Update amazon affiliate links that are text only

org/_posts/2021-09-22-essential_ayn_rand.org

@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ Before I begin, I have to admit I dreaded writing about this for a long time. Wh
 - She had [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Passion_of_Ayn_Rand][an affair with Nathaniel Branden chronicled in the book The passion of Ayn Rand]] which conservatives like to pretend don't exist (at least those of them who seem to promote her). They are afraid of sexuality, and often use their "Christian morals" to condemn it. Ayn Rand on the other hand informed her husband of the affair before much happened, and rumor has it she had his blessing (though he was allegedly not a big fan of it). They were also married until his death, and she described him as the love of her life.
 - She defended the individual as the basis for politics, not groups of people or the common good.
 - She promoted free markets, laissez faire capitalism, which means separation of state and economics. Collectivist ideologies (socialism, communism, nazism, fascism etc.) that focus on a big state and the common good, never actually reach that goal. There is always someone to hate and blame (e.g, the Jews in Nazi Germany or the Bourgeois/rich in the Soviet Union), and restrictions that a lot of people will find overbearing. 
-- She thought that the religious right (as we see today) try to take us back to the middle-ages with their connection of church and state, forcing everyone to live by their mysticism. She hated people who tried to force their religion on other people, especially through the state.
+- She thought that the religious right (as we see today) tried to take us back to the middle-ages with their connection of church and state, forcing everyone to live by their mysticism. She disagreed with people who tried to force their religion on others, especially through the state.
 - She defended abortions. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRlvMJsehy8]["A man who claims to defend rights, and objects to the right to have abortions. Who wants to dictate to a woman in the most intimate, crucial, and tragical issue of their time, and wants to forbid it. That is no defender of rights, and no defender of capitalism!"]]. She thought Reagan and other so-called conservatives was equally to blame for destroying capitalism as the so-called liberals/leftists.
 - She was not a fan of traditions or the focus on the nuclear family. Just because something is old does not make it good.
 - She was not a fan of drugs, but believed we should be able to make our own choices to our bodies. (there is [[https://youtu.be/8KZUKJjgCqg?t=313][one history of her wanting to try marijuana]] after hearing about its positive effects from Nathaniel Branden though). 
@@ -33,11 +33,11 @@ Now that we have gotten that out of the way, let us continue. What are my criter
 *NOTE! I use Amazon Affiliate links in the headers below. This means I earn commissions from qualifying purchases.*
 
 
-* 1. [[https://amzn.to/3OMFVNu][Atlas Shrugged]]
+* 1. [[https://amzn.to/48syaV6][Atlas Shrugged]]
 Who is John Galt? This is the essential question in all of the book. Often mentioned in times of despair, and for questions that people think it's meaningless to ask (because they are in a way impossible to answer). The book follows several characters in a near future where government creates more and more irrational rules and regulations, all posed as acts for the common good, but lobbied through by cronies (people who use government favors to gain special privileges). Dagny Taggart is our main heroine, and we see her fighting to keep her railroad company alive while all of the productive people around her slowly disappear. "What is wrong with the world?". Why ask useless questions? How deep is the ocean? How high is the sky? Who is John Galt? 
 
 
-The misconceptions I see most online, is that the book only portrays CEOs disappearing and exaggerates their importance. That could not be farther from the truth! Sure, some CEOs disappear, but a lot are plain hardworking engineers, doctors, musicians, truck drivers etc. The CEOs are not of the MBA type either, they are hard working people who worked their way up from the bottom (like Elon Musk in our world). Even Dagny who is born into a rich family works her way up the real way, in contrast to her (seemingly altruistic) brother who takes shortcuts. What the people who disappear have in common is that they have an extreme passion for what they do, that many computer engineers (at least those of us who started as kids or teens) can relate to. 
+The misconceptions I see most online, is that the book only portrays CEOs disappearing and exaggerates their importance. That could not be farther from the truth! Sure, some CEOs disappear, but a lot are plain hardworking engineers, doctors, musicians, truck drivers etc. The CEOs are not of the MBA type either, they are hard working people who worked their way up from the bottom. Even Dagny who is born into a rich family works her way up the real way, in contrast to her (seemingly altruistic) brother who takes shortcuts. What the people who disappear have in common is that they have an extreme passion for what they do, that many computer engineers (at least those of us who started as kids or teens) can relate to. 
 
