Shitposts Weekly

Medium articles neither rare nor well-done for the week ending 19th October 2018.

Apologies for the lateness of this article; I’d attended a deafblind conference over the weekend, and it was held at a state park. No reliable internet means no ability to fetch shitposts and therefore no ability to write this shitpost. I don’t expect other such delays any time in the near future, however.

Why you learn the most when you feel like you’re struggling as a developer: An artistic webshit talks about how learning works in the context of software development. There’s nothing non-obvious here, so there are no real insights to be had.

Why Fasting Diets Are About to Get More Extreme: A journalist looks at the science of yet another diet fad: fasting. Please ensure you discuss your dieting high-deas with a dietician who knows what they’re talking about before you embark on them, especially if you’re going to deliberately cut yourself off from caloric intake for extended periods of time.

Drowning in the Fountain of Youth: A science journalist looks at two competing companies’ purported anti-ageing pill. As per usual, I’m skeptical of the claimed health benefits, and the continued invocation of ‘SCIENCE!’ to support this shit is going to do far more harm than good if it turns out that the thinking behind this particular pill is flawed.

Confessions of an Author Who Isn’t Ashamed to Do #SponCon: A former copywriter gets so worked up over a question they declined to answer on Instagram that they answered it on Medium instead.

Aristotle’s Defense of Private Property: A philosopher defends the concept of private property, without really understanding what we socialists mean when we talk about it. (Hint: it’s not personal possessions like my iMac or your phone. It’s land ownership by the private sector and by individuals.)

Universal Basic Income Is Silicon Valley’s Latest Scam: A writer takes a look at UBI from Silicon Valley’s perspective, and comes away feeling like perhaps it’s not the best idea because of how vulture capitalists would interact with it. UBI requires a cross-cultural series of bugfixes, and nobody who seriously supports it should be arguing that we can just implement it and things will be okay, so instead of writing about how SV would exploit it, perhaps write about how we can prevent vulture capitalists from being able to…?

Rare articles which are well-done.

Why open office design makes you less productive: A webshit tries to explain why open office spaces are a terrible idea, and offers their own solution. It’s workable and ties in to the webshit’s article from last week.

How I hacked hundreds of companies through their helpdesk: An infosec documents how easy it is to abuse support features to infiltrate companies’ internal services.

Kavanaugh Is the Face of American Male Rage: A journalist explores the ‘bro’ culture so common among America’s elites, and how holding a bunch of man-children accountable for the first time causes them to lash out exactly the same way a toddler does when they’re confronted with “no” or variations thereof.

Naming the Unspoken Thing: A journalist explores San Francisco’s “underground” parties.

Costumes, Consenticorns and the New Rules of Nightlife: A journalist explores a NYC nightclub, and one of the features of the nightclub: consent monitors, employees whose job it is to keep an eye out and provide support for anyone who might be feeling unsafe. (Nightclubs aren’t really my scene—social anxiety disorder—but I approve of measures that reduce or outright eliminate the risk of sexual assault from partying.)

What Exactly Is Cancer Immunotherapy?: A science journalist explores the field of cancer immunotherapy, and the science behind it.

The Riddle of UX Writing: A product designer explores user experiences and the writing involved in creating such experiences.

“I Hate That I’m Black. I Hate That I’m Ugly. I Hate My Nose.”: A young writer explores the pressures women face to be beautiful and social, and how difficult it is to find relatable representation for children of colour in the media.

What Truly Makes a Senior Developer: A software engineer explores the ‘senior’ in ‘senior developer’.