Issue #385

31 January 2023


Issue #385
Pointer.io
Tuesday 31st January's issue is presented by PostHog

 
PostHog's open source suite of product tools includes multivariate feature flags, letting you roll out features safely. Toggle features for cohorts or individuals to test the impact before rolling out to everyone. Included free with all plans!
 
30-60 Days In A New Leadership Role: Run Experiments For Change
- Lara Hogan
#Leadership #Management

tl;dr: "We’re intentionally limiting this process to two experiments because tons of change at once will be scary and confusing for folks. We’re also going to limit the experiment timeline to 2-3 weeks; the goal is to be able to gather data at the end of your first 60 days in your new leadership role." After crafting experiments, develop your communication plan, implement your experiments and prepare to share the results.
#CareerAdvice
 
tl;dr: Specific to software engineering resumes, Chip looks for: (1) Demonstrated expertise, not keywords. (2) People who get things done i.e initiative and persistence. (3) Unique perspectives. (4) Impact, not meaningless metrics. Chips discusses each, sharing examples of how they show on a resume.
How We Found Our Ideal Customer Profile
- James Hawkins
#Leadership #Management

tl;dr: "Creating an Ideal Customer Profile is one of the most important things we've ever done." James shows how this is reflected in the companies revenue. It enabled the company to make important decisions - they were better placed to describe what the company does, what the site looks and feels like, pricing model, and more. James also describes how the company approached creating this profile.

Promoted by PostHog
Contracts You Should Never Sign
- Vadim Kravcenko
#CareerAdvice

tl;dr: These include: (1) Any form of a non-compete clause in employee contracts. (2) Confidentiality agreements. (3) Exclusive distribution agreements. (4) A project-based agreement without a clear definition of scope and definition of done. Vadim also discusses clauses to avoid.
 
“I'm not a great programmer; I’m just a good programmer with great habits.”

― Kent Beck
 
Ordering Numbers, How Hard Can It Be?
- Orson Peters
#ThoughtPiece

tl;dr: "From challenging a variety of people to write a correct implementation of is_less_eq, no one gets it right on their first try. And that’s after already explicitly being told that the challenge is to do it correctly for all inputs. I quote the Python standard library: “comparison is pretty much a nightmare.”"
A Charming Algorithm for Count-Distinct
- Justin Jaffray
#Algos

tl;dr: "The count-distinct problem is to estimate the number of distinct elements appearing in a stream. That is, given some enumeration of “objects,” which you can think of as any data type you like, we want to know approximately how many unique objects there are."
#Algos
 
tl;dr: "TALA is a new layout engine designed specifically for software architecture. At its core, it combines many different graph visualization algorithms to produce aesthetic diagrams. This article is a part of a series where we dive into the inner workings of TALA. Today's topic is on minimizing edge crossings in hierarchical layouts."
Accelerating Our A/B Experiments With Machine Learning
- Michael Wilson
#ML

tl;dr: "Dropbox runs experiments that compare two product versions — A and B — against each other to understand what works best for our users. When a company generates revenue from selling advertisements, analyzing these A/B experiments can be done promptly; did a user click on an ad or not? However, at Dropbox we sell subscriptions, which makes analysis more complex. What is the best way to analyze A/B experiments when a user’s experience over several months can affect their decision to subscribe?"
 
Notable GitHub Repos
Carbonyl
Chromium running inside your terminal.
 
Hacking Tool
All in one hacking tool for hackers.
 
ImaginAIry
Pythonic generation of stable diffusion images.
 
LocalSend
An open source cross-platform alternative to AirDrop.
 
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