general

Doomscrolling and feeling powerless? Here’s something tangible we can do: Normalize wearing masks. Let’s protect our health and decrease the spread of airborne diseases. Out of masks and don’t know where to start? r/Masks4All Wiki is a great resource.




general

BBC Radio 2 In Concert complete show




general

White label auction

Update: today at 2pm UK time.

Final prices 

Pornography - £1,000
The Head on the Door - £800
Show - £750
Wish - £600
The Top - £800
Japanese Whispers - £700
Paris - £850
Greatest Hits - £1,000


The White Label Auction In Aid of The BRIT Trust

Upcoming auction from Omega Auctions. 

8 from The Cure, all signed by Robert Smith.

Pornography 
The Head on the Door 
Show
Wish
The Top
Japanese Whispers 
Paris
Greatest Hits

Thanks, JC










general

James McCartney at Troxy

"What an awesome evening @TroxyLondon being fortunate enough to watch @thecure play tracks from their new album 'Songs Of A Lost World'. Lovely catching up with you Robert" ❤️






general

Yungblud at Troxy







general

Lost World reviews video

Reviews of The Cure's Songs of a Lost World. Video sent out by The Cure via Whatsapp.




general

Lost World Deluxe Digital Download

Update: Now available in the UK store too, but only until midnight tonight (Nov. 7th).

It's now available in the EU and AU shops as well.


Available from The Cure shop (US only, but there are ways around that):

THE CURE SONGS OF A LOST WORLD (DELUXE) DIGITAL DOWNLOAD (MP3 & FLAC)

US $4.99

DELUXE DIGITAL ALBUM FEATURES SONGS OF A LOST WORLD STANDARD TRACKLIST PLUS FIVE LIVE BONUS TRACKS RECORDED AT SHORELINE AMPHITHEATER IN 2023.

TRACKLIST:

1.ALONE

2.AND NOTHING IS FOREVER

3.A FRAGILE THING

4.WARSONG

5.DRONE:NODRONE

6.I CAN NEVER SAY GOODBYE

7.ALL I EVER AM

8.ENDSONG

9.ALONE : LIVE @ SHORELINE AMPHITHEATER 2023

10.AND NOTHING IS FOREVER : LIVE @ SHORELINE AMPHITHEATER 2023

11.A FRAGILE THING : LIVE @ SHORELINE AMPHITHEATER 2023

12.I CAN NEVER SAY GOODBYE : LIVE @ SHORELINE AMPHITHEATER 2023

13.ENDSONG : LIVE @ SHORELINE AMPHITHEATER 2023

LIVE @ SHORELINE AMPHITHEATER 2023




general

Mark Gardener and Kevin Shields at Troxy

From Ride Appreciation Society.

Robert Smith with Mark Gardener of Ride and Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine at Troxy London.





general

Lost World still on track for UK debut at #1

From Music Week:


In the albums chart this week, The Cure are hurtling towards a No.1 finish with Songs Of A Lost World, which has racked up 45,054 sales so far. The record is significantly boosted by its physical release, which accounts for 40,129 sales, whilst downloads account for 3,234 units and streams make up 1,691. 




general

From The Cure

DUE TO DEMAND... 'SONGS OF A LOST WORLD' (DELUXE EDITION) IS NOW AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD UNTIL MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. PLEASE BE SURE TO CHECK EMAILS & DOWNLOAD TO HEAR THE FIVE EXCLUSIVE LIVE TRACKS AT TheCure.lnk.to/WorldwideDeluxe




general

CoF on Bluesky

Once again, completely understand why so many are leaving Twitter. You can find CoF on Bluesky too - @craigatcof.bsky.social




general

Songs of a Lost World is #1 in the UK

Update: also debuts at #1 in Scotland, Germany and on these other UK charts - Vinyl, Record Store, Physical Albums and Album Downloads. #3 in Ireland.


From Official Charts:

The Cure's Songs Of A Lost World becomes band's first Number 1 album in 32 years

The band's 14th studio LP outsells the rest of the Top 5 combined to reach the summit

By Carl Smith

The English rock legends, whose current line-up comprises Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Roger O’Donnell, Perry Bamonte, Jason Cooper and Reeves Gabrels, last topped the Official Albums Chart with 1992 record Wish. 

16 years in the making, Songs Of A Lost World outsells the rest of the Top 5 combined to reach the summit, and earns the group a 23rd Top 40 album overall.

Reacting to the news, The Cure’s Robert Smith says: 

“It is enormously uplifting, genuinely heartwarming to experience such a wonderful reaction to the release of the new Cure album. 

