#software engineering hot topics

[elodieunderglass]

this feels like a strange question but in light of your info about how jockeys don't usually know or train with the horses they race on - what are jockeys..... for? what is the jockey doing that the horse couldn't be trained to do independently? does a good or bad jockey make a significant difference to how well a given horse does in a race?

Right?!

In a way, asking what the jockey’s for also asks the question of “why race horses?” Why do it at all, and why horses?

We sort of do it because horses are fast and exciting, and because they do what we tell them, even though it’s not in their nature. Because it’s not their nature, they have a jockey.

I’ve put this under a “Keep Reading” to save your dash.

Horses could be trained to race by themselves to some extent, but it wouldn’t be like greyhound racing - greyhounds are sighthounds, running perfectly reasonable dog software on top of ancient and serviceable dog hardware, practicing a variation of hunting behaviour. Horses wouldn’t do this; they have little desire to chase a mechanical rabbit. they have even less plan than a greyhound about what they’d do if they caught it. (Also, in terms of animal welfare, greyhound racing isn’t widely celebrated; loose animals running around aren’t better off than controlled ones.)

Racing-to-find-a-winner is not herding behaviour, even though some horses do seem to possess a natural interest in the topic. You could train some of them to understand better, and that’s what racehorse training is, but the way we have of training that is to put someone on their back to explain to them what their job is, so it all becomes circular anyway. Why do it? Why not? Why do humans race horses? Why race horses? We could just race snails; it’d be cheaper!

One answer is that when horses just Go, it isn’t super Fun. They mostly Go to pieces.

The jockey is the pilot, or software, who understands the situation and has a goal to achieve. The horse is not an engine, but a thinking animal; they have their own goals and interests, which are often satisfied by just running around in a predator-confusing fashion with their friends for 2 minutes, and then crashing into a car, eating hot chips and lying. Most of them do not really care how long 3 minutes is, what a mile means, what “pacing” is, or what “winning” is. They just have Go, and so they do that for a bit, and then fuck off.

I guess another metaphor would be Mario Kart. There are various combinations of automated and human players in a game of Mario Kart, and if racing was just about going fast, the fastest vehicle should always win. But a decent human player can beat the NPCs even if the human hasn’t bothered min/maxxing a vehicle, just because they can be moderately smart about how to race. An adult can often beat a child at Mario Kart, even if the adult takes a much worse vehicle, because in theory, brains/experience/strategy/planning factor into “who wins a race,” and we LIKE that.

Same with car racing. Why not just race autonomous vehicles? In F1, where they build their own cars, why not include the driving software in the design? Or why not remote-control them? Why bother strapping a poor driver into a flameproof suit? Fans will tell you it’s strategy. The human driver uses tactics and responsiveness and skill - but, below all this, the dark red thread of the human is risking their life and we like that.

In theory, jockeys are more intelligent than thoroughbreds, and have more of a plan: setting pace, knowing what time is, changing strategy, evaluating stamina, conducting the horse safely through traffic and over jumps, and adding a complicating element of human interest. In practice, it’s believed that they have relatively little influence on race outcomes - a bad jockey on a good horse can win or lose a race; a good jockey on a bad horse usually just loses; oh, what the hell, let’s just race snails instead - but without the jockeys, you’d have to change the name of the sport to Horses Wandering Around A Carpark Kicking Lumps Off Each Other.

Here is a bunch of baby steeplechasers practicing the concept of Go in such a way that nobody gets to Go at all. After the un-mounted Snow Dragon wipes out most of the other horses and jockeys, all of the loose horses go faster without the weight of their riders, but after an initial show of interest in the concept, the loose horses all lose interest and focus.

It was funny (because nobody was hurt) but it wasn’t what anyone really wanted. In theory, that’s what the jockey is for: they’re supposed to be the adult, in a game where you can win by doing that.

But none of it has to be happening, any more than Investments need to be Managed, you know? It would also be fine if we didn’t! Michael O’Sullivan, an Irish jockey, just died racing this very week and there’s the dark red thread again: the human is risking their life.

The consumption of animal and human in an ancient sport is fascinating and visceral and compelling; but you’re right to question it; none of it has to be that way.

As for the second half of your question: a bad jockey can make a good horse lose. A good jockey cannot make a bad horse win. But most people and most horses are not particularly exceptional, or particularly anything at all; they are just workers running in a circle.

Top jockeys on average horses win more often than other people on average horses. Top jockeys and champions exist, with year-on-year records and recorded material evidence of their decision-making and risks paying off, indicating that there’s consistency of winning across skill and experience that makes their success better-than/random; it would be worth doing a study controlling for the fact that top people are offered the best mounts.

It’s a test of horsemanship, too. Achieving flow - nonverbal command of an animal and fellow athlete, and sympathy together, such that they respect and trust you - having just met the animal - is an achievement of many skills, and if you broke a jockey’s skills down into different types, most ordinary people couldn’t do any of them. No core strength, no balance, bad hands, bad posture, no sense of body positioning, no internal timer, no ability to psychically mind-meld with an unhinged animal you don’t know personally… they’re all fairly rare, and it’s something else to make it complex and interesting for people who like that sort of thing.

Personally, I just like Killie’s little problems and the drama around them. The racing industry itself could collapse tomorrow, rendering Killie’s story historical fiction, and I’d be just as happy.

[tropicana-s]

(   courtney  eaton   •   cis  female   •   she/her   )ㅤ  ›ㅤ  still  here,  still  making  things  happen  —  would  azure  isle  even  run  without�� 𝐌𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐍𝐙𝐈𝐄  "𝐌𝐀𝐂𝐊"  𝐄𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐒?  the  twenty-six   year  old  lifeguard  has  been  a  part  of  the  island’s  rhythm  for  five  years,  ensuring  that  everything  flows  just  as  effortlessly  as  it  appears.  you’ll  find  them  at  the  beach  club,  where  they  handle  every  detail  with  the  kind  of  precision  the  island’s  elite  have  come  to  rely  on.  they’re  known  for  being  adaptable  and  reckless,  always  having  their  sketchbook  nearby  —  and  spending  time  at  the  beach  to  unwind  after  work.      STARTER  PACK.  sketchbook,  lip  balm,  watermelon  lollipops,  spearmint  gum,  a  comfy  bikini,  iced  coffee,  australian  sunscreen,  a  good  book,  40oz  stanley  cup  filled  with  water,  frozen  margaritas,  headphones.

𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐲.     𝐝𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐫.     𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐬.

how  did  you  land  a  position  on  azure  isle?  connections,  skill,  or  luck?

"i  wanted  to  get  the  fuck  out  of  my  hometown.  people  glorify  sydney  when  it's  actually  just  boring  as  fuck.  sure  the  beaches  are  nice  and  all,  but  the  people  are  absolute  mongrels."  mack's  eyes  are  glazed  over,  shaking  her  head  thinking  about  the  likes  of  her  home.  she  did  not  hate  growing  up  there,  it  was  just  the  circumstances  of  her  life  that  truly  made  her  think  ill  of  it.  "i  went  to  university  for  better  opportunities  or  whatever—  insane  thing  to  tell  people  when  these  shitty  companies  aren't  even  hiring?  i  was  mass  applying  to  jobs,  didn't  care  a  lick  for  where,  i  was  ready  to  pack  my  bags  up  and  be  some  snooty  software  engineer  in  silicon  valley."  she's  nodding  her  head,  mouth  moving  at  a  mile  a  minute  as  she  speaks  in  a  rather  dull  tone.  "i  don't  even  think  i  remember  applying  for  azure,"  most  likely  because  she  was  high,  but  that  was  neither  here  nor  there.  "but  what  do  you  know  i  was  contacted  by  this  really  hot  woman  on  linkedin  looking  for  a  manager  at  a  beach  club—  i  have  a  degree  in  wildlife  management  by  the  way— so  why  would  i  want  to  be  a  manager at a fucking beach club?  like  it  didn't  make  any  sense  but  i  was  not  going  to  ignore  a  hot  woman!  whatever  that's  not  even  what  i  do  anymore,  they  demoted  me  to  lifeguard!  they  said  i  was  a  bad  manager,  can  you  believe  that?!"  she's  getting  off  topic,  something  she  does  way  too  often,  one  reason  why  she  was  an  awful  manager,  "so  it  was  basically  just  luck  i  guess.  i  didn't  know  what  to  expect,  but  if  i  have  to  be  mushy  and  shit,  i  have  loved  being  here."

what’s  the  trick  to  keeping  the  island’s  elite  satisfied? (with  a  little  sprinkle  of  what's  the  most  outrageous  request  you've  ever  fulfilled  for  a  client?)

