Daily Check-In with Ned1313
Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Episodes
Almost Tech Famous
13 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's easy to get caught up in the numbers game of social media. But even the most famous folks in tech aren't actually that famous. With the exception...
Doing Stupid at Scale
12 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Cloud empowers you to do stupid at scale. That could be a fat-fingered value, a major security hole, or a poorly written application. Cloud isn't goin...
Futureproofing Through Humans
26 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Technology moves too fast for us to accurately predict the future. How do you plan for the next two years when you can barely predict the next six mon...
Windows 11. It's a thing?
25 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Not sure this release deserves an increment in the major version counter, but here we are. Things to get excited about? Snap groups. Things to ignore?...
90s Nostalgia
23 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's not necessarily a bad thing, but let's not view the whole decade through rose-tinted glasses. There were some pretty heinous things happening in ...
The Case of the Missing Terraform Tuesday
22 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
I ran out of time. No really, that's the answer to the big mystery. Too many projects and not enough time to do them all. But I've got plans. Ooooh, I...
Four Days a Week
21 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Could you get all your work done in four days instead of five? I bet you could. Sure you'd need to be a bit more focused and a bit more miserly with y...
Project Maintenance is Tiring
18 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
You've just finished your shiny new project and made it available to the world. And they love it! That's great. Now you've got to maintain it until pe...
Consider the Awful Project
17 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Slogging through a difficult project is challenging for anyone. A conversation today made me think about my approach and consider if there was a bette...
Infrastructure as Software
16 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Sure we can create Infrastructure as Code, but does it make more sense to create infrastructure using software? This was an idea put forth by Kris Nov...
Monetizing Podcasts in 2021
16 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
With the explosion of popularity in podcasting, I start to wonder what will happen to us small fries out there. Will we get steamrolled by the Spotify...
Get Into the Groove
14 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This weekend I got to run in my first race since the pandemic. It was a little weird, a little awkward, and I was a little out of practice. And that's...
Colocation is about Connection
11 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Should you be in the data center business? What is the big benefit of moving into a colocation facility? The answer is connectivity. To the cloud, to ...
Open RAN will change everything
10 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If Edge is the future, why is it taking so long? The answer is routing. There's no real advantage to dropping solutions at a tower if you can't get th...
The 40 Hour Workweek is Dumb
10 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
I do a lot of project based work, and the goal is to accomplish projects within a set timeframe. As long as I produce high quality content within an a...
Terraform 1.0 is GA!
08 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
At HashiConf EU 2021, the Terraform team announced that Terraform version 1.0 is generally available. What does 1.0 mean for Terraform? Are there any ...
Behavior as Intended
08 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Behavior and motivation is a super-complicated topic and parsing out how an organization will react to the way its measured is a enigma many an MBA ha...
Upgrades Shouldn't Be Awful
05 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
And yet… There's a perception that upgrading systems should be a difficult affair. It's how sysadmins prove their mettle. You know what? I don't hav...
Writing Better Documentation
03 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The first impression many engineers and admins have of your software is the docs. They need to be clear, correct, and easy to find. Great docs aren't ...
Pluralsight Acquires A Cloud Guru
03 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Following quickly on the acquisition by Vista Equity Partners, Pluralsight (now flush with investor capital) has made the move to acquire A Cloud Guru...
Fail Fast on a Bad Fit
01 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When we're trying out a new career development program or something for our personal fitness, it can become quickly apparent that it doesn't work for ...
The Paradox That Wasn't
28 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Does public cloud cost more than on-prem? It depends. Should companies repatriate their workloads? It depends. Could software companies save billions ...
Concepts Over Implementation
27 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Learning the concepts behind a technology will serve you better than memorizing implementation. Concepts are transferrable and reusable. You can apply...
Planning for 2H2021
27 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Pluralsight courses, domestic travel, and a new Day Two Cloud episodes are among some of what I have planned for the second half of 2021. It's going t...
Frustration Leads to Learning
25 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Whenever I try to learn a difficult new concept or product, I will eventually hit a wall of frustration. And if I'm not sufficiently motivated, that's...