“To everyone who has bought it, listened to it, loved it, believed in us over the years - THANK YOU!”

Song Of A Lost World also tops the Official Vinyl Albums Chart, the week’s biggest seller on wax, and the Official Record Store Chart, proving the most popular LP of the past seven days in independent UK record shops. 

The record’s release reignites interest in The Cure’s back catalogue, too. 2001’s Greatest Hits returns to the Top 40 for the first time in five years, vaulting 76 spots (30).




general

Interview with Ben from Polydor

From Music Week:

"Robert Smith is beyond passionate": Polydor's Ben Mortimer on The Cure's triumphant return to No.1

by George Garner

It was very much a case of Friday, The UK's In Love for The Cure, as the iconic group and their label Polydor celebrated an incredible charts results day on Friday, November 8. 

More than 32 years after their only previous No.1 album, Robert Smith’s band marked an emphatic return to the top of the chart with their 14th studio release – and first for 16 years – Songs Of A Lost World.

Indeed, Polydor co-president Ben Mortimer has told Music Week that even when held against their own lofty expectations, the response from the public has been "overwhelming". Songs Of A Lost World has effectively done seven times the first week sales of 2008's 4:13 Dream, and outsold three of their last four albums' entire lifetime sales in one week. 

So, how does it look when broken down?

Well, for one, The Cure outsold the rest of the Top 5 combined, with a stellar opening frame of 51,362 sales (19,838 CDs, 23,182 vinyl albums, 1,219 cassettes, 4,546 digital downloads and 2,577 sales-equivalent streams) according to Official Charts Company data.

First week sales of Songs Of A Lost World are, in fact, the fifth highest on debut for any album in 2024, trailing only Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department (270,091), Coldplay’s Moon Music (236,796), Sabrina Carpenter’s Short N’ Sweet (89,658) and Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard & Soft (67,111). 

For further context, let's turn to Music Week charts analyst Alan Jones' breakdown: “[The Cure] also exceed the to-date sales of The Cure’s last studio album, 2008’s 4:13 Dream, which debuted and peaked at No.33 on consumption of 7,360 units, 16 years ago last week, and has to-date consumption of 35,123 units. Songs Of A Lost World’s 597.85% increase on that album’s first frame is due to many factors, including the fact it has been so long since an album by The Cure; the multiplicity of its physical formats (two CD, two cassette and six vinyl); a live stream of their 1 November gig at The Troxy; a BBC Radio Two ‘In Concert’ performance; and the popularity of Songs Of A Lost World singles Alone and A Fragile Thing. The latter track has provided the band’s highest radio airplay chart position – No.26 – for more than 20 years last week, including attracting 59 plays from the aforementioned Radio Two so far.”

Robert Smith wanted to know how much we believed in the record before he'd commit to working with us, so we didn't hear a note until the deal was signed – which was a touch that I loved and respected

On top of this, Polydor have actually secured a chart double this week, with their act Gracie Abrams also topping the UK singles chart with That's So True jumping to No.1 on sales of 40,798.

Here, Polydor president Ben Mortimer, talks about working with Robert Smith, getting the band back to the top, and more...

Before we get into the campaign, what has it meant to you personally to work on The Cure's first new record in 16 years? And what has it been like working closely with Robert Smith?  

“First off, I am the hugest fan. Disintegration got me through a tough period in my early teens. I've always loved the band's ability to be so mournful and despairing and marry it with such beautiful melodic pop songs, so it meant huge amounts to me personally to get to work on this. And working with him has been a privilege. Robert is so dedicated to his craft, he's beyond passionate about the band and its legacy. He wanted to know how much we believed in the record before he'd commit to working with us. So we didn't hear a note until the deal was signed, which was a touch that I loved and respected. He is hands on in every part of his business in the most inspiring way.”

The Cure have returned, obviously, to a massively different music landscape compared to the one they operated in with 4:13 Dream. What were Polydor’s hopes and expectations for week one given there's not been a new album for so long, and have the actual sales surprised you? 

“I had a feeling it would do well. We're lucky enough to work The Cure catalogue, so are well aware of how well their music streams and across so many generations. But this has been an overwhelming response that in truth we didn't completely predict. But then again it's an incredible record, with 5/5s across the board. As predictable as this sounds, the greatest music always finds its way to people in the end.” 

It’s interesting how you achieved the result without a very long pre-order period compared to most albums. What did you have to work with in terms of data/fanbase for the campaign? There's obviously their incredible catalogue too – how have you reactivated that in the run-up? 

