Links

I've curated a collection of fascinating links I've encountered across the web, encompassing a variety of topics which intrigued me. Enjoy!

Taking Risk

tomblomfield.com

I just spent a week talking with some exceptional students from three of the UK's top universities; Cambridge, Oxford and Imperial College. Along with UCL, these British universities represent 4 of...

  An interesting take on how risk-averse we are here in the UK. We are never taught that running our own business is a potential opportunity and we have expectations that you'll just go and get a job.

Lessons after a half-billion GPT tokens - Ken Kantzer's Blog

kenkantzer.com

My startup (gettruss.io) released a few LLM-heavy features in the last six months, and the narrative around LLMs that I read on Hacker News is now starting to diverge from my reality, so I thought I’d share some of the more “surprising” lessons after churning through just north of 500 million tokens, by my estimate. […]

  Some interesting learnings from a company that had used ChatGPT for data extraction. Worth reading.

Mario meets Pareto

mayerowitz.io

Discover how to find the best Mario Kart 8 build using the Pareto frontier method. This interactive guide explores multi-objective optimization of speed, acceleration, and other key stats to help you beat your friends on the race track.

  A great visualisation of choosing your Mario Kart character and vehicle.

Zapier Attracts More Than 280,000 Visits Each Month With Zero Paid Advertising – Notes by daydream

withdaydream.com

For Zapier, a workflow automation software that facilitates application integrations, capturing more than 280,000 visits from high-intent searchers every month (per Ahrefs) is a systematized process that’s practically on autopilot.

  I'm always really interested in how you can leverage automation to build out programmatic websites which are also useful. This is great article describing how Zapier owns this space.

WipEout: The story of the world's first rave-inspired video game

mixmag.net

Inspired by dance music, living room after parties, and futuristic design, wipE′out″ changed the perception of video games forever. Speaking to the people who made it, Daniel Dylan Wray delves into its legacy

  While I didn’t work on the original game, I was lucky enough to work on WipEout Pure and also lead the WipEout Pulse versions on Sony’s handheld PSP. A fantastic game that still stands the test of time.

Equity 101 for Software Engineers at Big Tech and Startups

blog.pragmaticengineer.com

A growing number of startups and Big Tech companies offer equity - stocks, options, and others - as part of software engineering compensation. However, I've noticed few engineers understand what these mean.

When I was a hiring manager at Uber in Amsterdam, engineers usually focused far more on the base

  Although I've worked in tech for over 30 years, I've only recently worked at startups that offered stock options. This is a great read to understand more if you're a relative newbie like me.

‘A fascinating insight into pandemic psychology’: how Animal Crossing gave us an escape

theguardian.com

It was the biggest online game in lockdown. Now the National Videogame Museum has collected players’ experiences to find out what it meant to them.

  We bought Animal Crossing for our daughter during the pandemic. It felt like a way to disconnect from the stress of what was happening but also allowed her to connect with others during a time when in-person meeting was limited.

What Makes Something Jungle? | Resident Advisor

youtube.com

Our latest film explores the story of jungle, from its myriad roots to the present day; the sound's unique characteristics and stylings; how it infiltrated the mainstream with tracks like "Original Nuttah" by Shy FX and UK Apache; and how, alongside the genre's pioneers, artists like Nia Archives and Shy One are passing it down to the next generation.

  "I can't accept drum and bass, we need jungle I'm afraid". From the University Challenge meme, this is a great video on the history of jungle.

Impostor Syndrome vs the Dunning-Kruger Effect

raptori.dev

To find the sweet spot between impostor syndrome and overconfidence, you first need to understand that you can make mistakes without it reflecting on your competence.

  As someone who feels that he suffers from imposter syndrome from time to time, this is a good point. Working in a culture where failure is allowed is a great way to step out of your imposter mindset.

What does an EM do in a small team if they don't code?

linkedin.com

Are you ready for a serving of #SpicyTechChat? 🌶️ Recently, someone asked me, "What does an Engineering Manager (EM) even do in a small team if they don't code?" Ouch. Let's discuss why non-coding EMs can be an immense value add that drives success across engineering.

  It's always interesting to read whether people think Software Engineering Managers should write code or not. I personally think it's difficult to have the time to be an effective coder and an effective manager.

Tell me about a time documents

sallylait.com

During my latest job search, I found myself wishing I’d kept more detailed notes on situations encountered in previous roles. It’s led me to put together something I’m calling a ‘Tell me about a time…’ document.

  I love this idea of "tell me about a time" documents! It's so easy to forget what you did as a manager and this sounds really useful.

Choose optimism

stephango.com

Only optimists can create a great future. One day, I decided to become an optimist and life became much more fun.

  I try my best to be an optimist and this affirms my belief that optimism is the way.

File over app

stephango.com

If you want to create digital artifacts that last, they must be files you can control, in formats that are easy to retrieve and read. Use tools that give you...

  I love this idea: "if you want to create digital artifacts that last, they must be files you can control, in formats that are easy to retrieve and read."

no hello

nohello.net

please don't say just hello in chat

  A few people at the BBC used to do this and it was really annoying! It's great to say hello first but then ask the question. 😃