Certifiable Consulting Conundrum
25 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There's a lot of pressure in consulting to stay billable, learn new things, and get certifications. Whether or not we want to admit it, brain dumps he...
All Are Punish-ed
21 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
I suffered through it, so you have to. It's an approach I've seen far to often. We should be willing to assess the suffering we had to endure and real...
Crafting a Compelling Ask
20 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
I get many unsolicited requests for my time, both paid and unpaid. Often these request are terribly written and serve no purpose beyond annoying me. H...
Intel will lose to AMD
20 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
At least in the cloud datacenters and megascalers. And not just AMD, but also ARM processors. The megascalers have the deep pockets to experiment with...
Be Prepared for Ransomware!
18 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It could happened to you! No, no, seriously. It can and probably will happen to you. As long as paying the ransom is cheaper than implementing and mai...
Twitter Spaces is Weird
14 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
I participated in my first Twitter Space today and I'm not sure about the medium. As much as I love consuming audio, I also love time-shifting it to w...
Microsoft Mayhem
13 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Lots of Microsoft info in my reading feed this week. I though I would highlight a few things. The death of Windows 10X, the deep discount on the Surfa...
Identity Management in a Multicloud World
12 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Spoiler alert! It's super-complicated. Identity started out relatively simple. You had your on-premises Active Directory or LDAP organization and you ...
Windows is Going to Disappear
12 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
And just like that, poof, it's dust in the wind. Well, maybe not right away. But I'm thinking Windows as a server and desktop operating system has abo...
Plan to Fail
11 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Your career is going to be a long series of failures, punctuated by occasional success. Learn from those failures and bask in the success! -----------...
Two Years at Ned in the Cloud LLC
07 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The beginning of May marks the two year anniversary of my self-employed life. I thought I might reflect on what I've learned over the last 24 months, ...
Happy World Password Day!
06 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
May 6th is World Password Day and that means two things to me. First, start using a password manager. Second, enable 2FA on any sites you use frequent...
The Magic of Cloud
05 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The magic of cloud isn't the elasticity or the cost model, it's the API candy store! If on-prem wants a fighting chance to host new applications, it n...
Impostor Syndrome is a Blessing
04 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Keeping yourself a little removed from a technology or a fandom helps tremendously with perspective. Whether its Star Wars, Kubernetes, or BTS, having...
Meta-Cognition
03 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever found that you do better on a task the first time you try it than the subsequent attempts? Does it take you five or six tries to get bac...
Identity and Branding
30 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It might be tempting to hitch your wagon to the latest trend, but don't let it consume you. Externalizing your identity means you loses control over t...
Broken and Invisible
29 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As much as I like the shiny and the new, sometimes I have to admit that we may have overcomplicated things. I spent a whole day frustrated with a piec...
Basecamp Bafflement
29 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
I am flummoxed. Seriously, I just don’t understand the decision or the way it was approached. Your employees are the reason you have a business. You...
DevOps'ing the Enterprise Sale
27 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
I participated in the Tech Field Day Extra event with Scality and HPE today. Scality announced their new product called Artesca, which is a cloud-nati...
Buy or Rent?
26 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Do you build a platform or rent one? Do you host your own content or put it on a platform? What if the platform goes away? There's a lot of risks and ...
Shots! Shots! Shots!
24 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Got my second shot and super excited! Also, I'll be participating in a Tech Field Day Extra for Scality and Turbonomic's Apps On Cloud Summit. Definit...
Planning is Pointless
22 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Well, not exactly pointless, but making long-term detailed plans is a lesson in futility. That's doubly true in the world of technology, where things ...
Multi-cloud is the Reality
21 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Coming for you with the multi-cloud reality! Sorry, got a little excited. Here's a topic people feel passionately about, and their passion doesn't mat...
Complexity and Microsoft Word
20 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Complexity and feature bloat are a natural by product of listening to the customer. I don't envy the product manager who has to decide between opinion...
Abstracting Away Consumer Complexity
20 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Taking the long view on technology, we tend to commoditize, standardize, and abstract away complexity. I don't need to know how a car works to drive, ...
