diff --git a/2026-04-11-newsletter.md b/2026-04-11-newsletter.md deleted file mode 100644 index 54fd74407..000000000 --- a/2026-04-11-newsletter.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,482 +0,0 @@ ---- -layout: post -title: "US-RSE April 2026 Newsletter" -subtitle: "🤳 Just Hit Me Up On Slack 🤳" -category: newsletter -tags: [newsletter, April] -date: 2026-04-07 00:00:00 -0400 -author: "Tinashe M. Tapera (Author & Editor), Sandra Gesing (Editor), Ian Cosden (Editor)" -image: "/assets/img/newsletter-202604/austin-distel-gUIJ0YszPig-unsplash.jpg" -img_alttext: "Slack message with team communicating and collaborating in app on desktop and mobile." -next_meeting_date: Thursday, May 14, 2026, 12:00PM EST -sections: - preamble: true # done - headline: true # done - conference: true # done - execupdate: false # none - scupdate: true # yay! - orgmember: true # no changes, check back in june - communityfunds: false - news: true # add community call summary - events: true # recheck on friday - reads: true - involved: true - jobs: true - ---- - -- [1 🔔 Just Slack Me, Whenever! - 🔔](#bell-just-slack-me-whenever-bell) -- [2 📣 Mark Your Calendars for - USRSE’26! 📣](#mega-mark-your-calendars-for-usrse26-mega) -- [3 🛞 Steering Committee - Updates 🛞](#wheel-steering-committee-updates-wheel) -- [4 🤝 Organizational Founding - Membership - 🤝](#handshake-organizational-founding-membership-handshake) -- [5 🗞️ Community News - 🗞️](#newspaper_roll-community-news-newspaper_roll) -- [6 👀 Interesting Events and - Opportunities 👀](#eyes-interesting-events-and-opportunities-eyes) -- [7 📚 Featured Reads, Videos, - and Podcasts 📚](#books-featured-reads-videos-and-podcasts-books) -- [8 🏃 Get Involved! - 🏃](#running-get-involved-running) -- [9 🧑‍💼 Recent Job Postings - 🧑‍💼](#office_worker-recent-job-postings-office_worker) - - - -Welcome to the April 2026 issue of the US Research Software Engineer -(US-RSE) newsletter! If you’re reading this, you’re probably connected -with US-RSE through Slack, which is our organization’s primary platform -for instant messaging. Most people consider Slack a necessary burden of -the workplace, having taken the place of phone calls, fax, pagers, and -email. But is there more to Slack than annoying notifications? Today -we’re going to discuss what Slack is, how it came about, and how US-RSE -members use it to connect, grow, and make real, lasting impact beyond -just their code editors. - -Question: Who do you think is the chattiest Slack user in US-RSE? Place -your bets NOW! - -

- Slack message with team communicating and collaborating in app on desktop and mobile. -

- -In this issue: - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -## 🔔 Just Slack Me, Whenever! 🔔 - - - -In 2012, software engineer Stewart Butterfield was hard at work on what -he believed to be the next big thing in MMORPGs. The game, called -“Glitch,” ended up being a commercial flop, and Butterfield and his team -needed to pivot quickly to make the most of the 6 million dollars they -had left from investor Ben Horowitz. Instead of throwing in the towel, -Butterfield called Horowitz on the phone and proposed a new idea. -Throughout the development process, Butterfield told Horowitz, the team -of engineers had developed a novel instant messaging system to -facilitate commnunication in-game, and in the process of [eating their -own dog food](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_your_own_dog_food), -discovered that the system worked really well for managing their work -communications, too. Butterfield proposed that their company, then -called Tiny Speck, pivot to focus on building a new product based on -this instant messaging system. The result was the creation of Slack, -which has since become one of the most popular communication platforms -in the world. - -Today, Slack powers communication and collaboration for millions of -users and businesses, and has transformed the way teams collaborate and -communicate. At US-RSE, we of course use Slack to manage internal -communications between leadership teams, but more importantly, it has -grown to become the virtual landing page for our community. At present, -there are over 140 individual channels dating back to 2018, with over -3100 unique member accounts participating in the conversation. Some days -see over 500 messages going back and forth between members and channels: - -

