The Weekly Review: Vol VI Issue 23
Hello friends,
Here we are just past winter solstice (for the northern hemisphere). And that is good news for we are headed back towards the sun and longer days. But this period is not so bad as we’re in the midst of all the holiday celebrations and traditions.
I hope you are surrounded by friends or family or both and are enjoying traditions of your own.
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People First Jobs
I’m working a little over the holidays, but my big focus for the past several weeks was put out into the world this past week. A super small team-within-a-team at Wildbit launched People First Jobs.
What is it? Essentially, it’s a new kind of job board — one that is focused on helping people find jobs with companies that take a balanced approach to work.
A backlash against the valley mentality and always-on hustle has been in full swing for a while. While there are still a lot of people idolizing the Gary V mentality, there are plenty more who recognize that people do their best when they have a full overall life, not just a fulfilling career. We want to help people find jobs that support this vision.
Chris Nagele, one of the co-founders of Wildbit, described it like this in his intro post:
More and more people are searching for a place where they can do incredible work at a reasonable pace, with a team that cares deeply about their success and craft. The problem is, we don’t hire often and don’t always have an opening. Instead of turning them away, we want to create a list of like-minded companies who have job openings.
I’ve often had people reach out and share their admiration for Wildbit, but we’re a small team who doesn’t hire all that often. People First Jobs is a way for us to say, “We’re not hiring right now, but here are some other great places to work.” We’ve got a lot of work to do in refining exactly how to define traits of a healthy workplace (it can look slightly different from one team to another) and how to validate what companies say.
But I’m super excited about the response we’ve had and where we’re going to go with this in 2020. If you’re looking for a healthier work environment, subscribe to get updates on the companies we add and the jobs they’re looking to fill.
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Items of note
I missed this earlier in the fall, but Robin Sloan shared his impressions of the reboot of Fortnite when Epic Games launched Chapter 2. What caught his attention? The look, the feel, the atmosphere of it.
Now, the island has grown up. A few landmarks remain, planted in new locations like scattered seeds, but the terrain is totally different, and it’s the terrain that is the star. The new island’s geography is softer, more natural. Mountains flow into moraine. Hills flatten into meadows. Draws empty into creeks. In those creeks—there are ponds and lakes, too—you can swim, as well as fish, and it’s here that the soul of the new game shows most clearly. Dropped into a hundred-player melee, danger on every side, is it foolish to pause beside a stream, put aside your weapon, and cast a line? Possibly. But it’s a big island, and sometimes you find yourself alone. The new environment is plainly pastoral. There’s more open space. The farms have become more detailed, with apple orchards and rows of trellised tomatoes. Butterflies dance in the meadows.
I very much agree with this sentiment and enjoyed the change in the feel (although I still end up with a racing heart as I struggle to get in a head shot with my tactical shotgun). It’s a good mix of calm and chaotic action.
He finishes:
From the first wash of pixels, it was obvious: this new place was simpler and softer. Wide open. Unburdened.
Agreed.
I love the latest update of Things from the Cultured Code team. The overall gist is that it’s a lot easier to find things in this version. They’ve added small touches like showing recent items or including headers in search results.
But the best addition for me were the newer categories.
This is a nice update that makes an already great product even more enjoyable.
Trump Should Be Removed from Office
Politics is not something I talk about much here. I don’t talk much about it anywhere. But as a Canadian watching things unfold south of the border over the past several years, I thought this article from Christianity Today was interesting. It seems politics is also not something this publication writes about often:
The typical CT approach is to stay above the fray and allow Christians with different political convictions to make their arguments in the public square, to encourage all to pursue justice according to their convictions and treat their political opposition as charitably as possible. We want CT to be a place that welcomes Christians from across the political spectrum, and reminds everyone that politics is not the end and purpose of our being. We take pride in the fact, for instance, that politics does not dominate our homepage.
If you think that’s not true, let me know. I don’t follow this publication, so I cannot verify the accuracy of the claim.
But in this issue of the magazine, they’ve voiced their opinion:
The reason many are not shocked about [his misuse of power] is that this president has dumbed down the idea of morality in his administration. He has hired and fired a number of people who are now convicted criminals. He himself has admitted to immoral actions in business and his relationship with women, about which he remains proud. His Twitter feed alone—with its habitual string of mischaracterizations, lies, and slanders—is a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused.
The article caught my attention because I haven’t seen larger, well known Christian groups denounce Trump. But again, it’s not something I read much about in general. Since the article was posted, there has been a furor of response — some for, some against. Enough so that the president of the organization followed up.
Anyway, that is the last time I’ll reference politics for the next five years 😅
I tried to hack my insomnia with technology. Here’s what worked.
Charlotte Jee shares her experiences with sleep issues and what helped her overcome those problems (and what did not help). Se describes how the problem developed:
I developed insomnia. I tossed and turned, night after night. The more I chased sleep, the more it seemed to elude me. At its worst, I felt I’d had virtually no sleep for almost two weeks. In the end I had to take sleeping medication for almost a month to knock me back into the semblance of a proper routine. Fast-forward to today, and although I generally sleep well, insomnia still sometimes comes back to haunt me.
The article interested me for several reasons. One is that sleep is something I’ve put a higher priority on the past two years. It has received higher priority than forms of evening entertainment, but also creative endeavours (like writing a newsletter) in the early morning. So when she discusses the use of technology to track sleep, I perked up. And she summarizes the various options here:
But unless a device is monitoring your brain activity, it cannot actually tell what stage of sleep you are in, says psychologist Elizabeth Woodward. Rings, watches, or mats, which use movement as a proxy, simply aren’t reliable enough.
As I mentioned recently, I’ve been interested in the sleep updates Polar has made. But I do wonder about just how accurate and helpful this info can be.
One last point about this article: what worked best for her was CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy). As our family has dealt with various mental health issues, CBT has been a key tool for us. It doesn’t solve all problems, but it sure can improve your overall mental health.
And, it turns out, it can help with sleep too.
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Quote of the week
Two quotes this week, both from the same source. Jenny Odell in How to Do Nothing.
In the context of health and ecology, things that grow unchecked are often considered parasitic or cancerous.
I love this thought, a counter to the grow-at-all-costs mentality of venture capital and Silicon Valley.
Our aimless and desperate expressions on these platforms don’t do much for us, but they are hugely lucrative for advertisers and social media companies, since what drives the machine is not the content of information but the rate of engagement.
This quote really caught my attention as I was going through the book. Indeed, the machine does not drive on information, but how we interact with it. And how easily I’m sucked into always looking for more information instead of doing the hard work of making more with the information I’ve already found.
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Currently
Reading: I just started Ancillary Justice from Ann Leckie. So far, so good. Also, I’m determined to get through the swath of newsletters that have built up in Stoop.
Listening: Lots and lots of Christmas tunes. I updated my playlist from last year and quite enjoy the mix. But my taste runs towards the classic old white guy stuff (Perry Como is still my fave), so be warned.
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That’s it for this issue. If you celebrate Christmas, may your day be a wonderful one!