Eli W-H
@tarwn.bsky.social
Technical leader, solving hard problems in interesting markets to help real people get better at their thing. I collect interesting titles (CTO, Chief Architect, Cofounder, Head of Product Dev) and deliver [products|teams|marketing|...].
Reposted by Eli W-H
Here is a very current example:
a lot of younger people have never done «trunk based development», they think GitHub PRs are the epitome of software development. But PRs were made to support a workflow that makes 100% sense in open source, but often just adds «quality theatre» for team development.
a lot of younger people have never done «trunk based development», they think GitHub PRs are the epitome of software development. But PRs were made to support a workflow that makes 100% sense in open source, but often just adds «quality theatre» for team development.
November 17, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Here is a very current example:
a lot of younger people have never done «trunk based development», they think GitHub PRs are the epitome of software development. But PRs were made to support a workflow that makes 100% sense in open source, but often just adds «quality theatre» for team development.
a lot of younger people have never done «trunk based development», they think GitHub PRs are the epitome of software development. But PRs were made to support a workflow that makes 100% sense in open source, but often just adds «quality theatre» for team development.
I'm glad "2 pizza teams" was one of the things we took from early Amazon management style and not "don't forget to look under your chair to see if you have been reassigned today".
November 14, 2025 at 11:42 AM
I'm glad "2 pizza teams" was one of the things we took from early Amazon management style and not "don't forget to look under your chair to see if you have been reassigned today".
Reposted by Eli W-H
And it is infinitly cheaper to fix security bugs BEFORE you ship rather than after"
November 14, 2025 at 3:09 AM
And it is infinitly cheaper to fix security bugs BEFORE you ship rather than after"
Sometimes people think I'm joking when I say I break software by using it.
Today my RSS reader says I have -1 items waiting. One interpretation is that I've read so much this morning that I looped back around into the negatives. Or maybe I tapped the "Mark as Read" with the wrong finger...
Today my RSS reader says I have -1 items waiting. One interpretation is that I've read so much this morning that I looped back around into the negatives. Or maybe I tapped the "Mark as Read" with the wrong finger...
October 31, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Sometimes people think I'm joking when I say I break software by using it.
Today my RSS reader says I have -1 items waiting. One interpretation is that I've read so much this morning that I looped back around into the negatives. Or maybe I tapped the "Mark as Read" with the wrong finger...
Today my RSS reader says I have -1 items waiting. One interpretation is that I've read so much this morning that I looped back around into the negatives. Or maybe I tapped the "Mark as Read" with the wrong finger...
Slowly working on a new web architecture post (or maybe series, tbd). Diagram that started out being part of a discussion about how to thoughtfully design your architecture somehow ended up instead being a commentary about a few common architecture patterns.
October 26, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Slowly working on a new web architecture post (or maybe series, tbd). Diagram that started out being part of a discussion about how to thoughtfully design your architecture somehow ended up instead being a commentary about a few common architecture patterns.
Look, if you're on us-west-2 and it has problems, then you have to explain a million times to everyone that it's not your app it's AWS.
If, however, you're on us-east-1, you don't even have to respond. They already know (and your ticket system is probably down anyway).
If, however, you're on us-east-1, you don't even have to respond. They already know (and your ticket system is probably down anyway).
October 20, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Look, if you're on us-west-2 and it has problems, then you have to explain a million times to everyone that it's not your app it's AWS.
If, however, you're on us-east-1, you don't even have to respond. They already know (and your ticket system is probably down anyway).
If, however, you're on us-east-1, you don't even have to respond. They already know (and your ticket system is probably down anyway).
Reposted by Eli W-H
Three months late, but I really liked this one: rebels.cs.uwaterloo.ca/papers/tse20...
Authors claim that type annotations catch ~15% of bugs found in the wild, with breakdowns of type of bug, how long they estimated annotations would take, etc.