"literally  doing  exactly  what  they  tell  you  to  do.  i  mean  truly,  these  people  get  off  on  being  able  to  tell  us  poor  folk  what  we  can  and  cannot  do.  when  i  tell  ya  that  they  would  ask  me  to  wipe  their  ass  if  they  could,  that  they  would  do  it!"  mack  erupts  into  a  fit  of  giggles,  pulling  her  joint  against  her  mouth  to  take  another  deep  breath  in,  "if  you  go  along  with  whatever  they  say,  they  are  way  nicer  to  you  and  give  you  really  good  tips— trust  me  on  that  one.  this  one  lady,  rude  as  could  be  i  tell  ya,  asked  me  to  follow  after  her  as  she  walked  her  dog  and  pick  up  that  little  thing's  shit  so  she  didn't  have  to!  obviously  i  did  it  because  i'm  not  taking  any  chances  of  more  infractions.  anyways,  get  this!  after  her  dog  is  back  inside  her  purse,  a  really  expensive  one  too,  she  turns  to  me  and  hands  me  five-hundred  fucking  euros."  mack  later  rolled  in  that  money,  buying  herself  a  super  fancy  fucking  meal  where  she  should  not  have  been.  "so  all  of  this  to  say,  doing  what  they  tell  you  will  keep  them  satisfied  until  the  earth  explodes,  probably  even  after  too."

what’s  one  part  of  your  job  that  no  one  realizes  is  harder  than  it  looks?

mack  feels  like  she  has  to  laugh,  something  loud  and  annoying,  "everything."  growing  up,  mack  had  been  a  volunteer  lifeguard  on  bondi,  so  she  was  an  extremely  qualified  addition  to  the  azure  team  as  she  was  trained  by  the  best  in  the  world.  "people  think  lifeguards  just  sit  in  their  little  chair  and  look  at  the  people  on  the  beach,  but  you  have  no  idea  how  physically  and  emotionally  demanding  it  is.  like  sometimes  i  have  to  haul  these  idiots  out  of  the  water  because  their  dumbasses  can't  swim  and  don't  understand  that  there  are  rips  in  the  waves  like?!  can  you  not  read  the  signs  we  have  up  on  the  beach?!  they  think  just  because  it's  a  beach  it's  safer—  it's  still  apart  of  the  ocean?!"  it  always  ground  her  gears  with  how  fucking  stupid  people  could  be,  "but  seriously,  they  do  not  understand  it.  i'm  here  all  day  too,  like  twelve  fucking  hours  and  sometimes  i'm  even  out  of  a  voice  at  the  end  because  i've  been  yelling  at  people  through  the  speaker.  not  to  mention  we  have  to  be  trained  for  medical  emergencies,  i  have  brought  a  dude  back  to  life  before,  it's  heavy  stuff  and  not  for  the  weak."

[logaenhowlett]

GET TO KNOW YOUR MUTUALS

Thanks for the tag @flowersforbucky!

BLOG TITLE ORIGIN? pretty self-explanatory lol

FAVOURITE FANDOMS? x-men, daredevil and criminal minds are my ride or dies, but i hyperfixate on random ones from time to time.

FAVOURITE COLOUR? blue (specifically bluish-grey)

FAVOURITE GAME? super mario bros, mario party or wii sports

SONG STUCK IN YOUR HEAD? can't stop by red hot chili peppers

WEIRDEST HABIT/TRAIT? retaining the most random (possibly useless) facts/information. however, this works out in my favour when playing trivia games!

HOBBIES? i'm very much an outdoorsy person, so playing sports or hiking are up my alley!

IF YOU WORK, WHAT'S YOUR PROFESSION? software engineer (my first big girl job)

IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY JOB, WHAT WOULD IT BE? in an ideal world, i'd have no job. just frolicking around, learning/doing whatever the fuck i want - very ancient greek philosopher vibes.

SOMETHING YOU'RE GOOD AT? navigating! i have a strange photographic memory when it comes to directions, so getting lost is a very rare occurrence for me.

SOMETHING YOU'RE BAD AT? listening when people are explaining instructions (it's the best moment to zone out honestly)

SOMETHING YOU LOVE? music. i'd genuinely tweak tf out without it.

SOMETHING YOU COULD TALK ABOUT FOR HOURS? space, the universe or topics that tend to lead to existential crises.

SOMETHING YOU HATE? impatient people

SOMETHING YOU COLLECT? movie ticket stubs and wristbands from concerts/events

WHAT'S YOUR LOVE LANGUAGE? quality time and acts of service!

FAVOURITE MOVIE/SHOW? i have one from each genre, but if i had to pick - community is THE show and the prestige is the greatest movie i've ever seen.

FAVOURITE FOOD? tacos (you can basically bribe me with them)

FAVOURITE ANIMAL? very basic but dogs and cats

ARE YOU MUSICAL? i can play a few instruments!

WHAT WERE YOU LIKE AS A CHILD? quiet, a bit of a troublemaker, had a particular fondness for skateboarding (unsuccessfully)

FAVOURITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL? science

LEAST FAVOURITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL? history

BEST CHARACTER TRAIT? i generally remain quite calm under pressure

WORST CHARACTER TRAIT? i'm a procrastinator at heart. i always have been and unfortunately, i always will be.

IF YOU COULD TIME TRAVEL, WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO MEET? my descendants way in the future. seems fun!

Tagging @logansbaby @essas-vault-lmb-areyouwell @elflutter @silversprings-mp3 @mcrdvcks + anyone else who's interested!

[mariacallous]

NextCity recently published a hot take by Steffen Berr tying the ways in which the US is failing at reducing pedestrian deaths to the misaligned training that most transportation engineers in the US receive. Berr explains that a transportation engineer “is a really a civil engineer who has received a little exposure to the transportation sector.” Due to the structure of accredited degree programs, “In a best-case scenario, a civil engineer will only take three transportation classes during their bachelor’s degree. In the worst case, they’ll only take one: Introduction to Highway Engineering. To put this into perspective, the most educated professionals we entrust to design and run our roads and streets have received only half of a minor with a handful of credits on the topic.”

Berr goes on to address the reasonable objection that in many fields, people learn on the job. But what transportation engineers learn on the job, per Berr, is not things like how to choose the most appropriate intersection for the desired use, how the road system should be laid out at a network/route level, or how to fix congestion (none of which, he argues, they learn in school either.) Instead, they learn “how to navigate the impressive amounts of bureaucracy that have been built up in the industry, memorize an impressive vocabulary of technical jargon, practice with design software like AutoCAD to produce engineering plans, and how to copy the current engineering standards. There is no exposure to deep levels of theory that can help our future professionals create original solutions to fundamental problems like safety, congestion, emissions and ethics.” 

I’m less interested in Berr’s point about the wrong degree requirements than I am in his observation about what the job of transportation engineer actually is. As Stafford Beer observed, “the purpose of a system is what it does,” and by analogy, the purpose of a job is not its stated goals but what the people who do it actually do day to day.1 When talking to people who’ve never worked in government, the biggest disconnect is usually a lack of understanding of the actual jobs of public servants. A rather dramatic illustration of this comes from a Mercatus Center podcast with Lant Pritchett in which he shares an anecdote about advocating for evidence-based policy in the Indian bureaucracy. 

After they had done the RCT [random control trial] showing that this Balsakhi program of putting tutors in the schools really led to substantial gains and learning achievement and reading outcomes, he took it to the secretary of education of the place in which they had done the RCT. And he said, “Oh, by the way, I have the solution to your problem of low learning levels, or at least part of the solution. Look, we’ve got this powerful evidence that this works to improve leading outcomes by putting these volunteer tutors and pulling their low learning kids out.” The response of the secretary of education was, “What do you think my job is? Why do you think that this is a solution to a problem I have? Look around my office. See these piles and piles of files that keep me busy 60 hours a week and not one of these files is about a child not learning. I’m under no pressure about that problem. If I try and transfer a teacher, I’ve got a court case on my hand. If I try and close a school, I got a court case on my hand. My job is to administer the existing education policy such that there’s policy compliance. Super kudos to you for this cute little study you’ve done. It has nothing to do with my job as secretary of education.”

Ouch. And that’s a secretary of an agency serving a county with 1.5 billion people.

I suspect a lot of public servants in the US will read that and think “My job is not quite as bad as that but it sure feels that way a lot.” The people I know maintain enough connection to the actual mission to avoid such a meltdown (though I find the secretary’s frankness refreshing.) But both these stories help explain a conundrum that many who care about effective government (or, shall we say, state capacity) struggle to explain: the contradiction between the dedication, smarts, and creativity of most public servants and the sometimes terrible outcomes they are associated with, like the recent tragic lapses in administering student loans by the US Department of Education. (Or in Berr’s world, the 40,000 traffic deaths we’re stuck with every year while countries like the Netherlands have dropped their own already low number by 46%.2) To be sure, there are often extraordinary outcomes (hello Direct File!), and we notice them far less often, to our own detriment. But while it’s impossible to give government a meaningful overall grade, if its job is to meet challenges we face (national security, climate change, an effective safety net, etc.), we are at risk of falling dangerously short. The problem isn’t that public servants are doing a bad job, it’s that they’re doing a great job — at the wrong jobs.''

