I've been travelling a lot and ill with a cold in the last fortnight which has afforded me plenty of time to consume some things. Here are my highlights.
- Type theory for named arguments by James Colgan. A really interesting deep dive into the what and why of named arguments in both Javascript and Python particularly focussing on JS. Don’t be mislead by the title, there’s no Typescript here! I love articles like this where the title makes it sound sort of scary but the author does a phenomenal job of breaking down the topic and explaining things so crystal clearly. James guides us through the advantages of named arguments and the best times to use them.
- Thoughtworks tech podcast: Welcome to the Fediverse Mastodon has been on a lot of peoples minds of late, this is a great introduction to the tech behind it, how it works and the problems federation is aiming to solve. Thoughtworks have been running their own Mastodon instance for a number of years and on this podcast some of the team talk through what they’ve learned. Listening to this got me really excited about the future of federation and the internet for the first time in years. Recommended for newcomers and veterans of the fediverse alike.
- Lessons of Lucasfilm’s Habitat A very long but interesting article by the wonderfully named Chip Morningstar - one of the developers behind Habitat. Habitat was a pre-web internet based multiplayer game originally released for the Commodore 64. Chips article is retrospective of the project which touches on the tech side but is mainly focussed on the human aspect of creating a virtual reality. As most seasoned developers will understand the tech wasn’t the issue to scaling, it was the people.
- Veggie Soba from Le Petit Keller in Paris, France. Hands down the best thing I’ve eaten this year, maybe ever. If you’re ever passing through Bastille I would highly recommend stopping here. Their sister cave down the road Giclette is well worth a visit too!
- Tarta Relena at St. Pancras Old Church London, England. I bought my Mum tickets for this for Mother’s day and we’ve been hyped about it ever since. We’ve bonded of this Catalonia duos music since I introduced them to her last year. The music really has to be heard to be believe (partly because it sounds rubbish when described and partly because 🤯). A beautiful setting, incredible performance and such powerful music. Easily the best thing in the last 10 years.
- The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa. My colleague Ed recommended this book and as tech arch on our current project Ed’s recommendations have been pretty great so far so I thought I’d give this a read. It’s dreamlike, dystopian, depressing but also brilliant and, like every good book, changes how you receive the world. It may have inspired me to write more things down, like this post.
- November naps by Tayyab Amin. Tayyab Amin is a wonderful writer. I love this post about naps taken in various places in the last month. I’ve been reading so much opinion and Content of late it’s nice to read something that isn’t trying hard to be important or insightful. It’s just about naps.
- Three Salons at the Seaside I loved this sedate documentary about the people working and visiting three Blackpool hair salon’s. There’s no narrative, no lessons being taught, just women talking about their lives and death.