Tag Archives: Economics

Pitfalls of the Ops Developer

Dev, Economics, Incentives, , , , ,

This is another post my work asked me to opine on. I’m a big fan of developers that aren’t focused totally on making software – folks who make their own tools to solve their problems. However, it’s definitely possible to get yourself into a real pickle where you can build yourself into a corner you don’t have the time and skills to get yourself out of.

Pitfalls of the Ops Developer is about how to recognize when your group wants to transition from home-grown solutions to something more standard. It’s HARD to know and it’s hard to anticipate when you are about to hit one of those inflection points. As always, there’s a ton left out, but I love hearing from folks about their stories around the topic. I was just talking to a client in London and they brought this one up as being helpful and describing exactly the place where they are right now. Soooo… I thought I’d share it with you!

Are the Robots Really Coming for My Job?

My work asked me to write about Large Language Models and some of the hype around them. I take a pretty nuanced view on Large Language Models being able to actually replace human effort in most cases.

After hearing from both my Mom and a friend at AWS that they found this article really helpful in thinking about the topic, I thought I’d share it more.

It’s intentionally a short article and there’s a TON left out. For example, even if a robot can’t do your job well, that doesn’t mean your job won’t try to replace you with one – and you can’t wait to eat while they figure out they need a person in the loop.

Glenn Beck and the new reality of video distribution

Incentives, Pals, User Experience, Video, , , , ,

My man Jamie Dubs did a great talk at the XOXO fest on how Glenn Beck is the unloved rockstar of the new media landscape. Jamie did the amazing VHX.TV, worked on Add-Art, started Know Your Meme, led the Internet Famo Class… He’s the Kevin Bacon of my internet, but everyone has a max Jamie number of 3.

Anyway, get your learn on:

Some good advice to my friends who are terrified of this job market

Economics, Get.rich.quick, Incentives, Pals, , , , ,

Don’t try to dodge the recession with grad school.. Many of my friends are considering this sort of move. It’s a sucker bet for a number of reasons that Penelope outlines. My basic argument is her last one.

Graduate school forces you to overinvest: It’s too high risk.
In a world where people did not change careers, grad school made sense. Today, grad school is antiquated. You invest three to six extra years in school in order to get your dream career. But the problem is that not only are the old dream careers deteriorating, but even if you have a dream career, it won’t last. You’ll want to change because you can. Because that’s normal for today’s workplace. People who are in their twenties today will change careers about four times in their life. Which means that grad school is a steep investment for such a short period of time.

You put in many years of avoiding adult life and prolonging adolescence, then commit to a career you have no real idea about. When I thought I might want to be a lawyer, I worked for a law firm and was firmly told by many lawyers that this is the worst job ever. When I thought I wanted to be on the news, I became a news reporter and learned why the news structurally has to be terrible. You learn more by doing.

Of course, that’s coming from a guy who hasn’t gone to graduate school. I still think though, that if you are lost, or unsure, the general best bet is to say yes to lots of opportunities and ditch the ones you hate. You will get somewhere by staying in motion, and learn more things.