Random thoughts on software by Jouke Waleson, a Fractional CTO in NL. I help organizations in part-time to get the most out of their teams, tech and products while building my own software product.| blog.waleson.com
This is a short story about one of the stupidest things I ever did in my professional life, namely, dropping a physical server from the top ...| blog.waleson.com
Over the years I've noticed a pattern when I'm developing software. When faced with a huge backlog of things to pick up, I tend to go with t...| blog.waleson.com
Speed, I am Speed. -- Lightning McQueen| Software etc.
[ This is a part of "The Software That I Love", a series of posts about Software that I created or had a small part in ]| Software etc.
[ This is a part of "The Software That I Love", a series of posts about Software that I created or had a small part in ]| Software etc.
As of last year my wife manages her art framing shop in Soest. It's an interesting business and here's how we ended up owning it.| Software etc.
Here's a short story about how I learned to innovate (a bit more) in regulated industries.| Software etc.
I'm taking some time to recharge after struggling as a startup CTO for 5 years (with lots of ups and down). I have been working 40 hours a week in salaried positions from 2010 till 2023, and I decided to take it a bit easy. And with easy I don't mean to not work hard or to do simple work, but to not be 100% committed to a company for the long term.| Software etc.
For most of us, life is the easiest and most comfortable it has ever been in all of history. We have better healthcare than royalty had 100 years ago, we fly around the world for fun and all the information and entertainment we could ever want is at our fingertips. In most civilized countries there's even decent welfare systems for the have-nots.| Software etc.
Years ago I was a Product Manager of a product with lots of teething troubles. The Director of Support and I sat down from time to time to discuss the most urgent customer issues. One day he suddenly said, visibly annoyed, "I see that you're agreeing with me and writing down things in your notebook, but are you actually going to do something with it this time?" .| Software etc.
Weird thought of the day.| Software etc.
The podcast hype train passed me by until late 2018. I never understood it and thought it was some Apple specific thing. Then, one evening, on a flight from Amsterdam to Berlin, I thought "I'm too tired to work or read, but I can listen to an interesting story, let's give podcasts a try."| Software etc.
I've always been a straight shooter. Perhaps it's the Dutch culture or the protestant roots, but mystery, rituals and concepts annoy me. If a company can't say clearly what their product does, I am annoyed. I don't need you to tell me that my team will be 5% more effective, let me figure out myself how useful your product is on the merits of what it actually does.| Software etc.
My wife uses Windows and over the years I've helped her move things to new systems. Win8, 10 and now 11. With every upgrade the UI changes. Now I can't right click the bottom right corner anymore to open Task Manager. The UI feels "fresh" and up-to-date I guess, but does it really matter?| Software etc.
[ This is a part of "The Software That I Love", a series of posts about Software that I created or had a small part in ]| Software etc.
I "upgraded" my old Technics SU-VX700 amplifier a couple weeks ago. After 15 years of loyal service I wanted to switch to something that had digital inputs, was more energy efficient, and had a remote control. After some digging I found the Aiyima D03. It checked all the boxes + was tiny, had bluetooth and was and only 150 euros. I call it "upgraded" because the Technics was a beast of a Class AA (whatever that means) amplifier and probably very Hifi worthy, the D03 might be considered a down...| Software etc.
A bit over a week ago the rear light of my Cowboy v3 / C3 broke down. Everything else was fine.| Software etc.
[ this is a draft ]| Software etc.
[ This is a part of " The Software That I Love ", a series of posts about Software that I created or had a small part in ] 2016 - Mendix Clo...| blog.waleson.com
As I've written before , I've seen teams work in incredible burst of productivity. We achieved 10x productivity for a week or so at a time. ...| blog.waleson.com
Edit: since creating this post I've also created a video about this project on YouTube. See it below or jump straight into all the details below.| Software etc.
Last week I gave a 20 minute mini talk at M&I Partners in Zeist about the Future of Programming Systems, and how the work of architects and engineering teams will grow closer together in the future. I'm completely obsessed by this topic so I'm excited! Here is that talk expressed in a blog post, slightly modified based on some feedback and new thoughts.| Software etc.
Last year multiple companies asked me for advice. " We are evaluating this AI powered product, but do you think it makes sense at all? It se...| blog.waleson.com
Here's a wake-up call to all CTOs: AI programming tools are getting freaking amazing and if you don't allow your teams to use them somehow, ...| blog.waleson.com
[ This is a part of " The Software That I Love ", a series of posts about Software that I created or had a small part in ] 2015 - Buildpacks...| blog.waleson.com
A couple of years ago I was asked to give a conference talk about software security. Well, actually I wasn't really asked, my company bought...| blog.waleson.com