The (unnamed in this context) Indian Secretary of Education seems to agree: “My job is to administer the existing education policy such that there’s policy compliance.” I highly doubt that’s the job he thought he was getting, or the job he wanted to do. Berr is on the same general theme when he says that what transportation engineers learn on the job is “how to operate in the industry effectively as it has been currently set up.” Note his use of the word effectively. Effective towards what? Not towards reducing traffic deaths or congestion levels. “All the experience in the world of copying and pasting a standard invented fifty years ago is useless when the problems that the standard was invented to resolve have changed,” he says. “Understanding this sheds a lot of light as to why 40,000 people are still dying on our roads every year and why your local city insists on laying down sharrows [which are known to be ineffective and often dangerous] in their latest round of “safety improvements.” Quite frankly, it’s because we have no idea what we are doing.”

This is a useful nuance as I develop a framework for building state capacity. One of my admittedly obvious and oversimplified tenets is that systems have both “go energy” and “stop energy,” much as a car has a gas pedal and a brake. You wouldn’t drive a car without a brake, but you also wouldn’t drive a car in which the brake was pressed all the time, even when you were trying to accelerate. This is a good metaphor for how we’re dealing with the implementation of CHIPS, IRA, and the Infrastructure Bill, for example, where the clear intent is speed and scale but the public servants responsible are held back from that by the brakes of overly zealous compliance functions. I hear a version of this at every agency I visit: “Congress tells us to do something. Then the compliance offices keep us from doing that very thing.” (And side note for further discussion: This is an issue of representation, voice, and democracy.) The stop energy in our government is currently a lot bigger than it should be. We’re hitting the gas but we’re not accelerating because we’re pressing the brake at the same time. 

Lots of people in government have “stop energy” jobs. We need them, and we need them to be good at them. I don’t want to live in a country where our government doesn’t exercise “stop authority.” I try to remember not to complain when my flight is delayed because I really don’t want to die in a plane crash, and a rigidly implemented checklist is a big part of how we keep safe (the current epidemic of doors and engine cowlings blowing off notwithstanding). I also really like being pretty confident that a pill I’m taking has been tested and not tampered with. I like thinking our nuclear arsenal is protected. You know, little things like that.

Stop energy is critical. Rigid adherence to protocol is usually lifesaving. But it must exist in balance. I recently learned the Navy concept of “front of sub/back of sub.” The back of a nuclear submarine, where the nukes live, is run by the book. You don’t deviate from the checklist. You don’t innovate. You don’t question. The front of the sub, on the other hand, is responsible for navigating through dark waters. You have to improvise. You have to make judgment calls. There are manuals and checklists, for sure, but the nature of the work calls for a different approach, and the Navy recognizes that the cultures of front and back have evolved appropriately to meet distinct needs. 

There are times, of course, when you’ll need front of sub judgment in a back of sub context. If the plane I was on was about to be bombed by an enemy combatant (unlikely in my life, I hope), I would be okay with the pilot using her discretion to cut a corner or two on the takeoff checklist, because the very thing that checklist is there to protect (the lives of the people on board) would under threat from a different vector. Taking every precaution in that scenario could be reckless. That’s a bit how I feel about the NEPA reviews and other bureaucratic processes that are holding back building the infrastructure we need to move to a low-carbon economy. I wish for the public servants in charge to see the threat of inaction – those species the checklist is trying to protect are threatened by temperature rise as much or more than they are by the project in question – and make good judgment calls about getting the plane off the runway a lot quicker, so to speak. This feels like a domain where back of sub culture has more hold than it should given the circumstances. And to Berr’s point, we can’t rely on back of sub culture when the checklist and protocols it uses no longer serve the purpose.

Of course, “stop energy” roles can themselves be balanced – if only I had a dime for every discussion about the value of lawyers who get to yes and the frustrations with those who seem to do nothing but block. The analogy breaks down a bit here because the items on a pre-flight checklist are binary – they are either red or green – whereas the ad hoc checklists that lawyers assemble to ensure compliance before signing off on an action are almost always shades of gray – they can be open to lots of interpretations. Any given lawyer, or compliance officer, or ethics cop can treat their role with appropriate balance, reserving their stop authority only when the risks truly outweigh the benefits. But getting the culture of a team, department, or agency to balance stop and go correctly at a macro level is extremely difficult. It’s rare to see leadership really change that balance, or for it to stick. It’s a retail approach, hugely dependent on personalities and circumstances.

What would a wholesale approach to getting back into balance look like? One answer should be a simple matter of top-down workforce planning, of the kind our Office of Personnel Management should be empowered to do: fewer stop energy jobs relative to go energy jobs. Hire more doers than brakers, both in how the position is defined and in the characteristics of the people selected for the job. But that proposal needs several important caveats. Of course, every great employee is some mix of these energies – a “go only” employee would be exhausting and dangerous in all but the most extreme circumstances – so we’re talking about a general orientation. More importantly, having fewer brakers will only result in enormous backlogs if they have the same stopping power. But there are plenty of functions where its possible to safely move from default no to default yes, possibly with an after the fact correction mechanism.3 Instead of requiring form redesigns to go through a long White House approval process before they can be made available to the public, for instance, allow agencies to apply the appropriate level of scrutiny and sign-off for the form at hand and develop a process for catching and quickly fixing anything determined to be detrimental. This example speaks to the issue of multiple levels of safeguards. Loosening a safeguard that operates at the top level of federal government may not make much difference to overall stop energy if agencies, or in turn their subcomponents, or even teams, react by strengthening their own safeguard processes. There might be something like a Law of Conservation of Safeguards at play here. But it’s still worth considering the value of moving to default yes processes where appropriate. 

Of course, the question of the nature of the job public servants are tasked with is about much more than just stop vs go. It’s about what kind of work we’ve decided to invest in. I go into some depth about this in Chapter 5 of Recoding America as it relates to our lack of investment in digital competencies and how ideologies about private sector superiority led to a big outsourcing push just as digital was beginning to massively transform society.

…these internal competencies in digital became necessary just as we were jettisoning internal competencies of all sorts, not developing them. Instead of digital competency, government has developed extensive processes and procedures for procurement of digital work, and the ins and outs of procurements sometimes seem more complex and technical than the latest programming languages.

This points to another way to understand the disconnect between high employee performance and the outcomes our government produces (or fails to), especially relative to the investment made.4 Take procurement. I know a lot of people in procurement who are really good at their jobs. Some of them are considered really good because they’re great at the “back of sub” tasks of making sure every box is checked, and a manager might feel compelled to give them a high performance rating because of their thoroughness and dedication, even if the people who need the thing being acquired are frustrated by the slowness and rigidity of the process, and even if the thing that is ultimately acquired has checked all the boxes but doesn’t actually work. (For an example of this, see Chapter 4 of Recoding America.) But many of these procurement professionals operate according to “front of sub” principles, and are enormously creative and mission-driven. The other public servants who rely on them to procure things value them enormously. They may or may not receive high ratings, if the manager is judging them based on a “back of sub” approach. But procurement processes simply should not be as complex and burdensome as they have become. Both of these kinds of procurement professionals are doing a job that simply shouldn’t exist in its current form.

Especially with the looming threat of the return of Schedule F under a possible Trump administration, there’s a lot of talk of public sector employee performance and protections. I agree strongly with Donald Kettl, who has said about the left’s silence on civil service reforms in the face of Schedule F: “You can’t fight something with nothing.” I hope to be part of proposing a something there, something that improves government’s ability to fill many open positions and to effectively and ethically manage the workforce. But we could succeed entirely at that and still fail to meet the challenges in front of us if the jobs we fill are the wrong jobs.

Another of my admittedly obvious and oversimplified principles of how to build state capacity is that there are really only three things you can do:

You can have more of the right people

You can focus them on the right things

You can burden them less.

There is obviously quite a lot to say about each of those things, and they are all deeply intertwined. A big reason we don’t have more of the right people is that we overburden both the people responsible for hiring and the applicants, focusing both on the wrong things. We overburden public servants generally because we have designed too many of their jobs to stop bad things instead of to enable the things we desperately need. We are too often asking if public servants are doing a good job instead of understanding and questioning the nature of the jobs they’ve been hired to do. 

We need a much more robust understanding of how to fix the problem of hiring the right people to do the wrong jobs. We need wholesale strategies for tuning the dial between front of sub and back of sub, between stop and go, between brake and gas, and refocusing the job of public servants on the work that’s most directly meaningful towards the outcomes we want. We need staffers in agencies who act as if the climate crisis is the enemy plane that’s about to bomb us. We need transportation engineers whose actual job – as practiced on a daily basis, at scale – is to reduce congestion and pollution and improve and save lives. We need Secretaries of Education who have time in their day to look at the study on improving learning achievement, and maybe even take action on it. We need all of this now.

