Exploring the human factors that make software engineering so unique, so difficult, so important and all consuming. Learning to work with the systems, not against them.
The Human Engineer 287 - Rejecting the Grind
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A few weeks before Christmas I asked ChatGPT a series of questions along the lines of "ok, so what next?" I was out of ideas. I was tired. My freelance contract was coming to an end so I was already looking for a new one. Launching Human Software had been exhilarating but exhausting. I'd burned the candle at both ends on social media plus done some podcasts (a few of which are yet to see the light of day) and also put myself in front of bookshops and chased reviews and talked talked talked about it. Instead of just taking it easy on myself and taking a step back, I felt a pressure as a new author with a uncertain future to do more. So I was casting around gloomily and desperately and walked into the unholy and untrustworthy arms of AI. So I asked the machine and it really doesn't matter what it said, because the machine is just an echo chamber for all of our wants and needs. All it ever gives you is more work to do on yourself or it wants you to give it something else. It's needy, always asking you another question. So when you're struggling for a bit of a space and time, you must remember not to go to AI for an easy solution to your problems. The more complex a problem you have, the more human a problem you have, the less it will help you. You don't need a plan. You don't need productivity. And similarly with social media echo. It's an echo chamber where you see and hear examples of what people do to give them the next step, the illusive edge. Neither AI or social media give your brain a chance to relax. You're just a cog in the machine, an experiment that is being run. High quality, professionally printed HUMAN SOFTWARE now available!Human Software is now available in a professionally printed trade paperback format. This is a "book shop" ready version that is superior to the Amazon KDP printed version. This version is now available to order from bol.com and bruna.nl and other retailers in the Netherlands and Belgium and Dutch and Belgium bookshops can order it directly from the Centraal Boekhuis. I'll be taking this version to bookshops and book groups in the Netherlands over the coming months. If you'd like to order in bulk this version in (or near) NL just get in touch with me by replying to this newsletter. Thinking much?You may have heard about this "fact" The average person has about 48.6 thoughts per minute, according to the Laboratory of Neuro Imaging at the University of Southern California. That adds up to a total of 70,000 thoughts per day. I won't even quote the source of this "fact" because it's impossible to prove. But we all know that sometimes, being inside our brains can be very tiring. So instead of asking ChatGPT or jumping on social media for inspiration, just try and do nothing. I'm a week into my 2026 and starting to relax and enjoy the space and come back with something I really want to say later in the year. In the meantime I have a pile of books from Christmas that I have to get through. Starting off with The Surgeon's Mate from Patrick O'Brien - the 6th instalment of the Aubrey/Maturin series and always a treat! Before I leave and get back to it I will tell you one way that AI did assist me so far this year. It's helped me re-organise my blog posts by creating new categories dedicated to literary experiments and re-categorising the rest. This was a good suggestion! I'm trying out a few pieces of short prose and character sketches. There are a couple of new ones linked below and more will be appearing on the blog. Exercising the writing muscle is important and I fully intend to keep it up this year as I start to work on the follow up to Human Software. Yes, you ready that right, that's definitely happening! Want to work with me? As I mentioned I am also looking for a new freelance role, ideally working in a platform or DevOps capacity. I work as a Senior engineer, a team lead or even a hands-on Product Owner. I've created a landing page that explains the unique way in which I work with (typically larger) organisations, as an engineer alongside platform teams to bring sustainable change and improvement to engineering practice and way of working. With that I will wish you the very best for 2026 and I am very much looking forward to sharing more writing and insights with you over this, the fourth year of this newsletter. I hope you continue to find it useful and thoughtful as I continue my journey from techie to consultant to artist and back again! Whatever you do, keep thinking, keep changing and keep challenging the status quo - it's the only way we move forward. A Younger Model, A Local ModelPublished on January 7, 2026 I don’t want to run a local model. I don’t want to run a younger model. I want an old model that’s been taught properly. I want a model that has been tuned specifically. I want a model that has been trained to understand me. But I don’t want it. It is not a thing… Read More »A Younger Model, A Local Model
Making Her SmilePublished on January 4, 2026 There was only one problem. The tree wouldn’t fit through the door. I try again, but it would be a case of losing too many needles, not to mention paint, wall ornaments and that table looks fragile, balanced as it is with china and a telephone. A telephone? Who has a telephone? I look up… Read More »Making Her Smile
Being Generous with Your IdeasPublished on January 1, 2026 That time of year when you’re assessing things. How much you ate, how much you drank, how fit you feel. Our minds turn inwards as our days become our own – the usual holiday dynamic of expectation followed by excess of excitement followed by morass of introspection. So I published my first-ever novel in 2025,… Read More »Being Generous with Your Ideas The post Being Generous with Your Ideas appeared first on HUMAN SOFTWARE: A Life in I.T. - A Novel. My Dispassionate FriendPublished on January 1, 2026 On that day, I took the usual train away from my normal station to another place. A place out on the promontory, the shell and shingle bank that runs between the chalk cliffs of this land. There, in a hut behind the railway track, was a table. A heavy old oak table salvaged from a… Read More »My Dispassionate Friend
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The Human Engineer
Exploring the human factors that make software engineering so unique, so difficult, so important and all consuming. Learning to work with the systems, not against them.
REBRAND ALERT!! So it's been a while since I renamed this newsletter but I feel it's due a slight sidestep following the launch of my book. So welcome to episode 286 overall, but episode #1 of The Human Engineer. Despite me constantly rename this newsletter, over these years the subject has never really varied too much. I talk about software systems and how they relate to human systems. I find my work increasingly focusses on the human side of the this divide - because it is a divide right?...
Last couple of weeks, I've been rebuilding some Windows base images in order to comply with corporate patching policies. The new images are CIS hardened which means they follows guidelines set out by the Center for Internet Security benchmark. This ultimately means that the images are restricted in what they can do, what they can access, what is installed upon them by default. These security measures work in opposition to the automation we already have in place for our customers. This is the...
Aside from being a writer, I'm also an avid film and TV watcher. This week we were blessed by the arrival of Pluribus on AppleTV. It's a speculative science fiction series written by Vince Gilligan, co-creator of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. He's someone who knows what they are doing when it comes to writing, producing and directing these incredibly successful series. More than that though, he picks the best people and directs them with ease. Here's a bit on when Vince Gilligan knew...