John Patterson
@jasper07.secondphase.com.au
"Such is life"
https://secondphase.com.au
https://secondphase.com.au
Looks like spring, feels like winter
September 15, 2026 at 8:49 PM
Looks like spring, feels like winter
"We believe that rigorous use of AI helps a company like ours accelerate development, delight customers, and go head to head with competitors with vastly more resources. We believe that using AI is not a replacement for skill and craft, but an amplification." Culture eats breakfast for strategy
I wrote a new piece yesterday, called "Confessions of an Unrepentant Slop Snob", about my escalating rage at AI-generated text.
It includes a framework for thinking about when AI involvement is fine -- just another tool -- and when it lands as a violation.
charity.wtf/p/confession...
It includes a framework for thinking about when AI involvement is fine -- just another tool -- and when it lands as a violation.
charity.wtf/p/confession...
Confessions of an Unrepentant Slop Snob
A framework for thinking about when AI involvement is additive or a violation
charity.wtf
September 14, 2026 at 10:23 PM
"We believe that rigorous use of AI helps a company like ours accelerate development, delight customers, and go head to head with competitors with vastly more resources. We believe that using AI is not a replacement for skill and craft, but an amplification." Culture eats breakfast for strategy
“Could you send me the prompt you used to create this email?”
Asking for the prompt is now the shortcut. The email is the long way round.
Asking for the prompt is now the shortcut. The email is the long way round.
September 14, 2026 at 10:11 PM
“Could you send me the prompt you used to create this email?”
Asking for the prompt is now the shortcut. The email is the long way round.
Asking for the prompt is now the shortcut. The email is the long way round.
Caught between Scylla and Charybdis
September 13, 2026 at 9:48 PM
Caught between Scylla and Charybdis
OH : “Projects die when they hit a deadline.
Products die when we treat them like projects.”
Products die when we treat them like projects.”
September 12, 2026 at 2:11 AM
OH : “Projects die when they hit a deadline.
Products die when we treat them like projects.”
Products die when we treat them like projects.”
If River Cartwright becomes the new James Bond, it would be a brilliant hat tip back to the slapstick Bond era, when Peter Sellers and Woody Allen were playing Bond.
From Slow Horses to 007. 😂
From Slow Horses to 007. 😂
September 11, 2026 at 2:31 AM
If River Cartwright becomes the new James Bond, it would be a brilliant hat tip back to the slapstick Bond era, when Peter Sellers and Woody Allen were playing Bond.
From Slow Horses to 007. 😂
From Slow Horses to 007. 😂
The Story of VS Code | Official Documentary
YouTube video by Visual Studio Code
youtu.be
September 10, 2026 at 3:10 AM
Reposted by John Patterson
"I don't know the answer myself, but I asked a blowhard I know and he took a wild guess, here's what he said: "
How I interpret pasted replies from an LLM in online conversations
How I interpret pasted replies from an LLM in online conversations
September 7, 2026 at 5:25 PM
"I don't know the answer myself, but I asked a blowhard I know and he took a wild guess, here's what he said: "
How I interpret pasted replies from an LLM in online conversations
How I interpret pasted replies from an LLM in online conversations
Reposted by John Patterson
Lex goes to DHH "I'm an introvert who doesn't like speaking" DHH "me too!!"
Meanwhile I'm half way through their 5 hour podcast that I can't listen to at 1.5X speed cause DHH already waxes lyrical at 2X speed
Meanwhile I'm half way through their 5 hour podcast that I can't listen to at 1.5X speed cause DHH already waxes lyrical at 2X speed
September 6, 2026 at 12:28 AM
Lex goes to DHH "I'm an introvert who doesn't like speaking" DHH "me too!!"
Meanwhile I'm half way through their 5 hour podcast that I can't listen to at 1.5X speed cause DHH already waxes lyrical at 2X speed
Meanwhile I'm half way through their 5 hour podcast that I can't listen to at 1.5X speed cause DHH already waxes lyrical at 2X speed
At SAP #SITSyd on Friday, I was talking with other industry veterans, lamenting that 30 years later salaries and rates haven't gone up.
We worked in tobacco, alcohol, building products, car manufacturing and steel.
Most have disappeared, moved offshore or been made uncompetitive.
We worked in tobacco, alcohol, building products, car manufacturing and steel.
Most have disappeared, moved offshore or been made uncompetitive.
