After a decade, @_Davidsmith and I have published the final episode of Under The Radar.
We're incredibly proud of our ten-year catalog of 30-minute discussions on development, marketing, monetization, work/life balance, and mental health for app developers.
We've heard from so many of you already (thanks!), and the show also brought incredible value to David and me, for both our businesses and our friendship.
We had a great run! Thanks for listening, everyone.
Yay our paper is out in Empirical Software Engineering!
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10664-025-10735-w
Understanding factors that influence software development velocity is crucial for engineering teams and organizations, yet empirical evidence at scale remains limited. A more robust understanding of the dynamics of cycle time may help practitioners avoid pitfalls in relying on velocity measures while evaluating software work. We analyze cycle time—a widely-used metric measuring time from ticket creation to completion—using a dataset of over 55,000 observations across 216 organizations. Through Bayesian hierarchical modeling that appropriately separates individual and organizational variation, we examine how coding time, task scoping, and collaboration patterns affect cycle time while characterizing its substantial variability across contexts. We find precise but modest associations between cycle time and factors including coding days per week, number of merged pull requests, and degree of collaboration. However, these effects are set against considerable unexplained variation both between and within individuals. Our findings suggest that while common workplace factors do influence cycle time in expected directions, any single observation provides limited signal about typical performance. This work demonstrates methods for analyzing complex operational metrics at scale while highlighting potential pitfalls in using such measurements to drive decision-making. We conclude that improving software delivery velocity likely requires systems-level thinking rather than individual-focused interventions.
This fall marks 15 years of Lawfare, and we’re celebrating the anniversary by gathering our community of readers, listeners, and contributors for an evening of reflection, recognition, and a look ahead.
RSVP now to join us!
https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/we-re-celebrating-our-15th-anniversary
OPML export will be in the next update. Almost made it into yesterday's, but I wanted to do it better.
The previous app would generate the XML server-side. But what if my servers are all down, or there's some horrible disaster and my back-end service is gone, or you launch a very old version of the app on a very old device that can't communicate with the current API?
The new version will generate the OPML entirely on-device, even if it can't reach my servers.
https://hci.social/@tod/113194213129170569
@[email protected] Is OPML export ever coming back? Or are Overcast users not allowed to export their subscriptions any more?
Yeah, the Walz choice just looks smarter and smarter the more I look at it.
He will run on "family values", but the definition of family values in this case includes things like *protecting trans kids* & feeding school children.
This I am 100% on board for. Make the GOP say out loud that their "family values" are not related to the safety and happiness of kids. Make them say kids should go hungry. Frame protections for trans kids as just that: protections for children, & don't apologize.