Thoughts/Musings — imported from WordPress.https://alan.is/topics/thoughtsmusings/https://alan.is/insights/big-tech-settlements-2026/https://alan.is/insights/big-tech-settlements-2026/Fifteen major tech fines topped $25B in mid-2026. Nobody admitted guilt—the interesting part is what they must build.Thu, 27 Aug 2026 21:06:14 GMTalibabaamazonanthropicgooglemetaoracletiktokhttps://alan.is/insights/the-java-story-documentary/https://alan.is/insights/the-java-story-documentary/The "Java Story" is a documentary that charts the story of the language, with interviews from many of the key players, including James Gosling.Wed, 05 Aug 2026 13:33:55 GMTjavajavaonehttps://alan.is/insights/no-you-may-not-record-this-meeting/https://alan.is/insights/no-you-may-not-record-this-meeting/AI note-takers default to surveillance in every room—killing humor and consent. Time to push back.Tue, 28 Jul 2026 11:29:38 GMTainote-takershttps://alan.is/insights/the-top-decile-trap/https://alan.is/insights/the-top-decile-trap/Hiring only stars kills the pipeline and brittle teams. Balance expertise with developing new talent.Thu, 23 Jul 2026 14:12:56 GMTgraduatesinternshipsrecruitmenttalenthttps://alan.is/insights/we-are-a-campfire-not-a-family/https://alan.is/insights/we-are-a-campfire-not-a-family/'We are a family' hiring is a trap. The campfire model: gather, contribute, leave—the fire stays.Tue, 14 Jul 2026 14:57:17 GMTcampfirecompany-culturefamilyhttps://alan.is/insights/ai-imposter-syndrome/https://alan.is/insights/ai-imposter-syndrome/Past tech waves you could skip; AI you can't. On AI fatigue, authorship loss, and interventions that help.Tue, 07 Jul 2026 21:07:25 GMTaichief-technology-officerimposter-syndromehttps://alan.is/insights/podcast-episode-prompting-ai-and-business-chaos/https://alan.is/insights/podcast-episode-prompting-ai-and-business-chaos/An experiment of an AI generated podcast from a series of previously published articles. You decide.Mon, 01 Jun 2026 13:43:00 GMTaiartificial-intelligencepodcasthttps://alan.is/insights/simulating-corporate-chaos-your-own-truman-show/https://alan.is/insights/simulating-corporate-chaos-your-own-truman-show/Build a Truman Show of AI personality types in a virtual Slack and watch them interact and learn.Fri, 29 May 2026 11:21:32 GMTaiartificial-intelligencemodelspromptsimulationhttps://alan.is/insights/ai-is-making-us-artificially-intelligent/https://alan.is/insights/ai-is-making-us-artificially-intelligent/KISS kept us from drowning in noise. AI swapped it for needless verbosity—and content we did not write.Thu, 21 May 2026 18:50:49 GMTaiartificial-intelligencebovinekisshttps://alan.is/insights/ride-of-a-life-time/https://alan.is/insights/ride-of-a-life-time/Dreams open paths you never walk otherwise—I dared to dream and landed somewhere I did not expect.Thu, 23 Apr 2026 15:42:49 GMTadventurelong-way-roundmotorcyclehttps://alan.is/insights/lack-of-transparency-in-ai-pricing/https://alan.is/insights/lack-of-transparency-in-ai-pricing/Token billing and fuzzy limits mean surprise AI bills. We need clearer metrics, not just spend caps.Sun, 12 Apr 2026 21:09:32 GMTaiartificial-intelligencechatgptllmpricingtechnologytoken-usagehttps://alan.is/insights/let-me-introduce-alan-0-9/https://alan.is/insights/let-me-introduce-alan-0-9/Let me introduce you to my AI clone - Alan 0.9. He looks the same, and even sounds roughly the same. This is going to get very weird.Tue, 07 Apr 2026 00:52:04 