“Whether intentionally or not, the band have been running the smartest teaser campaign. It would be worthy of a Music Week marketing award! He teased the record was coming years ago. Something he says he regrets, but it created a sense of folklore around the album, and the band have been playing songs from it on tour for several years. Clips have been all over the internet. All of this created feverish demand amongst the fanbase.” 

There looks set to be huge international success with the album as well, what role did Polydor play in connecting all the dots globally for that to happen? Did you have any specific territories outside of the UK that you really wanted to target?

“They're huge in Europe, Australia, North, Central and South America. As soon as we told our partners this was coming there was palpable excitement and demand. We zoned in on Germany, France, Holland, and several other key markets, and they've all delivered. It's testament to the power of the global company.”  

The Troxy show was another big moment of the launch week, not least because they played the whole album in full. Why are intimate launch shows still so effective in your mind? 

“Our partnership with YouTube on the live stream made it possible. And they recorded insane levels of traffic on it. They're a stadium and festival band, so to see them this intimate, was a special experience even for those on the live stream. Playing for over three hours… It was truly my 2024 highlight.”

On top of The Cure, Polydor also have the No.1 single this week with Gracie Abrams. What does that say about Polydor right now in terms of your roster, and your ability to get top results for veteran and new artists alike? 

"The Polydor roster is well renowned as one of the best in the UK business. We have long relationships with so many artists whose careers continue to flourish. Lana Del Rey is nine albums in, Michael Kiwanuka is four. The Cure and Snow Patrol recent successes are current examples of how seriously we take career longevity. Gracie's first number No.1 single shows how we are equally committed to the next generation of artists coming through. They are after all the lifeblood of our business."

(Photo, L-R): Ali Tant, Robert Smith, Jim Chancellor, Ben Mortimer, Faye Jordan and Fred Stuart) 





general

Robert's interview with NPR




general

Anonymous heART Project auction is up

Update: 

Final prices

DRONE:NODRONE- £1,800

WARSONG - £3,974

ALL I EVER AM - £2,551

A FRAGILE THING - £3,600

I CAN NEVER SAY GOODBYE -£15,500


The @heartresearchuk auction is up.


DRONE: NODRONE - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/267030793797


WARSONG - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/267030793091


ALL I EVER AM - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/267030794980


 A FRAGILE THING - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/267030793378


I CAN NEVER SAY GOODBYE - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/267030794239




general

Songs of a Lost World debuts at #4 in US

The Cure's Songs of a Lost World debuts at #4 on the Billboard 200 in the US.

From Billboard:

The Cure achieves its highest charting album in over 30 years, and first top 10 in over 20 years, with the No. 4 debut of Songs of a Lost World.

Songs of a Lost World bows with 57,000 equivalent album units earned (the act’s best week by units). Of that sum, album sales comprise 53,000 (The Cure’s biggest sales week since 2004, when its self-titled album launched with 91,000), SEA units comprise 4,000 (equaling 5.02 million on-demand official streams of the album’s songs) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. Songs of a Lost World also debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales; the first leader for The Cure on the 33-year-old chart. The new album’s first-week sales were bolstered by its availability across five vinyl variants (which sold a combined 23,000 copies; the band’s best week on vinyl since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991), a standard CD, a CD/blu-ray audio package, two cassettes, a standard digital download and a deluxe digital download with five bonus live tracks (exclusive to the band’s webstore).

Songs of a Lost World was released on Nov. 1, and cryptically announced in early September. The set’s title and release date were confirmed on Sept. 26, alongside the release of the album’s first cut (and first new song in 16 years), “Alone.” On Oct. 9, a second song from the set, “A Fragile Thing,” arrived. The latter track climbs 25-22 (a new peak) on Alternative Airplay and 12-10 on Adult Alternative Airplay. It’s the first charting hit for The Cure on Alternative Airplay since 2008 and the band’s highest-charting song since 2004’s “The End of the World” reached No. 19. On the Adult Alternative Airplay ranking, “Fragile” is the act’s third charting song ever (dating to the chart’s 1996 start), and first to reach the top 10.




general

Songs of a Lost World chart positions

Songs of a Lost World debuts at:

Australia - #5

Austria - #1

Belgium (Flemish and Wallonian) - #1

Canada - #12

Denmark - #1

Dutch - #1

France - #1

Germany - #1

Ireland - #3

Italy - #2

New Zealand - #3

Scotland - #1

Spain - #2

Sweden - #1

Switzerland - #1

UK - #1

US - #4




general

Album of the Week on BBC Radio 2

From The Cure:

