<p>Life&#39;s been busy lately and I didn&#39;t get around to posting my weekly reading the last 2 weeks. I&#39;ms starting back up with a slightly new format. I&#39;m going to have a few links that I go into more depth with my thoughts on and then follow it up with the normal link list.</p>
<h2>In-Depth</h2>
<p>&lt;InDepthNotes
    source=&quot;Techdirt&quot;
    title=&quot;Everyone&#39;s Mad At Cloudflare; Is There Room For Principled Takes On Moderation?&quot;
    url=&quot;<a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2022/09/06/everyones-mad-at-cloudflare-is-there-room-for-principled-takes-on-moderation-when-everyone-wants-what-feels-right-to-them/">https://www.techdirt.com/2022/09/06/everyones-mad-at-cloudflare-is-there-room-for-principled-takes-on-moderation-when-everyone-wants-what-feels-right-to-them/</a>&quot;</p>
<blockquote>
</blockquote>
<pre><code>This all came to a head at the beginning of the month when Cloudflare stopped providing services for Kiwi Farms so it&#39;s probably several news cycles behind us at this point. I wanted to share this because it&#39;s important to think about how difficult content moderation actually is.

&lt;blockquote className=&quot;small&quot;&gt;The biggest issue with targeting infrastructure providers is that — generally speaking — they don&#39;t have any nuance on their side when it comes to remedies. They pull their services, and an entire site breaks. It does not allow for the more narrow targeting of specific content. It&#39;s very much a nuclear option.&lt;/blockquote&gt;

I think this is kind of the key point when thinking about content moderation at the infrastructure-level. When looking at services like Twitter and Facebook, if they want to kick someone off their platform, users can just go to a different service, or start their own like Trump did with Truth Social, cesspool it might be. There are even open source solutions like [Mastodon](https://joinmastodon.org/) that would allow someone to quickly setup their own Twitter clone.

When going after the infrastructure-level, it&#39;s a lot harder to start your own infrastructure platform like Cloudflare.

I&#39;m not saying this to defend Kiwi Farms. That site was fucking awful and the world is better with it offline. But like Mike Masnick talks about, it get&#39;s messy.

&lt;blockquote className=&quot;small&quot;&gt;When we&#39;re talking about taking down entire sites because some content on them is objectionable, even to a horrifying level, things get really messy, really fast.&lt;/blockquote&gt;

Who determines what is &quot;good&quot; content, and what is &quot;bad&quot; content. It gets complicated and I&#39;m still not convinced there&#39;s a good answer. It&#39;s often very nuanced and there really isn&#39;t a one-size-fits-all answer. It just gets a little more dangerous the farther up the tech stack you go.

Mike Masnick continues to go over the issues at stake here.

&lt;blockquote className=&quot;small&quot;&gt;The fire department analogy also got me thinking, because it kind of highlights how much of the anger directed at Cloudflare is similarly misplaced. The anger is basically saying “you need to remove your protection, so that we can burn Kiwi Farms down.” But, the larger question remains unaddressed: why does Kiwi Farms exist in the first place, and why is it left to Cloudflare to determine whether or not the public should be able to burn it down?&lt;/blockquote&gt;

And this is the crux of the issue. We in America are blessed with the First Amendment. The government is not allowed to restrict what people can and can&#39;t say. Private companies, however, through the same first amendment are allowed to determine what can and can’t be said on their platforms.

One final note, I do appreciate the response from Cloudflare. They too recognize how much power they hold at the infrastructure level and don&#39;t take their responsibility lightly. You should read their [statement on their policies and their approach](https://blog.cloudflare.com/cloudflares-abuse-policies-and-approach/) to all of this. They talk a great deal about how they handle sites and services that use their platform.
</code></pre>
</InDepthNotes>

<p>&lt;InDepthNotes
    source=&quot;Joël Quenneville&quot;
    title=&quot;Working Iteratively&quot;
    url=&quot;<a href="https://thoughtbot.com/blog/working-iteratively">https://thoughtbot.com/blog/working-iteratively</a>&quot;</p>
<blockquote>
</blockquote>
<pre><code>I thought this was a good article looking at how we as developers can improve how we write code.

