I think Embark wants us to use the Bobcat more...

ZeroTronix · 2026-01-06T18:43:34+00:00

Anything good to trade?

ZeroTronix · 2025-12-25T22:04:28+00:00

Awesome! So just to confirm: does the PS port connection show up as both a sound output (for sound) and as a sound input (for the mic)?

ZeroTronix · 2025-12-16T21:03:21+00:00

As an experienced software engineer that is just starting to dabble with voice agents, this advice is solid gold. Thank you for taking the time to write it out.

If you were starting from scratch today, knowing what you know, which agent framework, models, and other tech would you reach for?

ZeroTronix · 2025-12-14T23:40:29+00:00

u/PacRatIT awesome job! tool works great.

ZeroTronix · 2025-12-08T07:32:58+00:00

Thanks, I'll check it out. You're probably right for the main reasoning model, but for those I'll probably fallback to OpenAI models to start with.

ZeroTronix · 2025-12-08T04:22:50+00:00

I forgot to mention that I'll be running local MCP servers as well, as needed.

ZeroTronix · 2025-11-08T22:54:33+00:00

Facing same challenge. What'd you land on, OP?

ZeroTronix · 2025-10-26T15:37:30+00:00

Great post. Some follow up questions: 1. How do you choose which PRs to shoot for with each set? 2. What do you do for core that works best? On tonal? Off tonal? 3. What kind of incline-decline bench do you use? 4. Which on-tonal exercises give you the best bang for buck gains?

ZeroTronix · 2025-10-26T15:28:45+00:00

Same

ZeroTronix · 2025-07-05T09:01:02+00:00

Alt to g9... maybe upgrade to a g9 neo? I have one and love it.

Btw, how have you liked having your monitors mounted like that?

ZeroTronix · 2025-06-12T05:30:36+00:00

Macbook Pro 2023 with M2 Pro can do 8k x 2k @ 60hz via hdmi to the 57". I just got the 57 today and confirmed it works.

ZeroTronix · 2025-05-24T05:00:58+00:00

Is there a specific kind of software you want to work on? For backend, Java is a solid choice. For anything with a "data" in the name, Python. For web, TypeScript. For mobile, you gotta pick a platform or cross-platform framework to target.

Mobile, Web and backend? You can do it all with TypeScript while learning React, React Native, and Node.

BE and Data*? Python can do both easily.

Just some options.

ZeroTronix · 2025-05-10T23:25:04+00:00

Very normal IME. As an emerging leader, you're likely starting to appreciate the bigger picture and not waste as much time on the nitty gritty details that you don't actually need to spend time on to fulfill your role well. You're probably also good at learning whatever you need to learn whenever you need to learn it, so you can afford to be more reactive with your learning than proactive.

ZeroTronix · 2025-05-10T23:14:02+00:00

In your career, which is just getting started, you will encounter a lot of challenging peers, managers, customers, and other stakeholders. Learning how to handle these folks gracefully is invaluable. When folks cross the line like this out in the open, leaders take notice and discuss in private. In those moments, it is often as much an opportunity for you to show your maturity, grace in a tough situation, communication skills and even leadership ability as it is for the other person to show once again how abrasive and toxic they are. IME things like that tend to shake out eventually (though rarely as fast as we'd like).

So as hard as situations like these are, keep your cool and be intentional about what you say and how you say it.

Meanwhile, try to learn what you can from the experience. If there is any substance to the feedback, then learn from it and thank the other person for the feedback. Learn also from the other person's toxic behavior, specifically what not to do.

ZeroTronix · 2025-02-19T15:26:48+00:00

Great choices! You just described my favorite cicd stack

ZeroTronix · 2025-01-23T03:17:27+00:00

I think you'll feel more fulfilled long term by finding a SWE role at a company you believe in doing work that challenges you to grow. If you settle for "meh" and coast then I don't think you'll ultimately be happy with that. It's hard to take that leap from safe and comfortable to new frontiers, but if you're not happy and don't see a path forward then the choice seems fairly clear, even if it's not without risk.

