Hey, hope you have a great week!
I have a few “big” updates from my personal life:
After 1193 daily essays in a row, I am taking an indefinite pause (quitting). Starting a blog has been the most impactful decision of my life and I am incredibly grateful to each and every one of my readers. A new chapter begins - and I am very excited for what comes next.
I moved to San Francisco!
Enjoy the newsletter.
Articles to Read.
Does the news reflect what we die from?
The media provides a near-instantaneous snapshot of single events; events that are, in most cases, negative. The persistent, large-scale trends of progress never make the headlines.
But is there evidence that such a disconnect exists between what we see in the news and what is reality for most us?
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Love Your Job? Someone May be Taking Advantage of You
Professor Aaron Kay found that people see it as more acceptable to make passionate employees do extra, unpaid, and more demeaning work than they did for employees without the same passion.
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Chinese man made chief in northern Nigeria
In a bid to enhance interaction and business with the Chinese in Kano State, the Emir of Kano, Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II has approved the appointment and instalment of a Chinese man, Mr Mike Zhang, as a chief and leader of the growing Chinese community in the northern Nigerian state.
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The Government Doesn't Like Cashless Stores
Politicians are preventing stores from going fully cashless. Local governments are pushing back against stores becoming completely cashless and accepting digital payments only.
Those in favor of cashless stores - primarily the merchants themselves - bear the extra expense of having to accept cash, such as petty theft, reconciliation, time to deposit, etc.
Those against cashless stores - legislators and activists - argue that banning cash is discriminatory against lower income people who are underbanked and don’t have access to a non cash form of payment. According to the FDIC, roughly 27% of US households are unbanked or underbanked, which is significant.
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Strong Opinions Loosely Held Might be the Worst Idea in Tech
The idea of strong opinions, loosely held is that you can make bombastic statements, and everyone should implicitly assume that you’ll happily change your mind in a heartbeat if new data suggests you are wrong. It is supposed to lead to a collegial, competitive environment in which ideas get a vigorous defense, the best of them survive, and no-one gets their feelings hurt in the process.
On a certain kind of team, where everyone shares that ethos, and there is very little power differential, this can work well. I’ve had the pleasure of working on teams like that, and it is all kinds of fun.
Unfortunately, that ideal is seldom achieved. What really happens? The loudest, most bombastic engineer states their case with certainty, and that shuts down discussion.
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Undervalued Software Engineering Skills: Writing Well
So how can you work on becoming better at writing? Writing clearly, concisely and in a way that is easy to read? As with every skill, it's a matter of being aware of the fundamentals, practicing, getting feedback and repeating.
Being aware of the fundamentals, re-reading your own writing and ruthlessly re-editing is the next step in becoming a better writer. Putting yourself in the shoes of who you write for and asking yourself if you are grabbing their attention early is key. Challenging yourself to deliver the same message in a shorter form and re-writing your content is another. Immediate feedback from services like Grammarly and Readable are helpful. Asking for feedback on your emails and documents from people who you have seen write well is another way to grow.
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Field Notes: Highlights from Huawei
Huawei has about 700 mathematicians, 800 physicists, 120 chemists, six or seven thousand basic research experts, and more than 60,000 engineers. We have compiled more than 15,000 research experts to turn capital investment into knowledge. We have more than 60,000 practical personnel to develop products and turn that same knowledge back into capital [into revenue].
…on domestic [Chinese] public opinion
My family uses Apple’s phones; Apple’s ecology is very good. When family members travel abroad, I would gift them an Apple computer. One can’t narrow-mindedly believe that if you love Huawei then you must only use Huawei mobile phones. At present, public sentiment about Huawei is being spun in one of two ways. The first spin is that if you are patriotic then you should buy Huawei. The other spin is that Huawei has hijacked the patriotic sentiment of the people. [But this is just spin] after all, my own child doesn’t love Huawei [product], my own child loves Apple [product].
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More to Check Out:
- Inside Google's Civil War
- Why the IPO market for consumer startups is stronger than ever
- Player of Game Theory
- Ultimate Math Cheat Sheet
- Satellite data plus artificial intelligence equals no place to hide.
My Update.
As mentioned, I made a big decision and decided to end my 3+ year streak of daily blogging. Very excited for what comes next, will need all the energy/resources at my disposal to will it into existence (and then some).
Spent a few days at home in Arizona, was amazing, as always, spending time with many of my best friends.
I am in SF. Let me know if you are around!
Thanks so much for reading! Find me on twitter : )