Links for 2020-05-16

content/links/20200516.md

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+title = "Links for 2020-05-16"
+date = 2020-05-16
+
+[taxonomies]
+tags = ["links", "gleam", "java", "python", "code", "images", "troff",
+"nroff", "typesetting", "vim", "documentation", "porn industry", "testing",
+"covid", "second order thinking", "metrodome", "diagrams", "react", 
+"react native", "windows", "macos", "bytecodes", "secrets", "word generator",
+"firebase", "privacy", "blogging", "sharring", "material design"]
++++
+
+Gleam, Java From a Python View, Code Images, UNIX TypeSetting Tools, History
+of VIM, Writing Documentation, Fighting COVID with Porn, Thinking Beyond
+Problems, A Metronome, Diagrams in Python, React Native for Windows (and Mac),
+Secrets in Python Bytecodes, Word Generator NeuralNet, Firebase Blunders,
+Standups, Sharing as a Dev, Material Design.
+
+<!-- more -->
+
+## [Gleam v0.8 released!](https://lpil.uk/blog/gleam-v0.8-released/)
+
+Gleam is another language focused on the BEAM (Erlang) VM. And the new version
+brings a lot of stuff that makes me really curious about using it in the
+future.
+
+## [Why Java? Tales from a Python Convert](https://sookocheff.com/post/java/why-java/)
+
+Not that I'm converted from Python to Java -- I can see I'm productive with
+Java, but the fact is, I'm not having _fun_ being productive with it. Sure, it
+gets the job done, but it lacks something.
+
+Even with that, I think this post brings a lot of things that are actually...
+interesting... in recent Java releases, and does a good job in breaking that
+feeling that Java sucks.
+
+## [Create and share beautiful images of your source code](https://github.com/carbon-app/carbon)
+
+I used Carbon before but I keep forgetting when I need it the most. 
+
+## [Where Vim Came From](https://twobithistory.org/2018/08/05/where-vim-came-from.html)
+
+People believe Vim to be unfriendly, but what happens is that the lineage of
+it comes from a long way, always improving and changing. Understanding why Vim
+is designed the way it is is one way to understand it -- and, as anything in
+history, to avoid repeating the same mistakes again.
+
+## [UNIX Text Formatting Using the -ms Macros](https://www.hactrn.net/ietf/rfcgen/textms.html)
+
+Yes, another post about "the tools of the ole age" -- `troff` is used to build
+man pages -- but there is something about the simplistic approach on due the
+typesetting that is really interesting.
+
+## [Encouraging a Culture of Written Communication](https://www.mcls.io/blog/encouraging-a-culture-of-written-communication)
+
+This articles pushes towards better written communication due the fact that
+most of us are working remotely, but I have to push that this should be the
+norm, not the exception.
+
+Documentation can be used for a long time after a developer leaves the project
+or the company, and keeping it up-to-date can ease the onboarding of new
+developers. So no, it's not just because we jumped into the remote working era
+that documentation must be a priority: It should be way before that.
+
+## [Why the porn industry has a lot to teach us about safety in the Covid-19 era](https://www.statnews.com/2020/05/08/porn-industry-model-for-reopening-amid-covid19/)
+
+Ah, the kind of news headlines that you won't expect to see.
+
+But the thing boils down to the fact that the porn industry had to deal with
+HIV and now makes HIV testing a common, periodic thing. And with COVID-19, a
+virus that has no cure (yet), and something that we'll have to learn to live
+with, doing something similar is almost required.
+
+Obviously, porn stars are just a small set of people compared to the general
+population, and thus way more expensive, but we really need to start thinking
+about this.
+
+## [Second-Order Thinking: What Smart People Use to Outperform](https://fs.blog/2016/04/second-order-thinking/)
+
+A psychological article, for a change, and something most developers can learn
+from: Instead of focusing on the problem of "this", also thing on what the
+issues the solution will create.
+
+## [Metronome](https://flathub.org/apps/details/com.jvieira.tpt.Metronome)
+
+I think I saw this application running in the last year PythonBrasil, and here
+is the link for the Flatpak of it.
+
+It's a great tool to time stuff, and it is also nice that it is a desktop
+application with responsive layout.