Personal Triage and Priorities
16 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What is your overarching goal? What drives you? Is your current list of projects supporting that goal? If not, it's time to do a little triage and dro...
HashiCorp Ambassadors Unite!
16 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Good news everyone! I've been awarded HashiCorp Ambassador status again for 2021, which made me reflect on the program and people I've met. It also go...
Post Pandemic Positivity
15 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There are many things I'm looking forward to as we get closer to herd immunity through vaccination. Chief among them are tech conferences/gatherings a...
Simplifying Servers
13 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The future of computing is going to vastly change what we think of as a server. The promise of composable architecture will be ushered in by silicon p...
Intrinsic Motivation as a Guide
12 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
I find I am most successful when I am intrinsically motivated to complete a task or project. While external motivations certainly play a part, interna...
Modernize is the Through Line
09 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We recorded three episodes of Day Two Cloud this week and the common theme was Modern Applications. What does that mean and how does it impact operati...
Serverless Low-Code Nirvana
08 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Low-code and no-code solutions seem particularly poised to take advantage of serverless. Their structure matches what serverless excels at, especially...
Failure to Focus
08 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
I really struggle with focusing on a single area of technology or specialization. I want to do ALL THE THINGS. But that's not a recipe for success, is...
A Fond Farewell
07 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Today was my last episode of Buffer Overflow, and it was an emotional adieu. I'll miss the BO crew and all the ridiculousness we got up to. But it was...
Google and Oracle end a Debacle
06 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
And it wasn't a pleasant ending, but it was probably the best outcome for software development houses out there. Oracle got a black eye. Google got th...
Content Creation is a Gateway
02 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Creating your own content serves as a resume to prospective employers and clients. Nothing demonstrates your personality and abilities as well as cont...
Productivity in Structure and Chaos
01 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What's the right balance of structure and chaos for you? What makes you most productive? Are you driven by spite? Oh, I guess that's just me. --------...
Cloud Security is Fundamentally Harder
31 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The adoption of cloud computing brings with it some serious security challenges. Let's ponder on the difference between on-prem and cloud security. --...
Opportunity Cost is Knocking
31 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When someone is creating a toxic environment, it has a much larger impact than you might think. The opportunity cost is high! Are they valuable enough...
It's Not the Heat, It's the Immaturity
29 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On Cloud2030 there was a debate about Jevon's Paradox as applied to complexity. To me that sounds like the wrong concern. It's not the complexity of t...
Cloud is an Enabler
27 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When you bring your applications to the cloud, it's important to realize that cloud is not a solution. It is an enabler; a toolkit; a service allowing...
Content Consumption Constriction
25 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Lately I feel a constant craving to consume more content. And I don't think it's healthy. Time to put myself on a content restricted diet! -----------...
Cloud Adoption Won't Save You Money
24 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The major public cloud vendors will try to convince you that migrating to the cloud will save you money. That is almost never true. But why is that? T...
Make Yourself Uncomfortable
22 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When you try something new, you're probably going to be a little uncomfortable. The secret is to embrace your discomfort and let it propel you to grea...
StorageOS is vSAN for Kubernetes
19 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
StorageOS presented at Cloud Field Day 10, and I was one of the delegates. I found their product intriguing. Here's a quick summary of my thoughts. St...
Website Plagiarism, Don't Do It!
18 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Yesterday I came across a site that was scraping other blogs and publications and republishing as their own. This is the story of my fun adventure as ...
Meetings Are a Waste of Our Time
18 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
You know it. I know it. Even tacos know it. Meetings are the great timesuck, and you should Just Say No. ---------------------------------------------...
Building Your Professional Network
16 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Building a network is not a script you can follow, or a program you can run. It's about building personal relationships that will support your career ...
The Complexity is Always There
15 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Even if the software you use has a slick GUI and great wizard, if you are responsible for support it, make sure you know the CLI and configuration fil...
Cloud Field Day 10 Wrap Up
12 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Last day of Cloud Field Day 10! We have Veeam, Dell Tech, and Oracle Cloud. And I never thought I would say this, but Oracle Cloud got me interested i...