Imagine a world in which this — not just enforcing rules, not even just helping agencies fill open jobs, but ensuring that federal government fills the right jobs — was the mandate of an empowered and deeply collaborative Office of Personnel Management. They couldn’t do it alone, of course — it’s agencies that define the jobs they think they need and Congress that throws down law after law they must comply with, feeding the need for compliance. The White House Office of Management and Budget adds its own reporting and compliance burdens. Each would need to buy in on an agenda of building state capacity and do their part. But this is what workforce planning should really be, and in 2025, we will need it more than ever. If Biden gets a second term, this is the kind of ambitious agenda he should set.

1

Please read Dan Davies’ excellent new book The Unaccountability Machine for a lot more on Beer and why this is important.

2

The US has 12.8 traffic deaths per 100,000 people, the Netherland 3.6 per 100,0000.

3

I think this is a Guarino-ism… if I’m misattributing it, someone will correct me.

4

Some will point out that perverse incentives in the performance management practices can sometimes make it hard to give public sector employees poor ratings, which may skew the data. I don’t quite know how to evaluate that claim, but I also don’t think it’s all that relevant if you’re trying to

[oliviabutsmart]

Physics Friday #17 [Opinion]: The Great Tau vs Pi Debate

I'm really going for these hot takes now! Just look at me help tear the internet apart!

Education Level: Primary School (Y5/6)

Topic: Trigonometry (Mathematics)

Introduction: What is Tau? (And also pi)

Chances are, are that you already know what pi is ...

π = 3.14159265358979323 ....

I wrote that from memory, yes, I remember 18 digits of pi.

Anyways, we all know what pi is. It's the ratio between a circle's circumference and diameter, it's the ratio between a square and a circle inscribed in the square.

Image Credit: GeeksforGeeks

Pi is also an angle, well, every real number is technically an angle. But pi is a special angle.

It represents a 180˚ turn in radians.

For those who also don't know what a radian is, it's sort-of a special unit of angle measure. Much like how we measure length in meters or feet, we can measure angles in degrees, radians, or revolutions.

A 1 Radian sector of a circle of radius 1 will have an arc length of 1. This makes a 1 rad ≈ 57.2958˚.

Image Credit: Mometrix Test Preperation

You may be able to see why we would prefer radians to degrees. Radians often clean up our equations and even more, it allows us to express common angles in terms of pi.

Because a circle's circumference is equal to 2π times it's radius, a full revolution is equal to 2π units around the circle.

Thus we can express:

270˚ = 3π/2 rad 180˚ = π rad 90˚ = π/2 rad 60˚ = π/3 rad 45˚ = π/4 rad 30˚ = π/6 rad

Looks pretty nice? Well, there's actually another constant we can use to express angle measurements.

Tau, or τ, is equal to 2π. That means that τ = 2π, and a full revolution is equal to τ radians.

Thus we can express:

270˚ = 2τ/3 rad 180˚ = τ/2 rad 90˚ = τ/4 rad 60˚ = τ/6 rad 45˚ = π/8 rad 30˚ = π/12 rad

Tau is a relatively new symbol in the world of mathematics. And it's rather prolific online now. Pi is still used as the universal constant to represent radians and other circle-based coordinates.

While Pi is standard, there's been a growing movement to make Tau the new standard for angle measures. Let's look at the argument.

(Common) Arguments for and against switching

This section will only focus on the main arguments for and against using Tau as a common constant for angle measures. Below is a Numberphile video that goes into some detail over the main arguments for the pi vs tau debate.

Let's look at the pro's of switching to Tau:

Taking portions of a full revolution is significantly easier to grasp conceptually (Half a revolution is τ/2, a quarter revolution is τ/4)

It simplifies several equations in physics and mathematics by removing a factor of 2, e.g. Circumference = 2πr = τr

And here are the cons:

It's an unnecessary level of effort to change everyone over to a different constant when π is already doing a good enough job

It introduces an additional factor of 1/2 in several equations in physics and maths, e.g. Area = πr² = τr²/2

Alright, now it's time for the hot takes/opinions

Pi is better. That's it.

Okay okay, so there are obviously reasons.

Changing Standards

Firstly, I do subscribe to the idea of "if it ain't broke don't fix it", Pi is universally used. When I mean universal I do mean universal. Outside of the online maths-education-space world, tau is relatively unknown if at all.

If you want to switch over to tau, you will need to convince a supermajority of establishments, teachers, or professors globally - across multiple different disciplines like Economics, Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science.

Not just that, but you want to absolutely avoid the relevant xkcd:

Which will come inevitably when you make Tau popular enough that a non-negligible amount of people use it, but not popular enough that you have a majority of the population convinced.

You might as well try change the number base we use.

Changing Hardware/Software

Pi has become so entrenched in our information age modern society that you'll also need to now alter lots of computer software and hardware.

On MacOS (and Windows to), π is a default character on a standard English keyboard layout (using the option keys). Whereas other greek letters are relegated to your typing program of choice's maths function.

This makes writing τ a lot less convenient than π on a lot of computers. One can be written with Option+P, and the other needs to be copy-pasted into every text every time you want to use it.

Not just that, but we also need to consider that most applications that use calculation software (i.e. Microsoft Excel), uses π.

Do you know why windows is so backwards compatible? A lot of Excel's software is legacy, meaning that a lot of Excel software is old and at risk of breaking with new updates. Many, many, financial systems require π otherwise they too would break.

What about programming languages? Most modern languages include a mathematics module, and in order to fully switch to τ, every single last one of them needs to implement changes.

This becomes difficult, especially with older languages that don't get as much updates or developments, but are still used regularly in a lot of programs.

If you fully fully want to change to tau you'd have to go through every instance of pi and change it to tau/2 in order to not confuse future readers of the program.

It's in my opinion that doing all of this ... is not needed when you're getting very diminished returns.

Introducing More Fractions

The second point, that tau introduces extra fractions, is also something I agree with.

Fractions are innately more difficult for a layperson to grasp. Especially more difficult than multiples of a number.

Switching to τ means introducing an additional factor of 1/2 in every equation. This is okay for small fractions like 1/2 or 1/4. But angle measures like 30˚ end up having factors of 12.

Do you know what 1/12 is? Could you reasonably ask a layperson to write out 1/12 of the top of their head?

But this spreads much more widely. Every integral now has extra fractions. Fractions are the most common reason why you fuck up an integral. Because doing arithmetic with fractions is innately harder than arithmetic with integers.

The main argument here is that in order to trade the conceptual-ness of simplifying angle measurements slightly and conceptually, you end up making a mess of a lot of other aspects of trigonometry in terms of the arithmetic.

The Online World is not the Only World

The most annoying thing I find about the tau vs pi debate is in how people advocate for tau. It's a microcosm of a lot of online activism.

Just because your movement has a presence online, does not mean that it's popular elsewhere. All you do when you promote things online is confuse or offend people when reality slaps you in the face.

The tau vs pi debate is the most tame of these online vs real world disparities, but it's a good example in the light form.

I've often seen that people who use tau generally use it without clarifying what tau means. This means that someone who is not familiar with the existence of tau (of which there are many), will be confused when you start using e^iτ/2 to represent -1.

It also isn't helpful as it doesn't actually extend the movement's reach outside of a very minimal niche ...

There are two Numberphile videos on Tau, often credited as what really kick-started everything. Both videos have only 1 million views. About 1/400th the population of the US, and 1/8000th the population of the globe.

When you realise the scale of how small your movement is, it can really put in perspective what is required. And also why people may ask more things of you.

If you want to advocate for τ or anything else, there's a right way to do it, and a wrong way. And ignoring feedback or requests is more a sign of stubbornness or immaturity.

Conclusion

If I were to have it my way, I'd actually prefer making our angle measure constant smaller. Instead, let us have a symbol representing a right-angled turn.

This would be great, as people often deal with right angles a lot more often than 180˚ turns and 360˚ turns. It also handily removes an extra factor of 1/2 from all equations.

Of course, there are obvious disadvantages. But let's be honest. The first criticism I gave still absolutely applies.

Relevant xkcd, again.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed the post. Of course, this is an opinion post, meaning that I would very much like to hear your own thoughts on tau vs pi! While I sounded a bit agitated at the end there its more because of this:

Tumblr is being a bitch and is fucking up my computer's processing power for some reason. Like seriously the speed at which I type is making the website load poorly.

Outside of that, next week will be on Baryon Acoustic Oscillations. See you later!

[c0mpvlsive]

The Dawn of AI (Paperwar) by Ryan LeKodak

Book Summary:

One malfunction…

Millions dead…

The search for answers begins…

In the year 2040, the world's transportation is dominated by a highly advanced artificial intelligence system.

However, this seemingly perfect technology collapses, resulting in catastrophic disasters and the loss of millions of lives worldwide.

The disaster is dubbed Mayday, and its aftermath affects everyone. But was it simply a malfunction, or is there a more nefarious agenda at work? Who is accountable for the mass slaughter, and why was it carried out?

