Refactored #150: “Octo-Kimono” On this episode of Refactored… Chris has been demoted! He explains how he fell from supreme executive to mere sea urchin. Chris rants about AWS. Those unreliable, gaslighting sons of… well, he has a bit of a strong reaction to some recent challenges. Frank corroborates: Digial Ocean (as a proxy for one of a dozen diff…

Refactored #149: “WP Engine SHALL NOT Pass” On this episode of Refactored… NIST SP 800-63B-4 is out, and Chris couldn’t be happier. They have now officially barred password rotations (along with some other super great updates)! Seriously, Chris is like, too excited by this. Frank brings the story about the (now legal and very public) battle between…

Refactored #148: “DevOps: The Third Silo” On this episode of Refactored… The guys discuss the evolution of DevOps Still a philosophy. Still not a job title. But also, now definitely a job title. Danger zone: Did we just create a new silo? That would be… not great. Why do people elect .NET for web dev? The guys are baffled. Comment: “Serverless soun…

Refactored #147: “Pro Consoles: Nothing to See Here” On this episode of Refactored… Chris becomes a camera snob while Frank warns against combination appliances. Nothing CEO Carl Pei issues Return-To-Office mandate; publishes on LinkedIn. It’s impassioned It sounds logical It’s unsubstantiated TLDR: GTFO Are smartphones commoditized? Are “Pro” cons…

Refactored #146: “Procedural Justice” On this episode of Refactored… Chris has a new GPT power use case. It’s not new, and it’s not his, but he pretends like it is. The guys avoid a longer-form discussion about popular game dev algos, like Perlin Noise and Voronoi Diagrams. Frank brings up Pandora (yeah, it’s still a thing) and the guys talk ML “fi…

Refactored #145: “Skibidi Rollbacks” On this episode of Refactored… Chris grouses about his Logitech BRIO. Decent camera, until the autofocus goes haywire. The guys talk M&A: Elgato, Corsiar, and Origin PC. AI hype: Chris brings a stupid story about “AI” being shoved into toothbrushes. “Move fast and break things”: A debate. Also: do you actually b…

Refactored #144: “Ethics in 4K” On this episode of Refactored… Frank just can’t seem to win with his new streaming setup. It’s 2024, should 4K really be this hard? The guys admire VoiceMeeter, the kitchen sink of audio (for windows). Robin Williams approved! Chris explains how fickle users are with new systems - even when they are Provably better™ …

Refactored #143: “21 Parameter Salute” On this episode of Refactored… The guys kick off with (probably the final) update on the CrowdStrike debacle. Spoiler: the proximal issue is code coverage, but the real villain is the lack of staged rollouts. External Technical Root Cause Analysis - PDF warning Is this a story of swiss cheese failure, or syste…

Refactored #142: “Certified Paranoia Engineer” On this episode of Refactored… Surveillance capitalism: Is your phone listening to you? No. It’s not. But it doesn’t need to. Chris goes ona mini-rant about misdirected paranoia. The guys debate possible legal culpability for ClownStrike following their epic foible. Frank takes a more measured stance (…

Refactored #141: “Gone Fishin' for BSODs” On this episode of Refactored… Azure goes down, but no one seems to care after CrowdStrike breaks the world. The guys talk at length about the dangers of monoculture. Frank reminisces about the Winchester Mystery House, drawing a parallel to Google’s cobbled-together cloud services. Frank’s fishing analogy …

Refactored #140: “Streaming Interviews” On this episode of Refactored… Frank has a new streaming setup in anticipation of the upcoming WoW expansion. The guys talk about the accessibility of streaming and how kids are responding/adapting. Ghost Jobs: the next scourge we have to combat? Seriously? Like we don’t have enough nonsense in the market alr…

Refactored #139: “Independently Procrastinating” On this episode of Refactored… Frank built a patio and now his back hurts. The American Dream! Happy Independence Day! The guys banter about the often-overlooked intelligence and skill required in blue-collar work. Frank channels his inner Mike Rowe, but both champion the trades. Frank rants about De…

Refactored #138: “Perplexfully Agile” On this episode of Refactored… Bitcoin. Why in the fundamentals is it hovering right around $69,420? (nice) Agile is dead! Everything is a lie! Agiles projects fail almost 3x more! The guys demolish this BS article. Frank emphasizes that Agile principles are often misinterpreted, leading to unnecessary complica…