SONGS OF A LOST WORLD IS ALBUM OF THE WEEK ON @BBCRADIO2. TUNE IN THIS WEEK TO VERNON KEY & OJ BORG TO HEAR TRACKS FROM THE ALBUM






general

Inside the Cure’s Big Halloween Comeback: Concert, BBC Takeover and ‘Lost World’ Album

From Variety:


Brit Beat: Inside the Cure’s Big Halloween Comeback: Concert, BBC Takeover and ‘Lost World’ Album

By Mark Sutherland

It’s been 16 long years since legendary British alternative rockers the Cure last released a studio album, but the campaign for the band’s new outing, “Lost World,” has made it feel like they’ve never been away.

And the band has also returned “home” to the Fiction-via-Polydor label, which released the band’s recordings up until 2004’s self-titled album. The most recent two Cure albums came out via America on Geffen, but Polydor Label Group President Ben Mortimer says he made it his “mission” to bring the band back to the record company.

“I actually can’t believe it’s happened because it’s been a conversation that’s been going on for so long,” Mortimer tells Variety. “Robert Smith sits alongside Paul Weller, who we brought back to Polydor a few years ago, as one of those people who are really in the fabric of the label. [The return] has really energized the whole label and tapped into the soul of what we do.”

Mortimer says “huge credit” should also go to Fiction Records Managing Director Jim Chancellor, “who has had a brilliant relationship with Robert for a long time.” Smith manages the band himself and Mortimer says the release plan came together over numerous emails featuring Smith’s trademark “all caps firmly on” style.

Key to the strategy was a suitably gothic Cure takeover of the BBC on Halloween, the day before “Songs of a Lost World” dropped, with a live session on BBC Radio 6 Music and a career-spanning BBC Radio 2 “In Concert” recording, which was also televised as part of a BBC 2 Cure night on November 2. The “In Concert” recording reportedly received the most ticket applications of any show in the long-running series.

“One of the stipulations Robert had on doing the deal was that the album to come out straight after Halloween,” Mortimer says. “Our production team had to jump through hoops to deliver vinyl and everything in time. It was really touch and go but Robert was very clear, unless it’s coming November 1, we ain’t doing this!”

The band also made a spectacular full live return with an intimate show at London’s Troxy venue on November 1, which featured a full rendition of the new album as well as many other songs. It was livestreamed around the world on YouTube and attended by many other musicians, from Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong to Culture Club’s Boy George.

All that attention – and some of the best reviews of the band’s career – has also translated into record sales, with the album set to debut at No.1 in the Official U.K. Albums Chart on November 8. It had already passed 40,000 units by Monday, according to the Official Charts Company. That’s despite this being the band’s first album release of the streaming age – previous studio album “4:13 Dream” came out in 2008 – with Mortimer saying the band racked up huge numbers of Spotify pre-saves.

“The Universal catalog team, alongside Robert, have done a very good job of keeping things alive for years, but it’s more than that,” says Mortimer. “If you look at their streams, there are tracks at over 700 million on Spotify, so there is a young audience there that streams the Cure.

“We’ve brought in new ideas – Robert’s remarkably open to modern ways of thinking, he’s such an intelligent man, he grasps things so quickly – but I don’t think it changed his strategy,” Mortimer adds. “Some artists are able to speak to different generations, and the Cure are one of those.”

With the band likely to announce further touring plans, Mortimer is expecting a long campaign for the album, one of the first big releases through the new Polydor Label Group, after a major Universal U.K. restructure: Mortimer now also oversees the Capitol U.K. and 0207 Def Jam labels, run by Jo Charrington and Alec Boateng respectively.

“It’s been a crazy year across the whole business, but I’m really thankful about the new responsibilities that I have,” says Mortimer. “Working with Jo and Alec is just an absolute dream, they’re some of the best A&R executives of recent generations and they’ve brought so many brilliant artists into our system, so I’m feeling really lucky. Everyone complements each other really well.”

Meanwhile, the American release of “Songs of a Lost World” goes through Capitol, meaning Mortimer has reunited with his former Polydor co-president Tom March, now chairman/CEO of Capitol Music Group (“Tom’s wonderful – having a Brit over there who gets it has been really helpful”). The pair revived Polydor’s fortunes in the 2010s and Mortimer is hopeful the Cure’s renewed success could also bring back the buzz to music from this side of the pond.