- -Plot of message volume in Slack -

- -One unique feature of Slack is the ability to create channels, which act -as virtual rooms dedicated to specific topics, projects, or interests. -These channels can be private or public, allowing teams to organize -conversations by priority, relevance, and interest. At US-RSE, we also -have meta-grouping channels, such as “Working Groups,” (`#wg-`) and -“Regional Groups,” (`#rg-`), which serve as hubs for specific -communities within our larger organization. For example, the -`#wg-code-review` and `wg-diversity-equity-inclusion` channels are -spaces for members to discuss and collaborate on code review practices -and DEI initiatives, respectively. The `#rg-nyc` channel serves as a hub -for members located in and around the greater New York City area, where -they plan get-togethers and other in-person events. Participating in -public channels is a great way to stay informed about what’s going on in -the community, and importantly, it allows everyone in the Slack channel -to follow the conversation and chime in when they have something to -contribute. This helps us all, “[learn with the garage door -open](https://notes.andymatuschak.org/About_these_notes?stackedNotes=z21cgR9K3UcQ5a7yPsj2RUim3oM2TzdBByZu),” -increasing the accessibility of our conversations and the impact of our -work. - -

- -Plot of channel activity in Slack -

- -It may be obvious that the `#general` channel has the most messages, but -did you know that in a one-year span, some of the most active channels -include `#random`, `#events`, and `#wg-ux`? The most popular -language-specific channel in the Slack was, of course, `#python`, and -the most active regional group channel was `#rg-north-carolina`. - -

- -Table of top channels in Slack -

- -And while we as RSEs may still be evaluating AI for its usefulness in -our work, Slack’s built-in AI summarization tool tells us that there are -a wide array of conversations happening in our Slack, from conference -planning, to project management, to hiring and funding announcements. - -

- -Screen capture of Slack's AI summarization tool -

- -If you haven’t already, we encourage you to join our Slack and get -involved in the conversation. It’s a great way to stay informed about -what’s going on in the community, connect with other members, and -contribute to the ongoing work of US-RSE. You can get onto our Slack by -joining US-RSE free, [here](https://us-rse.org/join/). - -PS: Just for fun, here’s a table of the top 9 chatty RSEs in our Slack: - -

- -Table of top users in Slack -

- -See you on Slack! - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -## 📣 Mark Your Calendars for USRSE’26! 📣 - - - -Save the date for USRSE’26: **Advancing Science in the Age of AI** - -We’re thrilled to announce that USRSE’26 will be held at the San Jose -Marriott from October 19-21, 2026 in San Jose, California, with the -theme **“Advancing Science in the Age of AI”.** - -General chairs have been appointed to lead each of the core committees -for USRSE’26. These chairs have begun assembling sub‑teams from the pool -of volunteers who expressed interest in supporting the respective areas. -If you were not selected for a chair position, please stay tuned, as -chairs reach out for volunteers for these committee positions. - -**What’s next?** - -- **Call for Proposals:** The Call for Proposals will be announced later - this month. Additional upcoming milestones will be announced on the - official USRSE’26 site over the next few months. -- **Committee Formation:** Sub‑teams will be formed shortly; be on the - lookout for an email from a perspective committee chair with details. -- **Stay Informed:** Regular updates will be posted at - [us-rse.org/usrse26](https://us-rse.org/usrse26). Please bookmark the - page and check back frequently for the latest information. - -Your continued involvement is essential to the success of USRSE’26. We -look forward to collaborating with you to deliver a vibrant, inclusive, -and impactful conference. - -#### 📧 Join Our Mailing List 📧 - -Want to stay updated on all things US-RSE? Join our mailing list to -receive direct news about all US-RSE conferences. Sign up -[here](https://groups.google.com/a/us-rse.org/g/usrse-conference). - -#### 💬 Have Questions? 💬 - -If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to the organizers at -usrse26-conference@us-rse.org. - -#### 📅 Save the Date 📅 - -More details about the conference program, registration, and travel -information will be coming your way in the months ahead. Stay tuned at -[us-rse.org/usrse26](https://us-rse.org/usrse26)! - -We’re looking forward to seeing you all in **San Jose**! - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -## 🛞 Steering Committee Updates 🛞 - - - - - -It’s been a while since you’ve heard from us in the newsletter, but the -Steering Committee has been hard at work! Together with our Executive -Director, we’ve have done considerable work to support planning of the -USRSE’26 conference, including confirming the selection of a venue and -reviewing preliminary cost estimations. We’ve also already started -looking ahead to USRSE’27 and beyond. We’re developing a conference -hosting application process to identify potential future conference -locations and chairs farther in advance—more on that in coming months. -Additionally, we discussed our policies on issuing statements related to -government actions and current events, as well as on the use of AI -notetakers during our virtual events, which culminated in an official -recommendation delivered to the Code of Conduct Committee on the latter. - -Following the cancellation of our planned January retreat due to a -combination of weather and illness, the US-RSE Leadership team held two -half-day virtual planning sessions in February, focused on increasing -the sustainability of our annual conference and updating our governance -model to reflect the growing size and responsibilities of our -organization. We’re following this up with an in-person working session -at the end of this month, where we’ll meet for two days in Chicago with -the Executive Director in a concentrated effort to finalize our -recommendations for governance model updates. -

