Daily Check-In with Ned1313
by Ned Bellavance
A 10-minute, daily podcast from Ned1313 discussing technology, career advancement, and anything else relevant to the IT Professional in a brief, conversational style.
Episodes
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Bringing Buffer Overflow Back?
I hosted a podcast called Buffer Overflow for about 4 years and 200 episodes. The company I worked for took down the podcast and all of its episodes. Should I host them on my own? Would anyone listen? I want to hear from YOU!
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Disney World Retrospective
I'm going to Disneyland! Er, World. I went to Disney World, and naturally it got me thinking about technology, in-groups, and market share. Sounds strange? It'll all make sense once you listen.
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Certified Recycled
There's an age old debate in tech about the utility of certifications. It's an argument we've had a hundred times. So let's have it again! This time I'm thinking about how a certification can help someone early on in their career and how the advent of the cloud and virtualization has lowered the...
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Pendulum Central
Is there anything inherently good about decentralization? Is one approach always more effective or equitable than the other? The realm of technology is lousy with example of both centralized and decentralized systems, and a constant flux between the two. As any complex system evolves, the more...
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Web3 is like a wrench
Tools and technology are mostly amoral. What matters is the intent of the individual using the tool. A system is what it does, or more accurately what one does with it. Blockchain, cryptocurrency, and web3 are neither net positive or negative. However, their implementations certainly can be. NFT...
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You're Already There
I read an interesting article today talking about how you don't need the cloud. Which is true! You don't need the cloud. Then the article went on to detail all the ways they are using cloud services without calling it cloud. And I felt confused! You don't need cloud, but you're using Cloudflare?...
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Scripting 2: Electric Boogaloo
Furthering my thoughts on when to script and not, let's turn our focus to live training, presentations, and keynotes. Also, guess what I just committed to at Pluralsight? Hint: it's a bunch of courses that don't deal with Terraform!...
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A Pre-script-tion
A listener asked about my thoughts on writing scripts for creating training videos or doing it off the top of my head. I've tried both approaches, and the answer for me is a hybrid mix. Scripted presentations and unscripted demos. If you're wondering what to do for your content, check out this...
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Nostalgia is a Helluva Drug
Are you feeling nostalgic about 15 years ago? Was it really that good back then? When I take an honest assessment of the things I'm nostalgic for, the rose-tinted lenses drop away and I realize that now is better than then. Yes, even with the pandemic. On the whole, my life is better now than it...
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Embracing the Grind
Most things worth doing take time to do them. And time is a commitment. As I've mentioned before, you should avoid overloading yourself, so it's important to think about whether the payoff is worth the grind. That's going to depend on your own personal value system. Personally, it's worth the…
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Maybe Enough Is That
I'm a restless person. It's hard for me to do a single thing for any period of time. I'm always looking forward to the next thing. Trying to achieve more, better, faster. And that is exhausting. A few key conversations and a little reflection brought me some clarity today. Maybe enough is enough....
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Web3 Infrastructure
I recently had a conversation with someone about what it takes to run components of a web3 application, and where web3 apps fit into the larger picture of applications in general. It was fascinating to hear from someone deeply involved in the space, and a chance to cut through some of the sturm…
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Jobuary?
Seems like everyone is changing jobs to celebrate the new year. Is this unique to 2022, or is it a more common thing? What would it take to drag me away from my life of luxury and self-employment. The answer seems to be DevRel, but don't quote me on that....
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Hard Habit to Break?
Being a generally contrary person, I find it hard to create habits. As soon as I have a steady schedule or solid set of expectations, my contrary nature wants to subvert it. I've used that to hack my own workflow, but it's still kinda weird....
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Resumes are an outdated concept
Except they aren't. The reality is more nuanced and complicated, especially for folks early on in their career. As you grow more senior and build your professional network, the need to have a resume ready to go lessens. Personally, I haven't had to submit a resume in the last decade. Each job was...
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2021 Year in Review
2022 is upon us! And it's already off to a shaky start. Let's look back on 2021 and I'll share some of my accomplishment and things I'm proud of from the year. There was a lot of technical content created, podcasts recorded, and posts blogged. Even if it was a challenging year personally;...
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Clarity Through Writing
I've found a renewed focus on writing and I believe it is improving my presentations and courses. The process of writing out a technical topic forces you to really think through how things work. It also forces you to structure your thoughts with a narrative bent. By embracing writing, I believe...