Refactored #137: “Job Search: The Next Generation” On this episode of Refactored… The guys dive into the hilarity that is r/LinkedInLunatics. For example: someone complaining about applicatns using AI to complete mindless tasks. Frank suggests a quick sanity check on potential employers, but Chris says anything over five minutes is (likely) excessi…

Refactored #136: “Ball-Curious Coffee Badging” On this episode of Refactored… Chris reveals his long-standing “ball curiosity” and finally takes the plunge into the world of trackballs. Frank, however, maintains his dignity and sticks with a traditional mouse. Frank introduces the latest buzzwords in the remote work lexicon: “quiet quitting,” “coff…

Refactored #135: “Fiber Fiasco” On this episode of Refactored… Chris gets entangled in a suburban standoff where HOAs and ISPs play hot potato with his Internet dreams. Logitech, once a name synonymous with quality peripherals, now hocking an “AI” mouse. For real. Ansible and Pulumi pick up steam. No one loves Chef anymore. Terraform is still a thi…

Refactored #134: “Standard Issue Hostility” On this episode of Refactored… American Kennel Club makes a mockery of their trademark. Frank explains. Chris explains why he’s ruined his life. Again. Yet Another Email Migration. Gonna hashtag #YAEM for next time. Moves back to QWERTY because he loves the pain. The guys have a good debate over standards…

Refactored #133: “Helldevins 2: The Electric Intelligoo” On this episode of Refactored… Devin was a lie. Can’t make this stuff up. The guys eat humble pie, admitting their miscall on AI’s immediate threat to software engineering jobs. Helldivers 2 storms gaming, leaving Chris ever FOMOd. The pick of the week is the Makalu Max from Mountain. … and m…

Refactored #132: “SCANdelous calculus” On this episode of Refactored… Chris' newest billion dollar idea: empowering despots with AI. Frank doesn’t even like GPS-monitoring. Frank’s WoW team achieves a milestone! He and his raiding group are among the top 0.19% on the new content. The guys virtually drool over Helldivers 2 while Chris admits he’s to…

Refactored #131: “Supply Chain Shenanigans” On this episode of Refactored… The XZ Utils library was compromised. Guys, this could have been very bad. The guys talk supply chain security — the weak[est?] point in your infrastructure? Frank makes a bold cliam; apparently “too many” is more than “some.” Breaking mathematical discoveries like this, you…

Refactored #130: “Jesus 2.0” On this episode of Refactored… Frank introduces a concept he is calling “Jesus 2.0 Projects” Projects that will solve everything™… once (if?) they ship. Projects that take real testicular fortitude to launch. Projects that also take real courage to terminate if they languish. Are executive sponsors to blame? Chris rumag…

Refactored #129: “World of WarCAP” On this episode of Refactored… MongoDB. The wrong choice for your website, but thankfully at least it’s “Web Scale”. Chris rants. Hard. Postgres has “inexact” numerics. Today Chris learned. NewSQL lets you pretend to break the CAP Theorem for your ACID RDBMS. Frank has a bone to pick with Blizzards implementation …

Refactored #128: “Jobs Destroyed or Prevented” On this episode of Refactored… It was Pi Day! The guys… well, the guys basically just complain. Devin exists now. The guys debate whether “he” (is that misgendering?) will replace you. Chris claims peak mania, and Primeagen has some great commentary. Frank points towards the… uh… bold? stupid? boring? …

Refactored #127: “Gandalf on a T-Rex” On this episode of Refactored… The guys debate compenastion transparency, but not the way you think. Should managers hold comp info? Um, duh. What are we even doing here? Should companies be fully comp-transparent? That’s more complex. “At will” employment is the only will, per the guys. Chris has an exposed ne…

Refactored #126: “Self-Promoting Class Suits” On this episode of Refactored… Chris struggles with self-promotion. Frank says “just have confidence.” They fight. “Get me somebody! And get me somebody while I’m waiting!” Interesting analogy - how often do you turn into the Hulk? Wyze breach. People… don’t put cameras in your bedroom. Chris doesn’t bu…