Order your copy and find out if the rise of AI, will be the fall of civilization!

Buy the Book – Amazon

Reviews:

★★★★★“LeKodak's stellar debut is a science fiction thriller that utilizes elements of speculative fiction, apocalyptic fiction, and conspiratorial mystery in a globe-hopping narrative that chronicles a group of adventurers trying to unravel who—or what—was behind a software malfunction that killed tens of millions of innocent people. It is well-written, relentlessly paced, and thematically profound, and will surely appeal to fans of SF thrillers by luminaries like Clarke, Dick, and Crichton. This is the good stuff.”

Paul Goat Allen, BlueInk Review

★★★★★“It's refreshing to see a talented author like LeKodak take the trope into the dystopian disaster novel niche and deliver an action-packed tale that gives just as many blockbuster thrills as it does intelligent technological questions. The plot and its themes are the primary focus, but in the ensemble cast of characters caught in the crossfire, each one has good solid development and moments to shine. I recommend The Dawn of AI to enthusiasts of intricately penned and exciting science fiction everywhere."

K.C. Finn, Readers' Favorite Book Review

★★★★★“The characters are extremely well developed, which is quite an accomplishment given how many there are. The most intriguing characters to me are conjoined twins with incredible story arcs and whenever the point of view kicked back to them, for me, it was like a favorite song playing again on the radio."

Jamie Michele, Readers' Favorite Book Review

★★★★★“The Dawn of AI connects the dots between characters that I neither expected nor saw coming in a story configuration that has an after-before-after pattern. I love this configuration as it hooks immediately and then goes back to fill in the blanks after I am invested in the plot. Excellent storytelling. Very highly recommended."

Asher Syed, Readers' Favorite Book Review

★★★★★“With the rise of Artificial Intelligence being a hot topic in the real world right now, I’m grateful to see such thought-provoking stories that explore this emergent technology's potential. This book is an easy recommendation to anyone interested in exciting science fiction, which takes a prevailing concern of today's world and explores it with intelligence and consideration."

Lexie Fox, Readers' Favorite Book Review

★★★★★“The pitfalls of giving the machines too much control play out in the storyline of Ryan LeKodak's novel. His take on an apocalyptic event is so vivid it is frightening to contemplate. The Dawn of AI is a science fiction aficionado’s dream novel."

Essien Asian, Readers' Favorite Book Review

★★★★★“In a world where jobs and livelihoods are being increasingly threatened by AI’s potential, this book is a reminder that machine malfunctions will inevitably happen.”

Theresa Kadair, Los Angeles Book Review

About the Author:

Ryan LeKodak is a science fiction author who lives in San Diego, California with his family. After emigrating from Vietnam in 1980 by boat, Ryan dreamed of becoming a doctor and nothing more. But upon learning the sight of blood made him squeamish, he pivoted from premed to begin a thirty-plus-year career in high-tech engineering, IT, quality assurance, and operations. Now a cybersecurity program manager based in San Diego, Ryan juggles a hectic career, raising his twin sons, and appeasing a needy Poochon puppy. At home, his lively boys take center stage, and their colorful comic doodles, adolescent puns, and wildly exaggerated stories from school inspired him to craft fast-paced science-fiction thrillers that explore the ominous potential of a future where AI surpasses human control. Through his writing, Ryan champions the extraordinary strengths that reside within each of us and celebrates the individual quirks that lighten fantastic worlds on the brink of disaster.

[podcasttoday]

The Dawn of AI (Paperwar) by Ryan LeKodak

Book Summary:

One malfunction…

Millions dead…

The search for answers begins…

In the year 2040, the world's transportation is dominated by a highly advanced artificial intelligence system.

However, this seemingly perfect technology collapses, resulting in catastrophic disasters and the loss of millions of lives worldwide.

The disaster is dubbed Mayday, and its aftermath affects everyone. But was it simply a malfunction, or is there a more nefarious agenda at work? Who is accountable for the mass slaughter, and why was it carried out?

Order your copy and find out if the rise of AI, will be the fall of civilization!

Buy the Book – Amazon

 Reviews:

★★★★★“LeKodak's stellar debut is a science fiction thriller that utilizes elements of speculative fiction, apocalyptic fiction, and conspiratorial mystery in a globe-hopping narrative that chronicles a group of adventurers trying to unravel who—or what—was behind a software malfunction that killed tens of millions of innocent people. It is well-written, relentlessly paced, and thematically profound, and will surely appeal to fans of SF thrillers by luminaries like Clarke, Dick, and Crichton. This is the good stuff.”

Paul Goat Allen, BlueInk Review

 ★★★★★“It's refreshing to see a talented author like LeKodak take the trope into the dystopian disaster novel niche and deliver an action-packed tale that gives just as many blockbuster thrills as it does intelligent technological questions. The plot and its themes are the primary focus, but in the ensemble cast of characters caught in the crossfire, each one has good solid development and moments to shine. I recommend The Dawn of AI to enthusiasts of intricately penned and exciting science fiction everywhere."

K.C. Finn, Readers' Favorite Book Review

 ★★★★★“The characters are extremely well developed, which is quite an accomplishment given how many there are. The most intriguing characters to me are conjoined twins with incredible story arcs and whenever the point of view kicked back to them, for me, it was like a favorite song playing again on the radio."

Jamie Michele, Readers' Favorite Book Review

 ★★★★★“The Dawn of AI connects the dots between characters that I neither expected nor saw coming in a story configuration that has an after-before-after pattern. I love this configuration as it hooks immediately and then goes back to fill in the blanks after I am invested in the plot. Excellent storytelling. Very highly recommended."

Asher Syed, Readers' Favorite Book Review

 ★★★★★“With the rise of Artificial Intelligence being a hot topic in the real world right now, I’m grateful to see such thought-provoking stories that explore this emergent technology's potential. This book is an easy recommendation to anyone interested in exciting science fiction, which takes a prevailing concern of today's world and explores it with intelligence and consideration."

Lexie Fox, Readers' Favorite Book Review

 ★★★★★“The pitfalls of giving the machines too much control play out in the storyline of Ryan LeKodak's novel. His take on an apocalyptic event is so vivid it is frightening to contemplate. The Dawn of AI is a science fiction aficionado’s dream novel."

Essien Asian, Readers' Favorite Book Review

 ★★★★★“In a world where jobs and livelihoods are being increasingly threatened by AI’s potential, this book is a reminder that machine malfunctions will inevitably happen.”

Theresa Kadair, Los Angeles Book Review

 About the Author:

Ryan LeKodak is a science fiction author who lives in San Diego, California with his family. After emigrating from Vietnam in 1980 by boat, Ryan dreamed of becoming a doctor and nothing more. But upon learning the sight of blood made him squeamish, he pivoted from premed to begin a thirty-plus-year career in high-tech engineering, IT, quality assurance, and operations. Now a cybersecurity program manager based in San Diego, Ryan juggles a hectic career, raising his twin sons, and appeasing a needy Poochon puppy. At home, his lively boys take center stage, and their colorful comic doodles, adolescent puns, and wildly exaggerated stories from school inspired him to craft fast-paced science-fiction thrillers that explore the ominous potential of a future where AI surpasses human control. Through his writing, Ryan champions the extraordinary strengths that reside within each of us and celebrates the individual quirks that lighten fantastic worlds on the brink of disaster.

[academicvoyager]

The Dawn of AI (Paperwar) by Ryan LeKodak

Book Summary:

One malfunction…

Millions dead…

The search for answers begins…

In the year 2040, the world's transportation is dominated by a highly advanced artificial intelligence system.

However, this seemingly perfect technology collapses, resulting in catastrophic disasters and the loss of millions of lives worldwide.

The disaster is dubbed Mayday, and its aftermath affects everyone. But was it simply a malfunction, or is there a more nefarious agenda at work? Who is accountable for the mass slaughter, and why was it carried out?

Order your copy and find out if the rise of AI, will be the fall of civilization!

Buy the Book – Amazon

Reviews:

★★★★★“LeKodak's stellar debut is a science fiction thriller that utilizes elements of speculative fiction, apocalyptic fiction, and conspiratorial mystery in a globe-hopping narrative that chronicles a group of adventurers trying to unravel who—or what—was behind a software malfunction that killed tens of millions of innocent people. It is well-written, relentlessly paced, and thematically profound, and will surely appeal to fans of SF thrillers by luminaries like Clarke, Dick, and Crichton. This is the good stuff.”

Paul Goat Allen, BlueInk Review

★★★★★“It's refreshing to see a talented author like LeKodak take the trope into the dystopian disaster novel niche and deliver an action-packed tale that gives just as many blockbuster thrills as it does intelligent technological questions. The plot and its themes are the primary focus, but in the ensemble cast of characters caught in the crossfire, each one has good solid development and moments to shine. I recommend The Dawn of AI to enthusiasts of intricately penned and exciting science fiction everywhere."

