commit b3eb79bd9347734b226b58d973c3025028fa161f
parent 02cba38755d911194ee20d671ff28e6a7b7e2a45
Author: Eamon Caddigan <eamon.caddigan@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2025 20:53:05 -0800
Add weeknote for 2025-W05
Diffstat:
1 file changed, 63 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)
diff --git a/content/posts/weeknotes/2025-w05/index.md b/content/posts/weeknotes/2025-w05/index.md
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+---
+title: "Weeknote for 2025-W05"
+description: "Getting more from uBlock, saving less data, and managing
+products better"
+date: 2025-01-27T04:59:00-08:00
+draft: false
+categories:
+- Weeknotes
+---
+
+## uBlock Origin is more than an ad-blocker
+
+This post from my friend
+[@slgr@scholar.social](https://scholar.social/@slgr) does a great job
+explaining how useful uBlock Origin is for more than just blocking ads. In
+some cases, it makes the web usable on older hardware that couldn’t
+otherwise keep up with modern front-end web stacks.
+
+[using old devices as a means to not doomscroll (and using ublock origin to
+help give life to those
+devices)](https://www.slgr.info/posts/using-older-devices-and-ublock-origin-to-help-focus/)
+
+## You probably don’t need to save that data
+
+At my day job I work with **big** data, and the tools for doing so have
+continued to improve as the cost of storing those data has decreased. This
+trend has convinced some engineers to slip into a habit of saving “all the
+data”, and earlier in my career I was sympathetic to this line of thought.
+Since then, we’ve seen the real-world impact of massive data leaks and the
+shady behavior of data brokers, it’s become clear to me that [data is toxic
+waste](https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/secure-futures-magazine/data-new-toxic-waste/34184/)
+
+Randy Au breaks this notion into actionable advice. Data scientists have
+a responsibility to work with stakeholders to figure out what metrics
+actually matter, and then make sure that the correct data---and only those
+data---are captured. As he puts it:
+
+> Data isn't a collector's item, it's a cost, a burden, a potential legal
+> risk, a target for hackers, and general nuisance.
+
+[Storage is cheap, but not thinking about logging is
+expensive](https://www.counting-stuff.com/storage-is-cheap-storing-isnt-2/)
+
+## Speaking of the day job
+
+I should resist any temptation to write about life as a fully remote federal
+employee these last few days.
+
+Instead, I’ll share that lately I’ve taken on a “product owner” type of role
+that’s challenging me (in a satisfying way). I’ve been programming in R for
+a long time, and Python even longer, but coordinating _other people’s work_
+is a whole new thing for me. I’m proud of what we’re doing here and look
+forward to seeing it through.
+
+I asked some PM friends and colleagues where I should go to learn more about
+roles like this, and several suggested _Cracking the PM Interview_. “Oh no,
+I don’t want to get a job as a PM, I just want to pick up some PM skills to
+use with my current role.” Never mind that, they assured me, this book is
+the place to learn that too. I grabbed a copy from my library and read a few
+relevant chapters (skipping the ones that really are dedicated to getting
+a job), and I think I’m better off for doing it.
+
+[Cracking the PM Interview](https://www.crackingthepminterview.com/)