September 6, 2026 at 12:18 AM
At SAP #SITSyd on Friday, I was talking with other industry veterans, lamenting that 30 years later salaries and rates haven't gone up.
We worked in tobacco, alcohol, building products, car manufacturing and steel.
Most have disappeared, moved offshore or been made uncompetitive.
We worked in tobacco, alcohol, building products, car manufacturing and steel.
Most have disappeared, moved offshore or been made uncompetitive.
'Mitchell and webb holy grail' share.google/J7wTXi4eDhL6... always makes me lol @mikedoyle.bsky.social
Mitchell and Webb - Holy Grail boot sale
share.google
September 5, 2026 at 9:05 PM
'Mitchell and webb holy grail' share.google/J7wTXi4eDhL6... always makes me lol @mikedoyle.bsky.social
@vishnandr.bsky.social and his colleague Abdel, demonstrating running local models and MCP with CAP, giving every developer a business case for upgrading their laptop #SITSYD
September 4, 2026 at 3:55 AM
@vishnandr.bsky.social and his colleague Abdel, demonstrating running local models and MCP with CAP, giving every developer a business case for upgrading their laptop #SITSYD
@marian.zeis.de walking us through his AI Journey (at 5:30am his time), so much has evolved in the last two years, who knows where we will be in another 2 years #SITSYD
September 4, 2026 at 3:52 AM
@marian.zeis.de walking us through his AI Journey (at 5:30am his time), so much has evolved in the last two years, who knows where we will be in another 2 years #SITSYD
Been over 8 years since I upgraded my laptop still running an XPS GTX 1050, thinking I'll wait for these RTX Sparks
Nvidia RTX Spark ‘Superchip’: The First AI PCs Are Here | WIRED share.google/OZJ7dE5SICal...
Nvidia RTX Spark ‘Superchip’: The First AI PCs Are Here | WIRED share.google/OZJ7dE5SICal...
We Just Got Our First Real Look at AI PCs With Nvidia’s RTX Spark ‘Superchip’
At IFA 2026, Nvidia and its partners showed off the first RTX Spark-powered laptops and mini PCs, designed to run AI models right on your computer.
share.google
September 3, 2026 at 11:51 PM
Been over 8 years since I upgraded my laptop still running an XPS GTX 1050, thinking I'll wait for these RTX Sparks
Nvidia RTX Spark ‘Superchip’: The First AI PCs Are Here | WIRED share.google/OZJ7dE5SICal...
Nvidia RTX Spark ‘Superchip’: The First AI PCs Are Here | WIRED share.google/OZJ7dE5SICal...
Researchers found AI-written CVs score higher when the reviewer is the same AI that wrote them.
So if AI writes the job description. AI writes the CV. AI screens the CV. And nobody in that chain grokked what the job actually is.
How do you stop the person who gets hired from producing work slop?
So if AI writes the job description. AI writes the CV. AI screens the CV. And nobody in that chain grokked what the job actually is.
How do you stop the person who gets hired from producing work slop?
August 27, 2026 at 3:48 AM
Researchers found AI-written CVs score higher when the reviewer is the same AI that wrote them.
So if AI writes the job description. AI writes the CV. AI screens the CV. And nobody in that chain grokked what the job actually is.
How do you stop the person who gets hired from producing work slop?
So if AI writes the job description. AI writes the CV. AI screens the CV. And nobody in that chain grokked what the job actually is.
How do you stop the person who gets hired from producing work slop?
How I find problems to solve as a staff engineer
lalitm.com/post/find-pr...
impact doesn't come from being the loudest voice or chasing the biggest problems.
It comes from noticing friction, understanding why it exists, and seeing patterns before everyone else does.
lalitm.com/post/find-pr...
impact doesn't come from being the loudest voice or chasing the biggest problems.
It comes from noticing friction, understanding why it exists, and seeing patterns before everyone else does.
How I Find Problems to Solve as a Staff Engineer
How listening broadly turns everyday problems into useful project ideas.
lalitm.com
August 25, 2026 at 10:17 PM
How I find problems to solve as a staff engineer
lalitm.com/post/find-pr...
impact doesn't come from being the loudest voice or chasing the biggest problems.
It comes from noticing friction, understanding why it exists, and seeing patterns before everyone else does.
lalitm.com/post/find-pr...
impact doesn't come from being the loudest voice or chasing the biggest problems.
