diff --git a/content/links/20200304.md b/content/links/20200304.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..64e5b7a --- /dev/null +++ b/content/links/20200304.md @@ -0,0 +1,131 @@ ++++ +title = "Links for 2020-03-04" +date = 2020-03-04 + +[taxonomies] +tags = ["links"] ++++ + +Interesting links for 2020-03-04. + + + +# [Leaked Document Shows How Big Companies Buy Credit Card Data on Millions of Americans](https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/jged4x/envestnet-yodlee-credit-card-bank-data-not-anonymous) + +Alright, this is stupid: "We removed the user information and put an unique ID +in place" is completely bullshit. I know it, you know it, but it seems it is +the general way of selling user information around. + +Even if someone removes the unique ID but keep other information, things are +still traceable: For example, how many people do you think are white, male, +above 40, not married, living in a specific suburb (I won't even claim the +street itself) that bought some product? I bet you could pretty much find me +with just that, 'cause that description would fit 0.00001% of the city +population, anyway. + +Maybe we need to rethink this "sell information" thing, since privacy is long +gone. We need laws that, if you want to sell collected information, you need +to put one single vector per information. That means that, if you want to sell +that information, you need to have one dataset for skin color, which says a +white person bought some product; another dataset for sex, which says a male +bought some product; and so on. No unique IDs. + +It's not perfect, but I believe that would get more traction than simply say +"don't capture any data", 'cause, seriously, it is not working. + +# [Aerogel from fruit biowaste produces ultracapacitors with high energy density and stability](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352152X19309077) + +Hey, that's cool that we are finding ways to recycle stuff like biowaste for +something like capacitors, but I have to wonder if that, in our current world, +that means people will produce durian and jackfruit just to let it rot to +create biowaste for the capacitors, instead of something simple, like feed +people. + +# [IBM To Transition Their z/OS, POWER + AIX Compilers To Being LLVM/Clang-Based](https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=IBM-Will-Use-LLVM-Clang-Stack) + +I have to wonder if the move is something like this: IBM bought RedHat; RedHat +sells Linux solutions; IBM stronghold are the mainframes, which are dying; by +changing the base system from their compiler to Clang, they are also saying +"hey, people who build stuff for our platforms, you should use Clang now!", +which would make transition those codebases to Linux a bit simpler. + +But yeah, just wondering if that makes sense. + +(Also, Clang _Fortran_?) + +# [Microservices – Combinatorial Explosion of Versions](https://worklifenotes.com/2020/03/04/microservices-combinatorial-explosion-of-versions/) + +I have a strong problem with this post: Basically, the problem it points +happens if you keep two different versions of the _same microservice_ running. + +That's not how you should build your fleet -- even if it is possible and not +that hard. + +One point of upgrading a microservice is keeping backwards compatibility with +their inputs; if you deploy a new version what receives a complete different +input, you can either add both input interfaces in the new service or just add +a brand new microservice that just converts the old input to the new one -- +which increases the fleet, but it's not that a big point. + +One thing to keep in mind with this upgrade policy is that you _need to +monitor the inputs_. Once the old input version is not being send anywhere +else, you can remove the input/disable the microservice -- with the second +option being less intrusive, as you won't need to redeploy the updated +microservice with the old input support. + +# [Stop using Material Design text fields!](https://www.matsuko.ca/blog/stop-using-material-design-text-fields/) + +Or you could, for instance, to drop Material Design completely. + +Yes, I'm not a fan of Material Design. I'm not UX expert, but I feel that it +fails in a lot of places -- not only text fields. + +# [The Self-Attribution Fallacy](https://www.monbiot.com/2011/11/07/the-self-attribution-fallacy/) + +"Intelligence? Talent? No, the ultra-rich got to where they are through luck +and brutality." + +"If wealth was the inevitable result of hard work and enterprise, every woman +in Africa would be a millionaire." + +I keep saying this around, and one thing that resonates with what I say would +be: It's not that the ultra-rich are brutal, brutality is what made them rich. + +# [Void: terminal-based personal organizer](https://github.com/void-rs/void) + +Not sure if it falls into any of my workflows, but HOLY COW, graphs in the +console? + +# [Building Rust for Multiple Platforms Using Github Actions](https://medium.com/@jondot/building-rust-on-multiple-platforms-using-github-6f3e6f8b8458) + +While focused on Rust, because the focus are the Github Actions, one could +"easily" port for other languages (for different levels of "easy"). + +# [Web crawler in Rust](https://rolisz.ro/2020/03/01/web-crawler-in-rust/) + +"How to Draw an Owl", but for Rust crawler. :) + +I got most of the stuff, but I guess anyone learning Rust would suddenly see +the later listing and think "This is nuts!" + +# [The Cost of Indirection](https://www.joshmcguigan.com/blog/cost-of-indirection-rust/) + +"How a newbie, a seasoned and a veteran Rust coder solve this problem", but... +for Rust. + +I'm not that interested in the times, but in the different implementations of +the same thing in the same language. May be interesting 'cause some +implementations may make more sense than other to some people. + +# [Toss a Coin to Your Bitcher](https://uncannymagazine.com/article/toss-a-coin-to-your-bitcher/) + +A disabled person commenting on the way "The Witcher" series deal with +disabled people, in this case, Yennefer. Honestly, even when I watched, I +couldn't see Yennefer as disabled, 'cause... well, one 'cause although I think +about my own disability (glasses), I don't see that much different than any +other "normal" person (although I still think Gordon Freeman is the _only_ +short-sighted "hero" I ever saw), and I know what happens with Yennefer in the +future (thanks for the games). + +Still, it's eye-opening to see this kind of post to get a view of how disabled +people see disabled characters.