cache_signals[01]: prefetch

digital finds worth saving, now worth sharing

Author

creators @t3sh
June 01, 2025

You know how, once in a while, you type "clear cache" in the URL bar when things stop working? Getting too slow, too heavy? I think our brains work the same way.

Hoarding bookmarks, saving articles "for later," collecting digital artifacts - until our "back of mind" overflows with "good intentions but sorry I don't have time for you." Sound familiar?

This newsletter is my solution for that overflow - except instead of just deleting, we're signalling. Think of it as cache maintenance, where we pass useful finds along to people who might actually need them.

cache signals by t3sh starts with a simple idea: sharing bookmarks should not just be another newsletter feature. We truly believe that things worth revisiting are worth sharing - but it’s about storytelling, not link dumping. We are building a community around the art of digital curation - where the story behind the save matters as much as the content itself. In this full of noise but also buzzing with innovations world, we want to be the signal that cuts through and creates space for reflection - not by adding more content, but by adding more context.

Let’s dive in!

 🎯 Cache Hits

📌 Behind-the-save: Late-night Linkedln scroll, and this post caught my eyes. With the theme of this year being “uncomfortable growth”, “brutal truths” sounds like the right kind of post

TLDR; Software engineering isn't about coding harder, it's about communicating better and owning your opportunities

Let’s get real:

  • I partly disagree with #1 - "Leadership isn't just for managers" assumes everyone wants to advance through leadership. But IC (individual contributor) tracks exist for a reason. Some engineers thrive working independently, and that's completely valid if it works for the org

  • Gotta love #2 - “Imposter syndrome won't go away”. It’s a reminder to stay humble and grounded, especially in tech where things move rapidly

  • #8 - "engineers should write regularly" (clear writing = clear thinking) - Definitely! Not just writing documentation for your code, but think of requirements, specs, runbooks, or articles, posts, newsletters (yk I have to put that in). I truly believe constraints force clarity - if you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it yet

📌 Behind-the-save: Career advancement stories always catch my attention, especially when someone admits "this makes me squirm". I’m curious to find out what “secret sauce” that is actually secret

TLDR; Rapid career growth isn't about grinding harder, it's about working strategically and building the right relationships at the right time

Let’s get real:

  • Love the honesty about timing - "right org, explosive growth phase" - luck and context matter as much as skill, but also manifestive luck is unde

  • #2 - "Operating above your level" - isn't about doing more work, it's about using the extra bandwidth from mastering your current role to think like someone a level up. Most people get faster at their job but keep thinking at the same level (also, this reminds me with the mindset “The exceptional worker spend 7 hours working, and invests the 8th hour to make the other 7 better”)

  • #3 “Embracing uncertainty” - Own your work, have your own opinion. Even the most senior engineer doesn’t have the answer to everything

  • #5 "Building a favor economy" - sounds transactional but it's really about being genuinely helpful before you need help back

📌 Behind-the-save: I honestly just saved this because I have very little knowledge about regulations when it comes to crypto. This, sounds like a big moment

TLDR; (according to grok) The post announces the passage of Senate Bill 21 with a vote of 24-7 on May 31, 2025. The bill establishes the Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, a significant step towards state-level cryptocurrency investment and potentially making Texas a leader in digital asset management.

Let’s get real:

  • This feels like a "future history textbook moment" - the first domino in mainstream government crypto adoption

  • The 24-7 vote margin shows this wasn't close - bipartisan crypto acceptance in Texas

  • What's your take on government Bitcoin reserves? Smart hedge or risky speculation? Hit reply - genuinely curious since I'm still learning this space

🔍 Save Archaeology

LRU (least recently used) #1: "Abstract All The Things - Clean Code vs Production Reality" (5mo old)

Found this buried in my "controversial takes" bookmark folder. Back then, I saved it because it felt like tech heresy - someone actually arguing against clean code principles I’d been (trying) to follow (have to admit, I couldn’t finish the book)