GMTaiavatarclonehttps://alan.is/insights/i-like-big-macs-and-i-cannot-lie/https://alan.is/insights/i-like-big-macs-and-i-cannot-lie/A longtime Windows and Ubuntu user tries the MacBook Pro as a daily driver—and becomes a convert.Sun, 22 Mar 2026 21:24:40 GMTlaptopmacbookwindowshttps://alan.is/insights/why-the-saaspocalypse-is-over-blown/https://alan.is/insights/why-the-saaspocalypse-is-over-blown/AI won't kill SaaS overnight—custom tools bring security and ops costs incumbents already solved.Wed, 11 Mar 2026 14:34:00 GMTaisaassaaspocalypsehttps://alan.is/insights/five-nights-of-vibe-coding-a-game-experiment/https://alan.is/insights/five-nights-of-vibe-coding-a-game-experiment/I vibe-coded a fun game with Claude—but who owns it? The experiment left me oddly flat.Mon, 16 Feb 2026 13:10:00 GMTaigamevibe-codinghttps://alan.is/insights/vibe-factoring-java-with-claude/https://alan.is/insights/vibe-factoring-java-with-claude/Refactoring Java with Claude agents mostly worked—and the code came out better despite a few hurdles.Sun, 08 Feb 2026 02:42:37 GMTaiclaudesoftware-development-2vibe-codinghttps://alan.is/insights/the-shiny-object-trap-dont-forego-the-basics/https://alan.is/insights/the-shiny-object-trap-dont-forego-the-basics/Chasing features while Outlook and PowerPoint fail basics creates risk—fix friction before new code.Fri, 30 Jan 2026 13:15:00 GMTsoftwaresoftware-development-2https://alan.is/insights/reclaiming-focus-the-lost-art-of-downtime/https://alan.is/insights/reclaiming-focus-the-lost-art-of-downtime/We traded Borland's forced tea break for noisy pipelines. Step away, think, and make a proper cup.Mon, 26 Jan 2026 14:04:00 GMTmental-health-2software-development-2https://alan.is/insights/the-silent-decay-to-legacy/https://alan.is/insights/the-silent-decay-to-legacy/Software outlives its context. Spend ~30% on maintenance or your stack becomes a museum.Mon, 19 Jan 2026 14:55:00 GMTlegacysoftware-modernizationtechnical-debthttps://alan.is/insights/the-hidden-if-in-everything/https://alan.is/insights/the-hidden-if-in-everything/From car updates to AI, buried if-statements run our lives—product must own those rules, not devs.Thu, 15 Jan 2026 16:45:30 GMTlogicsoftware-engineering-2https://alan.is/insights/how-ai-agents-will-change-ecommerce/https://alan.is/insights/how-ai-agents-will-change-ecommerce/Machine customers end the browser era. Winning platforms need deterministic, AI-ready APIs—not just UI.Wed, 07 Jan 2026 15:25:00 GMTagentic-secagentic-seoaiapihttps://alan.is/insights/2025-in-review/https://alan.is/insights/2025-in-review/As 2026 begins, my annual review of 2025—reflecting on the stats and journals I kept through the year.Thu, 01 Jan 2026 18:34:28 GMT2025journalhttps://alan.is/insights/the-inevitable-v3-rewrite/https://alan.is/insights/the-inevitable-v3-rewrite/v1 guesses, v2 survives, v3 subtracts noise. Real stability often arrives on the third rewrite.Mon, 29 Dec 2025 11:52:25 GMTprogrammingsoftware-developmentsoftware-engineeringsoftware-engineering-2technologyhttps://alan.is/insights/this-aint-no-technological-breakdown/https://alan.is/insights/this-aint-no-technological-breakdown/Chris Rea, Woolworths, and a £5.99 vinyl in 1989 Paisley—the soundtrack of my university years.Wed, 24 Dec 2025 23:12:51 GMTchrisreamusicrecordrecordsreviewsvinylwritinghttps://alan.is/insights/the-ctos-year-end-audit/https://alan.is/insights/the-ctos-year-end-audit/December quiet is for architecture audits—not inbox zero. Align the stack with your 2026 vision now.Sat, 20 Dec 2025 23:07:08 GMT2026ctotechnologyvision-document