Refactored #125: “If It Ain’t AI, We Don’t Want None” On this episode of Refactored… Chris has a gripe with the Apple Magic Mouse - the USB-C charging port is still on the bottom? The guys talk about removable batteries and the Right to Repair. Ubiquiti is… ubiquitous. Frank wonders to what degree “AI” will terk ‘em jerbs in the gaming industry. Th…

Refactored #124: “Friction Ain’t Free” On this episode of Refactored… Chris discovers another Biz Dev Dark Pattern: service cancellation requiring a conversation with a human rep, only to be greeted by a chatbot. Thanks, Sirius XM. Who wants to pay to create and maintain proper Personas, anyway? The guys debate. Features vs benefits - what are you …

Refactored #123: “You’re a Mercenary” On this episode of Refactored… Frank demonstrates Harvard Business Review has their heads so far up their isn’t unequivically perspicacious. The guys clown on their article, Research: The Growing Inequality of Who Gets to Work from Home. Dum da-da-dum dum DUH! TLDR; the whole article is insipid pablum. Chris to…

Refactored #122: “Russ Hashimoto Gained a B” On this episode of Refactored… StarTech.com isn’t so bad after all, turns out. Chris really likes their 12U Open Rack. Mitchell Hashimoto leaves Hashicorp. The guys agree - this is not a coincidence. HCL. Love it or hate it. Hate it but gotta use it, says Github’s state of open source report. Russ Hannem…

Refactored #121: “Mungers Three Rules” On this episode of Refactored… StarTech.com exists (little did Chris know). Also, don’t buy their USB-C KVMs. Charlie Munger asserted three rules for career satisfaction: Don’t sell anything you wouldn’t buy yourself. Don’t work for anyone you don’t respect and admire. Work only with people you enjoy. Crypto i…

Refactored #120: “Business Development Dark Patterns” On this episode of Refactored… Chris buys too many new servers. His advice: avoid eBay. Everyone rants. Frank about YouTube, Chris about cable. Enshittification is real, friends. Chris mints “Biz Dev Dark Patterns” and rampant capitalism ensues. Odyssey of the Mind - pretty cool. Destination Ima…

Refactored #119: “Avoid Cyber Bikeshedding” On this episode of Refactored… The guys talk about variable naming. Great content! Frank recounts his recent talk: Avoiding Cyber Bikeshedding (see below) Chris has a spicy take on “shift left” everywhere. Frank thinks testing - get this - is actually helpful. You believe this guy? “Yes and [go f*** yours…

Refactored #118: “Self-Hosting: It Sucks” On this episode of Refactored… The guys serve up a fresh and timely takedown of… EA? And Comcast? From like, a decade+ ago? Lit. What’s in your home network? Plex is… not The Way anymore. (check out Jellyfin) Chris explains (poorly, I might add) about yak shaving - seemingly useless prerequisite tasks. Obli…

Refactored #117: “Security Is A Group Exercise” On this episode of Refactored… Chris won’t stop talking about garlic-stuffed olives? wtf is that about anyway? Michael Gerber enters the chat as the The E-Myth: Revisited is brought up yet again. RFC for “SHOULD,” “MAY,” “MUST,” etc. discussed. You’re a grown-ass adult. Act like it! Great advice to li…

Refactored #116: “You Aren’t The Customer” On this episode of Refactored… Slack dies the “UI Refresh” death. A rant by Frank while Chris goes off an Apple Music. Scope Creep Abstinence 101: “Just Say No” Chris doesn’t like Big™ things. They become self-centered. Old men yell at clouds! Chris fails the Password Game realtime. The pick of the week is…

Refactored #115: “Deployment Schmeployment” On this episode of Refactored… Have you heard of our Lord and Savior, Titanium? (I’m not even going to link to the clowns in Cupertino.) Cisco buys Splunk. For Billions. With a B. Twenty-eight of them, in fa8ct. Twenty-eight billion dollars. That’s 28,000,000,000 United States greenback monies. The guys d…

Refactored #114: “Inmates Running the Asylum” On this episode of Refactored… Can/should everyone learn from how GitLab handles their handbook]? Chris admires “project bootstrap” moments (GitLab hosting GitLab, GCC compiling GCC, etc.) IDEs… are they all they’re cracked up to be? Chris and Frank debate. Cursor looks pretty cool. It’s VS Code, but no…

