Word of the year: Context
What contexts am I choosing in my life, and are they what I want?
Heidi Waterhouse
People, product, and persuasion
Latest posts
Smokejumping
What does a chronological interview say about the person you want to hire?
Saying the same thing, differently
In the view of capital, developer experience is like creating steam-powered mills. Sure, there's a risk of mangling the workers, but look how much more productive they are, and how it drives costs down for everyone!
How guardrails enable you to work at AI speed
On December 10, I m joining a bunch of cool people on a LeadDev panel to talk about guardrails and AI use. Register to join us! As we were doing the pre-panel discussion, I started thinking about the metaphor we were using. Guardrails are not uniquely American, but they are very American. We see them so [ ]
Political: Whistle Work
What to do If you have a 3D printer, choose a design and print whistles. If you're going to distribute yourself, add lanyards and flyers explaining them. If you hear a whistle and you are in the "slightly safer" demographic (middle-aged white lady, in my case), head for the sound and be ready to record and be part of a noisy crowd. If you are in the more at-risk demographic, head away. We're your…
Upcoming appearances
Upcoming appearances at ETLS, LeadDev panel, and Monktoberfest, with some book signings!
Communications is so big
Communications jobs are siloed in organization charts, but most of them share basic skills, and the specialization lies in the various audiences and tools. Communications is a continuum from UX to support.
No useless knowledge
It started two years ago, on a street in Dublin. They have a cool program where notable historical figures get a little bio on walls. The key part was this: She invented a unique uncrushable linen fabric by backing handkerchief linen with taffeta. Jacqueline Kennedy wore a pleated skirt in this fabric for her portrait [ ]
Book Review: Hivestruck, by Vincent Toro
A review of Vincent Toro’s book Hivestuck. “An app that rots or riots / on command. An app that / functions without a thumb / to guide it. An app to eliminate undesireable / scents. An app that shakes / the sand from your bathing suit / while checking your father’s / cholesterol. An app that goes home / with the wrong guy / for you”
Git along now
Look around you. Do you feel like maybe it would be nice to be able to have relational databases in your nice safe DVCS? What about streaming releases? What about coders who might be scared about screwing up? Do you actually roll all your code libraries up into the version control, or do you reference them? Does that feel like a safe way to operate?