Do you remember the popular 80s-90s TV show MacGyver? The show’s protagonist was known for his ingenious engineering solutions, often using everyday items to escape dangerous situations. For example, MacGyver once created a makeshift defibrillator using candlesticks, a microphone cord, and a rubber mat to save a life. I remember…

I want to summarize some of the things I’ve learned that might surprise people that are jumping into Cloud Cost Management, and, just a warning, I’m full of war analogies. But this makes sense — it’s 2023, and we’re in a war against waste. Understand the Area of Conflict When…

The clouds and technologies we use in 2019 are a by-product the last decade of low interest rates. As these rates change it dramatically alters the way we use cloud and shapes the technologies that will define the next decade. Money has been effectively “free” since 2008, and this last…

I’m writing about stuttering because I’ve come to the realization that no one understands this disability. Also, I’ve noticed that in some circles it is still acceptable to make fun of stutterers. I’m going to write about my experience so people understand it. …

Good software architects are not educated in classrooms they are forged in the “focus rooms” of catastrophic failure. This is a pessimistic view of professional development in IT, but I’d rather hire someone who has had a front-row seat to failure than someone who hasn’t. When hiring senior technical talent…

I guess this is a Meta-post, but I’d just like to let you know something. We all get together and talk about your Medium posts. We over-analyze them for days, and several of us wonder aloud if you are talking about us indirectly. Sure, we understand the need for you…

Two days ago I wrote a post about how “developers tailing the logs” is a common pattern. A couple people responded to me directly asking me if I had some sort of telepathic ability because they were stuck in a war room tailing logs at that very moment. It’s a…

Not long ago, I had the opportunity to help a large company upgrade a fairly critical piece of software that was running everything. I can tell you that the job involved Tomcat, but that’s about it. As a consultant, you learn to keep the specifics of any engagement close. What…

You have a server-side bias and you don’t even realize it. I know this, and you need to know this. It’s keeping you back a bit. Step one is to admit that you have a problem and that your addiction to easy server-side frameworks is ruining your performance. You’ve used…