Being somewhat of an AI sceptic, but having to deal with the advent of AI tooling and its impact on engineering productivity is weird. As is often the case, the other day I was engaging in some AI fear mongering when chatting with my colleague Kate. We got into it, especially the concerns about the future of junior software engineer roles. She made a valid point that many other industries have already navigated significant shifts due to automation (Kate - you legend).| Ruslan Osipov
As someone who works at a large corporation - Google - and someone who always thought working at Google would be really cool, I put a lot of my self-worth into my job. When things go well at work - I’m doing well. When they’re going awry - my well-being follows.| Ruslan Osipov
Alongside a personal blog, I also run a small gaming blog - and that involves inserting and captioning a large number of screenshots into my posts. Specifically, generating meaningful alt text for images can be a bit of a pain - it’s the right thing to do, since it allows vision impaired users to understand what’s in the picture - but it tends to be tedious to describe that there’s “a person with a sword in the foreground with mountains and a giant radiant tree in the background”. W...| Ruslan Osipov
Most blogs and websites have RSS feeds, and so does mine - you can see it in the main menu (or maybe you’re already reading this through an RSS reader). It’s a simple, powerful way to view content without having to directly visit another website. For consumers, it’s a fantastic tool, giving them control over their content consumption.| Ruslan Osipov
It’s time to write more about my adventures. I’ve been traveling and living in my car for nearly a year now, mostly full-time (excluding hotels on infrequent business trips, occasional friends’ couches, or AirBnB a few times I was sick or wanted a home). I’d love to share what I’ve learned over the past year.| Ruslan Osipov
Redirecting…| rosipov.com
No, this article isn’t AI-generated nor is it AI-assisted. And you’ll be confident that’s the case by the end of it, because it meanders, makes random detours and goes on tangents, and doesn’t really go anywhere. But a tiny part of my soul’s in it, which I think is enough to make this a hopefully engaging piece of writing.| Ruslan Osipov
When I was younger (but not that young, this was just a decade ago) I converted my Prius into a camper and toured the United States for about a year. It was a really fun experience, and you can read some more about some of my reflections on the experience here.| Ruslan Osipov
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Essentialism, a book that encapsulates the simple yet powerful notion of “do fewer things, do them well.” There’s not much else to it. While this philosophy is straightforward, it’s the way Greg McKeown presents and reinforces this message that makes the book truly compelling.| Ruslan Osipov
Dear reader, you’re in luck. I was going to spit out more uneducated opinions about how AI might or might not destroy art, but instead I’ll be talking about technocratic totalitarianism, and having said opinions. As always, thanks to Patrick for getting the thought train started through his thoughtful email forwards.| Ruslan Osipov
After a multi-year hiatus, I resumed blogging. It’s nice: I really enjoy getting my thoughts out, finding the right words, and eventually getting a message from someone saying that what I wrote resonated with them. It’s fun to practice a skill, and it’s engaging figuring out what I should say, and most importantly - what I shouldn’t. It’s a fun process.| Ruslan Osipov
The Internet whispers a constant message: you should be doing more. I remembered a video I stumbled upon a while back. Some productivity influencer, barely old enough to grow a mustache, was detailing their morning routine. They were up at 3 am, of course. By the time the sun rose, they’d read an entire book, run ten miles, and meditated on a mountaintop while simultaneously coding a new killer app, all fueled by a kale smoothie that cost more than my lunch.| Ruslan Osipov
“Why did we decide to put our money in that fund?” After a decade of investing, my wife and I found ourselves asking that very question more than once. To combat this kind of financial amnesia, we’ve collected tools along the way - spreadsheets, check-ins, reviews, and of course, the investment policy statement - the definitive answer to “why” and the blueprint for all our future decisions.| Ruslan Osipov
This piece is definitely going to be niche, but I’ll be talking about the intersection of Warhammer 40,000 and the rise of Artificial Intelligence in our workspaces. Don’t worry, I’ll provide the needed background, and I’m hoping my passion for the subject will keep your eyes from glazing over if you don’t much care for wargames. This is still mostly an excuse to geek out about a made-up sci-fi faction I really like, so buckle in.| Ruslan Osipov
This is a natural follow-up to last week’s “I don’t want a large audience”.| Ruslan Osipov
I’ve had this blog for 13 years now. I started it as a way to publish my programming journey, as I was learning C, Python, and tools like the command line or Vim. Since then, I’ve matured, both as a software engineer and as a person. Different things interest me these days. I’ve been managing engineers for some time and have things to say that I haven’t yet shared. I’ve also gotten into personal finance, traveled and lived out of my car for a year, and I’m even starting to enjoy e...| Ruslan Osipov