This week's Reading Notes is packed with AI insights, open-source discoveries, programming tips, and podcast episodes that will leave you eager to dive in. From Ralph Wiggum's coding secrets to the dangers of one-shot glamour, we've got it all covered. So grab your favourite beverage, settle in, and get ready to level up your tech game!
AI
Run NanoClaw in Docker Shell Sandboxes | Docker (Oleg Selajev) - I like that sandbox idea. That might be enough for me to try Clawbot... Or not, but the sandbox, hell yeah!
11 Tips For AI Coding With Ralph Wiggum - This post is a gold mine of best practices and really good advice to start using the Ralph loop in safety.
Getting Started With Ralph (Matt Pocock) - Nice idea that loop. Very well explained tutorial.
Solve Context Window Limits With Context Packing (Philippe Charrière) - A very interesting post that explains in detail, with code samples, how to compact.
The danger of glamourizing one shots (Scott Hanselman) - Very well said Scott!
Open Source
I replaced Windows 11’s default apps with these open-source tools (Mauro Huculak) - A cool list of tools that, on top of everything, are open source
Microsoft Launches winapp to Simplify Windows App Development (Aminu Abdullahi) - A new CLI to help set our environment and other things. I like the idea, I will have to try it out.
Programming
- Aspire—Your Stack, Streamlined - Cool nice free event coming up!
Podcast
499: Going Full Ralph, CLI, & GitHub Copilot SDK?!?! (Merge Conflict) - Really fun episode to listen to, the explanation of the Ralph loop pattern and hearing Frank panicking (sorry Frank) with all the emojis, it was a fun and very instructive episode.
How Homebrew Became Mac's Package Manager with Mike McQuaid (Screaming in the Cloud) - As a user of Homebrew, I was really happy to learn more about its history and how it became what it is today.
Married, Dating, or Single: The Best Relationship Advice You Will Ever Recieve (The Mel Robbins Podcast) - Because we are all in relationships with the community, our co-workers, families, and maybe lovers. Great episode to listen to.
Making Reliable Software in 2026 with Damien Brady (.NET Rocks!) - An interesting conversation about how to make software reliable. It was very nice to hear from Damien again.
What Grit Really Teaches Us About Happiness with Professor Angela Duckworth (A Bit of Optimism) - I've had her book on my reading list for a while, but listening to that passionate discussion on grit and happiness has reignited my interest and motivated me to bump it up my stack.