WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:18.576 The Weekly Thing, issue 39. Weekly Thing for February 3, twenty eighteen. Published February 3, twenty eighteen. By Jamie Thingelstad. In this issue: Python in Pythonista, Network Effects Manual, multitasking meetings, Micro.blog versus App.net, quitting Twitter, Chaos Engineering, Apple Watch. 00:00:19.176 --> 00:00:54.674 I've been thinking that making links easier to go through would be an improvement to the Weekly Thing, both for you the reader, and for me the author! I've had to manually deal with blockquotes that I put into the links (and sometimes miss some). I figured out how to move the links section to some Python code in Pythonista and with that I got it to format the content better (yeah for me!) and even better I now put the links into groups by topics! This will make it easier for you the reader to see what you like, and importantly, skip what isn't interesting to you. 00:00:56.074 --> 00:00:57.353 Now, the Photo section. 00:00:57.953 --> 00:01:07.342 The Kubbchucks made our sixth annual appearance at the largest winter Kubb tournament in the world! We enjoyed a day of throwing wood on frozen Lake Calhoun! 00:01:07.842 --> 00:01:12.990 January 27, twenty eighteen at 11:57 AM Lake Calhoun, Minneapolis, MN. 00:01:14.390 --> 00:01:15.635 That's the end of Photo. 00:01:17.035 --> 00:01:18.513 Now, the Business section. 00:01:19.113 --> 00:01:23.279 The Network Effects Manual: 13 Different Network Effects (and counting). 00:01:23.779 --> 00:01:29.782 Long article that goes into classifying the different types of network effects that businesses can achieve. 00:01:30.282 --> 00:01:50.363 Quote. Our three-year study, which we released recently, shows that nfx are responsible for 70% of the value created by tech companies since the Internet became a thing in 1994. Even though they are only a minority of companies, companies with nfx end up creating the lion’s share of the value. End quote. 00:01:50.863 --> 00:01:59.254 Understanding if you have a network effect is neat, but the type of network effect is critical to understanding how to take full advantage of it. 00:01:59.754 --> 00:02:03.611 Old School Management Techniques That Still Matter | Robert Blogs Here. 00:02:04.111 --> 00:02:15.202 Quote. In response to my expert fatigue, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite old school management techniques. Included are the stories of the folks that told me about them. End quote. 00:02:15.702 --> 00:02:20.118 Some good stuff in here to adopt and fold into your management practices. 00:02:20.618 --> 00:02:23.589 If You Multitask During Meetings, Your Team Will, Too. 00:02:24.089 --> 00:02:28.851 Interesting to see some analysis on being distracted in meetings and the tone it sets. 00:02:29.351 --> 00:02:44.137 Quote. This sends the signal, “It’s OK to not pay attention.” Managers that frequently send emails during meetings are, according to our analysis, are 2.2 times more likely to have direct reports who also multi-task in meetings. End quote. 00:02:44.637 --> 00:02:53.075 This makes a lot of sense. I try to stay focused and not get distracted in meetings, and this gives even more reason to make that a priority. 00:02:54.475 --> 00:02:55.928 That's the end of Business. 00:02:57.328 --> 00:02:58.979 Now, the Meditation section. 00:02:59.579 --> 00:03:02.147 Mental Noting: Insight Meditation Center. 00:03:02.647 --> 00:03:07.592 I've been exploring meditation and through that have gotten some exposure to mental noting. 00:03:08.092 --> 00:03:29.500 Quote. In contrast to most thinking, noting is not discursive. It does not involve analysis or judgment. Rather, we simply give our current experience a one-word label. For example, upon hearing a sound we note ‘hearing’ without thinking further about the sound. Other common mental notes are ‘seeing’, ‘touching’, ‘feeling’, and ‘thinking’. End quote. 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:39.360 I've found this to be an interesting technique and even apply it to thoughts beyond meditation. I’m a novice to be sure at it but the concept is interesting. 00:03:40.760 --> 00:03:42.378 That's the end of Meditation. 00:03:43.778 --> 00:03:45.279 Now, the Programming section. 00:03:45.879 --> 00:03:50.088 Stimulus: A modest JavaScript framework for the HTML you already have. 00:03:50.588 --> 00:03:54.727 This looks pretty handy. Small and lightweight, very easy to implement. 