Kula.blogBlog about Books, Programming, IT related topics, JavaScript, React, Psychology and everything that I find interesting2024-03-10T00:00:00Zhttps://kula.blog/Kris Kulakris@kula.blogThe System by Robert B. Reich2024-03-10T00:00:00Zhttps://kula.blog/posts/the_system/<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50249799-the-system"><img src="https://kula.blog/img/the_system_reich.jpg" alt="The System book cover" /></a></p>
<p>This book got me angry at times. The level of injustice and the gaslighting of people with <em>free market</em> natural and inevitable order is horrifying.</p>
<p>I can recommend it.</p>
<p>Some of the ideas I've picked:</p>
<ol>
<li>There is nothing <em>natural</em> in the market. It's just a set of rules for the involved to follow.</li>
<li>Ayn Rand "market fundamentalism" creates a false narration that your wealth and income are your worth.</li>
<li>CEOs get a raise of 960% from 1980 till 2019 while normal people around 12%.</li>
<li>Maximizing shareholder value was caused by corporate raiders and didn't lead to anything good.</li>
</ol>
<h2 id="quotes" tabindex="-1">Quotes <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/the_system/#quotes">#</a></h2>
<blockquote>
<p>One of the most dangerously deceptive ideas is that we work and live in a free market that is neutral and natural—existing outside government, unaffected by how power is allocated in the system. We are repeatedly told that whatever inequalities and insecurities the market generates and whatever negative consequences it causes are beyond our control. Efforts to reduce inequality or insecurity are described as constraints on the market’s freedom, likely to cause grave unintended consequences. In this view, if some people aren’t paid enough to live on, the market has determined they aren’t worth enough. If others rake in billions, they must be worth it. If millions of Americans are unemployed or their paychecks are shrinking or they work two or three part-time jobs with no idea what they’ll earn next month or next week, that’s just the natural outcome of market forces. If the planet’s survival is endangered because of fossil fuels, nothing significant can be done about it. Government shouldn’t intrude because the free market knows best.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>But starting in the 1980s, as a result of the takeovers mounted by Icahn and a few other raiders such as Michael Milken and Ivan Boesky, a wholly different understanding about the purpose of the corporation emerged. The system changed profoundly. Raiders targeted companies that could deliver higher returns to shareholders mainly by abandoning their other stakeholders—increasing profits by fighting unions, cutting workers’ pay or firing them, automating as many jobs as possible, abandoning their communities by shuttering factories and moving jobs to states with lower labor costs, or simply moving them abroad. The raiders pushed shareholders to vote out directors who wouldn’t make these sorts of changes and vote in directors who would (or else sell their shares to the raiders, who’d do the dirty work).</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>Through it all, Americans have clung to the meritocratic tautology that individuals are paid what they’re worth in the market, without examining changes in the legal and political institutions that define the market. This tautology is easily confused with a moral claim that people deserve what they are paid. Yet this claim is meaningful only if the system’s legal and political institutions are morally just. It has lured us into thinking nothing can or should be done to alter what people are paid because the market has decreed it. By this logic, the oligarchy is natural and inevitable.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>The modern equivalent of the divine right of kings might be termed “market fundamentalism,” a creed that has been promoted by the American oligarchy with no less zeal than the old aristocracy advanced divine right. It holds that if the free market has caused a few at the top to aggregate vast wealth and power, the result must be right and good because it is natural and inevitable. One of market fundamentalism’s founders was the philosopher Ayn Rand. Former Fed chair Alan Greenspan was a follower of Rand, and, as we’ve seen, his doctrinaire views almost sank the American economy. Today’s oligarchs are not as rigidly doctrinaire, but they still regard the economy as a holy grail.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>As I’ve said, the oligarchy wants Americans to view the system as a neutral meritocracy in which anyone can make it with enough guts, gumption, and hard work. The standard platitudes of market fundamentalism are that people “pull themselves up by their bootstraps” and that America is a nation of “self-made men” (and women), both of which translate into a moral code: People deserve whatever they earn in the market. Income and wealth are measures of worth. If you amass a billion dollars, then you must deserve it because that’s what the market awarded you. If you barely scrape by, then you have only yourself to blame. It is assumed that the system, and how power is allocated within it, plays no role whatsoever.</p>
</blockquote>
2024 February. Don't Share Your Goals.2024-03-03T16:26:20Zhttps://kula.blog/newsletter/2024_02_update/<h1 id="books-i'm-reading" tabindex="-1">Books I'm reading <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2024_02_update/#books-i'm-reading">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60321447-chip-war">Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology by Chris Miller</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50249799-the-system">The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It by Robert B. Reich</a></p>
<h1 id="elsewhere-on-the-web" tabindex="-1">Elsewhere on the Web <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2024_02_update/#elsewhere-on-the-web">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67R0ISqJSs0">42,000 Tech Layoffs in 2024 Already - AI is the cause - Deny, Downplay, Distract [Propaganda] by David Shapiro</a>. 4D: Deny, Diminish, Distract, Defend.</p>
<p><a href="https://davekarpf.substack.com/p/the-myth-of-technological-inevitability">The myth of technological inevitability by Dave Karpf</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Lessons from the 1990s human cloning debate</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://blog.appliedcomputing.io/p/okrs-are-bullshit">OKRs are Bullshit by DRMORR</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.gksoft.com/a/fun/architects.html">If Architects had to work like Programmers by unbekannt</a></p>
<p><a href="https://tidyfirst.substack.com/p/mastering-programming">Mastering Programming by Kent Beck</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ia8Q51ouA_s">Positive Affirmations for Site Reliability Engineers | KRAZAM</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd_HxhLKlY8">If Contemporary Fiction Was Written Like Science Fiction | Generic Entertainment</a></p>
<h1 id="personal-thoughts" tabindex="-1">Personal Thoughts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2024_02_update/#personal-thoughts">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UikFbVuS5c">This Is Why You Should Stop Talking About Your Goals | HealthyGamerGG</a><br />
I'll be experimenting with this approach a little bit more. I'll try to keep my goals to myself more going forward.</p>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p>You can subscribe to my monthly posts at <strong><a href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/">kula.blog/newsletter</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
2024 January. Sick & Tired2024-02-02T15:46:20Zhttps://kula.blog/newsletter/2024_01_update/<h1 id="books-i've-read" tabindex="-1">Books I've read <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2024_01_update/#books-i've-read">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2214574.Lavinia">Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin</a>. Weird book, but it's still Le Guin.</p>
<h1 id="elsewhere-on-the-web" tabindex="-1">Elsewhere on the Web <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2024_01_update/#elsewhere-on-the-web">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk1fp-l7-mY">Noam Chomsky - Are Corporations Legitimate Institutions? | Chomsky's Philosophy</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKAT8-qjQHw">Why XKCD's Earth Temperature Timeline is Such a Good Online Graphic | Science Communication Media</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIPPpsJY39c">When a STUDENT asks about JK ROWLING this happens | Secret Scholar Society</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Heqn2cy5emI">Real-Life Superheroes Caught on Camera | Mind Warehouse</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frG-jZXsNvc">The Page that Changed Comics Forever | matttt</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz_UpwUgAIw">Adam Smith Changed My Mind About Capitalism | Melissa 'Splains The Classics</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBo6kKuOKtU">Samuel L Jackson MADE This Anime For A Reason | Research Purposes</a></p>
</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="personal-thoughts" tabindex="-1">Personal Thoughts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2024_01_update/#personal-thoughts">#</a></h1>
<p>Not sure if that's long Covid or just a series of infections but I only had a couple of good days in January. It doesn't seem to be entirely over so I don't even have plans for the next month.</p>
<h1 id="music" tabindex="-1">Music <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2024_01_update/#music">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dmQ3QWpy1Q">Heavy | Linkin Park (feat. Kiiara)</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo90nWXy0KQ">Linkin Park - One More Light - Full Album (2017)</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>One is in Polish: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyYSgsuVfZg">SOKOŁOWSKI - TAKI JAK JA (2024) (CAŁY ALBUM)</a></p>
</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="anime" tabindex="-1">Anime <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2024_01_update/#anime">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21209876/">Solo Leveling</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15237152/">The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30495119">Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I'm Not the Demon Lord</a></li>
</ul>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p>You can subscribe to my monthly posts at <strong><a href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/">kula.blog/newsletter</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
2023 December. D32024-01-03T15:20:20Zhttps://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_12_update/<h1 id="blogs-posts" tabindex="-1">Blogs Posts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_12_update/#blogs-posts">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/how_emotions_are_made/">How Emotions Are Made by Lisa Feldman Barrett</a>.</p>
<h1 id="books-i'm-reading" tabindex="-1">Books I'm reading <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_12_update/#books-i'm-reading">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41564599-howling-dark">Howling Dark by Christopher Ruocchio</a>. <em>The Sun Eater</em> series second book. It has even better reviews than the first book so my expectations are pretty high.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2214574.Lavinia">Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin</a>.</p>
<h1 id="books-i've-read" tabindex="-1">Books I've read <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_12_update/#books-i've-read">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/how_emotions_are_made/">How Emotions Are Made by Lisa Feldman Barrett</a>. <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42760453-how-emotions-are-made">Goodreads book profile</a>.</p>
<h1 id="elsewhere-on-the-web" tabindex="-1">Elsewhere on the Web <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_12_update/#elsewhere-on-the-web">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mScpHTIi-kM">What The Prisoner's Dilemma Reveals About Life, The Universe, and Everything | Veritasium</a>. Really good.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3vbYwZecFU">Zombie Myths: The Economic Lies that Just Won't Die | Robert Reich</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ve6BqXzbjw">The REAL Conspiracy to Exploit Kids | Adam Conover</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSGxCYNwFe4">These Scientists Got Sued for Doing Their Job | Sabine Hossenfelder</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AXv49dDQJw">Watch electricity hit a fork in the road at half a billion frames per second | AlphaPhoenix</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COqq7862wcU">Was Henry Kissinger a War Criminal? | Johnny Harris</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n28W4AmvMDE">Dr. Robert Lustig: How Sugar & Processed Foods Impact Your Health | Andrew Huberman</a>.</p>
<ul>
<li>Avoid fructose - it's really bad. Fruits are good, but avoid it in highly processed food.</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECTBg2AtOfc">Does Bryan Johnson’s $2m biohacking routine actually work? We tested it to see | Hard Reset | Freethink</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YERizKusm18">"Proper Names" by John Searle | Jeffrey Kaplan</a>.</p>
<h1 id="personal-thoughts" tabindex="-1">Personal Thoughts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_12_update/#personal-thoughts">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li>Splunk - starting real work.</li>
<li>As you can see above I've spent a lot of time on YouTube and that's where I want to make the biggest change this year. I already uninstalled YouTube on my devices, now I want to stop opening it in a browser. Hopefully, this will give me more time to read longer and harder books.</li>
<li>I've tried to limit my D3 supplementation but regret it. My energy and motivation plummeted immediately and I even started eating more and gaining weight. Crazy when I think about it now.</li>
<li>Gained some weight over the holidays as well.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="plans-for-the-next-month%3A" tabindex="-1">Plans for the next month: <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_12_update/#plans-for-the-next-month%3A">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li>Stop scrolling YouTube and read more books</li>
<li>Exercise more</li>
<li>Eat healthier and try to lose some weight</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="music" tabindex="-1">Music <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_12_update/#music">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dmQ3QWpy1Q">Heavy | Linkin Park (feat. Kiiara)</a></p>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p>You can subscribe to my monthly posts at <strong><a href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/">kula.blog/newsletter</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
How Emotions Are Made2023-12-29T17:47:46Zhttps://kula.blog/posts/how_emotions_are_made/<p><img src="https://kula.blog/img/how_emotions_are_made.jpg" alt="Book Cover" /></p>
<h2 id="tldr%3B" tabindex="-1">TLDR; <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/how_emotions_are_made/#tldr%3B">#</a></h2>
<p>While it has some interesting ideas, it's illogical and while the author makes a lot of extraordinary claims they are now followed with extraordinary evidence.<br />
I stopped reading after the 10th chapter, as it went into applications of the idea into various domains - I was already too irritated to care.</p>
<h2 id="good" tabindex="-1">Good <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/how_emotions_are_made/#good">#</a></h2>
<p>Still, I got a lot of interesting ideas out of it.</p>
<ul>
<li>Emotions are constructed - they are concepts or predictions we use based on context and how we feel.</li>
<li>I want to read more about predictions, simulation, concepts, and categories - I'm afraid the book doesn't do a good job of explaining all of it.</li>
<li>Body Budget - the general advice is the same as usual: healthy food, exercise and sleep are the basis of your good emotions.</li>
<li>Power of Names. I want to read more about this at some point as well.</li>
<li>Social Reality. A lot of things are "just in our heads" like money, art, governments etc. but are "real" and really important.</li>
<li>Deconstruct your emotions into "affect" (valence and arousal) or just into physical sensations. Your irritation may be the effect of caffeine and not what someone said.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="irritating" tabindex="-1">Irritating <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/how_emotions_are_made/#irritating">#</a></h2>
<p>I was "constructing a lot of irritation" while reading this book.</p>
<ul>
<li>Just because we can't find their physical fingerprints of each emotion doesn't mean they all are constructed. It seems like a logical fallacy.</li>
<li>I don't agree with the thesis that animals or small kids do not have emotions because people in the study can't categorise them based on images of faces without context. The author herself mentioned that we need context for emotions.</li>
<li>Watch <a href="https://www.netflix.com/pl/title/81311783">Chimp Empire</a> or look at a dog. Yes we guess what they feel, but I disagree with the idea that they don't have emotions because they don't have language. I will add here that it's highly confusing because what normal people call emotion is now being separated into emotions and "affect" in scientific literature. Still, I don't think animals have only affect.</li>
<li>Just because languages don't have the same words for emotions doesn't mean people do not feel the same things. They may be feelings that require a new concept you need to learn, but I don't buy the idea that it's required for all of them.</li>
</ul>
<p>I recommend taking a look at <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23719305-how-emotions-are-made">the 1-star reviews on Goodreads</a> for some great takes on this book.</p>
<h2 id="notes-and-related-ideas" tabindex="-1">Notes and related ideas <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/how_emotions_are_made/#notes-and-related-ideas">#</a></h2>
<h3 id="%22proper-names%22-by-john-searle-%7C-jeffrey-kaplan." tabindex="-1"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YERizKusm18">"Proper Names" by John Searle | Jeffrey Kaplan</a>. <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/how_emotions_are_made/#%22proper-names%22-by-john-searle-%7C-jeffrey-kaplan.">#</a></h3>
<p>| This is a video lecture in a course on the philosophy of language. It explains John R Searle's seminal and groundbreaking 1958 paper "Proper Names". Searle discusses and ultimately rejects both Frege's and Mill's theories of proper names. But Searle does think that associated with every name there is something like Frege's sense, except Searle thinks that it is a purposefully vague cluster of descriptions. Therefore, Searle's theory is often called the Cluster Theory of Proper Names. This video explain's Searle's theory and it uses a lot of examples involving Beyonce, Jay-Z, and Aristotle.</p>
<p>I recommend watching it as the ideas of names and concepts show up a lot in the book.</p>
<h3 id="true-name" tabindex="-1"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_name">True name</a> <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/how_emotions_are_made/#true-name">#</a></h3>
<p>I've found it fascinating when thinking about names and concepts in ancient cultures. But, it's also explored in some of my favorite fiction <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_name#In_popular_culture_and_fiction">True_name | In_popular_culture_and_fiction</a></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Wizard_of_Earthsea">A Wizard of Earthsea</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Name_of_the_Wind">The Name of the Wind</a></li>
</ul>
VSCode2023-12-03T14:56:46Zhttps://kula.blog/posts/vscode/<h2 id="" tabindex="-1"><img src="https://kula.blog/img/tldr.svg" alt="TLDR;" /> <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/vscode/#">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://github.com/catppuccin/catppuccin">Catppuccin Theme </a></li>
<li><a href="https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=PKief.material-icon-theme">Material Icon Theme</a></li>
<li><a href="https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=eamodio.gitlens">GitLens — Git supercharged</a></li>
<li><a href="https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=formulahendry.auto-rename-tag">Auto Rename Tag</a></li>
<li><a href="https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode.live-server">Live Preview</a></li>
<li><a href="https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=tldraw-org.tldraw-vscode">tldraw</a> or <a href="https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=pomdtr.excalidraw-editor">Excalidraw</a></li>
<li><a href="https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=esbenp.prettier-vscode">Prettier - Code formatter</a></li>
<li><a href="https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=tombonnike.vscode-status-bar-format-toggle">Formatting Toggle</a></li>
<li><a href="https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=WallabyJs.quokka-vscode">Quokka.js</a></li>
<li><a href="https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=adpyke.codesnap">CodeSnap</a></li>
<li><a href="https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=dbaeumer.vscode-eslint">ESLint</a></li>
<li><a href="https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=EditorConfig.EditorConfig">EditorConfig for VS Code</a></li>
</ul>
<h3 id="other%3A" tabindex="-1">Other: <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/vscode/#other%3A">#</a></h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/setup/mac#_launching-from-the-command-line">Shell Command: Install 'code' command in PATH</a></li>
</ul>
<h4 id="settings" tabindex="-1">Settings <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/vscode/#settings">#</a></h4>
<ul>
<li><code>"editor.formatOnSave": true,</code></li>
<li><code>"editor.renderWhitespace": "all",</code></li>
<li><code>"editor.accessibilitySupport": "off",</code></li>
<li><code>"editor.guides.bracketPairs": true,</code></li>
<li><code>"terminal.integrated.stickyScroll.enabled": true,</code></li>
<li><code>"workbench.tree.enableStickyScroll": true,</code></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="what-you-can-watch" tabindex="-1">What you can watch <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/vscode/#what-you-can-watch">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li>How to Set up VS Code for Data Science & AI[^20]</li>
</ul>
<p>I especially like the suggestion to <code>check</code> in settings:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Jupyter: Send Selection To Interactive Window</p>
</blockquote>
<h2 id="things-i'm-testing" tabindex="-1">Things I'm testing <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/vscode/#things-i'm-testing">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Light themes. We're supposed to work better in well-lit environments.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://github.com/catppuccin/catppuccin">Catppuccin Theme </a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://ethanschoonover.com/solarized/">Solarized</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=foam.foam-vscode">Foam</a> - turning VSCode into an Obsidian-like knowledge base</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=znck.grammarly">Grammarly</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=christian-kohler.path-intellisense">Path Intellisense</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=VisualStudioExptTeam.vscodeintellicode">IntelliCode</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=VisualStudioExptTeam.vscodeintellicode-completions">IntelliCode Completions</a></p>
</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="todo" tabindex="-1">TODO <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/vscode/#todo">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li>Alternatives to the <a href="https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=eliostruyf.vscode-front-matter">Front Matter CMS</a>. I don't need most of its features and it slows down my editor too much.
<ul>
<li>I'm missing an easy publish date/modified data setting to "now"</li>
<li>Seeing all my tags inside the editor</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>ASCII Art like <a href="https://asciiflow.com/#/">asciiflow</a>. More in <a href="https://kula.blog/tags/ascii/">Tag: ASCII</a></li>
<li>Intuitive drawing (inline SVG) in markdown files like <a href="https://bear.app/">Bear</a>.</li>
<li>Nice pomodoro tracker</li>
<li>Good todo management</li>
</ul>
2023 November. Splunk2023-12-03T13:54:20Zhttps://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_11_update/<h1 id="blogs-posts" tabindex="-1">Blogs Posts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_11_update/#blogs-posts">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/midlife-a-philosophical-guide/">Midlife: A Philosophical Guide by Kieran Setiya</a>.</p>
<h1 id="books-i'm-reading" tabindex="-1">Books I'm reading <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_11_update/#books-i'm-reading">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41564599-howling-dark">Howling Dark by Christopher Ruocchio</a>. <em>The Sun Eater</em> series second book. It has even better reviews than the first book so my expectations are pretty high.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42760453-how-emotions-are-made">How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain by Lisa Feldman Barrett</a>. I heard about this book so many times that it was time to finally read it. I'm 25% in, but I'm getting more and more skeptical as I read. It's not what I expected at all.</p>
<h1 id="books-i've-read" tabindex="-1">Books I've read <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_11_update/#books-i've-read">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/midlife-a-philosophical-guide/">Midlife: A Philosophical Guide by Kieran Setiya</a>. The book is focused more on philosophy than practical advice, but it was still interesting to read. See <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34427017-midlife">Goodreads</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36454667-empire-of-silence">Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio</a>. It's the first book in the <em>The Sun Eater</em> series. I haven't read good sci-fi in a long time, but this series looks promising. The first book was a little more focused on the backstory for my taste, but the book universe is so interesting that it makes up for it. I can recommend it.</p>
<h1 id="elsewhere-on-the-web" tabindex="-1">Elsewhere on the Web <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_11_update/#elsewhere-on-the-web">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://openai.com/blog/sam-altman-returns-as-ceo-openai-has-a-new-initial-board">If you missed all the OpenAI drama, then the board changed but Sam Altman had a week off</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Oo-m893-xA">Nick Bostrom: How AI will lead to tyranny | UnHerd</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://davekarpf.substack.com/p/elon-musks-dealbook-meltdown">Elon Musk's Dealbook Meltdown | Dave Karpf</a></p>
<p><a href="https://alexgaynor.net/2020/nov/30/why-software-ends-up-complex/">Why software ends up complex</a></p>
<p><a href="https://olano.dev/2023-11-30-code-is-run-more-than-read/">Code is run more than read</a>. Interesting, but the call to action is wrongly put on developers. The only way that can work is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whistleblowing">Whistleblowing</a>. I recommend reading more about Enron.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.drpaulwong.com/lessons-from-the-enron-debacle/">Lessons from the Enron Debacle: Corporate Culture Matters!</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Staff members who questioned the wisdom of some of Enron’s decisions and practices were either ignored or silenced. Senior management cared more about self-enrichment than the needs of employees. They showed little regard for meaning and ethics beyond the bottom line.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSl-iF9ZRLk">I Learned the World's Simplest Language | Oats Jenkins</a>. If you're into toki pona.</p>
<h1 id="personal-thoughts" tabindex="-1">Personal Thoughts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_11_update/#personal-thoughts">#</a></h1>
<p>Excited about the new job at Splunk. Interestingly I might be working for Cisco next year, which is a huge unknown, but as it's entirely outside my control it's not something I plan to worry about.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.splunk.com/en_us/newsroom/press-releases/2023/cisco-to-acquire-splunk-to-help-make-organizations-more-secure-and-resilient-in-an-ai-powered-world.html">Cisco to Acquire Splunk, to Help Make Organizations More Secure and Resilient in an AI-Powered World</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="november-summary%3A" tabindex="-1">November summary: <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_11_update/#november-summary%3A">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li>Splunk - onboarding</li>
<li>Most personal projects are on hold</li>
<li>Sick</li>
<li>Fasting -> gaining weight <strong>:(</strong></li>
<li>Boardgames on Saturdays</li>
<li>Watching too much YouTube</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="plans-for-the-next-month%3A" tabindex="-1">Plans for the next month: <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_11_update/#plans-for-the-next-month%3A">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li>Rethink the balance of work and personal life</li>
<li>Tempted to uninstall YouTube on my devices</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="music" tabindex="-1">Music <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_11_update/#music">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDsNgdleih8">Good F**king Music - Solence</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9BHJQZAP2o">Still Waiting - Sum 41</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtM5_jnmNOI">Three Days Grace - I Am The Weapon</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4oizC2HvMs">Who's Going Home With You Tonight? - TRAPT</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNZK4ss1pSs">We Appreciate Power - Grimes</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSD5vSSGLOM">Untraveled Road - Thousand Foot Krutch</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 id="other" tabindex="-1">Other <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_11_update/#other">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li>Have you noticed how Google products (Gmail, YouTube, etc.) perform in Safari lately? It's so bad that it looks intentional, right?</li>
<li>Anything here is only my personal opinion and doesn't represent any of my current or past employers in any way.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p>You can subscribe to my monthly posts at <strong><a href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/">kula.blog/newsletter</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
Midlife: A Philosophical Guide by Kieran Setiya2023-11-03T13:56:26Zhttps://kula.blog/posts/midlife-a-philosophical-guide/<p><img src="https://kula.blog/img/midlife.jpeg" alt="Midlife book cover" /></p>
<h2 id="tldr%3B" tabindex="-1">TLDR; <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/midlife-a-philosophical-guide/#tldr%3B">#</a></h2>
<p>Midlife<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/midlife-a-philosophical-guide/#fn1" id="fnref1">[1]</a></sup> is an interesting blend of philosophy and self-helf and the author trying to test different ideas on himself. I can't say I agree with everything, but I've picked some ideas for myself.</p>
<p>But, if you're interested in Midlife and like me you're interested in productivity then I would recommmend reading Four Thousand Weeks<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/midlife-a-philosophical-guide/#fn2" id="fnref2">[2]</a></sup> instead.</p>
<h2 id="good" tabindex="-1">Good <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/midlife-a-philosophical-guide/#good">#</a></h2>
<p>I expect different people to focus on different ideas from this book, but here are mine:</p>
<ol>
<li>Have a hobby, do something for the fun of it for life to be fun.</li>
<li>Cost of options. Keeping some options can make your life worse. Something I want to think about more.</li>
<li>Focus on the process — 'how'. On current moment.</li>
<li>Meditate to build skill of enjoing the moment.</li>
<li>Getting all your dreams fullfilled won't make you happy. You will feel empty.</li>
<li>Try to combine projects/goals with enjoying the way of achieving them. So setting new goals still makes sense.</li>
</ol>
<h2 id="bad" tabindex="-1">Bad <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/midlife-a-philosophical-guide/#bad">#</a></h2>
<ol>
<li>I'm totally lost on different types of values presented. There is a lot of them shown in pairs, but how do they relate do each other? I have no idea.</li>
<li>It can be hard to follow at times. I have a coulpe of pages marked where I can't figure out what it's about even after going through them multiple times. But, don't get scared, it's still a book for a general public, just on the slightly harder side.</li>
<li>I can't understand his aversion to settling, letting some things go. That was one of the big lessons I've picked from Four Thousand Weeks<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/midlife-a-philosophical-guide/#fn2" id="fnref2:1">[2:1]</a></sup>. And he even makes a great case for how we can overvalue having options (ability to choose) than picking something we would like more than the remaining choices. Wouldn't it make sense to <em>settle</em> into the cheice we like most and forget about keeping options open?</li>
</ol>
<h2 id="summary" tabindex="-1">Summary <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/midlife-a-philosophical-guide/#summary">#</a></h2>
<p>I would recommend it if you're into philosophy.</p>
<hr class="footnotes-sep" />
<section class="footnotes">
<ol class="footnotes-list">
<li id="fn1" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34427017-midlife">Midlife: A Philosophical Guide by Kieran Setiya</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/midlife-a-philosophical-guide/#fnref1" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn2" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54785515-four-thousand-weeks">Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/midlife-a-philosophical-guide/#fnref2" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/midlife-a-philosophical-guide/#fnref2:1" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</section>
2023 October. Blogging and Reading2023-10-31T14:51:20Zhttps://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_10_update/<h1 id="blogs-posts" tabindex="-1">Blogs Posts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_10_update/#blogs-posts">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/fasting_diet/">Fasting Diet</a>. Some notes on using fasting for weight loss.</p>
<p><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/techno_optimist/">Techno-optimist</a>. Notes on techno-optimist manifesto.</p>
<p><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/hydraulic_analogy_for_electricity/">An Intuitive Approach to Understand Electricity</a>. Hydraulic analogy helps you to finally understand electricity.</p>
<p><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/open_source/">Open-Source</a>. Collection of interesting articles about open-source software.</p>
<p><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/astroturfing/">Astroturfing</a>. Beware of fake grassroots organizations without knowing who finances them.</p>
<p><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/code-red/">Proof that Technical Debt is Slowing You Down: Code Red</a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The resulting technical debt is estimated to waste up to 42% of developers’ time.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/oklch/">oklch() CSS Color</a></p>
<p><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/system_design_interview/">System Design Interview</a>. Book review of System Design Interview – An Insider's Guide by Alex Xu</p>
<h1 id="books-i'm-reading" tabindex="-1">Books I'm reading <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_10_update/#books-i'm-reading">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34427017-midlife">Midlife: A Philosophical Guide by Kieran Setiya</a>.</p>
