DPL Reading List – May 29, 2015
Here are some of the articles we’ve been reading around this office this week.
The 22 Most Memorable Quotes from the New Elon Musk Book – “Vance paints an unforgettable picture of Musk’s unique personality, insatiable drive and ability to thrive through hardship. The book bursts with telling anecdotes and quotes that illuminate who Musk is.”
How Big Data And The Internet Of Things Create Smarter Cities – “Others have said that Smart City is just another buzzword – like Internet of Things itself, or even Big Data. And they are probably right. The language might change – we will probably eventually just take the technology for granted and there will be no need for a special term to differentiate “smart” cities from standard ones. But the advances in convenience and quality of life that they enable are likely to endure, so it’s a safe bet that the amalgamation of IoT technology and civic infrastructure will continue, and become increasingly prevalent as time goes on.”
Technical Debt (Thanks to Jarrod Wubbels for recommending this article) – “Paying back technical debt is about understanding the trade-offs, constraints and complexity and redressing the balance with a new approach. It’s tough and time consuming, but little and often can really help keep a project moving.”
Guidelines for Animation Timing (Thanks to Cody Leach for recommending this article) – “Interaction design describes what happens in-between states. Unlike other disciplines, it’s focused on the change in state and not the state itself. Since the components of interaction are movement and time, it isn’t inherently suited for static artifacts like sitemaps, mockups, and visual treatments. Adjusting just one of these components has a great effect on what feels right.”
Even with Free Annual Upgrades, Apple Faces Stubborn OS X Fragmentation – “Although Apple has done a better job of moving its Mac users along with each new operating system than has rival Microsoft, the Cupertino, Calif. company has been unable to eradicate fragmentation as it accelerated upgrades to an annual cadence.”
Web Components and the Three Unsexy Pillars (Thanks to Jarrod Wubbels for recommending this article) – “I have this idea that there are three underpinning concerns every developer should have when they build their projects: accessibility, security and performance. You can immediately see how one could affect the others, but their relationship is nuanced.”
How to Build a Unicorn from Scratch – And Walk Away with Nothing – “As I’ve seen over many years and many deals, in all but the most glorious outcomes, terms will matter way more than valuations, and way more than whatever your cap table says. And yet entrepreneurs – often with the encouragement of their stakeholders – optimize for the wrong things when they negotiate their financings. This is my attempt to paint you a picture of why this is such a bad idea. The situation I present is fake, but the outcome is remarkably similar to those I’ve witnessed. Don’t let this happen to you.”