It comes from noticing friction, understanding why it exists, and seeing patterns before everyone else does.
"If you're connected to me and looking for work, hit me up."
Seeing a lot more of these lately on LI.
AI can tailor a CV to pretty much any JD now, so recruiters are left trying to find the signal in a pile of noise.
Maybe we're just going back to word of mouth.
Seeing a lot more of these lately on LI.
AI can tailor a CV to pretty much any JD now, so recruiters are left trying to find the signal in a pile of noise.
Maybe we're just going back to word of mouth.
August 23, 2026 at 11:02 PM
"If you're connected to me and looking for work, hit me up."
Seeing a lot more of these lately on LI.
AI can tailor a CV to pretty much any JD now, so recruiters are left trying to find the signal in a pile of noise.
Maybe we're just going back to word of mouth.
Seeing a lot more of these lately on LI.
AI can tailor a CV to pretty much any JD now, so recruiters are left trying to find the signal in a pile of noise.
Maybe we're just going back to word of mouth.
So many public product roadmaps have gathered dust over the last 12–18 months.
Vendors going all-in on AI is understandable, but not delivering on promises while evolving the services will have an impact on early adopters.
They adopted early expecting the product to evolve quickly.
Vendors going all-in on AI is understandable, but not delivering on promises while evolving the services will have an impact on early adopters.
They adopted early expecting the product to evolve quickly.
August 23, 2026 at 10:27 PM
So many public product roadmaps have gathered dust over the last 12–18 months.
Vendors going all-in on AI is understandable, but not delivering on promises while evolving the services will have an impact on early adopters.
They adopted early expecting the product to evolve quickly.
Vendors going all-in on AI is understandable, but not delivering on promises while evolving the services will have an impact on early adopters.
They adopted early expecting the product to evolve quickly.
LinkedIn now has a “report AI slop” feature.
Sounds less like a feature and more like a full-time job.
Sounds less like a feature and more like a full-time job.
August 23, 2026 at 5:55 AM
LinkedIn now has a “report AI slop” feature.
Sounds less like a feature and more like a full-time job.
Sounds less like a feature and more like a full-time job.
Trying to work out how Cloud ALM creates transports in on-prem S/4 with no Cloud Connector.
Rabbit hole led to ST-PI.
Outbound only, yet transports get created in S/4 and somehow appear in the Cloud ALM Features app.
No questions. Just debugging time.
Rabbit hole led to ST-PI.
Outbound only, yet transports get created in S/4 and somehow appear in the Cloud ALM Features app.
No questions. Just debugging time.
August 17, 2026 at 10:21 PM
Trying to work out how Cloud ALM creates transports in on-prem S/4 with no Cloud Connector.
Rabbit hole led to ST-PI.
Outbound only, yet transports get created in S/4 and somehow appear in the Cloud ALM Features app.
No questions. Just debugging time.
Rabbit hole led to ST-PI.
Outbound only, yet transports get created in S/4 and somehow appear in the Cloud ALM Features app.
No questions. Just debugging time.
describe your music taste with only three bands
no genres allowed!!
Faith No More
Beastie Boys
You Am I
no genres allowed!!
Faith No More
Beastie Boys
You Am I
August 16, 2026 at 9:19 PM
describe your music taste with only three bands
no genres allowed!!
Faith No More
Beastie Boys
You Am I
no genres allowed!!
Faith No More
Beastie Boys
You Am I
Developers tend to focus on technical debt - the decisions we deferred and the shortcuts we took
But systems also change through what we stop doing and what happens around us
Debt = deferred capability
Decay = lost capability
Drift = displaced capability
Debt is chosen. Decay and drift accumulate
But systems also change through what we stop doing and what happens around us
Debt = deferred capability
Decay = lost capability
Drift = displaced capability
Debt is chosen. Decay and drift accumulate
August 16, 2026 at 12:57 AM
Developers tend to focus on technical debt - the decisions we deferred and the shortcuts we took
But systems also change through what we stop doing and what happens around us
Debt = deferred capability
Decay = lost capability
Drift = displaced capability
Debt is chosen. Decay and drift accumulate
But systems also change through what we stop doing and what happens around us
Debt = deferred capability
Decay = lost capability
Drift = displaced capability
Debt is chosen. Decay and drift accumulate