“It feels like there’s real interest in what the U.K. and Ireland does really well again,” he says. “You look at Oasis, the Cure, plus we’re getting such an explosion of interest on Sam Fender at the moment and we’re seeing growth on a band like Inhaler… We’ve been talking about it for 15 years but it’s genuinely happening now.”





general

Songs of a Lost World Debuts at No. 1 on Multiple Billboard Charts

From Billboard:

The Cure’s ‘Songs of a Lost World’ Debuts at No. 1 on Multiple Billboard Charts

The set marks the group's first leader on the 33-year-old Top Album Sales chart, and the band's highest-charting album on the Billboard 200 since 1992.

By Keith Caulfield 

The Cure make a striking return to Billboard’s album charts (dated Nov. 16) with the arrival of Songs of a Lost World. It’s the band’s first No. 1 on the 33-year-old Top Album Sales chart and the act’s highest-charting effort on the Billboard 200 (No. 4) since 1992. It also bows at No. 1 on Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums, Top Alternative Albums, Vinyl Albums and Indie Store Album Sales.

Songs of a Lost World is the group’s first album of new material since 2008. The new album is the act’s third top 10-charting set on the Billboard 200, following its self-titled effort (No. 7 in July 2004) and Wish (No. 2 in May 1992)

Equivalent album units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. Nov. 16, 2024-dated charts will be posted in full on Billboard’s website on Tuesday, Nov. 12.

Songs of a Lost World bows with 57,000 equivalent album units earned (the act’s best week by units) in the United States in the week ending Nov. 7, according to Luminate. Of that sum, album sales comprise 53,000 (The Cure’s biggest sales week since 2004, when its self-titled album launched with 91,000), SEA units comprise 4,000 (equaling 5.02 million on-demand official streams of the album’s songs) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum.

The new album’s first-week sales were bolstered by its availability across five vinyl variants (which sold a combined 23,000 copies; the band’s best week on vinyl since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991), a standard CD, a CD/blu-ray audio package, two cassettes, a standard digital download and a deluxe digital download with five bonus live tracks (exclusive to the band’s webstore).

The set’s “A Fragile Thing” rises 25-22 on Alternative Airplay (a new peak and its highest charting song since 2004) and 12-10 on Adult Alternative Airplay (The Cure’s first top 10, and third charting hit, since the list began in 1996).




general

Joel McHale Really Loves Coffee, The Cure, and Meat Pies

From Food & Wine:

On the genius of The Cure's Robert Smith

"Disintegration is one of my favorite albums. Young people listening to this podcast right now, are like, 'What the f--- are they talking about?' It's the 'Friday I'm in Love' guys. Check it out. 'Just Like Heaven' is a perfect pop song. It is like carbon on the periodic table of perfectly executed, joyous, catchiest, most perfect things. 'Pictures of You' is probably one of the most tragic pop songs ever written, and it's perfect. 'A Forest' — I remember when Nouvelle Vague covered that, and I was just like, 'Oh my gosh.' I don't know why The Cure doesn't get more recognition for how important they were.

To go from punk into New Wave, into — I think at any moment if Robert Smith wanted to, he could be like, 'I can write the poppiest song of all time.' Like Kurt Cobain, where it's just, 'I can do this all day long. But I'm going to put sandpaper in it and make your brain turn upside down.' But then you're like, 'What just happened to me?'"




general

A Fragile Thing is Top 10 on AAA in US

From Billboard Charts:

The Cure hits the top 10 of this week's #AdultAlternativeAirplay with "A Fragile Thing" (up 12-10). It earns the band its first top 10 hit at the format.

It also earns the band its first top 10 on any Billboard airplay chart since "Maybe Someday" peaked at No. 10 on #AlternativeAirplay in 2000.

"A Fragile Thing" is the lead single from Songs of a Lost World, which concurrently debuts at No. 1 on Top Rock & Alternative Albums.





general

Time management for political sysadmins

Can you put me in contact with the "tech team" of a political campaign?

I am offering my "time management for sysadmins" training pro-bono to any Dem or anti-Trump digital team, sysadmins, devops team, SRE, etc. Contact me via LinkedIn, DM me on Twitter or email me if you know my email address.




general

Book: Become Ansible by Josh Duffney

My coworker Josh Duffney launches his self-published book on Ansible today!

Congrats and I wish great success!

Crawl, walk, run, sprint your way through learning Ansible with "Become Ansible"! Visit his website becomeansible.com




general

Adarsh Shah on "Continuous Delivery for Machine Learning" (September NYCDEVOPS Meetup)

Come one, come all! nycdevops does its first virtual meetup! All are invited!

