October 2022 - Seeking Peace 🌲
Sorry for getting this one out one day late, fam. It's my birthday today and I wanted to relax last night. 🎃
I know it's been a stressful month for many of you that read this, so I want to say I really appreciate you and the fact you join in once a month to get a little glimpse into my life.
This issue is mostly filled with some good music, some good games (including the best board/group game I've played in a while), and a bit more.
Stay safe. Talk soon.
--
Nathan ☕️
Books
"To Pixar and Beyond" by Lawrence Levy
This book is a look at an insider's journey from a "struggling computer animation company called Pixar." It details Steve Jobs' role and how Pixar went on to making the movies we all know and love. Highly recommend!
Code
"How (and why) to create a good validation set" by FastAI
This article is on building a good data validation set for deep learning/neural networks. It's a surprising topic that I'm not sure I'd ever considered before - one of the most important aspects of building a neural network is making sure you have a superb validation set.
"JWTs are Not Safe" by Redis
Redis recently published this e-book talking about why you should not use JSON web tokens in your authentication system. In addition to being an interesting read (and also a good bit of marketing for Redis, of course), it's also a great breakdown of how you should architect an authentication and authorization system.
Games
The Last of Us: Part I (PS5)
I first played The Last of Us in the early 2010s, and this airbrushed remake does it justice; it's still one of the sadder and hardest-hitting stories I've ever seen in media.
Finger Guns at High Noon
An absolutely chaotic game with the right people, Finger Guns at High Noon is the most I've laughed while playing a game in a long time. You should definitely check it out.
Music
"Gemini Rights" by Steve Lacy
Many of you are already listening to Steve Lacy, but this album has gone viral (and for good reason). From "Static" to "Bad Habit," the songs are catchy and embody great vibes (Apple Music and Spotify).
"Forever Whatever" by October Drift
I discovered this band towards the end of the month. Their song Forever, Whatever is my particular favorite. That intro is 🤌🏻
Videos
How Running Changes Your Body
This video essay talks about the benefits of (even infrequent) running and how much the health benefits drastically outweigh any annoyances from having to drag yourself out of bed in the morning to go for a run.
"Life is a Single-player Game" with Naval Ravikant
Naval (who is the former CEO of AngelList) talks here about how life can often be thought of as a single player game when it comes to the choices you make and how you can interpret others' actions.