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December 13 · Issue #70 · View online
Level Up delivers a curated newsletter for leaders in tech. A project by http://patkua.com. Ideal for busy people such as Tech Leads, Engineering Managers, VPs of Engineering, CTOs and more.
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Reflecting on the past In the last few issues, I’ve written about taking time to celebrate, focusing on one more thing before the end of the year and grounding yourself in gratefulness. Most of you and your team are likely to be preparing for the holiday season. I, too, will be on a break until the new year at the end of next week (although expect Level Up to still come out 😉) I find this quieter time of year a perfect time to reflect on the past year and to prepare for the coming year with a personal retrospective. I asked on twitter if there would be interest in the template I’m using this year and there seemed to be some positive reactions to this 🙏 As such, you can find the template, complete with instructions, here. If you have a Google Account, you’ll be able to make a copy, or if not, at least download it in alternative formats like Word, OpenDoc, or RTF. Add a comment, suggest a change, or email me to let me know what you think. I hope it helps you reflect on this challenging year and prepare for the year to come. Enjoy this week’s content. If you find it useful, please forward to someone you think would benefit. Stay safe and healthy 🙏
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Take the time to reflect on how 2020 went for you to prepare for 2021
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Hire top software development talent confidently with Toptal
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What It's Like to Be an Engineering Manager on a Product-Oriented Team
Reading time: 11mins Anna Glukhova shares her perspective on what the Engineering Manager role looks like at Grammarly. She describes four areas of responsibility to make the role successful.
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We read the paper that forced Timnit Gebru out of Google. Here’s what it says
Reading time: 11mins (Potential MIT paywall) If you haven’t heard of the current situation at Google about one of their Ethical ( much needed) AI researchers, Timni Gebru, being let go, this article from Karen Hao (@_KarenHao) offers a good collection of links with context. It delves into the paper that apparently was the straw that broke the camels back. I’ve included this in the leadership section it makes you think how you would handle the situation differently. The paper is super relevant too given increased use of AI and its implications for carbon use.
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I don’t normally include tweets in this section, but this twitter thread from Vladik Khononov (@vladikk) is an excellent example of effective communication. It builds a story, highlights a lesson and done in an engaging manner accessible to all people - including non-technical people. A super useful skill to continue building as a technical leader. Click through to read the entire thread.
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What do you see in the picture? A piece of cardboard? Some junk? No! — It’s a model!
Thread on models and bounded contexts 1/9
https://t.co/URvUGh6Ho7
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Click the image to see new dates in Q1/2021 for Shortcut to Tech Leadership
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Happy silver jubilee to JavaScript, king of the web at 25 and still hanging on to its crown, for now
Reading time: 6mins It feels like 2020 has been a year of programming language anniversaries and the latest I’ve come across is also probably one of the most widely used given its application on the WWW. Thomas Claburn (@ThomasClaburn) reflects on the history, its current state and looks to the future in this article.
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From Lambda to Lambda-less: Lessons learned
Reading time: 11mins This article from LinkedIn Engineers, Xiang Zhang and Jingyu Zhu, is the first case study of moving away from a Lambda (FAAS-style serverless). In this case, it seems like they didn’t have enough cohesion in their original design, leading to duplication and bugs.
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The State of the Art for IoT
Reading time: 15mins
Colin Breck (@breckcs) expands on his talk from the Reactive Summit in this long-form article looking at the current state and what it means for the future. There’s a very succinct primer on what Colin describes IoT is for those unfamiliar with the term. I love the use of an anti-example, “ the fact that your refrigerator can display the weather cannot be considered interoperability” 😅
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Can developer productivity be measured?
Reading time: 12mins A lot of technical leaders ask me, “What should I measure a developer’s productivity?” There is often too much a focus on the individual, with many not seeing software as a team sport. Isaac Lyman (@isaacdlyman) captures a lot of what I find myself repeating again and again in this great article 👏 .
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Greece to offer 50% income tax cut to lure remote workers during pandemic
Reading time: 8mins A very interesting decision by Greece, given expanding remote working opportunities. Only time will tell if Greece’s bet to attract talent pays off in the long run. Reported by Kristie Pladson on Deutsche Welle.
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France fines Google, Amazon €135m total for slipping ad cookies into people's computers without permission
Reading time: 4mins Everyone around the world knows about the EU Cookie law. But I’ve not read of much about it being enforced. Katyanna Quach (@katyanna_q) reports France doing its part to protect user privacy by fining tech giants who violated parts of the French Data Protection Act. €100M to Google and €35M to Amazon for slipping cookies onto people’s computers even when people declined.
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Maybe a good reason that AI isn’t ready to take over the world 😂
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Some great reading ideas (maybe even gifts for the holiday season) to broaden your and others’ perspectives
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If you enjoyed this newsletter, please send me feedback and share with others!
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Patrick Kua, Postfach 58 04 40, 10314, Berlin, Germany
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