lib1 [she/her]

I’ve found that building rules systems that are accessible by middle managers of various departments to be good at keeping the inevitable complexity of business logic away from the codebase itself, as well as in one place.

Before:

FooBarMeeting’s integration team has started their testing with our API and the registration endpoint is broken. Looking back through my notes, I was under the impression we’d sorted out their registration requirements six months ago for their last event. We would really appreciate a notice prior to any large changes to these systems so we can prepare. Can I can get an update on this ASAP? Their next event is in three weeks and they’re kind of freaking out!

After:

Hey! Just wanted to put something on your radar. FooBarMeeting’s next event is about two months out, so I was going through my prep checklist and spot checking their registration rules. For their last event, we added a new rule that would stop users from registering if they hadn’t completed the disclaimer form (reference ID is 52d7517d-d6a9-4a3c-b28d-68bfd9b2a643). I saw you left a note on it that it would break once they launch their v3 Compliance API, which they say is happening in a couple weeks. I have a follow up with them on Tuesday, so I’ve for details on what breaking changes they expect. I’ll get you the info when I have it. Are you good to get me an estimate for the next sprint once they do?

“Don’t give your money to the homeless! They might spend it to fund the genocide in Yemen!”

Yeah the comic reeks of PMC brainworms. I say that as someone with PMC brainworms. “You’re special enough to make decisions, but make sure you cultivate too much self-doubt to make true change.”

Imagine the size of their codebases. Imagine the amount of things that can be added automatically following a flag set by a manual human review or audit. Imagine the canary branches and the internationalization and the regional offers and the legacy contracts. They may be looking at months just to be able to definitively list all the possible ways they may in theory fuck over their customers

The FCC may as well start fining them now

Mouthy AND effective? I maintain a cautious pessimism.

providers must itemize the fees they add to base monthly prices, including fees related to government programs they choose to ‘pass through’ to consumers, such as fees related to universal service or regulatory fees

The amount of times ISPs falsely blame price hikes on regulation and falsely attribute good deals to their own generosity instead of regulatory windwall is wild.