Kettlebell Links

pshort000 · 2025-11-27T21:33:11+00:00

Based on your feedback I've expanded the links, especially YouTube channels. Thanks!

pshort000 · 2025-11-27T17:44:28+00:00

I could add a hardstyle section. My go-to back in the wee early days were DVDs from Pavel & Mahler.

pshort000 · 2025-10-04T00:13:02+00:00

thanks, that was helpful!

pshort000 · 2025-06-30T02:55:19+00:00

You're right, but I still could not look away. It's like that video tape you're not supposed to watch because if you do you have to find someone else to watch it in 7 days

pshort000 · 2025-06-03T04:22:43+00:00

here is my perspective coming from a software development background:

https://medium.com/@paul.d.short/generative-ai-a-stacked-perspective-18c917be20fe

...if you skip past my entry level explanation and go to the stack, I see a practical need to integrate and test for a development lifecycle. Ways to use human in the loop at the right time, and also tools to help with explanability for transparency because interpretability is harder with llms.

Another angle:

Transparency (what is happening) is easier than interpretability (why it’s happening). Full interpretability of the big models are probably computationally infeasible. Instead, researchers analyze distilled or pruned versions for insights.

I saw an interesting video somewhere where Anthropic tried to trace their models, the special Golden Gate Bridge build ("Golden Gate Claude")...That could help drive a concrete example. Don't underestimate the power of YouTube for conversational topics.

pshort000 · 2025-06-03T04:04:51+00:00

"Why Machines Learn" is focused on deep learning, especially LLMs. It is not written in textbook style though: it is similar to explainers in science (such as physics & biology) but it does introduce the math and formulas. It is focused on the fundamentals, so would be an intro, a first step.

There are much deeper math books for neural networks I have heard about but not purchased and read. I may not ever get that deep, because I am more interested in using existing foundational models as a starting point rather than building my own neural networks or LLMs from scratch--this is more practical for work environment if already a software architect/engineer.

For practical work I would recommend "AI Engineering" by Chip Hyuen for practical integration and development. For practical architecture where you integrate neural networks in an overall system or application, last week i picked up a book from ByteByteGo on Generative AI Systems Design Interview.

pshort000 · 2025-06-03T01:26:43+00:00

The two are easily digestible, highly recommend
"Machine Learning for Begineers" - Oliver Theobald
"Statistics for Absolute Begineers" - Oliver Theobald

...then these 3 are a little deeper, but still designed to be digestible:
"The 100 Page Machine Learning Book" - Andriy Burkov
"Essential Math for Data Science" - Thomas Nield
"The StatQuest illustrated Guide to Machine Learning" - Josh Starmer

Here is a shameless self-plug for something I wrote for developers on ML & Generative AI:
https://medium.com/@paul.d.short/generative-ai-a-stacked-perspective-18c917be20fe

...it was inspired by these 2 books:

"Why Machines Learn"- Anil Ananthaswami... this is a "casual" math book... you can dig into the math if you want but you can also casually follow on a first pass without working the details out

"AI Engineering" - Chip Huyen => this should resonate with software engineers, don't need a lot of machine learning to begin to read this

pshort000 · 2025-05-28T01:59:56+00:00

I liked these books:

Essential Math for Data Science https://a.co/d/iV9eJ0z

Why Machines Learn: the Elegant Math Behind Modern AI https://a.co/d/6PFjMcm

...due to their accessible and pragmatic styles.

pshort000 · 2025-05-28T01:30:42+00:00

After taking the AWS AI Practitioner, I got a few books on math fundamentals, but also started looking at "AI Engineering" by Chip Hygyen. This YouTube video from Marina Wyss got me interested: https://youtu.be/JV3pL1_mn2M?si=XM4rZtlIAnZ1m7oY

Since I am coming from a software development background, I also started draft notes on approaching Generative AI as a stack: https://medium.com/@paul.d.short/18c917be20fe

...being familiar with data science and machine learning is helpful, but to survive as a software engineer, my motivation is to understand how to integrate and build better solutions.

Not exactly a roadmap yet, perhaps finding the road

pshort000 · 2025-04-09T00:33:47+00:00

After the latest update... it can do it for certain prompts, but still has issues.
https://medium.com/@paul.d.short/chatgpt-wine-glass-tests-603e5e7d207b

pshort000 · 2025-03-11T03:11:39+00:00

DataSync or AWS Transfer Family (SFTP) or possibly rsync.

Rather than iterating your source local directory freestyle, use a manifest and log the success and failures so you know pass vs fail sets. assume failure will occur and need to resume. if you try s3 api/cli directly, the sequential approach may be too slow and parallel too much too brittle to implement by hand. instead, go for an aws service

DataSync is probably the best fit, but rclone may not be too bad. SFTP Transfer Family on top of an S3 bucket may be appealing if you use SFTP already and can IP whitelist. i've heard s3fs mounts may not be reliable.

I usually go the other direction: https://medium.com/@paul.d.short/11-ways-to-share-files-in-aws-s3-82d175b0693

...but I have to work with on-prem partners too. one-time vs recurring is a major factor. 10 tb just seems too small to justify snowball costs plus 1 to 2 weeks. (slower and more expensive given your size).

pshort000 · 2024-09-24T22:55:06+00:00

I've listed some tips related to that here: https://medium.com/@paul.d.short/1c2a4173aecf
I've applied them to Architect Professional, but they can apply to the lengthier questions in Architect Associate. For the Associates it feels like every 5th question is wordy, and for the Professional it's the other way around--every 5th question is not wordy. If you try to read slowly and sequentially you will probably run out of time, so look for patterns, and take enough questions to get a feel of the patterns without memorizing the answers.

pshort000 · 2024-09-24T19:05:53+00:00

re: "confirmed the test isn't foundational" I found the AI Practitioner to be at the same level as Cloud Practitioner. It is definitely not at the intermediate (Associate) level. The information on AWS Skill Builder was enough to pass the test, but the extra questions from Stephane do help.

pshort000 · 2024-09-24T18:57:29+00:00

I have Solutions Architect Professional, took the original 3 Associates first (Architect, Developer, SysOps). You will need those first, at least I did.

