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1. Blameless vs Blameful Post-Mortems in IT – Where’s the Golden Mean?
INFO: A major incident happened at work, and now it’s time to write the classic "post-mortem" report detailing what went wrong and why. In recent years, the "blameless post-mortem" approach has gained traction as an IT industry standard. This method avoids pointing fingers entirely, unlike a blameful approach that directly identifies who made a mistake. Both methods have extremes, but perhaps the best approach lies somewhere in between. How can we write post-mortems that drive fundamental improvements in a company without turning into personal attacks? What are the risks of strictly adhering to the "blameless" philosophy?
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2. Add Smart Features to Devices for Just $3? (Video, 13m)
INFO: If you know the basics of electronics and have at least some programming experience, a microcontroller (ESP8266) costs nothing but can turn your traditional electronic devices into IoT gadgets. The video demonstrates how to use it in practice.
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3. How AI Boosts Productivity in Development Teams – Insights from 11 Tech Leads
INFO: The author gathered insights from 11 tech leads at major corporations like Meta, Pinterest, and Adobe. They shared how they use AI to enhance their teams' productivity, which tools they rely on, what tasks they automate, and what they delegate to AI. Each leader provided concrete examples of AI applications, benefits, and challenges faced when integrating AI into daily workflows.
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4. How to Start as a Freelancer and Prepare for Your First Clients
INFO: The author shares their journey of acquiring clients as an independent freelancer—from waiting two years for the first gig to landing new ones within weeks or months. The article details the essential preparations before starting the search, such as crafting a strong CV and setting up automated responses to inquiries. It also provides tips on the best times to look for clients and strategies for better scheduling and organizing meetings.
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5. What’s It Like to Work on the Daylight Computer (DC-1)? - A Review
INFO: The Daylight Computer is a modern tablet with an e-ink display that, according to its creators, can replace a traditional computer or tablet. It performs exceptionally well in direct sunlight and features an unusual amber-colored backlight. Interestingly, it also offers a fast 60 fps refresh rate, which is highly uncommon for e-paper displays and provides an entirely different experience from typical e-readers.
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6. How I Use Obsidian – A Bottom-Up Approach to Note-Taking and Organization
INFO: There are plenty of articles on how people use Obsidian for note-taking, but this one stands out—mainly because it was written by none other than Obsidian’s CEO. How does he use the tool his company built? What plugins does he rely on, which themes does he prefer, and what advice does he have for other users?
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7. The Biggest Lies We Tell Junior Developers (and Why the Truth Matters)
INFO: A developer with 25 years of experience debunks the toxic myths that mislead juniors in the tech industry. He takes on the legend of "natural programmers" and the destructive "10x developer" cult, showing how these narratives distort reality and create unnecessary frustration. If you've ever doubted your skills as a junior developer, this article might be worth a read.
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8. Hosting Your Own AI Interface – A Cheaper and Better Alternative to Subscriptions? (Video, 24m)
INFO: Using LLMs via API is cheap but not always convenient. On the other hand, subscribing to AI services is convenient but often expensive. Is there a middle ground? Yes! OpenWebUI allows you to integrate multiple APIs into a single interface, giving you the benefits of subscription-based services while only paying API rates. Check out how it works in practice.
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9. Are Kebabs Really Worse Near Train Stations? - A Fascinating Data Analysis
INFO: Many pointless studies exist, but finally, someone tackled something that genuinely impacts everyday life! The author examined the correlation between kebab quality and a shop’s distance from a train station. Is it true that station kebabs are the worst? Using tech like OSMnx API and Google Places data, they analyzed reviews from over 400 kebab spots in Paris. The article covers data collection methods, API limitations, and result accuracy. Even if you’re not into kebabs, the techniques used here could help you analyze other publicly available data!
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10. What Makes Code Hard to Read? - Visual Patterns
INFO: Code isn’t always hard to read just because the algorithms are complex—sometimes, the visual patterns used to write it are inefficient. Traditional code quality metrics often overlook readability, even though poorly structured code can significantly increase cognitive load for developers trying to understand it. So, how can you write code that remains clear and pleasant to read, even when implementing complex mechanisms? This article dives into precisely that.
