We might be seeing the end of remote coding interviews as we know them, and a return of in-person interviews, trial days and longer trial periods. Could hiring be returning to pre-pandemic norms?

Lee Morris of Fstoppers on how tariffs impact him, as someone who wants to make his stuff in the US: This is a really good breakdown of how tariffs impact small businesses and why they aren't a great tool for getting manufacturing to come back to America (at

Oscar, an open-source contributor agent architecture - Oscar is a project from the Go community that aims to develop AI agents that assist open source maintainers. I think this is a great idea. Open source is a load-bearing pillar in our modern digital infrastructure and maintainers need help. If AI agents were able to reduce the maintenance burden, it could reduce burnout, improve project longevity, and encourage new development. Excited to see where this goes. Move on to ESM-only - A proper update on JavaScript’s move-to-ESM fiasco. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that tools like Vite are helping push the community migration forward. One clear takeaway is that new packages should publish in ESM-only (no dual-publishing of ESM + CommonJS). Last week, I ended up republishing Checkboxland as ESM-only, in large part due to the influence of this post. My keyboard ergonomics journey as an engineer - A nice write-up on keyboard ergonomics from my former co-worker Grant. This post inspired me to experiment with keyboards, and I’ve been using a split keyboard for the past two months now. Thanks Grant! You Must Read at Least One Book To Ride - The basic message here is that there’s an astounding amount of mediocrity in our industry (all industries, really), and all it takes is reading one book in a relevant topic for your work to make you stand out. Compelling, if true! Radiant - A technical deep dive into a startup that is working to replace diesel generators with portable nuclear reactors the size of a shipping container. As I read, I found myself carried away by the narrative and detailed explanations of the problem space and potential solutions. The article comes from tech investor Packy McCormick’s Substack blog, which explains the techno-optimism. Honestly, I’m here for it. He’s writing about people pushing the frontiers in fields that actually matter like energy, transportation, and biomedicine. These are things that will help people live healthier lives with fewer costs and more personal freedoms. Good reading, if you need that shot of optimism from time to time. Nobody Cares - A proper rant/observation about how so many things in the world could be better if people cared more. It got me thinking about the times when I did my best work and the other times when I didn’t. My working theory is that it’s not that people don’t care… it’s more that they don’t care about the same things. The streetlight installer in his post cares more about driver experience than pedestrian experience. The bureaucrat cares more about getting home by 5 to make dinner for their sick spouse, than working late to push for alternative bike ramp designs. What makes Japan “nice” isn’t that they care more… it’s that they care about the same things more. Seems plausible, right? Precocious Young People Should Do Deep Technical Training - “Science and technology drive the modern world. If you understand how they work, you can become a much more active participant in the world, instead of being at the mercy of what is effectively magic.” Of all the things I learned in the years I spent studying mechanical engineering, the most important was that I can understand anything… it’s just a matter of desire and time. I don’t know if that realization ever comes unless you’ve battled your way to an understanding of at least a couple highly technical subjects. The Colors Of Her Coat - This post left me awestruck. Through a series of stories, Scott Alexander makes a case that the long march of human advancement is methodically removing our opportunities to experience wonder. Modern humans no longer feel ecstasy when they drink a spiced beverage, hear an opera singer, or see an AI-generated portrait, because these wonders are no longer scarce and scarcity is what gives things value. So what happens when we finally arrive at our post-scarcity utopia (whether that be via earthly technology or spiritual afterlife)? Are we in heaven or hell? It’s a fascinating discussion, full of examples, poetry, and religious symbolism. LightNote - Interactive music theory lessons in the browser. Try the free sample… it’s pretty fun. I’m kinda jealous that I didn’t build this.

President Trump last week revoked security clearances for Chris Krebs, the former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) who was fired by Trump after declaring the 2020 election the most secure in U.S. history. The White House memo, which also suspended clearances for other security professionals at Krebs's employer SentinelOne, comes as CISA is facing huge funding and staffing cuts.