Hello! I’m a software engineer with a focus on ethics, type systems, frameworks, and UI. Most recently I was the tech lead for LinkedIn’s main web app (the .com! But the emails were not my fault). Before that, in reverse chronological order, I: rebuilt the front end for a profitable unicorn no one has ever heard of (Olo), built a Bible web app, did a bunch of random web consulting, built hazards/risk mitigation software with physics models for a tiny company in the energy industry, and wrote avionics software that is, to my knowledge, still flying (though honestly I hope someone has rewritten it 😂). I am currently taking a sabbatical through the end of the year, filling in some of the holes in my CS knowledge (~a minor in music composition, a major in physics, and a Master of Divinity; more or less zero formal CS education) and writing orchestra music. I have been focused specifically on programming languages and frameworks over the past few years—I was the Rust podcaster 2015–2019, and have done more work with TypeScript than anyone ever should (primarily in the Ember.js world). All of that already had me thinking about “ratchets” over “levers” for the practice of software development. (That post is notionally about the job hunt I’m going to start properly at the end of this sabbatical on January 1, but all but the last paragraph or so is more like a statement of what I am thinking in this space!) @Jason Steving mentioned this group to me today and I had to pop in as soon as I could. Looking forward to learning from what you folks are up to!

neat metaphor ❤️ > The real wins, then, are tools which do not require everyone to be at their best at every moment: ratchets, not levers. Levers let you move things, but if you are holding something up with a lever, you have to keep holding it — forever. A ratchet lets you drive forward motion without slipping back as soon as you let up on the pressure. You might like More thoughts on powerful primitives for simplified computer systems architecture. Be warned Kragen's blog is addictive if you're interested in eclectic radical simplicity 😉

👀 and thanks!