Interesting Things #53 — Five koans

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!

#tech

Five Koans of Software Architecture — Random advice I find myself repeating a lot. (hn)

How Cryptocurrency Gave Birth to the Ransomware Epidemic — Ransomware gangs are targeting everyone from large and small businesses and government agencies to hospitals and schools. (hn)

A Self-Inflicted Data Breach — A look at Stack Exchange’s 2013 data breach. How it happened and it’s impact. (hn)

How I’m Using SNI Proxying and IPv6 to Share Port 443 Between Webapps — I hate HTTP reverse proxies and want my webapps to listen directly on port 443. How can I make this work in a world of IPv4 scarcity? (hn)

Feds Uncover a ‘Swiss Army Knife’ for Hacking Industrial Control Systems — The malware toolkit, known as Pipedream, is perhaps the most versatile tool ever made to target critical infrastructure like power grids and oil refineries. (hn)

Razer-designed Linux laptop targets AI developers with deep-learning emphasis — A Linux clamshell in Razer clothing. (hn)

Watch People Doing the Thing — I’ve learned so much from watching other people code. (hn)

JavaScript function composition: What’s the big deal? — Function composition is not complicated. You probably use it all the time, whether you realise it or not. (hn)

A slice of life: table partitioning in PostgreSQL databases — Learn to implement table partitioning in PostgreSQL databases and explore common problems and pitfalls. (hn)

A Web Renaissance — Thanks to the mistrust of big tech, better tools for developers, and the weird and wonderful creativity of ordinary people, the web is thriving again. (hn)

Researchers Gain New Understanding From Simple AI — Language processing programs are notoriously hard to interpret, but smaller versions can provide important insights into how they work. (hn)

#work

The Most Important Performance Management Rule For Software Engineers — Merge code every week. That’s what you should be saying to your new Software Engineer hire. (hn)

#business

What is Interchange? How Fintechs Earn Revenue from Credit and Debit Cards — Explore the economics of interchange fees, their role in the payments market, and how founders can earn interchange by offering card products. (hn)

Early Security for Startups (Mar 2022) — What to do if a startup does not have a security team? (hn)

#science

Researchers control brain circuits from a distance using infrared light — The first non-invasive technique for controlling targeted brain circuits in behaving animals from a distance. (hn)

Study helps explain how xanthan gum, a common food additive, is processed in the gut — Eating processed foods can alter the gut microbiome. (hn)

Deep Learning Poised to ‘Blow Up’ Famed Fluid Equations — For centuries, mathematicians have tried to prove that Euler’s fluid equations can produce nonsensical answers. (hn)

Is a virus we all have causing multiple sclerosis? — Scientists think they have now uncovered a mystery cause of this incurable disease. (hn)

Solar energy can now be stored for up to 18 years, say scientists — The future of solar has just got brighter with this ‘ultra-thin’ device for converting stored energy into electricity. (hn)

#society

Why thinking about inflation leads to more inflation — America is dealing with its worst inflation in nearly 40 years. It could get worse if inflationary psychology takes hold. (hn)

The mystery of the miracle year — An interesting pattern recurs across the career of great scientists: a miracle year in which they make multiple, seemingly independent breakthroughs. (hn)

Are You Really Muted?: A Privacy Analysis of Mute Buttons in Video Conferencing Apps — What happens to the microphone data when a user clicks the mute button? (hn)

Who’s in Your Wallet? — A visual essay about the famous figures who represent today’s currencies around the world. (hn)

#random

Onoda: The man who hid in the jungle for 30 years — A new film tells the strange story of Japan’s controversial WW2 hero. (hn)

The best fiction in recent times — Here are my picks, in no particular order. (hn)

#end

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Enjoy your reading and have a good day, Beng