K.C. Finn, Readers' Favorite Book Review

★★★★★“The characters are extremely well developed, which is quite an accomplishment given how many there are. The most intriguing characters to me are conjoined twins with incredible story arcs and whenever the point of view kicked back to them, for me, it was like a favorite song playing again on the radio."

Jamie Michele, Readers' Favorite Book Review

★★★★★“The Dawn of AI connects the dots between characters that I neither expected nor saw coming in a story configuration that has an after-before-after pattern. I love this configuration as it hooks immediately and then goes back to fill in the blanks after I am invested in the plot. Excellent storytelling. Very highly recommended."

Asher Syed, Readers' Favorite Book Review

★★★★★“With the rise of Artificial Intelligence being a hot topic in the real world right now, I’m grateful to see such thought-provoking stories that explore this emergent technology's potential. This book is an easy recommendation to anyone interested in exciting science fiction, which takes a prevailing concern of today's world and explores it with intelligence and consideration."

Lexie Fox, Readers' Favorite Book Review

★★★★★“The pitfalls of giving the machines too much control play out in the storyline of Ryan LeKodak's novel. His take on an apocalyptic event is so vivid it is frightening to contemplate. The Dawn of AI is a science fiction aficionado’s dream novel."

Essien Asian, Readers' Favorite Book Review

★★★★★“In a world where jobs and livelihoods are being increasingly threatened by AI’s potential, this book is a reminder that machine malfunctions will inevitably happen.”

Theresa Kadair, Los Angeles Book Review

About the Author:

Ryan LeKodak is a science fiction author who lives in San Diego, California with his family. After emigrating from Vietnam in 1980 by boat, Ryan dreamed of becoming a doctor and nothing more. But upon learning the sight of blood made him squeamish, he pivoted from premed to begin a thirty-plus-year career in high-tech engineering, IT, quality assurance, and operations. Now a cybersecurity program manager based in San Diego, Ryan juggles a hectic career, raising his twin sons, and appeasing a needy Poochon puppy. At home, his lively boys take center stage, and their colorful comic doodles, adolescent puns, and wildly exaggerated stories from school inspired him to craft fast-paced science-fiction thrillers that explore the ominous potential of a future where AI surpasses human control. Through his writing, Ryan champions the extraordinary strengths that reside within each of us and celebrates the individual quirks that lighten fantastic worlds on the brink of disaster.

[alteredstatesstuff]

15 Awesome Freebies to Supercharge Your Blogging Journey!

Hi everyone, I decided to do a blog about resources for bloggers. I hope that some of you will find the information useful. We are going to look at 15 fantastic freebies that will make your blogging journey a breeze. Get ready to unleash your inner blogging superstar without spending a dime!

Canva - Design Like a Pro: Wave goodbye to expensive graphic design software! With Canva, you can create eye-catching blog graphics, social media images, and more. It's like having a magic wand for your visuals. Check it out here: [link to Canva]

Grammarly - The Grammar Guru: Banish those pesky typos and grammatical errors with Grammarly. This handy tool acts like a writing superhero, ensuring your blog posts are polished to perfection. Get your grammar game on point: [link to Grammarly]

Pixabay - Picture Paradise: Spice up your blog with stunning, high-quality images from Pixabay. It's a treasure trove of visual wonders, and the best part? It's all free! Dive into a world of captivating visuals: [link to Pixabay]

Unsplash - A Photographer's Dream: Unsplash is a goldmine of breathtaking, royalty-free images captured by talented photographers. Elevate your blog's visuals with their awe-inspiring collection: [link to Unsplash]

Google Analytics - Unveil Your Blog's Secrets: Unlock the magic of data with Google Analytics. Dive into the world of website analytics and discover valuable insights about your readers and their behaviors. Get your data wizardry on: [link to Google Analytics]

Hemingway Editor - Writing Made Easy: Channel your inner Ernest Hemingway with this nifty tool. Hemingway Editor helps you write clear, concise sentences and offers suggestions for improvement. It's like having a writing coach by your side: [link to Hemingway Editor]

Mailchimp - Email Marketing Magic: Build a loyal following and stay connected with your readers through email newsletters. Mailchimp makes email marketing a breeze, with its user-friendly interface and handy features. Start building your email empire: [link to Mailchimp]

Trello - Organize Like a Boss: Say goodbye to chaos and hello to organization with Trello. This nifty project management tool helps you stay on top of your blogging tasks, deadlines, and ideas. Stay organized and slay your blogging goals: [link to Trello]

WordPress.org - Blogging Bliss: Join the millions of bloggers who harness the power of WordPress.org. It's the ultimate platform for creating your own customizable, professional blog. Dive into the world of WordPress: [link to WordPress.org]

BuzzSumo - Find Content that Rocks: Discover trending topics and popular articles in your niche with BuzzSumo. It's like having a crystal ball for content ideas. Unleash your content creation genius: [link to BuzzSumo]

HubSpot Blog Ideas Generator - Spark Your Creativity: Stuck in a blogging rut? The HubSpot Blog Ideas Generator is here to save the day. Simply input a few keywords, and voila! It magically generates a plethora of blog post ideas. Ignite your creative spark: [link to HubSpot Blog Ideas Generator]

Yoast SEO - Conquer the Search Engines: Boost your blog's visibility and conquer the search engines with Yoast SEO. This plugin provides helpful suggestions to optimize your content and improve your rankings. Become an SEO ninja: [link to Yoast SEO]

Answer the Public - Uncover Reader Questions: Wondering what your readers are searching for? Answer the Public helps you discover popular questions related to your blog's topic. It's like mind-reading for bloggers. Unlock the mysteries of reader inquiries: [link to Answer the Public]

Google Trends - Ride the Trend Wave: Stay in the loop with the latest trends using Google Trends. It helps you identify hot topics and trending searches, allowing you to create content that resonates with your audience. Ride the wave of viral success: [link to Google Trends]

Buffer - Social Media Wizardry: Streamline your social media management with Buffer. Schedule and share your blog posts effortlessly across multiple platforms, saving you time and effort.

There you have it, my blogging comrades, 15 incredible free resources to level up your blogging game. From graphic design to grammar perfection, captivating visuals to data insights, these no-cost gems will help you shine like a blogging superstar. So, go forth, explore these tools, and let them work their magic. May your blogging journey be filled with laughter, success, and a touch of whimsy. Happy blogging, my friends!

[gamesindustrynormal]

The Unity thing is still the hot topic in both AAA and indie circles. And people are mostly correct in their assessment of how big of an issue it is for the medium - a lot of people have focused their energy on becoming good at Unity game development, and not so much on other things.

I'm really not one to speak on it - I have a good amount of Unity experience but I mostly work in engine development. In general I don't hire engineers that do not have experience writing code "from scratch", so to say.

But I will say that it is important to be well-rounded when it comes to software and give it some, but not all, of your focus. More artists than engineers struggle with this, but really it's true for all game development students, and probably for any student in a creative field.

A lot of people have a very narrow idea of what they want to work on, like 2D concept art, and don't bother picking up skills or knowledge that will not directly reinforce that. But it is important to try many things - in part because it is a tough jobs market and having some flexibility will always aid you. But also because having more perspective on different parts of game development is a good thing and working in related disciplines often teaches you ways to improve processes in your own.

Similarly, some - fewer, but I have still met many - focus entirely on trying the latest software. There are certainly benefits to knowing the tools you will be working with, and there are definitely benefits to being good at learning new ones, but do not do it at the cost of neglecting your fundamentals. Pixar has been known to hire people with claymation reels, it is generally understood that you can teach most people tools but they need to understand the fundamentals of their craft for it to be worthwhile.

So yes, Unity is a cautionary tale and a bit of an extreme case, but focusing on transferrable knowledge and dabbling with different tools was always a good idea. (Also apparently I've been posting here for a year now. Should probably lift these linkedin-adjacent reflections to a side blog whenever I can come up with a good name for it)

[infohalf]

Enhance Your Roblox World with the Best Shader Options

If you're looking to elevate your Roblox experience beyond the default visuals, shaders are your go-to solution. Shaders can transform the look and feel of any Roblox game, adding depth, lighting, and immersive effects that dramatically enhance gameplay. As more players seek better aesthetics, the interest in shader tools has surged.

roblox shader

The concept of a roblox shader revolves around enhancing the visual quality of the Roblox platform using custom graphical tools. These shaders don't come natively with Roblox, but thanks to community efforts and third-party developers, players now have access to mods that can dramatically improve their gaming environment. A shader can simulate lighting effects like sunrays, shadows, bloom, and depth of field—turning a basic game into something that looks nearly cinematic.

What makes shaders such a hot topic is how significantly they transform a game without modifying its core mechanics. Players remain in the same worlds, but everything feels richer and more alive. That’s especially important for creators who want their game to stand out on the platform. When a player enters a game with shaders enabled, they notice details that weren’t apparent before—light bouncing off surfaces, realistic skies, and detailed water reflections. It’s an experience enhancer in every sense.

