I’d love to be able to tell you otherwise, but with the exception of the city of SF and the city of Oakland, it’s a car culture. And until the last 15 years or so, the only serious large scale distributed systems work happened in the Valley. I used to live in SF and commute 106 miles a day to eBay.

So glad you enjoyed that episode. That was a lot of fun.

Silicon Valley is a special place, but talent is evenly distributed; opportunity is not. There are (some kinds of) opportunities that are primarily available here, and I’ll be the first to say that no one wants a SPOF.

TBH, I think you really took two (!) weeks off because you’re having to go back so far for true “this rock solid thing failed” content.

“Why did that loud guy and that sensible guy stop podcasting, Dad?”
“Engineering rigor, son. That’s what finally got ’em in the end.”

Which part will require a two year investigation this week? Find out in the next Oxide and Friends!

TROCHAIC is not a word in NYT Spelling Bee

WTF @nytimes.com

Very well written. Love the framing of “productive struggle”, and that it’s our job as leaders to provide those growth opportunities.

Makes me think of Outliers and “deliberate practice”. You grow from doing the things that stretch you, not from the same things over and over.

Wrote up the full story of how we went from 150 flaky tests to 2 at Thrive Market.. and what happened when we deleted them (nothing broke).

“My degree is in math, not arithmetic” — me, more times than I can count

It is hard to lose a father. All the words not spoken now never can be.

But I can say from personal experience that your father had excellent taste in pubs!

I’ll raise a pint a continent away in his memory.

🤦 Mansplaining achievement unlocked for the day, then!

Google “laszlo bock google interview questions” to start. Probably some citations behind the news articles?

Google famously used to evaluate engineering candidates with “brain teasers” like “how many ping pong balks can fit in a school bus?”. Then they did the math and found that didn’t correlate at all with success.

Is that what you’re looking for?

Except that the pedant is wrong about this — it is a half twist. The strip can’t be one-sided with a full twist.

Ashley married well. That’s all I have to say.

If I didn’t already have plans with my brother and his family, I’d be there with bells on.

Gateau Basque! One of my favorites from the long-closed Piperade in SF.

What time should I be there?

Building Resilient Distributed Systems Struggling with system failures despite multiple safeguards? In the world of software development, distributed systems have proven essential yet remain complex. If you're tired of... - Selection from ...

Maybe not exactly what you’re looking for, but a lot of the patterns will be in Sam Newman’s upcoming book: www.oreilly.com/library/view..., and possibly also in martinfowler.com/books/patter... ?

You are a gentleman and a scholar, @rgarner.bsky.social. It was my distinct pleasure to meet you in person this evening.

May it not be the last time, my friend.

We haven't met, but you certainly know your whisky. Glendronach is a personal favorite!

With hiring for DevRel roles increasing and junior folks often having limited in-person presentation experience (thanks to the Covid-era), I highly recommend reading Randy's advice!

Speaking about Speaking, Part 5 — Taking Questions This is the fifth in my series of posts on giving technical conference talks. We have discussed preparing yourself, organizing the content…

Part 5: Taking Questions (medium.com/@randyshoup/...)
* The Good Questions
* "Good Point"
* "I Don't Know"
* "I Don't Have an Opinion"
* The Annoying Questions
* The Dissertation
* The Context-Dependent
* Huh?
* The Multi-Parter
* The Gotcha
* The Troll

/end

Speaking about Speaking, Part 4 — Giving the Talk This is the fourth in my series of posts on giving technical conference talks. We have discussed preparing yourself, organizing your…

Part 4: Giving the Talk (medium.com/@randyshoup/...)
* Make Connections
* Pick Up the Pace
* Pause for Emphasis
* Be Straightforward
* Be Honest Without Being Insulting
* "Does This Make Sense?"
* Audience Participation
* Hands Free
* Refer Back

Speaking about Speaking, Part 3 — Preparing the Stage This is the third in my series of posts on giving technical conference talks. In the first, we discussed preparing yourself, and in the…

Part 3: Preparing the Stage (medium.com/@randyshoup/...)
* Walk the Grounds
* Mic Check
* Water
* Device prep
* Presenter mode

Speaking about Speaking, Part 2 — Organizing Content This is the second in a series of posts about giving talks at technical conferences. Part 1 discusses how I prepare myself before a talk…

Part 2: Organizing Content (medium.com/@randyshoup/...)
* Content
* Brainstorming
* Organizing
* Refining
* Structure
* Agenda
* Slide organization
* Pictures

Speaking about Speaking, Part 1 — Preparing Yourself Here are some things I’ve learned about preparing myself to give a talk. After a few talks this past week, with a few more upcoming, I…

Chatting today with fellow QCon organizer @danielbryantuk.com, we discussed how we prepare for talks, and I have *thoughts*, in the form of a 5-part blog series:

Part 1: Preparing Yourself (medium.com/@randyshoup/...)
* Sleep
* Practice
* Timing
* Clothes
* Psyching yourself up

And you succeeded, Julia!

I am a practiced speaker exactly because I have … practiced speaking!

(I started competing in policy debate in 1982, my first year of high school. So it’s been 43 years.

But I also used to regularly throw up from anxiety before debate rounds, and I still get nervous before a talk.)

Speaking in public is a skill like any other, and it absolutely comes with practice.

But it does not come naturally to most humans. Public speaking is typically people’s number one fear, even over death. Seinfeld joked that people at a funeral would rather be in the casket than giving the eulogy!

So far at least, right? … Uh oh, is this mic still hot?

As evidenced by you and me, amirite?

Genau. Ich auch.