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I recently had to go through the mandatory annual training around ethics, security, and handling sensitive data. Like many companies, this training comes in the form of pre-built SCORM courses. I received the following question from KnowBe4, specifically in handling sensitive data. I was going to answer this question by choosing “Find a location with greater privacy and communicate using encrypted messages on a secure connection”. I was so close to clicking the Submit button. Then at the last moment, I changed my mind and chose “Tell the office that for security concerns the call will have to wait until you get to your hotel room.” I clicked the Submit button and waited for the result. ...

The previous part in this series introduced ChatGPT and explained my motivations for testing it out. One of the coolest features of the tool is that it will remember previous topics in the conversation and apply them in future prompts. So you don’t need to get it right the first try, you can rephrase and try again. Since I learn best when the knowledge is applied, I asked ChatGPT to help me with a problem I was struggling with for the past 4 days. I was trying to come up with an elegant solution to using AWS application load balancers to process HTTP requests with Lambda functions, and I wanted to use the Go programming language. However, doing HTTP path multiplexing is something that the standard Go muxer is not good or performant at. For instance, the default muxer can handle GET /blog perfectly, but it cannot handle GET /blog/:id because it doesn’t know how to parse path parameters. I could start parsing those path parameters with regex, but then I’d start having regex problems, and I’m certain it wouldn’t be performant or battle-tested. That’s where muxers like Gin or Chi or Gorilla come in. I wanted to write the Lambda function to pass the ALB request to a Gin backend and have it mux for me. The problem was that constructing an HTTP response struct by hand is not something people do, and I was struggling to write it properly. I tried using net/http/httptest/ResponseRecorder and it worked, but that struct is for unit testing and it felt wrong to adapt it for – what I would expect to be – production code. None of my solutions worked, so I asked ChatGPT to help me. ...

I love computer technology. All aspects of it. That’s why it has been my career choice my entire adult life, even though my jobs have changed over time (software developer, operations, systems administration, security, etc.). To an outsider, computer technology is akin to magic. But for those of us in the industry, it is our job to understand how that magic works. It is not a stretch to say that demystifying magic is a shibboleth within the tech industry. It’s also why there’s not a lot of new technology that feels magical, like it did when I was just starting in this industry. ...

As we kick off 2023, the technology industry is grappling with an unprecedented wave of layoffs, leading to a phenomenon that I am coining the “2022 Tech Bust.” This crisis has sparked comparisons to the Dotcom bubble burst of the early 2000s, reminding us of the importance of learning from the past to navigate a sustainable path forward. I want to examine the factors contributing to the current situation, reflect on lessons from the Dotcom era, and discuss potential solutions for a more stable and inclusive tech industry. ...

As I see it, there are 3 ways for a company to increase its profits. Get more customers. Reduce expenses. Squeeze more money from existing customers. The first is the most obvious, but some companies have either terrible marketing departments, ineffective sales departments, or unproductive engineering departments (these are the three major profit centres). The second is always useful to be doing, not just when a company wants growth. But there are limits to this endeavour because only so much “fat” can be trimmed before it hits muscle, and eventually bone. Companies must have some expenses in order to make revenue and, just like humans, a little fat helps to cushion–or protect from–adverse situations. ...

These are the songs I was listening to this year. Hello Good Morning - Remix – Diddy - Dirty Money, Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross – Hello Good Morning (Remix) Love Is Gone – David Guetta, Chris Willis, Fred Riester, Joachim Garraud – Pop Life Dance Off – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – This Unruly Mess I’ve Made Todo De Ti – Rauw Alejandro – Todo De Ti Danza Kuduro – Don Omar, Lucenzo – Meet The Orphans Travesuras - Remix – Nio Garcia, Casper Magico, Ozuna, Wisin & Yandel – Traveuras (Remix) Heaven Help – Lenny Kravitz – Greatest Hits Stupidisco – Junior Jack – Trust It What I Want – Bob Sinclar – Soundz of Freedom (When You Gonna) Give It Up to Me – Sean Paul, Keyshia Cole – (When You Gonna) Give It up to Me Walkin’ On The Sun – Smash Mouth – Fush Yu Mang Santeria – Sublime – Sublime In Da Getto – J Balvin, Skrillex – JOSE The Bomb! (These Sound Fall into My Mind) – The Bucketheads – All In The Mind Addiction – Kanye West – Late Registration Breathe – The Prodigy – The Fat of the Land Hermetico – Balkan Beat Box – Nu Med Again – P-Lo, E-40, LaRussell – Again Do It To It - Tiesto Remix – ACRAZE, Tiesto, Cherish – Do It To It Truth Untold – Odds – Good Weird Feeling 21st Century (Digital Boy) – Bad Religion – Against The Grain Savior – Rise Against – Appeal To Reason Bring Me To Life – Evanescence – Fallen BOOM – Tiesto, Sevenn – BOOM Bad Girls – Donna Summer – Bad Girls My Prerogative – Bobby Brown – Don’t Be Cruel Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) – Kate Bush – Hounds of Love Big Energy – Latto – Big Energy I Fink U Freeky – Die Antwoord – Ten$ion Midnight Train to Georgia – Meg Birch – 50s 60s and 70s Covers Fancy – Iggy Azalea, Charli XCX – The New Classic And that’s it for 2022! See you next year! ...

