I learnt this week - 19th June 2025

The links today include lessons from an angry meeting, Internet artifacts, the developer tooling industry, the length of media and a writing tip.

Lessons From An Angry Uber All-Hands Meeting

There are some lessons to be learned from the way Uber recently handled changes to their working practices. This is a breakdown on what could have been handled better - the same message, delivered in a different way.

Internet artifacts

A nice tour through some of the early days of the Internet. Some of them definitely brought back memories.

Developer Tooling is a Lousy Business

The article probably rightly claims that the developer tools business is a very difficult one. However there are exceptions. I worked with two people who went on to be very successful in this marketplace (Paul Stovell @ Octopus and Andrew Burnett-Thompson @ SciChart). I also know some of the sacrifices they both went through - it is definitely not an easy path.

Just the right length

Seth Godin explains why different types of media are the length they are and how this is slowly changing. I have regularly read books that could have easily been half the length they were to get the same message across.

Say Your Writing

Both my kids are doing qualifications that involve them writing essays. The main piece of advice I gave them when reviewing their work is to read what they have written out loud. I have used this so many time to catch issues or improve my own writing.