WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:18.601 The Weekly Thing, issue 28. Weekly Thing for November 18, twenty seventeen. Published November 18, twenty seventeen. By Jamie Thingelstad. In this issue: Tesla Roadster, Toronto tech rise, Tim Berners-Lee on web, GTD guide, Daniel Kahneman, Atul Gawande, Datasette SQLite API, Firefox Quantum Era. 00:00:19.201 --> 00:01:02.424 This week I decided to jump into the Micro.blog Photo Challenge. This was a 7-day challenge with a theme for each day: Squares, Tasty, On the Move, Up Close, Liquid, Seasonal, and Shadow. I shot all the pictures on the day of the challenge. No dipping into my archive of photos. I also shot them all on my iPhone 7. It was a good reminder of how much I like photography and that I need to make time for creative activities like this. Some of the days were a real challenge with the theme. The last day was shadow, and it was rainy and dreary the entire day. There wasn’t a shadow anywhere. But wait, I can make my own with a flashlight. Some assistance from Mazie with the flashlight and I got my shot. 00:01:02.924 --> 00:01:23.354 Speaking of photos I got my photography website back online this past week. I’m still not loving the theme but it’s okay for now. I think I have some photos left to link up but it’s very workable. I also heard from a number of people that it was not cool to miss a photo in last weeks Weekly Thing, so I'll make sure that doesn't happen again. 00:01:23.854 --> 00:01:52.767 I haven’t written about Micro.blog but I should. I’ve used it exclusively to create all my status messages since it launched. People that follow me on Twitter are seeing a syndication of that content. I no longer author anything on Twitter, so I have full control of my content via Micro.blog. It’s one step away from the dumpster fire of hate known as Twitter. Micro.blog is still requires an invite. I have extra codes if any of you want one send me an email. 00:01:53.267 --> 00:01:55.682 Wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving! 00:01:57.082 --> 00:01:58.393 Now, the Photog section. 00:01:58.993 --> 00:02:09.192 I participated in the Micro.blog Photo Challenge this week. This is my abstract photo for liquid. The CO2 bubbles streak as they charge up and out of the water. 00:02:09.692 --> 00:02:13.889 November 15, twenty seventeen at 7:08 PM Minneapolis MN. 00:02:15.289 --> 00:02:16.620 That's the end of Photog. 00:02:18.020 --> 00:02:19.258 Now, the Links section. 00:02:19.858 --> 00:02:22.762 Link one. Introducing the New Drip, Kickstarter. 00:02:23.262 --> 00:02:43.345 Cool new offering from Kickstarter that is in-line with platforms like Patreon. High quality platforms that can be a means to send financial support to various individuals doing compelling things seem like a good idea. I don't know that they will ever amount to a huge opportunity for creators, but it’s a good channel. 00:02:44.245 --> 00:02:47.024 Link two. Toronto, The Incredible Rise of Tech. 00:02:47.524 --> 00:03:02.857 Promotional but good in-depth article about the rapid growth of the technology sector in Toronto. We have an office in Toronto which has given me a very small glimpse into that city. There are numerous companies looking at opening Toronto locations. 00:03:03.757 --> 00:03:05.365 Link three. Roadster, Tesla. 00:03:05.865 --> 00:03:10.870 Amazing new version of the Tesla Roadster. 0-60 mph in 1.9 seconds! 00:03:11.770 --> 00:03:17.049 Link four. Fly the airplane: Three practices for effective incident response, ITProPortal. 00:03:17.549 --> 00:03:25.926 Key things to consider in incident response to technology issues. I like the callout to Gawande's Checklist Manifesto, a fabulous book! 00:03:26.826 --> 00:03:33.023 Link five. Tim Berners-Lee on the future of the web: 'The system is failing', Technology, The Guardian. 00:03:33.523 --> 00:03:43.712 The inventor of the web is very concerned about the direction things are going. I'd agree with him. We aren't guaranteed a free and open Internet. We have to make that happen. 00:03:44.612 --> 00:03:49.316 Link six. GTD in 15 minutes, A Pragmatic Guide to Getting Things Done. 00:03:49.816 --> 00:03:57.755 Simple, approachable guide to the GTD methodology. I like to keep these around since different people like different overviews. 00:03:58.655 --> 00:04:03.906 Link seven. Highlights from Python Marathon by SPS Commerce in Ukraine, SPS Commerce. 00:04:04.406 --> 00:04:08.650 Cool even that our team in Ukraine organized for Python developers in Kyiv! 00:04:09.550 --> 00:04:12.606 Link eight. Topicbox: modern group email discussions. 00:04:13.106 --> 00:04:21.511 Interesting new offering from Fastmail. I use Fastmail for my personal email. Looks a lot like a message board but tied more tightly to email. 00:04:22.411 --> 00:04:27.787 Link nine. On Being, Daniel Kahneman, Why We Contradict Ourselves and Confound Each Other. 