2024-01-09 Reading List

A collage for a blog post featuring six different themes: 1) A person doing equipment-free exercises like push-ups or squats at home. 2) An abstract representation of Bitcoin and ETFs, like golden coins with the Bitcoin symbol and documents or graphs. 3) Futuristic elements and gaming graphics inspired by a popular puzzle-platform game. 4) A computer screen displaying code and a certification badge, symbolizing tech education and certifications. 5) A juxtaposition of a corporate office setting with a home office, representing remote work and office policies. 6) Various cryptocurrencies, like coins and digital symbols, depicting the crypto market. The image should be vibrant and engaging, capturing the essence of each theme.

6 equipment free exercises for sculpting muscle over the holidays, according to a triple Olympian

So I did this to mix it up today, I’m well rested and need a pretty intense day to hit my goals, so I wanted to get a quick exercise in this morning at home instead of going to the gym. One of my goals that I’ve failed to do this year is to do five minutes of activity soon after waking. It’s good for sleep. So while I only intended to do this for five minutes, it took me well over twenty.

The target here is three sets of 20-25 reps with 30 seconds rest, but I cannot do that many pushups or pikes (yet!) so I only did half.

  • Plank ups
  • Knees to ISO squat
  • Pike ups
  • Split Squat
  • Push up
  • Side Lunge

I actually didn’t see side lunges, so I guess I cheated a bit. My plan was to go out running afterward, but it’s raining and only getting worse out there today, so I’m going to need to be creative to get it done today.

SEC Hustles to Answer Latest Bitcoin ETF Filings: Source
No comment here, will have more about the crazy week another day.

A fan-made, 7-hour Portal 2 prequel just hit Steam for free and it’s so good that I’m sad Valve stopped making Portal all over again

If you have Portal 2 it’s a no-brainer.

GitHub Certifications are generally available

I’m not sure if this is going to be a desired trait for job seekers, but if I was a few decades younger I would probably go for this. It’s definitely geared at enterprises, and seems to be similar to the CompTIA and Microsoft tracks. Exam costs are $200 each. The training materials might be worth bookmarking, it’s all on Microsoft Learn.
GitHub Actions
GitHub Administration
GitHub Advanced Security
GitHub Foundations
I would recommend any students or junior level job seekers to pick these up.

The data is in: RTO policies don’t improve employee performance or company value, but controlling bosses don’t care

The headline says it all. My partner is dealing with this right now, and I’d like to find a way to help her fight it. Collecting these notes is the first step.

8 Best Altcoins in January 2024: Reviewing the Top Altcoins Including Celestia, Solana, Sei, Corgi Ai, ApeMax, Injective, Bonk, and Arbitrum
Best Crypto to Buy Now January 8 – Injective, Stacks, Axelar
No recommendations here, DYOR, as I am.

Portkey : Control Panel for AI Apps

Adding this to the list of LLM observability tools. Hosted/OSS. Something I will be evaluating against Chainlit/LiteralAI.

LangChain v0.1.0
They’ve come a long way and were one of the first ‘agentic workload’ implemetnations. I’ve yet to really use them because of Steamship and OAI Assistants, but I should probably go back and rebuild an app using their stack for comparision’s sake.

No longer a night owl

I’ve considered myself a night owl for years, and one who has felt comfortable on 6-7 hours of sleep a night. I suppose at first it was just an excuse to stay up late drinking and playing video games in my 20’s, but even after I stopped playing games as much I still preferred the time in the late evening to stay up and get things done after the rest of the family had gone to bed. These days though, I’m beginning to find myself becoming an early riser. Part of it I attribute to my young children, the rest to a few lifestyle changes I’ve been making. 

I’ve always had a bit of an arrangement with my wife, who requires much more sleep than I do. She has always gone to bed at a decent hour, I have 2-3 hours in the evening to do whatever I want to do, and then we’re both back up in the morning to start the day. It’s worked wonderfully for most of the 15 years we’ve been together. With kids, though, it’s proved to be a bit more difficult. 

I always seem to revert to longer spells of sleep when I go on vacation. I guess part of it is attributable to being away from screens, or maybe just the sheer physical exhaustion of going out and doing stuff out of my rut. Being in a hotel room with the family makes it difficult though. Getting the kids down is always a process, one that sometimes takes hours longer than I think it should, and recently I’ve just started capitulating and have been going to bed at the same time they are. It’s easier to lay down and pass out while they’re still winding down than to become frustrated waiting for them to fall asleep so that I can get on with things. And it’s proved much easier to get up earlier in the morning, refreshed, and do some work while I have two solid hours before anyone else wakes up. It proves a bit of a reinforcing habit as well. I’m more likely to go to bed early after having risen early in the morning.