• Why One Key Shouldn’t Rule Them All: Threshold Signatures for the Rest of Us

    Why One Key Shouldn’t Rule Them All: Threshold Signatures for the Rest of Us

    Private keys are the backbone of digital security — and a single point of failure. Threshold signatures split that risk across multiple parties, and the DKLS23 protocol does it in just three rounds. Here’s how it works and why it matters.

  • The Upfront Investment That Saves 10,000 Hours

    The Upfront Investment That Saves 10,000 Hours

    There’s a pattern in tech where people mock the setup cost of automation without accounting for the return. I spent a day building a Grunt-based WordPress bootstrapper in 2013. Fortune 500 companies are still running code built on that foundation today.

  • From Defense AI Drift to Policy Enforcement: Why I Built Firebreak

    From Defense AI Drift to Policy Enforcement: Why I Built Firebreak

    I wrote earlier about why defense AI companies drift toward offensive applications. Today for a hackathon I built the engineering solution I wish had existed when I was inside that world. Firebreak is a policy-as-code enforcement proxy that makes pre-negotiated AI boundaries hold — automatically, at machine speed, with full audit trails.

  • AI Slop and the em-dash

    AI Slop and the em-dash

    There’s a common perception that em-dashes may indicate AI-generated writing. But for those of us who use tools like WordPress for publishing … we might be using em-dashes regularly without even knowing. Our tools polish our typography, letting us focus on the content. While em-dashes can signal professionalism, they shouldn’t be solely equated with AI writing.

  • The Gravity Problem: Why Defense AI Companies Drift Toward Offense

    The Gravity Problem: Why Defense AI Companies Drift Toward Offense

    The Secretary of Defense has pressured Anthropic to permit military use of its AI for “all lawful purposes,” threatening to invoke the Defense Production Act. Anthropic refuses to enable mass surveillance or autonomous weapons, highlighting the industry’s shift from defensive to offensive applications. The situation reflects broader challenges in maintaining ethical AI boundaries amidst government demands.

  • PHP Tek 2026: Kubernetes and Semantic Search for PHP Developers

    PHP Tek 2026: Kubernetes and Semantic Search for PHP Developers

    In May, I’ll present two talks at PHP Tek. The first focuses on streamlining production deployments. The second on AI-powered semantic search in Laravel. Connect with me at the conference!

  • The gap between Docker Compose and production Kubernetes

    The gap between Docker Compose and production Kubernetes

    Docker Compose and Kubernetes solve the same problems with different vocabulary. Once you see the translation, production deployment stops feeling impossible.

  • Why I built a Kubernetes deployment tool

    Why I built a Kubernetes deployment tool

    After years managing production PHP infrastructure and watching teams burn weeks on Kubernetes adoption, I built the deployment tool I wished someone had given me.

  • Short Stints, Real Experience: Rethinking Career Tenure

    Short Stints, Real Experience: Rethinking Career Tenure

    The hiring world still clings to tenure requirements that ignore reality. I’ve been on both sides — rejecting candidates for short stints and creating holes in other engineers’ resumes myself. It’s time to rethink what “experience” actually means.

  • Gratitude

    Gratitude

    Another leader once encouraged managers to express gratitude to their teams through hand-written thank you notes. This has evolved into an annual tradition for me. Sharing gratitude with your team is a way to show leadership, even outside of a management role.