This Week I Learned, TWIL, is a weekly series of posts where I collect any interesting bits I ran across in the previous week.
Technology
.NET Rocks! – 1306 – Window Container Service with Els Putzeys
A great overview of what Microsoft is planning for their container service. It certainly sounds like containers on Linux will still be much, much more advanced than what Microsoft is doing at this point, but at least there will be an option for using Windows in a container ecosystem soon enough. The podcast was worth a listen, but I couldn’t help but come away from this thinking .NET Core on Linux (in Docker containers) is the way to go if at all possible.
.NET Rocks! – 1307 – Competitive Machine Learning with Anthony Goldbloom
I actually discovered Kaggle a little while ago and it was great to hear why it got started, how it’s being used, and a little more about machine learning in general. It’s such a fascenating topic.
.NET Rocks! – 1308 – DevOps is Dead with Wes Higbee
I don’t like the title of this show at all. The show is really about the fact that using labels to separate people has some unintended side effects. It was a very interesting discussion, but not at all what I expected from the title. It boiled down to having shared goals is usually what you need and good communication & collaboration is really helpful – no matter what you call it.
Health
A Study on Fats That Doesn’t Fit the Story Line
A long lost study was recently found that adds more evidence that saturated fat isn’t as bad for us as we’ve been told. It also points out some of the reasons research like this is often “lost”.
2 Keto Dudes – Episode 13 – Keytones
Carl & Richard discuss how your body adjusts to burning keytones (instead of carbs) when you’re on a “keto” diet. Really interesting stuff.
Career
How To Work Hard Without Burning Out
I’ve definitely struggled with burning out in the past and this article is a good reminder of lots of little things to do to keep burnout at bay. Some are certainly easier said than done, but still, it’s a great list to go over every once in a while to make sure you’re at least being mindful of all of these items.
One video, article or side project can change your life.
A great reminder that what you do is far more important than what you intend to do. Whether it’s putting off that projet at work, starting on that side project idea, making that blog post, or starting that new hobby…the important thing is that you turn your intions into actions.
Life
2 Words I use to Get Smarter Every Day
A good reminder that saying “what’s what” when you hear something remotely new is a great way to learn things even when you think you know them. I know I’m certainly guilty of not asking this question enough if I feel like I have any familiarity with the topic being discussed.
Butterfly Story
This is actually a comment on an article called “Stop Making Everything Perfect For Your Kid”. As a new parent, it’s really hard to know when to help your child and when to let them struggle through something in order to help themselves. This quick story was a great reminder that there are definitely times where helping too much may be more negative than you realize.
The Secret to Happiness Is 10 Specific Behaviors
Another list of a handful of things to focus on to help keep your life in balance. Some are obvious and some less so, but all are items I need to do more.
Fun
Fluid Particles
A really beautiful fluid simulation using particles in OpenGL. It can be pretty taxing on your machine, so watch out if you’re on a machine with a lower end or integrated GPU. It’s pretty amazing to see how realistic this is and it’s all done right in your browser.