Latest Posts
Software Engineering Job Titles Explained
Reading Time: 4 minutesRanks in software engineering are defined by job titles that vary from company to company and are meant to offer a clear career ladder. The landscape can be confusing. There are no industry standards for what each title means. The same title might mean something completely different in different organizations….
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19 Types of Developers Explained
Reading Time: 6 minutesThe software development landscape changes constantly. New areas of specialization, technologies, and methodologies pop into existence every few months, forged by the relentless innovation of the software industry. With it, terms to describe specialized types of developers become part of the unofficial industry lingo and show up in job ads and…
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Charlottesville and a dark Doodle Tuesday
Reading Time: 1 minuteA dark doodle for a dark moment. Today’s Doodle Tuesday is dark. I drew it about a year ago, but it is appropriate after this long and tragic weekend. I spent it watching the news and tweets about the events in Charlottesville. I spent it looking at the photos and videos of…
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How Google Leadership Failed Women in Tech
Reading Time: 4 minutesGoogle loves a good pedigree. James Damore, the developer at the center of the huge anti-diversity manifesto controversy that got him fired from Google, is an educated person with a solid academic pedigree. According to his LinkedIn profile, he holds a BS in Molecular Biology, Physics and Chemistry from the…
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Culture Wars, Politics, and Diversity in Silicon Valley
Reading Time: 7 minutesThe {culture wars, politics, and diversity} soup. I have come across an article in the New York Times titled “The Culture Wars Have Come to Silicon Valley.” The author – Nick Wingfield – in 24 words goes from talking about James Damore, the Google employee who was recently fired for…
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15 Best Ways to Achieve Flow
Reading Time: 7 minutesThat amazing feeling. Imagine that you are immersed in a task, completely absorbed by the process of executing it. Your mind is one with what you are doing. Complexities of the task are clear and all aspects seem connected in well-understood ways. Your body appears to be floating and only…
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Doodle Tuesday: Artifacts
Reading Time: 1 minuteShape and themes are recurring; they evolve, a little at the time. In this straightforward and quick doodle, there are some hints of sculptural drawings and cornucopias, two of my recurring mental abstractions.
Anti-Diversity, Google, and Lack of Good Judgment
Reading Time: 7 minutes[This post was featured on the Huffington Post] Many people who are successful show lack of good sense or judgment. There are many examples. A recent one is Travis Kalanick, the ex-CEO of Uber. His list of actions showing a lack of good judgment is impressive. You can find a…
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The Fallacy of Extreme Tech Interviews
Reading Time: 6 minutesLife of a software engineer. It must have been more than 15 years ago. I was working as a developer for a company in Seattle. I spent my days writing code, designing technical solutions, leading projects, and interviewing job applicants for engineering positions. I loved my job. The interviewing part…
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How to Find a Good Mentor
Reading Time: 5 minutesCan you answer the question “Who is your mentor?” If you can’t, this post is for you. Why Do You Need a Mentor? The answer is simple. You need a mentor because you don’t know everything. You can’t. However, somebody with more experience than you, somewhere out there, knows what…
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