<h1 id="books-i've-read" tabindex="-1">Books I've read <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_10_update/#books-i've-read">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18423.The_Left_Hand_of_Darkness">The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin</a>. It's the fourth book in the Hainish Cycle, but I read most of them around 20 years ago. It was worth it to read it again. Highly recommended! One of the reasons I picked it up was <a href="https://youtu.be/vRC0cK_MSA0">The dangerous philosophy of Ursula Le Guin | Science Fiction with Damien Walter</a> which I can recommend regardless if you're familiar with her or not.</p>
<p><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/system_design_interview/">System Design Interview</a>. Book review of System Design Interview – An insider's guide by Alex Xu. I'm not a huge fan, but it's good if you want to get some basics.</p>
<h1 id="elsewhere-on-the-web" tabindex="-1">Elsewhere on the Web <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_10_update/#elsewhere-on-the-web">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022103122001615">Loyal workers are selectively and ironically targeted for exploitation | Matthew L. Stanley, Christopher B. Neck, Christopher P. Neck</a></p>
<p><a href="https://davekarpf.substack.com/p/we-should-all-be-luddites-now">We should all be Luddites now | DAVE KARPF</a>. A review of Brian Merchant's "Blood in the Machine".</p>
<p><a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90943074/why-the-performance-review-is-dying-out-including-at-companies-like-apple-and-microsoft">Why the performance review is dying out—including at companies like Apple and Microsoft | By Benham Tabrizi</a></p>
<p><a href="https://smartguess.is/blog/your-estimate-is-less-than-that/">Pushing for a lower dev estimate is like negotiating better weather with a meteorologist | Smart Guess</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Do you ever tell a meteorologist: "Your forecast for tomorrow is wrong, I can't bring this back to my people, give me a better one!"</p>
</blockquote>
<h3 id="tech" tabindex="-1">Tech <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_10_update/#tech">#</a></h3>
<p><a href="https://world.hey.com/dhh/modern-web-apps-without-javascript-bundling-or-transpiling-a20f2755">Modern web apps without JavaScript bundling or transpiling | David Heinemeier Hansson</a></p>
<p><a href="https://chriscoyier.net/2023/06/06/modern-css-in-real-life/">Modern CSS in Real Life | Chris Coyier</a></p>
<h3 id="productivity" tabindex="-1">Productivity <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_10_update/#productivity">#</a></h3>
<p><a href="https://maryrosecook.com/blog/post/is-this-a-good-book-for-me-now">Is this a good book for me, now? | Mary Rose Cook</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2015/01/19/speed-reading-redo/">I Was Wrong About Speed Reading: Here are the Facts | Scott H Young</a></p>
<p><a href="https://blog.logrocket.com/product-management/12-week-year-approach/">The 12 Week Year approach to productivity and planning | Philippe Araujo</a></p>
<h2 id="youtube" tabindex="-1">YouTube <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_10_update/#youtube">#</a></h2>
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/vRC0cK_MSA0">The dangerous philosophy of Ursula Le Guin | Science Fiction with Damien Walter</a></p>
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/exPOPm8qQsY">Niklas Luhmann: A Super Theory of Society | Carefree Wandering</a></p>
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/Pb5oIIPO62g">John Cleese on Creativity In Management | Video Arts</a></p>
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/D9H9qTdserM">"Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers: Stress and Health" by Dr. Robert Sapolsky | BeckmanInstitute</a></p>
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/b2gg4_4GIEg">This is a Cult (and I'm tired of pretending it's not) | struthless</a>. You will get warned by YouTube about this video, but if you can I recommend watching it.</p>
<h3 id="tech-1" tabindex="-1">Tech <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_10_update/#tech-1">#</a></h3>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRR0EDazxIk">Code Red: The Business Impact of Code Quality • Adam Tornhill • GOTO 2022</a></p>
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/zwLsnsp7FF4">AGI Revolution: How Businesses, Governments, and Individuals can Prepare | David Shapiro</a></p>
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/WgV6M1LyfNY">The Unreasonable Effectiveness Of Plain Text | No Boilerplate</a></p>
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/dcWj9zR9SRQ">The Uiua Programming Language Caught Me By Surprise | Code to the Moon</a>. You can also visit <a href="https://www.uiua.org/">Uiua homepage</a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>An array-oriented tacit programming language.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_crwFuPht4">An intuitive approach for understanding electricity by AlphaPhoenix</a></p>
<h3 id="health" tabindex="-1">Health <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_10_update/#health">#</a></h3>
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/VShtLa5lpVA">You Can And SHOULD Train Every Day! | The Bioneer</a></p>
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/Dm7BqvOsbkk">The Goblet Squat is the Squat Exercise You NEED | The Bioneer</a></p>
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/OFdo66AK3yU">Prioritize Protein OR You'll Overeat Junk Food (SCIENCE) | High Intensity Health</a></p>
<h1 id="personal-thoughts" tabindex="-1">Personal Thoughts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_10_update/#personal-thoughts">#</a></h1>
<p>While it's not easy to find a new job right now it didn't take me that long as well. I mentioned last month that there are a lot of <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/fake_jobs/">Fake Jobs</a> out there and it seems to be true.</p>
<h2 id="october-summary%3A" tabindex="-1">October summary: <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_10_update/#october-summary%3A">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li>Orthodontist/Dentist</li>
<li>Catching up on articles and blogs</li>
<li>Fasting -> weight maintenance</li>
<li>Found a new exciting job and will start in November</li>
<li>Boardgames on Saturdays</li>
<li>Reading Ursula K. Le Guin again</li>
<li>Family trips</li>
<li>Watching way too much YouTube</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="plans-for-the-next-month%3A" tabindex="-1">Plans for the next month: <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_10_update/#plans-for-the-next-month%3A">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li>Focus on onboarding</li>
<li>Mindful eating - as daily meditation</li>
<li>Track Deep Work with Pomodoros</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="music" tabindex="-1">Music <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_10_update/#music">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/RB_QqgThbmk">Beyond | Corey Taylor</a></p>
<p>Bonus: <a href="https://www.hubermanlab.com/episode/how-to-use-music-to-boost-motivation-mood-and-improve-learning">How to Use Music to Boost Motivation, Mood & Improve Learning | Huberman Lab</a>. Turns out fast music makes us happier.</p>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p>You can subscribe to my monthly posts at <strong><a href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/">kula.blog/newsletter</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
Fasting Diet2023-10-30T12:07:32Zhttps://kula.blog/posts/fasting_diet/<h2 id="tldr%3B" tabindex="-1">TLDR; <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/fasting_diet/#tldr%3B">#</a></h2>
<p>You can lose weight with prolonged fasting, but it is not the best approach. If you can lose weight with other strategies then do it. Long fasting has the bad effect of losing a lot of muscle along with the fat. It can be a big problem especially when you get older. <sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/fasting_diet/#fn1" id="fnref1">[1]</a></sup></p>
<p>What to do instead, try body recomposition:</p>
<ol>
<li>Low caloric density food.</li>
<li>Eat a lot of protein. Think as high as 2g/kg of your mass. (1g/lb)</li>
<li>Calorie counting.</li>
<li>Strength training.</li>
<li>Intermittent fasting.</li>
</ol>
<p>Even if you go with fasting you will need some strategy to keep your gains and rebuild muscles when you're done. So let me start with this.</p>
<h2 id="body-recomposition" tabindex="-1">Body Recomposition <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/fasting_diet/#body-recomposition">#</a></h2>
<h3 id="caloric-density-of-food" tabindex="-1">Caloric Density of Food <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/fasting_diet/#caloric-density-of-food">#</a></h3>
<p>Search for <a href="https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Caloric+Density+of+Food+chart&atb=v315-1&iax=images&ia=images">Caloric Density of Food chart</a> and look for things you usually eat.</p>
<p>It turns out that you can eat a lot of vegetables and feel full while restricting calories.<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/fasting_diet/#fn2" id="fnref2">[2]</a></sup></p>
<h3 id="protein" tabindex="-1">Protein <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/fasting_diet/#protein">#</a></h3>
<p>This is easy to miss especially on Vegan or Vegetarian diets.</p>
<p>You should try to reach 2g/kg of your weight (1g/lb).</p>
<p>The science of nutrition is complicated, but it's to give you an idea.</p>
<ol>
<li>Protein helps with building and maintaining muscle.</li>
<li>Protein is filling.</li>
</ol>
<p>It may be worth it to buy <a href="https://duckduckgo.com/?q=protein+isolate+powder&atb=v315-1&ia=web">protein isolate powder</a>. I can recommend ones from <a href="https://duckduckgo.com/?q=soy+protein+isolate+powder&atb=v315-1&ia=web">soy</a> as they are vegan and will be easier on your stomach.</p>
<p>I can recommend <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@TheVeganGym">The Vegan Gym YouTube Channel</a> to learn more.</p>
<h3 id="calorie-counting" tabindex="-1">Calorie counting <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/fasting_diet/#calorie-counting">#</a></h3>
<p>If it works for you then it will be the ultimate solution.<br />
In my case, I still struggle with this, but something that helps me is checking the caloric density of what I'm eating.<br />
For example - I like strawberries and bananas, but it turns out that one of them has almost half of the calories in 100g. Now I know I should prefer strawberries.<br />
Eating a salad may not be great for your weight loss if you add a lot of oil to it. Even a spoon can have hundreds of calories.<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/fasting_diet/#fn3" id="fnref3">[3]</a></sup></p>
<h3 id="strength-training" tabindex="-1">Strength training <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/fasting_diet/#strength-training">#</a></h3>
<p>If you have more muscles then you burn more calories to move them and to sustain them. Muscles help in your everyday life as well.</p>
<p>I'm not sure about other types of exercise. Almost any time is healthy and it's better to exercise than not, so I'm only trying to emphasize that you should add some kind of strength training every week.</p>
<h3 id="intermittent-fasting" tabindex="-1">Intermittent Fasting <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/fasting_diet/#intermittent-fasting">#</a></h3>
<p>If you can stick to a 6 or 8-hour window then it may help you reduce your calories as well.</p>
<h2 id="fasting" tabindex="-1">Fasting <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/fasting_diet/#fasting">#</a></h2>
<p>The protocol I was doing:</p>
<ol>
<li>Fast Monday-Wednesday</li>
<li>Slowly introduce food from Thursday.</li>
<li>Eat until Sunday evening.</li>
</ol>
<p>I've been doing it almost every week from May until October 2023 and lost around 15 kilograms (33lb).</p>
<p>Most weeks I was fasting for 3 days, but if there was an opportunity or need I changed it to 2 or 4 days fasts a couple of times.</p>
<p>Now I'm slowly moving into the maintenance phase. I got close enough to the weight I want to keep and I'm trying to lean more on the strategies I mentioned above to help me from gaining it all back.</p>
<p>But, I still plan to fast from time to time. If I could lose my extra fat without fasting then I would. It's the best weight loss strategy I've found for myself so far.</p>
<h3 id="some-things-to-expect" tabindex="-1">Some things to expect <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/fasting_diet/#some-things-to-expect">#</a></h3>
<ul>
<li>You will feel tired.</li>
<li>You may feel cold. Especially when you get to lower body fat percentages.</li>
<li>Lightheadedness, especially when standing fast. You need electrolytes, especially sodium.</li>
<li>Meeting with friends and family can be weird when you're not eating.</li>
<li>Your sense of smell will get superhuman. Really. You will smell a lot of nice things you could eat.</li>
<li>The first days of a fast are the hardest. After a couple of days (3-4) you should move into ketosis and stop feeling hungry.</li>
<li>You can't eat whatever you want when breaking a fast. <strong>It can be dangerous to suddenly eat a lot</strong>. Remember to start really slowly.</li>
</ul>
<h3 id="some-tips" tabindex="-1">Some tips <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/fasting_diet/#some-tips">#</a></h3>
<ul>
<li>Walking - exercise you can do even when extremely tired. It may sound simple, but try walking as much as you can. If you do more than 10k then it will be a lot of extra calories and stimulus for your body to keep the muscles you have.</li>
<li>You can supplement <a href="https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/l-carnitine">L-Carnitine</a>. May give you more energy and help you burn more fat.</li>
<li>Coffee - can help with energy levels and will raise your body temperature.</li>
<li>Drink electrolytes. At least a little bit of sodium every day. Especially when you start feeling lightheaded.</li>
<li>When you break your fast try treating it as an additional day of extending your fast. Eat small portions.</li>
<li>It's a big stress for your <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gut_microbiota">Gut microbiota</a>, probably similar to antibiotics. Think of some probiotics when breaking a fast just like you would after taking antibiotics. It can help a lot.</li>
<li>It may be a good idea to supplement with multivitamins. If you're restricting your food a lot then it may be hard to keep all your vitamins and micronutrients in check.</li>
</ul>
<p>I can recommend watching:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_Gvx1kgX1Q">He Fasted for 54 Days: Here's What Happened. | Physionic</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nf3Wyl2CeNQ">The Consequences of a 50+ Day Water Fast, Explained. | Physionic</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdbsghC4eyc">Maintaining Weight Loss after 50+ Days Water Fasting. | Physionic</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="summary" tabindex="-1">Summary <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/fasting_diet/#summary">#</a></h2>
<p>If everything else fails then fasting can be a good strategy for restricting calories and losing weight. Especially if you use that time to learn how to prevent yourself from gaining it all back.</p>
<hr class="footnotes-sep" />
<section class="footnotes">
<ol class="footnotes-list">
<li id="fn1" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://honehealth.com/edge/nutrition/peter-attia-fasting/">Why Longevity Doctor Peter Attia Has Changed His Mind About Fasting | BY SYDNEY BUECKERT, NASM CPT, CES, FNS, GPT</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/fasting_diet/#fnref1" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn2" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IDsIn7mixg">How to Build a Meal for VEGAN Weight Loss - (Plate Breakdown) | The Vegan Gym</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/fasting_diet/#fnref2" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn3" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://thevegangym.com/blog//the-best-vegan-foods-for-fat-loss">THE BEST VEGAN FOODS FOR FAT LOSS</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/fasting_diet/#fnref3" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</section>
Techno-optimist2023-10-20T15:32:42Zhttps://kula.blog/posts/techno_optimist/<h2 id="tldr%3B" tabindex="-1">TLDR; <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/techno_optimist/#tldr%3B">#</a></h2>
<p>Read Dave Karpf response<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/techno_optimist/#fn1" id="fnref1">[1]</a></sup>. It's great. Do it now. <a href="https://davekarpf.substack.com/p/why-cant-our-tech-billionaires-learn">Why can't our tech billionaires learn anything new? by Dave Karpf</a></p>
<h2 id="manifesto" tabindex="-1">Manifesto <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/techno_optimist/#manifesto">#</a></h2>
<p>You can skip reading it. It's long and not that great. If you read the response you will get most of the interesting points in much shorter time.</p>
<h2 id="my-take" tabindex="-1">My take <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/techno_optimist/#my-take">#</a></h2>
<p>Unfortunately the Manifesto isn't that great. Even if we focus only on technology, planes and nuclear power plants are safe thanks to a healthy dose of pessism<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/techno_optimist/#fn2" id="fnref2">[2]</a></sup> and thinking about how you can prevent bad things from happening.</p>
<p>The same is true with economy or environment. Technology by itself won't solve things.</p>
<p>I can recomment watching some of Robert Reich<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/techno_optimist/#fn3" id="fnref3">[3]</a></sup> videos if you want to learn more.</p>
<p>Still, I don't want to dismiss science, technology or optimism<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/techno_optimist/#fn4" id="fnref4">[4]</a></sup>, but it has to be more pragmatic than what this manifesto tries to sell.</p>
<h2 id="summary" tabindex="-1">Summary <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/techno_optimist/#summary">#</a></h2>
<hr class="footnotes-sep" />
<section class="footnotes">
<ol class="footnotes-list">
<li id="fn1" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://davekarpf.substack.com/p/why-cant-our-tech-billionaires-learn">Why can't our tech billionaires learn anything new? by Dave Karpf</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/techno_optimist/#fnref1" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn2" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defensive_pessimism">Defensive pessimism | Wikipedia</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/techno_optimist/#fnref2" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn3" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@RBReich">Robert Reich YouTube Channel</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/techno_optimist/#fnref3" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn4" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defensive_pessimism#Strategic_optimism">Defensive pessimism vs Strategic optimism | Wikipedia</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/techno_optimist/#fnref4" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</section>
An Intuitive Approach to Understand Electricity2023-10-20T07:13:38Zhttps://kula.blog/posts/hydraulic_analogy_for_electricity/<h2 id="tldr%3B" tabindex="-1">TLDR; <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/hydraulic_analogy_for_electricity/#tldr%3B">#</a></h2>
<p>If you ever struggled with making sense of electricity then I can recommend watching <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_crwFuPht4">An intuitive approach for understanding electricity by AlphaPhoenix</a>. It's based on hydraulic analogy<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/hydraulic_analogy_for_electricity/#fn1" id="fnref1">[1]</a></sup>, but seeing live experiments and animations makes it so much easier to understand.</p>
<h2 id="an-intuitive-approach-for-understanding-electricity-by-alphaphoenix" tabindex="-1">An intuitive approach for understanding electricity by AlphaPhoenix<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/hydraulic_analogy_for_electricity/#fn2" id="fnref2">[2]</a></sup> <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/hydraulic_analogy_for_electricity/#an-intuitive-approach-for-understanding-electricity-by-alphaphoenix">#</a></h2>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/X_crwFuPht4?si=imkQ6ds8-FDvgHQ2" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<hr class="footnotes-sep" />
<section class="footnotes">
<ol class="footnotes-list">
<li id="fn1" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_analogy">Hydraulic analogy | Wikipedia</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/hydraulic_analogy_for_electricity/#fnref1" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn2" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_crwFuPht4">An intuitive approach for understanding electricity by AlphaPhoenix</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/hydraulic_analogy_for_electricity/#fnref2" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</section>
Open-Source2023-10-19T08:43:01Zhttps://kula.blog/posts/open_source/<p>Discalaimer: Please read the whole articles, the quotes are only to make it easier for myself to remember what they are about.</p>
<h2 id="a-generation-lost-in-the-bazaar-by-poul-henning-kamp" tabindex="-1">A Generation Lost in the Bazaar by Poul-Henning Kamp<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/open_source/#fn1" id="fnref1">[1]</a></sup> <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/open_source/#a-generation-lost-in-the-bazaar-by-poul-henning-kamp">#</a></h2>
<blockquote>
<p>Quality happens only when someone is responsible for it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Criticism of the impact that Eric Raymond's book The Cathedral and the Bazaar (O'Reilly Media, 2001) had on the tech industry. Must read.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>That is the sorry reality of the bazaar Raymond praised in his book: a pile of old festering hacks, endlessly copied and pasted by a clueless generation of IT "professionals" who wouldn't recognize sound IT architecture if you hit them over the head with it. It is hard to believe today, but under this embarrassing mess lies the ruins of the beautiful cathedral of Unix, deservedly famous for its simplicity of design, its economy of features, and its elegance of execution. (Sic transit gloria mundi, etc.)</p>
<p>One of Brooks's many excellent points is that quality happens only if somebody has the responsibility for it, and that "somebody" can be no more than one single person—with an exception for a dynamic duo. I am surprised that Brooks does not cite Unix as an example of this claim, since we can pinpoint with almost surgical precision the moment that Unix started to fragment: in the early 1990s when AT&T spun off Unix to commercialize it, thereby robbing it of its architects.</p>
<p>More than once in recent years, others have reached the same conclusion as Brooks. Some have tried to impose a kind of sanity, or even to lay down the law formally in the form of technical standards, hoping to bring order and structure to the bazaar. So far they have all failed spectacularly, because the generation of lost dot-com wunderkinder in the bazaar has never seen a cathedral and therefore cannot even imagine why you would want one in the first place, much less what it should look like. It is a sad irony, indeed, that those who most need to read it may find The Design of Design entirely incomprehensible. But to anyone who has ever wondered whether using m4 macros to configure autoconf to write a shell script to look for 26 Fortran compilers in order to build a Web browser was a bit of a detour, Brooks offers well-reasoned hope that there can be a better way.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2 id="entitlement-in-open-source-by-mike-mcquaid" tabindex="-1">Entitlement in Open Source by Mike McQuaid<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/open_source/#fn2" id="fnref2">[2]</a></sup> <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/open_source/#entitlement-in-open-source-by-mike-mcquaid">#</a></h2>
<p>You can think of it as advice for maintainers of open-source projects, but it's a must read for users as well.</p>
<blockquote>
<h3 id="coping-strategies" tabindex="-1">Coping strategies <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/open_source/#coping-strategies">#</a></h3>
<p>Firstly, you should only be maintaining open source software you use yourself. This is partly because you can’t be a good maintainer unless you can empathise with your users but also because your open source work should be enjoyable and you’re unlikely to enjoy satisfying the demands only of others and not yourself.</p>
<p>Secondly, remember and really deeply internalise the fact that you can stop working on any open source project at any time. Open source maintenance is a job and, like a job, when it stops working for you and you have better options, you can go elsewhere. You should not feel bad about this; instead, you should feel good about the fact that every contribution you continue to make or made in the past were good deeds given freely to others. When your life or the project means it no longer feels good to work on it anymore — stop.</p>
<p>Third, your time as a maintainer is simply more valuable than that of your users. In Homebrew’s case, there’s 30 maintainers and millions of users. It does not scale to prioritise user time over maintainer time. In many, perhaps most open source projects there’s a single maintainer. As a result, this maintainer should only be doing the tasks that users and other contributors cannot do. Alternatively, this maintainer should only be doing the tasks that they want to do.</p>
<p>Finally, maintainers need to learn to say “no” again and again. No to new features. No to breaking changes. No to working on holiday. No to fixing issues or merging pull requests from people who are being unpleasant. No to demands that something has to be fixed right now.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2 id="i-am-not-a-supplier-by-thomas-depierre" tabindex="-1">I am not a supplier by Thomas Depierre<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/open_source/#fn3" id="fnref3">[3]</a></sup> <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/open_source/#i-am-not-a-supplier-by-thomas-depierre">#</a></h2>
<p>Can you call it a Software Supply Chain if most of it is open-source given to you for free with a license that explicitly tells you that you can't depend on it? Something to think about.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There is a small problem here. We are not suppliers. All the people writing and maintaining these projects, we are not suppliers. We do not have a business relationship with all these organisations. We are volunteers, writing code and putting it online under these Licenses. And yes, we put it online for people to use them. But we do not get anything from it.</p>
<p>Hell even worse, a lot of the libraries that underpin the fabric of what we all call the digital economy have trouble getting enough money to pay for food. On this topic, I strongly advise everyone to take the time to read Nadia Eghbal Road and Bridges report to realize the depth of the problem. It is a bit old, as it was written in the aftermath of HeartBleed, but it is as relevant today as it was at the time.</p>
<p>Or for a funnier, more visual explanation, XKCD 2347</p>
</blockquote>
<p><img src="https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/dependency.png" alt="Dependency XKCD 2347" /></p>
<blockquote>
<p>XKCD 2347, image of a stack of blocks, labelled "All modern digital infrastructure", with one small block holding the whole stack stable labelled "A project some random person in Nebraska has been thanklessly maintaining since 2003</p>
<p>And we know it. This is why in every single one of these licenses, that govern the rules to reuse the work we put online in these libraries, you will find this paragraph, copied verbatim.</p>
<p><em>THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.</em></p>
<p>It may feel a bit legalese, and yes, it shouts at you, but I can summarise it pretty easily. If you use this, I owe you nothing. At all. We have no relationship. I put this up online on the condition that if you use it, all the risks are on you.</p>
<p>What it means is that there is no supply chain here. Because there is no supplier. I am not providing you something that you bought from me. There is no relationship. I put something online because I wanted to. The fact you made your product depend on it is your responsibility. Not mine. Not the one of the providers. We provide libraries. We do not supply them. You cannot apply rules to me.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2 id="open-source-is-stifling-progress-by-jonathan-edwards" tabindex="-1">Open source is stifling progress by Jonathan Edwards<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/open_source/#fn4" id="fnref4">[4]</a></sup> <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/open_source/#open-source-is-stifling-progress-by-jonathan-edwards">#</a></h2>
<p>One of the unintended consequences of open-source is that zero-cost means that there is almost no market for costly/experimental/hard to make software.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Not much user-facing software is open source. But it has almost taken over software development tools. Building things for ourselves and other programmers tickles our nerd sensibilities. Nerd cred is a form of social status we have a shot at. Open source has certainly enabled a lot of software startups to get rich quickly building (closed source) software. But it also killed the market for development of better software tools. There used to be a cottage industry of small software tool vendors offering compilers, libraries, editors, even UI widgets. You can’t compete with free. You can’t even eat ramen on free. You get what you incent, and open source de-incentivizes progress in software tools.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2 id="the-open-source-gift-exchange-by-david-heinemeier-hansson" tabindex="-1">The open source gift exchange by David Heinemeier Hansson<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/open_source/#fn5" id="fnref5">[5]</a></sup> <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/open_source/#the-open-source-gift-exchange-by-david-heinemeier-hansson">#</a></h2>
<blockquote>
<p>That's why the gift metaphor is so helpful to settle expectations on both ends on the exchange. If you're a recipient of a gift, one offered with no strings attached, you're not entitled to much beyond the freedom of choice of whether to accept it or not. And if you're the giver of a gift, you'd be foolish to expect specific reciprocity in return.</p>
<p>The open source gift exchange has never been busier. The primary crisis, if there is one, is mismatched expectations between givers and receivers. Solvable by a change in perspective. Give it a try.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr class="footnotes-sep" />
<section class="footnotes">
<ol class="footnotes-list">
<li id="fn1" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=2349257">A Generation Lost in the Bazaar by Poul-Henning Kamp</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/open_source/#fnref1" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn2" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://mikemcquaid.com/entitlement-in-open-source/">Entitlement in Open Source by Mike McQuaid</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/open_source/#fnref2" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn3" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://www.softwaremaxims.com/blog/not-a-supplier">I am not a supplier by Thomas Depierre</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/open_source/#fnref3" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn4" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://alarmingdevelopment.org/?p=1489">Open source is stifling progress by Jonathan Edwards</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/open_source/#fnref4" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn5" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://world.hey.com/dhh/the-open-source-gift-exchange-2171e0f0">The open source gift exchange by David Heinemeier Hansson</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/open_source/#fnref5" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</section>
Astroturfing2023-10-18T14:37:27Zhttps://kula.blog/posts/astroturfing/<h2 id="tldr%3B" tabindex="-1">TLDR; <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/astroturfing/#tldr%3B">#</a></h2>
<p>From Wikipedia <sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/astroturfing/#fn1" id="fnref1">[1]</a></sup>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Astroturfing is the practice of hiding the sponsors of a message or organization (e.g., political, advertising, religious, or public relations) to make it appear as though it originates from, and is supported by, grassroots participants. It is a practice intended to give the statements or organizations credibility by withholding information about the source's financial backers. The term astroturfing is derived from AstroTurf, a brand of synthetic carpeting designed to resemble natural grass, as a play on the word "grassroots". The implication behind the use of the term is that instead of a "true" or "natural" grassroots effort behind the activity in question, there is a "fake" or "artificial" appearance of support.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2 id="astroturfing" tabindex="-1">Astroturfing <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/astroturfing/#astroturfing">#</a></h2>
<p>It's a pretty new term to me so when I heard about it in a podcast<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/astroturfing/#fn2" id="fnref2">[2]</a></sup> I realised that more people should get familiar with it. Even if you heard about it then it's worth going though the whole wikipedia page<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/astroturfing/#fn1" id="fnref1:1">[1:1]</a></sup> as its really comprehensive.</p>
<hr class="footnotes-sep" />
<section class="footnotes">
<ol class="footnotes-list">
<li id="fn1" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing">Astroturfing</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/astroturfing/#fnref1" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/astroturfing/#fnref1:1" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn2" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yixIc1Ai6jM">Marc Andreessen: How Risk Taking, Innovation & Artificial Intelligence Transform Human Experience | Andrew Huberman</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/astroturfing/#fnref2" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</section>
Proof that Technical Debt is Slowing You Down: Code Red2023-10-16T16:47:44Zhttps://kula.blog/posts/code-red/<p>If you prefer a presentation then I can recommend <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRR0EDazxIk">Code Red: The Business Impact of Code Quality • Adam Tornhill • GOTO 2022</a></p>
<p>Or you can read the whitepaper <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/2203.04374.pdf">Code Red: The Business Impact of Code Quality – A Quantitative Study of 39 Proprietary Production Codebases | Adam Tornhill, Markus Borg</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>The resulting technical debt is estimated to waste up to 42% of developers’ time.<br />
...<br />
By analyzing activity in 30,737 files, we find that low quality code contains 15 times more defects than high quality code.<br />
Furthermore, resolving issues in low quality code takes on average 124% more time in development. Finally, we report that issue resolutions in low quality code involve higher uncertainty manifested as 9 times longer maximum cycle times. This study provides evidence that code quality cannot be dismissed as a technical concern.<br />
With 15 times fewer defects, twice the development speed, and substantially more predictable issue resolution times, the business advantage of high quality code should be unmistakably clear.</p>
</blockquote>
oklch() CSS Color2023-10-12T15:51:08Zhttps://kula.blog/posts/oklch/<h2 id="tldr%3B" tabindex="-1">TLDR; <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/oklch/#tldr%3B">#</a></h2>
<p>It's the best way of writing colors we have on the web right now.</p>
<ol>
<li>Built-in future-proofing of your colors. They will improve as hardware improves.</li>
<li>The same numerical change in coordinates produces the same perceptual color difference. This one makes it a lot easier to create color palettes.</li>
</ol>
<p>Format:</p>
<pre><code>oklch(Lightness Chroma Hue[ / Alpha])
</code></pre>
<hr />
<p>In practice:</p>
