We hit a really big milestone last week with our latest project. I’m really proud of the velocity here and excited to see our vision come to life.
I can’t wait to share more :)
P.S. Do you love Top Secret? Or do you *really* love our homemade memes on LinkedIn and Twitter? We’re sending a gift to 25 people who 1. Subscribe to Top Secret; and 2. Fill out this form when we announce our big news. If you’re not already subscribed, you can subscribe here.
Have a great week!
What We’re Reading
A ransomware attack on Krispy Kreme cost the donut retailer $10M, according to a recent SEC filing: the November 2024 attack, apparently executed by the Play ransomware group, claimed data including IDs, business documents, personal information, and financial information. It’s a pretty brutal reminder that security isn’t a nice-to-have; getting security wrong is extremely expensive!
Citigroup mistakenly credited a customer account with $81 trillion: I don’t entirely understand how this happened, but Citigroup approximately added 1x global output to the money supply. They seem to be having trouble with internal controls, fined nine figures last year for their failure to make improvements.
Microsoft to Close Skype, Shift Users to Teams: Microsoft bought Skype for a few billion dollars more than a decade ago. Back then, Skype was pretty much the only video chat app that seemed to work properly. We went through a weird phase of WebEx and BlueJeans – and then Zoom was the big thing. It seems now that everyone can build video chat apps without much trouble. Google Meet, Slack, and Teams are all pretty good. It’s a good reminder of how quickly software improves.
Multidrug-resistant pathogens living on the skin spread widely in nursing homes: this is kind of an interesting methodology, focused on the spread of pathogens in nursing homes. It’s also interesting that such a scary headline comes with such banal measures for mitigation: the authors write “movement of these microbes between residents could be reduced by measures such as more frequent handwashing.”
DOGE's Misplaced War on Software Licenses: I’m not even that concerned with DOGE’s dubious accounting or in contesting their assessment that government agencies buy more software than they need. In fact, I’m quite fond of sharing my bewilderment that GSA spent $200M on login.gov. But I’m reminded of bikeshedding, a preoccupation with trivial details in avoidance of important problems. Of course the government wastes money on software. Everyone does. A genuine effort to achieve government efficiency should not reasonably expect to achieve meaningful results by slashing 6- or 7-figure contracts.
Top Secret Developer Tips
Deviating from our regularly-scheduled programming, I wanted to suggest Wizard Zines.
Written by a very strong engineer – Julia Evans – these are whimsical primers on pretty technical topics. We actually have all of the Wizard Zines in our office! If you’re reasonably comfortable with technical concepts, these are great. I’m a particularly big fan of her Zines on Linux and containers.
Nerd CornerTM
Many of us will recognize Venetian explorer Marco Polo, even if just for the swimming pool game or the eponymous TV show. His name lives on largely due to his extensively documented travels to China in the 13th century. His works illuminated a part of the world that was basically unknown to Europeans.
Contrary to many accounts, Marco Polo was not the first European / Christian to reach China. Upon arrival, he encountered many Christian churches. As it turns out, Christians had arrived in China hundreds of years earlier.
The earliest known Christian in China traveled (likely) from Syria to Xi’an in the seventh century as a missionary. Named “Alopen,” he encountered a pretty welcoming reception. The Emperor Taizong evidently practiced religious tolerance (e.g., of Zoroastrianiam, Islam, etc.) and took a personal interest in Alopen’s writings.
I’m not sure there’s anything particularly consequential to Alopen’s story – but it’s pretty neat!
Other Cool Stuff
Running Doom in Typescript Types: this went reasonably viral, but it’s so insane that it bears repetition. I am truly amazed at this project. It’s especially fun because, as the author wrote on Reddit, “this project was a desperate attempt to rediscover my love for programming and save my career from a point of imminent no-turning-back burnout.” What better way to celebrate programming than committing innumerable hours and remarkable ingenuity to an elaborate joke?
Sesame Conversational Voice: back in 2019, I worked at a venture firm. These were relatively early days for voice-based home automation (e.g., Nest, Alexa). It was also the heyday of no-code. I was convinced there was some magic here. If developers could just process voice commands off-the-shelf, we’d see some really creative applications. A few companies like Voiceflow had already appeared by then, but the tools hadn’t quite gotten good enough for end users. Years later, it seems like that’s changed. I’m amazed to see how far the technology has come, and I can’t wait to see what people make.
From The Archives
(2009): The Trouble with the Segway
(2014): What Can I Only Do in Erlang?
(2015): LION!!!!: DJ Khaled’s Snapchat Is the Most Sacred Place on the Internet
Thanks,
Ned