Victor Loux Bookmarks

A feed of interesting articles and websites I have recently read. Check out my newsletter for a digest of the best!

Why accessibility bugs are a good thing and how to handle them

sheribyrnehaber.com/why-accessibility-bugs-are-a-good-thing-and-how-to-handle-them/
It is incredibly common when I do accessibility podcasts, I am asked, “what does accessibility success look like to you?” I, perhaps oddly, count beginning to get accessibility bugs reported as a sign of accessibility success.

Tools for a Culture of Writing

matt.blwt.io/post/tools-for-a-culture-of-writing/
A set of useful tools for cultivating a culture of writing, namely the RFC, the Decision Record and Decision Log, and the Pre-mortem/Prospective and Post-mortem/Retrospective

As Google Maps Renames Neighborhoods, Residents Fume - The New York Times

nytimes.com/2018/08/02/technology/google-maps-neighborhood-names.html
Google’s digital maps have become the world’s default atlas and the arbiter of what neighborhoods are called, even when many residents disagree.

In 1973, I invented a ‘girly drink’ called Baileys

irishtimes.com/culture/books/in-1973-i-invented-a-girly-drink-called-baileys-1.3240945
Being Christmas, I am reminded that Bailey’s Irish Cream was cooked up in the ‘70s by two English guys to take advantage of government export subsidies

Benefits as a Reflection of Values / Oxide

oxide.computer/blog/benefits-as-a-reflection-of-values
When I came out as trans and started seeking medical care, I worked at a large employer that directly paid for the medical costs of its employees and dictated how their insurance networks process claims. I had the benefits I needed because other trans people fought for them and the company could unilaterally choose to provide them. Startups don’t have this luxury and are at the whims of insurance companies to keep the cost of hiring and retaining employees manageable. Meanwhile, insu...

The Managers Handbook – The Manager's Handbook

themanagershandbook.com/
This handbook represents the best of our collective knowledge on management and serves as the foundation of our internal training program here at Clearbit.

Adactio: Journal—Declarative design

adactio.com/journal/18982
Defining the inputs instead of trying to control the outputs.

How to Freaking Find Great Developers By Having Them Read Code | Freaking Rectangle

freakingrectangle.wordpress.com/2022/04/15/how-to-freaking-hire-great-developers/
Reading probes the most fundamental skills.   Reading code is probably 95% of what a developer does as part of their job.  Whether a developer is writing new code, fixing bugs, or creating documentation, they are constantly reading. What abilities does a coder need to read code well?   There are two important ones: 1)  The ability to remember variables and stack locations and 2) The ability to generalize a piece of code once they understand it.   I can memorize interview coding quest...

Aromatic plants in nests of blue tits: positive effects on nestlings

sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0003347208005496
“Certaines espèces garnissent leur nid de plantes aromatiques, une fois la construction achevée. C’est le cas de la mésange bleue (Cyanistes caeruleus) en Corse. Des études ont montré que cette habitude, qui a longtemps intrigué les ornithologues, était bénéfique aux poussins, les plantes aromatiques émettant des composés volatiles aux vertus antibactériennes et antiparasitaires.”