September 2025

Time for another monthly post sharing some of the IT discoveries that crossed my path lately. Below you'll find a mix of articles, links, and resources, some of which tie into my current activities and areas of interest.

Some thoughts

I've been testing superfile, an awesome TUI file manager, as a potential alternative to my long-time favorite, lf. It's always exciting to try new tools.

I also took a trip down memory lane by watching Python: The Documentary | An origin story. It reminded me of my early days as a junior Python programmer, specifically a challenging yet rewarding task of rewriting an app from Python 2 to 3. It was a good reminder of how far I've come, and I'm happy for both the "good old times" and the present.

Python: The Documentary | An origin story

Articles

The Scam Called “You Don't Have to Remember Anything” • Zettelkasten Method

Debunking the myth that search engines and AI eliminate the need for memory. Building deep knowledge through active learning remains essential for critical thinking, despite promises of instant information access.

GitHub workflows tips and tricks

AI generated summary

The article provides tips and tricks for using GitHub Workflows, emphasizing the use of 'act' to run actions locally for testing, and offers best practices for managing GitHub Actions effectively.

rebase is dead long live the squabaserge

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The article introduces 'squabaserge', a method combining 'git rebase -i' and 'git merge' to maintain a clean commit history and simplify conflict resolution.

Everything I know about good API design

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This article explores good API design, focusing on REST, JSON, and OpenAPI schema. It discusses idempotency in HTTP verbs, the use of Redis, and common API patterns in big tech SaaS. It also touches on GraphQL's backend service capabilities.

Operating Principles That Guided Me to Staff Engineer (Part 2: Expanding Influence) | High Growth Engineer | Jordan Cutler

Deliver more results through influence, relationships, and stronger communication

In this newsletter issue, I want to share five books that influenced my journey from engineer to CTO the most. Each of these books contributed beyond just technical knowledge; they challenged my assumptions, introduced new mental models, and ultimately changed how I work and lead teams.

Your Ambition Is Not Enough | A Life Engineered | Steve Huynh

Why the most ambitious people I know are the quickest to ask for help.

The Secret Sauce of Amazon's Execution | A Life Engineered | Steve Huynh

It’s not a tool or a process. It’s a specific mindset about agency that changes everything.

Are You Accumulating Career Debt? | A Life Engineered | Steve Huynh

Short-term comfort feels good, but building long-term equity feels better.

AI

Solving the inference problem for open source AI projects with GitHub Models - The GitHub Blog

How using GitHub’s free inference API can make your AI-powered open source software more accessible.

AI-Powered, Non-Intrusive Terminal Assistant

TmuxAI is a non-intrusive terminal assistant that works alongside you in a tmux window. TmuxAI's design philosophy mirrors the way humans collaborate at the terminal. Just as a colleague sitting next to you, TmuxAI observes your screen, understand context from what's visible, and helps accordingly.

GPT-5 prompting guide

We’ve seen significant gains from applying these best practices and adopting our canonical tools whenever possible, and we hope that this guide, along with the prompt optimizer tool we’ve built, will serve as a launchpad for your use of GPT-5.

🌱 Spec Kit

💫 Toolkit to help you get started with Spec-Driven Development

OpenAI Academy | ChatGPT for engineers

ChatGPT use cases and prompts for engineering teams

Python

uv cheatsheet

Take your Python 🐍 skills to the next level. 🚀

Django

Rate Limiting for Django Websites - DjangoTricks

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This article explores using Nginx's rate-limiting capabilities to protect Django websites from unwanted traffic spikes caused by crawlers or bots. It provides a practical example of configuring Nginx to limit requests and suggests testing and further steps to enhance security.

django.tasks exists :: TheOrangeOne

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The article announces the release of django.tasks, a new feature in Django that introduces background workers, available in the upcoming Django 6.0 release. It discusses the development process, contributions, and the significance of this feature for Django.

Tools

JiraTUI - Where Jira Meets the Command Line

JiraTUI is a command-line tool that integrates with Jira, allowing developers to manage tasks directly from the terminal.

yorukot/superfile

Pretty fancy and modern terminal file manager

Omarchy — Beautiful, Modern & Opinionated Linux by DHH

Beautiful, Modern & Opinionated Linux by DHH

Other stuff

The Meandering Sea of Primordial Soupy Thought | Kenneth Reitz

Sometimes I lie awake at 3 AM, staring at the ceiling, and the full absurdity of existence crashes over me like a debugging error I can't trace ...

For Good First Issue | Make your next open-source contribution matter.

Making your next open-source contribution make the world better. For Good First Issue is a curated list of accessible issues from open-source projects helping our communities. Start today!

Videos

Jak stworzyć własny serwer MCP bez kodowania (n8n AI poradnik) - YouTube

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This video tutorial guides viewers on creating an MCP server without coding, utilizing n8n AI for a streamlined setup process.

Programming for Yourself - Paul Ganssle - YouTube

Building Your Own Unified AI Assistant Using Claude Code - YouTube

How to Speak - YouTube

AI generated summary

MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) offers free and open access to educational materials from thousands of MIT courses, covering a wide range of subjects. It includes syllabi, instructional materials, and learning activities, with some courses featuring videos and faculty insights. OCW supports self-paced learning without the need for enrollment.