Unlike traditional mods, shaders operate as overlays. They don’t affect the base game files but rather change how graphics are rendered by your computer. That makes them relatively safe to use, as long as they come from trusted sources. One such reliable platform offering these tools is roblox shader, which provides a range of shader packs optimized for different hardware configurations.

roblox shader 2025

As we look into roblox shader 2025, it’s clear that shaders have moved beyond being just a cool add-on—they’re becoming a foundational part of the Roblox graphics landscape. In 2025, the demand for visually immersive environments in Roblox is stronger than ever. The rise in user-generated content with high production value has made shaders nearly essential for developers who want their games to compete at the top of the charts.

The tools available in 2025 are more advanced and accessible than those from previous years. Shader developers now focus on creating versions that are optimized for a broader range of devices, from high-end gaming PCs to mid-tier laptops. There are also options that cater to mobile users, though with more limited capabilities. Platforms like roblox shader 2025 have been instrumental in making these advancements widely available.

Another major change in 2025 is the seamless integration of shaders with Roblox Studio. While Roblox has not officially adopted third-party shaders, many creators have found workarounds and extensions that allow them to test their games with shaders applied in real-time. This feature helps game developers preview how their environment will look to players using shaders and make necessary adjustments before publishing.

roblox shader download

Now that you understand what shaders are and how they’ve evolved in 2025, let’s talk about roblox shader download and how to get started. The process of downloading and installing shaders might seem complex at first, but it's actually quite straightforward when done from the right sources.

Before anything else, it’s essential to download shaders only from reputable websites. The risk of installing malicious software is real, especially with third-party tools. That’s why platforms like roblox shader download are popular; they vet their files and provide clear instructions for installation, making the process safer and more user-friendly.

Typically, a shader download package includes a launcher or injector tool, along with a selection of shader presets. After downloading the package, users follow a step-by-step guide to install the shader engine. The most popular injector tool is ReShade, a general-purpose post-processing injector that works with DirectX and OpenGL. Many Roblox shaders are built on top of it, offering customization through easy-to-use GUIs.

[veryfunangel]

Enhance Your Roblox World with the Best Shader Options

If you're looking to elevate your Roblox experience beyond the default visuals, shaders are your go-to solution. Shaders can transform the look and feel of any Roblox game, adding depth, lighting, and immersive effects that dramatically enhance gameplay. As more players seek better aesthetics, the interest in shader tools has surged.

roblox shader

The concept of a roblox shader revolves around enhancing the visual quality of the Roblox platform using custom graphical tools. These shaders don't come natively with Roblox, but thanks to community efforts and third-party developers, players now have access to mods that can dramatically improve their gaming environment. A shader can simulate lighting effects like sunrays, shadows, bloom, and depth of field—turning a basic game into something that looks nearly cinematic.

What makes shaders such a hot topic is how significantly they transform a game without modifying its core mechanics. Players remain in the same worlds, but everything feels richer and more alive. That’s especially important for creators who want their game to stand out on the platform. When a player enters a game with shaders enabled, they notice details that weren’t apparent before—light bouncing off surfaces, realistic skies, and detailed water reflections. It’s an experience enhancer in every sense.

Unlike traditional mods, shaders operate as overlays. They don’t affect the base game files but rather change how graphics are rendered by your computer. That makes them relatively safe to use, as long as they come from trusted sources. One such reliable platform offering these tools is roblox shader, which provides a range of shader packs optimized for different hardware configurations.

roblox shader 2025

As we look into roblox shader 2025, it’s clear that shaders have moved beyond being just a cool add-on—they’re becoming a foundational part of the Roblox graphics landscape. In 2025, the demand for visually immersive environments in Roblox is stronger than ever. The rise in user-generated content with high production value has made shaders nearly essential for developers who want their games to compete at the top of the charts.

The tools available in 2025 are more advanced and accessible than those from previous years. Shader developers now focus on creating versions that are optimized for a broader range of devices, from high-end gaming PCs to mid-tier laptops. There are also options that cater to mobile users, though with more limited capabilities. Platforms like roblox shader 2025 have been instrumental in making these advancements widely available.

Another major change in 2025 is the seamless integration of shaders with Roblox Studio. While Roblox has not officially adopted third-party shaders, many creators have found workarounds and extensions that allow them to test their games with shaders applied in real-time. This feature helps game developers preview how their environment will look to players using shaders and make necessary adjustments before publishing.

roblox shader download

Now that you understand what shaders are and how they’ve evolved in 2025, let’s talk about roblox shader download and how to get started. The process of downloading and installing shaders might seem complex at first, but it's actually quite straightforward when done from the right sources.

Before anything else, it’s essential to download shaders only from reputable websites. The risk of installing malicious software is real, especially with third-party tools. That’s why platforms like roblox shader download are popular; they vet their files and provide clear instructions for installation, making the process safer and more user-friendly.

Typically, a shader download package includes a launcher or injector tool, along with a selection of shader presets. After downloading the package, users follow a step-by-step guide to install the shader engine. The most popular injector tool is ReShade, a general-purpose post-processing injector that works with DirectX and OpenGL. Many Roblox shaders are built on top of it, offering customization through easy-to-use GUIs.

[steelsmartsystem1]

CFS Software: Revolutionizing Cold-Formed Steel Design

Cold-Formed Steel (CFS) is a preferred material in modern construction due to its high strength-to-weight ratio, corrosion resistance, and sustainability. Unlike hot-rolled steel, CFS is shaped at room temperature, allowing for precise, lightweight structural elements ideal for residential, commercial, and industrial buildings. However, designing with CFS requires detailed structural analysis and careful adherence to international standards, which is where specialized design tools become essential.

Advanced design platforms tailored for cold-formed steel allow engineers to efficiently model wall panels, trusses, joists, and other structural elements. These tools support automated code checks, load calculations, and 3D visualization, making it easier to create accurate, build-ready designs. They also offer libraries of predefined CFS sections, along with the ability to customize profiles based on project needs. Integration with BIM software ensures better collaboration across architecture and engineering teams, improving project outcomes.

CFS Software simplifies what would otherwise be a complex and time-consuming process. By streamlining structural calculations and enhancing accuracy, it reduces the risk of errors while saving both time and material costs. As building codes and performance standards evolve, using such software is not only a convenience but a necessity for professionals working with cold-formed steel. Investing in the right design tools ensures safety, compliance, and long-term success in steel-framed construction projects.

Discover more on the topic by visiting our blog - https://medium.com/@steelsmartsystem408/cfs-software-revolutionizing-cold-formed-steel-design-16bc72511eda

[thescientistglobalawards]

Quantum Computing Research @ UM

"Just do the calculations" is a common saying in the field of quantum computing, the development of software for quantum computers. Everything in this field is new; simply doing the math is often the best way to proceed. At Maastricht University, an interdisciplinary group of scientists works in quantum computing research, they try to do more than just the math. David Mestel and Jérémie Gobeil describe the unsolved problems in quantum computing that they are researching.

David Mestel (Department of Advanced Computing Sciences) describes the field of quantum computing as "a huge world of ignorance". David studies quantum information theory, which is a branch of science that investigates the information hidden in quantum mechanical systems such as quantum computers. He goes on to say, "In classical computing, you can incrementally improve existing algorithms, but in quantum computing, all of these algorithms need to be developed, we have only discovered a few of them. The main goal of our work is to develop new ones and improve the existing ones." Progress Physicist Jérémie Gobeil (Gravity Waves & Fundamental Physics) is studying the potential benefits of quantum computing in physics research, such as gravitational waves measured by the future Einstein Telescope. “You could apply classical computing solutions to a quantum computer, but you would gain nothing. Therefore, we need to consider other applications of quantum computers that take advantage of the unique benefits that a quantum computer may provide. The field of quantum computing began with simply trying things and seeing if they worked. Meanwhile, we made progress and can show that for some tasks, quantum computers will have advantages over classical ones (see box).

Riding the Wave

Calculations in qubits take the form of a quantum wave, a mathematical formula derived from quantum mechanics. If you read the wave's output, it collapses, or, to put it another way, it is destroyed. Jérémie: "At the moment, it is nearly impossible to read all of the information in a quantum wave. As a result, we try to make the calculations in a quantum algorithm as simple as possible. Just enter a little information, perform the complex quantum calculations, and then read only the part of the wave that interests you."

Hype Energy

Researchers in the field of quantum computing include computer scientists, physicists, and mathematicians, whereas classical computing is primarily the domain of computer scientists. Jérémie explains: "As long as there is no standardised hardware for quantum computers, you will need scientists from all of these fields to be able to discover algorithms and translate them to instructions the quantum computer can work with." At Maastricht University's Faculty of Science and Engineering, the field of quantum computing is highly interdisciplinary, involving scientists from all relevant scientific disciplines.

