OpenTelemetry in a script tag

When I make a website, even a toy one, I want to get telemetry. Has anyone visited it? Did my JavaScript crash? Little things. I want to send this with OpenTelemetry, because it’s the industry standard and all. Currently (November 2023), that requires a whole JavaScript build chain to package up the libraries etc etc. … Read moreOpenTelemetry in a script tag

Software is Complicated, Given Enough Time

this is complicated at some level, but I don't want to look at it that closely

I often say that software these days is complex. But is it? In Cynefin terms, it’s more like an airplane than a family: it’s complicated. Given enough expertise, all the code, lots of data, and enough time, we could analyze the causal structure of any particular system behavior. We can reason about complicated systems. When … Read moreSoftware is Complicated, Given Enough Time

Working Skillfully in Complexity (for VDDD)

For: [Virtual open Space] Systems Thinking and Skillful Interaction 20 September, 2023 Keynote by Jessica Kerr, jessitron.com These are my notes, publishing for people who were there (or anyone who wants to read them) Working Skillfully in Complexity Plan: about half on the technical side of sociotechnical systems, half on social. I can’t define what … Read moreWorking Skillfully in Complexity (for VDDD)

Testing an OpenTelemetry Collector deployed as a Daemonset in Kubernetes

TL;DR: skip to this readme for the easiest path When you’re running applications in Kubernetes, and you’re using OpenTelemetry for observability, then one recommended practice is to run the OpenTelemetry Collector on each node in your cluster. Then each of your applications can send telemetry data (traces, metrics, logs) to that local collector. To run … Read moreTesting an OpenTelemetry Collector deployed as a Daemonset in Kubernetes

A Developer’s Starting Point for Integrating with LLMs

Here’s what I know so far, from a lay-developer’s perspective (no AI or ML experience). So you’re a coder, and you’ve been asked to integrate with ChatGPT. What do you need to know? ChatGPT is an example of a Large Language Model (LLM). LLMs are a kind of machine learning (call it AI if you … Read moreA Developer’s Starting Point for Integrating with LLMs

Participation without complicity

“I participate in this system, so I’m complicit in it.” All the cruelty, the racism, the poverty, the abuse of power in US capitalist patriarchy–this is my fault too? The guilt can crush us. TL;DR: no, it isn’t our fault. It is ours to do something about, while participating. Participate in the system to fill … Read moreParticipation without complicity

No More Feedback (book summary)

We’re talking here about “feedback” as commentary from people you work with, telling you what you could do better—in particular, 360° Feedback as part of a performance review. I’ve capitalized “Feedback” in this post in reference to this particular use of the word. The benefits of Feedback are purely mythological. Carol Sanford, No More Feedback … Read moreNo More Feedback (book summary)