The archive

Things I have written,
mostly on purpose.

Short opinion takes and deep technical essays on software, strategy, and the mess in between. New posts appear here when I have something worth saying, not on a schedule.

Cover for Claude 4.8's best upgrade is that it admits when it's wrong
Quick Take 3 min

Claude 4.8's best upgrade is that it admits when it's wrong

Everyone's looking at the score charts. The part that actually matters is that the new Claude is better at admitting when its own work might be wrong.

Cover for Instagram should not be this fast
Technical 7 min

Instagram should not be this fast

Serving an Instagram post sounds simple. Doing it for ten people, then ten million, then for MrBeast, takes three different machines stacked on top of each other.

Cover for Apple has no answer to what Google just shipped
Quick Take 4 min

Apple has no answer to what Google just shipped

I spent a year not buying Meta Ray-Bans because Meta AI was the dealbreaker. Samsung and Google just shipped the alternative, and Apple does not have one.

Cover for Google teaches you how to AI-Optimise your site
Technical 8 min

Google teaches you how to AI-Optimise your site

Every consultant is selling llms.txt files, AI-specific schema, and content chunking as the new SEO meta. Google's official guide says none of that does anything. Here is what you actually edit on your site this week.

Cover for ISC2 is handing out a free cybersecurity certification, and it ends May 20
Quick Take 4 min

ISC2 is handing out a free cybersecurity certification, and it ends May 20

ISC2 is the body that runs the CISSP. They are giving away their entry-level certification, exam and training included, until May 20. The window closes in three days.

Cover for Claude released a FREE masterclass curriculum
Quick Take 3 min

Claude released a FREE masterclass curriculum

Anthropic published 18 free Claude courses, written and maintained by Anthropic. The bootcamps charging four figures a seat are reselling a worse version of the same material.

Cover for These are my top 5 takeaways from Anthropic Skilljar
Technical 7 min

These are my top 5 takeaways from Anthropic Skilljar

I used Claude almost daily for 1.5 years and was using maybe 20% of the product. The other 80% lives one layer below the chat window and the curriculum is what finally showed me where to look.

Cover for Writing code stopped being the job
Technical 7 min

Writing code stopped being the job

Stack Overflow lost 76% of its questions. 75% of new code at Google is now AI-generated. The job we used to call 'writing code' is not the job anymore.

Cover for Justfile is twelve lines and saves me hours a week
Technical 7 min

Justfile is twelve lines and saves me hours a week

A few lines of text per project, hours back every week. Justfile is the smallest tool in my stack and the one that pays the most.

Cover for Docker was never the hard part
Quick Take 4 min

Docker was never the hard part

I memorised Docker for two years in school and never actually learned it. Then a contract forced the gap into the open. The technology was not the problem.

Cover for Stop giving ChatGPT your biometrics
Quick Take 4 min

Stop giving ChatGPT your biometrics

A viral trend has people uploading their palm prints to ChatGPT for fake horoscopes. The same palm prints that unlock payment systems at every Whole Foods in America. This ends one way.

Cover for The Pixel 10 Pro is the first flagship I do not regret
Review 5 min

The Pixel 10 Pro is the first flagship I do not regret

I spent a decade buying mid-range phones because flagship features felt like a tax on gimmicks nobody uses. Five months with a Pixel 10 Pro and the math has stopped working.

Cover for This is why Astro.js should be your preferred tech stack
Technical 6 min

This is why Astro.js should be your preferred tech stack

Most frameworks ship a JavaScript runtime to render a page that is mostly text. Astro.js does not. That single decision is why your site will load faster, rank higher, and stop costing you in bundle size.

Cover for Claude Design is genuinely good but Google AI Studio still wins on the first prompt
Tools 4 min

Claude Design is genuinely good but Google AI Studio still wins on the first prompt

Anthropic finally shipped a design tool that does not produce the same website every time. Google AI Studio still makes a better first impression. Here is how I am using both.

Cover for How to deploy your custom website for FREE
Technical 6 min

How to deploy your custom website for FREE

One GitHub repo, one Cloudflare project, zero deployment scripts. That is the entire pipeline, and it has never let me down.

Cover for This is why I stopped using ChatGPT
Tools 3 min

This is why I stopped using ChatGPT

I use two LLMs every day. Gemini for speed, Claude for depth. The one most people default to did not survive the cut.

Cover for Anthropic built something they are afraid to ship
Quick Take 3 min

Anthropic built something they are afraid to ship

Anthropic says they built a model too powerful to release. If that sounds familiar, it is. Except this one actually found a 27-year-old security bug.