@bigpg

Senior Principal Engineer @ Skyscanner. Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer

 Dunfermline, UK
Joined February 2009
  • Tweets1.5K
  • Following1.2K
  • Followers226
84Media
If tea spread to your country by sea you call it tea, if it spread by land you call it chai. This is because the ports of Fujian and Taiwan use the coastal pronunciation "te", whereas Mandarin uses "chá"
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Many executives fail to understand why tech companies are bloated. They are bloated because everything is held together with duck tape and "task force" teams. And it's due to gross lack of funding when it comes to removing complexity and technical debt.
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Austen Allred
@Austen20 Oct 2022
Somehow I missed that when Biden announced a pardon for everyone in prison for federal marijuana possession… That pardon applies to literally no one?
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
The pardon applied to anyone with a federal simple possession conviction, regardless of whether they were currently serving a sentence. While it didn't result in anyone being immediately released from prison it impacted about 6500 people total. wgbh.org/news/news/2022…
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Led By Donkeys@ByDonkeys18 Oct 2022
A historic failure
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Alan Ferrier@alanferrier24 Sep 2022
If the taxes I pay in Scotland help put food in hungry kids' mouths, give NHS workers a decent pay rise and heat pensioners' houses this winter, then I'm happy with that.
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Dan Hollick
@DanHollick14 Sep 2022
Ever wondered how a QR code works? No, me neither but it's low-key fascinating. (Warning, there is some extremely nerdy shit here.👇 )
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Last talk of the day: @spedge & @GJTempleton from @Skyscanner sharing their outage experiences! @KubeCon_ #KubeCon #KubeConEU
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New York Times Opinion
@nytopinion4 Feb 2022
“Seriously I can just come out and say it? Call him a liar?” asks @JonathanPieNews, a fictional broadcast reporter created and performed by comedian Tom Walker, in a satirical video about Britain’s Prime Minister. “God bless America.” nyti.ms/3306M3q
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Moxie Marlinspike
@moxie7 Jan 2022
Wrote some notes summarizing my first impressions of web3: moxie.org/2022/01/07/web3-fi…

My first impressions of web3

Despite considering myself a cryptographer, I have not found myself particularly drawn to “crypto.” I don’t think I’ve ever actually said the words “get off my lawn,” but I’m much more likely to...

moxie.org
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Led By Donkeys@ByDonkeys15 Dec 2021
🚨"Who exactly does the @MetPoliceUK work for ma'am? Our citizens, or Boris Johnson?" 🚨 (Location: New Scotland Yard. Sound on)
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Changelog
@changelog22 Nov 2021
A fascinating demonstration of iteration in engineering. Watch the whole thing, it just keeps getting better!
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Richard Murphy
@RichardJMurphy2 Mar 2021
We have just had another week when the media has obsessed about what they call the UK’s national debt. There has been wringing of hands. The handcart in which we will all go to hell has been oiled. And none of this is necessary. So this is a thread on what you really need to know
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As independent Ireland takes up her seat on the @UN Security Council today, not (yet) independent Scotland is taken out of the EU against our will. Time to put ourselves in the driving seat of our own future, Scotland #indyref2
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Good if everyone who feels strongly about BBC Scotland curbs on Covid briefing broadcasts can sign the petition or cancel licence fee in protest. No point making personal attacks on individual broadcasters who are not responsible for management's move. change.org/p/bbc-scotland-re…

54,244 people signed and won this petition

Reverse the BBC's decision to stop broadcasting the Scottish Government's daily briefing

change.org
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Monica Lent@monicalent27 Aug 2020
Dear Tech Twitter: What is your NUMBER ONE favorite blog by someone in tech, who has a *distinct writing style*? Where you read their articles for their *unique personality or voice*? (Pls no list of twitter handles, direct link to the blog is 👍)
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Kate@thingskatedid1 Jul 2020
Adding important things to my http responses
Screenshot of http request, showing ascii art of a moomin in the response headers

ALT Screenshot of http request, showing ascii art of a moomin in the response headers

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When you consider the defensive rings set up around established power in this country, you begin to question the very notion that we live in a democracy. Let’s list them: Thread/
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Alan Ferrier@alanferrier11 Apr 2020
On BBC Question Time on 26th March, Richard Horton - editor-in-chief of the Lancet medical journal - described the government’s response to the #coronavirus pandemic as “a national scandal”. A look through the key moments in the crisis explains why. bylinetimes.com/2020/04/11/a…
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DHH
@dhh28 Mar 2020
We wrote an extensive guide on how to do company communication. Video conferencing and chat serves a small, but important role. Long-form, considered writing serves a much larger, much more important one. basecamp.com/guides/how-we-c…

The 37signals Guide to Internal Communication

The how, where, why, and when we communicate. Long form asynchronous? Real-time chat? In-person? Video? Verbal? Written? Via email? In Basecamp? How do we keep everyone in the loop without everyone...

basecamp.com
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LeadDev@TheLeadDev21 Mar 2020
Coming soon... #LeadDevLive! We're bringing you two days of engineering leadership talks and panel discussions to help you lead your teams through uncertainty. Registration opens next week and will be completely free 🙌
#LeadDevLive coming soon on April 7 & 8

ALT #LeadDevLive coming soon on April 7 & 8

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