These are the songs I was listening to this year. Major Tom - Coming Home – Peter Schilling – The Different Story Take Me Home – Phil Collins – No Jacket Required Teenage Dirtbag – Wheatus – Wheatus Like Gold – Loud Luxury, Frank Walker, Stephen Puth – Like Gold Stressed Out – Twenty One Pilots – Blurryface Save Your Tears – The Weeknd – After Hours Just as Much – Delaney Jane, Virginia To Vegas – Somewhere Else Astronaut in The Ocean – Masked Wolf – Astronaut in The Ocean MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) – Lil Nas X – MONTERO Take on Me – a-ha – Hunting High and Low Kiss Me More – Doja Cat, SZA – Kiss Me More High Hopes – Panic! At The Disco – Pray for the Wicked Your Woman – White Town – Women in Technology Sour Times – Portishead – Dummy Windowlicker – Aphex Twin – Windowlicker Hobo Humpin’ Slobo Babe – Whale – Hobo Humpin’ Slobo Babe Disco Body Parts – Yung Bae, AWOLNATION – Disco Body Parts Party Like It’s Your Birthday – OMI, Studio Killers – Party Like It’s Your Birthday By Your Side – Calvin Harris, Tom Grennan – By Your Side Bad Habits – Ed Sheeran – Bad Habits Peaches – Justin Bieber, Daniel Caesar, Giveon – Justice Peaches (Remix) – Justin Bieber, Usher, Snoop Dogg, Ludacris – Peaches (Remix) Leave Before You Love Me – Mashmello, Jonas Brothers – Leave Before Your Love Me Head & Heart – Joel Corry, MNEK – Head & Heart Baby, I’m Jealous – Bebe Rexha, Doja Cat – Better Mistakes Tick Tock – Clean Bandit, 24kGoldn – Tick Tock My Head & My Heart – Ava Max – Heaven & Hell Living On Video – Trans-X – Living On Video Backwards – Alexander Stewart – Backwards Bonfire – Childish Gambino – Camp Love Again – Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia Take My Breath – The Weeknd – Take My Breath STAY – The Kid LAROI, Justin Bieber – STAY Don’t Wanna Fall in Love – Jane Child – Jane Child Rumors – Lizzo, Cardi B – Rumors I Don’t – Johnny Orlando, DVBBS – I Don’t Homicide – Logic, Eminem – Confessions of a Dangerous World Unbelievable – EMF – Schubert Dip Take You Dancing – Jason Derulo – Take You Dancing Hold On – Justin Bieber – Justice The Night Begins to Shine – B.E.R. – The Night Begins to Shine Come And Get It – John Newman – Revolve Land of Confusion – Genesis – Invisible Touch Love On A Real Train – Tangerine Dream – Dream Sequence And that’s it for 2021! See you next year! ...

These are the songs I was listening to this year. Run – Joji – Run You Can Call Me Al – Paul Simon – Graceland Total Eclipse of the Heart – Bonnie Tyler – The Very Best of Bonnie Tyler Touch Me – Samantha Fox – Touch Me Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now – Starship – No Protection Call On Me – Litany – Call On Me Roses - Imanbek Remix – SAINt JHN, Imanbek – Roses Say So – Doja Cat – Hot Pink Like That – Doja Cat, Gucce Mane – Hot Pink Secrets – Regard, RAYE – Secrets I’m Just Feelin’ (Du Du Du) – Imanbek, Martin Jensen – I’m Just Feelin’ (Du Du Du) Savage Love (Laxed - Siren Beat) – Jawsh 685, Jason Derulo – Savage Love Supalonely – BENEE, Gus Dapperton – STELLA & STEVE Break My Heart – Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia Stunnin’ – Curtis Waters, Harm Franklin – Stunnin' In Your Eyes (Remix) – The Weeknd, Doja Cat – In Your Eyes Savage Remix – Megan Thee Stallion, Beyonce – Savage Remix Tinted Eyes – DVBBS, 24kGoldn, blackbear – Tinted Eyes Party All the Time – Eddie Murphy – How Could It Be Moonlight Desires – Gowan – Great Dirty World (You’re A) Strange Animal – Gowan – Stange Animal Even Grable – Treble Charger – Self Sick of Myself – Matthew Sweet – 100 % Fun All Over You – Live – Throwing Copper I Got A Girl – Tripping Daisy – I Am An Elastic Firecracker Galaxie / Hello, Goodbye – Blind Melon – Soup Levitating – Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia Hallucinate – Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia Malibu – Kim Petras – Malibu Summer Feelings – Lennon Stella, Charlie Puth – Summer Feelings Stunnin’ – Will Berger – Stunnin' Cool – Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia No Smoke – LU KALA – Worthy My Fit – Mad Circuit – Airhead Experience – Victoria Monet, Khalid, SG Lewis – JAGUAR And that’s it for 2020! See you next year! ...

2020 has been quite a tough year for human relationships. I’m naturally inclined towards recharging my batteries alone, but even I have been feeling the effects of a lack of human relationships. One area that has surprisingly benefited from our physical distancing measures is during mentoring. I have been mentoring UBC Computer Science undergraduates for about 15 years now. My role in the relationship is to help students understand what the tech industry is like once they graduate, what types of jobs are available, and what life is really life. This year, 2020, was the first time it was brought online. ...

I love efficient meetings. I love meetings that were scheduled for 30 minutes but instead take 8 minutes. One of the tricks I use to hold efficient meetings is to put topic tags into each agenda. Oh, and the other trick I use is to always have a meeting agenda. Friends don’t let friends accept meeting invites without an agenda! An agenda topic tag consists of a bullet point about the topic, prefixed with who brought up the topic and a quick word on what can be expected. For instance, this is an agenda entry with a topic tag: ...