Work

via Barney Dellar (he/him) (@BarneyDellar@mastodon.scot): “Do you still read the code?” This is a very interesting article on the state of software development, and what it means to write software. https://zanlib.dev/blog/do-you-still-read-the-code/

A familiar state of affairs: teams now share codebases without agreeing on whether anyone is still expected to read the code. Zanlib draws a useful distinction between “accelerators,” who use AI to translate their own understanding into code and stay responsible for it, and “vibe coders,“ who delegate implementation and its revision entirely. The costs of either choice won’t be visible until the code has to survive changes in requirements, tooling, and people.

CodeScene combines static analysis with behavioral analysis of your version-control history to surface the hot spots where technical debt actually costs you — and it scores maintainability with a “CodeHealth” metric that’s validated against defect and delivery data.

via JA Westenberg (@Daojoan@mastodon.social): Stop trying to build for “the algorithm.”

JA Westenberg lays out five rules for making work that actually lands with people instead of blending into the noise. It’s a short, opinionated read about caring enough to be specific, taking a real position, and accepting that work worth remembering won’t please everyone.

via Matt Weagle (@mweagle@hachyderm.io): “Mmmmmmmm, others. The ones who have always stood a little bit outside the system. Who could never quite adjust themselves to the right configuration to fit into the workings. Who have always felt a bit out of place. Who look at the systems, all of them, and wonder, Is this really the best we can do? “

Annie Mueller on how the systems we build to serve a goal eventually grow into mutant beasts whose only real purpose is their own survival — until the people no longer serve the goal, they serve the system. The sharpest part is her taxonomy of how people react when a system is threatened: those who can’t see the system as a system fight for it as if reality itself were crumbling, while those who recognize it as a structure imposed on reality are the only ones with the power to change it.

via Greg Wilson: One of the most useful things I’ve ever found on the web comes from NOAA, and is about dealing with disruptive behaviors in meetings: If you want to post a framed copy on the wall in your office …

via Kevin Stewart: Remote work requires communicating more, less frequently

via Tim Ferriss podcast (shoot, can’t find the episode link now):

Loving the Focused podcast that I happened onto recently.

via kottke.org: Can Everyone Take a Sabbatical? “Sabbaticals also provide …a ‘check against total burnout.’” Feeling very grateful for the support of my readers in taking a sabbatical last year.

Gabriela Riccardi at Quartz: How to frame questions to get honest answers from people you manage

via Kevin Stewart: The Remote Work Differences No One Talks About — Remote Work Prep