The Fine Print
My first comic strip, inspired by our growing tendency to trust AI-generated content without questioning the fine print, and by the importance of validating what we present as fact.
Death by a Thousand Notifications
Death by a Thousand Notifications Dozens of notifications.All day.Most of them insignificant.Each one asking. Bad UI.Misfires.The hand moves before thought. Time leaks.Attention thins. You click the wrong one. You are dead.
As the World Goes Away (Sarylda)
As The World Goes Away • I Sit By You • Holding Your Hands • Kissing You • Telling You How Much I Love You • Telling You How Much We Love You • I Can Feel The World Moving Still • But I Can Feel Your World Fading • And With It • … Read more
In Loving Memory of Sarylda Ortiz
In Loving Memory of Sarylda Ortiz (1964 – 2025) It is with profound sadness that we announce that on October 31, 2025, at the age of 61, Sarylda Ortiz, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, and friend, passed away peacefully, surrounded by family and love. In quiet moments of reflection, amidst the memories of love, togetherness, and family, … Read more
In Memory of Eric Maginniss
In Memory of Eric Maginniss Eric Maginniss will be deeply missed. What a sharp mind, what a gifted software engineer. In my ~30 years in this field, I’ve had the privilege of working with some incredibly bright individuals, and Eric was absolutely one of them. There is something remarkable about watching someone tackle a … Read more
A new era of software engineering: long live AI.
We have entered a new era of software development where natural language, AI, and intuition replace traditional coding. The new programming language? English. The new compiler? Prompts and Large Language Models. The new IDE? Natural language conversation. We’re moving from spec-driven, syntax-first coding to vibe-coding— Where creativity leads and syntax follows. Where intuition meets inference. Where inference fuels … Read more
On Proactiveness
I shared this with my team. There are many valuable skills that aren’t taught in school or in life, and proactiveness is one of them. For some, it comes more naturally than for others. However, it requires practice for everyone. Proactiveness is a top skill I look for in engineers, and it’s beneficial for … Read more
A Layered View of AI: System and App Spaces
In software development, the principles of abstractions and separation of responsibilities and concerns are essential for creating clean, maintainable, scalable, and secure systems. Artificial intelligence (AI) is no exception to these principles. In this essay, I will explore the concepts of AI system (or core) spaces versus application spaces, drawing an analogy from computer operating … Read more
Thoughts on Tesla’s Computer Vision-Only Approach to Navigation
Musk insists on navigation using computer vision (CV) alone, partly due to cost and partly because he believes that, just as humans rely on vision to drive, machines should be able to do the same with advanced neural networks. His argument is that given sufficient compute power and high-quality data, computer vision should be able … Read more
In God we trust; all others must bring data.
Back when I was a younger software engineer, I had the privilege of writing software for the Space Shuttle onboard systems. I also supported Shuttle missions in real-time as part of the Backroom team in the Mission Evaluation Room (MER). It was an incredible experience where engineers, including myself, provided critical support to the Mission … Read more