Weekly Thing #115 / Aug 31, 2019
View this email in your browser (|ARCHIVE|)
Weekly Thing
Join over 1,000 subscribers to the Weekly Thing by Jamie Thingelstad! Each Saturday morning, you will get my thoughts on technology, leadership, productivity, culture, privacy, and anything else interesting. I add commentary combining my decades of experience leading teams and building technology. I also include my personal writing, what I’m currently into, and a photograph of the week. There is even a fortune at the end! 🥠 A friend once described the Weekly Thing as a “direct feed from Jamie’s brain.” 🧠 There are no ads, your email will never be shared, your privacy will be protected, and it is free. Subscribe now and positively impact your journey with knowledge, insight, and perspective! Here is what others have to say. 🙌 “I’m a better person and leader because of the Weekly Thing!” — Jenny “I look forward to reading what you are digging.” — David “I don’t find the interesting links you share anywhere else!” — Andy “It’s a perfect start to every Saturday!” — Phil
Weekly Newsletter from Jamie Thingelstad
Issue #115 /
Welcome to Labor Day weekend and for many families the last weekend before school starts again. This week I got to attend the parent session for Freshman orientation. It doesn’t seem that long ago that it was the first day of kindergarten, and now they are talking about college counselors and when you might start taking the PSAT! Time flies! (https://www.thingelstad.com/2005/fractions-and-life)
There are still a couple of final things to check off the summer To Do list. We are planning on getting as many of them as we can.
Featured Links 🏅
Sharing the Data: How Technical Women Navigate Their Career | Developer Resources (https://developer.wordpress.com/2019/08/28/sharing-the-data-how-technical-women-navigate-their-career/) developer.wordpress.com
Good insights and data from Automattic, the makers of WordPress, and what they learned about how women navigate the technology industry. I found this highlight interesting:
Respondents read job descriptions almost exclusively for red flags; for instance, they search for language encouraging all relevant employees (not just women) to take parental leave.
I’ve highlighted other articles in the past that showed changing the style of job postings had a radical impact on the pool of candidates that companies got.
For Young Female Coders, Internship Interviews Can Be Toxic | WIRED (https://www.wired.com/story/for-young-female-coders-internship-interviews-can-be-toxic/) www.wired.com
Men working in the technology industry, especially those in leadership roles, need to read articles like this that share the experience that women in technology have. This article is even more troubling as it is focused on internships!
More than half of the respondents said they either had a negative experience while applying for engineering internships or knew another woman who had a negative experience, such as being subjected to gender-biased interview questions and inappropriate remarks, or observing a noticeable lack of diversity when they interacted with company representatives during the interview process.
Although the survey did not explicitly ask about sexual harassment and discrimination, respondents raised both issues in written responses at the end of the survey. They described instances where a male interviewer flirted with them during the interview, sent an unsolicited photo of himself, asked if they had a significant other, or made sexual remarks in their presence. The respondents also reported feeling dismissed or demeaned because of their gender. One respondent was asked why she would want to go into tech as a woman; in another instance, a male interviewer laughed when the candidate said she saw herself becoming a software engineer in five years.
The inappropriate behavior they describe is alarming considering that the average age of the respondents was 19 and, for the most part, they’re describing interactions with grown men who have some control over their access to opportunity.
The scale of this problem is big, but it cannot be ignored.
Deconstructing Google’s excuses on tracking protection (https://freedom-to-tinker.com/2019/08/23/deconstructing-googles-excuses-on-tracking-protection/) freedom-to-tinker.com
Last week the WebKit team published their position on trackers and blocking them, focusing on improving privacy for those using the web. Google came out with an oddly titled response, Building a more private web (https://www.blog.google/products/chrome/building-a-more-private-web/amp/) , which got a good Daring Fireball writeup (https://daringfireball.net/linked/2019/08/23/google-privacy-excuses) .
This look at the statements Google is making is thorough.
Google is trying to thread a needle here, implying that some level of tracking is consistent with both the original design intent for web technology and user privacy expectations. Neither is true.