<pre class="language-css"><code class="language-css"><span class="token selector">.blue</span> <span class="token punctuation">{</span><br /> <span class="token property">background-color</span><span class="token punctuation">:</span> <span class="token function">oklch</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span>60% 0.4 240<span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span><br /><span class="token punctuation">}</span><br /><br /><span class="token selector">.blue-light</span> <span class="token punctuation">{</span><br /> <span class="token property">background-color</span><span class="token punctuation">:</span> <span class="token function">oklch</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span>90% 0.4 240<span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span><br /><span class="token punctuation">}</span><br /><br /><span class="token selector">.blue-transparent</span> <span class="token punctuation">{</span><br /> <span class="token property">background-color</span><span class="token punctuation">:</span> <span class="token function">oklch</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span>60% 0.4 240 / 0.5<span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span><br /><span class="token punctuation">}</span></code></pre>
<h2 id="history" tabindex="-1">History <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/oklch/#history">#</a></h2>
<p>I remember hearing about it from Lea Verou in 2020<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/oklch/#fn1" id="fnref1">[1]</a></sup>, but I have to admit that browser support wasn't there yet and I forgot about it.</p>
<p>But, recently I stumbled upon Jim Nielsen’s blog post<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/oklch/#fn2" id="fnref2">[2]</a></sup> and got curious.</p>
<p>First, it's no longer called <code>lch</code> but <code>oklch</code>. Why is that?<br />
It turns out there was a bug in blue lightness causing the color to become more purple<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/oklch/#fn3" id="fnref3">[3]</a></sup>. But, it's fixed in <code>oklch</code> so that's what we can use now. Browser support is pretty good as well<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/oklch/#fn4" id="fnref4">[4]</a></sup>.</p>
<h2 id="learn-oklch" tabindex="-1">Learn <code>oklch</code> <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/oklch/#learn-oklch">#</a></h2>
<p>If you want to learn more then I can recommend the MDN article<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/oklch/#fn4" id="fnref4:1">[4:1]</a></sup>. It's clear and practical.</p>
<h2 id="update-2023-10-23" tabindex="-1">Update 2023-10-23 <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/oklch/#update-2023-10-23">#</a></h2>
<p>It's worth noting that <code>oklch</code> is not perfect<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/oklch/#fn5" id="fnref5">[5]</a></sup> and there may be pros and cons to using it depending on the situation. But, it still seems like a good default for most people.</p>
<hr class="footnotes-sep" />
<section class="footnotes">
<ol class="footnotes-list">
<li id="fn1" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://lea.verou.me/blog/2020/04/lch-colors-in-css-what-why-and-how/">LCH colors in CSS: what, why, and how? | Lea Verou</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/oklch/#fnref1" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn2" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://blog.jim-nielsen.com/2023/ok-lch-im-convinced/">OK LCH, I’m Convinced | Jim Nielsen</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/oklch/#fnref2" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn3" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://atmos.style/blog/lch-vs-oklch">LCH vs OKLCH: what is the difference?</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/oklch/#fnref3" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn4" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/color_value/oklch">oklch | MDN </a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/oklch/#fnref4" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/oklch/#fnref4:1" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn5" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://chriscoyier.net/2023/10/20/more-oklch-musings/">More OKLCH Musings | Chris Coyier</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/oklch/#fnref5" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</section>
Fake jobs2023-10-10T14:14:32Zhttps://kula.blog/posts/fake_jobs/<p>I got asked about fake jobs I mentioned in my last newsletter and decided to put what I know into one place, so here it is.</p>
<h2 id="high-level-view-on-the-current-market-(including-fake-jobs)" tabindex="-1">High-level view on the current market (including fake jobs) <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/fake_jobs/#high-level-view-on-the-current-market-(including-fake-jobs)">#</a></h2>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pybW2zRyOlY">Why Is It So Damn HARD To Get A Job?? | A Life After Layoff</a>.</p>
<h2 id="fake-jobs" tabindex="-1">Fake jobs <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/fake_jobs/#fake-jobs">#</a></h2>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAQGHyu9lcA">It's Official...Employers Now Admit To Posting Fake Jobs! | A Life After Layoff</a></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://clarifycapital.com/job-seekers-beware-of-ghost-jobs-survey">Survey: Job Seekers Beware of Ghost Jobs | Clarify Capital</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/that-plum-job-listing-may-just-be-a-ghost-3aafc794">Job Listings Abound, but Many Are Fake</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="some-of-the-jobs-are-lies" tabindex="-1">Some of the jobs are lies <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/fake_jobs/#some-of-the-jobs-are-lies">#</a></h2>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkboVaj5RH0">BEWARE: NEW STUDY PROVES HOW MANAGERS LIE TO APPLICANTS! | Joshua Fluke</a></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.resumebuilder.com/4-in-10-hiring-managers-admit-they-lie-to-candidates-in-the-hiring-process/">4 in 10 hiring managers admit they lie to candidates in the hiring process | ResumeBuilder.com</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="personal-experience" tabindex="-1">Personal Experience <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/fake_jobs/#personal-experience">#</a></h2>
<p>I've noticed some jobs that are open for multiple months and if you stop to think about it, it's pretty much impossible in the current market. If the company can't hire someone in let's say 2 months max it probably means that they don't really hire anyone.</p>
System Design Interview2023-10-10T07:56:26Zhttps://kula.blog/posts/system_design_interview/<p><img src="https://kula.blog/img/system-design-interview.jpeg" alt="System Design Interview – An insider's guide by Alex Xu" /></p>
<p>I heard about the book<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/system_design_interview/#fn1" id="fnref1">[1]</a></sup> because of the ByteByteGo System Design YouTube channel<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/system_design_interview/#fn2" id="fnref2">[2]</a></sup>. While this review is about the book I want to mention it because some of the videos cover the same topics and are much better than the corresponding chapters.</p>
<h2 id="tldr%3B" tabindex="-1">TLDR; <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/system_design_interview/#tldr%3B">#</a></h2>
<p>It's focused on making you pass the interview and will do a good job with that. But, if you want to learn more about designing systems and understand what you're talking about then you will be disappointed. Some chapters are better, and you can use the book to give you a high-level overview of a given topic, but most of them don't go into much detail.</p>
<h2 id="good" tabindex="-1">Good <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/system_design_interview/#good">#</a></h2>
<p>It's still an interesting book, especially if you're in a junior or regular position.</p>
<p>If you're going to interviews then I recommend reading Chapter 4 (it's available online) to get some advice for the system design interview itself<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/system_design_interview/#fn3" id="fnref3">[3]</a></sup>. It's great to have a better idea of what is expected from you during the meeting.</p>
<p>Chapters about Consistent Hashing<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/system_design_interview/#fn4" id="fnref4">[4]</a></sup> and Unique ID Generator<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/system_design_interview/#fn5" id="fnref5">[5]</a></sup> were the most interesting for me. I felt like I was actually learning something.</p>
<p>Each chapter has links to learn more about a given topic, so you can follow up on the the most interesting ideas.</p>
<h2 id="underwhelming" tabindex="-1">Underwhelming <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/system_design_interview/#underwhelming">#</a></h2>
<p>I was disappointed with the Back of the Envelope estimation chapter<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/system_design_interview/#fn6" id="fnref6">[6]</a></sup> the most. It's built on the idea from the 2011 High Scalability blog post<sup class="footnote-ref"><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/system_design_interview/#fn7" id="fnref7">[7]</a></sup>, but it doesn't add much to it. I wanted a little more help with building intuitions for those estimates but got only some more data for review.</p>
<p>The second half of the book was also a lot less interesting for some reason. Even my notes starting with chapter 9 are almost empty. YMMV.</p>
<p>Overall the book sometimes feels like it's trying to teach me what to say, instead of actually explaining the concepts. It makes sense if you're only goal is passing the interview.</p>
<h2 id="summary" tabindex="-1">Summary <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/system_design_interview/#summary">#</a></h2>
<p>It's a good high-level introduction to System Design and it will help you pass your interview, but it's not enough to give you a good understanding of those bigger systems.</p>
<hr class="footnotes-sep" />
<section class="footnotes">
<ol class="footnotes-list">
<li id="fn1" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54109255-system-design-interview-an-insider-s-guide">System Design Interview – An insider's guide by Alex Xu</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/system_design_interview/#fnref1" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn2" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZgt6AzoyjslHTC9dz0UoTw">ByteByteGo YouTube channel</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/system_design_interview/#fnref2" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn3" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://bytebytego.com/courses/system-design-interview/a-framework-for-system-design-interviews">A Framework For System Design Interviews</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/system_design_interview/#fnref3" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn4" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://www.toptal.com/big-data/consistent-hashing">A Guide to Consistent Hashing | Toptal</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/system_design_interview/#fnref4" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn5" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://blog.twitter.com/engineering/en_us/a/2010/announcing-snowflake">Announcing Snowflake | Twitter Engineering Blog</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/system_design_interview/#fnref5" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn6" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="https://bytebytego.com/courses/system-design-interview/back-of-the-envelope-estimation">Back-of-the-envelope Estimation</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/system_design_interview/#fnref6" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn7" class="footnote-item"><p><a href="http://highscalability.com/blog/2011/1/26/google-pro-tip-use-back-of-the-envelope-calculations-to-choo.html">High Scalability | Google Pro Tip: Use Back-Of-The-Envelope-Calculations To Choose The Best Design</a> <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/system_design_interview/#fnref7" class="footnote-backref">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</section>
2023 September. Interviewing and Fasting.2023-10-02T11:51:22Zhttps://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_09_update/<h1 id="books-i'm-reading" tabindex="-1">Books I'm reading <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_09_update/#books-i'm-reading">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54109255-system-design-interview-an-insider-s-guide">System Design Interview – An insider's guide by Alex Xu</a>.</p>
<h1 id="books-i've-read" tabindex="-1">Books I've read <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_09_update/#books-i've-read">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/629.Zen_and_the_Art_of_Motorcycle_Maintenance">Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values by Robert M. Pirsig</a>. I have a hard time with this one. I've found it disturbing, insightful, boring, incorrect, and too vague to be useful. Didn't change my mind, but I've enjoyed the philosophical take on quality.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22847284-grokking-algorithms-an-illustrated-guide-for-programmers-and-other-curio">Grokking Algorithms An Illustrated Guide For Programmers and Other Curious People by Aditya Y. Bhargava</a>. I'm not a fan of "interview" books so this is a welcome relief. The book is focused on teaching you something useful instead of hopping through the hoops. Great intro to even some advanced algorithms. Easy and fun to read. Highly recommended.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.jobsearch.dev/">The Senior Engineer Jobsearch</a>. I can recommend this free online course. The market is much different than when they made it, but it's solid advice.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/656.War_and_Peace">War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy</a>. I do not recommend this one. The audiobook in Polish is 65 hours long and there are only short parts of it that are interesting. I've made a mistake of taking this book as a personal challenge, don't make my mistakes and just ignore it.</p>
<h1 id="elsewhere-on-the-web" tabindex="-1">Elsewhere on the Web <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_09_update/#elsewhere-on-the-web">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2023/09/26/tech-layoffs-are-all-but-a-thing-of-the-past/">Tech layoffs are all but a thing of the past by Alex Wilhelm from TechCrunch</a></p>
<p><a href="https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/working-at-a-startup-vs-in-big-tech">Working at a Startup vs. in Big Tech by Gergely Orosz</a></p>
<p><a href="https://dannorth.net/the-worst-programmer/">The Worst Programmer I Know by Dan North</a></p>
<p><a href="https://lea.verou.me/blog/2023/state-of-html-2023/">State of HTML 2023 is now open! — Lea Verou</a></p>
<h2 id="youtube" tabindex="-1">YouTube <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_09_update/#youtube">#</a></h2>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwsu7ez2otk">The Drone That Changed The Rules of War, Then Got Banned by Not What You Think</a>.<br />
Use of FPV drones in Ukraine.<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJHP0VfeOrU">Sociopath Businessman Tells The Truth About Capitalism by Novara Media</a></p>
<h3 id="tech" tabindex="-1">Tech <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_09_update/#tech">#</a></h3>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWqNgzZwVJQ">Bun is disrupting JavaScript land by Fireship</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zulGMYg0v6U">How to Set up VS Code for Data Science & AI by Dave Ebbelaar</a></p>
<h3 id="personal" tabindex="-1">Personal <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_09_update/#personal">#</a></h3>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8ZgwZf1E3E">Unlock Unlimited Motivation With This Hidden Brain Switch by Rian Doris</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Curiosity<br />
Purpose (What is important to other people?)<br />
Mastery (Want to improve every day)<br />
Autotelicity (To like the activity itself/Flow)<br />
Autonomy (Feeling in control of your work)</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNKhJtQpboU">How To Actually Recharge for Maximum Productivity by Rian Doris</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>cold/heat exposure<br />
meditation<br />
breathwork<br />
nap<br />
sleep<br />
nature<br />
exercise</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I can recommend <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@TheVeganGym">The Vegan Gym YouTube channel</a> and some recent videos:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWisJet6rbA">The Secret To Vegan Weight Loss [Volume Eating]</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3UsNkRPOR4">FAST High-Protein Vegan Meals (What I Eat In A Day)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp__XMbnkT0">How To Eat for VEGAN Weight Loss - (Full Day of Eating + Nutrition Breakdown)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IDsIn7mixg">How to Build a Meal for VEGAN Weight Loss - (Plate Breakdown)</a></li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSUURvSBR-4">Lion's Mane Mushrooms Actually DO SOMETHING! by SciShow</a></p>
<h1 id="personal-thoughts" tabindex="-1">Personal Thoughts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_09_update/#personal-thoughts">#</a></h1>
<h2 id="orthodontist." tabindex="-1">Orthodontist. <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_09_update/#orthodontist.">#</a></h2>
<p>I'm doing a lot of small things this month. The most annoying is probably dentical/orthodontal treatment. I won't go into detail, but it's a constant pull on my time and attention.</p>
<h2 id="fasting." tabindex="-1">Fasting. <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_09_update/#fasting.">#</a></h2>
<p>Still trying to lose weight. It's getting harder and harder, but I'm finally under my target weight of 65kg most of days. I want to make this a little more stable before I start celebrating, but I'm getting there. I started to think more about other ways of keeping my weight from increasing other than fasting. While it's great to lose weight, it's really hard to keep muscles. The tradeoff was worth it so far, but it may not be much longer.</p>
<h2 id="interviews." tabindex="-1">Interviews. <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_09_update/#interviews.">#</a></h2>
<p>While layoffs are almost over it's a pretty bad time to look for a new job. Some companies are still looking, but a lot of them are only posting fake openings. A lot of people are looking for new positions because of the layoffs as well. I have 14 years of experience and have the freedom to take my time to find something interesting it's a tough job market at the moment.</p>
<h1 id="music" tabindex="-1">Music <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_09_update/#music">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsCD5XCu6CM">Somewhere I Belong – Linkin Park</a>. I'm really getting old, but this one comes back to me one of those days. Hope you can enjoy it too.</p>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p>You can subscribe to my monthly posts at <strong><a href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/">kula.blog/newsletter</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
2023 August. Vacation. Craft. Fasting.2023-09-01T14:30:10Zhttps://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_08_update/<h1 id="books-i'm-reading" tabindex="-1">Books I'm reading <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_08_update/#books-i'm-reading">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/656.War_and_Peace">War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy</a>. I'm listening to an audiobook in Polish and I'm 16 hours in of 65 hours.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/629.Zen_and_the_Art_of_Motorcycle_Maintenance">Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values by Robert M. Pirsig</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22847284-grokking-algorithms-an-illustrated-guide-for-programmers-and-other-curio">Grokking Algorithms An Illustrated Guide For Programmers and Other Curious People by Aditya Y. Bhargava</a></p>
<h1 id="books-i've-read" tabindex="-1">Books I've read <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_08_update/#books-i've-read">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6493332-shop-class-as-soulcraft">Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work by Matthew B. Crawford</a>. I like the first part of the book. Reading philosophical take about craft and its value in our lives. It was great to read a criticism of corporate scientific management and its love/hate relationship with crafts. It's the first half of the book and that's what I can recommend.</p>
<p><a href="https://web.dev/learn/design/">Learn Responsive Design by Google</a>. Pretty good course that I can recommend if you want to learn the basics of Responsive Web Design.</p>
<h1 id="elsewhere-on-the-web" tabindex="-1">Elsewhere on the Web <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_08_update/#elsewhere-on-the-web">#</a></h1>
<p>I can recommend this 2 part series of responses regarding the measurement of developer productivity:</p>
<ol>
<li><a href="https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/measuring-developer-productivity">Measuring developer productivity? A response to McKinsey</a></li>
<li><a href="https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/measuring-developer-productivity-part-2">Measuring developer productivity? A response to McKinsey, Part 2</a></li>
</ol>
<blockquote>
<p>Goodhart’s Law: "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure."</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://stackoverflow.blog/2023/06/26/the-hardest-part-of-building-software-is-not-coding-its-requirements/">The hardest part of building software is not coding, it’s requirements by Jared Toporek</a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>AI can’t create software, only code.<br />
It's hard to say how long it will stay true, but I can agree with the argument. At least until ChatGPT will allow a context of the whole codebase. It's hard to say what will happen then.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.dancowell.com/software-engineers-hate-code/">Software engineers hate code. by Dan Cowell</a>. I like how he puts the opinion of senior engineers about writing code. Strongly recommended. TLDR; There is much more to code than just writing it.</p>
<p><a href="https://tidyfirst.substack.com/p/fresh-work-80155">Fresh Work 80/15/5 by Kent Beck</a></p>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>80% of your time goes to low-risk/reasonable-reward work</li>
<li>15% of your time goes to related high-risk/high-reward work. (~6 hours a week)</li>
<li>5% of your time goes to satisfying your own curiosity with no thought of reward. Geek Joy. (~2 hours a week)</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://factoryfactoryfactory.net/">Modern Software Development Summarized by Benji Smith</a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Originally titled Why I Hate Frameworks</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://giansegato.com/essays/edutainment-is-not-learning">How to Learn Better in the Digital Age by Gian Segato</a>. A reminder that learning should be effortful and that most of our "learning" is just entertainment. If you want to learn something make it effortful e.g.: make a note in a physical notebook.</p>
<p><a href="https://esif.dev/">Educational Sensational Inspirational Foundational by Zach Leatherman</a>A historical record of foundational web development blog posts (ordered chronologically).</p>
<p><a href="https://time.com/6296357/happiness-strategies-lack-data/">The Data Don't Really Support the Most Popular Happiness Strategies by Alice Park</a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In a study published July 20 in Nature Human Behavior, happiness researchers at the University of British Columbia report that for the most popular happiness strategies there is at best little solid, scientifically sound evidence—and in some cases, there is none.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>From <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-023-01651-4.epdf">A systematic review of the strength of evidence for the most commonly recommended happiness strategies in mainstream media by Dunigan Folk & Elizabeth Dunn</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>By coding media articles on happiness, we first identified the five most commonly recommended strategies:<br />
expressing gratitude,<br />
enhancing sociability,<br />
exercising,<br />
practising mindfulness/meditation and<br />
increasing nature exposure.<br />
Our review suggests that a strong scientific foundation is lacking for some of the most commonly recommended happiness strategies. As the effectiveness of these strategies remains an open question, there is an urgent need for well-powered, pre-registered studies investigating strategies for promoting happiness.<br />
(changed formatting)</p>
</blockquote>
<h1 id="personal-thoughts" tabindex="-1">Personal Thoughts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_08_update/#personal-thoughts">#</a></h1>
<p>It was my last month of vacation and will be looking for a more stable source of income starting in September. If you want to hire me then contact me at <a href="mailto:offers@kula.blog">offers@kula.blog</a>.</p>
<p>I'm thinking mostly about JS (TS is fine as well) like Senior Engineer (Frontend/React) or Full-stack engineer. But, I'm also strongly thinking about a Managerial path. I have some great memories from being a Manager of a 6 person team and wouldn't mind doing it again. With hindsight, I like both programming and management so a hybrid position would be best. Something like Tech Lead, Staff, or Principal so let me know if you would like to work with me.</p>
<h2 id="losing-weight" tabindex="-1">Losing weight <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_08_update/#losing-weight">#</a></h2>
<p>I've lost about 8 kg (17 pounds) recently thanks to fasting:</p>
<ul>
<li>Monday-Wednesday. I'm doing a version of water fast where I drink a lot of coffee to keep energy.</li>
<li>Thursday-Sunday. I'm doing Intermittent Fasting where I'm skipping breakfasts.<br />
I often have a problem with limiting how much I eat when I'm eating, but on fasting days, it's pretty easy to keep myself from eating. It's a big yo-yo, but I've managed to consistently lower my weight by about 1 or 2 kg (let's say 3 pounds) every week.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p>You can subscribe to my monthly posts at <strong><a href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/">kula.blog/newsletter</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
2023 July. Reading Books and being a Frontend Instructor.2023-07-31T11:30:10Zhttps://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_07_update/<h1 id="books-i'm-reading" tabindex="-1">Books I'm reading <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_07_update/#books-i'm-reading">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/656.War_and_Peace">War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy</a>. I'm listening to an audiobook in Polish and I'm 16 hours in of 65 hours.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19032032-point-and-line-to-plane">Point and Line to Plane by Wassily Kandinsky</a>. I've seen a recommendation for it to get a little bit of art theory. While I'm skeptical I want to make my own opinion.</p>
<h1 id="books-i've-read" tabindex="-1">Books I've read <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_07_update/#books-i've-read">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10311376-secrets-of-consulting">Secrets of Consulting: A Guide to Giving and Getting Advice Successfully by Gerald M. Weinberg</a>. This was an easy and a little funny read. It's a book from 1985 and a lot of its ideas are part of the working culture now. Not only consulting, so it's good to see them in the original context. I can recommend it.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40242155-the-four-horsemen">The Four Horsemen: The Conversation That Sparked an Atheist Revolution | Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel C. Dennett, Stephen Fry (Introduction)</a>. Disappointing. Just watch the video if you're interested. I found one on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpiVkTvKCXU">youtube</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39996759-a-philosophy-of-software-design">A Philosophy of Software Design by John Ousterhout</a>. I like the idea of Deep Modules and a related idea that different levels of abstraction should have different APIs. I was a little underwhelmed, but it's pretty short and worth reading for the ideas it's having.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11721498-the-progress-principle">The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work by Teresa Amabile, Steven Kramer</a>. This is a book managers and executives should read. Down to earth and practical collection of ideas of what to do and what to avoid doing based on feedback from real people and teams in various work cultures and organizations.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60432.Caesar">Caesar: Life of a Colossus by Adrian Goldsworthy</a>. Turns out we don't know as much about Caesar as movies would make you think, but for someone that lived 2 thousand years ago I was astonished at what we do know. I have to admit that the book made me realize how big and impressive was the Roman Republic and the scale of things at the time.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36458712-making-work-visible">Making Work Visible: Exposing Time Theft to Optimize Work & Flow by Dominica Degrandis</a>. I like this one. It's short, has a lot of images to learn from and is fun to read. It's about the basics, but I can still recommend it.</p>
<p><a href="https://javascript.info/">The Modern JavaScript Tutorial</a>. Good for refreshing your JS skills or learning modern JS from the start.</p>
<h1 id="elsewhere-on-the-web" tabindex="-1">Elsewhere on the Web <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_07_update/#elsewhere-on-the-web">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2Tm3Yx4HWI">Academia is BROKEN! - Harvard Fake Data Scandal Explained</a>. This one just builds upon my existing disappointment with psychology research.</p>
<p><a href="https://dynomight.net/tires/">Conspiracy theory: Electric cars make more air pollution than gas cars</a></p>
<p><a href="https://staltz.com/google-shattered-human-connection.html">Google shattered human connection by André Staltz</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.baldurbjarnason.com/2022/programming-is-a-pop-culture/">Programming is a Pop Culture</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDaQlwKBuR8">Breakfast is literally a scam.</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CBD5JZJJKw">I Waited 15 Years For These New Array Methods</a>. 8 minutes about new methods like <code>toSliced</code>, <code>toSorted</code> and others.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdoWiJANr_U">Pixel Art Tips from a Professional Artist - Tips & Tricks</a>. 8 minutes intro to Pixel Art.</p>
<h1 id="personal-thoughts" tabindex="-1">Personal Thoughts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_07_update/#personal-thoughts">#</a></h1>
<p>I've been doing a 3 day fast (from Sunday evening until Thursday lunch) mixed with mostly normal eating (but, skipping breakfasts) for the last couple of weeks. While fasting is uncomfortable, I've lost a lot of weight while having a pretty good mood along the way. I've managed to do and read much more in July as well so feeling hungry and tired in 1-2 days a week doesn't seem to impact my overall productivity.</p>
<p>I've been teaching the frontend module (15 hours) in a bootcamp in July. My group was motivated and eager to learn making it a fun and rewarding experience for me.</p>
<p>Next month I hope will be about:</p>
<ul>
<li>Continuing my fasting diet on most weeks</li>
<li>Taking a family vacation. Kindergarten is closed so we've planned a bunch of activities to do.</li>
<li>Use a Kanban "TODO" column for my personal and home projects.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p>You can subscribe to my monthly posts at <strong><a href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/">kula.blog/newsletter</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
2023 June. Books.2023-07-03T17:00:10Zhttps://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_06_update/<h1 id="books-i'm-reading" tabindex="-1">Books I'm reading <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_06_update/#books-i'm-reading">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/656.War_and_Peace">War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy</a>. I'm listening to an audiobook in Polish and I'm 16 hours in of 65 hours.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10311376-secrets-of-consulting">Secrets of Consulting: A Guide to Giving and Getting Advice Successfully by Gerald M. Weinberg</a>.</p>
<h1 id="books-i've-read" tabindex="-1">Books I've read <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_06_update/#books-i've-read">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61022674-brain-energy">Brain Energy: A Revolutionary Breakthrough in Understanding Mental Health--and Improving Treatment for Anxiety, Depression, OCD, PTSD, and More by Christopher M. Palmer MD</a>.<br />
This is a pretty interesting idea of linking all mental health problems to problems with mitochondria of your cells. Basically, making an argument for metabolic disorders of the cells as a common pathway of everything. Book is packed with arguments for the thesis and feels like it's written more for medical professionals than a general public. Overall it makes an argument why things like the ketogenic diet, fasting, exercise or good sleep help so many people. The sad fact I've learned is that most people with depression and other disorders are not getting permanently better with current treatments.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34459081-rise-of-the-robots">Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future by Martin Ford</a>.<br />
This is a good take on where a cheap automation will take us. During the industrial revolution people from agriculture were needed in factories. Later a lot of people moved into knowledge work because there was a need for them. But what will happen when new AI will be as capable as most university graduates? Argument that new jobs will magically show up is currently made based on the past, but unlike in the past its now much harder to say what those jobs will be.<br />
Overall I finally understood after reading it that we have no idea what will be the impact of automation of knowledge work on people, jobs or economy and that's why you hear about the Universal Basic Income so much.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46004844-we-have-been-harmonised">We Have Been Harmonised: Life in China's Surveillance State by Kai Strittmatter</a>.<br />
This one is worth reading to get a view of China outside of the public media.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/857333.The_Art_of_Learning">The Art of Learning: A Journey in the Pursuit of Excellence by Josh Waitzkin</a>.<br />
I'm mostly disappointed in this one. It's a memoir with some advice, but it's not relevant for most people.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62597008-the-atlas-six">The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake</a>. Fantasy. I don't recommend it.</p>
<h2 id="in-polish" tabindex="-1">In Polish <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_06_update/#in-polish">#</a></h2>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62096770-cham-i-pan-a-nam-prostym-zewsz-d-n-dza">Cham i pan. A nam, prostym, zewsząd nędza? by Andrzej Chwalba and Wojciech Harpula</a>.<br />
Probably interesting only for people in Poland as it's about history of the common people living in Poland. Worth reading.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51037903-inteligentny-inwestor-xxi-wieku-tom-iv">Inteligentny Inwestor XXI wieku Tom IV by trader21</a>. Last book in a series about investing.</p>
<h1 id="elsewhere-on-the-web" tabindex="-1">Elsewhere on the Web <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_06_update/#elsewhere-on-the-web">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://improvingteaching.co.uk/2022/03/06/is-growth-mindset-real-new-evidence-new-conclusions/">Is growth mindset real? New evidence, new conclusions</a></p>