Hope to see you there!




general

Oct 15 NYC DevOps Meetup: "Introduction to Site Reliability Engineering" by Nathen Harvey

This month's nycdevops meetup speaker is Nathen Harvey of Google, who will give a talk titled "Introduction to Site Reliability Engineering".

The talk starts at 5pm sharp! (NY is in US/Eastern)

Please RSVP! See you there!

https://www.meetup.com/nycdevops/events/272956481/

(This is a virtual meetup. Everyone around the world is invited!)




general

Thu, Nov 19 NYCDEVOPS meetup: John Allspaw on "Learning From Incidents"

November's nycdevops meetup speaker is John Allspaw, who will give a talk titled "Findings From the Field: 2 Years of Learning From Incidents".

The talk starts at 5pm sharp! (NY is in US/Eastern)

Please RSVP! See you there!

https://www.meetup.com/nycdevops/events/273826675/

(This is a virtual meetup. Everyone in the world is invited!)




general

Thu, Nov 19 NYCDEVOPS meetup: John Allspaw on "Learning From Incidents"

Don't forget!

November's nycdevops meetup speaker is John Allspaw, who will give a talk titled "Findings From the Field: 2 Years of Learning From Incidents".

The talk starts at 5pm sharp! (NY is in US/Eastern)

Please RSVP! See you there!

https://www.meetup.com/nycdevops/events/273826675/

(This is a virtual meetup. Everyone in the world is invited!)




general

What to give your loved one for April Fools Day?

April Fools Day is coming up!

Time to order your coffee-table book of April Fools RFCs!

More info here: https://www.rfchumor.com

Makes a great gift for nerds that own coffee-tables!

Order it today!



  • The Complete April Fools' RFCs

general

Updated BP Texas City Animation

This isn't directly sysadmin-related, but it made me think of how a really good outage retrospective can teach others how to prevent problems in the future.

"On the 15th anniversary of the incident, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board is announcing a forthcoming interactive training application based on one of the worst industrial disasters in recent U.S. history--the March 23, 2005, explosion at the BP refinery in Texas City, Texas, which killed 15 workers, injured 180 others, and caused billions of dollars in economic losses. This updated animation will be included in the training, which will focus on OSHA's Process Safety Management standard. Look for it soon at CSB.gov."

Content warning: Death




general

Hear Tom on The Software Engineering Daily Podcast

https://softwareengineeringdaily.com/2021/07/22/stack-overflow-for-teams-a-centralized-knowledge-sharing-and-collaboration-platform-with-tom-limoncelli/

If you've ever googled a CS or programming question, you likely found an answer (or many) on Stack Overflow. Founded in 2008 and named after a common computing error, Stack Overflow empowers the world to develop technology through collective knowledge. More than 100 million people visit Stack Overflow every month making it one of the 50 most-visited websites in the world. Stack Overflow's products include its market-leading knowledge sharing and collaboration platform, Stack Overflow for Teams, in addition to Stack Overflow Reach & Relevance, which is focused on advertising.

Stack Overflow for Teams is a knowledge sharing and collaboration solution that developers and managers already know and trust. It's for companies who need to increase productivity, decrease cycle times, accelerate time to market, and protect institutional knowledge. In this episode we talk with Tom Limoncelli, a manager at Stack Overflow, author, and tech advocate.

Listen to the podcast by clicking here!




general

20 years of The Practice of System and Network Administration!

Twenty years ago the first edition of The Practice of System and Network Administration shipped! Since then there has been a 2nd and 3rd edition (2006 and 2014), plus a sequel book The Practice of Cloud System Administration, and many printings. (see the timeline here)

When we started the project we had no idea if it would be a success. There was a real chance it could be a flop. Many people told us that our proposal was illogical: How could you have a book about system administration that is vendor agnostic and talks about process and people instead of specific tools and operating systems? Well, to be honest, we took a deep breath and started writing anyway. It took 2+ years but in Sept/Oct 2001 the book finally shipped!

Instead of a flop, the reaction we got was very positive! It has sold tens of thousands of copies. Many universities have used the book and its future editions as text books. It received the Usenix LISA Outstanding Achievement Award. One DevOps pundit told me she considers it to be "the first devops book" which was quite humbling.

When I visited Google in 2004 (a year before I considered joining) I was told everyone in the "systems operations" team was given a copy on their first day. The person giving me a tour then took me to a supply closet with 30 copies awaiting to be distributed to new hires.

