Don’t ask for forgiveness, radiate intent

Source: https://medium.com/@ElizAyer/dont-ask-forgiveness-radiate-intent-d36fd22393a3

Here are 4 reasons that radiating intent is better than begging forgiveness:

  • Radiating intent gives a chance for someone to stop you before you do a thing, in case it’s truly harmful
  • Radiating intent gives people who have information, or want to help, an opening to participate
  • Radiating intent leaves better evidence of your good will
  • Radiating intent shows others that adventurous behavior is acceptable in the org.

Radiating intent also has the advantage over asking permission that the “radiator” keeps responsibility if things go sour. It doesn’t transfer the blame the way seeking permission does, which is good. We should be responsible for our choices.

An example of radiating: I recently spent a day working from Canada. I’m still not sure if it was allowed, but I mentioned it to my supervisor. I mentioned it to my supervisor’s supervisor. I mentioned it to more than a few colleagues. One of them told me I could request permission for my work phone to be used internationally. I did this. It worked. There were many chances for a slow-mo “Noooooooooo” if this travel was going to cause a problem. read more

Sustainability + Opensource = Win

I really like this sort of manifesto from Bruno (an open source alternative to Postman, Insomnia, ++) – which is a API testing tool. Building useful open source tools or products is generally a labor of love (= Github Stars), but sometimes the love fades (= Github Forks), and inevitably no one wins (= Github Unfollow). As an open source developer, and consumer is to have zero expectations – I got this product for “free” and I am sharing this product for “free” is generally part of my ambitions.

However, many consumers of open source software want to the product to grow and thrive at that free tier which is more often than not unreasonable. This sus up some options around the lifecycle surrounding open source and what consumers, and developers should expect. read more

Laser Cutting Project: Bicycle hook

This weekends challenge, a better hook for a bicycle:

Want to laser cut one of your own or remix it? Check it out on Thingiverse

This is a vertical based bike hook for bicycles with aero (deep) front rims. Currently there are not many wheel hooks that keep the front wheel vertical and that don’t scratch the rim when putting the bike up.

The hook is lasercut using a glowforge and medium draft board (the material thickness is important as all the slots need to interlock). Assembly is slotting the parts together and installation requires two screws/anchors into the wall.

It was specifically designed for a Reynolds AR80, however, I believe other wheels with similar dimensions, depths or profiles should fit. read more