Hasnain says:

Interesting read from an interview with an infectious disease specialist.

"So what will it take to make people aware of the global threat of zoonotic diseases?

There’s nothing like a serial assault to heighten your awareness, and that’s what we’re looking at. We’re on a cycle of about every three years of getting something like this. And each time that happens, there’s more awareness that these investments need to be made and sustained. The problem is getting these monies as part of the annual regular non-emergency funding."

Hasnain says:

This seems like a clear cut case of price gouging, the authorities now have this person’s info - I wonder when some action will be taken (there’s also been other admissions of gouging in Canada).

“Mr. Colvin does not believe he was price gouging. While he charged $20 on Amazon for two bottles of Purell that retail for $1 each, he said people forget that his price includes his labor, Amazon’s fees and about $10 in shipping. (Alcohol-based sanitizer is pricey to ship because officials consider it a hazardous material.)”

Hasnain says:

"After moving to the Bay Area in 2011, Abutaha was unable to find any restaurants making shawarma with the flavors and served in the styles they do back home and he sorely missed it."

Looks like I need to go try this place. I was sold as soon as he mentioned shawarmas should be minimalist and not have much more than meat, bread, garlic sauce, and pickles

Hasnain says:

Sharing for the money quote on how some business decisions just add up and come bite you in the long run.

“This concern — that Google might just give up on Stadia at some point and kill the service, as it has done with so many other services over the years — was repeatedly brought up, unprompted, by every person we spoke with for this piece.”

Hasnain says:

Been a while since I've read PG's stuff in detail since it's been more hit than miss lately. This one was noncontroversial and useful for just practicing and getting better at writing.

"If you narrow the topic sufficiently, you can probably find something you're an expert on. Write about that to start with. If you only have ten readers who care, that's fine. You're helping them, and you're writing. Later you can expand the breadth of topics you write about.

The other constraint you can relax is a little surprising: publication. Writing essays doesn't have to mean publishing them. That may seem strange now that the trend is to publish every random thought, but it worked for me. I wrote what amounted to essays in notebooks for about 15 years. I never published any of them and never expected to. I wrote them as a way of figuring things out. But when the web came along I'd had a lot of practice."

Hasnain says:

Interesting take on development practices in today's agile world. Some of the advice is sage and wise: "Having unique problems will kill a small to medium size team. It will sap you of your creative energy, which is better used creating value for customers who want to pay you monies for your software. Use your innovation tokens wisely!"

Though there's then some stuff which is, well, kinda off, like the advice on only testing in production.

Hasnain says:

Interesting read on growing both people and organizations by fighting with problems and inefficiencies upfront rather than sweeping them under the rug. Something that sounds obvious but is hard to put into practice.

“Not complainers, but champions. Problem spotters don’t especially enjoy bearing bad news, but they do it to advance the organization. To help you, the leader. Maybe it’s because they have a different perspective, or a fresh take based on that spot in the world where only they stand. Maybe it’s that they are better at expressing the issue, where others struggle. Stop making it so hard on them to help you. Don’t say “I hear you have a problem with us.” Say, “I appreciate you helping us to get better.””

Hasnain says:

Interesting and engrossing read on software engineering best practices, written in light of the recent Iowa Caucus debacle.

"But as I said earlier, “We’re decent at building software when the consequences of failure are unimportant.” It fails horribly when failure isn’t cheap, like in Iowa. Common software engineering practices grew out of the internet economic model, and when the assumptions of that model are violated, software engineers become bad at what we do."

Hasnain says:

This is most admittedly a rant; but has good and useful insights into why the software engineering interview process today is just so bad.

“In conclusion to this point, it seems that the popular conception of what is to be a software engineer is driving the structure of the hiring process more that the traits that actually make software engineers successful on the job.”

Hasnain says:

Great read on housing, both policy wise and the human interest story of one person’s attempt to change policies in a local town.

If I could wave a magic wand...

“All cities — even small ones — have a responsibility to address the most significant challenges of our time: climate change, income inequality, and housing affordability,” Mr. Falk had written. “I believe that adding multifamily housing at the BART station is the best way for Lafayette to do its part, and it has therefore become increasingly difficult for me to support, advocate for, or implement policies that would thwart transit density. My conscience won’t allow it.””