Article Roundup - Week of Jun 03, 2018

DRY to the point of WET yak shaving
DRY is a great principle, but it is just that: a principle. This article does a good job of going through that, though with a few too many images. If you get to nothing else, read the quote from Dave Thomas near the end.

yak shaving: Any apparently useless activity which, by allowing you to overcome intermediate difficulties, allows you to solve a larger problem.

A Strategy Guide To CSS Custom Properties
CSS Custom Properties are like SCSS or LESS variables, but different. This article gives a good explanation of custom properties and suggestions for their use.

Do Helium-Filled Hard Drives Perform Better Than Air-Filled Drives?
Backblaze is a great backup service, but they are also great about testing hard drives. They run their own data centers and regularly release failure statistics for the different drive they have in service. Helium-filled hard drives are supposed to provide better performance thanks to reduced drag on the platters in the drive. But how well do they retain their helium? How frequently do they fail compared to air-filled drives? Backblaze has just released their first numbers sharing what they have seen.

I personally use Backblaze for backing up both my computer and my parent’s. It’s super easy and doesn’t get in the way. If you don’t have a backup solution in place consider giving Blackblaze a go. Here is my referral link. It can get you a free month.