 
 Atlas Shrugged is probably the best book I've ever read, and it inspired me to work harder for my own goals in life. It shows that a world we want "can be won, it exists" (in the words in one infamous character). Your mind belongs to you, and enslaving it in the name of public good is not the answer. (working voluntarily for the good of others on the other hand, can be a good thing)
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ Atlas Shrugged is probably the best book I've ever read, and it inspired me to w
 If you disagree with the books message, that is completely fine! You have your own conviction and I have mine. Let's respect each other in a polite tone without the character attacks we often see today. Even if I'm one of those "wacky libertarians" (other peoples words), I understand that someone who is on the other side also works for a world that they perceive to be the best one.
 
 
-* 2. [[https://amzn.to/3Qt5W5w][The Fountainhead]]
+* 2. [[https://amzn.to/4eZCrBU][The Fountainhead]]
 Howard Roark is a young idealistic architect who has his own vision, but is forced to choose between it or adapting to what others think is great. At first glance, you may think he sounds like a lunatic, but that is not true. Indeed, he is a visionary. No one who has innovated has ever done what everybody else is already doing. This book deals with themes such as being true to your own ideals, reason, public perception and deception (through media), romantic love, and hate for people being different. We see Roark struggling through life as he unapologetically follow through on his own vision, trying to get the buildings he want to build into reality. He enjoys doing it immensely, and with great passion. From the book we have this exchange between him and the dean of the architect school he is expelled from:
 
 #+BEGIN_VERSE
@@ -73,14 +73,14 @@ Does that mean that this person is without feelings? No. A man of great passion
 
 
 
-* 3. [[https://amzn.to/45cFIs8][The Virtue of Selfishness]]
+* 3. [[https://amzn.to/3Adtc1A][The Virtue of Selfishness]]
 The two previous books on this list were works of fiction, but this one is different. This book contains a collection of essays on Objectivist ethics. Why do I like this book so much? This book provides answer to a lot of questions relating to morality (i.e, the concept of ethical selfishness), and the introduction of capitalism as the only moral system (and why).
 
-This is NOT the book you should start with. I would first read the fiction books above, enjoy the spectacle and see if you are more curious to learn more about the philosophy. If you are, I would start with this book, then read [[https://amzn.to/3DJcXHL][Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal]], and then go to the rest of her books based upon your interest in the subjects. Whether it is the books about [[https://amzn.to/47hCZQ2][writing fiction]], [[https://amzn.to/3Og941W][writing non fiction]], reading more about [[https://amzn.to/3KRbxz9][why we need philosophy]] (we as in everyone), her other fiction ([[https://amzn.to/3DKwbwQ][Anthem]] and [[https://amzn.to/3Og98ic][We The Living]]) or something else. 
+This is NOT the book you should start with. I would first read the fiction books above, enjoy the spectacle and see if you are more curious to learn more about the philosophy. If you are, I would start with this book, then read [[https://amzn.to/3YgVi49][Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal]], and then go to the rest of her books based upon your interest in the subjects. Whether it is the books about [[https://amzn.to/3YBYSHq][writing fiction]], [[https://amzn.to/3NCYGkU][writing non fiction]], reading more about [[https://amzn.to/4eTd9VV][why we need philosophy]] (we as in everyone), her other fiction ([[https://amzn.to/40gQhuS][Anthem]] and [[https://amzn.to/48BQFGN][We The Living]]) or something else. 
 
 
 * Final remarks
-Ayn Rand is both an interesting character, as well as having written great works. If you want to learn more about her as a person (she is far from perfect, but no one is!), then I suggest reading the biography called [[https://amzn.to/3Og9dm0][Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right]].
+Ayn Rand is both an interesting character, as well as having written great works. If you want to learn more about her as a person (she is far from perfect, but no one is!), then I suggest reading the biography called [[https://amzn.to/3YCHoea][Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right]].
 