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Managing Terraform Cloud with Terraform
As I prepare my course on Getting Started with Terraform Cloud, I am learning a lot about how companies might want to manage Terraform Cloud at scale. The answer is to use automation, and what better tool to use than Terraform itself. And if you're going to use Terraform, you might as well use...
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Training for 2022
This year was a fantastic year for creating educational content. My Pluralsight catalog grew by six courses, and I started working on a series of liveProjects for Manning. I thought I would reflect on what I accomplished in the past year, and look to the future and my plans for 2022....
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Passing the Terraform Associate Exam
The Terraform Associate exam is meant to test those with an associate level understanding of Terraform and about six months of solid experience with the software. How can you prepare yourself to pass the exam? What can you do beyond videos and books? The answer, of course, is time in front of the...
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Networking without expectation
A few things have coalesced in my brain in the last couple weeks. The first is something I've strived to do in my career, and it has really paid off. That thing is being kind and approachable. The second is to approach interactions without a transactional mindset. If you go into a conversation…
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Web3 isn't what you think it is.
Blockchain, cryptocurrency, web3? Is it all just a solution in search of a problem? Or is there something real underneath. I believe there is a real use for blockchain, but it's not the revolutionary technology that will free us from the shackles of our oppressors. At best, it's a way to have a...
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Infrastructure as Data?
Continuing my thoughts on the need for a CDK when developing IaC, I came across an interesting post (hat-tip Scott Lowe) about Crossplane and the concept of Infrastructure as Data. While I'm not convinced that Crossplane is the way of the future, it does push me closer to the idea of static IaC...
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HashiCorp IPO
The software that HashiCorp creates has had a profound effect on my life. And the people behind that software are some of the best folks I know. I've never been prouder to be part of the HashiCorp Ambassador programs, and I wish nothing but the best for them as they move into this new phase as a...
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Why You Need a CDK
In Terraform, I was trying to do a data transformation and it broke my brain for a bit. I've since recovered, but it got me thinking about the proper place for data manipulation for infrastructure as code. The solution might be to use a general purpose programming language and a CDK, instead of…
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Can You Afford an Outage?
Yes. Yes you can. The recent AWS outage today served as a reminder that even cloud services fail, no technology is infallible, and you should always plan for downtime. It will also be a chance for people who know nothing to spew platitudes about availability zones and multi-region architectures...
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Embracing Hybrid Cloud
This week's Day Two Cloud is all about Azure Arc and Microsoft's Hybrid strategy. Is hybrid cloud really a thing? You bet your sweet bippy it is. 78% of respondents to the 2021 Flexera State of the Cloud report said they were functioning in a hybrid capacity, and I only expect that to grow. Day…
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Making Time to Write
For the first time in a while, I wrote a technical post on my blog and it immediately got attention from Microsoft. It reminded me that there is a significant difference between writing and other forms of media. I think it might be time to start writing more, maybe even weekly....
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Five Reasons You Need a Platform Team
Do you need a platform team at your organization? The answer is probably yes. The platform team delivers a consistent experience to your application development teams, and works with specialized folks like InfoSec and Compliance to make sure your organization is following best practices....
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An "Overnight" Success
Every overnight success is years in the making. The recent growth of the Day Two Cloud podcast has caused me to reflect on how much work it took to get to this point, and how that applies to more than just podcasting....
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A Good Monday
Sending good vibes your way, I had myself an excellent Monday. Excellent podcast recording, got my home lab working, and finished the demos on a project for Manning. I know it's a short week, but I already feel like I'm three steps ahead!...
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A Little Automation Advice
Today was all about automation in my corner of the world, and it got me thinking about some lessons learned. In a nut shell, automation is hard, try not to make it harder. Don't do too much at once. Do processes manually the first time. And never trust a pipeline that passes on the first go. You...
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What's Going On With YouTube?
My YouTube channel has been a bit stagnate lately. In case you're wondering why, I've got some answers and some plans for the future. More content is on the way, but it's gonna be a minute. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...
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Prosimo at Cloud Field Day 12
Multi-cloud is a reality for many organizations, as is multi-region. The question becomes, how do you effectively tie together the networking for your cloud presence and your on-prem datacenters and branch offices. Prosimo told us at #CFD12 they have a solution that can leverage the native...
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Ondat at Cloud Field Day 12
The folks at Ondat presented their solution for Kube-native storage at #CFD12. The term kube-native was new to me and I struggled a little at how it's different from cloud-native. Ondat set me straight, they are laser focused on supporting stateful workloads on Kubernetes and nothing else. Their...