00:03:55.227 --> 00:04:11.378 Quote. Stimulus is a JavaScript framework with modest ambitions. It doesn't seek to take over your entire front-end—in fact, it's not concerned with rendering HTML at all. Instead, it's designed to augment your HTML with just enough behavior to make it shine. End quote. 00:04:12.778 --> 00:04:14.129 That's the end of Programming. 00:04:15.529 --> 00:04:17.090 Now, the Social Media section. 00:04:17.690 --> 00:04:20.588 inessential: Why Micro.blog is Not Another App.net. 00:04:21.088 --> 00:04:34.404 I've been a Micro.blog user since launch and that is where my microblog is managed. I love this writeup on why micro.blog is architectural not just another social network. It’s actually something fundamentally different. 00:04:34.904 --> 00:04:39.267 With teen mental health deteriorating over five years, there's a likely culprit. 00:04:39.767 --> 00:04:59.613 Quote. What happened so that so many more teens, in such a short period of time, would feel depressed, attempt suicide and commit suicide? After scouring several large surveys of teens for clues, I found that all of the possibilities traced back to a major change in teens’ lives: the sudden ascendance of the smartphone. End quote. 00:05:00.113 --> 00:05:04.224 Oh no. It is really hard to separate the smartphone and social media. 00:05:04.724 --> 00:05:10.964 Quote. Those who avoided Facebook reported feeling less depressed at the end of the week. End quote. 00:05:11.464 --> 00:05:13.600 Twitter Quitter - curtclifton.net. 00:05:14.100 --> 00:05:16.306 Hey look, more people quitting Twitter. 00:05:16.806 --> 00:05:30.778 Quote. After some reflection, I’ve concluded that even posting to Twitter is just providing content to a platform for hate and anger. I can’t fix that problem, but I can stop contributing to the platform. And so I will. End quote. 00:05:31.278 --> 00:05:33.639 This is the argument that I can't square myself. 00:05:34.139 --> 00:05:37.367 I Quit Twitter and It Feels Great - The New York Times. 00:05:37.867 --> 00:05:40.257 A high-profile Twitter user signing off. 00:05:40.757 --> 00:05:52.965 Quote. I’m frequently approached by colleagues, usually women, who ask me about quitting Twitter with hushed titillation, as if I’ve escaped a cult or broken a particularly seductive taboo. End quote. 00:05:54.365 --> 00:05:56.174 That's the end of Social Media. 00:05:57.574 --> 00:05:58.773 Now, the Tech section. 00:05:59.373 --> 00:06:02.270 The full-time job of keeping up with Kubernetes. 00:06:02.770 --> 00:06:09.989 Good dive into the Kubernetes release philosophy and various approaches to keeping up with the pace, or choosing not to. 00:06:10.489 --> 00:06:13.489 The Data Warehouse Built for the Cloud | Snowflake. 00:06:13.989 --> 00:06:18.295 We've been doing some testing with this and the performance has been very impressive! 00:06:18.795 --> 00:06:20.711 Principles of Chaos Engineering. 00:06:21.211 --> 00:06:24.720 Reminds me of the Agile Manifesto, but for Chaos Engineering. 00:06:25.220 --> 00:06:37.313 Quote. Chaos Engineering is the discipline of experimenting on a distributed system in order to build confidence in the system’s capability to withstand turbulent conditions in production. End quote. 00:06:37.813 --> 00:06:40.877 Above Avalon: Apple Watch Is a Bridge to the Future. 00:06:41.377 --> 00:06:51.049 Interesting theory on how Apple may be thinking about the Apple Watch and the wearable space. Seems pretty far fetched to me but thought provoking either way. 00:06:51.549 --> 00:06:52.125 Regexper. 00:06:52.625 --> 00:06:57.691 Yet another regular expression tool in your browser. This one has a cool visual aspect. 00:06:58.191 --> 00:07:15.519 Quote. The images generated by Regexper are commonly referred to as "Railroad Diagrams". These diagram are a straight-forward way to illustrate what can sometimes become very complicated processing in a regular expression, with nested looping and optional elements. End quote. 00:07:16.919 --> 00:07:18.024 That's the end of Tech. 00:07:19.424 --> 00:07:20.782 Now, the Culture section. 00:07:21.382 --> 00:07:24.463 Empathy Mapping: The First Step in Design Thinking. 00:07:24.963 --> 00:07:28.625 Wow, this is pretty interesting and seems like it would be useful. 00:07:29.125 --> 00:07:41.667 Quote. Visualizing user attitudes and behaviors in an empathy map helps UX teams align on a deep understanding of end users. The mapping process also reveals any holes in existing user data. End quote. 