Reading Notes #687

Welcome to this new Reading Notes post, a collection of interesting articles and resources I've been absorbing lately! This week's roundup dives into a variety of topics, from practical storage solutions and leveraging AI for code upgrades to exploring the intersection of AI and business value. Get ready for a diverse mix of tech insights and management reflections.

Programming

• Upgrading old code with Copilot (Mark Downie) - In this post, Mark shows one area where AI is really making a huge difference.

AI

• Hosting Declarative Markdown-Based Agents on Azure Functions (Anthony Chu) - A pretty cool idea to make accessible simply and get quick responses. Looking forward to seeing what people do with it.

• Vector Data in .NET - Building Blocks for AI Part 2 (Jeremy Likness) - Instructive post that shows and explains the value of AI.Extensions in our code.

• The Missing Link Between AI and Business Value (Kris Kang) - How do you benchmark or track the efficiency of your AI usage?

• So, you want to run OpenClaw? (Jim Gumbley) - An interesting post that gives us hits where to start searching for more information about how to raise protection.

Books

The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You (Julie Zhuo) - Most management books are written by advanced managers, people with a lot of experience who already have the "manager" mindset well established in their heads. This book feels different, more accessible, closer to a conversational tone. In this book, Julie shares her stories of becoming a manager and the advice she learned along the way. I think it's a good book to get started on this topic, especially if you are new to that position or thinking about it, to understand and be better equipped for the new challenges coming your way.

Miscellaneous

• Active vs Archival Storage: How We Store Petabytes on Pennies (Golnaz) - Storage is always a concern over time. How can you keep years of data without getting ruined.

~frank

Reading Notes #686

This week's Reading Notes is packed with AI insights, open-source discoveries, programming tips, and podcast episodes that will leave you eager to dive in. From Ralph Wiggum's coding secrets to the dangers of one-shot glamour, we've got it all covered. So grab your favourite beverage, settle in, and get ready to level up your tech game!

AI

• Run NanoClaw in Docker Shell Sandboxes | Docker (Oleg Selajev) - I like that sandbox idea. That might be enough for me to try Clawbot... Or not, but the sandbox, hell yeah!

• 11 Tips For AI Coding With Ralph Wiggum - This post is a gold mine of best practices and really good advice to start using the Ralph loop in safety.

• Getting Started With Ralph (Matt Pocock) - Nice idea that loop. Very well explained tutorial.

• Solve Context Window Limits With Context Packing (Philippe Charrière) - A very interesting post that explains in detail, with code samples, how to compact.

• The danger of glamourizing one shots (Scott Hanselman) - Very well said Scott!

Open Source

• I replaced Windows 11’s default apps with these open-source tools (Mauro Huculak) - A cool list of tools that, on top of everything, are open source

• Microsoft Launches winapp to Simplify Windows App Development (Aminu Abdullahi) - A new CLI to help set our environment and other things. I like the idea, I will have to try it out.

Programming

• Aspire—Your Stack, Streamlined - Cool nice free event coming up!

Podcast

• 499: Going Full Ralph, CLI, & GitHub Copilot SDK?!?! (Merge Conflict) - Really fun episode to listen to, the explanation of the Ralph loop pattern and hearing Frank panicking (sorry Frank) with all the emojis, it was a fun and very instructive episode.

• How Homebrew Became Mac's Package Manager with Mike McQuaid (Screaming in the Cloud) - As a user of Homebrew, I was really happy to learn more about its history and how it became what it is today.

• Married, Dating, or Single: The Best Relationship Advice You Will Ever Recieve (The Mel Robbins Podcast) - Because we are all in relationships with the community, our co-workers, families, and maybe lovers. Great episode to listen to.

• Making Reliable Software in 2026 with Damien Brady (.NET Rocks!) - An interesting conversation about how to make software reliable. It was very nice to hear from Damien again.

• What Grit Really Teaches Us About Happiness with Professor Angela Duckworth (A Bit of Optimism) - I've had her book on my reading list for a while, but listening to that passionate discussion on grit and happiness has reignited my interest and motivated me to bump it up my stack.

~frank

Reading Notes #685

This week's collection of interesting articles, blog posts, and insights from the world of technology, programming, and AI. From the latest developments in Claude code and AI models for coding to discussions on the security of AI assistants and the future of the craft of programming, there's something for everyone in this edition of Reading Notes. 

Enjoy!

zebra snow

AI

• 8 Things You Didn't Know About Code Mode (Rizel Scarlett) - A nice post that teaches us a few things about Goose and its new code mode feature.

• Claude Code for Fullstack Development: The 3 Things You Actually Need (Vinny) - I've been using Claude models for a while, but I should try to spend more time in Claude code. It looks pretty neat.

• The Best AI Models for Coding: Accuracy, Integration, and Developer Fit (Conrad Schwellnus) - An interesting post that suggests an answer but also helps us to find our own answers.

• Choosing the Right Model in GitHub Copilot: A Practical Guide for Developers | Microsoft Community Hub (Nithyasree Kusakula) - I think this post will help many people. There are so many different models, it's hard to pick. That said, it's always changing

• Is a secure AI assistant possible? (Grace Huckins) - In short, if it's connected, there is always a risk. That's rule no. 1 for a long time.

Programming

• Is the craft dead? (Scott Hanselman) - Good question! What do you think? Is it still there? I'm personally sure it still is.

Miscellaneous

• What Came First: The Content or the Platform? (Golnaz) - Continue to learn about how Microsoft used and uses those platforms to create its video content.

~frank