Exploring Ideas: A Blog on Technology, Startups, Food, and More
Welcome to my blog where I share thoughts and insights on technology, startups, and life in Atlanta. Browse through the articles below or explore by topic.
Summer Reading List 2025
September 1, 2025
Summer’s winding down, and I’ve been fortunate to get through some excellent books over the past few months. I generally listen to audiobooks when riding bikes, doing long drives, or yard work. This summer I’ve been fortunate enough to do quite a bit of both, and have been able to enjoy some great books in the process. Here’s a quick rundown of what’s been on my reading list, along with why each o...
Technical Debt in Engineering Management: The Hidden Costs of Quick Management Fixes
August 29, 2025
Consider a common scenario in startup management: an engineering team drowning in meetings prompts a simple fix: all decisions flow through a single manager. Problem solved! Fewer meetings, faster choices, everyone can focus on coding again. Six months later, that manager is working 70-hour weeks, has become a bottleneck for every product decision, and the team is frustrated that nothing can move ...
Metrics That Actually Matter (And the Ones That Don't)
August 27, 2025
I saw a startup deck once and counted something like 47 different metrics across the slides. When I asked the founder which three numbers would tell them if the business was healthy or dying, they couldn’t answer clearly. They were measuring everything and understanding nothing. This is the curse of modern analytics: we can track anything, so we think we should track everything. But most metrics a...
SQL Injection Detection with Bandit Rule B608: Beyond the Basics
August 25, 2025
Your entire database can be wiped by a single malicious HTTP request. We’re often been so focused on scaling our Python application that we miss a classic SQL injection vulnerability in some user search endpoint. One '; DROP TABLE users; -- comment later, and three months of customer data vanishes into the digital ether. That’s why Bandit’s B608 rule exists and why SQL injection remains one of the...
Advanced Bandit Configuration: Custom Rules and Team Workflows
August 22, 2025
Three months into using Bandit on your team’s Python services, you hit a wall. The default configuration flags legitimate test files as security risks, misses domain-specific vulnerabilities, and generates too much noise for developers to take seriously. You need Bandit to understand your codebase like a team member, not like a generic security tool. Bandit’s real power isn’t in its out-of-the-box...
Trail Report: Sope Creek, Atlanta's Urban Singletrack Oasis
August 20, 2025
Nestled in the heart of East Cobb, Sope Creek offers a unique blend of technical singletrack, historical ruins, and natural beauty, all within minutes of Atlanta’s perimeter. Just barely OTP, Sope is a daily driver for me to get in some singletrack. It’s extremely tough but fun on a gravel bike, or classic cross country on a mountain bike. A large figure eight with some steep climbs, it’s a good a...
Trail Report: Vomet Comet - A Rollercoaster of Technical Thrills
August 18, 2025
The Vomet Comet isn’t just a trail, it’s a secret handshake. Just steps away from the pedestrian and at times mind-numbing silver comet trail, the vomet comet is a rowdy unexpected diversion. It’s earned its nauseating nickname honestly. Brutally steep climbs, questionable features, and rocks that will make you deeply regret riding a gravel bike. It weaves on and off of the comet starting just bef...
Deciding with Incomplete Data: When Perfect Information Isn't Possible
August 11, 2025
A trauma team has three minutes to decide on emergency surgery without lab results. A wildfire commander must evacuate neighborhoods while wind patterns remain unclear. A military unit advances despite incomplete intelligence about enemy positions. These aren’t failures of planning, they’re the reality of high-stakes decision making. When lives hang in the balance, waiting for perfect information ...
High-Reliability Organizations: When Failure Isn't an Option
August 8, 2025
A nuclear power plant operator spots a pressure reading that’s slightly off. An air traffic controller notices two planes on converging paths. A surgeon sees a subtle change in a patient’s vital signs. In these moments, the wrong decision, or no decision, could kill people. These aren’t just high-stakes environments; they’re High-Reliability Organizations (HROs) where failure isn’t an option. The ...
Cowboy Caviar: Fresh Tex-Mex Bean and Corn Salad
August 4, 2025
A colorful and zesty bean salad that’s as addictive as it is nutritious. This crowd-pleasing dip is perfect with tortilla chips or as a side dish. Ingredients For the Salad: 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed 1 can (15 oz) black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed 1 can (15 oz) corn kernels, drained (or 1½ cups fresh/frozen corn) 1 red bell pepper, diced 1 green bell pepper, diced 1 small red...
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