Oct 2, 2020Did you get the AWS S3 Bucket security email?The fix is very easy If you got the following email , here’s how to remove the public permissions and give your user new permissions. Your security is important to us. Your AWS account xxx has one or more S3 buckets (list follows this paragraph) that allow write access to…AWS4 min readAWS4 min read
Feb 18, 2020How to set up a mechanical keyboard with super light-touch switches.My journey to set up the easiest touch and shortest travel possible on a keyboard led me to a Planck-EZ keyboard with switches with modified springs, but it didn’t stop there. — (Edit 7/2020: added info about gergoplex. Edit 10/4/2020: just found out about gateron optical yellows! More info and link at bottom of post) This article is aimed primarily at people with unusual keyboarding needs, such as those dealing with RSI (repetitive stress injury). There is a difficult learning curve to using super light touch switches, during which time you will likely see a lot of extra home row characters sprinkled throughout your documents…Mechanical Keyboards11 min readMechanical Keyboards11 min read
Oct 11, 2019The Infinite Coastline Paradox and the importance of working through technical challenges on your ownThere are unknown worlds to explore, hidden within the seemingly simplest of tasks — According to the Infinite Coastline Paradox, the length of the coastline increases as our measurements become more precise. Imagine measuring the length of the coastline around Great Britain. If you only had a meter stick to lay end to end around the entire coast, you would get a seemingly accurate…Software Development3 min readSoftware Development3 min read
May 3, 2019Installing Sendy as a replacement for Mailchimp — 2019 version 4 update, the complete guide, with automated backups to S3, and https configurationThis information is compiled from many sources and is the complete record of my successful install. Start here to save yourself a lot of time. — New readers, ignore this note. Note to previous readers who may need help updating their S3 bucket policy: here is the fix https://medium.com/@alexjacobs/did-you-get-the-aws-s3-bucket-security-email-77fa69ea21c0 . This install guide you are now reading is for Sendy version 4. It was tested on Sendy version 4.0.2 with the latest server config available on Digital OceanSendy34 min readSendy34 min read
Jan 15, 2019Installing Sendy as a replacement for Mailchimp—2019 update, the complete guide, with automated backups to S3, and https configurationThis information is compiled from many sources and is the complete record of my successful install. Start here to save yourself a lot of time. — New readers, ignore this note. Note to previous readers who may need help updating their S3 bucket policy: here is the fix https://medium.com/@alexjacobs/did-you-get-the-aws-s3-bucket-security-email-77fa69ea21c0 . I just published a more recent update covering Sendy 4.0. It is nearly identical to this guide. Some images and text were updated to reflect the most recent install experience. I complete re-installed and re-verified the install process using Sendy 4.0.2 . You can find the newly updated install instructions at this link: https://medium.com/@alexjacobs/installing-sendy-as-a-replacement-for-mailchimp-2019-version-4-update-the-complete-guide-with-a9358bbb2399Sendy34 min readSendy34 min read
Dec 12, 2018I asked 12 software engineers how to get hired at their companies, and here’s what they said…Lessons from a software engineering back-end recruitment “speed dating” style event in San Francisco — I’m not certain what keyword searches my various online engineering activities overlapped with, but this was the second time that I had been offered a free ticket to the HackerX recruiting event. I didn’t attend the first time because I was not seeking additional employment, and also nearly declined on…Careers7 min readCareers7 min read
Feb 8, 2018Learning Machine LearningUnwiring self defined limits by completing the Stanford University Machine Learning Course by Andrew Ng. — This article consists of 2 parts: A personal story about overcoming challenges with the help of expert guidance An overview of the Machine Learning course Part 1 Until my first semester of college, I enjoyed taking math classes, and was placed in AP courses through high school. During my first semester of…Machine Learning5 min readMachine Learning5 min read
Jan 18, 2018Technical Interviewing: getting rejected by a cyborgIs TripleByte succeeding at leveraging technology to perfect the technical hiring process? — cyborg | ˈsīˌbôrɡ | noun a fictional or hypothetical person whose physical abilities are extended beyond normal human limitations by mechanical elements built into the body. Where this started, in a nutshell: In early 2016, in the middle of my 2 year stint of working full-time at Solinea as a software engineer, I developed a case…Technical Interview14 min readTechnical Interview14 min read
Nov 10, 2017Presenting live at OpenStack, Tokyo, 2015What is data visualization? And how does it relate to making sense of cloud-based resources? — The head of engineering at Solinea.com and I had a proposal accepted to present together at the OpenStack conference in Tokyo in October, 2015. The ‘teaser’ for our presentation: “Visualizing OpenStack data is one of the most powerful ways to…Data Visualization1 min readData Visualization1 min read
Aug 29, 2017Total Eclipse MusingsBetween totality, and anything else… — After viewing the totality of the Great American Total Solar Eclipse on August 21st, 2017, I realized an important lesson: When comparing the totality experience, and any other degree of coverage, you either experience 100%, or not. I believe a partial eclipse is also a beautiful natural phenomenon, but I…Astronomy2 min readAstronomy2 min read