The time capsule effect: Six months of real production work later, I've lived through every scenario this post describes. That "flexible" abstraction layer I built? Three developers have asked me to explain it. That future-proofing? We pivoted the feature entirely

Relevant still? Reading this now feels like vindication. Sometimes the best architecture is the one you can delete easily, not the one you can extend infinitely

LRU #2: Explosion AI - spaCy & Prodigy Developer Tools (6mo+ ago)

Explosion · Developer tools and consulting for AI, Machine Learning and NLP

Explosion is a software company specializing in developer tools and tailored solutions for Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing. We’re the makers of spaCy, one of the leading open-source libraries for advanced NLP.

explosion.ai

Found this in my "maybe useful someday" and “AI tool” conjunction folder during a late-night bookmark cleanup. Originally saved because I was exploring NLP tools for a side project that never happened - you know how it goes

The time capsule effect: Six months later, I'm not building that NLP project, but I've watched half the tech world suddenly care about AI tooling. What seemed like niche developer tools back then now feels prescient. Sometimes you save things for the wrong reasons but at the right time.

Relevant still? Cmon, AI is super relevant these days, having quality, battle-tested tools like spaCy feels more valuable than the latest LLM wrapper. The boring infrastructure wins again

🔗 Cache Connections

Signal detected…

Who knows, maybe Carl Pei already sent an email to Tim Cook with the subject “Recruiting” (referring to Steve Jobs’ email to Adobe’s CEO at the time)

I found these replies deserve s spotlight

Noriil - “When Carl Pei's, Tim Cooked.”

vivan - “It’s probably Nothing.”

Umar - “Like you “helped” the iMessage team?“ (interesting)

Signal detected…

My thoughts? The post oversells it - the guy says he is “back to coding”, so he must have had foundations already. Cursor didn’t magically turn a designer with no coding background into a developer in short amount of time. Reducing friction helps, reducing the fear of “having to catch up while almost forget everything” helps, but you still need to have foundations: understand logic, debugging, how systems work. AI tools aren’t creating builders overnight

🤝 Save Swap

Since this is the first issue, I asked my colleague to send me a save he found worth sharing, and I’ll comment on it. In return, I’ll share another save that he commented on

Watching o3 guess a photo’s location is surreal, dystopian and wildly entertaining

Watching OpenAI’s new o3 model guess where a photo was taken is one of those moments where decades of science fiction suddenly come to life. It’s a cross between the …

simonwillison.net/2025/Apr/26/o3-photo-locations

  • Privacy reality check: Your "boring" suburban photos are now location fingerprints - even without landmarks

  • Beyond pattern matching: This isn't just text completion anymore - it's developing actual reasoning skills in real-time

  • The process is wild: 25+ cropping operations over 6 minutes, like watching an AI detective work a case

  • Accuracy is unsettling: Got El Granada as "second guess" from generic houses and California poppies

  • New threat model: "Avoid posting landmarks" strategy is officially dead

My Swap:

Make 1:1s matter

A practical framework for engineering managers

blog.incrementalforgetting.tech/p/make-11s-matter

  • Maslow's hierarchy for managers: Brilliant framework - you can't talk career growth when someone's worried about job security

  • "What's frustrating you that I might not know?" This one question probably prevents 90% of engineer burnout

  • The Gemba mindset shift: Stop asking "how's work?" and start asking about actual daily friction points

  • Template saves sanity: Having a structured agenda prevents those awkward "so... how are things?" conversations

  • Feedback flows both ways: Most managers forget they need feedback on their management style too

  • Time investment reality: 10 hours/week for 20 engineers is real - the math matters when scaling

Don’t forget to send in your swap. Perks?

  • Credited in “Save swap” in the next issue - including your social link if you wish to

  • Exclusive “contributor-only” stuff - you don’t know yet that you want them

  • Share your knowledge - help yourself with revisiting the save, and help others discover gems they wouldn’t have found

That’s all the caches. Share, subscribe, swap