Recent Articles

Discussion Guide: More than a Glitch
Discussion Guide: More than a Glitch
Jan 26, 2025 · 8 min read

A guide with discussion prompts for Meredith Broussard's More than a Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias in Tech.


Automatic Audit Logging with PostgreSQL Triggers
Automatic Audit Logging with PostgreSQL Triggers
Dec 12, 2024 · 10 min read

You can create an automatic audit log of changes to a table's rows by using functions, triggers, and a second table.


An Effective How-To Guide Template
An Effective How-To Guide Template
Dec 11, 2024 · 8 min read

Having a template when writing technical how-to guides can increase clarity and therefore usability.


Reliably Detecting Command Existence in Bash
Reliably Detecting Command Existence in Bash
Dec 7, 2024 · 4 min read

You'll find quite a few different methods suggested on the internet, and they all have their own problems.


Heimdall: Attentive's Event Tracing Platform
Heimdall: Attentive's Event Tracing Platform
Aug 28, 2024 · 13 min read

This article was originally posted on the Attentive Tech Blog.


Quickly Pin Python Package Versions
Quickly Pin Python Package Versions
Mar 6, 2024 · 5 min read

Pinning package versions is important for reproducible builds and saving future you from headaches.


Resetting the Working Directory on Shell Script Exit
Resetting the Working Directory on Shell Script Exit
Mar 5, 2024 · 3 min read

Sometimes you need to change the working directory in a shell script. You should take care to reset it back.


Amortize Your Learning by Writing How-To Guides
Amortize Your Learning by Writing How-To Guides
Mar 4, 2024 · 6 min read

The time required to learn something new can be large, but you can make that cost worth it by teaching it to others.


Automate Your macOS Default Settings
Automate Your macOS Default Settings
Feb 18, 2024 · 7 min read

You can use built-in CLI tools to apply your preferred macOS settings.


Discussion Guide: The Staff Engineer's Path
Discussion Guide: The Staff Engineer's Path
Nov 7, 2023 · 7 min read

A guide with discussion prompts for Tanya Reilly's The Staff Engineer's Path.


Discussion Guide: The Unicorn Project
Discussion Guide: The Unicorn Project
Nov 6, 2023 · 8 min read

A guide with discussion prompts for Gene Kim's The Unicorn Project.


Use GitHub Actions Timeouts to Protect Your Budget
Use GitHub Actions Timeouts to Protect Your Budget
Nov 5, 2023 · 4 min read

The default job timeout of 6 hours is unreasonably long.