<p><a href="https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/you-cant-optimize-for-rest">You Can't Optimize For Rest</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Illich is echoing the earlier work of the French polymath Jacques Ellul, to whom Illich acknowledged his debt in a 1994 talk I’ve cited frequently. In his best known book, The Technological Society, Ellul argued that by the early 20th century Western societies had become structurally inhospitable to human beings because technique had become their ordering principle. These days I find it helpful to gloss what technique meant for Ellul as the tyrannical imperative to optimize everything.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBKT2KN_Y9s">Stop over-engineering your CSS by Kevin Powell</a></p>
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/kIAOizcnJrI">Busy developer’s guide to feature toggles • Mateusz Kwaśniewski • Devoxx Poland 2023</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUDbylNK4Vg">Ten of My Favorite Papers on the Science of Learning and Thinking by Scott Young</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqSYljRYDEM">How to Use ChatGPT to Ruin Your Legal Career by LegalEagle</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ufWhpOyJ98">Why Child Labor in America is Skyrocketing | Robert Reich</a></p>
<h2 id="fun" tabindex="-1">Fun <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_06_update/#fun">#</a></h2>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdgPSJxvAYY">Should We Let Nature Finally Delete Pandas? by Casual Geographic</a>. I can recommend the whole channel if you like his sense of humour. 😂</p>
<h1 id="personal-thoughts" tabindex="-1">Personal Thoughts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_06_update/#personal-thoughts">#</a></h1>
<p>I've been preparing an intro to Frontend Development and was going through a bunch of materials. If you have some spare time and want to refresh your knowledge or just pick up some basics then I can recommend:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://web.dev/learn/html/">Learn HTML</a></li>
<li><a href="https://web.dev/learn/css/">Learn CSS</a></li>
</ul>
<p>My kid was sick for the whole month so I'm pretty happy with what I managed to do while babysitting. Having something easy to read allowed me to take a break and put a dent into my backlog of books. So I can recommend having a harder and easier book you're reading at the same time. It will allow you to make some progress regardless of how much capacity you have on a given day.</p>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p>You can subscribe to my monthly posts at <strong><a href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/">kula.blog/newsletter</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
2023 May. AI, Purpose, Solitude. Taking a break.2023-06-02T17:00:10Zhttps://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_05_update/<h1 id="books-i'm-reading" tabindex="-1">Books I'm reading <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_05_update/#books-i'm-reading">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/656.War_and_Peace">War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy</a>. I'm listening to an audiobook in Polish and I'm 14 hours in of 65 hours.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51037903-inteligentny-inwestor-xxi-wieku-tom-iv">Inteligentny Inwestor XXI wieku Tom IV by trader21 (in Polish)</a>. Last book in a series about investing.</p>
<h1 id="books-i've-read" tabindex="-1">Books I've read <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_05_update/#books-i've-read">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48570456-effective-typescript">Effective TypeScript: 62 Specific Ways to Improve Your TypeScript by Dan Vanderkam</a>. Good book for intermediate TypeScript programmers. It would make a nice second book after you get some experience, but if you're an expert then it will disappoint you.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34272471-altered-traits">Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body by Daniel Goleman, Richard J. Davidson</a>. This one made me realize how small we know about meditation, and how small the effects of it can be if you're only meditating at home. I've picked up a useful distinction between meditation types:</p>
<ul>
<li>Focus (like breath, body, etc.)</li>
<li>Mindfulness (meta focus, being aware of your consciousness and thoughts and observing them)</li>
<li>Loving-Kindness<br />
But meditation can be a great way to get some space to find some space for your mind I mention later in <a href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_05_update/#purpose">Purpose</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 id="elsewhere-on-the-web" tabindex="-1">Elsewhere on the Web <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_05_update/#elsewhere-on-the-web">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/science/annals-of-artificial-intelligence/there-is-no-ai">There Is No A.I. There are ways of controlling the new technology—but first we have to stop mythologizing it. By Jaron Lanier</a>. I can recommend comments on <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35661945">Hacker News</a> as well.<br />
While I think it's worth reading, I'm not convinced by the argument. What I can agree with is that I don't think we're going to get a conscious and malicious Artificial Intelligence as easily as some try to say, but there is still a problem of misalignment (goals we set for the models) and the impact on jobs and the economy. It looks like a big revolution and it's hard to say how it's going to end. A lot of uncertainty coming.<br />
Still, AI is better than any human player in Chess. People still play the game. The same with weightlifting even when we have machines that can lift way more than any human.<br />
What will people pay for?<br />
How long until AI can generate a better representation of watching other people than real people?</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF3IoM0q60o">Boiling Frogs 2023 Artur Skowroński i Paulina Żak - Z Krainy Oz do Uczenia Maszynowego na produkcji</a>. This one is in Polish, but it's about the fun of integrating machine learning into a real product. It turns out to be a lot harder than anticipated.</p>
<p><a href="https://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=3595878">DevEx: What Actually Drives Productivity</a>.<br />
The Three Dimensions of DevEx:</p>
<ul>
<li>Flow State</li>
<li>Feedback Loops</li>
<li>Cognitive Load</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://brooker.co.za/blog/2023/04/20/hobbies.html">The Four Hobbies, and Apparent Expertise</a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Doing the thing.</li>
<li>Collecting the kit.</li>
<li>Talking about the thing.</li>
<li>Talking about the kit.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.wired.com/story/so-your-kid-wants-to-be-a-twitch-streamer-three-questions/">So Your Kid Wants to Be a Twitch Streamer</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Are you Face or are you Hands?”<br />
He looked at me, waiting for me to go on. “There are two kinds of influencers. There are Faces, who show up on camera, even if in the corner, as they stream. They exist in the moment and talk for hours. They sometimes become very famous, and if they can survive being famous on the internet, sometimes they can monetize themselves and become wealthy. Hands influencers, however—they record and edit. They show you things. They are deliberate. They put the camera above the table and you see them at work, their knowledge and skills. You imagine your hands doing the same work. They can teach you to cook, play piano, do calligraphy, crochet, and fix old toys—and, yes, how to make Luigi stockpile golden bones to get one-ups. You may watch them for years and never see their faces. They add tables of contents to their videos. They are your teachers, not your friends. They command respect.”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2 id="web" tabindex="-1">Web <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_05_update/#web">#</a></h2>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywtkJkxJsdg">The New dialog HTML Element Changes Modals Forever by Web Dev Simplified</a></p>
<p><a href="https://thehistoryoftheweb.com/timeline/">The History of the Web - Timeline</a></p>
<h1 id="purpose" tabindex="-1">Purpose <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_05_update/#purpose">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuHEY7CjjTI">Why Finding Purpose Is SO HARD Today</a>. I found this one insightful and inspiring. A good argument about the costs of keeping ourselves busy and trying to be productive all the time. If you want to find yourself or your purpose then you have to It reminded me of:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lead-Yourself-First-Inspiring-Leadership/dp/1632866315">Lead Yourself First: Inspiring Leadership Through Solitude Hardcover by Raymond M. Kethledge, Michael S. Erwin</a></li>
<li><a href="https://chrisbailey.com/5-things-i-discovered-by-making-myself-bored-for-a-month/">5 fascinating things I discovered by making myself bored for a month by Chris Bailey</a></li>
<li><a href="https://theamericanscholar.org/solitude-and-leadership/">Solitude and Leadership By William Deresiewicz</a></li>
<li><a href="https://calnewport.com/spend-more-time-alone/">Spend More Time Alone by Cal Newport</a></li>
<li><a href="https://tim.blog/2015/01/15/morning-pages/">What My Morning Journal Looks Like By Tim Ferriss</a></li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/you-cant-optimize-for-rest">You Can't Optimize For Rest | The Convivial Society</a>.</p>
<h1 id="personal-thoughts" tabindex="-1">Personal Thoughts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_05_update/#personal-thoughts">#</a></h1>
<p>I'm officially unemployed since June. I was thinking about taking some time for my family and myself and finally made the decision this year. I have a huge backlog of books and ideas I hope to go through, but I still need to prioritize it. At the same time, I want to actually take some time off and avoid my usual tendencies of doing something all the time.</p>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p>You can subscribe to my monthly posts at <strong><a href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/">kula.blog/newsletter</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
2023 April. Babysitting.2023-05-02T16:25:10Zhttps://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_04_update/<h1 id="new-posts" tabindex="-1">New posts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_04_update/#new-posts">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/golang/">Golang</a>. I've spent some time learning Golang last 12 months and wanted to note what I think about it after passing the syntax and marketing.</p>
<h1 id="books-i'm-reading" tabindex="-1">Books I'm reading <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_04_update/#books-i'm-reading">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/656.War_and_Peace">War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy</a>. I'm listening to an audiobook in Polish (65 hours long). I don't remember why I bought it, but I decided to finish all my existing audiobooks before I purchase anything new so here we go.</p>
<h2 id="in-polish" tabindex="-1">In Polish <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_04_update/#in-polish">#</a></h2>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43681151-po-pi-mie">Po piśmie by Jacek Dukaj</a>. This one is in Polish. It's a collection of essays about culture moving from oratory to writing and now to experiences. Really hard to read but interesting.</p>
<h1 id="books-i've-read" tabindex="-1">Books I've read <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_04_update/#books-i've-read">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38496509-you-are-not-a-rock">You Are Not a Rock: A Step-By-Step Guide to Better Mental Health by Mark Freeman</a>. This is an interesting introduction to ACT Therapy, but the author uses some new metaphors and exercises, so it's worth recommending.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52275335-how-to-avoid-a-climate-disaster">How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need by Bill Gates</a>. I got this as a present and finally took some time to read it. It's pretty US-centric, especially at the end, but I like the big ideas it's introducing. For example, it argued why electric cars make sense even if their electricity isn't green.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34444331-insight">Insight: The Surprising Truth About How Others See Us, How We See Ourselves, and Why the Answers Matter More Than We Think by Tasha Eurich</a>. I was intrigued by this book for a long time and finally had some time to read it. I was expecting something else, but it was enjoyable, and I've picked up a couple of ideas for a short book. It's pretty good.<br />
Some tools.</p>
<ul>
<li>Daily Checkin</li>
<li>Miracle Question</li>
<li>Use "What?" instead of "How?" questions</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18948.The_Rediscovery_of_Man">The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Short Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith (Instrumentality of Mankind)</a>. One of the classic Sci-Fi from my backlog. Weird, and you can notice it's old but entertaining. I was surprised by how much fantasy was in the older Sci-Fi.</p>
<h1 id="elsewhere-on-the-web" tabindex="-1">Elsewhere on the Web <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_04_update/#elsewhere-on-the-web">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRlD75Y0A0o">Mateusz Kwaśniewski - Not Your Uncle’s Clean Code (TypeScript Edition)</a>. This great talk is from 4Developers 2022.</p>
<p><a href="https://lemire.me/blog/2023/04/27/hotspot-performance-engineering-fails/">Hotspot performance engineering fails by Daniel Lemire</a>. Is the 80-20 rule applicable to code performance? Maybe not.</p>
<p><a href="https://dev.to/stripe/designing-apis-for-humans-object-ids-3o5a">Designing APIs for humans: Object IDs by Paul Asjes</a>. Try adding a human-readable prefix to your UUIDs. Like <code>user_*******</code></p>
<p><a href="https://leaddev.com/staffplus/getting-credit-invisible-work-staff-level">Getting credit for invisible work at the Staff+ level by Ryan Harter</a></p>
<p><a href="https://matthewgrohman.substack.com/p/want-an-unfair-advantage-in-your">Want an unfair advantage in your tech career? Consume content meant for other roles by Matthew Grohman</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zop0wTPrbk8">Managing Manager‐less Processes • Fred George • GOTO 2017</a>. From a recommendation, maybe you don't need SCRUM, strict roles, or maybe even managers. Still, it's from the point of view of a manager.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.maxcountryman.com/articles/let-it-fail">Let It Fail by Max Countryman</a>. I have a hard time agreeing with this one. But I can see situations when it's the only solution.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8nPJU9xkNw">Andrew Huberman AMA #4: How to achieve a consistent state of motivation?</a><br />
Regenerate dopamine:</p>
<ul>
<li>Sleep</li>
<li><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/nsdr/">NSDR</a><br />
Lower dopamine when it's already low to increase the baseline:</li>
<li>Do hard things you don't want to do, like cold showers.</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="music" tabindex="-1">Music <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_04_update/#music">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FssULNGSZIA">Danny Carey | "Pneuma" by Tool (LIVE IN CONCERT)</a>. If you want to see expertise in practice, then take a look. I can recommend looking at the reactions of other drummers as well <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB2yNYz4bwY">Professional Drummer Reacts Danny Carey Pneuma by Tool LIVE IN CONCERT</a> to better appreciate it.</p>
<h1 id="personal-thoughts" tabindex="-1">Personal Thoughts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_04_update/#personal-thoughts">#</a></h1>
<p>It's a super weird month. I've spent most of April caring for someone at home or being sick myself. Still, I had some time to go back to things that worked for me in the past.</p>
<p>The first thing was the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS5WssBDy_w">Five Tibetan Rites Workout</a> which reminded me of the daily stretching/exercise I was doing when years ago. I decided to get back to it to get some easy exercise and stretching every day.</p>
<p>After that, I started thinking about exercise to increase my energy, reminding me of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-intensity_interval_training#Tabata_regimen">Tabata regimen</a> that I was doing on a bike. It only takes 4 minutes, and you can find plenty of videos to help you get started, like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCcX2Egirp4">4 Minute Tabata - Intense HIIT Workout - No Repeat - No Equipment</a>.</p>
<p>I've set myself a goal to lose weight finally. The goal is 12kg or 26 pounds over the long term, but I will be pretty happy even with half of that. Unfortunately, dieting is pretty hard, but I don't think it's a good idea to try fasting to lose all of it.</p>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p>You can subscribe to my monthly posts at <strong><a href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/">kula.blog/newsletter</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
Golang2023-04-20T00:00:00Zhttps://kula.blog/posts/golang/<blockquote>
<p>"There are only two kinds of languages: the ones people complain about and the ones nobody uses."</p>
<ul>
<li>Bjarne Stroustrup</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p>Disclaimer: While I'm quite critical of Golang and its use I'm not going to say you shouldn't use it. It's more important for me that you like your tools and that your team is comfortable with the language you're using.</p>
<h2 id="my-context%3A-business-services" tabindex="-1">My Context: Business Services <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/golang/#my-context%3A-business-services">#</a></h2>
<p>I'm writing from the context of writing business logic and microservices and this post is a collection of my observations and thoughts when learning and using Golang.</p>
<h2 id="syntax" tabindex="-1">Syntax <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/golang/#syntax">#</a></h2>
<p>Yes, it's ugly. But, for me, it's not a big problem. If you write enough of it your brain will learn to work with it thanks to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chunking_(psychology)">chunking</a>.</p>
<p>It's still annoying especially when most of it is avoidable if you sacrifice the compilation time a little. I get it that's a tradeoff, so let's not stop the discussion of where the fine line should be between the speed of compilation and the DX.</p>
<p>Still, it's not a deal breaker. You can get used to it and even appreciate it from time to time like my appreciation for explicit error handling that I got out of Golang.</p>
<h2 id="not-simple" tabindex="-1">Not Simple <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/golang/#not-simple">#</a></h2>
<p>My first problem with Golang marketing is that it's lying about being a simple language. It's fairer to say it's simplistic.</p>
<p>I'm going to recommend the excellent <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58571862-100-go-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them">100 Go Mistakes and How to Avoid Them by Teiva Harsanyi</a>. If you're a Golang developer it's a must-read. My argument isn't that Golang is somehow different from other languages (it's not), but the fact that it's supposed to be a simple and well-designed language. Unfortunately, as with everything people do it has flaws. In the case of Golang, a lot of them are caused by oversimplifications of the language. If you read the book you will notice a pattern of "simple" language causing unexpected and unhandled consequences you will have to deal with in practice. Most of them are unintuitive and caused by a leaky abstraction affecting your code.</p>
<h2 id="learning-golang" tabindex="-1">Learning Golang <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/golang/#learning-golang">#</a></h2>
<p>The second marketing claim is that it is really easy to learn. The truth is that because of its simplistic design and idiosyncrasies, it's just like any other language.<br />
I've seen Golang code being written like Java or Python. It's easy to learn the basics, but with only that you get much worse code, performance and memory usage if you just used a more high-level language. You need to put a significant amount of time to learn how to write good code in Golang. It's not only about the syntax of the language but also philosophy around manual memory management and error handling.</p>
<p>Learning Golang is also riddled with distractions like arrays when in practice everyone uses Slices.<br />
Someone needs to write "Golang: The Good Parts", especially after generics were added to the language, but until then it's pretty complicated to really get to know idiomatic Golang and how to use it effectively.</p>
<h2 id="manual-memory-management" tabindex="-1">Manual Memory Management <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/golang/#manual-memory-management">#</a></h2>
<p>Yes, I know that Golang has a garbage collector—I'm talking about all this code and effort every Golang programmer has to put in to avoid even minuscule amounts of memory allocations all the time. The best example is the <code>Reader</code> interface that's supposed to be used by everyone for everything. Take a look at <a href="https://go.dev/tour/methods/21">Readers in the Tour of Go</a></p>
<pre class="language-go"><code class="language-go">r <span class="token operator">:=</span> strings<span class="token punctuation">.</span><span class="token function">NewReader</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span><span class="token string">"Hello, Reader!"</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span><br /><br />b <span class="token operator">:=</span> <span class="token function">make</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span><span class="token punctuation">[</span><span class="token punctuation">]</span><span class="token builtin">byte</span><span class="token punctuation">,</span> <span class="token number">8</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span><br /><span class="token keyword">for</span> <span class="token punctuation">{</span><br /> n<span class="token punctuation">,</span> err <span class="token operator">:=</span> r<span class="token punctuation">.</span><span class="token function">Read</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span>b<span class="token punctuation">)</span><br /> fmt<span class="token punctuation">.</span><span class="token function">Printf</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span><span class="token string">"n = %v err = %v b = %v\n"</span><span class="token punctuation">,</span> n<span class="token punctuation">,</span> err<span class="token punctuation">,</span> b<span class="token punctuation">)</span><br /> fmt<span class="token punctuation">.</span><span class="token function">Printf</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span><span class="token string">"b[:n] = %q\n"</span><span class="token punctuation">,</span> b<span class="token punctuation">[</span><span class="token punctuation">:</span>n<span class="token punctuation">]</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span><br /> <span class="token keyword">if</span> err <span class="token operator">==</span> io<span class="token punctuation">.</span>EOF <span class="token punctuation">{</span><br /> <span class="token keyword">break</span><br /> <span class="token punctuation">}</span><br /><span class="token punctuation">}</span></code></pre>
<p>There are two problems with this if you're using Golang to write business logic in it:</p>
<ol>
<li>You need to pass an already allocated slice of memory to the <code>Read</code> function.</li>
<li>It uses <code>bytes</code> slices regardless of your level of abstraction.</li>
</ol>
<p>This is a really low-level API, but it's one that's encouraged as a best practice because you allocate <code>b</code> only once.<br />
While Golang has a garbage collector it doesn't have all the configuration flags you would expect.<br />
If you start allocating a lot of temporary objects it just won't work well.</p>
<h2 id="low-level" tabindex="-1">Low-Level <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/golang/#low-level">#</a></h2>
<p>I've found posts by [Amos<a href="https://fasterthanli.me/about">/fasterthanlime</a> where he takes a look at Golang from the point of view of low-level programming and is even more critical than mine.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://fasterthanli.me/articles/lies-we-tell-ourselves-to-keep-using-golang">Lies we tell ourselves to keep using Golang</a></li>
<li><a href="https://fasterthanli.me/articles/i-want-off-mr-golangs-wild-ride">I want off Mr. Golang's Wild Ride</a></li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<p>Over and over, every piece of documentation for the Go language markets it as "simple".</p>
<p>This is a lie.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2 id="high-level" tabindex="-1">High-Level <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/golang/#high-level">#</a></h2>
<p>I'm not sure where I stumbled upon it, but I heard that Golang is not getting traction from the C/C++/Java developers and most of its traction is coming from Python and Ruby developers picking it up. Not sure if that's true but I've managed to find <a href="https://www.quora.com/Why-was-Golang-adopted-by-Ruby-and-Python-developers-rather-than-C-and-C-developers">Why was Golang adopted by Ruby and Python developers rather than C++ and C developers?</a> so it's at least a somewhat common opinion.</p>
<p>When you see articles about why company X is switching to Golang the most common reason I can find is the performance. But, if you're going to write web services or microservices then the only benefit you will get is lower memory consumption. In my experience, Golang isn't particularly faster than even Node.js or Java. It will use less memory, but it won't be for free as you will need to write a lot of repetitive code for it.</p>
<p>While it can work in some situations I would argue that you should try really hard to optimize your existing platform before you jump into Golang expecting an easy win. But, there is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Silver_Bullet">No Silver Bullet</a>. You will need to invest significant time and effort into Golang if it's going to work.<br />
But, if performance is really a problem then Rust might be a better solution.</p>
<h2 id="parallelism" tabindex="-1">Parallelism <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/golang/#parallelism">#</a></h2>
<p>So you're interested in goroutines and lightweight threads Golang has?</p>
<p>I really like the distinction that's made by Rob Pike in <a href="https://go.dev/blog/waza-talk">Concurrency is not parallelism</a> talk. It's really great and will hopefully start to give you an idea that you won't get anything for free.</p>
<p>The biggest misconception I've seen people have is that they want easy parallelism and have those ideas of how easy it's going to be to get much better performance with goroutines.</p>
<p>In practice, most of your problems are not easy to parallelize, and even if they are it's not trivial. You can still get a deadlock with goroutines, not to mention the gotchas you have to learn there. If you're thinking about using channels or goroutines then you need to read at least <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58571862-100-go-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them">100 Go Mistakes</a> and something more focused on concurrency. The worst thing I've noticed is that switching from unbuffered to buffered channels can have huge unintended consequences.</p>
<p>Rather than getting an exceptional performance, you're as likely to get a data race, but at end of the day your will use unbuffered channels anyway so I'm really not sure if there is a point in having all this complexity in your app. At least I'm comparing it to my limited knowledge of <a href="https://www.erlang.org/">Erlang OTP</a> when you have a lot of support for things going wrong. In Golang channels you're on your own.</p>
<p>In practice channels and goroutines are not used as much as you think either. They are incorporated into some higher-level abstractions, but in that case, they are just an implementation detail that shouldn't have anything to do with your code.</p>
<h2 id="summary" tabindex="-1">Summary <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/golang/#summary">#</a></h2>
<p>I've learned enough Golang to have an informed opinion about it. I don't see myself using it for fun in my spare time so that's where I'm going to stop investing my time and effort.</p>
<p>But, I wouldn't mind using it and learning more about Golang if there was a reason for it at work. While this post focuses on the negatives I don't believe in perfect languages and I like Golang way more than Java at this point.</p>
<p>Personally, I think of Golang as being comparable to JavaScipt—which I still like. They use the same format (IEEE-754) for floating-point numbers. They have a lot of similar problems around closures and loops with asynchronous code. If I stumble into a problem where I need to work directly with bytes then Golang might be a better choice.<br />
The biggest difference on the server is probably memory usage, but given that you're doing a lot of that manually in Golang it's not easy to compare.</p>
<p>If you're willing to add compilation then TypeScript on top of JavaScript will give you a great high-level language with a much better type system.</p>
<p>If you're writing low-level code then Golang probably should be avoided in favor of something like Rust.</p>
2023 March. Taking a break. Biophilia.2023-04-11T11:50:10Zhttps://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_03_update/<h1 id="new-posts" tabindex="-1">New posts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_03_update/#new-posts">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/teaching_tech_together/">Teaching Tech Together Book Summary</a>. I finally had time to read it, and I'm pretty happy about it. If you're going to teach programming, then it's a must-read.</p>
<p><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/autobiographical_memory/">Want to remember more of your life?</a>.<br />
I want to improve my memory of everyday life, and I've put together my research and experiments I'm going to try in this post.</p>
<h1 id="books-i'm-reading" tabindex="-1">Books I'm reading <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_03_update/#books-i'm-reading">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38496509-you-are-not-a-rock">You Are Not a Rock: A Step-By-Step Guide to Better Mental Health by Mark Freeman</a></p>
<h1 id="books-i've-read" tabindex="-1">Books I've read <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_03_update/#books-i've-read">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57336220-learning-go">Learning Go: An Idiomatic Approach to Real-World Go Programming by Jon Bodner</a>. It's a good intro to the language. It should be your first book. It's probably not worth it if you've already familiar with Golang basics.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39971446-prometheus">Prometheus: Up & Running: Infrastructure and Application Performance Monitoring by Brian Brazil</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40911204-teaching-tech-together">Teaching Tech Together</a>. You can read <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/teaching_tech_together/">my summary here</a>.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="in-polish" tabindex="-1">In Polish <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_03_update/#in-polish">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2622884-z-y">Zły by Leopold Tyrmand</a>. Quite an interesting story and a lot about Warsaw around 1950. It's pretty long because of the long descriptions, and while I usually can't stand them, for some reason, it worked in this one. I can recommend it.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51000752-inteligentny-inwestor-xxi-wieku-tom-iii">Inteligentny Inwestor XXI wieku Tom III trader21</a>. This one is about creating a wallet of assets and how to think about diversification and how it can be helpful.</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="elsewhere-on-the-web" tabindex="-1">Elsewhere on the Web <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_03_update/#elsewhere-on-the-web">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@RBReich">Robert Reich</a>. I want to recommend his whole channel. I like seeing different opinions about politics and find his videos well-researched and entertaining. I highly recommend it.</p>
<h2 id="biophilia" tabindex="-1">Biophilia <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_03_update/#biophilia">#</a></h2>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9pg2j2oGy0">What Makes Buildings Beautiful (And Why Beauty Does Matter) | The Aesthetic City</a>. I highly recommend this one as it made me question the ideas of beauty, the environment, and where I want to live. From there, I started noticing things I wasn't conscious of, like my preferences for patterns and symmetries.<br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biophilia_hypothesis">Biophilia hypothesis</a></p>
<h2 id="ai" tabindex="-1">AI <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_03_update/#ai">#</a></h2>
<p><a href="https://stratechery.com/2023/chatgpt-learns-computing/">ChatGPT Gets a Computer</a>. Great dive into computing and theories of intelligence in the context of ChatGPT.</p>
<p><a href="https://buttondown.email/hillelwayne/archive/programming-ais-worry-me/">Programming AIs worry me</a>. I want to recommend this one, especially for the short story of proofreading in the context of coding:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Over time I bent my workflow around proofreading, like putting each spoken sentence on a newline to break my reading flow. This helped find more errors but made the whole process even more miserable, and eventually I just gave up and went back to typing.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://xeiaso.net/blog/a-weapon-to-surpass-metal-gear">A weapon to surpass Metal Gear by Cadey</a></p>
<h2 id="work" tabindex="-1">Work <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_03_update/#work">#</a></h2>
<p><a href="https://world.hey.com/dhh/invest-in-things-that-don-t-change-6f7f19e1">Invest in things that don't change by DHH</a></p>
<p><a href="https://calnewport.com/meta-rediscovers-the-cubicle/">Meta Rediscovers the Cubicle by Cal Newport</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.computerenhance.com/p/clean-code-horrible-performance">"Clean" Code, Horrible Performance by Casey Muratori</a></p>
<h2 id="health" tabindex="-1">Health <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_03_update/#health">#</a></h2>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs_lVqcWDB4">How many STEPS should I walk per day to stay HEALTHY? | Jeffrey Peng MD</a>. TLDR; Minimum 4k steps, and optimal probably around 7500 steps per day. More is better.</p>
<h1 id="personal-thoughts" tabindex="-1">Personal Thoughts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_03_update/#personal-thoughts">#</a></h1>
<p>The biggest change is taking a break from work. I will take a little more time with my son, especially when he won't be able to attend kindergarten, but I also want to get some new perspective and catch up on my todo-list.</p>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p>You can subscribe to my monthly posts at <strong><a href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/">kula.blog/newsletter</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
Teaching Tech Together Book Summary2023-03-13T09:00:00Zhttps://kula.blog/posts/teaching_tech_together/<p><a href="https://teachtogether.tech/"><img src="https://kula.blog/img/teaching_tech_together.png" alt="Book cover - Teaching Tech Together" /></a></p>
<p>One nice thing about the book is that you can read it online for free: <a href="https://teachtogether.tech/">Teaching Tech Together by Greg Wilson</a>.</p>
<p>I like how the book tries to show all the methods it teaches you in practice. You are reading about the importance of learner personas or learning goals, and you can see them in the book. It is a living example of how to do things. Exercises help solidify knowledge and avoid misconceptions—then there are many of them after every chapter.</p>
<p>The book has taught me why good workshops/lessons in my past were so good and how I can create them myself.</p>
<p>In no particular order:</p>
<ul>
<li>Create learning goals.</li>
<li>Create student personas.</li>
<li>Use Live Coding.
