Typeplace

Web Spinner General web Colossus [github] is a lightweight I/O framework for building scala services, built by the team at Tumblr. Spider [github] is a new programming language that aims to improve on JavaScript by borrowing ideas from CoffeeScript, Python and others. Moving on to essays, rather than tools, here’s an interesting article about whether shorter code is all it’s cracked up to be [medium]. The Netflix engineers had a problem with Node.js, and this blog post shows how they went about diagnosing and solving it [techblog.netflix]. And lastly for this section, is cache the new ram [blog.memsql]? Yeah, probably.

Pix of the Litter Design Pexels [pexels] is a collection of high-quality, Creative Commons-licensed photos. Similar in name, but not in function, Pixactly [pixact.ly] is an online tool/game to test how well you know your pixels, challenging you to draw objects that match the dimensions given. It’s hard. Now you’re feeling embarrassed, check out this post on what it’s like to be the senior designer in a startup [medium]. And here are 7 rules for creating gorgeous UI [medium].

Typeplace SitePoint First up on SitePoint, a look at the history of typefaces and fonts named after places, finishing with Apple’s new font, San Francisco. We also have a new course: Quick Coding with Brackets. Well worth a look for people new to Adobe's code editor, or for people thinking of trying it out. Then we take a look at how freelancers can measure success. Here’s a guide to setting up a barebones WordPress plugin you can use as a frame to start any other plugin you want to build. Then we have a look at Flask, a Python microframework attractive to PHP developers (or at least the PHP dev who wrote the article). On the subject: Do you all want us to publish more Python articles? Just curious.

Hold the Phone News/business By 2020, 90 per cent of the world’s population aged six and up will own a mobile phone [thenextweb]. That’s insane. Wired takes a look at what happens when algorithms go wrong [wired]. Someone needs to come up with an algorithm for keeping these algorithms from ruining lives. The New York Times takes a look at Twine [nytimes], the game development platform that has been used to create video games dealing with issues like depression and suicide. The International Space Station now has a 3D printer [spaceflightnow], so those spacemen no longer need us at all.

Off-topic Ars Technica has an extensive gift guide in time for the holiday season [arstechnica], with everything from smartphones to standing desk mats. Speaking of gifts, here’s another idea: The Good Web Bundle [goodwebbundle] is a way to support five great apps/web communities (ThinkUp, MetaFilter, The Toast, MLKSHK and NewsBlur) simultaneously. Here blogger and tech luminary Anil Dash explains why that’s important [dashes]. Here’s a 4K video of the earth seen from space [youtube]. Find a big monitor and enjoy. Here are the smallest sculptures ever made [sploid.gizmodo]. They’re smaller than a hair, impossible to see with the naked eye, so we just have to take the sculptor’s word that they exist at all. Speaking of naked, the sculptures are of naked women, so they’re NSFW-ish. Finally, an oral history of the poop emoji [fastcompany], which is about the grossest headline you’ll see today.

Those are our links today. From conceptual discussions about code best-practices through to poop talk, we really ran the gamut today. Great job, internet! See you tomorrow. Get in touch with us, either by replying to this email or catching up with us on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+. If you want more to read, check out the archive.