- -Screen capture of Steering Committee meeting on Zoom -

- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -## 🤝 Organizational Founding Membership 🤝 - - - - - -US-RSE envisions a future where Research Software Engineers are -universally respected for advancing science, technology, and society -through the transformative power of research software engineering. We’re -excited to share that the momentum around our Organizational Founding -Membership continues to grow! See the list below for the current members -(six more are onboarding at the moment). - -Organizations that join **on or before June 30, 2026**, will be -recognized in perpetuity as founding members. Founding organizations -will also lock in current membership fees through December 31, 2028. -Organizational support helps sustain and expand vital community -offerings, including the annual conference, monthly calls and -newsletter, job board, working groups, and new resources. - -Please reach out to Sandra Gesing at if you are -interested in becoming an organizational founding member! - -### Premier Members -{% for org in site.data.org-members.premier %} - -- [{{ org.name }}]({{ org.url }}) - -{% endfor %} - -### Standard Members -{% for org in site.data.org-members.standard %} - -- [{{ org.name }}]({{ org.url }}) - -{% endfor %} - -### Basic Members -{% for org in site.data.org-members.basic %} - -- [{{ org.name }}]({{ org.url }}) - -{% endfor %} - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -## 🗞️ Community News 🗞️ - - - - - -The US-RSE community is full of talented, brilliant people doing amazing -work, and every so often, we capture the interactions and collaborations -that make our community special on video! Here’s a YouTube video of a -recent **Education & Training Working Group** meeting, where **Andres -Rios-Tascon** presented his tutorial on Continuous Integration and -Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) with GitHub Actions. - -
- -YouTube Video Thumbnail - -
- -> Did you know that we have a community Code of Conduct? Anyone is able -> to view it in the `#code_of_conduct` Slack channel, under `Files`! - -### **Community Calls** - - - -On March 12th, the US-RSE community got together to discuss **Legacy -Code: Horrors and Successes**! - -We heard stories from Keith, James, Brad, and more about some of the -projects they’ve inherited and how they dealt with codebases with -developers in absentia, cryptic comments and functions, and the -different edge cases that can come up when handling them. - - - -Our next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 14, 2026, 12:00PM EST. -We hope to see you there! - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -## 👀 Interesting Events and Opportunities 👀 - - - -{% assign today = "now" | date: "%Y-%m-%d" %} -{% for opp in site.data.newsletter-events-opportunities %} -{% assign expires = opp.expires | date: "%Y-%m-%d" %} -{% if opp.type == "opportunity" and expires >= today %} -{% include opportunity-box.html - title=opp.title - when=opp.when - where=opp.where - preamble=opp.preamble - links=opp.links -%} -{% endif %} -{% endfor %} - -{% for event in site.data.newsletter-events-opportunities %} -{% assign expires_formatted = event.expires | date: "%Y-%m-%d" %} -{% if expires_formatted >= today %} -{% if event.type == "event" %} -{% include event-box.html - title=event.title - when=event.when - where=event.where - preamble=event.preamble - links=event.links -%} -{% endif %} -{% endif %} -{% endfor %} - -Have an event or opportunity you want to promote? Reach out on Slack in -the `#newsletters` channel! - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -## 📚 Featured Reads, Videos, and Podcasts 📚 - - - -{% assign refs = site.data.newsletter_bib_yml.references - | where_exp: "r", "r.annote contains 'Read_Status: To Read'" %} - -{% assign professional = refs | where: "type", "article-journal" %} - -{% if professional.size > 0 %} -### 📑 Recent Publications -{% for ref in professional %} -{% include citation-publication.html ref=ref %} -{% endfor %} -{% endif %} - -{% assign podcasts = refs | where: "type", "song" %} - -{% if podcasts.size > 0 %} -### 🎧 Podcast Episodes -{% for ref in podcasts %} -{% include citation-podcast.html ref=ref %} -{% endfor %} -{% endif %} - -{% assign other = refs | where: "type", "webpage" %} - -{% if other.size > 0 %} -### 📇 Blog Posts, Videos, & Other Reads -{% for ref in other %} -{% include citation.html ref=ref %} -{% endfor %} -{% endif %} - -Did you read something interesting this week? Want to share your own -publications in the community? Reach out on Slack in the `#newsletters` -channel! - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -## 🏃 Get Involved! 