blog/content/links/20200611.md

+++
title = "Commented Links for 2020-06-11"
date = 2020-06-11

[taxonomies]
tags = ["links", "python", "infrastructure", "pong", "elm", "alan kay",
"objects", "paywalls", "brave", "notes", "rust", "writing", "concepts", "css",
"algorithms"]
+++

Infrastructure as (Python) Code, Pong in Elm, Alan Kay and Objects, Paywalls,
Brave, Note Taking, Rust From Scratch, Writing, 51 Concepts You Should Know,
MAD in CSS, Magic Algorithms.

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## [Why you should try pyinfra](https://pointlessramblings.com/posts/Why_You_Should_Try_pyinfra/)

I've been, for some time, postponing creating an
[Ansible](https://www.ansible.com/) playbook to set up my DigitalOcean droplet
-- for no real reason besides I'm lazy -- and now there is this pure-Python
way to set up an environment, and now I'll probably not start two set ups --
again, because I'm lazy.

## [Recreating Pong for the Web with Elm](https://dev.to/bijanbwb/recreating-pong-for-the-web-with-elm-2bi8)

There is something deeply satisfying in reading a tutorial that takes from the
very start and explain every little step needed.

I just miss the "If you do this, it won't work/will crash" parts.

## [Alan Kay Did Not Invent Objects](https://www.hillelwayne.com/post/alan-kay/)

Ah, I just love this kind of discussion, that goes over and over and over -- I
basically had to hear that every time I went to the local Elixir Meetup.

The gist is: When Alan Kay was talking about "object-oriented design", he was
talking about the communication between objects, not about encapsulation,
inheritance and so on.

## [Problems With Paywalls](https://slatestarcodex.com/2020/06/04/problems-with-paywalls/)

Some of the words in the post are quite strong -- "I would be happier in a
world where major newspapers ceased to exist, compared to the world where they
exist but their articles are paywalled" -- but the actual point being made is
quite true: Paywalled content usually take a route of "let me twist your
imagination/curiosity so you pay to actually see the content". And maybe the
content was produced _only_ for taking your curiosity and produce absolutely
nothing of actual research or content.

At the same point, if content was actually good, based on research, and had
actual content that would live on (and not something that was interesting for
this week only and would be completely forgotten in the next), then paywalling
content would be worth paying.

## [The Brave web browser is hijacking links, and inserting affiliate codes](https://davidgerard.co.uk/blockchain/2020/06/06/the-brave-web-browser-is-hijacking-links-and-inserting-affiliate-codes/)

That was not the first time Brave was caught doing something morally
questionable with users content. At some point, one would wonder if they
share a referral link to some service to a friend -- say, taking advantage of
some rewards on DigitalOcean, for example -- and instead of giving some reward
to them, it give it to the Brave company so they can run their servers.

In a way, it just shows how hard it is to produce a browser these days, even
if you take some previously existing codebase and improve it. But doing
morally questionable actions also seem the way of most companies take about
the internet these days...

## [Zettelkasten note-taking in 10 minutes](https://blog.viktomas.com/posts/slip-box/)

I've been thinking about a way to improve my note-taking workflow, so the
knowledge is not completely lost. And a lot about this "Zettelkasten" way of
taking notes is appearing on my timeline from time to time.

So it is nice that a simple introduction exists, although I still have to
start doing it so.

## [Zero To Production #1: Setup - Toolchain, IDEs, CI](https://www.lpalmieri.com/posts/2020-06-06-zero-to-production-1-setup-toolchain-ides-ci/)

If you're interested in Rust but have no idea how to start or where to go,
Luca Palmieri is writing a "book" about the whole process.

## [How We Write](https://blog.griffin.sh/2020/06/05/how-we-write/)

Tips on how to write gooder[^1]. The tips are pretty precise and direct.

## [50 Ideas That Changed My Life](https://www.perell.com/blog/50-ideas-that-changed-my-life)

Not much as "ideas", but more like "concepts".

Also, as any good list, there are 51 concepts, not just 50.

## [The Mad Magazine Fold-In Effect in CSS](https://thomaspark.co/2020/06/the-mad-magazine-fold-in-effect-in-css/)

Ah, the last page of MAD. I do remember trying over and over to make the
folding correct, so the proper picture would appear. It's kind obvious that,
once we automated stuff, there should be a way to do this.

On the other hand, I have the same opinion about the same very complex CSS
example: Ok, now center the text in this box.

## [Algorithm is the Problem, Not Mark Zuckerberg](https://interconnected.blog/algorithm-is-the-problem-not-mark-zuckerberg/)

Ok, let's discuss this for a bit: The one showing people that COVID is a
Chinese government weapon gone rogue, racism is not a problem and white people
also suffer racism, and decapitating statues is wrong is not Zuckerberg doing,
but "the algorithm".

Here is the problem, though: Although Zuckerberg was not the one who created
"the algorithm", people who work for him did. Also, "the algorithm" didn't
simply appear and decided what do you like, someone put it there. This is what
most people get wrong about artificial intelligence and "algorithms": They
don't simply appear, someone put things there and they act towards what that
person put there.

Take, for example, the fact that Google was tagging black people as "gorillas"
in their Photos. It was _not_ a "problem with the algorithm"; someone working
at Google decided black people weren't import enough to add them in the
training set -- worse, that person (or group of people) didn't even though
that adding black people in the training set was something worth or even
missing.

This is not the algorithm, is people. People are behind every single "magic"
algorithm out there.

And although Zuckerberg was probably not related to the construction of the
algorithm, the people were the problem. Not the algorithm.

---

[^1]: Yes, I wrote that wrong on purpose.

---

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