 
 Would you have picked any other books as a starting point for someone new to Ayn Rand? Love the books? Hate them? Feel free to share in the comments below :) 

org/_posts/2021-12-16-reactive_whats_the_big_deal.org

@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ Hopefully you have now gotten the main points of what Reactive programming is ab
 #+END_EXPORT
 
 
-If you program in Java or Kotlin, and would like to learn more about Reactive with Quarkus, I can recommend the book [[https://amzn.to/47h1UDb][Reactive Systems in Java: Resilient, Event-Driven Architecture with Quarkus]] (Amazon affiliate link, so I earn commissions on qualified purchases).
+If you program in Java or Kotlin, and would like to learn more about Reactive with Quarkus, I can recommend the [[https://amzn.to/40h989a][Reactive Systems in Java: Resilient, Event-Driven Architecture with Quarkus]] (Amazon affiliate link, so I earn commissions on qualified purchases).
 
 
 If none of the stuff above seems like the next step, I hope I at least have given you the language you need to find it. Remember that language is power, and knowing the terms above will definitely help you do more effective searches in the Reactive and event driven spaces.

org/_posts/2022-10-11-learning_kotlin_resources.org

@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ Do you want to learn Kotlin? Wonder what resources you should use to learn it? I
 No matter your skill level, you will at some point refer to [[https://kotlinlang.org/docs/getting-started.html][the official language documentation]]. For many of you, this will probably be the best place to start as well. All the examples can be run directly on the website, but you want to try your own code snippets interactively you can do it on [[https://play.kotlinlang.org/][play.kotlinlang.org]]. If you already know Java, they have [[https://play.kotlinlang.org/koans/overview][an interactive track called Koans]] that teach you the basics of Kotlin. This program help you get familiar with the syntax and workings of the language.
 
 There is probably two groups of people who end up reading this blog post; people new to programming in general, and people who know some programming and want to learn Kotlin. My recommendations are a bit different depending on which group you belong to. You may mix and match, but complete beginners will have a harder road with the resources aimed at people familiar with programming and/or the Java/JVM ecosystem.
-- *Complete beginner*: If you are set on learning Kotlin as a beginner, I think I would start with the [[https://amzn.to/47jTYBa][Head First Kotlin book]]. It covers several programming concepts, and teaches you Kotlin from the ground up. It claims you should have some very basic scripting experience, but I think it is achievable with some effort (maybe supplement the official documentation above?). [[https://www.jetbrains.com/academy/][JetBrains Academy]] might be worth checking out, but I don't know too much about it. They describe their approach in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBbYU7bcKHQ][this YouTube video]].
-- *Familiar with programming and/or the Java/JVM ecosystem:* The absolute BEST book on Kotlin in my view is [[https://amzn.to/3KrT2Rv][Programming Kotlin by Venkat Subramaniam]]! It goes through the basics, as well as some examples using Spring and also creating Android applications. Several often ignored parts of the Kotlin syntax is covered, and even I learned something new when reading it a few years ago (I had programmed in Kotlin for almost a year by that point). It requires that you know the basics of programming, and also assumes that you know about the Java ecosystem, but it is manageable in my view. I know someone who have read it and only knew some C programming, and they were able to start programming Kotlin after reading at least parts of the book! One exercise those of you who are more experienced may find useful is to refactor one of your Java applications to Kotlin.
+- *Complete beginner*: If you are set on learning Kotlin as a beginner, I think I would start with the [[https://amzn.to/3zZFYAY][Head First Kotlin book]]. It covers several programming concepts, and teaches you Kotlin from the ground up. It claims you should have some very basic scripting experience, but I think it is achievable with some effort (maybe supplement the official documentation above?). [[https://www.jetbrains.com/academy/][JetBrains Academy]] might be worth checking out, but I don't know too much about it. They describe their approach in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBbYU7bcKHQ][this YouTube video]].
+- *Familiar with programming and/or the Java/JVM ecosystem:* The absolute BEST book on Kotlin in my view is [[https://amzn.to/4fl52RT][Programming Kotlin by Venkat Subramaniam]]! It goes through the basics, as well as some examples using Spring and also creating Android applications. Several often ignored parts of the Kotlin syntax is covered, and even I learned something new when reading it a few years ago (I had programmed in Kotlin for almost a year by that point). It requires that you know the basics of programming, and also assumes that you know about the Java ecosystem, but it is manageable in my view. I know someone who have read it and only knew some C programming, and they were able to start programming Kotlin after reading at least parts of the book! One exercise those of you who are more experienced may find useful is to refactor one of your Java applications to Kotlin.
 