<ul>
<li>Embrace errors as opportunities to teach debugging.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>If possible, try to draw a diagram to explain things visually.</li>
<li>Ask people to explain the code or trace its execution.</li>
<li>Use Authentic Tasks - exercises you would be doing in real life.</li>
<li>Identify students' misconceptions and clear them out as part of teaching.</li>
<li>Ask people for predictions of what this code is going to do.</li>
<li>Set up a document with shared notes (if students are comfortable with it)</li>
<li>Cough drops - when speaking a lot.</li>
</ul>
<p>If you want to learn more, I recommend <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57196550-the-programmer-s-brain">The Programmer's Brain by Felienne Hermans</a>.</p>
Want to remember more of your life?2023-03-09T00:00:00Zhttps://kula.blog/posts/autobiographical_memory/<!-- #region drawnote -->
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<p>I've started questioning the quality of my memory after hearing about <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpTCZ-hO6iI">People who remember every second of their life</a>. This hyper autobiographical memory symptom is now called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperthymesia">Hyperthymesia or HSAM</a>.<br />
The second reason is noticing how much my Wife remembers.</p>
<p>It turns out people have all kinds of memory systems <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory">memory</a> and autobiographical memory is only one category of explicit memory, but it's still something that's bothering me.</p>
<h2 id="spectrum" tabindex="-1">Spectrum <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/autobiographical_memory/#spectrum">#</a></h2>
<p>The current understanding is that our autobiographical memory is some kind of spectrum, like height. Some people remember almost everything (HSAM), some remember very little, and even have a hard time relieving memories (it's called severely deficient autobiographical memory or SDAM). But most people are somewhere in between.<br />
In my case, I can still relieve memories, so I won't qualify for SDAM, but I have a worse memory than most people I know. You can read more about it in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobiographical_memory#Individual_differences">Autobiographical memory</a>.</p>
<h2 id="why-is-this-bothering-me%3F" tabindex="-1">Why is this bothering me? <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/autobiographical_memory/#why-is-this-bothering-me%3F">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li>Many psychologists believe having a healthy life story is essential for our well-being. Not remembering most of your life makes it hard to have a story for it.</li>
<li>If you believe storytelling is important, it's a problem if you don't remember most facts.</li>
<li>Bad memories are much more robust, creating a bleak view of the past.</li>
<li>It's super annoying when asked about something that happened last week when you only vaguely remember it happened.</li>
<li>And many other small things</li>
</ul>
<p>While annoying, it's not something I would want to put a lot of time (especially every day) into solving. I'm looking for ideas for improving things by roughly 10%.</p>
<h2 id="toward-better-memory" tabindex="-1">Toward better memory <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/autobiographical_memory/#toward-better-memory">#</a></h2>
<p>If you read my review of <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/storyworthy/">Storyworthy</a> then you can notice that I noticed this problem in myself and had some hope for <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/storyworthy/#homework-for-life">Homework for Life exercise</a> of writing a sentence or two about a story from each day into a spreadsheet.<br />
Unfortunately, I didn't follow his exact formula, and even while doing it, I wasn't writing those small prompts in one place, and after some time, not seeing any benefits stopped writing them entirely. It may have worked better if I had a spreadsheet, but I was so busy then that it is hard to tell.</p>
<h2 id="more-resources" tabindex="-1">More resources <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/autobiographical_memory/#more-resources">#</a></h2>
<p>As I noticed this problem a long time ago, I'm susceptible to watching/reading about ways to improve memory. Some of the resources I can recommend:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.wired.com/2008/04/ff-wozniak/">Want to Remember Everything You'll Ever Learn? Surrender to This Algorithm</a>. This is a history of Piotr Wozniak and Supermemo and will push you into spaced repetition.</li>
</ul>
<p>This is in some way related to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zettelkasten">Zettelkasten</a> and <a href="https://fortelabs.com/blog/para/">The PARA Method: The Simple System for Organizing Your Digital Life in Seconds</a>, but those are more for general information. While useful, I'm unsure how those would help with autobiographical memory.</p>
<p>And those will move you into physical note-taking:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rvey9g0VgY0">I learned a system for remembering everything | Matt D'Avella</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcBy_b_43c0">Commonplace Books | Jared Henderson</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj3ZnKlHqxI">How to draw to remember more | Graham Shaw</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37506307-draw-your-day">Draw Your Day: An Inspiring Guide to Keeping a Sketch Journal by Samantha Dion Baker</a></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>The important lesson here is that taking physical notes (writing or drawing) improves memory. So if possible it's good to write things down.</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://creyos.com/resources/articles/taking-pictures-can-help-memory">Taking Pictures Can Help You Remember—But There's a Catch</a>. So even taking a picture can be helpful.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1_Second_Everyday">1 Second Everyday app</a>. It creates a movie from 1-second videos you make every day.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/szqPAPKE5tQ">Understand & Improve Memory Using Science-Based Tools | Huberman Lab Podcast #72 | Andrew Huberman</a>. It's for general memory.<br />
TLDR;</p>
</li>
</ul>
<ol>
<li>Repetition</li>
<li>Somehow, try to raise your adrenaline and epinephrine levels after you do something you want to remember.</li>
<li>Cardiovascular training.</li>
<li>Taking "mental snapshots".</li>
<li>Powernaps</li>
<li>Daily meditation (13 minutes for 8 weeks)</li>
</ol>
<h2 id="new-ideas" tabindex="-1">New ideas <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/autobiographical_memory/#new-ideas">#</a></h2>
<p>But, recently, I've stumbled upon the following:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpvEY-2dSdU">How I Developed A Photographic Memory | State Of Mind</a>. While the video is interesting, it's one of the comments that piqued my interest:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<p>@RizzardNixon</p>
<p>This system works fine but you can also just develop a strong memory without having to write notes. If you want to start having a super memory. At night when your laying in your bed, try to recall everything throughout your day, and I mean EVERYTHING. At first you may only be able to get a small outline of your day, or maybe just a series of events. However, in time you will start to remember exact conversations or exact words you have read. I promise you that you will not regret trying this.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It reminded me of the book <a href="https://www.insight-book.com/">Insigth by Dr. Tasha Eurich</a>. More specifically, the idea of a "The Daily Check-In":</p>
<blockquote>
<p>One of the most highly consistent data points Tasha discovered that was common to people who were highly self-aware but weren't previously was a daily habit of checking in with themselves about how they relate to others. The daily check-in she recommends consists of 3 questions:</p>
<ol>
<li>What went well today?</li>
<li>What didn't go so well today?</li>
<li>How can I be smarter tomorrow?<br />
<a href="https://ericadhawan.com/tasha-eurich-increase-self-awareness-to-maximize-your-leadership/">MASTERS OF LEADERSHIP Tasha Eurich: Increase Self Awareness To Maximize Your Leadership</a></li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
<h2 id="summary" tabindex="-1">Summary <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/autobiographical_memory/#summary">#</a></h2>
<p>To sum up my current thinking:</p>
<ol>
<li>I need to pick a Medium
<ol>
<li>Go digital and like "Homework for Life": note memorable daily moments. Maybe take more pictures as well.</li>
<li>Go physical: journal in the evening, maybe draw something.</li>
<li>Just recall things before going to sleep.</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>It's probably helpful to have Prompts:
<ol>
<li>"Homework for Life": Each day, write a sentence or two about a story from that day.</li>
<li>"The Daily Check-In":
<ol>
<li>What went well today?</li>
<li>What didn't go so well today?</li>
<li>How can I be smarter tomorrow?</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Recall everything throughout your day.</li>
</ol>
<p>For digital, the best I can think of is creating a form that I would fill out daily to create a log of memories in the style of Homework for Life.</p>
<p>But the idea I like the most is creating a physical journal dedicated to it. It would make it easier for me to take notes, draw and avoid screens in the evening.</p>
<p>And in bed to recall the last day. Try to remember a story and think about how I can be smarter tomorrow. This probably won't happen every day, but it would be great to have it as a fallback in case I miss the previous ones.<br />
I'll also add a monthly reminder to review images and notes.</p>
<h2 id="challenges" tabindex="-1">Challenges <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/autobiographical_memory/#challenges">#</a></h2>
<p>(this section is more for me, but feel free to read it if you're interested)</p>
<ol>
<li>Writing in the evening is possible, but I'm often tired and lazy by the time my kid finally goes to sleep. If I'm building a new ritual, it's probably best to limit the screens I plan to use. So it's either this needs to happen in a notebook or at least on a smaller screen like a phone.</li>
<li>I need some trigger in the evening to actually do it.</li>
<li>It better be something I can do quickly.</li>
<li>How would I build spaced repetition into it? I've set up monthly reminders, but I'm not sure if that's a good or bad idea.</li>
</ol>
<hr />
<h1 id="update-2022-03-13" tabindex="-1">Update 2022-03-13 <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/autobiographical_memory/#update-2022-03-13">#</a></h1>
<p>I've been re-reading <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory">memory article on wikipedia</a> and noticed more information about episodic memory in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory#Long-term_memory">Long-term memory section</a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Another part of long-term memory is episodic memory, "which attempts to capture information such as 'what', 'when' and 'where'"</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It made me interested in ways of improving episodic memory. Unfortunately, I had a hard time finding any science-based protocols.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV_Z9hdlCfU">RAPIDLY Improve Episodic Memory: 4 Fun Memory Exercises! | Anthony Metivier</a><br />
I don't want to be summarising movies, but I found it reassuring to hear about journaling and recollection of my day as a useful practice.</p>
<p><a href="https://bakadesuyo.com/2023/02/memory/">New Neuroscience Reveals 8 Secrets That Will Make Your Memory Stronger by Eric Barker</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Here's how to make your memory stronger:</p>
<ul>
<li>Your Brain Is Part Of Your Body: Take care of your body to take care of your brain. Most important: get your sleep.</li>
<li>Encode: Remember the acronym, FOUR: Focus, Organize, Understand and Relate, Recruit Multiple Systems.</li>
<li>Recall: Remember the acronym, RAMS: Relaxed, Aids To Memory, Minimize Interference, Situation.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p>This one made me think.</p>
<ol>
<li>Sleep, stress, and being overly busy will hinder memory.</li>
<li>I need to keep attention to remember something, so doing multiple things at once is not helping.</li>
<li>I Need to practice recall of whatever I want to remember.</li>
</ol>
2023 February. Teaching Observability.2023-03-03T10:35:10Zhttps://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_02_update/<h1 id="books-i'm-reading" tabindex="-1">Books I'm reading <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_02_update/#books-i'm-reading">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57336220-learning-go">Learning Go: An Idiomatic Approach to Real-World Go Programming by Jon Bodner</a></li>
<li>(audiobook in Polish) <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2622884-z-y">Zły by Leopold Tyrmand</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39971446-prometheus">Prometheus: Up & Running: Infrastructure and Application Performance Monitoring by Brian Brazil</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 id="books-i've-read" tabindex="-1">Books I've read <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_02_update/#books-i've-read">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26234796-managing-humans">Tales of a Software Engineering Manager by Michael Lopp</a>. The book is a collection of blog posts; some are better than others. Part of it is that not all of them aged so well. But opinions make excellent discussion material, so I can still recommend it.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54785515-four-thousand-weeks?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=BrFtGhyRSo&rank=1">Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman</a>. I have a hard time rating it. I expect most people to get way more out of this book than me, but even I got a couple of uncommon ideas that have stuck with me ever since.</li>
<li>(Polish) <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55781263-typescript-na-powa-nie">TypeScript na poważnie by Michał Miszczyszyn</a>. It's pretty good, but only in Polish.</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="elsewhere-on-the-web" tabindex="-1">Elsewhere on the Web <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_02_update/#elsewhere-on-the-web">#</a></h1>
<h2 id="ai" tabindex="-1">AI <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_02_update/#ai">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPhJbKBuNnA">I tried using AI. It scared me. by Tom Scott</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/chatgpt-is-a-blurry-jpeg-of-the-web">ChatGPT Is a Blurry JPEG of the Web. OpenAI's chatbot offers paraphrases, whereas Google offers quotes. Which do we prefer? By Ted Chiang</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="work-culture" tabindex="-1">Work Culture <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_02_update/#work-culture">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2023-01-30/column-how-big-tech-is-using-mass-layoffs-to-bring-workers-to-heel">The real aim of big tech's layoffs: bringing workers to heel</a>. This one is worth some thought.</li>
<li><a href="https://medium.com/@pravse/the-maze-is-in-the-mouse-980c57cfd61a">The maze is in the mouse by Praveen Seshadri</a>. Opinion about Google culture. I don't believe all of it, but it's interesting.</li>
<li><a href="https://michaellin.hashnode.dev/why-i-quit-a-450000-engineering-job-at-netflix">Why I Quit a $450,000 Engineering Job at Netflix. Playing it safe is the riskiest choice of all. By Michael Lin</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2022/just-say-no">Just Say No by Jeff Geerling</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="tech-work" tabindex="-1">Tech Work <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_02_update/#tech-work">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://mdalmijn.com/p/11-laws-of-software-estimation-for-complex-work">11 Laws of Software Estimation for Complex Work by Maarten Dalmijn</a></li>
<li><a href="https://benhoyt.com/writings/io-is-no-longer-the-bottleneck/">I/O is no longer the bottleneck by Ben Hoyt</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="self-improvement" tabindex="-1">Self Improvement <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_02_update/#self-improvement">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://forge.medium.com/3-times-a-week-is-a-habit-b6185dba7c5">3 Times a Week Is a Habit by Laura Vanderkam</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5UN6AC6mqs">5 Pieces of Bad Life Advice I'm Glad I Never Followed by Clark Kegley</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="learning" tabindex="-1">Learning <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_02_update/#learning">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2023/01/17/revised-views-learning/">How My Views on Learning Have Changed Over Time by Scott H. Young</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="health" tabindex="-1">Health <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_02_update/#health">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRtPyoWop94">The Healing Power of Walking by The Bioneer</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="finance" tabindex="-1">Finance <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_02_update/#finance">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sONZNcqiofQ">Your Coffee Did Not Cost You Your Financial Future (Here's What Did) by How Money Works</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGRvv3h7Zsg">How Young YouTube Millionaires Are Lying To You by Anthony Vicino</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="news" tabindex="-1">News <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_02_update/#news">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQSxY7TR6mI">Why UFOs are Suddenly EVERYWHERE by Johnny Harris</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOi05zDO4yw">The Troll Army of Big Oil | Climate Town</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="history" tabindex="-1">History <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_02_update/#history">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2lJUOv0hLA">8. The Sumerians - Fall of the First Cities by Fall of Civilizations</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfYYraMgiBA">Cracking Ancient Codes: Cuneiform Writing - with Irving Finkel</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="in-polish" tabindex="-1">In Polish <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_02_update/#in-polish">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYH2qGScEVk">FEMINATYWY. O genderowej nowomowie słów kilka. | Maciej Makselon | TEDxKoszalin</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 id="personal-thoughts" tabindex="-1">Personal Thoughts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_02_update/#personal-thoughts">#</a></h1>
<p>In February, I volunteered to be a teacher for Observability Workshop. It's an introduction to tools for new joiners, but it's still an excellent opportunity to understand them better myself. Teaching something is much harder than just using it (even for a long time). Because of it, I've picked <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39971446-prometheus">Prometheus: Up & Running</a> this month, and I wonder why I didn't do that sooner.</p>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p>You can subscribe to my monthly posts at <strong><a href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/">kula.blog/newsletter</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
Community Habits2023-02-03T14:29:00Zhttps://kula.blog/posts/community_habits/<p>I've got asked about some examples of Community Habits in the context of my post about <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/keystone_habits/">Keystone habits</a>.</p>
<p>It's best to read it first if you're unfamiliar with the idea.</p>
<p>Done? Ok, Let's go into it.</p>
<h2 id="dayil-keystone-habits%3A-community" tabindex="-1">Dayil Keystone Habits: Community <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/community_habits/#dayil-keystone-habits%3A-community">#</a></h2>
<p>The idea of keystone habits is to do something small daily to support the given part of your life.</p>
<p>In my case, I wasn't so successful in implementing daily community habits. The only ones that work for me daily are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Chat over the morning coffee (when at the office or on the weekend)</li>
<li>Standup at work</li>
</ul>
<p>It's not that I don't have better ideas, but nothing else worked for me on a daily schedule.</p>
<h2 id="3-times-a-week-is-a-habit" tabindex="-1">3 Times a Week Is a Habit <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/community_habits/#3-times-a-week-is-a-habit">#</a></h2>
<p>I heard this first in <a href="https://www.artofmanliness.com/character/advice/podcast-843-7-ways-to-achieve-tranquility-by-tuesday/">Podcast #843: 7 Ways to Achieve Tranquility by Tuesday</a>, but you can find it in <a href="https://forge.medium.com/3-times-a-week-is-a-habit-b6185dba7c5">3 Times a Week Is a Habit by Laura Vanderkam</a> on medium.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>And when it comes to most habits, a seven-day mentality — instead of a 24-hour one — can be life-changing.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I'm using it now, and it really is helpful.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Rather than ask what you've done at the end of a day, ask yourself what you've done over the past week.</p>
</blockquote>
<h1 id="keystone-habits%3A-community" tabindex="-1">Keystone Habits: Community <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/community_habits/#keystone-habits%3A-community">#</a></h1>
<p>So I've redefined my idea of Keystone Habits to a <strong>weekly</strong> schedule.</p>
<p>Some examples of what I've been doing in this schedule:</p>
<ul>
<li>Volunteering</li>
<li>Mentoring (I have a weekly schedule)</li>
<li>Gym with a friend</li>
<li>Any small group activity - yoga, martial arts, where there is at least a semi-permanent group</li>
</ul>
<p>I'm not doing all of it right now, and even when I have the time, it's only once a week. I still get many benefits out of it. What counts is that they happen; having them on a schedule makes them happen.</p>
<h1 id="community" tabindex="-1">Community <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/community_habits/#community">#</a></h1>
<p>Having events, I look forward to in the future works great, even if they happen a lot less often.</p>
<ul>
<li>Recurring meetings with friends (e.g., book club every 2 months)</li>
<li>Meet.js Kraków meetups</li>
<li>Vacations or small family adventures</li>
<li>Visiting our extended family</li>
</ul>
<p>Hope you can get some ideas from this. Please feel free to share :)</p>
2023 January. New Keyboard.2023-02-03T13:15:10Zhttps://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_01_update/<h1 id="books-i'm-reading" tabindex="-1">Books I'm reading <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_01_update/#books-i'm-reading">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57336220-learning-go">Learning Go: An Idiomatic Approach to Real-World Go Programming by Jon Bodner</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26234796-managing-humans">Tales of a Software Engineering Manager by Michael Lopp</a></li>
<li>(in polish) <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55781263-typescript-na-powa-nie">TypeScript na poważnie by Michał Miszczyszyn</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 id="books-i've-read" tabindex="-1">Books I've read <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_01_update/#books-i've-read">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/333867.The_Stars_My_Destination">The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester</a>. I stumbled upon a list of Sci-fi classics, and this was one of them. I found much more fantasy than expected, but it's a decent read.</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="elsewhere-on-the-web" tabindex="-1">Elsewhere on the Web <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_01_update/#elsewhere-on-the-web">#</a></h1>
<h2 id="tech" tabindex="-1">Tech <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_01_update/#tech">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.robinwieruch.de/web-development-trends/">10 Web Development Trends in 2023</a></li>
<li><a href="https://gordonc.bearblog.dev/dry-most-over-rated-programming-principle/">Why DRY is the most over-rated programming principle</a>. Agree and am guilty of it myself.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="layoffs" tabindex="-1">Layoffs <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_01_update/#layoffs">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://news.stanford.edu/2022/12/05/explains-recent-tech-layoffs-worried/">Why are there so many tech layoffs, and why should we be worried? Stanford scholar explains</a>. That is a reasonable contrarian opinion on what's going on.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.stevenbuccini.com/8-hard-truths-on-getting-laid-off">8 Hard Truths I learned when I got laid off from my SWE job</a>. It's so hard for me to understand why hiring experienced engineers is so complicated.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="work-%7C-culture" tabindex="-1">Work | Culture <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_01_update/#work-%7C-culture">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://ia.net/topics/the-end-of-writing-ia-on-ai">The End of Writing</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.calnewport.com/blog/2023/01/25/on-email-and-horses/">On Email and Horses</a>. Email is like early automobiles. We may need stoplights, lanes, and traffic enforcement for email the same way we needed them for cars.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.tlnt.com/steve-jobs-former-assistant-reveals-lessons-about-burnout-and-wellbeing/">Steve Jobs' Former Assistant Reveals Lessons About Burnout and Wellbeing</a>. Turns out Steve had a great work-life balance.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="other" tabindex="-1">Other <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_01_update/#other">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://overcast.fm/+G0A2P_2nM">Twilight of the Aesir. Dan Carlin's Hardcore History</a></li>
<li><a href="https://bakadesuyo.com/2022/12/smarter/">These 5 Things Will Make You Smarter</a>. It may seem obvious, but common sense is not a common practice.</li>
<li><a href="https://hbr.org/2001/01/the-making-of-a-corporate-athlete">The Making of a Corporate Athlete</a>. That's a classic article now. Worth reading.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="investing" tabindex="-1">Investing <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_01_update/#investing">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.oaktreecapital.com/insights/memo/sea-change">Sea Change</a>. Interesting view of the impact of interest rates on all popular investing advice. Worth reading.</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="personal-thoughts" tabindex="-1">Personal Thoughts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2023_01_update/#personal-thoughts">#</a></h1>
<p>I had a lot of admin work in January. From taxes to furniture and some drilling in walls. Even this post is late. I had to cancel most of my fitness plans because of an injury.<br />
I'm continuing a practice of taking physical notes. For convenience, I take them after I read the whole book and treat it as an opportunity to solidify what I learned. The downside is that it can take a couple of hours for a good book, and if I don't have that time, then I'm tempted to start something new without doing it. Still, I like how it feels to take those notes, and I do learn more.</p>
<p>Learning Go and TypeScript at the same time might have been a mistake. I found it really confusing and hard to switch from one context/book to the other, and I feel like it hindered me a lot in January. I'll try to focus more on Golang at least until I finish the whole <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57336220-learning-go">Learning Go</a> book.</p>
<p>I started having weird connection issues with my Microsoft Scult keyboard. It's a great keyboard with only two flaws: it needs a wireless dongle (that started malfunctioning) and doesn't have mechanical switches. So I started looking for a keyboard without the numerical keypad, with mechanical switches and an ergonomic layout. Unfortunately, it's tough to find keyboards that match those criteria. After a long search, I settled for <a href="https://www.keychron.com/pages/keychron-q10-customizable-mechanical-keyboard">Keychron Q10</a>. It has mechanical switches, Alice (or Arisu?) layout for better ergonomics, and I can even remap keys or change switches without soldering. Switching to a mechanical keyboard feels great, but I'm missing high palm supports. Please note that <a href="https://ergocanada.com/ergo/rests/ergonomic_usage_of_wrist_rests.html">palm supports are different from wrist rests which are not healthy for you</a>. The only small keyboard I could find with good palm supports is <a href="https://kinesis-ergo.com/keyboards/advantage360/">Kinesis 360</a>, but its missing traditional arrows keys and its price and availability in Poland disqualify it as a possible option. I'm already feeling my wrists, but I may need some time to get used to a new position of my hands. If you have something you can recommend, then please let me know.</p>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p>You can subscribe to my monthly posts at <strong><a href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/">kula.blog/newsletter</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
2022 December. Tooth. Time off.2023-01-06T10:15:10Zhttps://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_12_update/<h1 id="books-i'm-reading" tabindex="-1">Books I'm reading <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_12_update/#books-i'm-reading">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/333867.The_Stars_My_Destination">The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57336220-learning-go">Learning Go: An Idiomatic Approach to Real-World Go Programming by Jon Bodner</a></li>
<li>(in polish) <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55781263-typescript-na-powa-nie">TypeScript na poważnie by Michał Miszczyszyn</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 id="books-i've-read" tabindex="-1">Books I've read <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_12_update/#books-i've-read">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51190981-no-self-no-problem">No Self, No Problem: How Neuropsychology Is Catching Up to Buddhism by Chris Niebauer</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44144499-monolith-to-microservices">Monolith to Microservices: Sustaining Productivity While Detangling the System by Sam Newman</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63030085-100-go-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them">100 Go Mistakes and How to Avoid Them by Teiva Harsanyi</a>. I can recommend this one if you're serious about learning Go. You need some basics, but it handles a lot of things newbies are confused about.</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="elsewhere-on-the-web" tabindex="-1">Elsewhere on the Web <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_12_update/#elsewhere-on-the-web">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://bakadesuyo.com/2022/12/get-promoted/">This Is How To Get Promoted: 5 Secrets From Research</a>. I like it because you get a clear message that office politics matter a lot.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://marvinh.dev/blog/speeding-up-javascript-ecosystem/">Speeding up the JavaScript ecosystem - one library at a time</a>. Great post if you're into open-source.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="personal-thoughts" tabindex="-1">Personal Thoughts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_12_update/#personal-thoughts">#</a></h1>
<p>December started with a miserable continuation of last month's issues. Fortunately, the ending of a month and a year was good.<br />
Another thing I noticed in December is that I'm finally dropping books I'm not enjoying. I've dropped 3 books after starting them, and I'm proud of it. It took me a long time to balance perseverance and wasting time.</p>
<h2 id="as-i-mentioned-last-month%2C-i-started-taking-physical-notes-from-books.-i-feel-too-busy-to-write-proper-reviews-atm%2C-and-it-seems-to-help-me-pick-some-more-learnings-from-each-book.-it's-also-funny-how-it-feels-like-primary-school-because-of-the-notebook-that-i-use." tabindex="-1">As I mentioned last month, I started taking physical notes from books. I feel too busy to write proper reviews atm, and it seems to help me pick some more learnings from each book. It's also funny how it feels like primary school because of the notebook that I use. <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_12_update/#as-i-mentioned-last-month%2C-i-started-taking-physical-notes-from-books.-i-feel-too-busy-to-write-proper-reviews-atm%2C-and-it-seems-to-help-me-pick-some-more-learnings-from-each-book.-it's-also-funny-how-it-feels-like-primary-school-because-of-the-notebook-that-i-use.">#</a></h2>
<blockquote>