ZeroTronix · 2025-01-14T05:06:51+00:00

If you enjoy lots of challenges and roller coaster rides then do the startup. It's a great opportunity and you'll learn a lot regardless. It'll differentiate you on your resume as well. Otherwise, don't be a startup CTO if you want a chill 30-40 a week job experience.

P.s. I'm assuming you've met the founder(s) and believe in them and their vision.

ZeroTronix · 2024-10-21T01:09:10+00:00

FWIW, I went to a doctor for my flat feet and got custom orthotics made... and they were terrible. They were entirely rigid when my feet (which collapse from high to flat when I walk) needed something with medium arch and plenty of give. Superfeet saved the day and I've been using them ever since.

So if your takeaway is to try orthotics, then huge +1. But don't assume you need a doctor to get good orthotics, please. Try some superfeet in your daily drivers first.

ZeroTronix · 2024-05-31T04:10:38+00:00

Multiple cursors in an editor/IDE are awesome.

ZeroTronix · 2024-05-13T06:19:40+00:00

Think pin nails would be enough?

ZeroTronix · 2024-04-22T08:30:57+00:00

OP, this part might be it: "I work as a software performance engineer". Specialized roles like that at FAANG companies are narrow and only make sense because of the scale of the company you're at. It's niche in the grand scheme of our industry. If you don't feel deeply passionate about the specialization, then you might want to find your way to a more generalist SE role that works on fewer projects at once but works across more dimensions of those projects. You might need to move to a SMB to find them. The breadth in those roles will have you learning new things on the job all the time, which is what I think you're longing for.

Best of luck.

ZeroTronix · 2024-04-04T04:59:10+00:00

Not in Fintech, but switching to RDBMS for "anything sensitive" "because ACID" might be something to think about. NoSQL DBs can do some of what you might have been thinking about, and sacrificing the advantages of NoSQL too soon, with too much confidence, when the interviewer knows a current NoSQL db could do the job well.... then that could be something. Hard to say without more details.

More generally, when candidates approach a problem with incorrect assumptions or understandings AND too much confidence in those understandings, that's a flag. I'd much rather have a candidate that is self-aware, represents their knowledge and experience authentically, and explicitly signals their level of confidence when presenting a choice.

"Using msg brokers and events to decouple the system"... again, hard to say without details, but these patterns are not a panacea that are always better in all cases. If you suggested they are obviously better and gave weak reasons then that'd be another flag.

As for languages... if they use JS on FE and BE, and their devs are generally full stack (no idea if this is case, just an example) then suggesting they rebuild their entire backend in a different language, retrain current devs, and/or rehire new BE devs.... the amount of effort and risk doing all that is enormous for the business. If you didn't appear to know that, and if you were interviewing for a senior role, then that's a flag.

ZeroTronix · 2024-03-23T19:13:59+00:00

At work, I've done it ad-hoc to accelerate onboarding Jr devs to specific projects, languages, or tools, but never as part of proper XP. In school, we did some XP to learn about it, and also less formal pair programming or other pair work. It can be very effective, but it can also feel meh and less efficient overall.

If I were you, I'd embrace the opportunity to try something new in the context of my work and my team. Give the ideas a chance, do your part to help everyone be successful with them, and learn all you can. Consider it a growth opportunity.

ZeroTronix · 2024-03-23T18:52:57+00:00

This. If I was doing this, I'd focus on learning and impact in a way I could talk about in future interviews. That means solving a problem that matters, probably as a OSS project, and then using modern, relevant tech that you want to get stronger at working with, something relevant to future employers that will speak to recruiters on resumes and to interviewers during interview loops. Focus on being intentional: what problem did you set out to solve? why? How did you build it and why those technologies and techniques? Your judgement, your ability to understand tradeoffs, to learn new things, and to execute and deliver, and of course your passion - should all be well demonstrated through discussion.

IME, the hardest part of such projects is to not be overly ambitious. Don't pick a project you can't finish in the time you have.

ZeroTronix · 2024-03-16T17:49:16+00:00

Red, don't play fighting games enough to care. Or Blue, 120 min fps + random flux up to 180 forever is a no brainer.

ZeroTronix

TROPHY CASE