The Maverick Debugger

(Est. Reading Time: 12 min) Look around. How many tech devices do you see? If you are nerdy like me, it might be a slightly higher than average number of devices. Smart TVs, the phone or pc you are reading this on, smart assistant speakers, gaming consoles, all of those are obvious ones. What about your car? Your lightbulbs? Oven? Smoke detectors? Check and check. Tech is everywhere, and more and more things are getting "smartified" each year. Who builds all that? Hardware people, software people, and a whole slew of supporting cast members. So tell me, when more and more of these tech things are going up, and more and more apps are getting created, and all these billion dollar investment deals keep happening to build the next breakout startup around AI, who is going to do all this? Well, if you said AI and a bunch of "vibe coding" non-developer types, you are very wrong. Those people smell success, but can't see the future problems. They don't understand t...

(Est. Reading Time: 5 min)   ( Don't have time to read? Listen to the Podcast version ) The higher the level of the role, the more that technical interviews start to become insulting. And now I cannot wait to read all of the comments explaining how wrong I am. I have over 9 years of Python programming experience, almost 10. Asking me to do a "coding challenge" is an insult to my experience and skill level. But I have to put up with it, because that is the unfortunate norm in Software Engineering today. To dig into this deeper, though, we need to talk about Software Engineers. An engineer is a problem-solver who applies scientific and mathematical principles to design, build, and optimize systems, machines, and processes that improve daily life. Whether inventing new technologies, refining existing ones, or ensuring safety and efficiency, engineers combine creativity, technical expertise, and strategic thinking to turn ideas into reality. What separates engineering discipl...

(Est. Reading Time: 3 min)      Have you ever done a test, like the kind of test that could change your life, and you don't get the results back for several days? Job hunting is like that, repeated weekly. You spend all week doing applications, interviews, studying, practicing, putting on the best performances while stressed out of your mind, and then pause on the weekend. And when you need a job, badly, and you don't want to stop working toward getting one, you've got to remember it's not a solo exercise. Not all silence is bad though. Glass half full, think of silence as not receiving a rejection email. It's still possible. They could still be moving forward with your candidacy. They might be still thinking about you, trying to get the stars aligned for you and the process they have for you. None of that is bad. That kind of "good" silence is still bad, though. Oh, the contradiction of it all! We know the obvious reasons why silence is bad: ghosted, they...