Building With People For People: The Unfiltered Build Podcast

About Building With People For People: The Unfiltered Build Podcast

As software engineers, we build software with people and we build software for people; to enhance, improve, optimize and make our everyday lives better. Every month I am joined by guests from all reaches of the software world to discuss their unique journeys, why we build software, discussions on a specific software related topic, and we examine problems they are solving through the products they are building. Topics discussed include software development, engineering enablement, frameworks, DevOps, mentoring, accessibility, leadership, accessibility, testing, soft skills, and more.

Publisher

Nigel Finley

Category

technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

27 Dec 2021

Latest episode

10 Sept 2024

Latest episodes

37 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   10 Sept 2024

   Ep. 35: Be A Force Multiplier - Amplifying Engineering Impact with Jeff Bailey

   The software world is vast and ever changing. Cutting through the noise of language fads and building a system that meets your organization’s goals, is maintainable, scalable, performant and clean is no easy feat. It is the Principal Engineers that stand at the helm and steer the ship in the right direction. Today we dive into the world of one Principal Engineer steering the ship for an iconic brand and how he views his role, what it means to be a principal engineer, his thoughts on AI in software, the importance and meaning of InnerSource software development, and more. Our guest, Jeff Bailey (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffabailey/), is one of those superheroes guiding a famous brand to success. He started his software journey as a teenager and his first computer was a White Box 286, that he traded his Sega Master System and some games to acquire. He now has over 25 years of professional software development experience. He has worked for companies like Internet In A Mall, Earthlink, Evoque and Axian doing consultant work, and has a wide range of experience in languages like Perl to Cold Fusion to Python to Java to Javascript. He is currently a Principal Software Engineer at Nike and the co-leader of the Tech Modernization Team. He believes you must be a force multiplier to enable maximum efficiency for your team and prioritizing the right tool for the job. When our guest is not designing architecture or driving excellence at Nike he is gaming on Nintendo Switch, Steam and Xbox or creating a moody vibe playing his guitar. Enjoy the conversation!! Connect with Jeff: LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffabailey/) Website/Blog (https://jeffbailey.us/) Sponsor: Clairity (https://clairity.dev/product/real-time-feedback?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=buildwithpeople): Do you know how your engineers feel about your company? About their work? Connect your Github and install Clairitiy’s real-time survey iteration tool now with code "buildwithpeople" and get 20% off your first year to discover real insights about your engineers experience. Show notes and helpful resources: Alfred Productivity App (https://www.alfredapp.com/) - A MacOS productivity app for automating workflows and tasks NuShell (https://www.nushell.sh/) - A tool that allows running commands against JSON, CSVs, and other file types using a consistent query language. Jeff’s Tools (https://jeffbailey.us/software-development-tools/) Jeff's blog post on Learning, Earning and Growing (https://jeffbailey.us/blog/2022/06/02/learning-earning-and-growing/) InnerSource Commons (https://innersourcecommons.org/) - A global community focused on promoting InnerSource practices and building InnerSource programs Principal engineer role - Jeff describes his role as a "force multiplier," amplifying the effectiveness of his team by solving complex problems, exploring new technologies, and always thinking a step ahead. A principal engineer isn't just a tech expert but a leader who can look beyond code to the broader organizational needs Building software for and with people - For Jeff, the ultimate goal of any technology is to serve people. Whether it's through enhancing productivity or solving everyday problems, software should make life simpler and less complicated for its users. His focus is always on understanding the real needs behind the code. Building something cool or solving interesting problems? Want to be on this show? Send me an email at jointhepodcast@unfilteredbuild.com (mailto:jointhepodcast@unfilteredbuild.com) Podcast produced by Unfiltered Build (https://unfilteredbuild.com) - dream.design.develop.

2. 