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MemVerge at Cloud Field Day 12
MemVerge presented their AppCapsule technology at #CFD12 and it got my mind buzzing. There are so many potential applications for this technology! I think the team at MemVerge is doing the right thing by focusing on developing the product further and listening to their customer base. But there is…
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Yotascale at Cloud Field Day 12
Yotascale was one of the presenters at #CFD12 and I was impressed by the depth of analytics and integrations offered in their multi-cloud cost management solution. It's clear that they are heavily focused on creating and enforcing consistent tagging across providers to gain real insight into…
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Draining My Social Battery
Even at the best of times, my endurance for continuous social interaction is not that high. #CFD12 last week showed me just how out of practice I am. Now that I'm back home, I'm ready to hole up in the basement and hibernate until the Spring....
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Passing the AWS Solution Architect Pro Exam
Yesterday I successfully recertified for the AWS SA Professional certification. I remember studying for months to pass the first time, and this time I studied for 6-8 hours before sitting the exam. There really is no replacement for practical experience I guess! If you're curious about my…
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Yotascale at Cloud Field Day
We look at your cloud. We tag your cloud. Yota, yota, yota. You save money. What we can't yota over the money saving part? That's right, you can't. Yotascale is looking to control cloud costs through automatic tagging and anomaly detection. But will that really make a big difference? Can they...
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Prosimo at Cloud Field Day
Multi-cloud networking is still in its infancy. Lots of vendors are vying to be the right solution. @Prosimo_io is one of those vendors, and I think their solution is intriguing. They are trying to leverage the best of virtual appliances and native cloud constructs to deliver a robust solution. I...
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MemVerge at Cloud Field Day
I always felt that PMEM was a solution in search of a problem, but @MemVerge has built a whole platform on the premise that I am wrong. At Cloud Field Day 12 (#CFD12) they will be presenting their solution and I have a TON of questions. Hybrid storage arrays were notoriously finnicky and I want…
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Ondat at Cloud Field Day 12
Cloud Field Day 12 (#CFD12) is happening in-person next week! I'll be one of the on-premises delegates serving as a proxy for you. One of the presenters is Ondat, formerly StorageOS. I thought I would do a quick review of Ondat's solution and what I know about it so far. Consider this a bit of...
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Not a Joiner
All my life I've been reticent to deeply identify with a pursuit. To go all in on a hobby. To join and participate in a community. I'm not a joiner. Never have been. There's a certain level of freedom that comes with not being a joiner, but it can also be a lonely gig. Can't change it though…
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VMware Buying HashiCorp?
My buddy Keith Townsend had an interesting post on his substack about whether VMware should buy HashiCorp? I like his reasoning, especially the light criticism of how they have developed their Tanzu product portfolio. Do I think VMware should buy HashiCorp? Maybe. Do I think HashiCorp should…
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Azure Arc is the Future of Microsoft Hybrid
Yesterday Ethan and I recorded a fascinating episode of Day Two Cloud with Ben Weissman. He brought the knowledge about Azure Arc and its Data Services. That led to me thinking deeply about the plans Microsoft laid back in 2017 with SQL on Linux and investments in Kubernetes, and how its paying…
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An API Gateway By Any Other Name
Is just a fancy reverse proxy if we're being honest. HashiCorp announced the preview of Consul API Gateway during the day two keynote of HashiConf Global. Initially, I was feeling pretty sceptical about Consul entering such a crowded market. But as I considered the state of the market and the...
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HashiConf Global Recommendations
HashiConf Global is this Tuesday and Wednesday. I thought I would review what I've watched so far and make some recommendations on what to watch once everything is available on demand. If you're invested in the HashiCorp stack, there are going to be some awesome sessions!...
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Editing for a Better Tomorrow
For the first time in a while, I've had to edit my own Pluralsight course. It's reminded me how essential the editing process is to improving my presentation and communication skills. Since I no longer edit a podcast on a weekly basis, the outlet to listen to myself and look for improvement has...
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Tired of Tech? Music Time!
I'm tired of talking about tech and content creation today. Let's talk about awesome music we're listening to! We got good stuff like Spiritbox, Manchester Orchestra, Remi Wolf, and a tiny bit of Turnstile. What are you listening to? Let me know!...
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About this show
A 10-minute, daily podcast from Ned1313 discussing technology, career advancement, and anything else relevant to the IT Professional in a brief, conversational style.
Hosted by
Ned Bellavance
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