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Succinct Data Structures

User discovered succinct data structures while seeking ways to optimize code, encountering challenges in understanding complex concepts. After reaching out to expert Gonzalo Navarro for clarification, the user became intrigued by succinct data structures, which store data compactly while allowing efficient operations without decompression, unlike traditional compression. The article explores different types of succinct data structures and their applications, particularly in Rust, discussing bit vectors, rank/select bit vectors, wavelet matrices, FM-indexes, and a balanced parentheses tree, highlighting their benefits in memory efficiency and performance for various programming tasks.

https://blog.startifact.com/posts/succinct/

Church Of Turing

Extreme TLDR:
Lisp is a versatile programming language family with numerous dialects. Key dialects include:
Scheme: Minimalist, academic, good for teaching.
Common Lisp: Robust, rich library, stable.
Clojure: Modern, functional, JVM interoperability.
Racket: Beginner-friendly, strong macro system.
Community engagement varies, and despite fragmentation, Lisp attracts thoughtful individuals. Additional dialects, like Emacs Lisp and Hy, are also notable.

https://churchofturing.github.io/landscapeoflisp.html

Standards for ANSI Escape Codes

ANSI escape codes improve terminal usability but lack complete standardization, making troubleshooting challenging. This overview discusses their definition, significant standards like ECMA-48 and terminfo, and varying approaches by applications in handling these codes, raising questions about a unified set of escape codes and the value of terminfo. The landscape remains fragmented, similar to early web standards, with potential for future improvements in terminal features through clearer guidelines.

https://jvns.ca/blog/2025/03/07/escape-code-standards/

Taska

Taska: Native Mac app for GitHub/GitLab issues. Offers 14-day free trial, no subscriptions. Features quick issue management, task grouping, editing, instant search/sort, and multi-window support. Full Markdown support and custom repo settings. One-time purchase $119.99 or $39/year subscription.

https://taska.now/

Why Local-First Software Is the Future and Its Limitations

Local-first software keeps user data primarily on the client side, enhancing performance, privacy, and offline usability. It's gaining traction due to improved browser storage limits, new APIs for efficient file management, and advances in tools like RxDB. While offering advantages like reduced server load and instantaneous user experiences, local-first also faces challenges in data synchronization, conflict resolution, and eventual consistency, making it less suitable for large datasets or applications requiring immediate data integrity. Overall, it presents a promising yet complex paradigm shift in software design.

https://rxdb.info/articles/local-first-future.html

Why “alias” Is My Last Resort for Aliases

Using scripts in $PATH instead of alias for shortcuts (like g=git) enhances flexibility, immediate updates, programming language choice, complexity management, and portability. While aliases are quicker and can leverage special shell features, scripts are preferred for their versatility and maintenance ease. Ultimately, both serve similar purposes but scripts are my default choice.

https://evanhahn.com/why-alias-is-my-last-resort-for-aliases/

Git Without a Forge

TLDR: Simon Tatham prefers using bare Git repositories over Git forges (like GitHub or GitLab) for hosting his projects. He outlines his reasons, favoring trust, simplicity, and control over heavy account management and imposed workflows. He provides guidelines on how to best submit patches, ranking methods from most to least preferred: providing a repository URL with branch name, git bundles, patch files, diff files, and avoiding git send-email. While acknowledging the transparency benefits of Git forges, he remains unconvinced that they outweigh his reasons for independence.

https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/quasiblog/git-no-forge/

Should Managers Still Code?

Managers should be “in the code” but not necessarily writing it. They need to understand the codebase, review it, and engage with the technical aspects of their team while focusing on strategic, leadership, and mentorship roles. Their coding involvement can vary based on individual roles and organizational needs, emphasizing the importance of being technically aware without being the primary coder.

https://theengineeringmanager.substack.com/p/should-managers-still-code

50 Things We’ve Learned About Building Successful Products

50 key lessons on building successful products from PostHog:
1. Small autonomous teams excel; hire wisely.
2. High trust and transparency enhance performance.
3. Align product goals with company objectives using user feedback.
4. Define your ideal customer profile (ICP) and test it.
5. Establish product principles for consistent decision-making.
6. Prioritize user needs and simplify processes for faster shipping.
7. Rely on engineers for decision-making and support.
8. Embrace experimentation, including A/B testing and early analytics.
9. Measure vital metrics like activation and retention.
10. Stay excited about your product; pivot if needed.

These principles encompass autonomy, trust, user focus, continuous feedback, and adaptability to achieve product success.

https://newsletter.posthog.com/p/50-things-weve-learned-about-building

Tmux

Tmux is a terminal multiplexer for managing multiple sessions. You can detach and reattach to sessions easily. Key concepts include sessions, windows (like tabs), and panes (terminal splits). Basic commands include creating sessions, window switching, and pane management, effectively enhancing productivity with minimal commands. Key commands are summarized for quick reference.

https://davidwinter.dev/2019/03/14/tmux-the-essentials

Human-readable Date Formatting With Vanilla JavaScript

JavaScript date formatting guide by Henry. Use Date.toLocaleDateString() for human-readable dates without libraries. Examples given for date formats (e.g., “March 1, 2025” and “03/01/25”) and time formats (e.g., “8:08 PM” and “8:08:03 PM EST”). Combine date and time using Date.toLocaleString(). Adjust format with locale options as necessary.

https://henry.codes/writing/human-readable-date-formatting-with-vanilla-javascript/

Why Amazon Never Makes The Same Mistake Twice

Amazon minimizes repeated mistakes by embracing failures as learning opportunities through structured “Correction of Error” (CoE) documents. These 4-6 page documents analyze significant issues, detailing their impact, incident response, timelines, root causes, and action items for future prevention. The process fosters a culture of accountability and continuous improvement, ensuring that lessons learned lead to enhanced practices and reduced error recurrence. Overall, CoEs contribute to company-wide improvements and serve as a record of past issues.

https://beabetterdev.com/2025/02/23/why-amazon-never-makes-the-same-mistake-twice/

How to Make Web Videos Way Smaller in 2025 Using the AV1 codec—Martian Chronicles, Evil Martians’ Team Blog

AV1 codec enables significantly smaller web video files (20-40x) while maintaining quality. Supported by major browsers, it excels at low bitrate compression. Users are encouraged to transition from GIFs to AV1 or H.264 for better efficiency. To optimize compatibility, accommodating both AV1 and H.264 formats is recommended, using FFmpeg for encoding. This approach enhances loading times and viewing experiences across devices, balancing quality and file size effectively.

https://evilmartians.com/chronicles/better-web-video-with-av1-codec

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