   28 May 2024

   Ep. 34: Watch, Learn and Wynn: Automated Observability with David Wynn

   Ding ding... It's 3 am and your phone has just sent you multiple P1 alerts. Your site is down and you need to find out what the issue is and fast, but your log data is all over the place, metrics on your services are sub par and it's really hard to know where to go to find the issue. What if there was a way to leverage AI to help you make sense of your data in a clear and concise way, making your 3 am alert wake up call a walk in the park? This is exactly what our guest, David Wynn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbwynn/), is doing at Edge Delta (https://edgedelta.com/), an automated observability platform that monitors your services, alerts you when something is wrong, and guides root-cause analysis. Today, we dive into observability; what it is, the data pieces that make up this ecosystem, tips on how to start your data collection journey, ways our guest is integrating AI with human expertise to enhance system observability and more. David received his Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Duke University and with over 15 years in the industry he has worked at companies like Intapp, Sumo Logic and formerly was Head of Solutions at Google Cloud for Games. Currently, a Principal Solution Architect for Edge Delta, an automated observability startup, he applies his visionary approach to automated observability, ensuring systems are not only monitored but also intelligently guided through root-cause analysis when issues arise. When our guest is not making your production monitoring a breeze, he is reading philosophy and participating in the vibrant geek culture in Atlanta attending events like DragonCon (https://www.dragoncon.org/). In his LinkedIn profile he calls himself the “People Machine Liaison”, enjoy the conversation! Connect with David: LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbwynn/) Ftwynn.com (https://ftwynn.com/) EdgeDelta (https://edgedelta.com/) Sponsor: Get Space (https://getspace.dev/product/real-time-feedback?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=buildwithpeople): Are your engineers happy? Productive? Install Get Space’s real-time survey iteration tool now with code buildwithpeople and get 20% off your first year to find out real insights about your engineers experience. Show notes and helpful resources: Definition of observability: Understanding what the system is doing and whether it's doing what it's intended Three pillars of observability are Logs, Metics and Traces Logs are like notes to yourself from the code, and are only as structured and useful as the notes you write Metrics are numbers, usually counts or measurements, that represent what you want to track Traces tie together the different components of a distributed system into one object, capturing the flow and timing of a transaction or operation Events are narrative-level components that describe key occurrences in the environment MELT is the acronym for Metrics, Events, Logs, and Traces Context as a 4th pillar Three layers of Context; 1. Team context (developers, what maps to code), 2. Architecture context (how services are architected), 3. Business intent context (what the system is supposed to do) Collection is step number 1 - getting the data into a place where you can understand it Automated observability: Makes the collection process easier by automating aspects of it and makes the analysis process easier by using techniques like clustering algorithms Edge Delta uses the k-means clustering (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-means_clustering) algorithm to group similar events and apply sentiment analysis to identify issues. Engineers should focus on understanding and implementing the business requirements correctly, as that will lead to better observability signals Large Language Models (LLMs) are not reasoning machines; they are associativity machines that cannot truly understand or reason about concepts Reality has a surprising amount of detail (http://johnsalvatier.org/blog/2017/reality-has-a-surprising-amount-of-detail) article - by John Salvatier ReBoot cartoon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReBoot) - The main character Bob acts as the Guardian of Mainframe. Correction from the episode: he has a keytool named Glitch (not Gadget as mentioned) that he wears on his left wrist Building something cool or solving interesting problems? Want to be on this show? Send me an email at jointhepodcast@unfilteredbuild.com (mailto:jointhepodcast@unfilteredbuild.com) Podcast produced by Unfiltered Build (https://unfilteredbuild.com) - dream.design.develop.

3. 

   26 Apr 2024

   Ep. 33: Ready Set Flow - A Conversation in Momentum and Troubleshooting with Arty Starr

