Is AI going local?
AI about to be disrupted with a move to local compute - your phone, your computer - driven by a swarm of agents.
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Why our car buying journey nearly failed
My daughter bought her first car this week and it was far from a smooth process.
The littlest thing
The littlest thing can have a big impact. A pebble in a shoe can create a blister. A single missing symbol can completely change the way software works. But sometimes the littlest thing can have a positive life changing impact.
A first real job
Yesterday my daughter was offered her first “real” job when she graduates in the summer.
What is hospitality?
One of the key questions at the start of the book “Unreasonable Hospitality - the Field Guide” is around defining what the word hospitality means.
What would have to be true ...
Sometimes the way you frame a question can make all the difference.
The enthusiasm test
Would you enthusiastically hire someone again for a role? I was listening to a recent podcast with Rachel Lockett and she asked the question above.
The age of flat pack code
Software development is moving from the era of the craftsman to the era of the flat pack.
Twos for journaling
I have recently been on the look out for a simple journaling/note capture application.
Is the future of software data, marketing or niches?
There is currently an explosion of creation, triggered by AI opening it up to those who previously didn’t have the skills to do it.
Weird blog traffic
This blog has seen a recent up-tick in views and that would normally be a good thing. However this up-tick has been a bit unusual.
MCP and REST face-off
At the recent MCPConference in London, one of the members of a panel made the statement “MCP is not just an API wrapper”. This got me thinking what are the main differences.
A job is a bundle of tasks
In a recent podcast Marc Andreessen makes a an observation that
Find your yellow tux
I am not a fan of baseball and I will not be wearing a yellow tuxedo.
The three H conversations
Knowing the type of conversation you are having can change the way you interact with others and the outcome of the conversation.
Intrinsic v extrinsic motivation
The type of motivation you use can make a big difference on whether you will achieve your results.
Could Gemini kill Google?
I rarely use Google Search now. In the past it was a cornerstone of my Internet usage. Like most people I would go to Google and type a search term, browse the results, skipping the ads, and then click on the link that looked the most promising.
One size fits one
Amazing things happen when you focus on the one rather than the many.
Don't skip the downtime
It is easy to fill your day with stuff and feel guilty when you take a step back just to pause and think.
It's all about the order
We often use the terms “to-do list” and “checklist” interchangeably, but they actually serve very different purposes.
Leading engineering with vision
I recently joined another call through CTO Craft about leading engineering with a vision. The previous one is here .
Are Google navigation services getting worse?
I was recently driving around the M25 when Google surprised me with a route suggestion.
Pinger - a simple network diagnostic tool
I am in the UK and my Internet connection is provided by Virgin Media - there I have admitted it.
The code-free future ... maybe
What if code libraries in future contained no code? In this article it discusses a potential future where software libraries no longer contain code but consist of rules/specifications and tests.
What versus Why
It is very easy to resort to asking “ Why? ” when it maybe better to ask “ What? ”
The missing tools
What tools are missing from your toolbox? In an interview for the High Performance Podcast the comedian Sara Pascoe is asked how she copes with the pressure of making lots of people laugh every night.
Small steps, big gains
Health is not my area of expertise but it is something I definitely need to work on.
CTO to founder
I recently joined a call through CTO Craft (thoroughly recommended) about the path a CTO cal follow to becoming a founder.
Hats, haircuts, tattoos and doors
We’ve all been there: debating a single word in an email or spending ages coming up with the name of a project or even a variable. We treat these choices like permanent, life-altering commitments when most are actually just “hats.”
Tools can shape the culture
A decision as simple as which tool to use can shape the culture of a department or an organisation.
Property meets AI
Imagine being able to describe the property you want to buy rather than being limited to what the site allows you to filter on.
Photographer Michael Fatali
In the 1990s I went on a walking holiday to the west coast of America and came across the photographs of Michael Fatali .
AI is an amplifier
AI is not only an assistant, it is an amplifier .
Read something wonderful
Sometimes you come across a website that is simple and just works.
An excellent mobile photography course
Last year I took an excellent mobile photography course in London.
Artist Richard Rowan
I came across the work of Richard Rowan by accident.
Diagnosing a power cut remotely
My daughter is at university and phoned me up saying they had a power cut in their flat.
Generating book summaries
Wouldn’t it be nice to pull out the key ideas and action points from a book you have just read or are considering purchasing? Maybe get a reminder of the story line of a fiction book you read years ago?
Missing information
The garage that services my car encourages people to book their services through their website.
Capturing spur of the moment notes
Sometimes a thought comes to you and you want to capture it quickly but it is not always obvious what is the best way to do that.
Too close to make it better
Are you too close to something to see how to make it better?
Aiming for the second time
I was chatting to a colleague and he mentioned how he had written some code and expected it to work first time and was surprised when it didn’t.
Buncefield
20 years ago on the 11th December 2005 I had just got up and was walking down our hallway when there was a massive explosion and it literally felt like the whole roof had been lifted off and landed back down again. The heavy wooden loft door was blown open and we later found it had buckled our patio doors.
In at the deep end
In my first “real” job I was definitely thrown in at the deep end on my first day and it changed my career.
More skilled
Seth Godin asks If someone with more skill and dedication took over your work, how many ways could they make it better?
YouTube as a precursor
Could the history of YouTube indicate the path that AI is going to be follow for the generation of applications?
Reminiscing about Turbo Pascal
Sometimes you come across a video that brings back memories.
The endless search for a task tracker
I have tried lots of different ways to track tasks, or have a to do list, and they have all failed at some point.
Performing a department review/reboot
Just before I recently went on holiday our CEO set me some “homework”.
Slack ramblings
I used to capture all my thoughts and things I was working on in a text file at work but this approach slowly died. I use a WhatsApp chat with only me in it to capture random personal stuff at the moment.