tl;dr: “What if platforms like AWS or GitHub started splitting the check? By adding a line-item to the invoices of their customers to support Open Source finding. It would turn giving to Open Source into more of a tax like thing. That might leverage the general willingness to just pile up on things to do good things. If we all pay 3% on top of our Cloud or SaaS bills to give to Open Source this would quickly add up.”
OpenSource
Most Popular From Last Issue
On Being A Senior Engineer — John Allspaw
Notable Links
Opik: OS end-to-end LLM dev platform.
Skrub: Prepping tables for ML.
System Design Primer: Learn how to design large-scale systems.
Tools: OS LLM tools.
Void: OS Cursor alternative.
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1 = Didn't enjoy it all // 5 = Really enjoyed it