Authors claim that type annotations catch ~15% of bugs found in the wild, with breakdowns of type of bug, how long they estimated annotations would take, etc.
September 20, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Three months late, but I really liked this one: rebels.cs.uwaterloo.ca/papers/tse20...
Authors claim that type annotations catch ~15% of bugs found in the wild, with breakdowns of type of bug, how long they estimated annotations would take, etc.
Authors claim that type annotations catch ~15% of bugs found in the wild, with breakdowns of type of bug, how long they estimated annotations would take, etc.
The 1s problem with established companies running teams "like a startup" is most of the folks you're saying "be a startup" to don't have the experience of running a successful startup, they're going to copy the memes.
The 2nd problem is lack of direct contact with the market to learn differently.
The 2nd problem is lack of direct contact with the market to learn differently.
September 9, 2025 at 11:02 AM
The 1s problem with established companies running teams "like a startup" is most of the folks you're saying "be a startup" to don't have the experience of running a successful startup, they're going to copy the memes.
The 2nd problem is lack of direct contact with the market to learn differently.
The 2nd problem is lack of direct contact with the market to learn differently.
Woke up to an email that one of my kids has been suspended from the Playstation network again. I'm fairly certain it was a retaliatory report. The process to get any info on what he was suspended for or to have it re-evaluated is "no, we don't make mistakes".
August 10, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Woke up to an email that one of my kids has been suspended from the Playstation network again. I'm fairly certain it was a retaliatory report. The process to get any info on what he was suspended for or to have it re-evaluated is "no, we don't make mistakes".
Reposted by Eli W-H
The S in MCP stands for security
August 2, 2025 at 5:29 AM
The S in MCP stands for security
Reposted by Eli W-H
1.6 million people showed no statistical increase in 29 adverse events after mRNA covid vax
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... #MedSky
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... #MedSky
Safety of JN.1-Updated mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines
This cohort study investigates the association between booster vaccinations containing the JN.1 lineage and 29 serious adverse events in Denmark.
jamanetwork.com
July 31, 2025 at 1:41 AM
1.6 million people showed no statistical increase in 29 adverse events after mRNA covid vax
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... #MedSky
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... #MedSky
Reposted by Eli W-H
The Smithsonian Institution is not backing down on its stance that Congress has no legal authority to mandate Discovery's removal, and they're bringing the receipts.
www.space.com/space-explor...
www.space.com/space-explor...
'The Smithsonian Institution owns the Discovery.' Museum resists Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' plan to move space shuttle to Houston
"This is not a transfer — it's a heist."
www.space.com
July 30, 2025 at 8:51 PM
The Smithsonian Institution is not backing down on its stance that Congress has no legal authority to mandate Discovery's removal, and they're bringing the receipts.
www.space.com/space-explor...
www.space.com/space-explor...
Agreed. I also found that many investors (and engineers) wanted to hear a lot about the prompt engineering or custom models, and less about all the engineering around it.
From the outside the LLM is magic that makes the system work, but on the inside it's the total opposite.
From the outside the LLM is magic that makes the system work, but on the inside it's the total opposite.
Admittedly I would probably say this, but I thought this article was a very insightful analysis of the problems with building AI agents, based on real experience.
(Jury currently out on the _solutions_ but at least the problems seem clearly outlined.)
utkarshkanwat.com/writing/bett...
(Jury currently out on the _solutions_ but at least the problems seem clearly outlined.)
utkarshkanwat.com/writing/bett...
Why I'm Betting Against AI Agents in 2025 (Despite Building Them)
I've built 12+ production AI agent systems across development, DevOps, and data operations. Here's why the current hype around autonomous agents is mathematically impossible and what actually works in...
utkarshkanwat.com
July 22, 2025 at 10:55 AM
Agreed. I also found that many investors (and engineers) wanted to hear a lot about the prompt engineering or custom models, and less about all the engineering around it.
From the outside the LLM is magic that makes the system work, but on the inside it's the total opposite.