🏃 - - - -US-RSE Working Groups: - -{% assign wgs = site.data.menus["working-groups"][0].items %} - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -## 🧑‍💼 Recent Job Postings 🧑‍💼 - - - -{% assign today = 'now' | date: "%Y-%m-%d" %} - - -### Other Job Boards - - - -You can learn more about job boards in the `#jobs` Slack channel! - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -**This newsletter is a joint effort of members of the US-RSE -Association.** - -© US-RSE • 2021–{{ 'now' | date: "%Y" }} • US-RSE is a fiscally sponsored project of [Community Initiatives](http://communityin.org/) - -[Email](mailto:contact@us-rse.org) [Mastodon](https://fosstodon.org/@us_rse) [Twitter](https://twitter.com/us_rse) [YouTube](https://youtube.com/@us_rse) [LinkedIn](https://linkedin.com/company/us-rse/) [GitHub](https://github.com/USRSE) diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index cf21e9900..18aa748cd 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -46,6 +46,74 @@ Please [fill out the form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfYK64R1c0rj Further content editing tips are in the [details file](docs/details.md) +### Ignoring Bots + +If its been a while since you've last worked on the site, +you'll notice that several commits were made by bots, with +the author name `github-actions`. These are +automated commits that are part of our continuous integration (CI) +suite, and they help keep the site up-to-date and running smoothly +by automatically updating data like the Job Board. You can safely +ignore these commits when reviewing the site's history, but when +contributing, you may wonder how to deal with them. Worse still, +if you forked the repository, you may encounter a bot in your +fork doing the same. When you open your fork on GitHub, these +commits might put you "Ahead" of the `upstream/main` branch, when +in reality you just had a different bot committing the same changes +in response to the same triggers. + +This cannot be automatically merged, and if you submit a PR with +your fork's commits, including the bot commits, it could cause confusion +as additional commits are added, or worse — it could cause a merge conflict +and a minor headache for you for the next 20 minutes. + +To prevent this, it's recommended to strictly and forcefully pull the latest +changes from `upstream/main` into your fork before you start working. + +First, in GitHub, make sure to click "Sync Fork" to get any +updates. It will be at this stage that you'll notice that, +even though you just asked GitHub to send you the latest work from USRSE, +your fork is _n_ commits ahead of the `upstream/main` branch. These are the +bot commits. + +On your local machine and in your local repository, grab the latest changes from `origin` remote (your fork): + +``` +git fetch origin main +git pull origin main +``` + +Then, fetch the latest changes from `upstream` remote (the USRSE repository): + +``` +git fetch upstream main +``` + +Then, `diff` your local main against the upstream main: + +``` +git diff main upstream/main +``` + +You should see that there are no changes, which means that your +local main is up-to-date with the upstream main. The bot in your fork added +commits, but the changes were identical to the upstream bot's. If this +is true, you can safely `reset` your local main to match the upstream main, which will remove the bot commits from your local history: + +``` +git reset --hard upstream/main +``` + +Then, push the changes to your fork, which will update your fork's main branch to match the upstream main branch: + +``` +git push origin main --force +``` + +The use of `--force` here is necessary, because you are essentially +telling your fork to discard certain commits, which `git` never wants +to do by accident. In this case, it's totally safe! Your fork on +GitHub should now be "even" with the USRSE fork! ## Pull Request (PR) Process