🧠 Signals & Noise - # 11
things that I've read, watched, listened to, and created lately.
💭 Something to Think About
A quote, reflection, or question for you to ponder this week.
“No two paths are meant to be the same — that’s what makes the journey yours.”
Takeaways of this issue:
- CHAT CONTROL PROPOSAL - link
- If the University of Chicago Won't Defend the Humanities, Who Will? - link
📖 Deep Dives & Quick Reads
Articles worth reading — insights, essays, and web gems.
- Advice for a friend who wants to start a blog - link
Nothing groundbreaking here, but a solid and short list of reminders.
Advice for a friend who wants to start a blog
What’s odd about you is what’s interesting.
Henrik Karlsson
- Slack is extorting us with a $195k/yr bill increase - link
This article discusses how Slack initially proposed an unreasonable bill to an NGO, but later changed its mind following widespread protests from various members of the tech community. Slack belongs to Salesforce. It's a really nice example of what can happen after an acquisition. That reminds me of the section about Google's Nest acquisition in Build. I also can't stop thinking about what might happen if there weren't such protests in the community. On the other hand, from a system design perspective, it's good to keep this in mind: the cloud is somebody else's computer, who might decide to hide their toys from you.
Slack is extorting us with a $195k/yr bill increase
An open letter, or something
- I loved this analogy!
When you try to predict about the impact of AI tools on software engineering - a great analogy I heard from @simonwillison.net is to look at the impact of smartphones (+ the amazing cameras they have) on filmmaking. Noticed that those able to shoot pro films using a smartphone are... pros?
— Gergely Orosz (@gergely.pragmaticengineer.com) 2025-10-02T08:26:02.903Z
- If the University of Chicago Won't Defend the Humanities, Who Will? - link
The humanities could be one of the most underestimated fields in the academy, not just in the modern world, but throughout the history of humankind. It's such an ironic thing, but true at the same time.
Burning of the Library of Alexandria, destruction of the House of Wisdom, burning of the University of Leuven Library during WWII, destruction of the Sarajevo National Library, etc. I'm sure more examples can be found. What they all have in common is the loss of the precious knowledge—a sign of how humans can be reckless about protecting such important heritage.
Currently, the University of Chicago is facing similar threats. Perhaps not as brutal as the proceedings, but just as important, if not more so. For those who are unfamiliar, the University of Chicago is renowned as one of the premier institutions in the humanities. Two of my favorite historians, Ilber Ortayli, Halil Inalcik, became who they are thanks to their time at the University of Chicago.
I felt deeply sad. I hope the university will recover from this.
If the University of Chicago Won’t Defend the Humanities, Who Will?
Why it matters that the University of Chicago is pausing admissions to doctoral programs in literature, the arts, and languages
Tyler Austin Harper
- Chat Control Proposal. If you don't know about it you should. Check this out. Luckily, there is enough opposition at the moment but we should stay vigilant.
We're so relieved to see Germany reaffirm its opposition to the dangerous Chat Control proposal--the one that would mandate mass scanning of communications. Germany's long been a solid champion of privacy, and the news that it was considering backing mass surveillance was alarming. 1/
— Meredith Whittaker (@meredithmeredith.bsky.social) 2025-10-09T11:40:57.059Z
📚 Leaf by Leaf
Books I’ve recently finished or am currently reading, with a few reflections.
- On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King - link
I started to read this book from Stephen King. Another gem suggested by my wife. I surprised to see his short autobiography baked into it but it was interesting to see his life story. If you are curious about writing as a craft then you should give it a chance. Even though he is a fiction writer, I believe everyone who need to write things down can find some solid advices from one of the top author in the modern world.
🎥 Frames of Thought
Compelling videos I stumbled upon — essays, interviews, talks, or short docs.
- Architect’s Unconventionally Designed Small Apartment, Madrid 50sqm/538sqft
I like to follow the videos from Never Too Small YouTube channel. It has lots of inspirational videos. Its one their newest release. I liked how the elevation of the bedroom change the feeling of the whole apartment.
- I love how easy to find a lot repair videos on YouTube. Here the one that helps me recently. You never know when you need it :)