However the real satisfaction comes from how it has helped others. Fans have related many heartwarming stories. Many fans have told us they felt like reading the book was a turning point in their life, that the book "turned me into a professional system administrator".

To thank our readers, our publisher is offering a special deal: 45% off the latest editions now until Oct 31, 2021 What? You still have the 2nd edition and haven't seen the dozens of chapters of new material in the 3rd edition? Or maybe you haven't heard of our Cloud book? Now is your chance to get the 3rd edition or the cloud sequel!

Thank you to everyone that gave us feedback on the early drafts! Thank you to all our readers! This book changed our lives and we hope it changed yours too!

P.S. We would love to hear from you! Please post a comment with reflections on the book.




general

Usenix LISA is no more. Here's my retrospective.

The Usenix LISA conference is no more. After 35 years, I have a lot of good (and some not good) memories of the conference. It was a big part of my career and I'm sad to see it go. However I'm proud of what LISA accomplished.

I wrote my personal reflections on the conference in a new article published on the Usenix website. Warning: this article includes some over-sharing.

Read it here: LISA made LISA obsolete (That's a compliment!)




general

Article: "Split Your Overwhelmed Teams"

After a 2-year break, my column in ACM Queue magazine returns! It has a new name "Operations and Life".

For many years I wrote a column in ACM Queue Magazine. It was called "Everything Sysadmin" and covered devops, IT, and basically anything I felt like. I stopped writing in 2020 due to the pandemic and a general lack of motivation. My last column was published Nov 2020. Two years later I finally feel like writing again.

The new column is called "Operations and Life". I'm going to write about the intersection of devops and personal life. I believe that most techniques we use at work can apply in our personal life and vice-versa.

These columns will be shorter and more to the point. While my old column would often be 10 or more pages long, my goal now is to keep things to about 2000-3000 words. This will make them easier to read and digest. This format is more web-friendly.

The first article in this new format is out!

Read it here: Split Your Overwhelmed Teams: Two teams of five is not the same as one team of ten




general

KW 44/24: Hör- und Gucktipps zum Wochenende

Hurra, Wochenende – und damit mehr Zeit zum Hören und Sehen! In unserer Wochenendausgabe präsentieren wir Euch eine Auswahl empfehlenswerter Filme und Podcasts mit Medienbezug. Dieses Mal wegen der am Dienstag anstehenden Wahl in den USA mit einem Fokus auf den Einfluss von Medien auf den Wahlausgang. Viel Spaß bei Erkenntnisgewinn und Unterhaltung! *** 1. […]



  • 6 vor 9

general

FAQ zur Rundfunkreform, “Ruptly” macht weiter, Wenn KI Radio macht

1. Wie die Öffentlich-Rechtlichen aus der Krise kommen sollen (taz.de, Ann-Kathrin Leclère) Ann-Kathrin Leclère hat die wichtigsten Fragen und Antworten zur Rundfunkreform zusammengestellt, beispielsweise: Warum braucht es Reformen? Wer kümmert sich darum? Was wurde beschlossen? Wer hat Angst vor welchen Änderungen? Und was ist mit dem Rundfunkbeitrag? 2. Wie das insolvente Kreml-Medium Ruptly unter neuem […]



  • 6 vor 9

general

Kaputter US-Journalismus, Streit um § 353d StGB, Grönemeyer vs. CDU

1. “Wir müssen uns von der Vorstellung lösen, dass Journalismus gleichbedeutend mit Content ist” (journalist.de, Leif Kramp & Stephan Weichert) Bei journalist.de ist ein lesenswertes Interview mit dem US-amerikanischen Journalismus-Experten Jeff Jarvis erschienen, der gleich in der ersten Antwort ziemlich direkt wird: “Während wir die US-Wahlen durchlaufen, frage ich mich, ob es Zeit ist, den […]



  • 6 vor 9

general

X-Bots und US-Wahlkampf, Schunkeln für Millionen, Hollywoodfilme diverser

1. Automatisierte Bots auf X greifen in den US-Wahlkampf ein (zeit.de, Eva Wolfangel) “Die Sorge, dass das Internet von Bots zersetzt wird, gibt es schon lange. Jetzt gibt es erstmals klare Belege für solche KI-Accounts – manche machen Stimmung für Trump.” Eva Wolfangel gibt einen Einblick in die derzeitige Forschung zu Bot-Netzwerken. Weiterer Lesetipp: Elon […]