<p>You can subscribe to my monthly posts at <strong><a href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/">kula.blog/newsletter</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
2022 November. Sick.2022-12-02T10:10:10Zhttps://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_11_update/<h1 id="books-i'm-reading" tabindex="-1">Books I'm reading <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_11_update/#books-i'm-reading">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63030085-100-go-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them">100 Go Mistakes and How to Avoid Them by Teiva Harsanyi</a>. This is a pretty great book. The author always starts by explaining the context you need to know to get the mistake before talking about the mistakes and how to avoid them, which makes this book surprisingly good even when I'm pretty new to Golang.</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="books-i've-read" tabindex="-1">Books I've read <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_11_update/#books-i've-read">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25348.Get_Out_of_Your_Mind_and_Into_Your_Life">Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life: The New Acceptance and Commitment Therapy by Steven C. Hayes, Spencer Smith</a>. While the book is not perfect, I recommend it if you're looking for a self-help book about ACT therapy. I did learn some important lessons. The best one is to notice when I'm avoiding something. If that happens, I pick a time limit for doing it. Doing something for 5 minutes is way better than not doing it at all. Sometimes I stop after that, but the feeling often vanishes, and I get the thing going. It's not a new idea for me, but the book put it in a way that made me appreciate it way more.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28256439-the-hidden-life-of-trees">The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate: Discoveries from a Secret World by Peter Wohlleben</a>. Interesting. Repetitive at times, but overall fun.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>(In Polish) <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50802872-inteligentny-inwestor-xxi-wieku-tom-ii">Inteligentny Inwestor XXI wieku Tom II</a>. The second book about investing in the series. Some basics of investing in resources and properties. Some basics mixed with theories and stories from the author's life, but easy to read for someone like me without much experience in investing.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="books-i-didn't-finish" tabindex="-1">Books I didn't finish <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_11_update/#books-i-didn't-finish">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li>Principles by Ray Dalio. Instead of the book, read this <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2214476601?book_show_action=true&from_review_page=1">1-star review of it</a>.</li>
<li>Cloud Native Go by Matthew Titmus. If you're interested, then I can recommend reading this <a href="https://www.amazon.com/product-reviews/1492076333/ref=acr_dp_hist_1?ie=UTF8&filterByStar=one_star&reviewerType=all_reviews#reviews-filter-bar">1-star review of it</a> or this <a href="https://www.amazon.com/product-reviews/1492076333/ref=cm_cr_unknown?ie=UTF8&filterByStar=three_star&reviewerType=all_reviews&pageNumber=1#reviews-filter-bar">3-star reviews</a> to learn more about the book.</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="elsewhere-on-the-web" tabindex="-1">Elsewhere on the Web <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_11_update/#elsewhere-on-the-web">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://noahpinion.substack.com/p/the-end-of-the-system-of-the-world">The end of the system of the world</a>. Interesting narrative, especially if you're thinking about investing.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcBy_b_43c0">Commonplace Books</a>. I finally got the idea about what the Commonplace book is about from this video—a place to put your important notes.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8w3qPwpzZA">Why Billionaire Philanthropy Won't Solve Anything</a>. Really good.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://blog.jim-nielsen.com/2022/what-work-looks-like/">What "Work" Looks Like</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://itnext.io/agile-projects-have-become-waterfall-projects-with-sprints-536141801856">Agile Projects Have Become Waterfall Projects With Sprints</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/EnoughMuskSpam/comments/z2ofwk/i_was_an_intern_at_spacex_years_ago_back_it_when/">"I was an intern at SpaceX years ago, back it when it was a much smaller company — after Elon got hair plugs, but before his cult of personality was in full swing. I have some insight to offer here."</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnum_effect">Barnum effect</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://the-art-of-manliness.simplecast.com/episodes/the-brain-energy-theory-of-mental-illness-kROtpK5W">The Brain Energy Theory of Mental Illness</a></p>
</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="personal-thoughts" tabindex="-1">Personal Thoughts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_11_update/#personal-thoughts">#</a></h1>
<p>This month's theme is being sick. I was sick for half the month, and my kid was almost the whole month, and in the end, my Wife got ill. Crazy.</p>
<p>The good thing was that I cleaned up all articles I had saved in Pocket, and the piece of mind it gives me is great. Thanks to it, I read more books and overall feel less stressed and overwhelmed.</p>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p>You can subscribe to my monthly posts at <strong><a href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/">kula.blog/newsletter</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
2022 October. Cleaning Pocket backlog, learning Golang, and counting steps.2022-11-01T12:10:10Zhttps://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_10_update/<p>I'm adding an emoji to all youtube links now so I can mix articles and videos into one category. It's a simple heuristic but should work most of the time. CSS, if you're curious:</p>
<pre class="language-css"><code class="language-css"><span class="token selector">a[href*="youtube"]::before</span> <span class="token punctuation">{</span><br /> <span class="token property">content</span><span class="token punctuation">:</span> <span class="token string">"🎦"</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span><br /> <span class="token property">margin-right</span><span class="token punctuation">:</span> 0.25em<span class="token punctuation">;</span><br /><span class="token punctuation">}</span></code></pre>
<p>The only thing I'm unsure about is the icon I should use. Some alternatives: 🎦 🎞️ 🍿 📺 🎬 🎥 ▶ 🖥️. If you have any feedback, then let me know :)</p>
<h1 id="books-i'm-reading" tabindex="-1">Books I'm reading <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_10_update/#books-i'm-reading">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57852018-cloud-native-go">Cloud Native Go: Building Reliable Services in Unreliable Environments by Matthew A. Titmus</a>. I also watch a lot on YouTube about Golang, but I won't link here to keep this shorter.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25348.Get_Out_of_Your_Mind_and_Into_Your_Life">Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life: The New Acceptance and Commitment Therapy by Steven C. Hayes, Spencer Smith</a>.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="books-i've-read" tabindex="-1">Books I've read <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_10_update/#books-i've-read">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/117833.The_Master_and_Margarita">The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov</a>. I bought an audiobook long ago and decided to listen to it when I ran out of podcasts. But I don't recommend it. There is only one story/chapter that I like, and many chapters are not worth reading at all. I finished it, but it isn't a good book.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12544648-cracking-the-coding-interview">Cracking the Coding Interview: 150 Programming Questions and Solutions by Gayle Laakmann McDowell</a>. I'm giving up on this book somewhere in the middle. While I'm still interested in getting a little better at algorithms, I don't get why practicing "puzzles" would be helpful for anyone. At this point, it's not a good use of my time to practice coding puzzles to learn about actual algorithms or to improve my problem-solving skills.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="elsewhere-on-the-web" tabindex="-1">Elsewhere on the Web <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_10_update/#elsewhere-on-the-web">#</a></h1>
<h2 id="programming" tabindex="-1">Programming <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_10_update/#programming">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ab3ArE8W3s">"Stop Writing Dead Programs" by Jack Rusher (Strange Loop 2022)</a>. Excellent talk.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hybt9NdmsBw">"People Get Microservices Wrong All The Time!" | Dave, Simon Brown & Hannes Lowette On Microservices</a>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFCHSEHgqFE">Don’t Do E2E Testing!</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2w45qRc3aU">The Absolute Best Intro to Monads For Software Engineers</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.akitasoftware.com/blog-posts/building-observability-for-99-developers">Building Observability for 99% Developers</a>. A good view of how bad microservices work for most developers, teams, and companies.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://josephg.com/blog/3-tribes/">3 tribes of programming</a>. I recommend this one, as I started seeing those everywhere now:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You are a poet and a mathematician. Programming is your poetry<br />
You are a hacker. You make hardware dance to your tune<br />
You are a maker. You build things for people to use</p>
</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<p>Great talk in Polish about annotations in Java. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBys1JPQRuA">JDD 2017: O annotacjach – czas powstrzymać demony (Jarek Ratajski)</a>. I'm not a fan of annotations in JavaScript or TypeScript, and this talk is a little bit about why you should avoid them.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="tech" tabindex="-1">Tech <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_10_update/#tech">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdbqBiDm5Qs">Dysfunctional Systems: Digital Products and Addiction - John Voss</a>. Worth watching. Good criticism of habit-forming products and the metrics we use at work.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qzAyCsyyNM">Startup, Scale Up, Screw Up - Jurgen Appelo</a>. Not everything is a pipeline.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSuJqMRG1WM">TECHNICAL STORIES DON'T WORK</a></li>
<li><a href="http://carl.flax.ie/dothingstellpeople.html">Do things, tell people.</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="parenting" tabindex="-1">Parenting <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_10_update/#parenting">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf8rhWTVq8g">Fitness & Productivity for Parents - Why Most YouTube Doesn't Get It!</a>. If you're a parent, then this is a must-watch.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.fatherly.com/life/short-tempered-advice">Are You A Short-Tempered Dad? Here's How To Learn To Stay In Control</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="work" tabindex="-1">Work <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_10_update/#work">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://drmaciver.substack.com/p/people-dont-work-as-much-as-you-think">People don't work as much as you think</a>. Connects well with science about work and articles I linked to in the last couple of months. The deep work limit is 2 hours for most people. You can sit in the office more, but you can do only lower-effort work like attending meetings or answering emails.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://experimentalhistory.substack.com/p/excuse-me-but-why-are-you-eating">Excuse me but why are you eating so many frogs. We've got the wrong theory about how minds work and it's ruining our lives</a>. This one made me think as well. Especially <code>"What do you like to do?"</code> question.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.robinrendle.com/notes/take-a-break-you-idiot/">Take a Break You Idiot</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://humanparts.medium.com/laziness-does-not-exist-3af27e312d01">Laziness Does Not Exist. But unseen barriers do</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBw_NwfqWyA">DR PHIL'S QUIET QUITTING DISASTER</a>. This one is mostly for entertainment.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://timeforsuccess.io/the-truth-about-goals-habits-and-results-in-business-and-life/">The Truth about Goals, Habits, and Results in Business and Life</a>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>I'm not a fan of OKRs and the general goal-setting approach most businesses have and recently got reminded of a good way of explaining it to people:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"If successful and unsuccessful people share the same goals, then the goal cannot be what differentiates the winners from the losers."</p>
<ul>
<li>James Clear</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
</li>
</ul>
<p>You may see a shorter version: Winners and Losers have the same goals.<br />
While I can see small value in setting goals, many people and businesses are wasting more time setting and checking them than they are worth.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WChxbBSlWnQ">What are your Salary Expectations? | Best Answer (from former CEO)</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="other" tabindex="-1">Other <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_10_update/#other">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbL_8PabLUQ">5 steps to SKETCH LIKE A PRO + my breakthrough moment</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LGVUK65wUM">Gaming vs. Office Chairs: What I Learned After Selling 1000's</a>. TLDR; Buy an office chair.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQT3_Bjo5Ns">Groundbreaking Research in Artificial Photosynthesis - Doing What Nature Couldn't</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBqSRAr-09c">How To Stop Buying Books And Start Reading - Overcoming Tsundoku</a>. I may have become a Tsunduku, but it has come with benefits <a href="https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/do-i-own-too-many-books/">The value of owning more books than you can read. Or, how I learned to stop worrying and love my tsundoku.</a>.</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="music" tabindex="-1">Music <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_10_update/#music">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JNmz17gnMw">Polyphia - Ego Death feat. Steve Vai (Official Music Video)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n0zuoi3Rv8">SLIPKNOT ON ACOUSTIC GUITAR (Before I Forget) - Luca Stricagnoli</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 id="personal-thoughts" tabindex="-1">Personal Thoughts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_10_update/#personal-thoughts">#</a></h1>
<p>One of my goals for the month was to go through the backlog of articles and videos I accumulated in the Pocket app. At the beginning of the month, I had 313 items. Now I'm down to 43. I've made it my priority to read/watch, or drop things whenever I had some time. What's left is longer or needs more time to digest, but I'm pretty happy with what I did.</p>
<p>My goal of losing weight failed miserably. It is really easier to fast than to limit calories all the time every day for me. I'm probably missing a good system here. So far, I'm more miserable when I'm trying to limit calories or diet than when I fast, so maybe I can fast each month and just accept the fact? I'm not sure if that's a good or bad idea just yet.</p>
<p>I've tried to set a Work in Progress limit for myself to 3, and that was mostly what I did. Even when I exceeded it, it was more of putting one of the books on hold rather than switching between everything all the time. I was feeling a lot less overwhelmed by my work as well.</p>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p>You can subscribe to my monthly posts at <strong><a href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/">kula.blog/newsletter</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
2022 September. Fasting and Meet.js meetup presentation.2022-09-30T16:30:10Zhttps://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_09_update/<h1 id="new-posts" tabindex="-1">New posts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_09_update/#new-posts">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/prolonged_fasting/">Prolonged Fasting</a>. It was almost nine days of not eating anything.</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="books-i'm-reading" tabindex="-1">Books I'm reading <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_09_update/#books-i'm-reading">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53526633-software-engineering-at-google">Software Engineering at Google: Lessons Learned from Programming Over Time by Titus Winters, Tom Manshreck, Hyrum Wright</a>. It can be intimidating and boring, but I strongly recommend it. You can find nuggets of non-intuitive advice that will compensate for it. You can read it <a href="https://abseil.io/resources/swe-book">online</a>, and for engineers, I can especially recommend <a href="https://abseil.io/resources/swe-book/html/ch12.html">Chapter 12: Unit testing</a>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12544648-cracking-the-coding-interview">Cracking the Coding Interview: 150 Programming Questions and Solutions by Gayle Laakmann McDowell</a>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25348.Get_Out_of_Your_Mind_and_Into_Your_Life">Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life: The New Acceptance and Commitment Therapy by Steven C. Hayes, Spencer Smith</a>.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="books-i've-read" tabindex="-1">Books I've read <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_09_update/#books-i've-read">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22878967-the-shadow-of-what-was-lost">The Shadow of What Was Lost (The Licanius Trilogy #1) by James Islington</a>. I really wanted to like this one. But I had a hard time even reading through it, especially the first half.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>In Polish <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50716009-inteligentny-inwestor-xxi-wieku-tom-i">Inteligentny Inwestor XXI wieku Tom I by trader21</a>. I am learning about stocks, bonds, and ETFs. The book is chaotic sometimes, but it was still pretty good for a newbie like me.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="elsewhere-on-the-web" tabindex="-1">Elsewhere on the Web <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_09_update/#elsewhere-on-the-web">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://aeon.co/essays/are-humans-really-blind-to-the-gorilla-on-the-basketball-court">The fallacy of obviousness</a>. Did you hear about the 'Gorillas in Our Midst' (1999) experiment? It turns out we might have misunderstood it. I recommend reading the article.</p>
<h2 id="tech" tabindex="-1">Tech <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_09_update/#tech">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://nolanlawson.com/2022/05/21/the-balance-has-shifted-away-from-spas/">The balance has shifted away from SPAs by Nolan Lawson</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.trickster.dev/post/you-probably-dont-need-aws-and-are-better-off-without-it/">You probably don't need AWS and are better off without it</a></li>
<li><a href="https://blog.hulacorn.com/2021/09/08/how-to-drive-away-your-best-engineers/">How to drive away your best engineers by Podge O'Brien</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="work" tabindex="-1">Work <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_09_update/#work">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://humanparts.medium.com/laziness-does-not-exist-3af27e312d01">Laziness Does Not Exist</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-02325-3">Why four scientists spent a year saying no</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://commoncog.com/dont-read-history-for-lessons/">Don't Read History for Lessons by Cedric Chin</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://kstarr.com/slow-productivity/">Slow Productivity is Already Here by Karla Starr</a></p>
</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="watching" tabindex="-1">Watching <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_09_update/#watching">#</a></h1>
<p>Some YouTube videos I can recommend watching:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gks6ceq4eQ">You aren't at the mercy of your emotions -- your brain creates them | Lisa Feldman Barrett</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkB3Zq3zoR4">William MacAskill - Caring About Future People Is Common Sense | The Daily Show</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="tech-1" tabindex="-1">Tech <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_09_update/#tech-1">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csfT-jz9z6U">Apple Notes: Power User Tips & Hidden Features</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj7D0tSNmEg">Is Figma Dead? - Penpot, the Open Source Figma Alternative</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="investing" tabindex="-1">Investing <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_09_update/#investing">#</a></h2>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rag4pHU7fcU">How The Economy Of Japan Could Predict The Next Decade | Economics Explained</a></p>
<h2 id="constitution" tabindex="-1">Constitution <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_09_update/#constitution">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlmqFtLlIT4">The Bioneer's INCREDIBLE Fitness Message</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="other" tabindex="-1">Other <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_09_update/#other">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQhQb95A_qw">Minimalist Kitchen Essentials | My Minimalist Micro Apartment</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFC4OFWIPtw">How Nickelback Became The Most Hated Band Ever</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 id="personal-thoughts" tabindex="-1">Personal Thoughts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_09_update/#personal-thoughts">#</a></h1>
<p>I presented at <a href="https://www.meetup.com/krakowjs/events/288281476">Meet.js Kraków JS Flash Talks #1: thoughts worth expressing</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Krzysztof Kula – "Snapshot testing best practices"</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I have lost some weight - mainly thanks to the long fast.<br />
Set up an initial investing portfolio but also lost a lot of time looking at financial news and the rollercoaster of stock and USD prices.</p>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p>You can subscribe to my monthly posts at <strong><a href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/">kula.blog/newsletter</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
Prolonged fasting2022-09-23T12:34:00Zhttps://kula.blog/posts/prolonged_fasting/<p><em>Disclaimer</em>: I am not a doctor so whatever you do is up to you.</p>
<h1 id="why-fast-for-multiple-days%3F" tabindex="-1">Why fast for multiple days? <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/prolonged_fasting/#why-fast-for-multiple-days%3F">#</a></h1>
<p>If you're healthy, then it's a great way of exposing your body to a healthy dose of stress. Your body starts to burn any weak, malfunctioning, or old cells it can. There is some evidence of helping with some versions of cancer as well. It's not a magical cure, but if you have some excess body fat to lose, you can get healthier (in the long term) and lose some fat simultaneously.</p>
<p>I can recommend some articles:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/fasting-benefits">8 Health Benefits of Fasting, Backed by Science</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.drberg.com/blog/amazing-benefits-of-prolonged-fasting">Amazing Benefits of Prolonged Fasting author avatar Dr. Eric Berg</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/295914">Fasting: Health benefits and risks</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 id="first-long-fast-(5-days-and-12-hours)" tabindex="-1">First long fast (5 days and 12 hours) <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/prolonged_fasting/#first-long-fast-(5-days-and-12-hours)">#</a></h1>
<p>It was inspired by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angus_Barbieri%27s_fast">Angus Barbieri's fast</a> and some new science about the benefits of fasting.</p>
<p>In summer 2018, I tried prolonged fasting for the first time.<br />
The First 3 days were pretty hard. I felt hungry and tired all the time. Fortunately, you can drink coffee and tea, and it helps.<br />
After that, it got much better. My feeling of hunger disappeared. I lost 1kg (2.2 pounds) every day and used coffee and tea to keep me energized.<br />
Unfortunately, the longer I went, the less well I started to feel. I began to get a little dizzy, and it started getting worse.<br />
I've broken my fast after 5.5 days of not eating anything. The moment I started eating (slowly and in small portions), I started feeling extremely hungry. It was tough to keep myself from devouring everything in the fridge. You should begin to eating <strong>slowly</strong>; the digestive tract wasn't used much for a couple of days, and overeating is not a good idea.</p>
<p>Overall, I lost around 3 kg (6.6 pounds) and instantly felt better after I started eating.</p>
<p>Curious about what I was doing wrong?</p>
<h1 id="second-long-fast-(8-days-and-16-hours)" tabindex="-1">Second long fast (8 days and 16 hours) <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/prolonged_fasting/#second-long-fast-(8-days-and-16-hours)">#</a></h1>
<p>September 2022. This time I knew more about fasting. I've added some changes:</p>
<ul>
<li>Take salt daily (that was the important thing I missed on my first try)</li>
<li>Take electrolytes (ones I have for the gym)</li>
<li>Mix some multivitamins, Creatine, and Omega-3 from time to time. I would pick one of those a day. I don't think it was strictly necessary.</li>
</ul>
<p>The first day was without any problems. I'm already doing Intermittent Fasting, and I suspect it helped me here.<br />
For the next 3 days, I was constantly exhausted and hungry. This time I didn't bother with tea. I drank coffee in excessive amounts to keep working.<br />
After my body switched to ketosis, I stopped feeling hungry and started feeling much better.<br />
I still had low energy, but I was able to drink a lot of coffee to keep myself going.<br />
My target was 7 days, but I felt so good that I kept going.</p>
<p>I could do only a little exercise, so I didn't want to fast for too long. The first downside of prolonged fasting is that exercising is extra hard. But your body is consuming not only your fat but also your muscles. Exercising should help with that if you can do it.<br />
The second downside is missing the fun of sharing a meal, so I put the finish line at 8 days and 16 hours of fasting.</p>
<p>I started eating Olives, a bit of sauerkraut, and a vegetable broth over the first couple of hours. I didn't get extreme hunger like before. I suspect it's salt or electrolytes. But, it can also be that I started with food rich in fat, which still keeps me in ketosis.</p>
<p>This time I lost 5,2 kg (11,46 pounds).</p>
<p>I drank a lot of coffee, but curiously I didn't get jittery regardless of the amount of coffee I drank, which sometimes happens to me outside of fasting.</p>
<h1 id="if-you-want-to-try" tabindex="-1">If you want to try <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/prolonged_fasting/#if-you-want-to-try">#</a></h1>
<ol>
<li>Consult your doctor</li>
<li>Read:
<ol>
<li><a href="https://www.drberg.com/blog/amazing-benefits-of-prolonged-fasting">Amazing Benefits of Prolonged Fasting author avatar Dr. Eric Berg</a></li>
<li><a href="https://fastingwithintention.com/best-foods-to-break-a-fast/">15 Best Foods to Break a Fast</a></li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Buy a lot of coffee ;)</li>
</ol>
2022 August. Investing and Gym.2022-08-26T12:30:10Zhttps://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_08_update/<h1 id="new-posts" tabindex="-1">New posts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_08_update/#new-posts">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/life_categories/">Life categories. Work-life balance and much more</a>.</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="books-i'm-reading" tabindex="-1">Books I'm reading <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_08_update/#books-i'm-reading">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53526633-software-engineering-at-google">Software Engineering at Google: Lessons Learned from Programming Over Time by Titus Winters, Tom Manshreck, Hyrum Wright</a>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22878967-the-shadow-of-what-was-lost">The Shadow of What Was Lost (The Licanius Trilogy #1) by James Islington</a>. This one finally started being interesting in the middle of the book. Prepare for the first part to be pretty bland.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>In Polish <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50716009-inteligentny-inwestor-xxi-wieku-tom-i">Inteligentny Inwestor XXI wieku Tom I by trader21</a>. Learning about stocks, bonds and ETFs.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12544648-cracking-the-coding-interview">Cracking the Coding Interview: 150 Programming Questions and Solutions by Gayle Laakmann McDowell</a>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25348.Get_Out_of_Your_Mind_and_Into_Your_Life">Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life: The New Acceptance and Commitment Therapy by Steven C. Hayes, Spencer Smith</a>.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="courses" tabindex="-1">Courses <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_08_update/#courses">#</a></h1>
<p>I just finished <a href="https://www.udemy.com/course/docker-mastery/">Docker Mastery by Bret Fisher</a>. Overall it's a good intro to Docker and Swarm. Unfortunately, at the moment, the introduction to Kubernetes is pretty short and has a lot of outdated videos.</p>
<h1 id="books-i've-read" tabindex="-1">Books I've read <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_08_update/#books-i've-read">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li>Audiobook in Polish <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6813904-historia-filozofii-tom-3">Historia filozofii, tom 3 by Władysław Tatarkiewicz</a>. It is the last book in the series but is only up to 1945, so if you know of an excellent book about modern philosophy, please let me know.</li>
</ul>
<p>Overall I've picked too many books, and I'm only making little progress on them. I probably should stick to a work-in-progress (WIP) of less than 7 :).</p>
<h1 id="elsewhere-on-the-web" tabindex="-1">Elsewhere on the Web <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_08_update/#elsewhere-on-the-web">#</a></h1>
<h1 id="work" tabindex="-1">Work <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_08_update/#work">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://alifeofproductivity.com/for-optimal-productivity-be-on-break-for-20-25-of-the-workday/">For optimal productivity, be on break for 20-25% of the workday</a></li>
<li><a href="https://theweek.com/articles/696644/why-should-work-4-hours-day-according-science">Why you should work 4 hours a day, according to science</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.calnewport.com/blog/2012/08/31/henri-poincares-four-hour-work-day/">Henri Poincaré's Four-Hour Work Day</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="tech" tabindex="-1">Tech <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_08_update/#tech">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://ruudvanasseldonk.com/2022/03/20/please-put-units-in-names">Please put units in names or use strong types by Ruud van Asseldonk</a></li>
<li><a href="https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/project-management-in-tech">How Big Tech Runs Tech Projects and the Curious Absence of Scrum</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 id="watching" tabindex="-1">Watching <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_08_update/#watching">#</a></h1>