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11. 20 Years of Working on a Single App – Was It Worth It?
INFO: The author shares the story of PerfectTablePlan—a guest seating arrangement software continuously developed since 2005. He discusses his early decisions, including choosing a desktop application over a web-based solution, and shares anecdotes from two decades of product development. Despite shifts in the market and technology, the software remains profitable, and the author has no plans to abandon it.
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12. Pong Running Across 240 Browser Tabs Simultaneously
INFO: Not all programming experiments need a practical or business purpose—some are just for fun or learning. In this project, a developer used browser tabs as pixels to create an 8x30 display for running Pong. While the project is impractical, it showcases interesting techniques for automating browser tasks, synchronizing data across tabs, and creatively overcoming performance limitations.
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13. Building a Mechanical Calculator - Step by Step (Video, 35m)
INFO: The creator manually reconstructed a classic mechanical calculator based on a 19th-century arithmometer, primarily using wood. The video provides a detailed walkthrough of the building process and explains the fundamental principles behind such a device, including how it performs basic mathematical operations. You won't be building your arithmometer over the weekend, but this is a fascinating watch nonetheless.
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14. Build Your Own "Second Brain" Using LLM and RAG (Free Course)
INFO: This is a multi-part course on creating an automated "second brain" to assist in daily tasks. Learn how to build an AI-powered assistant to access your notes and other digital resources (e.g., task lists, calendars) and integrate everything with Notion. The series consists of several articles, forming a comprehensive course. The link leads to the first lesson, but you'll find a table of contents at the beginning.
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15. Cold Start Problem in Recommendation Systems – What It Is and How to Solve It
INFO: When building a personalized recommendation system (e.g., for books, movies, or products), it will initially perform poorly because it lacks user data—no preferences, no ratings, and nothing to work with. This is known as the cold start problem. How can you handle it without showing users low-quality recommendations? Disabling recommendations until enough data is collected isn't the most professional approach. Learn about alternative solutions to help make the system useful from day one.
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16. Angular – The History of the Framework. Documentary (Video, 1h 1m)
INFO: AngularJS started as an internal experiment at Google and initially failed to attract interest from Gmail or Google Maps teams. However, it quickly became a sensation in the JavaScript world. This documentary covers key moments in Angular's history—from the early days of AngularJS to the radical shift with Angular 2 and the latest innovations like Signals and its integration with Google’s Wiz framework.
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17. Wan 2.1 – Open-Source Video Generator for Local Use (Video, 15m)
INFO: Chinese developers (this time from Alibaba) have introduced another impressive AI model. Wan 2.1 is a video generation model that stands out for its realistic character movements, accurate physics, and high level of detail. Most importantly, it's open-source, meaning you can run it in the cloud and on your computer. This video provides a step-by-step guide on how to install and use the software locally.
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18. A Simple Circuit to Make Working with Electronics Easier (Video, 18m)
INFO: If you're learning the basics of electronics and are frustrated with breadboards, constant rewiring, or frequently testing new components, this simple device might be a game-changer. It is a debugger that helps you quickly test and troubleshoot your circuits. It is a helpful tool for electronics enthusiasts.
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19. Icons Alone Aren’t Enough in UI – Use Text Too
INFO: Icons look great in applications, so UI designers love them. But does something visually appealing automatically make it user-friendly? Not always. This article explains the downsides of icon overload and how to fix it—a crucial read if you're designing user interfaces.
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20. How Much Traffic Can a Pre-Rendered Next.js Site Handle?
INFO: The author set out to test the actual traffic capacity of his VPS-hosted Next.js application using pre-rendering. The results? Surprisingly revealing—but not necessarily in a good way. How many concurrent users can such a site handle, and what can be done to increase this number? Find out in the article.
