Links, January 3, 2025

Happy new year? Try to survive twenty twenty five. I’ve come to enjoy the winter break period – mostly because everything slows way down and routines are disrupted. I haven’t published these for a few weeks because of a breaking change in Astro 5 and I decided it would be less work to migrate off it. I’m back.

You should watch Silo

As part of this process, speculative fiction can simplify what is otherwise vast and complex, making systems small enough to fit into the cracks of our imaginations.

Silo embarks on both processes with gusto. It wants to talk about social systems, and it wants to talk about power.

I’ll second everything Danilo says here, and add: this show has kept us on the edge of our seat in a way that even LOST didn’t do in its first two seasons.

Mouseless

A shareware macOS app that provides avy-like keyboard control of your mouse. I’m not sold yet, but it’s interesting.

The Sound of Software

Sound in software isn’t inherently bad. It’s just been really badly designed.

This is a great read, though I have a policy of deleting any app that doesn’t let me mute it.

Theory building and why employee churn is lethal to software companies

Many teams in the industry constantly rewrite parts of their code. Not because they keep figuring out better ways of approaching the problem but because nobody on the team has an accurate mental model for how it works and how the code fits in with the rest.

Reading code is often much harder than writing it – it often comes down to context.

Running Away from Quantified Self

For nearly 20 years, I’ve been a dedicated member of the quantified self movement. Most mornings began with checking my sleep quality, each run or ride was meticulously recorded …, and most days ended with a review of my stats.

The act of observation changes the thing being observed.