Posts

Medieval monks also needed help with focus and attention. Joel J Miller discusses this in What Monks Know About Focus, the latest issue of Miller’s Book Review, which I recently discovered and shows great promise. While technology has evolved in the last fifteen hundred years, the human brain has not. And few people in the ancient world cared as much about the challenges of attention and distraction as monks. Our reasons might differ today, but we have much to learn nonetheless. ...

I am speaking about OAuth2 and Open ID Connect with ASP.NET Core 8 at Rome .NET Conference 2024 on March 22 and then, less than a week later, at WebDay 2024 in Milan. I am always particularly excited when I can present the stuff I’m currently working on. Being forced to share as I learn encourages me to go deeper into the topic to reinforce my comprehension and better explain it to the audience—a win-win situation. ...

For those who have found their meaning, their place in the world, and what they feel they want to live for, death is just one part - inevitable, but not frightening - of a good life—a death all woven with life, which has the smile and soft touch of a newfound embrace. I wish myself, anyone, such a death. – Benedetta Tobagi, La Resistenza delle donne

I just came across this tweet by Aaron Levie: The best founders I know — no matter their company’s scale — thrive on doing customer support directly. There’s literally no better way to understand the pulse of your customer base, what features to build next, or where systems are breaking down. It’s always upside. It profoundly resonates with me. For context, we’ve been a small company in the market since 1991, making us quite the rare bird (we have seen so many software companies come and go that it is unbelievable). ...

Thanks to Giovanni Ansaldo’s convincing review on yesterday’s issue of Il Mondo podcast, my first Bandcamp purchase1 is the recently released Astral Gold album by Dean McPhee, a British guitarist who combines folk with experimental music and jazz using his telecaster guitar to create endless landscapes. As the title suggests, McPhee’s latest album is a journey into outer space. The album consists of six instrumental pieces, all captivating, enjoyable, and cohesive; they all serve as each other’s natural continuation. Along with the sound of his guitar, the musician uses tape loops, small percussion sounds, and a few synthesizers here and there. The result is a hypnotic moonscape reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey2. ...

I’m growing sick and tired of Spotify’s music-consuming model. There are many compelling and sometimes conflicting reasons, most perfectly outlined in The day I canceled my Spotify subscription on Raed’s blog. I used to cherish music, I used to religiously collect, catalog and enjoy every album on my iPod. I could navigate the endless folders and find that exact song that I needed for that precise moment. Spotify killed that, I listen to what it suggests and just accept that it will go away when it decides to rotate it out. Spotify trained me not to look too hard, to let the flow be, and if that awesome song is gone or removed, don’t worry, we still have a million more. ...

Jordan Mechner (@jmechner, creator of Prince of Persia) has written and drawn a graphic novel memoir, REPLAY. It’s out in French and will be released in English on March 19. I pre-ordered a signed English copy. More info here.

“Coding” was never the source of value, and people shouldn’t get overly attached to it. Problem solving is the core skill. The discipline and precision demanded by traditional programming will remain valuable transferable attributes, but they won’t be a barrier to entry. – John Carmack I’d be tempted to call bullshit on this one, but it’s coming from Carmack, so hey, let me think about it for a minute (it’s not the first time I’ve caught him endorsing AI). ...

In a brigh Sunday morning, we went on a lonely beach walk Our third kid turned eighteen yesterday; she’s an adult now, and we’re left with no teenagers in our family. She is on a celebrative short trip to Barcelona so we are alone at home, for the first time. It’s only temporary, but it’ll become the norm in just over a year when she leaves for University. What a strange feeling; the nest is going to be empty soon. It will take a while before we get used to it. ...