&lt;blockquote className=&quot;small&quot;&gt;Before even getting into code, try to break your features into smaller chunks. What’s the smallest incremental amount of value you can ship to customers? This allows you to ship and get feedback faster while also giving you more flexibility to pause and shift focus to other priorities.&lt;/blockquote&gt;

This is definitely something I’ve done more of as I have grown as a software developer. In my early days I was very much just of the mind to “start writing code” and see where things go. Nowadays, both at work and on side projects, I try to slow things down and break up tasks into smaller chunks.

Ironically, by slowing things down up front, I’ve found it ends up speeding things up down the line while doing the actual development.
</code></pre>
</InDepthNotes>

<h2>Link Blast</h2>
<h3 className="text">👨🏼‍💻 Software Development</h3>

<p><a href="https://timdeschryver.dev/blog/new-in-entity-framework-7-bulk-operations-with-executedelete-and-executeupdate?">New in Entity Framework 7: Bulk Operations with ExecuteDelete and ExecuteUpdate</a> <em>(Tim Deschryver)</em></p>
<p><a href="https://code-maze.com/any-vs-count-dotnet/">Any() vs Count() in .NET: Which One is Better?</a> <em>(Marko Hrnčić)</em></p>
<p><a href="https://textslashplain.com/2022/09/12/edges-super-res-image-enhancement/">Edge&#39;s Super-Res Image Enhancement</a> <em>(Eric Lawrence)</em></p>
<p><a href="https://blog.jetbrains.com/dotnet/2022/09/12/jetbrains-rider-net-watch-run-configuration-plugin/">JetBrains Rider .NET Watch Run Configuration Plugin</a> <em>(JetBrains)</em></p>
<p><a href="https://blog.ploeh.dk/2022/09/19/when-to-refactor/">When to refactor</a> <em>(Mark Seemann)</em></p>
<p><a href="https://stackoverflow.blog/2022/09/15/why-the-number-input-is-the-worst-input/">Why the Number Input is the Worst Input</a> <em>(Jared Toporek)</em></p>
<p><a href="https://buttondown.email/hillelwayne/archive/i-have-complicated-feelings-about-tdd-8403/">I have complicated feelings about TDD</a> <em>(Hillel Wayne)</em></p>
<h3 className="text">🖥 Technology</h3>

<p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/21/23364696/getty-images-ai-ban-generated-artwork-illustration-copyright">Getty Images bans AI-generated content over fears of legal challenges</a> <em>(The Verge)</em></p>
<h3 className="text">🎮 Gaming</h3>

<p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/7/23340667/destiny-2-eruption-iron-banner-mode-explained-review">Destiny 2&#39;s new Eruption mode is the best thing to happen to its PvP in years</a> <em>(The Verge)</em></p>
<h3 className="text">📈 Business and Finance</h3>

<p>💰 <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/07/technology/recruiters-tech-layoffs.html">From Boom to Gloom: Tech Recruiters Struggle to Find Work</a> <em>(New York Times)</em></p>
<h3 className="text">🔬 Science</h3>

<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/09/webb-telescope-captures-dazzling-views-of-neptune-and-its-moons/">New JWST image reveals full glory of Neptune, its moons, and rings</a> <em>(Ars Technica)</em></p>
<h3 className="text">🎧 Podcasts</h3>

<p><a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2022/09/06/techdirt-podcast-episode-328-the-problems-with-the-california-kids-code/">Techdirt Podcast Episode 328: The Problems With The California Kids&#39; Code</a></p>
<h3 className="text">🎵 A Song to Leave You With</h3>

<h4>TIM - High Hopes</h4>
<p><YouTubeEmbed
    id="pw0kJMh9SfM"
    title="TIM - High Hopes"
/></p>