00:04:28.287 --> 00:04:37.978 Kahneman is amazing and I greatly enjoyed his Thinking Fast and Slow. It’s one of those books that keeps coming to mind over and over after you've read it. 00:04:38.878 --> 00:04:42.298 Link ten. On Being, Atul Gawande, What Matters in the End. 00:04:42.798 --> 00:04:51.146 I’m a big fan of Atul Gawande and this episode of On Being is focused on the material in Being Mortal, a book I think everyone should read. 00:04:52.046 --> 00:04:53.942 Link eleven. Containers Podcast. 00:04:54.442 --> 00:05:06.986 Good audio series in the spirit of The Box, which my book club read a long time before I joined. An amazing look into how impactful the containerization of shipping has been on the world. Also on iTunes. 00:05:07.886 --> 00:05:13.249 Link twelve. Datasette: instantly create and publish an API for your SQLite databases. 00:05:13.749 --> 00:05:36.629 This is a really cool project to make public data sets available via a JSON API. Datasette dynamically creates an API for any SQLite database, and there is a handy utility for Python to turn any CSV into a SQLite database. This writeup of making a datasette for Polar Bears is a good overview. Super easy and simple project doing a good thing. Listing of datasettes. 00:05:37.529 --> 00:05:42.304 Link thirteen. How Many Robots Does It Take to Fill a Grocery Order? Bloomberg. 00:05:42.804 --> 00:06:00.125 This is worth looking at just for the video of the robots on an elevated grid or matrix moving around and picking things. I strongly believe we are just seeing the beginning of this type of automation, and this isn't even combined with any intelligence. Employment problems lie ahead. 00:06:01.025 --> 00:06:05.559 Link fourteen. Glitch: write fun small web projects instantly, Julia Evans. 00:06:06.059 --> 00:06:11.598 Overview of Glitch that sounds pretty awesome for doing small web projects and sharing them. 00:06:12.498 --> 00:06:14.431 Link fifteen. Turn off retweets! 00:06:14.931 --> 00:06:27.278 Simple project from Julia Evans that allows you to turn retweets off for everyone you follow on Twitter. i've long wanted a feature on Twitter to do this. Used this right away and all retweets are disabled. 00:06:28.178 --> 00:06:36.537 Link sixteen. Entering the Quantum Era—How Firefox got fast again and where it’s going to get faster, Mozilla Hacks, the Web developer blog. 00:06:37.037 --> 00:07:05.305 I may have to give Firefox a look for the first time in several years. I love the ethos of Firefox, particularly the pro-privacy positions, but the performance has been so bad as to be comical. This is a nice, approachable writeup on how they have focused on performance. Even people that are less technical may find this interesting as it gives a glimpse into how your browser works and the complex processes involved with making software very fast. 00:07:06.705 --> 00:07:07.952 That's the end of Links. 00:07:09.352 --> 00:07:11.357 Now, the Microblog updates section. 00:07:11.957 --> 00:07:16.018 First, micro.blog Photo Challenge, Day 7: Shadow. Einstein. /cc @douglane. 00:07:16.518 --> 00:07:20.178 Second, hanging with @pbacken at #TeamSPS “Hop To It” Brew Off! 00:07:20.678 --> 00:07:24.366 Third, fun (and cold!) #TeamSPS Brew Off today. Tailgate style! 00:07:24.866 --> 00:07:28.434 Fourth, micro.blog Photo Challenge, Day 6: Seasonal. /cc @douglane. 00:07:28.934 --> 00:07:34.829 Fifth, excited for tomorrow’s #TeamSPS Brew Off! Part of our annual United Way campaign. Give back! 00:07:35.329 --> 00:07:39.625 Sixth, micro.blog Photo Challenge, Day 5: Liquid. CO2! /cc @douglanr. 00:07:40.125 --> 00:07:44.722 Seventh, micro.blog Photo Challenge Day 4: Up Close - Espresso! /cc @douglane. 00:07:45.222 --> 00:07:49.228 Eighth, micro.blog Photo Challenge, Day 3: On The Move! /cc @douglane. 00:07:49.728 --> 00:07:56.280 Ninth, got my photography site back online. Still cleanup to do, but fun to see some of my favorite images. 00:07:56.780 --> 00:08:01.675 Tenth, photo Challenge Day 2: Tasty! Smoking pork belly for bacon! /cc @douglane. 00:08:02.175 --> 00:08:09.957 Number 11, after putting more complicated theme in Hugo takes 5.2 sec for 9,970 pages. Still a speed demon. 00:08:10.457 --> 00:08:18.358 Number 12, hugo seems like it would be superior for my website needs in every way. May need to dig in and make it happen. 00:08:18.858 --> 00:08:27.642 Number 13, hugo just generated 8,173 pages in 2.4 seconds. Jekyll takes around 500 seconds to do similar. Whoa. 00:08:28.142 --> 00:08:31.804 Number 14, photo Challenge Day 1: Squares /cc @douglane. 00:08:32.304 --> 00:08:38.423 Number 15, went to a Bat Mitzvah for the first time today and was taken at the beauty of the ceremony! 00:08:39.823 --> 00:08:42.029 That's the end of Microblog updates. 00:08:42.529 --> 00:08:49.601 Thank you for subscribing to the Weekly Thing! If you know of people that would like the Weekly Thing please forward it along! 00:08:51.001 --> 00:08:56.762 That brings us to the end of the Weekly Thing, issue 28. Thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time.