🫡 The Best Job, The Worst Job

I was finally able to take a damned vacation a month ago, and I needed it as I was burning out in a big way. I'm so glad I did because I was able to explore things I had wanted to explore forever…

👹 The Wrath of the Junior Developer

Full disclosure: I work at Microsoft but what you're about to read is 100% my personal opinion. Don't @ me with "dude from Microsoft claims..." please... I've been deep in a rewrite of the AI chapter…

Following your imagination

I learned to play ice hockey when I was 11 and, as a kid from Southern California, it wasn't easy. I learned how to skate and how to play the game at the same time, all while going through a massive…

It wasn't what you said, but how you said it

I make videos for a living and I swear: each one is an adventure. You would think I would have a system down by now but, as it turns out, each video is a unique thing that demands it's own type of…

Embracing Mediocrity

I was talking with a coworker the other day about one of the new AI offerings and how well it simulated human interaction. I was asking it to summarize some notes I had taken on a book, and it did a…

What is your time and knowledge worth?

I was at a local clothing store with my youngest, looking at clothes over the summer. She was trying to find a good pair of jeans, so we ended up at the Levis store, which isn't cheap. She found a…

Two Wonderful Investments In Your Programming Career

We invest a lot of our time learning programming languages and frameworks, but I think it's just as important to learn the "foundational" skills of our industry, including: Patterns and Principles…

Using Obsidian as a Programming Journal

In my last note I mentioned that I put my precious Bullet Journal on the shelf (which really does make me sad) and switched to Obsidian as my full time journal. I wrote about this process in The…

3 of the Best Things I Learned in the Last Year

I love exploring and learning new things. While fun, sharing what I've learned is even more rewarding. I spent the majority of my free time over the last year finishing off The Imposter's Roadmap…

Important Update to The Imposter's Roadmap

I updated the book just now to address a formatting error that will affect how you read the book. I'll explain more in a minute, but you can get the update here, and I recommend you do so. The…

The Happiness and Terror of Shipping

You would think that after years of development, the act of shipping something would be nothing but joy and relief. In the moment, however, "pushing send" is terrifying and feels like running naked…

Constraints and Logic in Your Database

Most people aren't aware of the power of constraints in a database. They're there to enforce data rules, and you're probably familiar with a few of them, including: The null constraint, which won't…

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