Reading List: September 3 - 23

<p>I can&#39;t believe the summer is basically over. August was spent running. So...much...running.</p>
<p>At the beginning of August my training for the 2022 Philadelphia Marathon began. I went from running regularly, if not intermittently, to running 4 days a week. My legs were yelling at me all month with having to run longer and longer distances. Thankfully my body is finally catching up and the runs have gotten a bit of easier. The long runs every Saturday are still tough, but this whole thing is a challenge so as far as I&#39;m concerned, it&#39;ll be worth it! 5 weeks in, 11 to go!</p>
<h2>Various Events</h2>
<p>I started the month going to a Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (Phillies AAA affiliate) baseball game with my family. It was a fun time, but not for the Iron Pigs as they got smoked. Later in the month I went to a Phillies game that went far better for the home team. I also ended up going to a whiskey tasting dinner later in the month that has gotten me to start trying some new whiskeys and bourbons. That could be dangerous.</p>
<h2>New Project at Work</h2>
<p>I ended up getting (temporarily?) put on a new team at work. I&#39;m now working with <a href="https://identityserver4.readthedocs.io/en/latest/">Identity Server</a> and it&#39;s a nice change of pace and a new thing to explore which is exciting.</p>
<h2>Changing How I Journal</h2>
<p>Over the last 6 months or so, I&#39;ve been trying to journal what I do every day and whatnot. I started out using a Moleskine notebook and pen, then I moved to Notion, then to my local Dropbox folder full of markdown files, then back to pen and paper...well, needless to say I&#39;ve had a hard time deciding how I want to do it. I&#39;ve started using Goodnotes on my iPad with the Apple Pencil and feel like I&#39;m getting the best of both worlds with regards to physically writing with the ease of technology and &quot;undo&quot; the iPad provides. The only thing I don&#39;t like, which is no better than paper and pencil, is that there&#39;s no real way to journal from my iPhone. I can view the notes, but since there isn&#39;t Apple Pencil support (if I even had it), I can&#39;t do much more. I definitely enjoy keeping track of what I&#39;ve done, just need to find a good way to make it easy for myself.</p>
<h2>New Dining Room Piece</h2>
<p>When my wife and I bought our house in 2015, our dining room was outdated, but it had an &quot;okay&quot; set of built-ins next to the fireplace. They weren&#39;t anything to write home about, but they were functional. When we found the wood paneling under the wallpaper and decided to gut the room, we ended up losing those built-ins. Since then, that area has been kind of useless. We&#39;ve also needed a pantry and some more storage, so we decided to hire a local woodworking company to build us a new set of built-ins. Only this one came with beautiful black walnut sliding doors. Needless to say, they turned out awesome and am so happy that we have a nice piece that is also functional.</p>
<p><PostImage
    src="/images/posts/2022-09-07-august-2022-check-in/closet.jpg"
    alt="beautiful black walnut sliding doors next to my fireplace"
    width={1080}
    height={1440}
    centered
    shadowed={false}
/></p>
<h2>Monthly Roundup</h2>
<p><strong>🏃🏼‍♂️ Running &amp; Biking</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Running:</strong> Marathon training had me hit 86 miles in August.</li>
<li><strong>Biking:</strong> Nope</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>🏋🏼‍♂️ Lifting:</strong></p>
<p>Lifting 1-2 times a week, not really going for any PRs at this point, though I am trying to inch my way back towards a 400 lbs. deadlift.</p>
<p><strong>📚 Reading:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><ExternalLink href="https://bookshop.org/books/walkaway/9780765392770" title="Walkway by Cory Doctorow">Cory Doctorow - Walkaway</ExternalLink></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>✍🏻 Writing</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Continued with my <a href="/posts/2022/08/05/reading-list">weekly</a> <a href="/posts/2022/08/12/reading-list">reading</a> <a href="/posts/2022/08/19/reading-list">posts</a> every <a href="/posts/2022/09/02/reading-list">Friday</a>.</li>
<li>Wrote about my <a href="/posts/2022/08/03/marathon-training">marathon</a> <a href="/posts/2022/08/29/marathon-training-update">training</a></li>
<li>Wrote about <a href="/posts/2022/08/18/upping-our-coffee-game">Coffee</a></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>🎮 Gaming</strong></p>
<p>Been playing WoW a bunch. Trying to get ready for Wrath of the Lich King in September.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/wowclassic" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer nofollow">WoW: Burning Crusade Classic</a></li>
</ul>