  • 6 vor 9

general

Israelische Nachrichtenblockade, Inserateaffäre, Wikipedia und KI

1. RSF verurteilt israelische Nachrichtenblockade (reporter-ohne-grenzen.de) Die Organisation Reporter ohne Grenzen (RSF) verurteilt den Umgang der israelischen Armee mit Medienschaffenden. “Aus dem Norden des Gazastreifens dringen immer weniger Informationen heraus, und gerade deshalb wird Journalismus immer wichtiger”, so RSF-Geschäftsführerin Anja Osterhaus: “Die israelischen Streitkräfte verhindern zunehmend Bilder und Stimmen von der Realität des Krieges und […]



  • 6 vor 9

general

Ampel-Aus, “Ende zur Unzeit”, Nichts-passiert-Szenen bei US-Wahl

1. Was das Ampel-Aus für die Medienbranche bedeutet (dwdl.de, Timo Niemeier) Timo Niemeier macht sich bei “DWDL” Gedanken darüber, wie sich das Ende der Ampel-Koalition auf die Medienbranche auswirken könnte. Die vorgesehene Reform der Filmförderung mit Elementen wie Steueranreizen und Investitionsverpflichtungen sei ohne FDP-Stimmen kaum durchsetzbar. Die geplante Reform des öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunks bleibe hingegen unberührt, […]



  • 6 vor 9

general

KW 45/24: Hör- und Gucktipps zum Wochenende

Hurra, Wochenende – und damit mehr Zeit zum Hören und Sehen! In unserer Wochenendausgabe präsentieren wir Euch eine Auswahl empfehlenswerter Filme und Podcasts mit Medienbezug. Viel Spaß bei Erkenntnisgewinn und Unterhaltung! *** 1. Welche Rolle haben Medien beim Ampel-Aus gespielt? (uebermedien.de, Holger Klein, Audio: 24:34 Minuten) Im “Übermedien”-Podcast hat sich Holger Klein mit Ann-Kathrin Büüsker […]



  • 6 vor 9

general

Keine Eiscreme, Habecks Kampf gegen Windmühlen, Respektkodex

1. Wir produzieren keine Eiscreme (journalist.de, Jacob Goldmann (Pseudonym)) In seinem Essay “Wir produzieren keine Eiscreme” beschreibt Jacob Goldmann, ein Pseudonym eines Lokaljournalisten, wie wirtschaftliche Interessen zunehmend redaktionelle Entscheidungen beeinflussen. Als ein Beispiel nennt er die Berichterstattung über die Nosferatu-Spinne, die aufgrund der hohen Klickzahlen zu einer Überflutung des Nachrichtenangebots geführt habe. Goldmann argumentiert, dass […]



  • 6 vor 9

general

Proteste gegen Strunz, Medienwende nach Mauerfall, Freiheit der Herzen

1. Euronews-Redaktionen protestieren gegen ihren neuen Chef Claus Strunz (uebermedien.de, Stefan Niggemeier) Stefan Niggemeier fasst die Diskussionen um den neuen Euronews-Chef Claus Strunz, Ex-Mitglied der “Bild”-Chefredaktion, zusammen. Mitarbeiterinnen, Mitarbeiter und Gewerkschaften in Lyon und Brüssel würfen Strunz vor, die Prinzipien der Neutralität und Unparteilichkeit zu verletzen, insbesondere durch öffentliche Pro-Trump-Äußerungen und politische Eingriffe in die […]



  • 6 vor 9

general

Werbeaktivitäten der Fraktionen, Sturmreif, “Nius” stockt auf

1. Bundestag will die Öffentlichkeitsarbeit der Fraktionen neu regeln (netzpolitik.org, Martin Schwarzbeck) Der Bundestag plane, noch vor der nächsten Wahl die Regeln für die Öffentlichkeitsarbeit der Fraktionen zu überarbeiten. Der Bundesrechnungshof habe festgestellt, dass viele Social-Media-Aktivitäten der Fraktionen, die eigentlich die parlamentarische Arbeit darstellen sollen, in der Vergangenheit parteipolitische Werbung enthielten. Eine breite Mehrheit der […]



  • 6 vor 9

general

Mud Volcanoes

Mud volcanoes are formations created by the geological emission of liquids and gases. They are frequently associated with earthquake zones, and when they erupt, they release an often acidic slurry as well as methane and other hydrocarbon gases. Some mud volcanoes also spew flames when they erupt, though the volcanoes themselves tend to be relatively cool. A 2006 drilling accident in Indonesia created a mud volcano that inundated a number of villages and displaced how many people?