Weeknotes 2024.05

Last week transpired some significant changes coming. I will inform about them soon. It’s not a complete 180, but it comes close. I already had some conversations about getting back into more serious freelancing work and there are a few interesting projects around.

From a coding standpoint the week was mostly in JavaScript land, but that’s OK with me.

Changelog

• Most of the work went into a reimagined Technology Radar. It’s been on my list of projects for way to long and I finally make progress.

Linklog

Technology

• I read the O’Reilly Technology Trends pretty religiously and the 2024 edition is no different. There were a few surprises like the growth of C++, which I attribute to the ongoing discussion of a C++ successor language. Security will become more and more important, both as a general strategy item and in terms of certifications.
• I skipped Nue earlier due to JavaScript framework fatigue, but their announcement of Nuemark made me all ears. On the surface level it looks like Markdoc more generalised and I can spot a few inspirations they likely took. The Markdown based rich authoring experience is alive and kicking.
• Haven’t had the chance to play around with Bun Shell yet, but it seems like a natural progression of the way I mostly use JavaScript these days.
• Apple released a slew of policy updates to what you’re able to do in the EU:
  • Support for game streaming apps (I think this is even world-wide)
  • Sideloading & alternative app stores
  • Access to NFC for payment providers and
  • Custom browser engines.
  • The response is underwhelming. Mozilla is underwhelmed, Epic is underwhelmed, DHH is underwhelmed.
  • Nobody has won on the issues. Not Apple, not the developers and most definitely not the end users. Apple had the chance to get one of the major stains cleaned up, but their response makes them look like a petulant child and definitely not a company that learned humility from the time when it wasn’t the big fish.
• As a George Carlin fan myself, I was not interested in that comedy podcast special which sparked controversy, whether it was AI or not.
• I almost forgot about Lottie! Luckily Spotify reminded me in their unwrapping of Spotify Wrapped.
• The Mac turned 40. Holy caramba! That Color Classic II is still one of my favourite Mac designs.
• The Open Source Sustainability Crisis. This can’t be solved without incentivising the industry at large to deal with this. And incentivising can only happen if there is a downside to being an open source leech. I’m looking forward to the next instalment that will discuss that topic. (via)

Mental Health

• Brain inflammation linked to increased suicidal behaviors. Finding a biomarker could be a huge thing.

Automotive

• That new Porsche Macan 😍. I’m not really a fan of SUVs in general, but this one looks sweeeeet. So here is Porsche, showing others not only how to move one of the most successful models in their line-up to EV only, but also how to build an SUV that doesn’t suck.

Politics

• The doomsday clock stays at 90 seconds to midnight, which I admit also comes to me as a surprise.

That leaves me just one thing to say: stay positive and hopeful!