August Check-In

<p>Was a little busy last week so this week is a little longer.</p>
<h2>👨🏼‍💻Software Development</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.joshwcomeau.com/react/why-react-re-renders">Why React Re-Renders</a> - <em>joshwcomeau.com</em></p>
<p><a href="https://blog.tomayac.com/2022/08/30/things-not-available-when-someone-blocks-all-cookies/">Things Not Available When Someone Blocks All Cookies</a> - <em>tomayac.com</em></p>
<p><a href="https://mfcallahan.blog/2022/08/26/the-microsoft-edge-dev-tools-extension-for-vs-code-is-so-awesome-that-im-ditching-chrome-for-web-development/">The Microsoft Edge Dev Tools extension for VS Code is so awesome that I&#39;m ditching Chrome for web development</a> - <em>mfcallahan.blog</em></p>
<p><a href="https://devblogs.microsoft.com/dotnet/performance_improvements_in_net_7/">Performance Improvements in .NET 7</a> - <em>devblogs.microsoft.com</em></p>
<p><a href="https://webkit.org/blog/13140/webkit-on-github/">WebKit on GitHub</a> - <em>webkit.org</em></p>
<p><a href="https://blog.appsignal.com/2022/08/31/4-ways-to-minimize-your-dependencies-in-nodejs.html">4 Ways to Minimize Your Dependencies in Node.js</a> - <em>blog.appsignal.com</em></p>
<p><a href="https://beesbuzz.biz/code/439-Falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-email">Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Email</a> - <em>beesbuzz.biz</em></p>
<h2>🖥 Technology</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/23312359/apple-iphone-lightning-cable-anniversary-10-years">Apple&#39;s Lightning cable turns 10, but its time is over</a> - <em>theverge.com</em></p>
<p><a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2022/08/31/france-uses-ai-to-find-swimming-pools-for-tax-purposes/">France Uses AI To Find Swimming Pools For Tax Purposes</a> - <em>techdirt.com</em></p>
<p><a href="https://stratechery.com/2022/rights-laws-and-google/">Rights, Laws, and Google</a> - <em>stratechery.com</em></p>
<h2>🎮 Gaming</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/1/23332738/halo-infinite-season-3-delay-forge-launch-november">Halo Infinite’s co-op and Forge modes delayed to November</a> - <em>theverge.com</em></p>
<p><a href="https://www.destructoid.com/halo-infinite-forge-beta-split-screen-campaign-co-op-november-update">Halo Infinite will get Forge beta in November, but scraps split-screen campaign co-op</a> - <em>destructoid.com</em></p>
<h2>🔬 Science</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2022/08/24/the-space-launch-system-is-yesterdays-rocket">The Space Launch System is Yesterday’s Rocket</a> - 💰- <em>economist.com</em></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/09/nasa-will-pay-boeing-more-than-twice-as-much-as-spacex-for-crew-seats/">NASA will pay Boeing more than twice as much as SpaceX for crew seats</a> - <em>arstechnica.com</em></p>
<h2>🎒 Miscellaneous</h2>
<p><a href="https://neal.fun/design-the-next-iphone/">Design the Next iPhone</a> - <em>neal.fun</em></p>
<p><a href="https://brainbaking.com/post/2022/04/cool-things-people-do-with-their-blogs/">Cool Things People Do With Their Blogs</a> - <em>brainbaking.com</em></p>
<h2>🎵 A Song to Leave You With</h2>
<h3>The Wonder Years - I Just Want to Sell Out My Funeral</h3>
<p><YouTubeEmbed
    id="rwrsrsauHfI"
    title="The Wonder Years - I Just Want to Sell Out My Funeral"
/></p>


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Posts in September 2022

Reading List: September 3 - 23

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Reading List for August 20 - September 2