Published inTom Harrison’s Blog·PinnedManaging Microservices: Tyranny of Too Many ChannelsHow do we manage the explosion of signals that arise when we implement a microservice architecture? Multiplying microservices, Slack channels, Asana boards, alerts, Cloud services and all the rest make keeping track of anything, and certainly everything impossible. Some get attention, some don’t. Every new thing requires effective communication that…Microservices12 min readMicroservices12 min read
Published inTom Harrison’s Blog·PinnedBash: Don’t Do ThisBash scripts can be terse and clever, or as dumb as a stump. I vote for dumb, as long as your intent is clear. Terraform wrapper script I have been refactoring a script we use to run Terraform code in our build system. One bash function scans a bunch of files from a…Bash3 min readBash3 min read
Jul 26S3 ACLs: How AWS Solves Problems WrongS3 was the first service that eventually became AWS. Many early decisions of the mid-2000’s were poor. One, the idea that all S3 buckets, everywhere, across all accounts have unique names is one of them. Another was access control lists (ACLs), in which it made sense to someone that each…AWS5 min readAWS5 min read
Jun 18People are poor for lots of reasons, just as people are rich for lots of reasons.Pretending Not To Be Poor2.1K23Michelle TeheuxThere's a lot of evidence to suggest that there's only one reason the poor are poor and the rich…There's a lot of evidence to suggest that there's only one reason the poor are poor and the rich are rich: the rich have the power to ensure this fine arrangement remains intact. It's easy to remain ignorant of the hardship of not being white, rich, male, and educated. And…1 min read1 min read
Jun 18… of this ivory tower having serviced all vending machines just one day before the battle broke out. This morning I breakfasted on a granola bar, a Three Musketeers and a Diet Coke. God willing, we will prevail before I am forced into the horrors of Slim Jims and root beer.Scenes From A Grammar War2.2K47Michelle TeheuxSadly had to stop reading as it's clear that you are not an Oxfordian Commaist.Sadly had to stop reading as it's clear that you are not an Oxfordian Commaist. I have no doubt your sect has righteous goals, admirable intent, and skill. Underlying our broader cause we must obey a canon of fundamental truths. :-)1 min read1 min read
Jun 9Save Us From The 150% Engineers!624Dr Stuart WoolleyI have worked with several who are variants of the Rock Star you describe -- not the…I have worked with several who are variants of the Rock Star you describe -- not the self-promoters, rather just the Holy Ones of the organization who are chosen to Design and Create All That Is New because they are the Holy Ones, or HOs. All deliverables by the anointed…1 min read1 min read
Jun 9The Beginning Of The End2516Dr Stuart WoolleyI felt every ounce of your article, to the core.I felt every ounce of your article, to the core. Many companies describe two "tracks" of career growth for engineers: "management" , and "architecture" (or "site engineer" or numerous other titles). But all these roles end up in meetings. Theoretically, meetings or other similar work is good because it results…3 min read3 min read
Published inTom Harrison’s Blog·Jun 8Good Environments == Good SecurityMy former company had what might be called state-of-the-art environments, a fully functional CI/CD pipeline, and all of the coolest bits and parts that the geekiest geek could want. …Security4 min readSecurity4 min read
Published inTom Harrison’s Blog·Jun 7Learned another couple languages in the last six monthsA little C, some C++, lots of Java, lots of Ruby, lots of shell, some Scala then a bunch of DSLs and other sorta-languages. Last year, I learned Terraform, Kubernetes, ArgoCD, and a bunch of AWS additions … but it was a slow year since I was also learning my…Software Development2 min readSoftware Development2 min read
Published inTom Harrison’s Blog·Updated Jun 7Don’t Be Innovative. KISS or Die.I have spent a lot of my career in startup software companies, but only about half of them were really startups when I joined, with the rest being in some state of trying to become “post-startup”. Startups succeed on speed and ability to respond to change, and this necessarily leaves…Startup5 min readStartup5 min read
