thinking out loud

Recommended links for 2015-11-28

Here are some of the interesting things I've read recently on the Web.

A Certain Tendency Of The Database Community

Interesting article from Christopher Meiklejohn arguing for eventually-consistent datastores as a better representation of how data exists in the real world than datastores that enforce global consistency. Worth the read.
Up for grabs

A filtered list of Github issues marked as "up for grabs" for beginners or people not familiar with the project in question. Good starting point for those interested in contributing to open source; at some point when I'm not so oversaturated I will probably try to knock a few of these out.
What can a technologist do about climate change?

Excellent interactive site describing some of the challenges in climate change, and ways that people in the so-called "tech industry" (i.e. computing) can contribute to solutions.
A New, Gorgeous Look at the 10,000 Year Clock With 'The Clock of the Long Now'

Very pretty short documentary on the Long Now's 10,000 year clock project.
The five keys to a successful Google team

Interesting short article and infographic about the key dynamics for good teams at Google. Interested that the first one is "Psychological safety: Can we take risks on this team without feeling insecure or embarrassed?"
Chris Hadfield meets Randall Munroe: ‘Are we alone in the universe?'

A conversation between an astronaut and a cartoonist.