From the outside the LLM is magic that makes the system work, but on the inside it's the total opposite.
Trying to decide if dropbox having a drip campaign that includes emailing users with 15+ year old accounts with tips like "Take dropbox to the next level by creating folders" is poorly thought out or really, really clever.
July 13, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Trying to decide if dropbox having a drip campaign that includes emailing users with 15+ year old accounts with tips like "Take dropbox to the next level by creating folders" is poorly thought out or really, really clever.
Azure portal: "We know you're using one of the cheapest possible tiers that doesn't even get pennies worth of SSL cert support, but you should consider adding frontdoor because you receive traffic from *handwave* lots of places"
July 3, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Azure portal: "We know you're using one of the cheapest possible tiers that doesn't even get pennies worth of SSL cert support, but you should consider adding frontdoor because you receive traffic from *handwave* lots of places"
Using a CLI tool that has AI generated usage examples of a command when I misuse it.
I'm all for using "AI" (LLMs) where it helps, but there are a ton of CLI base libraries that solve this already and won't suggest 2 (of 3) commands that ignore the required options (aka: don't work).
I'm all for using "AI" (LLMs) where it helps, but there are a ton of CLI base libraries that solve this already and won't suggest 2 (of 3) commands that ignore the required options (aka: don't work).
July 3, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Using a CLI tool that has AI generated usage examples of a command when I misuse it.
I'm all for using "AI" (LLMs) where it helps, but there are a ton of CLI base libraries that solve this already and won't suggest 2 (of 3) commands that ignore the required options (aka: don't work).
I'm all for using "AI" (LLMs) where it helps, but there are a ton of CLI base libraries that solve this already and won't suggest 2 (of 3) commands that ignore the required options (aka: don't work).
Things I've broken today:
- Apple Family: a success dialog near the end shows up with an accessibility token instead of the actual message
- Apple Music: Signing in as a child account for the first time fails with "Cannot complete purchase" error (grant purchase sharing briefly to get past it)
- Apple Family: a success dialog near the end shows up with an accessibility token instead of the actual message
- Apple Music: Signing in as a child account for the first time fails with "Cannot complete purchase" error (grant purchase sharing briefly to get past it)
June 8, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Things I've broken today:
- Apple Family: a success dialog near the end shows up with an accessibility token instead of the actual message
- Apple Music: Signing in as a child account for the first time fails with "Cannot complete purchase" error (grant purchase sharing briefly to get past it)
- Apple Family: a success dialog near the end shows up with an accessibility token instead of the actual message
- Apple Music: Signing in as a child account for the first time fails with "Cannot complete purchase" error (grant purchase sharing briefly to get past it)
What a strange way to do business.
Needed to contact playstation support today, and they have really gone out of their away to avoid talking to people.
Lots of digging to find a "Contact" button, that just leads back to a kb. Phone number (also hard to find) "closed" w/ no posted hours. Just wild.
Needed to contact playstation support today, and they have really gone out of their away to avoid talking to people.
Lots of digging to find a "Contact" button, that just leads back to a kb. Phone number (also hard to find) "closed" w/ no posted hours. Just wild.
June 7, 2025 at 6:44 PM
What a strange way to do business.
Needed to contact playstation support today, and they have really gone out of their away to avoid talking to people.
Lots of digging to find a "Contact" button, that just leads back to a kb. Phone number (also hard to find) "closed" w/ no posted hours. Just wild.
Needed to contact playstation support today, and they have really gone out of their away to avoid talking to people.
Lots of digging to find a "Contact" button, that just leads back to a kb. Phone number (also hard to find) "closed" w/ no posted hours. Just wild.
Reposted by Eli W-H
Cato has published my comprehensive review of the ~240 Venezuelans the US government renditioned 2 months ago to Salvador’s notorious prison. We identified FIFTY who came legally, never violated any immigration law, but are imprisoned at the US government’s request and at US taxpayer expense.