If the benchmark is original design intent, let’s be clear: cookies were not supposed to enable third-party tracking, and browsers were supposed to block third-party cookies. We know this because the authors of the original cookie technical specification said so (RFC 2109 (https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2109) , Section 4.3.5).
Google gets in tough spots when they have to address privacy. Everyone knows that they thrive on user data. Limiting the ability to collect user data directly, negatively, impacts they’re revenue.
My Weekly Photo 📷
Tables line downtown Northfield for a Community Dinner.
Tables line downtown Northfield for a Community Dinner. Aug 25, 2019 at 6:34 PM Northfield MN
Notable Links 📌
Inno-Versity Presents: Greatness by David Marquet - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psAXMqxwol8) www.youtube.com
This is the author of Turn the Ship Around! (https://www.amazon.com/Turn-Ship-Around-Turning-Followers/dp/1591846404/) , which I’ve seen recommended many times but has never made it to the top of my reading list. This is a great 10 minute version of the concept with a well done video.
GitHub has SOC 1 and SOC 2 Type 2 reports - The GitHub Blog (https://github.blog/2019-08-27-github-has-soc-1-and-soc-2-type-2-reports/) github.blog
A few years back I went looking for GitHub’s certifications and was pretty surprised, particularly at their size and the function they provide, that they didn’t have any independent certifications. it’s great to see them now doing this. 🔒
Credit card privacy matters: Apple Card vs. Chase Amazon Prime Rewards Visa - The Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/08/26/spy-your-wallet-credit-cards-have-privacy-problem/?noredirect=on) www.washingtonpost.com
When you start looking at where your activity is tracked, it seems like there is no end of it.
What I learned: The card data business is booming for advertisers, for aiding investors and for helping retailers and banks encourage more spending. And there are many ways a card swipe can be exploited that don’t always require a transaction being “sold” or “shared” in a way that fully identifies you. Data can be aggregated, anonymized, hashed or pseudonymized (given a new name), or used to target you without ever technically changing hands.
🤨
Things I Learnt from a Senior Software Engineer | Neil Kakkar (https://neilkakkar.com/things-I-learnt-from-a-senior-dev.html) neilkakkar.com
It’s notable to me that things like deploying, monitoring, and derisking are on this list. These are the things you learn from writing, and more importantly, supporting your code in a 24x7 production environment.
The Official Bulletproof Coffee Recipe - It’s Not Just Butter Coffee (https://www.bulletproof.com/recipes/bulletproof-diet-recipes/bulletproof-coffee-recipe/) www.bulletproof.com
I feel like I’m wired in on nearly every way of making and drinking coffee, but this one was not at all on my radar! I haven’t tried it yet, but plan to, and folks I know that drink this (https://twitter.com/mikebjerkness) love it. ☕️
How to manage up effectively - Know Your Team | Blog (https://knowyourteam.com/blog/2019/08/15/how-to-manage-up-effectively/) knowyourteam.com
Good practical suggestions here. But you could probably just anchor on the very first sentence.
You want to manage up – but what you really mean is that you simply want to work well with your boss.
👍
Facebook wants to manage Wi-Fi on your phone (https://wongmjane.com/blog/fb-wifi-auto-connect) wongmjane.com
Utterly deceptive capabilities used to undermine your privacy while pretending to offer you value. Just like the rest of Facebook! 🙄
Michael Tsai - Blog - Amazon Has Ceded Control of Its Site (https://mjtsai.com/blog/2019/08/23/amazon-has-ceded-control-of-its-site/) mjtsai.com
Most people I know that use Amazon get frustrated with this. Personally I pay close attention to who the product is sold by and fulfilled by when shopping on Amazon. If it’s not fulfilled by Amazon, I won’t buy it from them. I go somewhere that does it themselves. And I’d prefer it is sold by them too, otherwise go to that site and get it from them.
Introducing nushell (http://www.jonathanturner.org/2019/08/introducing-nushell.html) www.jonathanturner.org
I 💚 that people are still innovating with shells and lower level geeky stuff. I’ve never played with PowerShell but am familiar with it’s concepts. This new shell, which borrows from PowerShells concepts, looks interesting. I’ll likely still stick to fish, but I bet there are some things that nushell would do very well.
