Links by Friday 017 - Don't be the best
LBF is 5 links each week. I find it to be a nice sweet number. It makes it feel more like a kopitiam than a large food court.
It could be me getting old but recently I'm finding myself reaching out to the world less. I don't want to connect with people I don't know rather, I want to keep the connections I have - close friends, family. I long for a slow life, as a result I've been reading RSS feeds more and reaching for Threads or Mastodon less.
On to this week's issue, in a first, I'm linking to Kottke. I know. But it's for a good reason.
Interview with Ken Thompson
Ken Thompson is the co-creator of Unix and the C programming language. In the interview he shares a bit about how he thinks, how he is able to build simple yet powerful systems.
https://www.cs.princeton.edu/courses/archive/spring03/cs333/thompsonMy experience and some of my friends' experience is that Linux is quite unreliable. Microsoft is really unreliable but Linux is worse. In a non-PC environment, it just won't hold up. If you're using it on a single box, that's one thing. But if you want to use Linux in firewalls, gateways, embedded systems, and so on, it has a long way to go.
Breaking down Tasks
A Task is a sufficiently defined, complete piece of work that delivers change.
Sufficiently defined because tasks need some sort of clear outline of what’s required; “work on stuff” isn’t a task.
Complete because a task needs to encompass all of the work required. The “cut down tree” task isn’t complete if you’ve only fetched the chainsaw.
Delivers change because, in a work context, a task only “matters” if something is different because of the work.
https://jacobian.org/2024/mar/11/breaking-down-tasks
Write. Write for Yourself
So, yeah, it’s true that the world doesn’t need you to write and share and publish. Isn’t that liberating? You’re free to write and share and publish for yourself.
Adactio: Journal—What the world needs
Write for yourself.
Don't Be the Best, Be the Only
There’s a point in your work/career/journey when you reach an escape velocity of sorts from your peers and the world around you. What you offer to others is just different enough that you become your own category of one: nothing but you will do.
Don’t Be the Best. Be the Only.
I’ve been dipping in and out of Kevin Kelly’s Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I’d Known Earlier for t
Create More
In other words, a small dose of daily creativity is good for us. It can help us become more present, less anxious, and much more fulfilled. And as I continue to learn more about the mental health benefits of creativity, I realize now how the simple habit of writing every day has boosted my self-esteem, given me a sense of purpose, and formed a buffer for emotional release.
Create More Than You Consume if You Want to Worry Less and Feel More Fulfilled — OMAR ITANI
The problem with too much consumption is that it can leave us feeling utterly empty inside. Ironically, it creates something: One big void. A small dose of creativity is good for us. It can help us become more present, less anxious, and much more fulfilled. And it doesn't take much to live a creativ
That's it, see you next time.