<p>Some YouTube videos I can recommend watching:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtIzMaLkCaM">The Craft of Writing Effectively from LEADERSHIP LAB</a>.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="tech-1" tabindex="-1">Tech <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_08_update/#tech-1">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcQVgYzlj8k">Systems Thinking for Developers • Jessica Kerr • Devoxx Poland 2021</a>. Excellent talk about the work of a software engineer as a complex system.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQYeipc_cik">All useEffect Mistakes Every Junior React Developer Makes</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="work-1" tabindex="-1">Work <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_08_update/#work-1">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSflPE_oIRI">"I Hate Agile!" | Allen Holub On Why He Thinks Agile And Scrum Are Broken</a>. And the full version <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxXmTnb3mFU">Agile & Scrum Don't Work | Allen Holub In The Engineering Room Ep. 9</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fov47kadKkI">Why The 8-Hour Day Is BS For Our Time</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="music" tabindex="-1">Music <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_08_update/#music">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyaKoj7wABY">ONE OK ROCK - We are [Official Video from AMBITIONS JAPAN DOME TOUR]</a>. My Wife found it recently, and we both like it.</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="personal-thoughts" tabindex="-1">Personal Thoughts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_08_update/#personal-thoughts">#</a></h1>
<p>August was a productive month:</p>
<p>I finally finished the Docker course.</p>
<p>Set up a brokerage account and read about investing.</p>
<p>Only my weight loss goal has zero progress.<br />
I didn't bike recently, but at least I'm going to the gym 2 times a week, which helps with my motivation for a diet, so I hope to see some decreases on the scale next month.</p>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p>You can subscribe to my monthly posts at <strong><a href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/">kula.blog/newsletter</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
Life categories. Work-life balance and much more.2022-08-03T17:30:00Zhttps://kula.blog/posts/life_categories/<p>Have you ever found yourself in unsustainable circumstances? Everyone from time to time will focus too much on work or maybe sacrifice exercise because of family.<br />
Whatever that is, it's good to start categorizing your life. To see what's actually out of balance and assess your values to see how do you want the balance to look like.<br />
But, here is a problem. There are so many ways of looking at our life that it's hard to pick one.</p>
<p>It's related to the book <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18693669-the-organized-mind">The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload by Daniel J. Levitin</a>. I can recommend it as well.</p>
<h1 id="categories" tabindex="-1">Categories <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/life_categories/#categories">#</a></h1>
<h2 id="work-life" tabindex="-1">Work-life <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/life_categories/#work-life">#</a></h2>
<p>You probably heard about "Work-life balance". Wikipedia calls it <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work%E2%80%93life_interface">Work–life interface</a>, but the idea is pretty simple. You categorize everything into a list of 2:</p>
<ol>
<li>Work</li>
<li>Life</li>
</ol>
<h2 id="practices-for-ongoing-health-and-happiness" tabindex="-1">Practices for ongoing health and happiness <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/life_categories/#practices-for-ongoing-health-and-happiness">#</a></h2>
<p>In the book <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20810710-play-it-away">Play It Away: A Workaholic's Cure for Anxiety by Charlie Hoehn</a> author puts ongoing activities he recommends into:</p>
<ol>
<li>Mind</li>
<li>Body</li>
<li>World</li>
</ol>
<p>But it's worth pointing out that he recommends replacing anything you would call Work with Play.<br />
Work -> Play</p>
<h2 id="3-gardens" tabindex="-1">3 Gardens <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/life_categories/#3-gardens">#</a></h2>
<p>This one is coming from a Polish author: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17209836-yciologia-czyli-o-m-drym-zarz-dzaniu-czasem">Życiologia, czyli o mądrym zarządzaniu czasem by Miłosz Brzeziński</a></p>
<ol>
<li>Work</li>
<li>Home</li>
<li>Self</li>
</ol>
<h2 id="work-%2B-home-%2B-community-%2B-self" tabindex="-1">Work + Home + Community + Self <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/life_categories/#work-%2B-home-%2B-community-%2B-self">#</a></h2>
<blockquote>
<p>A more realistic and gratifying goal is better integration through "four-way wins," which improve performance in all domains.<br />
<a href="https://store.hbr.org/product/work-home-community-self/R1409K">Work + Home + Community + Self</a> is more about integrating those categories instead of thinking about tradeoffs. But it still creates categories.</p>
</blockquote>
<ol>
<li>Work</li>
<li>Home</li>
<li>Community</li>
<li>Self</li>
</ol>
<h2 id="cal-newport's-4-c's" tabindex="-1">Cal Newport's 4 C's <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/life_categories/#cal-newport's-4-c's">#</a></h2>
<p><a href="https://www.calnewport.com/blog/2020/03/17/the-deep-life-some-notes/">The Deep Life: Some Notes</a></p>
<ol>
<li>Community</li>
<li>Craft</li>
<li>Constitution</li>
<li>Contemplation</li>
</ol>
<h2 id="cal-newport's-5-c's-(update-2023-10-30)" tabindex="-1">Cal Newport's 5 C's (Update 2023-10-30) <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/life_categories/#cal-newport's-5-c's-(update-2023-10-30)">#</a></h2>
<p><a href="https://www.deeplifejourney.com/pillars">Deep Life Pillars</a></p>
<ol>
<li>Community</li>
<li>Craft</li>
<li>Constitution</li>
<li>Contemplation</li>
<li>Celebration</li>
</ol>
<h1 id="values" tabindex="-1">Values <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/life_categories/#values">#</a></h1>
<p>Related to categories and often used in worksheets and assestments as Values. Let's see some of them.</p>
<h2 id="values-in-acceptance-and-commitment-therapy-(act)-therapy" tabindex="-1">Values in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Therapy <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/life_categories/#values-in-acceptance-and-commitment-therapy-(act)-therapy">#</a></h2>
<p>There is a long list like <a href="https://loving.health/en/act-list-of-values/">A full list of values for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)</a>, but those are intended for you to pick the ones that interest you.</p>
<p>Let's see some ACT uses in worksheets and exercises:</p>
<h3 id="the-%22bull's-eye%22" tabindex="-1">The "Bull's Eye" <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/life_categories/#the-%22bull's-eye%22">#</a></h3>
<p>The "Bull's Eye" is a values-clarification exercise designed by Tobias Lundgren.</p>
<p>Four important domains of life:</p>
<ol>
<li>Work/Education</li>
<li>Leisure</li>
<li>Relationships</li>
<li>Personal growth/Health.</li>
</ol>
<p>I like <a href="https://bulletjournal.com/blogs/bulletjournalist/the-bulls-eye/">The Bull's Eye on the Bullet Journal page</a> if you want to read more.</p>
<h3 id="the-valued-living-questionnaire-(vlq)" tabindex="-1">The Valued Living Questionnaire (VLQ) <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/life_categories/#the-valued-living-questionnaire-(vlq)">#</a></h3>
<p><a href="https://positivepsychology.com/values-questionnaire/#vlq">The Valued Living Questionnaire (VLQ) in The 3 Best Questionnaires for Measuring Values</a></p>
<ol>
<li>Family</li>
<li>Marriage and intimate relationships</li>
<li>Parenting</li>
<li>Friendship and interpersonal relationships</li>
<li>Professional life</li>
<li>Academic life</li>
<li>Leisure and recreation</li>
<li>Spirituality</li>
<li>Citizenship</li>
<li>Self-care</li>
</ol>
<h3 id="personal-values-worksheet-(update-2023-10-30)" tabindex="-1">Personal Values Worksheet (Update 2023-10-30) <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/life_categories/#personal-values-worksheet-(update-2023-10-30)">#</a></h3>
<p><a href="https://positive.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Personal-Values-Worksheet.pdf">Personal Values Worksheet from PositivePsychology</a></p>
<p>This worksheet has 10 categories:</p>
<ol>
<li>Romantic relationships</li>
<li>Leisure and fun</li>
<li>Job/career</li>
<li>Friends</li>
<li>Parenthood</li>
<li>Health and physical wellness</li>
<li>Social citizenship/Environmental responsibility</li>
<li>Family relationships</li>
<li>Spirituality</li>
<li>Personal development and growth</li>
</ol>
<h2 id="10-basic-values-from-shalom-schwartz's-theory" tabindex="-1">10 basic values from Shalom Schwartz's theory <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/life_categories/#10-basic-values-from-shalom-schwartz's-theory">#</a></h2>
<p>I've found it in "<a href="https://alifeofproductivity.com/there-are-just-10-basic-values/">There are just 10 basic values</a>".</p>
<blockquote>
<ol>
<li>Self-direction</li>
<li>Stimulation</li>
<li>Hedonism</li>
<li>Achievement</li>
<li>Power</li>
<li>Security</li>
<li>Conformity</li>
<li>Tradition</li>
<li>Benevolence</li>
<li>Universalism</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
<p><img src="https://kula.blog/img/ten_values.jpeg" alt="ten values" /></p>
<h1 id="more" tabindex="-1">More <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/life_categories/#more">#</a></h1>
<p>You may also be interested in reading about <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/keystone_habits/">Keystone habits</a>.</p>
2022 July. Programming and short vacation.2022-07-29T12:03:10Zhttps://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_07_update/<h1 id="new-posts" tabindex="-1">New posts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_07_update/#new-posts">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/pathological_process/">Designing a human process around pathological cases leads to processes that are themselves pathological.</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 id="books-i'm-reading" tabindex="-1">Books I'm reading <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_07_update/#books-i'm-reading">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53526633-software-engineering-at-google">Software Engineering at Google: Lessons Learned from Programming Over Time by Titus Winters, Tom Manshreck, Hyrum Wright</a>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25348.Get_Out_of_Your_Mind_and_Into_Your_Life">Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life: The New Acceptance and Commitment Therapy by Steven C. Hayes, Spencer Smith</a>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22878967-the-shadow-of-what-was-lost">The Shadow of What Was Lost (The Licanius Trilogy #1) by James Islington</a>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12544648-cracking-the-coding-interview">Cracking the Coding Interview: 150 Programming Questions and Solutions by Gayle Laakmann McDowell</a>.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="courses" tabindex="-1">Courses <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_07_update/#courses">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.udemy.com/course/docker-mastery/">Docker Mastery by Bret Fisher</a></p>
<h1 id="books-i've-read" tabindex="-1">Books I've read <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_07_update/#books-i've-read">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59045417-dopamine-nation">Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence by Anna Lembke</a>. I can agree with most reviews here. It's moralistic at times. Especially the further you go into the book. But, I wouldn't ignore the main idea of 1-month abstinence or the use of pain just because of it. I may be giving the author a little bit of benefit of the doubt as she is a practitioner and has seen the worst cases of addiction.</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="elsewhere-on-the-web" tabindex="-1">Elsewhere on the Web <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_07_update/#elsewhere-on-the-web">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://commoncog.com/g/burnout/">Burnout guide from Commoncog by Guan Jie Fung, Cedric Chin</a>. Its most important part is at the end:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Here's the bad news: we know very little about recovering from burnout. What we do know are two things:</p>
<ol>
<li>Individual interventions don't work — and by individual interventions, we mean interventions while the person continues to be at the workplace that caused the burnout.</li>
<li>If you remove yourself from that working environment, you will recover.</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://alifeofproductivity.com/there-are-just-10-basic-values/">There are just 10 basic values</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Self-direction<br />
Stimulation<br />
Hedonism<br />
Achievement<br />
Power<br />
Security<br />
Conformity<br />
Tradition<br />
Benevolence<br />
Universalism</p>
</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/science/articles/why-complex-systems-collapse-faster">Why Complex Systems Collapse Faster</a>.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://getpocket.com/@14ag8dbOpe676A9609T6448TM3A7pkh8af4Xd1z785c709gfR0libxW8kl2jL437">All my recommendations in Pocket</a></p>
<h1 id="watching" tabindex="-1">Watching <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_07_update/#watching">#</a></h1>
<p>I've spent a lot of time mindlessly watching YouTube recently. But, out of it, I've some fascinating ones worth your time:</p>
<h2 id="tech" tabindex="-1">Tech <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_07_update/#tech">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJbfMBROEO0">How Senior Programmers ACTUALLY Write Code</a>. The most unexpected idea was that PM shouldn't be part of the prioritization of technical work.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iU_IE6vnJ8">Monorepos - How the Pros Scale Huge Software Projects // Turborepo vs Nx</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="work" tabindex="-1">Work <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_07_update/#work">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i0RrGx_GrE">What If We Just...Stopped Working?</a>.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=316nOvHUS8A">The Myth Of The "Self-Made" Billionaire</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNhdKpTGfAU">Does Capitalism Really Drive Innovation?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhBkeAo2Hlg">America Compared: Why Other Countries Treat Their People So Much Better</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="health" tabindex="-1">Health <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_07_update/#health">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aCiXgPYEmo">Is Foam Rolling Bad For You?</a>. Spoiler: it may be a waste of time.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="other" tabindex="-1">Other <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_07_update/#other">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULYWIDcUOY4">America's Stunted Political Spectrum</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvknN89JoWo">The Man Who Killed Millions and Saved Billions</a>. Great video from Veritasium. I finally got the importance of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers in the current economy.</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="personal-thoughts" tabindex="-1">Personal Thoughts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_07_update/#personal-thoughts">#</a></h1>
<p>It was a weird month in many ways, but I like the focus and flow I get from programming. I miss 1-1 meetings and mentoring I was doing for my team, but I think it was overall a good move.</p>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p>You can subscribe to my monthly posts at <strong><a href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/">kula.blog/newsletter</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
Designing a human process around pathological cases leads to processes that are themselves pathological.2022-07-22T14:30:00Zhttps://kula.blog/posts/pathological_process/<p>I've found myself recommending <a href="https://jacobian.org/2022/feb/14/that-wild-aam-story/">That Wild Ask A Manager Story</a> by Jacob Kaplan-Moss so much that I've decided to write a short note about it.</p>
<p>I will quote the essential ideas below to prevent them from disappearing.</p>
<p>But, I recommend reading the original if you can <a href="https://jacobian.org/2022/feb/14/that-wild-aam-story/">That Wild Ask A Manager Story</a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The premise here is simple: designing a human process around pathological cases leads to processes that are themselves pathological.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>When we design software systems, we learn to think deeply about corner cases. We code defensively, making sure our systems handle all sorts of uncommon events. Amazon promises 99.999999999% reliability on objects stored in S3, and even then I've written code that handles the 0.000000001% chance that an object disappears.</p>
<p>Designing human systems is different. Computers don't have emotions; I don't need to worry insulting the vast majority of S3 objects when I defensively check integrity every time. But humans are different; when we design a human system around uncommon cases, we do need to consider the ramifications on the majority. There are times – and this is one of them – where addressing outlandish behavior requires steps that are just unacceptable.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>When something goes wrong, our impulse is to try to make some sort of a change that prevents that problem from ever happening against. But when we're talking about human systems, we need to measure the cost. Preventing pathological behavior in human systems often creates highly uncomfortable and off-putting processes. In human systems, not all corner cases need fixes. Sometimes the best response is just to roll your eyes, say "people, am I right?" and get back to work.</p>
</blockquote>
2022 June. Conferences.2022-07-08T14:25:10Zhttps://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_06_update/<h1 id="books-i'm-reading" tabindex="-1">Books I'm reading <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_06_update/#books-i'm-reading">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53526633-software-engineering-at-google">Software Engineering at Google: Lessons Learned from Programming Over Time by Titus Winters, Tom Manshreck, Hyrum Wright</a>.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25000037-docker">Docker: Up & Running: Shipping Reliable Containers in Production by Karl Matthias, Sean P. Kan</a>.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25348.Get_Out_of_Your_Mind_and_Into_Your_Life">Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life: The New Acceptance and Commitment Therapy by Steven C. Hayes, Spencer Smith</a>.</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="courses" tabindex="-1">Courses <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_06_update/#courses">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.udemy.com/course/docker-mastery/">Docker Mastery by Bret Fisher</a></p>
<h1 id="books-i've-read" tabindex="-1">Books I've read <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_06_update/#books-i've-read">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59408152-designing-your-new-work-life">Designing Your New Work-Life: How to Thrive and Change and Find Happiness and a New Freedom at Work by Bill Burnett, Dave Evans</a>.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40100841-learning-react">Learning React: A Hands-On Guide to Building Web Applications Using React and Redux by Kirupa Chinnathambi</a>. I don't think I can recommend the second edition that I was reading, but I liked the style.</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="elsewhere-on-the-web" tabindex="-1">Elsewhere on the Web <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_06_update/#elsewhere-on-the-web">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://1x.engineer/">1x Engineer</a> Small sample:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A 1x Engineer...</p>
<ul>
<li>Searches Google, Duckduckgo, Bing, or wherever they like when they're not sure what's up.</li>
<li>Copy/pastes code snippets from Stack Overflow, Glitch, Codepen, or wherever they find answers.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://kk.org/thetechnium/construction-is-life/">Construction is Life</a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Much later in life, when I had a chance to visit a wide variety of places, including those not as prosperous, I realized that construction is a sign of life.</p>
</blockquote>
<h1 id="personal-thoughts" tabindex="-1">Personal Thoughts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_06_update/#personal-thoughts">#</a></h1>
<p>I've been to two conferences this month, and it was great to get out of my home office and participate in person. If you can do that, then I can recommend it. For reference links to the conferences:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://appjs.co/">app.js</a></li>
<li><a href="https://devoxx.pl/">Devoxx Poland</a></li>
</ul>
<p>Other than that, it was a weird month. I didn't get much done, and I feel like it's a lost time for some reason.</p>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p>You can subscribe to my monthly posts at <strong><a href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/">kula.blog/newsletter</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
2022 May. Resting.2022-05-27T14:25:10Zhttps://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_05_update/<h1 id="books-i'm-reading" tabindex="-1">Books I'm reading <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_05_update/#books-i'm-reading">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59408152-designing-your-new-work-life">Designing Your New Work-Life: How to Thrive and Change and Find Happiness and a New Freedom at Work by Bill Burnett, Dave Evans</a>.</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="courses" tabindex="-1">Courses <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_05_update/#courses">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.udemy.com/course/docker-mastery/">Docker Mastery by Bret Fisher</a></p>
<h1 id="books-i've-read" tabindex="-1">Books I've read <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_05_update/#books-i've-read">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45168713-the-unicorn-project">The Unicorn Project by Gene Kim</a>. I didn't enjoy this one, but YMMV as I've heard some good reviews on the book club. Still, I won't recommend it.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43453738-the-source">The Source by Tara Swart</a>. I think that I misunderstood this book. It's more of a scientific explanation for some of the new age/secret ideas and a memoir of the author. Still, I'm aware of science contradicting some of those ideas, and they weren't mentioned. I wouldn't recommend it.</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="elsewhere-on-the-web" tabindex="-1">Elsewhere on the Web <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_05_update/#elsewhere-on-the-web">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.calnewport.com/blog/2022/05/16/taking-a-break-from-social-media-makes-you-happier-and-less-anxious/">Taking a Break from Social Media Makes you Happier and Less Anxious</a>. It mentions <a href="https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/cyber.2021.0324">Taking a One-Week Break from Social Media Improves Well-Being, Depression, and Anxiety: A Randomized Controlled Trial</a> if you want to dig deeper.</p>
<p><a href="https://staysaasy.com/startups/2022/04/03/performance-management.html">The Most Important Performance Management Rule For Software Engineers</a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Here's the simple rule for managing a new-to-the-team software engineer: software engineers should merge code every week.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.david-dahan.com/blog/10-reasons-mvc-frameworks-arent-dinosaurs-but-sharks">10 reasons MVC frameworks aren't dinosaurs but sharks</a>.<br />
There are a lot of good ideas to digest. I disagree that "bigger" frameworks are better because all code you add to the project is your code. The bigger your framework is, the more complex your application becomes.</p>
<h1 id="personal-thoughts" tabindex="-1">Personal Thoughts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_05_update/#personal-thoughts">#</a></h1>
<p>May started with some time off, thanks to some public holidays in Poland, but after that, I've been trying to get back some work-life balance and focus more on programming.<br />
I didn't read as much because I've discovered [Webtoons](<a href="https://www.webtoons.com/">https://www.webtoons.com/</a>] and spent more time reading there than I want to admit.<br />
In terms of good things, I got back to meditation and exercise routines that I had neglected in April. I'm far from doing them regularly yet, but I hope I can get better during the summer.</p>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p>You can subscribe to my monthly posts at <strong><a href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/">kula.blog/newsletter</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
2022 April. Tired and Cynical.2022-05-07T10:45:10Zhttps://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_04_update/<h1 id="books-i'm-reading" tabindex="-1">Books I'm reading <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_04_update/#books-i'm-reading">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59408152-designing-your-new-work-life">Designing Your New Work-Life: How to Thrive and Change and Find Happiness and a New Freedom at Work by Bill Burnett, Dave Evans</a>.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45168713-the-unicorn-project">The Unicorn Project by Gene Kim</a>.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43453738-the-source">The Source by Tara Swart</a>.</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="courses" tabindex="-1">Courses <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_04_update/#courses">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.udemy.com/course/docker-mastery/">Docker Mastery by Bret Fisher</a></p>
<h1 id="books-i've-read" tabindex="-1">Books I've read <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_04_update/#books-i've-read">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49695371-instytut">The Institute by Stephen King</a>. It's ok, but I wasn't enjoying it that much.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20810710-play-it-away">Play It Away: A Workaholic's Cure for Anxiety by Charlie Hoehn</a>. A short book about bringing joy back to your life. If you've struggled with stress or working too much (it doesn't have to be workaholism), you can find some ideas to try. Nothing groundbreaking, but I enjoyed it.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="elsewhere-on-the-web" tabindex="-1">Elsewhere on the Web <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_04_update/#elsewhere-on-the-web">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://alexturek.com/2022-03-07-How-to-do-less/">How To Do Less by Alex Turek</a>. How to do prioritization. It's in software development, but you should be able to use it in any context. I recommend reading <a href="https://dazne.net/priority/">Priority Is a Singular Word by Rishabh Dassani</a> while you're at it.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-01/employees-are-returning-to-office-post-covid-just-to-sit-on-zoom-calls">Employees Are Returning to the Office, Just to Sit on Zoom Calls</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Those at companies pushing for in-person work are asking: What's the point, if we're still meeting online?</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://news.techworkerscoalition.org/2022/04/05/issue-5/">From Belonging to Burnout, Five Years at Airbnb by Sahil S</a>. I've found myself in this story. If you're reading my blog, then I recommend reading it as well.</p>
<p><a href="https://michaeldehaan.substack.com/p/microservices-why-are-we-doing-this">Microservices: Why Are We Doing This? by Michael DeHaan</a>. Some great points. The only thing I would add is a link to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_ball_of_mud">Big ball of mud</a> Wikipedia article. If you stop looking at how much a single microservice is easier to understand and start looking at the whole system, it's no longer easy to say that the Monolith was so bad.</p>
<h1 id="personal-thoughts" tabindex="-1">Personal Thoughts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_04_update/#personal-thoughts">#</a></h1>
<p>April was a weird month. I feel like all the stress and overwork were catching up with me. It turned out that I was vitamin D3 deficient when I finally got some time to do some blood tests. I got more energy and a better outlook on life after getting a prescription, but it's getting warmer, and I hope I will get more outside in the upcoming months.<br />
I took some time off but spent most of it visiting doctors and fixing a wooden balcony we have that has disintegrated.</p>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p>You can subscribe to my monthly posts at <strong><a href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/">kula.blog/newsletter</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
2022 March. Letting go.2022-04-08T12:45:10Zhttps://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_03_update/<h1 id="books-i'm-reading" tabindex="-1">Books I'm reading <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_03_update/#books-i'm-reading">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59408152-designing-your-new-work-life">Designing Your New Work-Life: How to Thrive and Change and Find Happiness and a New Freedom at Work by Bill Burnett, Dave Evans</a>.</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="courses" tabindex="-1">Courses <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_03_update/#courses">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.udemy.com/course/docker-mastery/">Docker Mastery by Bret Fisher</a></p>
<h1 id="books-i've-read" tabindex="-1">Books I've read <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_03_update/#books-i've-read">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58762743-the-programmer-s-brain">The Programmer's Brain by Felienne Hermans</a>. The version I got didn't feel like "finished" just yet. There are chapters where I highlighted a lot and ones that I wasn't sure why I was reading it. But, it's short overall, and I can recommend it.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37756170-draw-stronger">Draw Stronger: Self-Care For Cartoonists and Other Visual Artists by Kriota Willberg</a>. I read it when having a problem with back pain. It looks nice but didn't match my expectations.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58283970-sparked">Sparked: Discover Your Unique Imprint for Work that Makes You Come Alive by Jonathan Fields</a>. I don't recommend the book, but I've found the <a href="https://sparketype.com/assessment/">assessment</a> results to help me know myself a little bit better.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="elsewhere-on-the-web" tabindex="-1">Elsewhere on the Web <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_03_update/#elsewhere-on-the-web">#</a></h1>
<p>I'm trying to limit the news I consume at the moment. But I started watching <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/Taskandpurpose/featured">Chris Cappy Task & Purpose Youtube channel</a>. Probably not for everyone, but I like it.</p>
<h1 id="personal-thoughts" tabindex="-1">Personal Thoughts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_03_update/#personal-thoughts">#</a></h1>
<p>March was a weird month in a lot of ways. I hurt my back and overall was pretty exhausted most of it.<br />
Most of my reading stagnated, especially in the last two weeks. This update is also late for this reason.</p>
<p>But I'm resting and recharging. It's not like I can put it off anymore. I'm also preparing to move into an individual contributor role.</p>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p>You can subscribe to my monthly posts at <strong><a href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/">kula.blog/newsletter</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
2022 February. War2022-02-27T16:45:10Zhttps://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_02_update/<h1 id="books-i'm-reading" tabindex="-1">Books I'm reading <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_02_update/#books-i'm-reading">#</a></h1>
<p>Those are the same books as last month. I've made some progress, but I'm not sure I'll make significant progress right now.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58762743-the-programmer-s-brain">The Programmer's Brain by Felienne Hermans</a>.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59408152-designing-your-new-work-life">Designing Your New Work-Life: How to Thrive and Change and Find Happiness and a New Freedom at Work by Bill Burnett, Dave Evans</a>.</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="books-i've-read" tabindex="-1">Books I've read <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_02_update/#books-i've-read">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30841984-kings-of-the-wyld">Kings of the Wyld (The Band #1) by Nicholas Eames</a>. I started liking the book more in the end to recommend it. Style and humor didn't always suit me, but I liked the ending.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="graphic-novels" tabindex="-1">Graphic novels <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_02_update/#graphic-novels">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10842223-the-incal">The Incal by Alejandro Jodorowsky and Mœbius</a>. I heard of it as one of the classics, and it was a great story to read. I recommend it. Just forget about reason and disbelief to get fun of this one.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15704307-saga-volume-1">Saga #1 by Brian K. Vaughan (Writer), Fiona Staples (Illustrator)</a> and <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30975897-saga-tom-2">Saga #2</a>. A friend recommended it. I only regret I didn't get more volumes at once.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41975062-vei-tom-1">Vei #1</a>. I picked it up by chance, but it was interesting enough to recommend as well.</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="elsewhere-on-the-web" tabindex="-1">Elsewhere on the Web <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_02_update/#elsewhere-on-the-web">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://jacobian.org/2022/feb/14/that-wild-aam-story/">That Wild Ask A Manager Story</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>The premise here is simple: designing a human process around pathological cases leads to procedures that are themselves pathological.<br />
