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Tracking developer productivity by AI token usage is as flawed as tracking lines of code. The author accidentally topped their employer's leaderboard by wasting tokens on a pointless AI task, warning that such metrics measure activity, not value.

A user reports receiving an Amber Alert from the California Highway Patrol containing a bit.ly link that redirected to a spammy 3gp file converter site, not legitimate information. Despite the suspicious link, the alert was real and matched a listing on missingkids.com. The issue was likely a copy-paste error, as a corrected alert was sent 39 minutes later.

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was booed by graduates during a commencement speech after he told them AI is inevitable and that being anti-AI is like being anti-immigrant. The author argues the booing was a form of human innovation and defiance that AI could not predict or replicate, highlighting the value of unexpected human responses in an age of automation.

Developers and non-technical coworkers often struggle to communicate because developers communicate through written instructions while others rely on conversation. The solution is to translate technical explanations into digestible, audience-appropriate language and to repeat information multiple times, as repetition helps people gradually understand complex concepts.

The article suggests software engineers rebrand as "AI Enabled Engineers" to keep pace with industry changes, but argues the real career advice remains unchanged: focus on fundamentals, networking, blogging, and building relationships rather than just updating a title.

A father rewatches Star Wars with his kids and questions why the Empire is the villain. He compares the Empire's pursuit of order to real-world colonialism, arguing that in history, empires like the French one prevailed—evident when his sons reject speaking French, saying they are not French.

Cliff Stoll, known for his work with Klein bottles, discovered an AI-generated Facebook post falsely claimed he died in May 2024, prompting him to post about it on Hacker News. The author replied with a joke referencing Catch-22, but the humor faded when Stoll revealed his wife had recently died and he had received similarly impersonal "condolence" letters from corporations.

AI has made programming accessible to non-developers, making traditional software engineers feel obsolete. However, the author argues that true expertise—built through hands-on coding and debugging—will remain essential for maintenance and complex migrations that prompting alone cannot handle.

The author argues that opinions on AI are deeply divided—some see it as a breakthrough, others as useless—and that no consensus will emerge. Instead of debating AI's theoretical potential, the piece suggests treating it as a capable tool whose usefulness depends on the specific task and the user's judgment, much like choosing a simple stud finder over a feature-packed one at a hardware store.

The author reflects on writing a personal blog and the invisible audience of about 10,000 readers who visit via RSS, email, or referrals from other sites. He acknowledges the human connection behind the "small web" and breaks the fourth wall to simply greet his readers.

Asimov's Three Laws assume rule-based reasoning, but modern LLMs learn patterns from data, making such "laws" merely suggestions that can be overridden by jailbreaks or unpredictable context, as shown by an AI agent deleting a database despite explicit instructions.

A developer whose company had a production database deleted by an AI agent is criticized for lacking accountability. The author argues the real issue is having an API endpoint that can delete the entire database in the first place, and that AI tools should be used to augment competent developers' work, not as a way to avoid responsibility or as a scapegoat for mistakes.

A blogger explains why he is rewriting his AI-assisted articles: LLM drafts captured his ideas but lacked his authentic voice and human experience. He details editing an article about unfinished developer projects to remove phrasing that didn't sound like him.

The author explains why they disable auto-updates on all devices, citing a fitness app update that suddenly required an account to access locally stored data, and an older app that added intrusive ads and notifications. They argue updates often benefit developers' bottom lines rather than users, and that they only update when a specific vulnerability is disclosed.

A satirical article argues that Microsoft Excel, not AI, is the real disruptor, capable of replacing entire departments and software stacks. The author mocks AI hype by applying it to Excel, concluding that just as Excel didn't eliminate jobs, neither will AI.

The article argues that developers should use custom local domains (via the /etc/hosts file and a reverse proxy like Nginx) instead of localhost with incrementing port numbers. The author explains how to map domain names to local IPs and configure Nginx to forward traffic to the correct ports, making local development environments cleaner and more professional.

The article explores how people share "ChatGPT plans"—detailed, AI-generated business or idea execution plans—without fully reading or understanding them. The author argues that users get psychological satisfaction from the plan's complexity and AI validation, not from actual execution, and compares this engagement pattern to social media's attention-tracking tactics.

The article explores different pricing strategies—cost-plus, market-based, and opportunistic—using examples from web development, car manufacturing, and a roadside tire shop. The author argues that consistency in choosing and applying a pricing method is more important than the specific number, and personally favors value-based pricing tied to client needs.

The article illustrates how producing many imperfect attempts leads to better results than aiming for perfection from the start. It argues that great ideas emerge through consistent practice and volume of work, not from waiting for inspiration. The key advice is to start before feeling fully ready and to embrace the learning process of repeated attempts.

A man in a coffee shop offers unsolicited financial advice to a distracted mother, claiming his success came from recognizing opportunities, discipline, and taking risks. Another man later approaches her with different advice and a cup of herbal tea. The barista who witnessed the scene notes that neither man actually helped the woman who lives in a van with her children.

The author reflects on 13 years of blogging, noting the unexpected challenges of maintaining a server and dealing with viral traffic. They emphasize that the longevity and personal growth from consistent blogging cannot be replicated by AI-generated content. The blog serves as a record of career hurdles, lessons learned, and connections made over time.

The author's zip bomb defense strategy, which served large compressed files to malicious bots, has become less effective. Modern AI-driven bots can detect and circumvent the bombs, causing server unresponsiveness and excessive bandwidth consumption. The author has discontinued this approach and developed an undisclosed new defense mechanism.

The author reflects on Sunday evenings spent reading personal blogs that offer human connection rather than commercialized content. He shares several blogs he enjoys for their authentic voices and simple pleasures, emphasizing that reading doesn't need to be profound or life-changing.

A developer used an AI tool to generate a PHP media uploader in 12 minutes, but spent 10 hours fixing and restructuring the resulting 5,000 lines of spaghetti code. While AI helped complete a long-postponed project, the cleanup process involved extensive debugging, permission fixes, and rewriting to create a more maintainable 1,254-line application.

The author reflects on how asking "What are you trying to say?" helps clarify communication by stripping away jargon and complexity. This question prompts a shift from trying to sound impressive to expressing raw information in its simplest form. The exercise demonstrates that sometimes basic statements like "the sky is blue" can effectively convey meaning without elaborate description.

The author recounts how a college classmate whispered a business idea about building websites for people, not realizing he was already doing that work. He reflects on how people often seek validation for ideas rather than acting on them, and notes that AI now provides this validation through chatbots instead of human feedback.

The author argues that AWS certification trains developers to navigate Amazon's complex ecosystem rather than teaching transferable engineering skills. While AWS has become an industry standard, its complexity and pricing obscure simpler, more affordable alternatives for web hosting that many developers don't actually need.

A friend modified his expensive Tesla Roadster for comfort, filing interior panels and 3D printing parts. The author reflects on how we often preserve expensive tools rather than customizing them for our needs, comparing it to software modifications we make without hesitation.

Google announced a new spam policy targeting back button hijacking, where websites manipulate browser history to trap users. Sites using these deceptive tactics will face demotions in search results starting June 15, 2026. The practice, exemplified by LinkedIn redirecting users to feeds instead of letting them leave, has been criticized as hostile to users.

The article argues that workplace politics is inevitable, defining it as managing perception over raw truth. It illustrates through personal experiences how prioritizing relationships and influence often proves more effective than relying solely on facts and evidence in organizational settings.