Latest
Nov
12
An Interview with Ignition Works
Hey there. You're reading Simpler Machines, a weekly newsletter about the human side of software development. I'm Nat Bennett, a
16 min read
Nov
05
An office with a door that closes
I don't need to win an argument with anyone, even with myself, about whether the thing that makes me happy and comfortable also makes me more productive.
4 min read
Oct
29
Why Does Pivotal Tracker Have a Priority Field?
Does the Tracker team even use Tracker itself anymore?
6 min read
Oct
22
An Interview with Josh Aresty, Tech Lead at Braintree
We talked about pairing, story acceptance, process change, adapting to remote work, and a neat technique I’d never heard of before for weekly planning.
41 min read
Oct
15
Newsletter Recommendations
Here's the neighborhood you're in right now. These aren't the only newsletters I read, but they're the ones that have most influenced this one, or that I find the most consistently interesting.
4 min read
Oct
08
Conservation of Conflict
You can make conflict more pleasant, but only if you stop trying to get rid of it.
8 min read
Oct
01
Code is a load-bearing poem (and a pop-up newsletter)
A program is a poem that you write for two audiences: The computer, and every programmer who comes after you.
3 min read
Sep
24
Why you need a "WTF Notebook"
There's a very specific reputation I want to have on a team: "Nat helps me solve my problems. Nat get things I care about done."
7 min read
Sep
17
Do you want to do things that matter, or do you want to be busy?
Work, itself, is an opiate. And you can't do your best work when you're stoned.
9 min read
Sep
10
Some light Kubernetes skepticism
I'm pleased to see VMware "succeeding with success" and sticking with Cloud Foundry on BOSH for what that system is really good at: Mission critical apps.
7 min read
