Open Source Isn't Free
Open source software has a price tag of $0 and a total cost of ownership that can dwarf commercial alternatives....
Why I Never Use ORMs
ORMs hide the database until they don't, create performance traps, and solve the wrong problem. SQL is the better abstraction....
Most Security Breaches Don't Matter
The security industry profits from fear. Most breaches have minimal impact while companies overspend on exotic threats....
AI Art Is Actually Good for Artists
The panic over AI image generation misses how it's actually helping working artists be more productive and creative....
The Anatomy of a Production Outage
The pattern behind production outages: the 2am alert, the escalating panic, the decision that makes it worse....
Why Technical Interviews Test the Wrong Thing
Technical interviews optimize for competitive coding skills that rarely matter in actual work. What we should test instead - and how hiring could improve....
Founder Ego Kills Startups Faster Than Bad Code
Founder ego sinks more startups than market fit or capital. The patterns I keep seeing on due-diligence calls, and the questions that surface them....
The Death of the Technical Blog Post
Technical blog posts were searchable, skimmable, and copy-pasteable. Video tutorials are none of these....
Technical Debt Isn't Debt - It's Rot
Debt implies payback. You won't. It compounds faster than interest. Every startup that says 'we'll clean it up after we raise' never does....
I Work Faster Alone
After 45 years in tech, I know I work faster alone. The collaboration-industrial complex says more interaction is always better. My shipped code says otherwise....
The Myth of the 10x Engineer
Stop hunting for 10x engineers. The variation in programmer productivity is real, but team systems beat individual heroics....