Yet More Links 🍞
- You can heal the internet - Signal v. Noise (https://m.signalvnoise.com/you-can-heal-the-internet/) m.signalvnoise.com I’m with DHH on this one. Best way I can think of, put your content on your own website.
- Mario Kart Tour Coming to iOS September 25 - MacStories (https://www.macstories.net/news/mario-kart-tour-coming-to-ios-september-25/) www.macstories.net Mario Kart is one of my favorite Nintendo titles on nearly every platform. It will be fun to play this on iOS! 🎮
- SPS Commerce Acquires MAPADOC - MarketWatch (https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/sps-commerce-acquires-mapadoc-2019-08-27-81843237?siteid=nbsh) www.marketwatch.com Team SPS gets bigger and better! Also article on Star Tribune (http://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-based-sps-commerce-buys-longtime-business-partner-for-11-5-million/558485362/) . 🙌
- Drive A Tank - Tank Driving, Car Crushing, Machine Gun Shooting (https://www.driveatank.com/) www.driveatank.com Who wants a tank? 🤠
Microposts 🎈
Sunday @ 5:51 PM (https://micro.thingelstad.com/2019/08/25/enjoying-northfield-shares.html)
Enjoying Northfield Shares a Dinner (https://northfieldshares.org/news/northfield-shares-a-dinner/) ! 🍽🤝
Sunday @ 5:40 PM (https://micro.thingelstad.com/2019/08/25/thank-you-to.html)
Thank you to all the organizations making Northfield Shares a Dinner (https://northfieldshares.org/news/northfield-shares-a-dinner/) happen!
Sunday @ 5:37 PM (https://micro.thingelstad.com/2019/08/25/had-an-amazing.html)
Had an amazing coffee at the new Little Joy Coffee in Downtown Northfield. Amazing coffee, great shop, and top notch barista! Tim the owner is super knowledgeable about all things coffee. Go here! ☕️
mp-photo-alt[]=mp-photo-alt[]=
Sunday @ 5:08 PM (https://micro.thingelstad.com/2019/08/25/having-dinner-with.html)
Having dinner with the city of Northfield! Thanks to Northfield Shares a Dinner (https://northfieldshares.org/news/northfield-shares-a-dinner/) !
Sunday @ 3:32 PM (https://micro.thingelstad.com/2019/08/25/wiscopop-cherry-soda.html)
Wisco-Pop! Cherry Soda (https://www.wiscopopsoda.com/web-store/cherry-soda-organic) is one of the best sodas I’ve ever had! The cherry flavor is amazing. 🍒
Sunday @ 11:39 AM (https://micro.thingelstad.com/2019/08/25/allergies-hit-me.html)
Allergies hit me like a freight train! Feels early in the year. Time to start the Claritin-D program. 🤧
Sunday @ 9:58 AM (https://micro.thingelstad.com/2019/08/25/good-morning-minnesota.html)
Good morning Minnesota!
Saturday @ 7:17 PM (https://micro.thingelstad.com/2019/08/24/simple-dinner-on.html)
Simple dinner on Big Green Egg tonight. 🔥
Fortune 🥠
You’ve made it all the way to the end! 👏 Here is your fortune for this week.
Do not overtax your powers.
Thank you for subscribing to the Weekly Thing (https://weekly.thingelstad.com/) !
🎈🎈🎈
You received this email at |EMAIL| because you are signed up for the Weekly Thing. Change your email address (|UPDATE_PROFILE|) or unsubscribe (|UNSUB|) .
All content in the Weekly Thing is placed here at my discretion. There is no advertising or promotional content. Links that are featured are found from a variety of sources, and there is no attempt to provide attribution to the source as I would inevitably get it wrong or forget routinely. In some cases links may have affiliate codes associated with them.
This work by Jamie Thingelstad (https://weekly.thingelstad.com/) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) .
|IF:REWARDS| |REWARDS_TEXT| |END:IF|
This work by Jamie Thingelstad is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
My opinions are my own and not those of any affiliates. The content is non-malicious and ad-free, posted at my discretion. Source attribution is omitted due to potential errors. Your privacy is respected; no tracking is in place.