00:07:42.167 --> 00:07:56.471 In the DevOps movement there is a lot of discussion of empathy. I've personally put teams or projects together to specifically encourage developing empathy. A tool that you can use to map out empathy seems like it would be very useful. 00:07:57.871 --> 00:07:59.093 That's the end of Culture. 00:08:00.493 --> 00:08:01.829 Now, the Games section. 00:08:02.429 --> 00:08:07.637 Nintendo reveals Mario Kart Tour for smartphones, Switch Online details —Six Colors. 00:08:08.137 --> 00:08:25.065 love Love everything here! Mario Kart coming to iOS is an instant-buy for me — I just wish it was coming sooner! I also love the idea of the Switch Online plan including access to virtual "classic games". Given Nintendo's catalog that could be great and the price seems very reasonable! 00:08:26.465 --> 00:08:27.675 That's the end of Games. 00:08:29.075 --> 00:08:30.375 Now, the Funny section. 00:08:30.975 --> 00:08:33.937 Welcome to Minnesota: A Primer - Surly Brewing Co. 00:08:34.437 --> 00:08:38.483 Very funny introduction to Minnesota for Super Bowl visitors from Surly. 00:08:38.983 --> 00:08:56.325 Quote. Welcome to Minnesota. You probably have a lot of questions. We don’t blame you. It’s cold (it’s been colder, as someone already told you) and there are giant piles of snow and people keep talking about “Juicy Lucy” and you don’t even know a Lucy. Here’s what we can tell you. End quote. 00:08:57.725 --> 00:08:58.801 That's the end of Funny. 00:09:00.201 --> 00:09:01.968 Now, the Productivity section. 00:09:02.568 --> 00:09:05.375 Omni Roadmap twenty eighteen - The Omni Group. 00:09:05.875 --> 00:09:18.806 Half of this twenty eighteen roadmap for Omni Group is about the future of OmniFocus! love I'll be one of the first to upgrade. I like all that they are adding here! Wonder why the Apple Watch isn't on this list. 00:09:19.306 --> 00:09:23.924 Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment. 00:09:24.424 --> 00:09:25.412 by Robert Wright. 00:09:25.912 --> 00:09:37.025 From one of America’s greatest minds, a journey through psychology, philosophy, and lots of meditation to show how Buddhism holds the key to moral clarity and enduring happiness. 00:09:37.525 --> 00:09:51.629 I've just started into this book but I'm already pretty excited about it. This topic is interesting to me and I'm looking forward to learning more. Even better, this is my book club read for the month and I'm eager to discuss it at our next meeting! 00:09:52.129 --> 00:09:55.036 First, the Cactus Blossoms at the Turf Club. So good! 00:09:55.536 --> 00:10:05.245 Second, first run with the Sous Vide worked great! Perfectly done tenderloins that were incredibly flavorful! Now I know what the steakhouses I like are doing! 00:10:05.745 --> 00:10:09.369 Third, first run with the Sous Vide. Making beef tenderloin. 00:10:09.869 --> 00:10:20.704 Fourth, when you clean that black crud out of the bottom of your espresso machine’s portafilter it makes you pause a moment on what you are drinking — and then you make another espresso. 00:10:21.204 --> 00:10:31.551 Fifth, sunday morning project: Figured out how to connect Workflow and Pythonista and rewrote the links section of the Weekly Thing in Python so I can structure it better. 00:10:32.051 --> 00:10:32.789 Sixth, I win! 00:10:33.289 --> 00:10:34.713 Seventh, ticket to Ride! 00:10:35.213 --> 00:10:40.469 Eighth, kubbchucks went 3-2 in morning round robin. Onto afternoon round robin! 00:10:40.969 --> 00:10:43.013 Ninth, kubb on frozen Lake Calhoun! 00:10:43.513 --> 00:10:46.508 Tenth, winter Kubb at its finest. Nice sunny day. 00:10:47.008 --> 00:10:51.130 Number 11, kubbchucks at our sixth Minnesota Kubb at the Loppet! 00:10:51.630 --> 00:10:55.576 Number 12, eric Goplin kicking off Minnesota Kubb tournament! 00:10:56.076 --> 00:10:58.380 Number 13, winter Kubb basecamp! 00:10:58.880 --> 00:11:02.152 Number 14, warming up for a day of winter Kubb! 00:11:02.652 --> 00:11:09.674 Number 15, excited to head to the world’s largest winter Kubb tournament at the Loppet today! Go Kubbchucks! 00:11:11.074 --> 00:11:12.906 That's the end of Productivity. 00:11:13.406 --> 00:11:20.479 Thank you for subscribing to the Weekly Thing! If you know of people that would like the Weekly Thing please forward it along! 00:11:21.879 --> 00:11:28.283 That brings us to the end of the Weekly Thing, issue 39. Thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time.