PS:| ludic.mataroa.blog
A few days ago, I was presented with an article titled “My AI Skeptic Friends Are All Nuts” by Thomas Ptacek. I thought it was not very good, and didn't give it a second thought. To quote the formidable Baldur Bjarnason:| ludic.mataroa.blog
Note: This is an edited re-post of something I wrote in 2019 on a now-defunct blog, apparently a month before I started my first job in tech. I need to reference it in a future post. As a result, it is a little bit different stylistically from my current writing. I hope you enjoy it anyway!| ludic.mataroa.blog
The steps in this guide have generated A$1,179,000 in salary (updated 13th April, 2025), measured as the sum of the highest annual salaries friends and readers have reached after following along, where they were willing to attribute their success actions in here. If it works for you, email me so I can bump the number up.| ludic.mataroa.blog
I.| ludic.mataroa.blog
Mecatol Rex.| ludic.mataroa.blog
Why do I bother getting angry about software?| ludic.mataroa.blog
It is 9:59 AM in Melbourne, 9th October, 2024. Sunlight filters through my windows, illuminating swirling motes of dust across my living room. There is a cup of tea in my hand. I take a sip and savor it.| ludic.mataroa.blog
With the decision to focus on our consultancy full-time in 2025, my time as an employee draws to a close. My attitude has become that of an entomologist observing a strange insect which can miraculously diagnose issues, but only if the diagnosis is "you weren't Agile enough". My rage has quickly morphed into relief because this is, broadly speaking, the competition.| ludic.mataroa.blog
I gave you the chance of aiding me willingly, but you have elected the way of pain!1| ludic.mataroa.blog
This blog did so many hits last week that the host platform experienced timeouts. I've been invited onto podcasts, and offered both small technical projects and journalism work, of all things. It was a crazy time. But the internet moves on, as it always does, and I am left, as we all always are, to figure out what to write about next.| ludic.mataroa.blog
The recent innovations in the AI space, most notably those such as GPT-4, obviously have far-reaching implications for society, ranging from the utopian eliminating of drudgery, to the dystopian damage to the livelihood of artists in a capitalist society, to existential threats to humanity itself.| ludic.mataroa.blog
A few weeks ago, I popped open the Y-Combinator application form and saw that one of the only things they ask for is a story about hacking a non-technical system. Well, I don't really have a reason to beg for money, lacking an unprofitable idea to beeline for an IPO1 with, but I did find myself really wanting to write about this. Starting with all the hacking I did at university.| ludic.mataroa.blog
A few months ago, I wrote about saving my employer about half a million dollars by clicking a few buttons in Snowflake. In it, I expressed a lot of cynicism around the likelihood of my employer rewarding me. I had reached out to the most senior person in my organization outside of the executive heading our department to ask for more money, and received total silence in response for several weeks.| ludic.mataroa.blog
There are a few things that inspire deep revulsion in me. The episode of Star Trek: Voyager I just watched was pretty gross. I definitely saw some pretty bad roadkill on my daily walks during the Covid lockdowns. But nothing - nothing - comes close to the white hot fury that radiates from me the moment someone suggests plugging a spreadsheet into some sort of automated process.| ludic.mataroa.blog
It is a cold Anzac day in Melbourne, and I am brooding.| ludic.mataroa.blog
Last week, I received the following invitation to a compulsory on-site meeting, following management's repeated engagements with some sort of Agile shaman.| ludic.mataroa.blog
We need to talk about the kind of person that loves "flexible" schemas, and why I am unable to disclose what I will do the next time I see one without going on a watch list.| ludic.mataroa.blog
This is the view from my window at this second.| ludic.mataroa.blog
The most talented data engineer I know, and my first manager, is a man that loves cooking. I mean, you might think you love cooking, but this guy loves cooking. The most excited text message I received this year was from him, proudly sharing the goddamn analytics on the heat distribution of chicken in his oven with his newly imported thermometer. We're talking about a culinary madman, capable of anything. The first book he gave me was not remotely related to any technical stack we ran, but wa...| ludic.mataroa.blog
I saved my company half a million dollars in about five minutes. This is more money than I've made for my employers over the course of my entire career because this industry is a sham. I clicked about five buttons.| ludic.mataroa.blog
This year, I've attended my first two large tech conferences. One was hosted by a trendy database vendor, and the other was a general tech conference in a non-hub that no one should know about. Despite some highlights, I would describe both experiences as "grotesque", "troubling", and "oily". Or, to quote a friend upon reporting in:| ludic.mataroa.blog
With God as my witness, the next son of a bitch to mention Agile is going to get hurled into the ground so hard that I'm going to publish a seismology paper in Nature with the data.| ludic.mataroa.blog
Last week, I had a fascinating conversation with a reader around frustration and unhappiness at work. Much of it was totally obvious to both of us, but it occurred to me that this probably isn't to everyone, which is why almost all of my colleagues (in very cushy, non-stressful jobs) nonetheless need therapy. And if it isn't obvious to everyone, it's worth writing about.| ludic.mataroa.blog
Post-mortem| ludic.mataroa.blog