23 Jan 2026 #mondaylinks
Hey there!
This week I’m relaunching my C# unit testing intro book.
During the holidays, I revamped Unit Testing 101 with clearer chapters, tighter explanations, and a fresh design.
If you already bought it, you should have received the new version. Otherwise, grab it here.
Now, this week’s 4 interesting links:
#1. StackOverflow feels dead. Maybe a victim of its own success. And we were never good programmers (5min).
#2. AI is turning software (and coding) into fast fashion (6min). “Software is no longer seen as an asset… It’s a throw-away product. Like a napkin.”
#3. New to a codebase? Push the smallest possible change to production (3min), even a README tweak.
#4. Cool tool of the week: maptoposter. Turn your favorite city map into a beautiful poster.
Beyond coding, I wrote on my blog about how I use LinkedIn mindfully (3min) and why you’re still hungry after eating and how to fix it (3min).
(Bzzz…Radio voice) This email was brought to you by… the new version of Unit Testing 101. OK, I already told you about that. Check Street-Smart Coding: 30 lessons to help you code like a pro. From Googling to clear communication, it covers the lessons you don’t learn in tutorials. It’s now out on Kindle and paperback on Amazon.
See you next time,
Cesar
22 Jan 2026 #misc
I tell myself I’m not addicted to my phone. That’s exactly what addicts say.
This week, I averaged 2h39min on my phone. Today, it was 1h55min. I just checked it. That’s enough to produce some creative work.
In my defense, I only listened to podcasts while doing the dishes. But most of that time was scrolling to find what to listen to.
This year, my intention is simplicity: ditching my distraction machine to live lighter.
Replacing a bad habit with a good one
For that, I’m putting my phone out of sight, in a new place.
And in every place where I used to put my phone, I’m leaving a book and a zine instead.
This week, a rabbit hole took me to Austen Kleon’s rules of reading. He made a zine, a tiny magazine with eight pages created from a single sheet of paper.
And when you want to buy a red car, you see red cars everywhere. Today I discovered zines for free-form journaling and single-purpose notebooks. Credit goes to Cal Newport’s podcast for the notebook idea. Yes, I was doing the dishes.
What if I combine the two ideas? Maybe one zine per day for quotes and lessons. And another per project for ideas and questions.
That’s how I’m replacing scrolling with reading and even making my own zines.
If you want to follow along, here are the books I read last year. Perfect replacements for where your phone used to sit.
21 Jan 2026 #misc
Right after lunch today, I was already craving a snack.
I usually don’t eat between meals. But today, I had to eat a cup of kefir with sunflower seeds. Minutes later, I had a slice of cheese. And I was still hungry.
But that started a few hours earlier at lunch. I ate too many carbs. Rice was the culprit. I couldn’t resist. Where I live, eating rice is almost a national sport.
The reason behind that is glucose spikes.
Glucose Revolution
After eating carbs or sugar, our glucose levels rise. Our body produces insulin to lower them. Then the crash comes. We feel tired, irritated, and hungrier.
And when we feel hungry, we grab unhealthy snacks, causing more spikes. And the cycle continues. That’s why I was hungry earlier today. Chances are, you’ve felt the same..
I’m not new to glucose spikes. Learning to control them has been my best productivity hack.
My sister read Glucose Revolution by Jessie Inchauspé first and shared tips I started applying.
Finally, I picked up the book too. I started reading it last year.
Easy hacks to reduce glucose spikes (starting with the easiest ones)
Here are some of the hacks I’m following to keep glucose spikes under control:
- Eat a salad (or some greens) with every meal.
- Eat salad first, then proteins, then carbs. In that order.
- Move your body after eating. Take a walk or do some squats. But move!
- Say good-bye to sugar. If ego is your enemy, sugar is your arch-enemy. It’s the devil.
- Eat as many greens as carbs. A hamburger has the right ingredients, but in the wrong amounts.
- Drink water with apple cider vinegar 30 minutes before lunch.
- Prefer salty snacks over candy or sweets.
The book explains each hack with research. I won’t pretend I remember all the details. Greens first makes your body absorb fiber first, slowing down carbs absorption.
If you’re looking for a 20/80 rule, follow #1 and #2. That’s how I dropped from ~80KG to ~74KG in a couple of months and now I don’t drag my feet to get over my afternoons.
20 Jan 2026 #books
Recently, I found a book my mom left behind. It felt like opening a time capsule.
It’s Secrets to Thrive in Life (or Secretos para triunfar en la vida in Spanish). She always mentioned that book.
It’s a collection of maxims, proverbs, and passages from other personal development books. On the first page, my mom wrote her name and a date. She was likely in her 20s.
She underlined sentences and starred titles. With a blue pen and ruler, she drew perfect lines. I picture her lying on her bed, reading with an orange translucent ruler.
Opening the book felt like uncovering her thoughts and circumstances. She underlined a passage about dealing with people and dating. She must have been going out with my dad.
I was reluctant to write in books. That felt like a capital sin. Then I opened her book and felt she was sharing success clues.
I want to do the same for my future kids and grandkids. I’m not afraid of writing in books anymore. Writing in margins, starring titles, and underlining passages turn books into time capsules of our thoughts. A legacy for future generations.
19 Jan 2026 #misc
One day at the office, I created my LinkedIn account to escape that job.
That was five or six years ago. That afternoon, my coworkers and I made it a group activity. We endorsed each other’s skills and exchanged recommendations. We were planning our escape route because things were getting tough.
I didn’t find my next job on LinkedIn. But I made my first internet money there. And that kept me going back.
In 2024, I revived my account after months of inactivity. After landing a new job, I stopped logging into LinkedIn.
Since then, I’ve written over 300 posts. I’ve preached the same overused cliches, stumbled upon weird situations, and learned that people don’t read, but skim online.
From job hunting to posting daily, to ignoring all gurus’ growth advice, I’ve learned meaningful use matters more than virality.
5 steps to use LinkedIn more consciously (ignoring growth hacks)
Here’s what I do to use LinkedIn more consciously:
#1. Use it with a timer. Like other platforms, it’s designed to trap you. One notification can spiral into hours of doomscrolling.
#2. Curate your feed. Your feed is a rabbit hole.
To curate it, follow:
- People you know in real life
- People you want to connect with
- People sharing interesting ideas
Pro tip: Avoid scrolling down your feed by bookmarking profiles you want to interact with.
#3. Share interesting things. Nobody cares about another Udemy certificate. Use it to share your learning or resources you find useful. Finished an interesting book? Share what you learned with a photo of the cover. Working on a project? Share a lesson learned.
And please, please don’t try to sound corporate. If you’re typing “Dear LinkedIn network,” stop and start again.
#4. Keep in touch with your network. Send quick “Hello” to old connections: bosses, coworkers, recruiters… Don’t use AI. Keep it as human as possible. “What are you up to these days?” works perfectly fine.
#5. Use comments wisely. Most influencers preach about commenting more and more like the ultimate growth hack. That’s another rabbit hole.
Use comments to start genuine conversations instead. Reply to interesting comments and follow up with connection requests. “Hey, your comment about XYZ got my attention…“ Again, be human. That’s how I met a top cellist, an award-winning teacher, a speaking coach, and many more interesting people.