Refactored #113: “Fork It” On this episode of Refactored… Hashicorp rugpulls the MPL for BSL Pikachu shocked face Same script as Elastic Co. Stay away from AGPL WTFPL is pretty cool OpenTF is a new fork, predictably. The guys wrestle with the age-old topic… is software fundamentally difficult to monetize? Chris wants hot tubs full of naked people w…

Refactored #112: “She Goes to Another Office” On this episode of Refactored… Frank points out that Amazon relies on “serendipity” for office return. Yeah… it’s that dumb. And then they doubled down! Chris slices his tin foil pretty thick, thinks Private Equity is the evil mustache behind the RTO push. The argument against remote work has collapsed.…

Refactored #111: “Curiosity Over Time” On this episode of Refactored… The guys absolutely fawn over the GitLab Handbook. Have you seen this? Pull/Merge Requests (Perg Mullquests?) are discussed. Ryan used me as an object. “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” … and much more! Don’t be shy! Reach out at feedback@ref…

Refactored #110: “Hair Mods” On this episode of Refactored… Chris is still addicted to Factorio, and Frank to Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Are room temperature superconductors (LK-99) now a reality? No. No they’re not. But a girl can dream. What is your, or your Ken’s, job? Chris and Frank’s jobs are computer. The pick of the week is bar shampoo (y…

Refactored #109: “The Fair Use Show” On this episode of Refactored… Frank brings a new kind of return-to-office discussion: “bring in the nuance” different people think differntly *gasp* not everyone has the same preferences *audible confusion* inexperienced employees have unique needs. Well… ok… maybe that’s actually a good point. This just in: Ch…

Refactored #108: “Generative AI” On this episode of Refactored… Nerds are very excited about the recently announced detection of background gravitational waves, showing evidence for much lower frequency waves than are possible with LIGO. Frank doesn’t care because his car still doesn’t fly. Reddit does stupid things, claim users, moderators, and ap…

Refactored #107: “Industrial Dysfunction” On this episode of Refactored… Frank is giving a con talk (Cyber Bikeshedding: The industry has lost the ball, how you can get it back) in Maryland on October 19th! The guys talk about interviews - as a candidate, what are “good” (for some definition of the term) questions to ask? compensation turnover cult…

Refactored #106: “Which Episode Is It?" On this episode of Refactored… Ring gets slammed by the FTC. The guys discuss VC motives. Chris has a hot take (surprise, surprise). The guys discuss information security, society, and the public interest. Who is responsible for security, anyway? Frank brings an article including intern advice from a CEO. … a…

Refactored #105: “AI: Killing pilots and taking jobs” On this episode of Refactored… Frank gets rejected by his safety school, goes on to study basket weaving. Or at least that’s what Chris heard… we’ll never know for sure. Chris isn’t scared of AI. Should he be? Simulated AI-piloted drone decides to target it’s hanlder in predictable and hilarious…

Refactored #104: “Build vs Buy” On this episode of Refactored… Chris - visionary thought leader that he is - complains about his smartphone while insulting modern chemists. The guys recommend use of a password manager: Bitwarden, 1Password, etc., doesn’t matter, just use one ya bum. Should you build or buy your next solution? Glad you asked! The gu…

Refactored #103: “Scared? Lazy? Stupid?" On this episode of Refactored… Chris really is reporting live from the brink of sanity this week. Should we order a wellness call or just take away his vim? Frank makes some good points about BS-o-meter calibration. The guys complain about finding the delicate balance of under- vs over-reacting as a leader. …

Refactored #102: “Focus: Sponsored by Big Seltzer” On this episode of Refactored… Correction: Copilot uses Codex, not GPT. Did you know Chris uses vim? Focus & simplicity go hand in hand. The guys break it down. It’s about understanding the assignment. Chris really contrives an analogy of team dynamics in OOP terms. It’s… a bit painful. Hey - Chris…

Refactored #101: “Microservices Suck” On this episode of Refactored… Frank argues that Microsoft is the best… because they’re consistenly poor. The logic kinda hurts Chris' brain, but also works, oddly. It’s a strange world we live in. The guys talk about microservices. Do you want to build them? Probably not. But! They are web scale (NSFW)… so… ya…