People are dying in the Mediterranean. Help them.

kuku.

Week 1935

It's been a relaxed week. I didn't do many new things: a bit more time at work to push for some initiatives, some time taking care of my partner's cat, and time to visit my hometown for the first time in the last six months. I've spent most of the weekend going out for lunch with friends and family. The rest of the time, I've revisited my newsletter subscriptions.

I've unsubscribed from a bunch of free newsletters I never have the time to read and subscribed to some paid newsletter that looked more interesting. It all started from this great article by Shawn: Eating the Cloud from Outside In; that Asier Adri shared a couple of days ago. It made me notice I was not doing it well if I was reading so much about Facebook and so little about this type of content that is more appealing to me. So I've spent a bunch of time reading and managing my subscriptions. Don't expect a huge list, but these are the newsletters I'm subscribed to right now:

  • • SWYX. I guess the first things was suscribing to Shawn' newsletter :)
  • • Dense Discovery. This has been part of my inbox for a long time: Technology, Social, and Design links and texts.
  • • HEATED. About Climate Change and how we can do better. I've been subscribed for a couple of months, and I think this is the topic where I would love to improve most and be better informed. Any recommendations?
  • • De Ulm a Cadiz. I like to read from time to time Javier's personal reflections about the relation of daily details with the bigger world.
  • • Console. A weekly list of links of dev tools. I subscribed a couple of weeks ago as it's an area where I was lacking knowledge.
  • • Bring the Donuts. Ken Norton barely writes anymore, but when he does he shares some interesting insights about how products are built on American companies.
  • • (Paid) Lenny's Newsletter. For me, one of the best continuous information sources out there related to how to buil digital products, from a PM approach. I subscribed some time ago and let it go because I didn't have the time, but I've seen myself several times clicking on Twitter to links to his articles I couldn't read anymore.
  • • (Paid) Chinese Characteristics. This is fucking expensive: $35 per month. It's a newsletter about deep-dives into Chinese Internet companies. I read some of the open articles she has about the chip crisis, and they look amazing. After subscribing, I read a long analysis about Xiaomi's evolution, and I think the 35 five bucks might be worth it. Testing for a month and then deciding.
  • • (Paid) The Pragmatic Engineer. Articles about Management and processes. It resonates a lot with my day today, so here it is.

I also got tickets for a Boiler Room in December in Barcelona. I don't think I'm prepared to party from 23.00 to 06.00, but I've spent so many hours watching Boiler Room Youtube channel for many years and it has been part of my day-to-day cheer-up during the Lockdown, so I couldn't skip it. That should at least try to compensate for the John Hopkins concert at the Auditori canceled a couple of days ago.

My Brompton Electric battery struggled a bit last Thursday. It's disconnecting while I'm riding. I read the Electrics have this kind of issue, but I need to investigate more. Even if I need to change the battery, it would be the best thing I bought during the last couple of years. I cannot see an urban future where electric bikes are not at the center of the mobility options.

And on a short note, nothing super interesting. The new Battlefield beta was weak at best. I'm hiring some designers in the US (that usually is a super slow process) and a UX Engineer in EMEA. I'm starting to plan how to spend the ten days off left I have this year. Kilimanjaro summit is probably at the top of the list, but I cannot do it solo, so $$$. We have a great Product Offsite (virtual) at work. This week they are opening (finally!) the office. It's not mandatory to go as we have remote/hybrid/on-site contracts, and we can ask for a change, but I cannot wait to go one or two days to the office.

I am now going for a run. I have a half-marathon in less than two weeks, and I haven't run in the last two. Good luck to me.