May 19, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Cato has published my comprehensive review of the ~240 Venezuelans the US government renditioned 2 months ago to Salvador’s notorious prison. We identified FIFTY who came legally, never violated any immigration law, but are imprisoned at the US government’s request and at US taxpayer expense.
I'm tempted to create a "state of AI/autocorrect" website with only one metric:
"Has Outlook stopped suggesting I sign my emails with Elizabeth yet?"
"Has Outlook stopped suggesting I sign my emails with Elizabeth yet?"
May 15, 2025 at 11:38 AM
I'm tempted to create a "state of AI/autocorrect" website with only one metric:
"Has Outlook stopped suggesting I sign my emails with Elizabeth yet?"
"Has Outlook stopped suggesting I sign my emails with Elizabeth yet?"
Reposted by Eli W-H
New from 404 Media: the Signal clone the Trump administration uses was just hacked. TeleMessage makes a modified version of Signal that archives messages for government agencies, Waltz used it. A hacker got some users' messages, group chats. Hugely significant breach www.404media.co/the-signal-c...
The Signal Clone the Trump Admin Uses Was Hacked
TeleMessage, a company that makes a modified version of Signal that archives messages for government agencies, was hacked.
www.404media.co
May 4, 2025 at 10:01 PM
New from 404 Media: the Signal clone the Trump administration uses was just hacked. TeleMessage makes a modified version of Signal that archives messages for government agencies, Waltz used it. A hacker got some users' messages, group chats. Hugely significant breach www.404media.co/the-signal-c...
Reposted by Eli W-H
Dr. Josephine Baker fought for milk testing in lower Manhattan over a century ago, where babies were 7 times more likely to die than WWI US soldiers in the trenches. Milk was often adulterated with chalk and germ-y water. Today the FDA stopped testing milk due to lack of staff. Shame on you, Trump.
April 22, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Dr. Josephine Baker fought for milk testing in lower Manhattan over a century ago, where babies were 7 times more likely to die than WWI US soldiers in the trenches. Milk was often adulterated with chalk and germ-y water. Today the FDA stopped testing milk due to lack of staff. Shame on you, Trump.
AT&T sent me my daily "Your 5G wifi radio isn't on, download this app..." email.
Good news! Today's email adds an unsubscribe link! (probably because I turned off the 2.4 yesterday)
Bad news! the link doesn't work (no NS record)
So close.
Maybe I should send them a DNS setup email daily.
Good news! Today's email adds an unsubscribe link! (probably because I turned off the 2.4 yesterday)
Bad news! the link doesn't work (no NS record)
So close.
Maybe I should send them a DNS setup email daily.
April 12, 2025 at 6:34 PM
AT&T sent me my daily "Your 5G wifi radio isn't on, download this app..." email.
Good news! Today's email adds an unsubscribe link! (probably because I turned off the 2.4 yesterday)
Bad news! the link doesn't work (no NS record)
So close.
Maybe I should send them a DNS setup email daily.
Good news! Today's email adds an unsubscribe link! (probably because I turned off the 2.4 yesterday)
Bad news! the link doesn't work (no NS record)
So close.
Maybe I should send them a DNS setup email daily.
AT&T is sending me a daily email to let me know my 5G wifi radio is turned off with instructions on how to turn it on and no unsubscribe link.
Fine.
Let's see what turning off the 2.4 does, since I didn't mean for ti to be one anyway.
Fine.
Let's see what turning off the 2.4 does, since I didn't mean for ti to be one anyway.
April 11, 2025 at 6:19 PM
AT&T is sending me a daily email to let me know my 5G wifi radio is turned off with instructions on how to turn it on and no unsubscribe link.
Fine.
Let's see what turning off the 2.4 does, since I didn't mean for ti to be one anyway.
Fine.
Let's see what turning off the 2.4 does, since I didn't mean for ti to be one anyway.