This one is worth reading. Especially if you think of systemic ways and rules to prevent bad things from happening in the future, it can easily lead to pathological processes. I recommend reading the whole story.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.codingame.com/work/codingame-coderpad-tech-hiring-survey-2022/">Codingame & Coderpad Tech Hiring Survey 2022</a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>70% of developers want to work remotely, either full time or a few days a week.<br />
57% of recruiters are ready to remove the CV from the recruitment process.<br />
What are your main challenges at work?</p>
<ul>
<li>36% Rework, changes, unplanned work, unplanned problems.</li>
<li>34% Unclear direction</li>
<li>24% Inadequate technical knowledge or experience</li>
<li>23% Unrealistic deadlines<br />
In 2022, Javascript, Java, and Python will be the top 3 languages recruiters will look for.<br />
In the top 5 countries offering the highest salaries, you'll find:</li>
</ul>
<ol>
<li>United States of America</li>
<li>Switzerland</li>
<li>Canada<br />
And more. Worth scanning it through.</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.theemotionmachine.com/the-drawing-effect-how-doodling-can-improve-your-thinking-and-memory/">The Drawing Effect: How Doodling Can Improve Your Thinking and Memory by Steven Handel</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Again, researchers discovered that individuals who were asked to draw the words remembered twice as many as those who were asked to simply write them out repetitively.<br />
I'm thinking about using more drawing to help my memory instead of taking notes or not doing anything. Quick doodle may be more helpful than what I would have imagined.</p>
</blockquote>
<h1 id="some-books-on-my-backlog" tabindex="-1">Some books on my backlog <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_02_update/#some-books-on-my-backlog">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15808089-how-to-draw">How to Draw: Drawing and Sketching Objects and Environments from Your Imagination<br />
by Scott Robertson, Thomas Bertling (Contributor)</a></li>
<li>Maybe something to help me out in managing emotions. I'm reluctant to pick another book when I already have two in progress, but it may be helpful. I didn't pick anything yet.</li>
<li>Or it may be that I will start reading more preppers' advice. Just in case.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>February was a challenging month for me at work. A lot of obligations and documents to write. Writing performance reviews and promotion documents is a lot of work that I don't like.<br />
At the end of the month, Putin decided to invade Ukraine. I live "next door" in Poland, so it has been challenging. I have Ukrainian friends, and I'm so sad about what's happening now. I have Russian friends, and they're not fans of what is going on either. Most feel embarrassed by what Putin is doing. Personally, it has been challenging as now I can't stop thinking, what if the war comes to my country and city?</p>
<p>There is a lot of donations where you can help. I've heard that the best advice is for everyone to look at where their government recommends them to help, so I'm not linking to anything. If you can help, then help. I will only remind you that it's winter right now in Ukraine.</p>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p>You can subscribe to my monthly posts at <strong><a href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/">kula.blog/newsletter</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
Can you treat trauma by better sensing your body?2022-01-12T18:00:00Zhttps://kula.blog/posts/the_body_keeps_the_score/<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Body_Keeps_the_Score"><img src="https://kula.blog/img/thebodykeepsthescore.jpeg" alt="The Body Keeps the Score" /></a>.</p>
<h2 id="book-summary" tabindex="-1">Book Summary <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/the_body_keeps_the_score/#book-summary">#</a></h2>
<p>The book is a history of Bessel van der Kolk's history in trauma therapy. There is a lot of narration and stories, which makes it engaging. But, if you look at other reviews, they may trigger or retraumatize some readers. In the end, there is a short chapter about each method of treating trauma that he believes in.</p>
<h2 id="trauma-treatments" tabindex="-1">Trauma Treatments <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/the_body_keeps_the_score/#trauma-treatments">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li>EMDR</li>
<li>yoga</li>
<li>IFS</li>
<li>psychomotor therapy</li>
<li>neurofeedback</li>
<li>theater.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="what-i-got-from-it" tabindex="-1">What I got from it <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/the_body_keeps_the_score/#what-i-got-from-it">#</a></h2>
<ol>
<li>Uncomfortable amount of knowledge about childhood trauma. (But also why it's important and how big a problem it is).</li>
<li>I've heard about EMDR, yoga, and IFS before, so it is a good reminder of their usefulness.</li>
<li>Understanding why knowing your own body is essential and motivation to work on my interoception.</li>
</ol>
<h2 id="interoception" tabindex="-1">Interoception <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/the_body_keeps_the_score/#interoception">#</a></h2>
<p>I'm moved my notes on <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/interoception">Interoception</a> to a separate <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/interoception">post</a>.</p>
<h2 id="final-thoughts" tabindex="-1">Final thoughts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/the_body_keeps_the_score/#final-thoughts">#</a></h2>
<p>If you don't know much about trauma, I recommend the book, especially if you have a history of trauma or know someone struggling with it.</p>
Interoception2022-01-12T17:55:00Zhttps://kula.blog/posts/interoception/<blockquote>
<p>Interoception is contemporarily defined as the sense of the internal state of the body.<br />
— <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interoception">wikipedia</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Interoception is essential for understanding your feelings. Improving your interoception is important in treating trauma, but it will help you thrive in your life as well.</p>
<p>So what can you do to improve your interoception:</p>
<ul>
<li>Joga</li>
<li>Meditation</li>
<li>Sensing your heartbeat</li>
<li>Theather</li>
<li>Probably any other physical activities where you have to observe your body closely</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="related-resources%3A" tabindex="-1">Related resources: <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/posts/interoception/#related-resources%3A">#</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/the_body_keeps_the_score">Can you treat trauma by better sensing your body? Book review of The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26261124-the-https://www.cotewrites.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/David-Allen-Quote.jpg-geek">The Mindful Geek: Mindfulness Meditation for Secular Skeptics by Michael Taft</a></li>
<li><a href="https://hubermanlab.com/erasing-fears-and-traumas-based-on-the-modern-neuroscience-of-fear/">ERASING FEARS & TRAUMAS BASED ON THE MODERN NEUROSCIENCE OF FEAR</a></li>
<li><a href="https://hubermanlab.com/how-to-optimize-your-brain-body-function-and-health/">Huberman Lab: HOW TO OPTIMIZE YOUR BRAIN-BODY FUNCTION & HEALTH</a></li>
</ul>
How to create a simple redirect from Blogspot to your new blog2022-01-03T00:00:00Zhttps://kula.blog/learnjs/use_script_tag_to_redirect_to_a_new_blog/<p>This post is inspired by <a href="https://blogtimenow.com/blogging/automatically-redirect-blogger-blog-another-blog-website/">How to automatically redirect Blogger blog to another blog or website</a>. If you're looking for something simple, you can take some inspiration from what I did.</p>
<h1 id="step-0%3A-edit-template" tabindex="-1">Step 0: Edit template <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/learnjs/use_script_tag_to_redirect_to_a_new_blog/#step-0%3A-edit-template">#</a></h1>
<p>Go to Blogger template (in settings) and click edit HTML.</p>
<h1 id="step-1%3A-script" tabindex="-1">Step 1: Script <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/learnjs/use_script_tag_to_redirect_to_a_new_blog/#step-1%3A-script">#</a></h1>
<p>Use plain old <code>script</code> tag inline.</p>
<pre class="language-html"><code class="language-html"><span class="token tag"><span class="token tag"><span class="token punctuation"><</span>script</span><span class="token punctuation">></span></span><span class="token script"></span><span class="token tag"><span class="token tag"><span class="token punctuation"></</span>script</span><span class="token punctuation">></span></span></code></pre>
<p>You may want to put it somewhere in the <code><head> </head></code> so it will probably look like:</p>
<pre class="language-html"><code class="language-html"><span class="token comment"><!-- lots of things you should ignore --></span><br /><span class="token tag"><span class="token tag"><span class="token punctuation"><</span>head</span><span class="token punctuation">></span></span><br /> <span class="token tag"><span class="token tag"><span class="token punctuation"><</span>script</span><span class="token punctuation">></span></span><span class="token script"></span><span class="token tag"><span class="token tag"><span class="token punctuation"></</span>script</span><span class="token punctuation">></span></span><br /> <span class="token comment"><!-- lots of things you should ignore --></span><br /><span class="token tag"><span class="token tag"><span class="token punctuation"></</span>head</span><span class="token punctuation">></span></span></code></pre>
<h1 id="step-2%3A-javascript" tabindex="-1">Step 2: JavaScript <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/learnjs/use_script_tag_to_redirect_to_a_new_blog/#step-2%3A-javascript">#</a></h1>
<p>Now you can start writing JS inside of it.</p>
<pre class="language-html"><code class="language-html"><span class="token tag"><span class="token tag"><span class="token punctuation"><</span>script</span><span class="token punctuation">></span></span><span class="token script"><span class="token language-javascript"><br /> console<span class="token punctuation">.</span><span class="token function">log</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span>window<span class="token punctuation">.</span>location<span class="token punctuation">)</span><br /></span></span><span class="token tag"><span class="token tag"><span class="token punctuation"></</span>script</span><span class="token punctuation">></span></span></code></pre>
<h1 id="step-3%3A-redirect" tabindex="-1">Step 3: Redirect <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/learnjs/use_script_tag_to_redirect_to_a_new_blog/#step-3%3A-redirect">#</a></h1>
<pre class="language-js"><code class="language-js"> window<span class="token punctuation">.</span>location<span class="token operator">=</span><span class="token string">"https://kula.blog/"</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span> <span class="token comment">// your your new address here</span></code></pre>
<p>If you don't care about redirecting your posts, then you're done!</p>
<h1 id="step-4%3A-redirect-to-posts" tabindex="-1">Step 4: Redirect to posts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/learnjs/use_script_tag_to_redirect_to_a_new_blog/#step-4%3A-redirect-to-posts">#</a></h1>
<p>This may be different for you. In my case, after exporting the posts, I've moved them to a new location. They've also lost the dates and <code>.html</code> from the address. Now I had to transform each address to match that. I'm going to assume your situation is different, but you might get something from looking at how it can be done.</p>
<p>In my case, <code>https://krzychukula.blogspot.com/2014/07/note-to-myself-learn-videogame.html</code> had to redirect to <code>https://kula.blog/oldposts/note-to-myself-learn-videogame/</code>.</p>
<h2 id="pathname" tabindex="-1">Pathname <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/learnjs/use_script_tag_to_redirect_to_a_new_blog/#pathname">#</a></h2>
<p>Now to make it simpler, we can use <code>window.location.pathname</code> to get just <code>/2014/07/note-to-myself-learn-videogame.html</code>. Less work later.</p>
<h2 id="check-if-it's-a-post" tabindex="-1">Check if it's a post <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/learnjs/use_script_tag_to_redirect_to_a_new_blog/#check-if-it's-a-post">#</a></h2>
<p>I don't care about pages that are not posts. For that, I check if the pathname ends with <code>.html</code>.</p>
<pre class="language-js"><code class="language-js"><span class="token keyword">var</span> newAddress <span class="token operator">=</span> <span class="token string">'https://kula.blog/'</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span><br /><span class="token keyword">if</span> <span class="token punctuation">(</span>window<span class="token punctuation">.</span>location<span class="token punctuation">.</span>pathname<span class="token punctuation">.</span><span class="token function">indexOf</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span><span class="token string">'.html'</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span> <span class="token operator">></span> <span class="token operator">-</span><span class="token number">1</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span> <span class="token punctuation">{</span><br /> <span class="token comment">// figure our newAddress for each posts</span><br /><span class="token punctuation">}</span><br /><span class="token comment">// redirect to 'https://kula.blog/'</span><br />window<span class="token punctuation">.</span>location<span class="token operator">=</span>newAddress<span class="token punctuation">;</span></code></pre>
<p>I'm using <code>var</code> to support even the oldest browsers, and it's only a simple script, so it should be fine.</p>
<h2 id="revomed-date-and-file-suffix" tabindex="-1">Revomed date and file suffix <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/learnjs/use_script_tag_to_redirect_to_a_new_blog/#revomed-date-and-file-suffix">#</a></h2>
<pre class="language-js"><code class="language-js"><span class="token keyword">var</span> newAddress <span class="token operator">=</span> <span class="token string">'https://kula.blog/'</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span><br /><span class="token keyword">if</span> <span class="token punctuation">(</span>window<span class="token punctuation">.</span>location<span class="token punctuation">.</span>pathname<span class="token punctuation">.</span><span class="token function">indexOf</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span><span class="token string">'.html'</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span> <span class="token operator">></span> <span class="token operator">-</span><span class="token number">1</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span> <span class="token punctuation">{</span><br /> <span class="token keyword">var</span> pathname <span class="token operator">=</span> window<span class="token punctuation">.</span>location<span class="token punctuation">.</span>pathname<span class="token punctuation">;</span><br /><br /> <span class="token comment">// will match `/2014/07/`</span><br /> <span class="token keyword">var</span> regex <span class="token operator">=</span> <span class="token regex"><span class="token regex-delimiter">/</span><span class="token regex-source language-regex">\/\d+\/\d+\/</span><span class="token regex-delimiter">/</span><span class="token regex-flags">g</span></span><span class="token punctuation">;</span> <br /> <span class="token comment">// replace with empty string</span><br /> <span class="token keyword">var</span> filename <span class="token operator">=</span> pathname<span class="token punctuation">.</span><span class="token function">replace</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span>regex<span class="token punctuation">,</span> <span class="token string">''</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span> <br /><br /> <span class="token comment">// replace with empty string</span><br /> <span class="token keyword">var</span> file <span class="token operator">=</span> filename<span class="token punctuation">.</span><span class="token function">replace</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span><span class="token string">'.html'</span><span class="token punctuation">,</span> <span class="token string">''</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span><br /> <br /> newAddress <span class="token operator">=</span> <span class="token string">'https://kula.blog/oldposts/'</span> <span class="token operator">+</span> file<span class="token punctuation">;</span><br /> <span class="token comment">// newAddress is now `https://kula.blog/oldposts/note-to-myself-learn-videogame`</span><br /><span class="token punctuation">}</span><br /><span class="token comment">// redirect to the newAddress</span><br />window<span class="token punctuation">.</span>location<span class="token operator">=</span>newAddress<span class="token punctuation">;</span></code></pre>
<h1 id="final-script" tabindex="-1">Final script <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/learnjs/use_script_tag_to_redirect_to_a_new_blog/#final-script">#</a></h1>
<p><em>Please notice that the Blogger editor escapes some characters for you. I'm posting the final escaped result to make sure you know that's ok.</em></p>
<pre class="language-html"><code class="language-html"><span class="token tag"><span class="token tag"><span class="token punctuation"><</span>script</span><span class="token punctuation">></span></span><span class="token script"><span class="token language-javascript"><br /><span class="token keyword">var</span> newAddress <span class="token operator">=</span> <span class="token operator">&</span>quot<span class="token punctuation">;</span>https<span class="token operator">:</span><span class="token operator">/</span><span class="token operator">/</span>kula<span class="token punctuation">.</span>blog<span class="token operator">/</span><span class="token operator">&</span>quot<span class="token punctuation">;</span><br /><span class="token keyword">if</span> <span class="token punctuation">(</span>window<span class="token punctuation">.</span>location<span class="token punctuation">.</span>pathname<span class="token punctuation">.</span><span class="token function">indexOf</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span><span class="token operator">&</span>quot<span class="token punctuation">;</span><span class="token punctuation">.</span>html<span class="token operator">&</span>quot<span class="token punctuation">;</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span> <span class="token operator">&</span>gt<span class="token punctuation">;</span> <span class="token operator">-</span><span class="token number">1</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span> <span class="token punctuation">{</span><br /> <span class="token keyword">var</span> pathname <span class="token operator">=</span> window<span class="token punctuation">.</span>location<span class="token punctuation">.</span>pathname<span class="token punctuation">;</span><br /> <span class="token keyword">var</span> regex <span class="token operator">=</span> <span class="token regex"><span class="token regex-delimiter">/</span><span class="token regex-source language-regex">\/\d+\/\d+\/</span><span class="token regex-delimiter">/</span><span class="token regex-flags">g</span></span><span class="token punctuation">;</span><br /> <span class="token keyword">var</span> filename <span class="token operator">=</span> pathname<span class="token punctuation">.</span><span class="token function">replace</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span>regex<span class="token punctuation">,</span> <span class="token operator">&</span>#<span class="token number">39</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span><span class="token operator">&</span>#<span class="token number">39</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span><br /> <span class="token keyword">var</span> file <span class="token operator">=</span> filename<span class="token punctuation">.</span><span class="token function">replace</span><span class="token punctuation">(</span><span class="token operator">&</span>#<span class="token number">39</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span><span class="token punctuation">.</span>html<span class="token operator">&</span>#<span class="token number">39</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span><span class="token punctuation">,</span> <span class="token operator">&</span>#<span class="token number">39</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span><span class="token operator">&</span>#<span class="token number">39</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span><span class="token punctuation">)</span><span class="token punctuation">;</span><br /> <br /> newAddress <span class="token operator">=</span> <span class="token operator">&</span>quot<span class="token punctuation">;</span>https<span class="token operator">:</span><span class="token operator">/</span><span class="token operator">/</span>kula<span class="token punctuation">.</span>blog<span class="token operator">/</span>oldposts<span class="token operator">/</span><span class="token operator">&</span>quot<span class="token punctuation">;</span> <span class="token operator">+</span> file<span class="token punctuation">;</span><br /><span class="token punctuation">}</span><br /><br />window<span class="token punctuation">.</span>location<span class="token operator">=</span>newAddress<span class="token punctuation">;</span><br /></span></span><span class="token tag"><span class="token tag"><span class="token punctuation"></</span>script</span><span class="token punctuation">></span></span></code></pre>
2022 January. The Scientific 7-minute workout.2022-01-01T16:38:10Zhttps://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_01_update/<p>January is a hard month to reflect on. I've done some reading, but I was working a lot as well. But, I've managed to keep my commitment to light exercise each day so far, which is rewarding.</p>
<h1 id="new-posts" tabindex="-1">New Posts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_01_update/#new-posts">#</a></h1>
<ol>
<li>
<p><a href="https://kula.blog/learnjs/use_script_tag_to_redirect_to_a_new_blog/">How to create a simple redirect from Blogspot to your new blog</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/interoception/">My notes on Interoception</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/the_body_keeps_the_score/">Can you treat trauma by better sensing your body?</a><br />
Book review of The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<h1 id="books-i'm-reading" tabindex="-1">Books I'm reading <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_01_update/#books-i'm-reading">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58762743-the-programmer-s-brain">The Programmer's Brain by Felienne Hermans</a>. I'm reading it at work, and three chapters so far were pretty interesting.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59408152-designing-your-new-work-life">Designing Your New Work-Life: How to Thrive and Change and Find Happiness and a New Freedom at Work by Bill Burnett, Dave Evans</a>. I heard about this book in a podcast and wanted to learn about design thinking in practice from it. I have mixed feelings so far.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30841984-kings-of-the-wyld">Kings of the Wyld (The Band #1) by Nicholas Eames</a>. I've seen some positive reviews and wanted something nice and easy to read. It's nice and easy, but there is something in style it's written with that's not working for me. I've just started it.</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="books-i've-read" tabindex="-1">Books I've read <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_01_update/#books-i've-read">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://kula.blog/posts/the_body_keeps_the_score/">Book review of The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40164365-the-friend">The Friend by Sigrid Nunez</a>. I was looking for something lightweight to read. I'm not sure how this book landed on any such list. It was an interesting meta book about writing books, but I'm not sure about recommending it.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25990401-toki-pona">Toki Pona: The Language of Good by Sonja Lang</a>. A quick and easy intro to the toki pona language.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56920684-the-anomaly">The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier</a>. It was ok.</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="elsewhere-on-the-web" tabindex="-1">Elsewhere on the Web <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_01_update/#elsewhere-on-the-web">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://tomtunguz.com/why-you-should-repeat-yourself/">Why You Should Repeat Yourself, A Lot by Tomasz Tunguz</a></p>
<p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110716053417/http://sheddingbikes.com/posts/1281257293.html">Common Programmer Health Problems By Zed A. Shaw</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/critical-thinking/dunning-kruger-effect-probably-not-real">The Dunning-Kruger Effect Is Probably Not Real</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>The darling of those who wish to explain why incompetent people don't know they're unskilled, the Dunning-Kruger effect may actually just be a data artefact.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://apenwarr.ca/log/20190926">What do executives do, anyway?</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>To paraphrase the book, the job of an executive is: to define and enforce culture and values for their whole organization, and to ratify good decisions.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=3454124">The SPACE of Developer Productivity</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Far too often teams or managers attempt to measure developer productivity with simple metrics, attempting to capture it all with "one metric that matters."</p>
</blockquote>
<ol>
<li>Satisfaction and well-being</li>
<li>Performance</li>
<li>Activity</li>
<li>Communication and collaboration</li>
<li>Efficiency and flow</li>
</ol>
<p><a href="https://cushychicken.github.io/why-you-cant-hire-engineers/">I Think I Know Why You Can't Hire Engineers Right Now</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Technology -> Cool Stuff to Work On<br />
Intellection -> Smart People to Work With<br />
Certainty -> Repeatability in Work Environment</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://alifeofproductivity.com/instagram-is-about-two-things-bodies-and-comparing-lifestyles/">Instagram is about two things: Bodies and comparing lifestyles</a></p>
<h1 id="some-books-on-my-backlog" tabindex="-1">Some books on my backlog <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2022_01_update/#some-books-on-my-backlog">#</a></h1>
<p>I'm early on the three books I'm reading at the moment, but I'm looking at some graphic novels and art books at the moment. Not sure what, when, and if anything comes from it.</p>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p>You can subscribe to my monthly posts at <strong><a href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/">kula.blog/newsletter</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
2021 December. toki pona2021-12-31T13:38:10Zhttps://kula.blog/newsletter/2021_12_update/<p>Thanks to holidays, some days off, and an overall slower pace at work, I've managed to take a breather. It's so uncanny to remember how hard it is to think when you have a (time) scarcity mindset. It feels SO GOOD.</p>
<h1 id="old-posts" tabindex="-1">Old posts <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2021_12_update/#old-posts">#</a></h1>
<p>I've exported my old posts from <a href="https://krzychukula.blogspot.com/">krzychukula.blogspot.com/</a> and imported them in <a href="https://kula.blog/posts/">kula.blog</a>. So many interesting finds and so many nostalgic memories. I've tried to clean up the list a little, but I've left some of my old posts just for the sake of remembering them. So now the oldest post here is from the 2nd of May 2008.</p>
<h1 id="toki-pona" tabindex="-1">toki pona <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2021_12_update/#toki-pona">#</a></h1>
<p>One result is that I started learning <a href="https://tokipona.org/">toki pona</a>. I came across it in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLn6LC1RpAo">Conlang Critic Episode Twelve: Toki Pona</a> a couple of years ago and decided to give it a try. It has around 130 words and simple grammar to come with it. It's not trivial to learn (everything takes work), but it's so much smaller and simpler than any natural language. I've been using <a href="https://app.memrise.com/course/352694/speak-toki-pona-with-audio/">Memrise courses</a> to pick up the basics, but I'm thinking about reading the official book at some point.</p>
<h1 id="learn-like-woodworking" tabindex="-1">Learn like woodworking <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2021_12_update/#learn-like-woodworking">#</a></h1>
<p>I want to recommend one of my old posts <a href="https://kula.blog/oldposts/note-to-myself-learn-videogame/">Note to Myself: Learn Videogame Development Like Woodworking</a>.<br />
The original post doesn't seem to be available anymore, so I recommend reading my copy of it. Right now, I'm having facepalm moments when I realize that this way of learning would help me with many other areas of my life. I highly recommend it.</p>
<h1 id="the-scientific-7-minute-workout" tabindex="-1">The Scientific 7-Minute Workout <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2021_12_update/#the-scientific-7-minute-workout">#</a></h1>
<p>With a time abundance mindset, I realized that I could take some short time to exercise daily. I still picked something that I can do pretty quickly as I know that my current schedule won't last, but it is still unbelievable that I wasn't doing any of it for the last year.<br />
<a href="https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/09/the-scientific-7-minute-workout/">The Scientific 7-Minute Workout - The New York Times</a>. It's behind a paywall, but this is a 2013 article so that you can find many many articles and videos about it all over the internet.</p>
<h1 id="books-i'm-reading" tabindex="-1">Books I'm reading <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2021_12_update/#books-i'm-reading">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58762743-the-programmer-s-brain">The Programmer's Brain</a>. The idea of applying neuroscience to the programmer's job is intriguing.</p>
<h1 id="books-i've-read" tabindex="-1">Books I've read <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2021_12_update/#books-i've-read">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://amzn.to/2Yt4HKD">Designing Data-Intensive Applications: The Big Ideas Behind Reliable, Scalable, and Maintainable Systems by Martin Kleppmann</a>. It's a great read, but not an easy one. I was reading it with a cadence of a chapter a week, which was a challenge. Still recommend you give it a try. The amount of knowledge I've picked up is phenomenal.</li>
</ul>
<h1 id="elsewhere-on-the-web" tabindex="-1">Elsewhere on the Web <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2021_12_update/#elsewhere-on-the-web">#</a></h1>
<p><a href="https://www.pantone.com/color-of-the-year-2022">The PANTONE Color of the Year 2022: PANTONE 17-3938 Very Peri</a></p>
<p><a href="https://tympanus.net/codrops/2021/12/07/coloring-with-code-a-programmatic-approach-to-design/">Coloring With Code — A Programmatic Approach To Design</a>.<br />
This tutorial uses LCH color (check support in <a href="https://caniuse.com/css-lch-lab">caniuse</a>). What's great about it is how easy it is to create color palettes. I recommend taking a look.</p>
<h1 id="some-books-on-my-backlog" tabindex="-1">Some books on my backlog <a class="direct-link" href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/2021_12_update/#some-books-on-my-backlog">#</a></h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.theartistswaybook.com/">Ther Artist's Way by Julia Cameron</a></li>
<li><a href="https://tokipona.org/">Toki Pona: The Language of Good by Sonja Lang</a></li>
</ul>
<hr />
<blockquote>
<p>You can subscribe to my monthly posts at <strong><a href="https://kula.blog/newsletter/">kula.blog/newsletter</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>