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21. HTTP Archive Report: JavaScript in 2024
INFO: The Web Almanac report analyzes trends in the web ecosystem, and this newly released section focuses on JavaScript. How are developers using JavaScript? Which libraries are the most popular? How ordinary are web workers, dynamic imports, and code minification? A wealth of interesting data for those who love web development statistics. You can also explore the full report—just check the table of contents at the top.
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22. Review of 9 Architectural Patterns for Distributed Systems
INFO: This article explores nine key architectural patterns that help build efficient, scalable, and reliable distributed systems. It covers patterns such as Peer-to-Peer, API Gateway, Pub-Sub, Event Sourcing, and Streaming Processing and explains their use cases and benefits. It is a valuable resource for architects and those preparing for system design interviews.
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23. TypeScript rewritten in Go? - Quick Summary (Video, 4m)
INFO: If you don’t feel like reading Microsoft’s full announcement about their plans, actions, and upcoming changes regarding TypeScript, this video provides an excellent (and amusing) summary of what’s coming next.
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24. Why Are QR Codes with Uppercase Letters Smaller Than Those with Lowercase?
INFO: QR codes can store URLs, among other things. The author noticed that when the same URL is written in all uppercase letters, the resulting QR code appears more minor than all lowercase. Instead of ignoring this oddity, they decided to dive deeper into why uppercase and lowercase letters affect the size of QR codes. A fascinating, geeky analysis!
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25. New AI Agent-Building Tools from OpenAI
INFO: OpenAI has introduced new developer tools to streamline the creation of AI-powered agents. Among them are the Responses API and Agents SDK, which enhance task automation while incorporating built-in safeguards (such as Guardrails) to ensure the safety of these AI-driven solutions.
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26. The Role of AI Agents in the Future of Web Development (42m Video)
INFO: AI is reshaping web development by accelerating code generation and redefining the process of building websites and applications. This video explores the concept of Agent Experience (AX)—an approach where AI actively participates in development workflows. The CEO of Netlify discusses how his company is adapting to this shift, the challenges facing the open web in the AI era, and why the next generation of developers will work closely with AI. This is a fascinating discussion for anyone interested in the future of web technology.
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27. TypeScript 7 – Native Compiler with 10x Performance Boost
INFO: Microsoft has announced work on a native TypeScript compiler, promising up to 10x better performance than the current JavaScript-based implementation. This new compiler aims to speed up editor load times, reduce memory usage, and significantly shorten build times. The article provides more details, including estimated release dates.
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28. Advanced Nginx Server Hardening Techniques
INFO: The author discusses several advanced methods to enhance the security and performance of an Nginx server. Topics include JSON-based logging, request parameter restrictions, rate limiting, HTTP method filtering, and bot protection. You'll also find insights on TCP Fast Open and GZip compression optimizations. This is a must-read if you want to strengthen your infrastructure.
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29. Local-First as the Future of Web Applications? Pros & Cons
INFO: The local-first approach prioritizes storing user data locally, syncing with a server only when necessary. This makes applications faster and more resilient to network failures and gives users greater control over their data. The article explores the growing popularity of this model, its technical aspects (such as IndexedDB, OPFS, and WebAssembly), and challenges like conflict resolution and schema migrations in offline applications. It's a long but insightful read!
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30. Lessons Learned from Building a Semantic Search Engine for GitHub
INFO: The author developed SemHub, a free tool for semantic issue search on GitHub, but the project ultimately failed. This article shares insights on technologies like pgvector and Matryoshka embeddings and challenges in filtering results in vector search. It is a fascinating case study of an unsuccessful IT project.
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31. NumberFlow – Animated Number Component for HTML
INFO: A JavaScript library that allows you to animate numeric changes with a wide range of options, including formatting, prefixes, suffixes, and animation direction adjustments. It offers extensive customization and CSS styling for counters. You'll instantly get the idea once you visit the site and see the demo.
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32. Model Context Protocol (MCP) – A New AI Integration Standard Without APIs
INFO: Recently, discussions around AI integration with external tools and systems have increasingly mentioned the MCP protocol. But what is it? How does it work? And why is it supposedly better than standard API-based integration? This article explains the basics rather than a step-by-step tutorial.
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