localhost3000

> This quarter, we won’t be releasing any new features, and we have no plans to redesign anything — we will exclusively focus on fixing bugs.

IME this happens more often than people think. If you’re leading a team part of your job is to manage the expectations of those around you and explain your choices. If you do that well you can absolutely have quarters where you only pay down debt, it doesn’t require some huge attitude shift in the industry. Just explain why it’s the right thing and then do it.

How I think about this:

If you're using an agent in a shell environment with unfettered internet access and code execution: CLI + Skills.

If you're using a hosted agent on a website or in an app without code execution and limited/no internet access: MCP.

We want both patterns. Folks who are agro about MCP do ~all of their work in the former, so it seems pointless. Most people interact with agents in the later.

In my experience one of the best ways to "get ahead" is to give direct 1:1 feedback to someone higher up in your management chain for something that you are obviously right about it (some wiggle room here, but be sure to be atleast mostly right on a non-trivial topic). It demonstrates to them that you have good judgement and have backbone. They will trust you more and start to think of you as more of a peer than merely someone in their span of control (obviously you need to do this tactfully / not be a dick about it but also be firm). This has been a huge unlock for my career. ymmv.

My eyesight deteriorated significantly during 2020-2022 to the point where I could no longer legally drive without glasses (I had been 20/20 or better my entire life). I bit the bullet in 2023 and had LASIK, which brought me back to the baseline I'd been used to for 35+ years. Age definitely played a part, but the speed of decline was really wild to experience and I attribute at least some of that to my lifestyle and work changes during covid (working 12+ hours per day from a small bedroom in San Francisco). LASIK is amazing, for anyone who is considering it.

Used to periodically get a c&d email from FB lawyers for some harmless software I published. Always completely ignored it, not even responding to acknowledge receipt. It eventually stopped. I figure they gave up and focused their efforts on targets who showed they would be responsive to threats. It was 100% bullying.

Grew up in a small town in Connecticut and roamed around all the time as a ~9 year old. Used to go fishing with my friends at the various rivers and streams around town. No cell phones, be home before dark. Doors were never locked. It was a great way to grow up.

A few years ago I got multiple cease and desist emails from a FAANG for a Chrome extension they didn't like. I ignored them and they eventually went away. Sending scary sounding emails to indie devs is extremely low cost.

*apizza

It took literally _5 years_ for me to get through the waitlist. I signed up in 2016 and got an automated email “from” the founder in May 2021 excitedly inviting me to fill out a questionnaire in order to gain access… Asking me to do work after waiting 5 years seemed crazy so I ignored it and got another automated email “from” the founder nudging me to take the questionnaire a few weeks later. Strangest set of interactions I’ve ever had with a product. I have no idea whether their product is good or bad and I stopped caring many years ago.

>Prices will go up because the value of the dollar goes up

sorry to nitpick but inflation is the value of the dollar going _down_. if the value of a dollar were to increase, the price of a thing denominated in dollars (i.e. stocks) would decrease (you can buy more with fewer now-more-valuable dollars), ceteris paribus.

I’m the EM on the Docs Product team at Stripe. We own the infra and user experience for Stripe Docs. If any MDN or dev tools folks are reading and interested in Stripe, please reach out: [email protected]

You don’t _have_ to pay estimated taxes. If you choose not to you just pay a penalty at tax time (essentially interest on what you didn’t pay throughout the year). It’s up to you to decide if it’s worth it. I freelanced for a few years and just paid the penalty because I didn’t want to spend time thinking about taxes more than once a year. For how much I was making at the time I was fine with this trade off.

If you cmd+f twice in a row that should bypass you to your browser’s native search. There’s also a toggle in the search UI so that you can opt out of the modal entirely and go straight to browser search every time. It’s in the bottom right corner of the search modal iirc (writing this comment from mobile).

Disclosure: I work at Stripe. Will pass this feedback along :)

Versions of this have happened to me multiple times over the years. They never budge. The developer always gets screwed. I will never build on the App Store again.