Crafting a Presentation and Accepting Feedback
12 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Second day of Cloud Field Day 10! Lots of good content today, and a few misses. How do you craft a great presentation? And what if you don't? --------...
Cloud Field Day 10 - Day 1
10 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It was a packed day with Cloud Field Day 10! Presentations from NetApp, Scality, and Intel. My brain is cooked! See you tomorrow. --------------------...
Setting Expectations and Being Kind to Yourself
09 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode you'll be privy to me walking through how to approach my Terraform Tuesday videos. I think it turned out to be an interesting process ...
Drive Innovation and Lower Costs
08 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
I know this seems obvious, but the deeper question is how you actually go about those two things. And how can you use public cloud to do it? ---------...
Not All Companies Are Technology Companies
05 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
You've probably heard it before. In the era of digital transformation, all companies are technology companies. Here's why that is wrong. -------------...
Thoughts on Content Creation
04 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How long does it take me to create a training course? How do I decide what goes into a solid demo? Here are my brief thoughts on the topic. ----------...
Creating Passive Revenue Sources
03 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Passive income is amazing and potentially life changing. I'm going to share my experience creating courses for Pluralsight, but I think this applies m...
Microsoft Ignite Special Edition
03 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What's going on at Microsoft Ignite 2021 Spring Fling? There's a few things that I thought were worth sharing. Azure Mover is pretty cool, move resour...
Limits of Niche Content
01 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Why are there so many Getting Started courses and so little 301 content? Why does so much research deal with the fundamentals and never go in-depth? T...
Every Career Path is Different
26 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
My career path is not going to be yours. And there is no "right" path when it comes to the tech world. You don't even have to stay in the tech world! ...
When Will Satya Leave?
25 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The changing of the guard at AWS makes me curious about the future of Microsoft. Here's what I think might happen in the next two years. Day Two Cloud...
Determining Your Market Value
24 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A thread on Twitter from Corey Quinn and a conversation with a friend got me thinking about assessing my market value and whether I would ever conside...
Building Educational Materials
24 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Developing content for education takes thought, planning, and focus. You can't just put the pen to paper, you need a plan to guide you through the pro...
Start me up?
22 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Developing a product takes a lot of thought, consideration, and LISTENING. Talk to potential customers, investors, and other folks in your field. Find...
PowerPoint is so 2020
19 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
After using PowerPoint so much in the last week, I'm starting to wonder if it is the best way to communicate complex ideas. Or ideas at all! Maybe it'...
Maybe remote isn't all that great…
19 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
I was so pumped when I started working from home 100%. Much less so when my kids started school from home 100%. But it was the pandemic. As we start t...
Are You Pragmatic?
17 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When I find myself hesitant to adopt a new technology, I have to ask. Am I resistant because I'm being pragmatic, or do I just not want to learn a new...
Getting Disorganized
16 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For as productive as I am, I am also amazingly disorganized. For the most part I've learned to accept it, but I'm curious if there's something out the...
Naming is Hard
15 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Naming products is hard, but don't just jump on the latest product marketing bandwagon by adding Ops or spelling your product with a K. You can do bet...
Keep It Simple
12 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There's a reason I originally started with such a simple setup for The Daily Check-In, and then I absolutely let myself run away with it. That was a b...
Knowing When to Say When
12 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This day has been a total drag. And sometimes it's important to know when to say enough and walk away instead of beating your head against a wall. You...
Leading with Empathy
10 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Are you working in a consulting role or thinking about becoming a consultant? I have one word of advice, and that is to lead with empathy. It will mak...
When I'm 64?
10 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The way that we think about retirement is weird, and is probably in for a big kick in the grandpa pants. ---------------------------------------------...
Tape is Dead! (Long live tape)
08 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
And here I thought magnetic tape would be consigned to the dustbin of history. Boy was I wrong! ------------------------------------------------------...
Welcome to Consulting
05 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Going into consulting was one of the most challenging and rewarding things I did in my career. In this episode I will talk a bit about my experience, ...