Quantum computing research is a hot topic; getting funding is relatively simple, but other hot topics, such as artificial intelligence, compete for attention and money. Jérémie: "Both on the level of hardware and algorithms, researchers and companies need to live up to the expectations, or else the ‘hype energy’ could shift towards different topics." Because quantum computing research is dependent on the advancement of hardware developments, researchers are faced with lots of uncertainties. Keeping the ‘hype energy’ might therefore be one of their hardest tasks.

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The Scientist Global Awards

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[sruthypm]

Full Stack Developer Course in Kochi: Unlock Your Career with Techmindz

In today’s rapidly evolving tech industry, the demand for skilled full-stack developers is at an all-time high. These developers are the backbone of many modern applications, mastering both front-end and back-end technologies. If you're considering a career in web development, enrolling in a Full Stack Developer Course in Kochi can be a game-changing decision. Techmindz, a leading institution in Kochi, offers comprehensive training designed to equip you with the necessary skills to excel in this dynamic field.

Why Choose Techmindz for Full Stack Developer Training?

Techmindz has established itself as one of the top training providers in Kochi, specializing in courses that cater to the ever-changing demands of the IT industry. Here are some reasons why Techmindz is the best choice for your Full Stack Developer Course:

1. Comprehensive Curriculum

Techmindz offers a well-structured curriculum that covers both front-end and back-end development in detail. From the basics of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to advanced concepts like React, Node.js, and MongoDB, the course is designed to give students a holistic understanding of full-stack development.

2. Industry-Experienced Trainers

The instructors at Techmindz are industry veterans who bring real-world experience into the classroom. Their expertise helps bridge the gap between theory and practical application, ensuring students learn the skills needed to thrive in the workplace.

3. Hands-On Experience

At Techmindz, learning is not confined to theory. Students get the opportunity to work on real-world projects, allowing them to apply the concepts they’ve learned in a practical environment. This hands-on experience is vital for building confidence and a strong portfolio.

4. Job Placement Assistance

Techmindz provides job placement assistance to students who successfully complete the Full Stack Developer Course. With strong ties to top IT companies in Kochi and across India, Techmindz helps students secure job opportunities in leading organizations.

5. Flexible Learning Options

Whether you’re a working professional or a student, Techmindz offers flexible learning options. You can choose between full-time, part-time, or online courses, making it easier to balance your learning with other commitments.

What Will You Learn in the Full Stack Developer Course?

The Full Stack Developer Course in Kochi at Techmindz covers a wide range of topics to give you a comprehensive understanding of both client-side and server-side development:

Front-End Development

HTML/CSS: Learn the foundation of web pages, including structure and design.

JavaScript: Master the core language for client-side interactivity.

React: Understand the most popular JavaScript library for building user interfaces.

Back-End Development

Node.js: Learn JavaScript on the server-side to build scalable applications.

Express.js: Build RESTful APIs and handle requests with ease.

MongoDB: Get hands-on with NoSQL databases and learn how to manage large datasets.

Version Control and Deployment

Git and GitHub: Learn version control systems to manage code and collaborate with other developers.

Deployment: Gain knowledge on deploying web applications to cloud platforms like Heroku or AWS.

Web Development Best Practices

Learn agile development, debugging, and testing methodologies to produce high-quality, maintainable code.

Career Opportunities After Completing the Course

Upon completing the Full Stack Developer Course at Techmindz, you will be equipped to pursue various roles in the IT industry. The skills you acquire will open up career opportunities as:

Full Stack Developer

Front-End Developer

Back-End Developer

Web Application Developer

Software Engineer

With Techmindz’s extensive network and placement assistance, you can be confident that you will be well-prepared to land a job in one of the most in-demand fields in technology.

Why Full Stack Development is a Hot Career Choice

The role of a full-stack developer is considered one of the most versatile in the tech industry. As a full-stack developer, you’ll have the ability to work on both the front-end and back-end, making you a valuable asset to any organization. Companies are increasingly looking for developers who can manage all aspects of web development, from creating user interfaces to building server-side applications.

Moreover, full-stack development offers job security, high earning potential, and ample opportunities for career growth. As businesses continue to build and scale their digital presence, the demand for skilled full-stack developers is only expected to grow.

Conclusion

If you're looking to kick-start your career in web development, enrolling in the Full Stack Developer Course in Kochi at Techmindz is the right move. With expert instructors, a comprehensive curriculum, and job placement support, Techmindz provides everything you need to succeed in this fast-paced industry. Take the first step towards becoming a full-stack developer today and unlock endless career opportunities.

For more information or to enroll in the Full Stack Developer Course, visit Techmindz’s website or contact their team to get started!

[justtryblockchain]

Cost to Develop a Cryptocurrency Exchange: Key Factors & Estimates

Importance of the Topic

With the growing global interest in digital currencies, launching a cryptocurrency exchange has become an attractive business opportunity. However, one of the most critical questions entrepreneurs face is: how much does it actually cost to build one? Understanding this helps in budget planning, avoiding costly surprises, and building a compliant, scalable platform.

Quote

“The crypto market rewards those who build trust and usability—not just hype.” — Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Bitcoin Advocate & Author

1. Introduction

The rise of digital assets has made digital currency exchanges the backbone of the Web3 economy. Whether you’re a startup founder, fintech investor, or blockchain enthusiast, launching a crypto exchange seems lucrative—but it’s not cheap. The development cost can vary dramatically depending on features, technology, and compliance. Let’s explore the real price tag behind building a full-fledged cryptocurrency trading platform.

2. What Is a Cryptocurrency Exchange?

In simple terms, it’s a platform where users can buy, sell, or trade digital currencies. There are mainly three types:

Centralized Exchanges (CEX) – managed by a central authority.

Decentralized Exchanges (DEX) – powered by smart contracts.

Hybrid Exchanges – combine the best of both worlds.

Each type has different features and complexities, and that plays a huge role in the final cost.

3. Why Build a Cryptocurrency Exchange?

Besides being a booming market, owning a crypto exchange means recurring revenue through:

Trading fees

Withdrawal charges

Token listing fees

Subscription-based services

In a world going digital, crypto exchanges are the new-age stock markets.

4. Core Factors Influencing Development Cost

Type of Exchange and Its Impact on Cost

A decentralized exchange (DEX) generally costs less but requires blockchain expertise. A centralized one needs robust security and regulatory compliance, making it more expensive. Hybrid exchanges, although powerful, are the priciest to build.

Features That Add to the Budget

UI/UX Design

First impressions matter. A sleek, intuitive design can boost retention. A custom-designed front end might cost between $10,000–$25,000.

Wallet Integration

You’ll need both hot (online) and cold (offline) wallets. Integrating them securely can add $15,000–$40,000 to your bill.

Trading Engine

The brain of your platform—it matches buy/sell orders in real-time. Expect to spend $20,000–$50,000 here.

KYC/AML Compliance

Regulations demand user verification. Integrating third-party solutions like Onfido or Jumio might cost around $5,000–$15,000.

Development Methods

In-house Team – Total control, high cost.

Crypto Exchange Development Company – Experienced, reliable, moderately expensive.

Freelancers – Affordable, but risky.

White-label Crypto Exchange Software Development – Quick launch and cost-effective but less customizable.

5. Estimated Crypto Exchange Development Costs

These numbers are just ballpark figures. The actual cost depends on location, features, and complexity.

Development Option & Estimated Cost

In-house Team

$300,000 – $600,000+

Development Agency

$150,000 – $500,000

White-label Platform

$20,000 – $80,000

Freelancers

$10,000 – $50,000

6. Legal and Regulatory Expenses

You can’t run a digital currency exchange without licenses. Costs vary by country:

U.S. & U.K.: High ($50,000–$150,000)

Malta, Estonia, Singapore: Moderate ($10,000–$50,000)

Also, you’ll need legal help with compliance, terms of service, and privacy policies.

7. Ongoing Maintenance & Hidden Costs

Once you launch, you’ll still need to spend money. Here's where:

Server & Hosting: Cloud services (e.g., AWS, Azure)

Customer Support: 24/7 helpdesk

Security Audits: Regular checks and fixes

Marketing: Getting users on board

Monthly costs can range between $10,000 and $50,000 depending on scale.

8. Tips to Reduce Crypto Exchange Development Cost

Start Small with an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) Build the essentials first, add bells and whistles later.

Choose Offshore Developers Hiring a team from Asia or Eastern Europe can save up to 60% on development costs.

Use White-Label Solutions Ready-made platforms save time and money and are great for quick market entry.

Conclusion

Launching a cryptocurrency exchange isn’t cheap, but it’s one of the most rewarding digital ventures today. Depending on your choices, the crypto exchange development cost can vary from $20,000 to over $500,000. Whether you choose to go all-in with custom development or opt for a white-label solution, planning and execution are everything. Are you ready to make your mark in the crypto trading world?