April Newsletter 2023

Last updated Feb 9, 2024

Hello friends!

Welcome to the new format of my newsletter! I aim to create a more informal space for updates and discussions on Data Engineering and other topics I explore as I create new content. Expect to receive not just updates on new blog posts, but also interesting tidbits from my life and work.

This newsletter format will evolve as we go, but my vision includes a blend of data engineering insights, highlights from my Second Brain, and inspiring content I come across. We may get more philosophical as I enjoy Stoic Philosophy, Deep Life and others. Writing, and anything else that I find worth sharing.

In this issue, I share a roundup of recent happenings and hope you find something interesting. Please feel free to reply with your thoughts or suggestions, or if you have a topic you’d like me to cover.

Excited to connect with you through this new medium!

Curious about what I’m up to? Check out my Now Page and see my latest updates at Now. Some highlights may also appear in this newsletter.

Recently, I transitioned my newsletter from Mailchimp to a self-hosted Listmonk platform. This enables seamless sharing of emails in Markdown, managing subscribers, and integrating with my Second Brain, as opposed to using Substack, Ghost, or similar Open Subscription Platforms.

Since my Second Brain already contains relevant links and ideas, it’s incredibly easy to share new insights and background information with just a single click.

Take a peek at my latest additions or updates to my Second Brain:

• Computer Desk Setup (Todays Office): Then vs. Now ( Twitter / LinkedIn, Reddit).
• Markdown vs Rich Text: The critical difference between Markdown and rich text.
• Create a Book on Markdown: Examples of people using Markdown for books.
• Open-Source Data Engineering Projects: A curated list of Data Engineering open-source projects.

I’ve also updated the Entry Page of my second brain, making it more accessible for exploring without a specific topic in mind. Twitter / LinkedIn

In addition to the Second Brain updates, I’ve published a few insightful articles on Airbyte’s Blog that you might find interesting:

• Exploring Rust for Data Engineering: Discover why Rust has become the most loved programming language among data engineers.
• The Open Data Stack: Four Core Tools: Get to know Airbyte, dbt, Dagster, and Metabase—the backbone of the open data stack.
• Enterprise MDS: Overcoming Struggles: Learn about the challenges faced by enterprise MDS and strategies to overcome them.
• The Emergence of the Semantic Layer: Explore how a semantic layer translates data into valuable insights for business users.
• Data Orchestration Trends: The Evolution of Data Pipelines: Understand the shift from data pipelines to data products in modern data orchestration.
• Finding My Pathless Path: Embrace curiosity and create a life true to yourself by discovering your Pathless Path.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out some of my most popular articles:

• Building a Data Engineering Project in 20 Minutes
• Personal Knowledge Management Workflow for a Deeper Life
• Why Vim Is More than Just an Editor: Vim Language, Motions, and Modes Explained

I’ve been sharing some interesting articles and thoughts on social media. Here are a few of the most popular ones grouped by topic, so you can quickly find the ones that interest you:

• Familiar Concepts Rebranded as Innovations: A data professional’s perspective on not falling for the hype (Reddit) / LinkedIn
• Rill Data: An alternative to dbt magic: Analyzing exported transactions and building analytics dashboards with ease (Twitter)
• Learning Rust with DuckDB: Converting exported transactions in XLS to CSV and importing them into DuckDB (Twitter)
• Data Modeling: Unlock the value of your organization’s data: Discover your secret weapon (Twitter) / Flow of Modeling
• Unlocking the Power of Words: Crafting well-crafted content (LinkedIn)
• Ballista: The New Apache Spark?: Explore Ballista for distributed SQL query processing (LinkedIn)
• Dear JSON…: Frustrations with nested structures (LinkedIn)
• Celebrating Pandas 2.0: Embracing the new era of data manipulation (Twitter) / LinkedIn / Reddit
• What is a Data Catalog?: A quick look into data catalogs (Twitter)
• Data Engineering Concepts: A curated list of definitions, backlinks, and resources (Link) / Reddit / Twitter
• DuckDB Use Cases: Exploring three practical applications for DuckDB (Twitter)

• The Elegance of Markdown: Discover why Markdown is becoming the go-to standard for writing thanks to its fantastic features like Admonition, Mermaid, and Drawings—all from simple text files (Twitter)
• HackMD: Google Docs for Markdown: Introducing the VS Code extension for HackMD. Meaning you can use your favorite theme, shortcuts (vim), previews of Mermaid, and all other features from your editor, automatically synced to HackMD. I find this amazing 🤩 (Twitter)
• ReadWise: Improving Your Workflow: Streamline your content consumption and note-taking with ReadWise. I replaced my RSS feeder with Readwise Reader, combining Instapaper, RSS, web highlights, tweets, books, email, and PDF. All highlights/notes are automatically synced into Obsidian. (Twitter).
• New Entry Page for My Second Brain: Introducing the updated interface (Twitter)

• Double Rainbow: Capturing a magical moment (Twitter)
• What Makes a Happy Life?: Reflecting on the ingredients for happiness

I’ve been having a blast with Neovim, Tmux, and other tools, which you can find in my dotfiles. Here are some articles and threads I’ve shared recently:

• Why Vim Is More than Just an Editor: Unraveling the language, motions, and modes of Vim (Twitter) / FreeCodeCamp / LinkedIn
  • Switching from VSCode to Neovim: Don’t miss your favorite plugins with this list of Neovim alternatives (Twitter)
• The Most Beautiful Theme: Admire this stunning theme for Neovim (Reddit)
• Kanagawa Neovim Setup: A showcase of a Neovim setup with Obsidian, Chrome/Brave, Kitty, and Tmux (Reddit)

I’ve enjoyed reading these fascinating books lately:

• Moonwalking with Einstein (Joshua Foer): Dive into the world of memory, forgetting, and the power of our spatial and visual brain
• The Pathless Path (Paul Millerd): Redefine your identity beyond conventional work and prioritize values and passions (This book inspired me to write Finding My Pathless Path)
• The Extended Mind (Annie Murphy Paul): Learn to use your senses outside your brain and avoid overthinking
• The Storyteller (Dave Grohl): I was surprised how Dave Grohl is a genuine and humble person. He grew up in a poor house and experiences, experienced many things but was so dedicated to what he wanted to achieve in life, being a musician. Reminded me of Hell Yeah or No. It also illustrates the importance of serendipity, kindness, and gratitude, while also highlighting the transformative power of parenthood and true love.
• Fundamentals of Data Engineering (Joe Reis, Matt Housley): A comprehensive guide to learning Data Engineering fundamentals and the state-of-the-art in the field. It doesn’t go deep into each specific topic, but it does e a great job explaining generally if you want to start or have a good reference for all things data engineering.

I hope you enjoyed this update! It turned out longer than I expected, but I wanted to share the highlights with you. The next newsletter will be shorter and focus more on my musings about Data Engineering and the interesting tips and tricks I discover.

Until next time, happy reading and exploring!
Simon

Created 2023-04-07