[Launch School] Community Update - April 3, 2024

Hi everyone! Philip here with another community update. Everyone likes to gripe about the weather. For instance, as I type this here in Chicago, it's snowing and raining simultaneously ("snain"). This means that there's a lot of work for HVAC technicians, which means occasionally, I get to see things like this, the Coolest Van In The World: [Cold vs Heat] A battle as old as, and arguably causing, the beginning of time. Important Updates Security Issue: On March 29th, recent versions of the Linux utility xz were discovered to contain a significant security exploit. Pete Hanson described the issue in [this discussion post](. If you're using Homebrew on a Mac, you should downgrade your version of xz to 5.4.6 or earlier as soon as possible (there are instructions on how to do so in the post). If you're using other Linux installations, look up whether your installation is affected and what to do if it is. Either way, we recommend acting immediately. Ask Chris Anything: Launch School's founder, Chris Lee, held an Ask Me Anything session to discuss recent Capstone data and the current state of the job market. If the state of the market is worrying you or you have questions about Capstone or the job hunt, this is a must-watch. Chris applies decades of experience to place the current market in a historical perspective. You can [watch the video on YouTube](. Podcasts We've had two new podcast episodes in the last few weeks with two excellent guests: [Felicia Podcast] First, Chris talks with Felicia Bacon, a Capstone grad and Software Engineer at Starbucks, about her journey through Launch School, current position, and learning mindset. You can watch the podcast on [YouTube]( listen in your [browser](, or search for "Launch School Podcast" on your favorite podcast app. (Felicia's own YouTube channel is excellent as well. I used her video [How I Study and Prepare For Launch School's Assessments]( as a guide when studying for the 109, and it was incredibly valuable.) [Nick Podcast] Next, Brandi chatted with Nick Perry, a current Launch School student. You might have run into Nick leading SPOT sessions, guiding a Smooth Start cohort, or sharing pictures of his dog is #gratuitous_pet_photos. But, like many LS students, Nick had to rethink and rebuild his study habits to succeed at Launch School. You can learn about his journey on [YouTube]( in your [browser](, or by searching for "Launch School Podcast" on your favorite podcast app. Medium: On Medium, Karis Tobias celebrated the most recent Smooth Start cohort: [The Community Spirit and Success of Smooth Start Cohort 4](. New students at Launch School often have lots of questions, and they might not know about all the resources at LS they can take advantage of; Smooth Start is designed to help them out. Looking at the feedback from students at the end of the article, it's working! If you want to know more about Smooth Start or sign up for the next round of the program, [click here](. Routine News We've got several meetups coming up, both online and off! Women's Group The Launch School Women's Group will meet on Sunday, April 21st, for a Q&A with Chris Lee. You can find the details [here](. If you're a female or nonbinary student at LS and not already part of the Women's Group in Slack, you can join [here](! Meetups We just had a meetup in Dallas-Fort Worth at the end of March: [DFW Meetup] And more meetups are coming up! If you're in one of these neighborhoods, hop into Slack and join in: - [Southern California]( in Long Beach on April 7th - [Austin]( on April 13th - [Chicago]( on April 21st - [Utah]( on May 4th - [Minnesota](, date to be determined If there's no meetup in your area, you could make one happen! Feel free to ask around in the Slack channel for your region—or create a channel if there isn't one already. In Slack Fallon started [a thread]( in #general about working on open-source projects. If you're interested in contributing to open-source projects, there's a lot of good advice in the thread. And if you add a feature to an open-source project, why not show it off with a Show-And-Tell post in the [forum](? --------------------------------------------------------------- That wraps it up for this update! I have nothing as exciting to share as Brandi's giant helpful rat from the last community update, but here's one more picture of my coworker Henning. He likes to stand on your shoulder like a pirate's parrot while you walk around: [Me and Henning] --------------------------------------------------------------- If you wish to stop receiving emails from us, you can use the one-click link below to unsubscribe. [Unsubscribe From All Email]( [Unsubscribe From Weekly Summaries](