   You know that feeling when you are in the zone and time seems to standstill? You’re on fire, completely focused, and distractions vanish? That feeling is FLOW.  In today's world with constant interruptions and demands on our attention, achieving flow can feel impossible. But what if there was a way to cultivate this state and optimize your productivity? That's where "flow as a practice" comes in. It's the art of getting in and staying in that magical flow state.  We are joined today by a Flow Experience expert to help us understand what Flow is, why it’s important for our joy, ways we can achieve it and more. Our guest, Arty Starr (https://www.linkedin.com/in/artystarr/), has been a software engineer for over 20 years doing work in various areas like semiconductor factory automation, supply chain optimization, data pipeline automation and helping companies identify and solve their biggest problems with data. Today she is a recognized Flow Experience expert, researcher, speaker and thought leader, and author of the book Idea Flow: How to Measure the PAIN in Software Development (https://leanpub.com/ideaflow). During the pandemic our guest decided to get her PhD at the University of Victoria, where she is now a researcher at CHISEL - The Computer Human Interaction & Software Engineering Lab (https://thechiselgroup.org/), working with Dr. Margaret-Anne Storey.  Her thesis project is developing a theory of Developer Flow, and the two cognitive processes of Momentum and Troubleshooting. She is also the founder of FlowInsight (https://www.flowinsight.com/), helping developers thrive and find joy through more time in the flow state.  Additionally, she is on the advisory board of CodeScene (https://codescene.com/about), a painter, a 2D/3D animator, and is working on a new play-based approach to learning coding and animation with a 3D character, called "Learning with Fervie (https://vimeo.com/878490183/378e865f33?share=copy)". Our guest believes that we as software engineers are the magicians of this world because we can bring our dreams to life. When our guest is not finding ways to bring the invisible to the forefront, and bring joy and hope back to our work, she is spending her time outside, hangin’ with the trees. Enjoy the conversation! Connect with Arty: LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/artystarr/) Sponsor: Get Space (https://getspace.dev/product/real-time-feedback?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=buildwithpeople): How do you know if your engineers have time in the day to experience flow? Install Get Space’s real-time survey iteration tool now with code buildwithpeople and get 20% off your first year to get real insights in your your engineers experience. Show notes and helpful resources: Bridges Summit (http://bridges-summit.org/) - YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS Flow Insights - Sign up for BETA (https://www.flowinsight.com/get-started) to use the tools Arty talked about during the show - join her to help build a better product Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (https://www.amazon.com/Flow-Psychology-Experience-Perennial-Classics/dp/0061339202) by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi The Computer Human Interaction & Software Engineering Lab at the University of Victoria (https://thechiselgroup.org/) run by Dr. Margaret-Anne Storey Arty is speaking at UberConf (https://uberconf.com/speakers/arty_starr) Augmenting Human Intellect: A Conceptual Framework (https://www.dougengelbart.org/content/view/138/) by Douglas C. Engelbart The Human Equation: Building Profits by Putting People First (https://www.amazon.com/Human-Equation-Building-Profits-Putting/dp/0875848419) by Jeffery Pfeffer The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization (https://www.amazon.com/Fifth-Discipline-Practice-Learning-Organization/dp/0385517254) by Peter Senge Getting into the optimal performance state (https://www.nideffer.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Optimal-Performance.pdf) by Robert Nideffer What Makes Interruptions Disruptive?: A Process-Model Account of the Effects of the Problem State Bottleneck on Task Interruption and Resumption, (https://doi.org/10.1145/2702123.2702156) by J. P. Borst, N. A. Taatgen Shape UP (https://basecamp.com/shapeup) by Ryan Singer Prerequisite conditions to get into flow state: Clarity of the goals and rules of the task, challenge skill level balance and unambiguous feedback. Intrinsic motivation is a very important piece to flow Setting clear goals and breaking down work into micro intentions will help you achieve flow If we focus on experience and thriving we ought to get productivity for free Other talks by Arty: Enabling Powerful Software Insights by Visualizing Friction and Flow (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4mGhtp_IRY) and Keynote at SpringOne on Flow State (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NPArs4eR3c) Building something cool or solving interesting problems? Want to be on this show? Send me an email at jointhepodcast@unfilteredbuild.com (mailto:jointhepodcast@unfilteredbuild.com) Podcast produced by Unfiltered Build (https://unfilteredbuild.com) - dream.design.develop.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

7 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

11 ratings

Contact Building With People For People: The Unfiltered Build Podcast

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.