Links (12) (2023-05-09)
Security
https://www.mayer.cool/writings/Heisting-20-Million-in-Magic-Cards/
Relatively simple game hacking: Integer overflow → MTG Arena cards that cost $20 million to buy normally.
Corpratey report comparing attack surface management providers. If these companies decide to point their “scan lots of things and find vulnerabilities” tooling on non-clients, they could make a much more powerful version of Shodan.
Software Engineering
https://www.thenile.dev/blog/things-dbs-dont-do/
Almost every real project that uses a relational DB needs to add layers to handle: version control of schema changes, tenant-awareness, capturing change events, soft deletion, and alternative APIs or protocols.
Entrepreneurship
https://rootsofprogress.org/why-did-it-take-so-long
Inventions that took longer than one might expect to invent. Wheeled suitcases were introduced in the 1970s. It took 4000 years between domesticating horses and the invention of the stirrup.
https://sarahconstantin.substack.com/p/600-early-stage-projects
A spreadsheet of small companies and projects. Lots of fun ideas. From video games to launching asteroids at Mars to sustainable seaweed farms. Just scroll through and enjoy human creativity.
Games
https://objectionable.net/2020/12/07/board-games-so-many-recommendations/
Board game recommendations. Lots of games I’ve not played, but the ones I’ve played were great, so I’ll trust the list.
Social Media
https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/12620128861463
Discord’s killing the old#1234 username format… The end of an era. Now on to @usernames. Yeah, @usernames is technically better - less spoofing and impossible-to-autocomplete Unicode, but I’ll miss the quirkin𝐞ss#1337 :(
Fun
Sharks are turning up dead with their livers surgically removed. A pair of Orcas just goes around slurping out livers. Yum?
https://www.rodhilton.com/2011/11/11/the-star-wars-saga-suggested-viewing-order/
Watch Star Wars in the Machete Order: 4, 5, 2, 3, 6. It preserves plot twists and removes Jar Jar.