Let’s go for my web review for the week 2025-49.Steam Machine today, Steam Phones tomorrowTags: tech, valve, gaming, fossDon’t trust the title, it misrepresent the content in my opinion. Still the interview is interesting, it shows quite well all the effort Valve is pouring into the Free Software ecosystem.https://www.theverge.com/report/820656/valve-interview-arm-gaming-steamos-pierre-loup-griffaisReranking partisan animosity in algorithmic social media feeds alters affective polarizationTags: tech, social-media, politics, science, research, psychologyA paper showing that social media algorithms foster political polarization and societal division. Who knew?? Sarcasm aside, the real value of the paper is showing that by modifying those algorithms we could quickly have positive effects. Most of the participants didn’t even notice they changed how they perceive others.https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adu5584How Should We Peer Review Software?Tags: tech, science, research, politicsThis is indeed one of the big issues of the computer science research community. It’s also something of importance in fields relying on simulations… which is almost all scientific fields nowadays. Peer reviewing the paper is well practiced, but the software is another story entirely. It’d require some investment in research… but that’s not where we’re headed at all.https://mirawelner.com/posts/peer_review.htmlHow big tech is creating its own friendly media bubble to ‘win the narrative battle online’Tags: tech, business, politics, journalismUnsurprisingly the big tech players want their own information bubble too. This kind of propaganda machine isn’t really new, but they feel like they need their own now.https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/nov/29/big-tech-silicon-valley-ceo-mediaDatacenters in space are a terrible, horrible, no good idea.Tags: tech, hardware, geospatialI don’t even get why this became a topic of conversation but here we go. At least this thought experiment is a good way to learn about electronics in space.https://taranis.ie/datacenters-in-space-are-a-terrible-horrible-no-good-idea/AI Is still making code worse: A new CMU study confirmsTags: tech, ai, machine-learning, copilot, quality, programmingThe trend keep being the same… And when the newer models will be trained on FOSS code which degraded in quality due to the use of the previous generation of models, things are going to get “interesting”.https://blog.robbowley.net/2025/12/04/ai-is-still-making-code-worse-a-new-cmu-study-confirms/Google Antigravity Exfiltrates DataTags: tech, ide, ai, machine-learning, copilot, securityIDEs allowing to spawn actions in the user environment are still a big security risk.https://www.promptarmor.com/resources/google-antigravity-exfiltrates-dataGitHub → Codeberg: my experienceTags: tech, git, tools, forgejo, githubThis kind of migration is apparently easier than it sounds.https://eldred.fr/blog/forge-migration/pgFirstAid - PostgreSQL Health CheckTags: tech, databases, postgresql, reliability, performance, healthLooks like a nice kit to add to your tool belt. Does some handy checks if you have a Postgres database to manage.https://randoneering.tech/blog/pgfirstaid/pgfirstaid/So you wanna build a local RAG?Tags: tech, ai, machine-learning, search, self-hosting, fossThis is getting more and more accessible. It’s also one of the uses which makes sense for LLMs.https://blog.yakkomajuri.com/blog/local-ragLandlock-ing LinuxTags: tech, linux, kernel, security, sandboxThis is a nice application level sandboxing feature on Linux. We should probably have more applications use it.https://blog.prizrak.me/post/landlock/How CRDTs and Rust are revolutionizing distributed systems and real-time applicationsTags: tech, rust, crdt, distributedI admit I like CRDTs as well. They really are the foundation of cool use cases. Of course it raises questions related to security to broker properly the sessions between users. Still, it’s nice to see them more and more used.https://kerkour.com/rust-crdtIn defense of lock poisoning in RustTags: tech, multithreading, rust, safety, failureVery Rust focused, still it’s an interesting debate. It gives a good overview of the different types of lock behaviors in case of failures. It’s very much advocating for the poisoning approach which is indeed an interesting one (coming with its own tradeoffs of course).https://sunshowers.io/posts/on-poisoning/#fnref:1Rust pattern: Display adapterTags: tech, rust, design, patternAnother