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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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Burnout Prevention Through Strategic Reassignment
Corporate burnout prevention programs often miss the point entirely. Instead of addressing workload, unrealistic expectations, or systemic issues, they treat burned-out employees as the problem to be managed or removed from the equation entirely.
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When it rains …
Planning for an AWS outage might seem like overkill until you need to evacuate vacation rental guests during a tropical storm and your entire infrastructure goes dark. Sometimes the improbable becomes critical, and understanding your business continuity options can mean the difference between frustration and tragedy.
