Programming insights to Storytelling, it's all here.
When the pandemic was in full force, my kids were at the perfect age to love the playground. Other parents stood at a distance, armed with Lysol wipes and full COVID gear, watching and waiting for their turn. I, on the other hand, hovered protectively over my kids like a human bubble. The unspoken rule was clear: the sight of another parent approaching the playground was our cue to leave. Looking back, my kids barely got to enjoy the playground during those years.
In some jobs, your superior is the person who knows how to do your job better than you do. They’ve spent years honing their skills, mastering the nuances of the work, and rising through the ranks. Eventually, they are promoted to leadership roles, where their expertise guides the rest of the team to perform at their best. This model of seniority, where experience and skill in the task itself are paramount, is common and highly effective in many professions.
After reading thousands of Stack Overflow questions, I've come to a conclusion: people don't provide the necessary details to get their questions answered effectively. This is a recurring problem, not just on forums but in any situation where someone seeks help. To get a useful answer, you need to include all the relevant variables, and just as importantly, filter out the irrelevant ones.
The MP3 format, once the gold standard for digital audio files, is now free. The licensing and patents on MP3 encoders have expired, meaning you can now include them in your applications without paying royalties. For software developers and audio enthusiasts, this might seem like a big deal. But, surprisingly, almost no one noticed. Why? Because the world of technology has changed so drastically that MP3's significance has faded into the background.
As a software developer, the best way to get a raise isn’t by waiting for your annual performance review. It’s by applying for a new job. This has been the industry standard for years. In many sectors, raises rarely keep up with the cost of living, and recent inflation has only made this gap more glaring. Today, this dynamic is no longer limited to the tech industry; in nearly every field, the easiest way to secure a pay bump is to leverage an external job offer. Consequently, job boards are no longer primarily used by the unemployed. They’re increasingly a tool for career advancement.
A long time ago, a colleague recounted how his latest interview with a candidate went. Something about the candidate’s work experience seemed off, so my colleague decided to test him with a seemingly simple question.
Internet speed keeps getting faster every year, and today’s mobile devices often outperform older desktops. But just a few years ago, catering to mobile users was a delicate art. If you wanted to offer a smooth experience, you had to minimize the number and size of JavaScript files. A large file could freeze or even crash a mobile device. Desktop users on older browsers like Internet Explorer faced similar challenges.
One day, I recommended a candidate for a position at work to my recruiter. Before I could even get back to my desk, I received a curt reply: "Sorry, this won't work. We aren't hiring people from USC anymore."
A company I worked for once spent a fortune installing a turnstile and key card system to secure the building. The idea was simple: track the entry and exit of every employee. The execution, however, was anything but simple.
At one company I worked at, we had a mysterious bug that customers suddenly started complaining about. Their accounts were being deactivated for no reason, despite them paying for their subscriptions. After digging into the issue, we confirmed the problem: paying customers were being incorrectly marked as inactive. It wasn’t a widespread issue—just enough to raise eyebrows—and it even slipped past all our tests.
