Captain's Log, Entry 006. My wife tested it. She found a bug in the first five minutes. Then I spent two deploys fixing the wrong thing before I stopped and actually looked. What shipped The "session" concept -- the spine of the 1.0 plan. Instead
Captain's Log, Entry 005. AmaQuiz is UAT-ready. Not "nearly." Not "extended again." On the day I said. The engine has worked for weeks. The thing that hadn't was me. My failure mode isn't building, it's closing -- I
Captain's Log, Entry 004. Came back after three weeks away to "just run through the project." Left with a v1 that's actually ready to hand to a real person. First lesson arrived fast: "deployed" is not "delivered." I rotated the
Captain's Log, Entry 002. Tonight I built the publishing pipeline for this very log. Meta, I know. The problem I've tried "content series" before. LinkedIn articles about what I'm building. They start strong, then fizzle. The reason is simple: writing is a
Captain's Log, Entry 001. I'm building a thing. It's called AmaQuiz — "I'm a gonna quiz you!" The problem I wanted my Grade 11 son to practise maths and reading regularly. Not cramming before exams. Not "let me open that
Captain's Log, Entry 003. Shipped cartridges, found a scoring bug, and broke production -- all in the same session. Cartridges are selectable content packs -- think inserting a cassette. Ask the quiz host what you want to study, and he switches decks. Moved the question bank into DynamoDB,
Growing up, I loved stories like Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and Aladdin. The rags-to-riches tale, intermingled with some magical ingredient, immediately transported me, in both space and time, to another world. Over my career, that imagination has inspired many of my best solutions and designs. I think Robert
I must admit that with the recent wave of Artificial Intelligence (AI), I have felt overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with the fantastic things AI can do - from suggesting my next meal to folding proteins (which I’m still trying to wrap my head around). Overwhelmed by the vast number of AI
My first computer was an 80286. It was 1992. Although it was second-hand, it was a significant purchase for my folks and I clearly remember the 7 monthly instalments. I only wish they knew what an exponential return on investment that has been. Since that moment, I have been absolutely
Over the last year, I've had the opportunity to head up the Architecture capability for a flagship program of a large FSI. Leading a team of Engineers to deliver complex technical solutions is not new territory. The challenges are well-defined, the results, achieved with lines of code, are
Over the last 30 years, the “Amazonian” approach has evolved and cured. Although many approaches such as working backwards or two-way-door decisions may seem painfully obvious, these form the foundation of how the behemoth operates and moves forward so efficiently. In this piece, I highlight a few of the differences
This article discusses the advantages architects can gain by remaining technically hands-on. It is aimed at architects, both new, veteran or in-between, who might believe their focus should only be on the "bigger picture," leaving coding or building to developers. By the time you complete this piece, you