+
+## [Diagrams](https://diagrams.mingrammer.com/)
+
+I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff -- so much that `dot` is part of my usual
+development tools. But writing diagrams in Python... that's a freaking awesome
+way to do it.
+
+## [React Native for Windows + macOS](https://microsoft.github.io/react-native-windows/)
+
+A long time ago, Microsoft promised people could write Windows applications
+using only XML and JavaScript. That thing never happened.
+
+Then it promised you could write UWPs (Universal Window Programs), again in
+Javascript, that would run in any Windows platform (tablet, phone and
+desktop). That too, never happened.
+
+And now we have React Native for Windows and Mac. While the suspicion that
+this may again be a bust, at least React Native has some market presence to
+maybe make this work.
+
+## [Finding secrets by decompiling Python bytecode in public repositories](https://blog.jse.li/posts/pyc/)
+
+The same problem people have with compiled applications -- which can be easily
+be extracted using `strings` -- exists with Python bytecode files.
+
+## [This Word Does Not Exist](https://www.thisworddoesnotexist.com/)
+
+After [This Person Does Not Exist](https://www.thispersondoesnotexist.com/) and
+[This Fursona Does Not Exist](https://thisfursonadoesnotexist.com/), someone
+decided to train a neural net to make words and descriptions.
+
+## [Report: Estimated 24,000 Android apps expose user data through Firebase blunders](https://www.comparitech.com/blog/information-security/firebase-misconfiguration-report/)
+
+Security is hard. Keeping users information from leaking is a full time job
+and can happen no matter what database/storage you use -- the standards for
+90% of the installs is "make it easier for developers to start working, and
+later they can secure it" instead of the other way around it. So this is not a
+Firebase issue at all.
+
+The troubling bit, though is this "A December 2019 report shows that Google
+scrubs these vulnerable database URLs from its search results. However, they
+are still indexed by other search engines like Bing."
+
+How the fuck assholy you have to be that you hide the wronging of people
+using your product, just because you have, basically, the monopoly on search
+engines? Sure, using that information may help bad actors accessing random
+people -- people that have no direct contact with the tool besides using
+something someone else built -- but heck, cancel the damn account till they
+learn how to protect people data instead of just hiding the problems under the
+hug. "But that would cause people to stop using our product!" Then your
+product have a design problem and you should fix it.
+
+But, again, hiding it under the hug is no solution. At all.
+
+## [Your daily standups should be async. Here's why](https://www.cadencework.com/blog/async-standups.html)
+
+I freaking hate these kind of posts: "Here, thing does work. We should get rid
+of it." This goes one step further and points what people are going with the
+thing and _still_ points that thing is broken. Heck, why can't we point
+**why** something exists and try to teach people on how to do it properly?
+
+Nope, complaining that it is broken is way easier.
+
+## [The most successful developers share more than they take](https://stackoverflow.blog/2020/05/14/the-most-successful-developers-share-more-than-they-take/)
+
+"You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your
+grandmother. If you can't explain something to a six-year-old, you really
+don't understand it yourself." is one of Richard Feyman's famous quotes.
+
+I do like to post opinions on my blog. I do like to do presentations. Mostly
+'cause, when I'm explaining, I'm learning. I may think something is worth
+explaining and do some research on how to better explain it.
+
+Also, sometimes I write things I learnt down so I can remember it better
+later.
+
+That's why some of those "Month of blogging" exist.
+
+## [Material Design is a political choice](https://www.imaginarycloud.com/blog/material-design-is-a-political-choice/)
+
+Ok, maybe the title is a bit too bait, but there is one point that really
+caught my eye:
+
+"We are representing Google, whatever that might mean."
+
+I do have my problems with Material design -- in my opinion, its natural
+evolution would eventually get to the interfaces we have right now, so it's
+basically a step back -- but that really is something.
+
+---
+
+This post was built with the help of
+
+* [Adrian Cochrane](https://floss.social/@alcinnz)
+* [Dmitri](https://mastodon.social/@yogthos)
+* [HN Tooter](https://mastodon.social/@hntooter)
+* [newsbot](https://mastodon.social/@newsbot)