Contributing to Open Source is important to the quality and maintainability of the software and engineering communities we rely on every day - so why is it that so many developers/engineers never participate? ...
We create more value by having conversations in public instead of behind closed doors. ...
Near the end of each year I note down a summary of the best apps I’ve enjoyed using throughout the year, here’s 2022. ...
We’re (still) not deploying enough It’s 2022 and not deploying frequently enough is still one of the most common causes of software failure. ...
Over the past month I’ve been playing with OpenAI’s DALL·E 2, below are some of the interesting images I’ve generated. “DALL·E 2 is a new AI system that can create realistic images and art from a description in natural language.” “A renaissance oil painting of two developers arguing over which javascript framework is the worst” “A Ralph Steadman painting of 7 cats sitting on a fence, and one raven” ...
Beginner Harmonica Practice Exercises Way back in around 2008 I wrote up a doc with a list of beginner harp exercises and practice riffs, at the time it was uploaded to a few forums and a shared Google doc - both have since disappeared. To this day I still get regular emails asking for a copy of it so I thought I’d copy it to a post here. Note: I haven’t updated these since around 2011. ...
Firefox Addons - 2022 Edition My list of must-have Firefox addons - 2022 edition Updated: 2022-11-07 Privacy and Security Firstly - you should have Firefox’s Enhanced Tracking Protection enabled. Don’t Track Me Google LocalCDN UTM Tracking Token Stripper Note: You can accomplish some of what this does by setting up the removeparam uBlock origin rules I’ve listed below. Multi-Account Containers Useful for setting sites such as Amazon, eBay, Twitter, LinkedIn, Banking etc… each to always open in their own isolated container. The official addon for whatever Password Manager you use. Firefox Translations uBlock Origin Probably the single most important addon. ...
Until recently I used Evernote for my notes, web clippings and document drafts, I was a subscriber going on 14 years and had over 3000 notes. However in recent years Evernote has gone downhill to the point it could be considered hostile to it’s users. The native macOS app was replaced with an Electron Javascript webframe and like almost all Electron apps I’ve tried it was plagued by poor performance, memory leaks and aggressive idle CPU utilisation and above all else it now lacks the low latency feeling the native application had. ...
Weekend upgrades to my Ranchilio Silvia v4 espresso machine. Added a digital PID kit for improved temperature control Replaced the boiler element Thermal insulation Basic “smart” power control with Siri integration Upgrade the standard Ranchilio basket to a VST 18g Ridged Rebuild Photos Note the damage to the boiler elements terminals, this was shorting and causing the houses RCD to trip Wiring the PID controller Replacing the boiler thermostat with one connected to the PID controller ...
A template team charter for software and platform engineering teams. Research1 shows there is great value in people embracing a shared vision and ideas that are bigger than themselves. When it comes to a team charter, it’s important to remember that it’s not a static document. It’s a living document that should be updated as the team evolves and grows. Keep in mind that One size doesn’t fit all. Consider your (teams) mission, cultural background and values. While not exhaustive - this is on the longer side, you may wish to distill as is practical, but I implore you not to only pick the easier items - that’s missing the point. These can give you talking points when performing postmortems, retros and during times of conflict. See also: ‘Using Old Ways of Thinking to Apply New Ways of Working’ and ‘BVSSHJ Principles’. ...