February 2026
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.
Articles
3 Ways to Stop Wasting Your 1:1s With Your Manager
How to maximize the value of the most important regular meeting of your career.
Burnout is breaking a sacred pact - by Cate Hall
AI generated summary
The author shares their journey of experiencing burnout due to juggling multiple tasks and the importance of taking a break to recover. They emphasize the need to recognize personal limits and address them to maintain well-being.
Feynman's Garden
The page discusses the Feynman algorithm, a method for problem-solving attributed to physicist Richard Feynman, though it may have been described by Murray Gell-Mann. The algorithm involves three steps: writing down the problem, thinking hard, and writing down the solution.
7 More Behaviors That Separate Juniors From Seniors
The sequel to the most-shared article in this newsletter's history.
Zanzibar: Google’s Consistent, Global Authorization System
This paper presents the design, implementation, and deployment of Zanzibar, a global system for storing and evaluating access control lists. Zanzibar provides a uniform data model and configuration language for expressing a wide range of access control policies from hundreds of client services at Google, including Calendar, Cloud, Drive, Maps, Photos, and YouTube.
Tech Hiring Has a Fraud Problem | Foxley Talent
Fake and fraudulent candidates are becoming harder to spot in tech hiring. Real world insight into what’s changed and how risk can be managed before interviews.
Keep Android Open
Advocating for Android as a free, open platform for everyone to build apps on.
Loopwerk: It's time to leave Heroku
Heroku just announced it's entering "sustaining engineering mode". No more new features. After years of security breaches, outages, and price hikes, it's time to leave.
Productivity
You can code only 4 hours per day. Here’s why.
Most of us have felt it: after a few solid hours of coding, your brain starts shutting down.
.plan files
The page discusses the concept and utility of .plan files, inspired by programmer John Carmack. It explains how the author, Matteo Landi, uses .plan files to organize daily tasks, track progress, and improve technical writing skills.
AI
AI fatigue is real and nobody talks about it | Siddhant Khare
You're using AI to be more productive. So why are you more exhausted than ever? The paradox every engineer needs to confront.
Why are AI leaders fleeing? – Computerworld
The people loudly departing the biggest AI companies aren't necessarily looking for fatter paychecks or more stock options; they’re worried that AI businesses are putting profits over sanity and safety.
How AI Helps Break Cost Barrier in COBOL Modernization
The page discusses how artificial intelligence (AI) can assist in overcoming the cost barriers associated with modernizing COBOL systems. It highlights the challenges faced by organizations relying on legacy COBOL systems, such as high maintenance costs and difficulty in finding skilled developers.
GitHub - wondelai/skills
Agent skills for Claude Code and agentskills.io-compatible agents
Python
What Exactly Is the Zen of Python? – Real Python
The Zen of Python is a collection of 19 guiding principles for writing good Python code. Learn its history, meaning, and hidden jokes.
Django
How to dump Django ORM data to JSON while debugging?
The article discusses a method to efficiently debug Django applications by dumping ORM data to JSON. It highlights the use of Django's serializers to export data from the database to a JSON file, which can be particularly useful during testing when databases are ephemeral.
Tools
The Complete Bash Scripting Course - ysap.sh
The Complete Bash Scripting Course is a comprehensive guide to learning Bash scripting, covering topics from beginner to advanced techniques.
Other stuff
Wiby - Search Engine for the Classic Web
Wiby is a search engine for older style pages, lightweight and based on a subject of interest. Building a web more reminiscent of the early internet.
Thinking Hard Burns Almost No Calories—But Destroys Your Next Workout - VO2 Max Pro
Your brain uses 20% of your body's energy just idling. Intense thinking barely adds to that. But the mental byproducts of a long cognitive day quietly sabotage your endurance in ways no amount of willpower can fix.