About
I'm Joshua and I hate repeating myself, so I appreciate automation. I always
imagine a way to save time for people. It is so precious. We really don't need
to perform the same tasks again and again.
Back in 1993, I first touched a desktop PC that belonged to my friend's father. In 1998, he offered me a spare PC built from scrap parts. I loved it and created silly little websites in HTML for myself and my pals. Only two percent of American households were connected to the web before the year 2000, and I was on the edge of something transformative as a young teen. Then the PC broke in 2001, and I couldn't afford to fix it.
In 2005, I weighed the decision to study either Political Science or Computer Science at a public university. I was terrible at mathematics. And many adults told me: "All those software jobs are going to India." So I chose Political Science and worked on electoral campaigns and worked inside America's fourth largest municipal government. I felt like a spreadsheet monkey.
Then the second software goldrush occurred.
After wandering the world and working odd jobs in my Twenties, I returned to tinkering with code. I became briefly fascinated with Erlang, and even e-mailed Francesco Cesarini to ask for any opportunity to work on the language in a professional environment. That man helped me find my first software internship.
I joined a VoIP start-up in San Francisco in 2016, because I was interested in their use of Erlang to manage a national telecom service. I didn't know what I didn't know, and that shop exposed me to so much: Linux, automation, testing, operations, and different databases. A crew of dedicated programmers working on every level of the stack to deliver a valuable service thinks strategically. It was exciting. I didn't appreciate it then.
The culture of the Bay Area felt like a different country. But I didn't like all of it, and returned to New York City. I noticed East Coast firms lacked that engineering creativity, but focused on pragmatic matters. I guess that happens when the Finance industry dominates the area.
After a few experiences in smaller companies in Manhattan, I moved up to the big leagues when I joined the HBO software division. I was one of five men who handled the native Kubernetes clusters across the continent. More fire-hose drinking ensued. Infrastructure, Kubernetes, containers, observability, and a greater scope of automation filled my portfolio. I worked with smart people who enjoyed solving hard problems.
Work hasn't been that fun since then.
Back in 1993, I first touched a desktop PC that belonged to my friend's father. In 1998, he offered me a spare PC built from scrap parts. I loved it and created silly little websites in HTML for myself and my pals. Only two percent of American households were connected to the web before the year 2000, and I was on the edge of something transformative as a young teen. Then the PC broke in 2001, and I couldn't afford to fix it.
In 2005, I weighed the decision to study either Political Science or Computer Science at a public university. I was terrible at mathematics. And many adults told me: "All those software jobs are going to India." So I chose Political Science and worked on electoral campaigns and worked inside America's fourth largest municipal government. I felt like a spreadsheet monkey.
Then the second software goldrush occurred.
After wandering the world and working odd jobs in my Twenties, I returned to tinkering with code. I became briefly fascinated with Erlang, and even e-mailed Francesco Cesarini to ask for any opportunity to work on the language in a professional environment. That man helped me find my first software internship.
I joined a VoIP start-up in San Francisco in 2016, because I was interested in their use of Erlang to manage a national telecom service. I didn't know what I didn't know, and that shop exposed me to so much: Linux, automation, testing, operations, and different databases. A crew of dedicated programmers working on every level of the stack to deliver a valuable service thinks strategically. It was exciting. I didn't appreciate it then.
The culture of the Bay Area felt like a different country. But I didn't like all of it, and returned to New York City. I noticed East Coast firms lacked that engineering creativity, but focused on pragmatic matters. I guess that happens when the Finance industry dominates the area.
After a few experiences in smaller companies in Manhattan, I moved up to the big leagues when I joined the HBO software division. I was one of five men who handled the native Kubernetes clusters across the continent. More fire-hose drinking ensued. Infrastructure, Kubernetes, containers, observability, and a greater scope of automation filled my portfolio. I worked with smart people who enjoyed solving hard problems.
Work hasn't been that fun since then.