illustration of how to use a new type to declare intent for display of values.https://articles.bchlr.de/display-adapter-patternOut of the Box Dynamic DispatchTags: tech, rust, type-systemsShows that you don’t always need to put stuff in Box to get dynamic dispatch.https://llogiq.github.io/2020/03/14/ootb.htmlAn Array of Pointers vs. a Multidimensional ArrayTags: tech, c, c++, memoryA reminder that small details at declaration can have large impacts on memory layouts.https://nullprogram.com/blog/2016/10/27/Standard RangesTags: tech, c++An old one now, but still a very good overview of what C++ ranges brought to the table.https://ericniebler.com/2018/12/05/standard-ranges/How to choose good names in your codeTags: tech, quality, craftsmanship, c++It’s all written oriented toward C++ use. That said I think most of it equally applies whatever the language.https://www.fluentcpp.com/2017/01/30/how-to-choose-good-names/Treat test code like production codeTags: tech, tests, qualityThis needs repeating but yes, quality matters in test code too.https://blog.ploeh.dk/2025/12/01/treat-test-code-like-production-code/Architectural debt is not just technical debtTags: tech, architecture, business, organizationThis is a good way to see that the architecture questions are multi-layered. And yes, in enterprise contexts they go all the way to the company strategy level.https://frederickvanbrabant.com/blog/2025-10-31-architectural-debt-is-not-just-technical-debt/Maximizing Developer EffectivenessTags: tech, organization, team, productivity, devops, developer-experienceA bit too high on the “positive caricature scale” to my taste. That said there’s a kernel of truth there, focusing on the developer experience will lead to improved impact.https://martinfowler.com/articles/developer-effectiveness.htmlHow to do effective video callsTags: tech, remote-working, video, conferenceI agree with most of the points here. They make all the difference. The audio is too often underestimated.https://martinfowler.com/articles/effective-video-calls.htmlReflections of an “Old” ProgrammerTags: tech, engineering, career, learning, knowledgeSome areas of our industry are more prone to the “fashion of the day” madness than others. Still there’s indeed some potential decay in what we learn, what matters is finding and focusing on what will last.https://www.bennorthrop.com/Essays/2016/reflections-of-an-old-programmer.phpOn Being A Senior EngineerTags: tech, engineering, craftsmanship, expertise, knowledge, learningAn old one and a bit all over the place. Still, plenty of interesting advice and insights.https://www.kitchensoap.com/2012/10/25/on-being-a-senior-engineer/Software Failures and IT Management’s Repeated MistakesTags: tech, quality, project-management, ethics, risk, failureDecades that our industry doesn’t improve its track record. But there are real consequences for users. Some more ethics would be welcome in our profession.https://spectrum.ieee.org/it-management-software-failuresWe see something that works, and then we understand itTags: science, research, knowledge, innovationIndeed, innovation is far from being a linear process. It’s actually messy, the breakthroughs already happened already and we describe it after the facts.https://lemire.me/blog/2025/12/04/we-see-something-that-works-and-then-we-understand-it/Lazy Expert Syndrome: How to Stay on Top of Your GameTags: learning, teaching, mentoringOr why it’s important to mentor others and not stay in your own bubble.https://www.riskology.co/lazy-expert-syndrome/Grow slowly, stay smallTags: business, management, life, work, craftsmanshipAn excellent piece, I like this kind of thinking. It works in fact as several level in your life.https://herman.bearblog.dev/grow-slowly-stay-small/Interviewing for EvidenceTags: hr, interviewsLots of good advice for better interviews. I like the structure it brings making sure you got balanced evidences.https://dannorth.net/blog/interviewing-for-evidence/A Brief, Incomplete, and Mostly Wrong History of Programming LanguagesTags: tech, programming, language, satire, funnyOK, this is old so I wish it’d go beyond 2003. Still, that’s quite a funny read.http://www.nerdware.org/doc/abriefhistory.htmlYour next gaming dice could be shaped like a dragon or armadilloTags: tech, physics, mathematics, funny, researchDefinitely fun research. Let’s not be fooled though it also has practical use.https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/05/your-next-gaming-dice-could-be-shaped-like-a-dragon-or-armadillo/Bye for now!