carlyrichmond

That I Would Be Good

Managing Technologists Through Life Events

Is it (F)ake?!

I am not a machine learning expert! But I am a big fan of baking shows.

Join me as I show how to extract images from web pages with JavaScript using Playwright, Unsplash and Elasticsearch, and learn how to use TensorFlow.js, a JavaScript machine learning library, to figure out if models or humans are better at finding the cake!

Electric Youth

Why LLMs are Like My 4-Year-Old

Rip It Up

On a fun and frustrating week ripping out large sections of code and changing my approach, I introduce how to use serverless functions to simplfy prototype development with Netlify, Elasticsearch JavaScript Client and React.

Take a Picture

Software Engineers rarely get an opportunity to rebuild applications from the days we learned to code. Yet here I am rebuilding the search game I built in university.

One recent problem I had was that I needed updated screenshots from the websites used in the original game. Here I show how Playwright can be used to capture web screenshots programmatically.

(Not So) Basic Instinct

Nature versus nurture is an ongoing debate as to whether human behaviours are driven by inbuilt natural factors already there, or are formed through environmental factors such as parenting and life experience.

Over my 11 year career in tech, I’ve noticed with each move I have built instincts through trying, failing, adapting and learning from others. Here I reflect on the main types of instincts I’ve nurtured through my technical career, and share tips on how you can build these instincts too.

Jump In

Change is scary! Three months ago, ahead of my first day as a Developer Advocate, I had the same pre-first day butterflies in my stomach that I do with every change. Would I be good at this? Was it the right decision?

Despite my strong preparation and research ahead of taking this role, there were a few surprises I found along the way. Here I share five surprises I’ve encountered in my first 3 months as an advocate, for anyone curious about jumping into advocacy, or even those interested in movement from regulated industries such as banking to tech.

Should I Stay or Should I Go? (Na na na na na na na na)

Should I stay or move to a new company? That is a question that many engineers and individuals working in the technology landscape today ask themselves when figuring out their next career move.

I wouldn’t call myself an expert on developers resigning, but I do have a few thoughts on the resignation versus mobility debate. In my 10.6-year tenure, I’ve resigned twice, retracted a resignation once, moved teams twice, been promoted once, and moved roles several more times within teams. This experience has moulded my viewpoints on tech careers.

In this piece, I’ll cover the reasons people, and more specifically engineers, quit; when a move might be a better option for you; and tips for managers on how to handle resignations with grace based on my own experiences on both sides of the table.

Speak Your Mind

The Differences Between Conference Attendance Experience as an Advocate versus Speaker and Attendee It’s tech conference season! I’m starting to find that there are two busy periods in the year for tech conferences: April-May and October-November. It’s kept me busy as a new developer advocate starting in April 2022. It’s more of a learn-by-doing approach,Continue reading “Speak Your Mind”