 
 If you want to edit your files locally, you will also need an editor of some kind. Kotlin is created by JetBrains, the creators of IntelliJ IDEA. I would say that most people end up using [[https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/][IntelliJ IDEA]] for Kotlin, as they find it has the most complete tool support for the language. Other people, like myself, have a *very* strong preference for other editors like Emacs. On this blog you will find several articles about Kotlin in Emacs, [[https://themkat.net/2022/09/24/kotlin_in_emacs_redux.html][one recent]] and [[https://themkat.net/2021/11/03/kotlin_in_emacs.html][one older]]. The details mentioned in those articles can probably help you configure Kotlin IDE functionality in other editors, like Vim, as well.
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ There are also some resources you can check out based upon other topics:
 - *Compiling to native code (iOS, Linux, Windows, etc.):* Want to interface with C libraries? Or make native applications for phones like iPhone? Then [[https://kotlinlang.org/docs/native-overview.html][Kotlin Native]] is probably for you.
 - *Multiplatform codebases*: This potentially combines the previous point with Android development, server side apps, frontend apps and more. [[https://kotlinlang.org/docs/native-overview.html][Multiplatform projects]] help you share code between several targets. This can help you make applications for Android and iOS, fullstack web apps and more! I'm not very familiar with this, but it seems interesting.
 - *Kotlin for scripting*: Want to replace clunky big bash scripts with Kotlin code? Or maybe you just prefer automating with Kotlin instead of Python or NodeJS? [[https://github.com/kscripting/kscript][KScript]] makes this easy!
-- *Domain specific languages in Kotlin*: I mentioned Venkat Subramaniam earlier, and he have written [[https://amzn.to/3OHl6CW][a book about domain specific languages in Kotlin]]. Might be worth checking out if you find the concept of domain specific languages useful. There is also [[https://themkat.net/2020/08/27/kotlin_dsl.html][an article on this blog]] about that topic.
+- *Domain specific languages in Kotlin*: I mentioned Venkat Subramaniam earlier, and he have written [[https://amzn.to/48jdbUm][a book about domain specific languages in Kotlin]]. Might be worth checking out if you find the concept of domain specific languages useful. There is also [[https://themkat.net/2020/08/27/kotlin_dsl.html][an article on this blog]] about that topic.
 - *Kotlin syntax and features you may have forgotten?* There is [[https://themkat.net/2022/01/16/kotlin_often_forgotten_features.html][an article on this blog]] for that!
 
 

org/_posts/2022-10-15-sed_more_than_replacements.org

@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ sed can work with input piped into it, or you can supply a file as input. We wil
 
 
 
-There is off course much more advanced things you can do by combining the various addressing, command line options and so on that sed provides. I recommend reading the man-pages to get information on all the options you have for using sed (i.e, run =man sed=). If you want more examples and explanations to dive deeper into sed (and text editing in scripts) after reading this article, I suggest reading the book [[https://amzn.to/43UwvDS][sed and awk: UNIX Power Tools]] (*Amazon affiliate link, so I will earn a commission on qualified purchases*). The book will also teach you awk, which is a small scripting language for editing text files, and might be a topic for a future article on this blog :) 
+There is off course much more advanced things you can do by combining the various addressing, command line options and so on that sed provides. I recommend reading the man-pages to get information on all the options you have for using sed (i.e, run =man sed=). If you want more examples and explanations to dive deeper into sed (and text editing in scripts) after reading this article, I suggest reading the book [[https://amzn.to/3YiGQbJ][sed and awk: UNIX Power Tools]] (*Amazon affiliate link, so I will earn a commission on qualified purchases*). The book will also teach you awk, which is a small scripting language for editing text files, and might be a topic for a future article on this blog :) 
 
 
 * Simple replacements