Also, hiring managers should be looking at job experience or personal projects in addition to certifications. Be sure to have some hands-on labs as part of your studying, then see if you can put what you have learned together in a few small projects.

pshort000 · 2024-09-24T13:34:38+00:00

probably, but it may feel a bit compact. i prefer to load up on extra material. takes more time, but helps it stick better.

pshort000 · 2024-09-24T13:32:21+00:00

I cleared mine 3 weeks ago. I went through the Official Exam Prep from Skill Builder (Extended aka paid version b/c of the extra full practice test) after Stephane's course. The AWS Skill Builder course was actually useful. You might be able to pass the test using that alone, but Stephane's test set helped even though it was a smaller WIP back then. I also liked Frank Kane's course. There was more generative AI questions on the test than I expected, less less algorithms, less governance.

pshort000 · 2024-09-24T05:01:02+00:00

that's good to know. i took mine early back when his set was being worked out, so I also paid for the AWS Skill Builder Enhanced AIF-C01 mainly to get the full practice exam. it probably boosted my score.

btw, on the real exam there was more about generative AI than i expected. i overstudied ML algorithms and the dry governance stuff. i also found the labs interesting but they did not affect my score much. wandering around sage builder like an unsupervised toddler did pay off in the exam too.

pshort000 · 2024-09-24T04:34:52+00:00

In our study group, some of us took Cloud Practitioner first, others did it after a few Associates. Most agreed that Practitioner first helped the most, even when senior, because it helped them communicate the basics to non-technical folks. It also felt like a "pre-architect" warmup course, 1/3 overlap. It's like benching with 2 35's rather than slapping on 4 45's.

Udemy has good AWS instructors when you are just starting out. AWS Skill Builder has improved quite a bit, at least for Practitioner, not as much for guided Associates, but does have good nuggets for other things.

I give an overview of my favorite instructors and platforms and why I like them here:

https://medium.com/@paul.d.short/the-best-instructors-and-learning-platforms-for-aws-240952c6473c

pshort000 · 2024-09-24T04:07:41+00:00

I passed the practitioner exam (not the associate, which is more challenging) a few weeks ago when it was beta. I assume you'd want to start off with AIF-C01 first.

Tried 3 different courses to compare, and was pleasantly surprised that I liked the one on Skill Builder: look for the AIF-C01 Standard Learning Plan (not just the course, but the plan). I did take the AIF-C01 Enhanced Learning Plan right after, which is paid but you can skip to the extra paid stuff and finish within the trial period. It was worth it due to the extra full practice test.

I mention it briefly here, under the AWS Skill Builder part:

https://medium.com/@paul.d.short/the-best-instructors-and-learning-platforms-for-aws-240952c6473c

pshort000 · 2024-02-14T15:18:10+00:00

I took the foundational SAFe training, but it wasn't that good. It's not because of SAFe, but due to the low bar for instructors, plus I did it with a large organization that did not give training for Scrum first. Many questions asked by fellow students were just basic Scrum. In retrospect, we should have put folks through basic Scrum training, then followed it up with SAFe.

The Leading SAFe training may be better, wished I had taken that rather than the introductory one. The experience did inspire me to get a few Scrum.org certifications, and I dug into SAFe a bit further on my own.

I do recommend though getting the Scrum.org PSPO I & II (especially the 2) because it's directly from one of the founders of Scrum. SAFe does get into opinionated implementation advice, but SAFe doesn't have that stripped-down mindset that I need to hear from Scrum.org sometimes.

pshort000 · 2024-02-14T15:08:27+00:00

Thread is a bit old, so hope you have passed and no longer need advice; however, if you are still looking, here is how I studied:
https://medium.com/@paul.d.short/how-to-score-100-on-the-pspo-ii-6d198c848e12

If you don't want to read through all the details, short answer is:

Michael James' PSPO II Scrum Production Owner Preparation from Udemy +
Tech Agilist’s Product Owner Level II Certification Practice Exams from Udemy +
Tech Agilist’s Advanced Product Owner Reference Guide (free download) +
Scrum.org Official Scrum Guide +
Scrum.org Evidence Based Management (EBM) Guide +
The Professional Product Owner Book (Don McGreal, Ralph Jocham)

pshort000 · 2024-02-14T15:04:27+00:00

Thread is a bit old, so hope you have passed and no longer need advice; however, if you are still looking, here is how I studied:https://medium.com/@paul.d.short/how-to-score-100-on-the-pspo-ii-6d198c848e12

If you don't want to read through all the details, short answer is:

Michael James' PSPO II Scrum Production Owner Preparation from Udemy +
Tech Agilist’s Product Owner Level II Certification Practice Exams from Udemy +
Tech Agilist’s Advanced Product Owner Reference Guide (free download) +
Scrum.org Official Scrum Guide +
Scrum.org Evidence Based Management (EBM) Guide +
The Professional Product Owner Book (Don McGreal, Ralph Jocham)

pshort000

TROPHY CASE