blog/content/links/20200511.md

+++
title = "Links for 2020-05-11"
date = 2020-05-11

[taxonomies]
tags = ["links", "apple", "ipad", "mouse", "events", "organization",
"privacy", "websites", "work", "responsibility", "delete", "rust", "binaries",
"systemd", "economy"]
+++

iPad Mouse, Organizing Events, Website Privacy Concerns, Careful With Whom You
Work For (Like Tim Bray), Deleting Online Accounts Howto, Reducing Rust
Binaries, History of systemd, Reopening The Economy.

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# [How Apple reinvented the cursor for iPad](https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/06/how-apple-reinvented-the-cursor-for-ipad/)

Ignore the pretentious title for a second and check the animations.
"Reinvented" may be a bit too much, but you have to give it to Apple for
coming with something actually different for cursor.

I wouldn't be surprised if the same thing comes to Linux in a few years.

# [RustFest - organization was the best. Also rhymes.](https://blog.cyplo.dev/posts/2016/09/rustfest-organization-was-the-best/)

I'm sort-of part of the organization of the next PythonBrasil (the Brazilian
version of PyCon) and this is one hell of a report about the organization of
it. Lots of tips on how to properly organize an event.

# [How to fix the broken web as a site owner and web developer](https://markosaric.com/broken-web/)

I won't lie that the cynical in me reads this and thinks "This is cute".

Sure, explaining how to make a good, GDPR and privacy compliant site is
possible, but we can't ignore the problem of "Why?" You put some tracking code
and boom, information about the source of searches, where people visiting your
website are coming from, how long they stay in the site; and then you put
another tracking code and boom, those clicks become money (very little, but
hey, it's money, nonetheless); and then you put 30 of those tracking codes and
boom, lots of little money coming in.

The only way to remove make people with websites to remove those is to kill
the incentives; telling them "that's not nice" won't prevent anything.

# [We are complicit in our employer's deeds](https://drewdevault.com/2020/05/05/We-are-complicit-in-our-employers-deeds.html)

I disagree with Drew in a lot of points -- specially on things that I like he
doesn't, and probably 'cause I talk the same things about the things I don't
like -- but I have to agree with this: We are. If we work for a company that
does something "morally wrong", even if that's not illegal, then we are
complicity with it. It doesn't matter if you take care of some "customer
support" group and the company does collect information from a lot of people
and, thus, you're not working on this bad thing, so you're good. As Drew puts,
you're using the "Nuremberg Defense" (basically, "I'm just following orders).

Bonus points: The post is actually Drew's thoughts on Tim Brays post about him
leaving Amazon due the firing of people complaining about the COVID-19 actions
of the company. Tim was working on the Tech side of Amazon and was not related
to the warehouse control and still he left the company.

Of course, Tim has enough political power to quit the company and write a
letter saying "The company I just left was doing something morally wrong" and
not suffer any huge consequences -- I bet if I pointed some morally debatable
things some of the companies I previously work for I'd be sued out of the
pants I'm wearing but I have to ask this: Do we want to live in a world were
pointing wrong stuff is punishable?

# [JustDeleteMe](https://justdeleteme.xyz/)

A directory of tips on how to delete your account on several different
websites. If you're unsure about the privacy measures one site takes with your
data and you're worried about what they can use to it (and remember, some
still collect information about you even if you don't access them directly
anymore), and you can't actually figure out how to delete your account
(Facebook is notorious about this), here's your chance to remove that account.

# [Reducing the size of a Rust GStreamer plugin](https://www.collabora.com/news-and-blog/blog/2020/04/28/reducing-size-rust-gstreamer-plugin/)

Languages generating static binaries are all in rage these days and Rust is
one of those. But actually, there is a lot that can be done to reduce the
binary size without losing all the safety measures the compiler takes when
generating said binary.

And while you may not be creating GStreamer plugins, a lot discussed here can
be used for any binaries.

# [systemd, 10 years later: a historical and technical retrospective](https://blog.darknedgy.net/technology/2020/05/02/0/index.html)

Wow, a very long, very explicative discussion about the raise of systemd.

# [To Safely Reopen, Make the Workweek Shorter. Then Keep It Shorter.](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/04/safely-reopen-make-workweek-shorter/610906/)

One of those things that seem so obvious that you have to wonder "Why I didn't
think about this before?"

We heard about the tales of [Microsoft Japan reducing the working
days and keeping productivity](https://time.com/5717401/microsoft-4-day-workweek/)
and now we have this virus floating around that's moving people to work from
home and then someone actually made the connection and suggested that we could
put both together and just reopen things using this 4 day thingy.

Honestly, it sounds good 'cause I _can_ work from home. How that would affect
people that can't is something that needs to be checked.

---

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