Interesting Things #38 — SSRF

Hi,

This is Beng Tan and welcome to Interesting Things, a curation of interesting stories and links from tech, work, biz, science and society.

Happy reading!

#2022

2022 Predictions — How do I become a better decision maker? (hn)

Looking Forward: Some Predictions for 2022 — As we approach the end of the year, let’s look ahead at some trends and predictions for 2022. (hn)

2021 in review — What I read, wrote, said and did this year. (hn)

#tech

Fixing the Unfixable: Story of a Google Cloud SSRF — What came after reporting the issue was just as instructive as the bug itself. (hn)

What is Engineering Enablement? — A new title that provides a more accurate description of a role or team that is already available in many organizations. (hn)

How to emulate a quantum computer using PostgreSQL — What we really need to know about emulating a quantum computer, is that it’s all about matrix multiplication. (hn)

Deep Learning Can’t be Trusted Brain Modelling Pioneer Says — Deep learning is untrustworthy because it is not explainable and can experience catastrophic forgetting. (hn)

A thesis: large, significant open source projects must keep moving or die — They need to be moving forward in order to attract and keep the developers who will do the necessary work of fixing bugs. (hn)

Why aren’t the most useful Mac apps on the App Store? (Dec 2021) — A case study into developing an app for the Mac App Store, and all the limitations I ran into while doing that. (hn)

Libadwaita 1.0 — Libadwaita is a GTK 4 library implementing the GNOME HIG, complementing GTK. Version 1.0 has been released just at the end of the year. (hn)

#work

A memo from the boss on apology inflation — The sources of sorry. (hn)

Good-bye, Goldman Sachs — Getting a job there was a dream. The pandemic changed my perspective. (hn)

#business

99 [Startup] Problems — The initial problems that inspired the biggest companies in technology. (hn)

I make a fortune buying up abandoned shipping containers — There’s even a goldmine in a box of 50,000 faulty breast implants. (hn)

#science

Did a Cuttlefish Write This? (Jul 2021) — Scientists are making the case that cuttlefish hold the key to unlocking evolutionary secrets about intelligence. (hn)

The Country Gentleman of Physics — Julian Barbour’s ideas about time and the universe have always roamed free of academia. (hn)

Burn, baby, burn: the new science of metabolism (Oct 2021) — Losing weight may be tough, but keeping it off is tougher. Just not for the reasons you might think. (hn)

#society

A Digital Manhunt: How Chinese Police Track Critics on Twitter and Facebook — Authorities in China have turned to sophisticated investigative software to track and silence obscure critics on overseas social media. (hn)

100 ways to slightly improve your life without really trying (hn)

A Neuroscientist Prepares for Death — Lessons my terminal cancer has taught me about the mind. (hn)

#end

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Enjoy your reading and have a good day, Beng