Bratty Redhead

I recently traveled to Aarhus in Denmark for a Goto Conference. As always, I obsessed over where to get coffee that doesn’t suck. I did some searches…

This post has been languishing in my drafts since May. I still wanted to write about it and I figured I should get it out there before I officially…

I've been trying to think of a thoughtful and engaging way to tell everyone the news. I feel like I should reflect on the last two years of…

I've been a bit reluctant to enter this discussion on my blog; partly because there are some amazing, thoughtful posts already that eclipse anything I…

Yesterday I tweeted in frustration about being confronted with yet another screencast/video when searching for help on the internet. This has been a…

This is the third post in a series about managing your Ruby Toolchain. Expect at least one more after this. You can also read:Pieces and Parts…

TL;DR Use package repos for all your static softwareLast weekend I wrote a blog post that started exploring standards for managing your Ruby…

I recently received an email from someone who attended my ChefConf talk and asked me to expand on a few things. As I started to answer the email, I…

Last night we had a fun second meetup of the Twin Cities Infracoders group. On the docket were presentations and demos for Vagrant and Sensu. We had…

I had an interesting exchange with Adam Jacob yesterday on Twitter around devops consulting. It's a topic I've discussed often with friends as we work…

Chromatic CoffeeLocation: Santa Clara, CA, a few miles from the Apple campusEspresso: EmperorHardware: La Marzocco and heavily modded grinders of…

Today I ended up in a heated discussion with some team mates over deployment strategies. As is often the case with this team, myself included when I…

Blue OxLocation: Chicago and 38th St, South Minneapolis, MNEspresso: Counter CultureHardware: Mazzer and La MarzoccoCoffee Art: YesDrink…

tl;dr: As a sysadmin, whenever someone tweets something snarky about sysadmins, I feel a little put down. As a result, I try to think twice about…

Blue SpoonLocation: New York, Downtown (Williams and Platt)Espresso: IntelligentsiaHardware: La Marzocco + MazzerCoffee Art: NoWiFi: yes, from the…

Financiar CoffeeLocation: New York, Cedar & William, Downtown, Financial DistrictEspresso: Financier (roasted in Park Slope, Brooklyn)Machine: La…

Irving Farm Coffee RoastersLocation: New York, 14th St & 7th Ave, UptownishEspresso: Irving FarmsMachines: La Marzocco & DogeCoffee Art: yesWiFi…

La Colombe Location: New York, NoHo@400 LafayetteEspresso: La ColombeMachines: La Marzocco & MazzerCoffee Art: yesWifi: unknownServed in: 8oz…

MachiattoLocation: near Times SquareEspresso: Macchiatto 44 roasted by Seattle-based Fonte Micro RoastersHardware: Fonte brandedCoffee Art: NoWiFi…

Kaffe 1668Location: New York, Tribeca a few blocks from the GZ MemorialEspresso: IntelligentsiaHardware: Synesso & MazzerCoffee Art: YesWiFi: yesDrink…

I'm embarking on something I've wanted to do for a long time. Coffee reviews for traveling nerds. I don't travel extensively but I do go places and my…

I just want to take a moment to point you at an epic new Chef cookbook undertaking. John Larsen has been working on a cookbook to configure a full ATG…

This post has been percolating in my brain for a long time. I mean like, long. Ever since I read a snippet from last year's Chef Summit discussing…

Today I was having a conversation about consulting and how important it is to not be emotionally attached to your solutions. As a consultant, you…

This is partially a post for posterity because I can never remember the format of this when I want it and I have to search all over the Internets for…

I have a couple of half-written blog posts started this weekend. Real wordy things about scrummifying your infrastructure and my experience with it…

A friend challenged me tonight to write a brilliant blog post on tuning a technology about which I know nothing. Actually I don't think you can really…

I have a few clients that I keep in touch with and take on small projects from time to time. This has been a strange week. I'm technically full time…

I enjoy independent consulting. For that matter, I enjoyed consulting for a consulting company. I've been doing it in one form or another since 200…

In the beginning, there was no Apple... I have an uneven history of geekiness. Most of my geek comes from my dad. When I was little, sometimes my…

Disclaimer: I have been working with Chef for about 18 months and Puppet for about 5 minutes. I don't claim to be an expert on Puppet nor warranty…

I picked up a Puppet gig recently. The client already has an OS level Puppet install working. My job is to use my understanding of automation tooling…

Generalists are awesome. Value them or you're doomed. They make the best diagnosticians, especially when systems are large, complex, distributed and…

What is DevOps? 2 years ago I had no idea. I was living the cycle of poorly planned, crappily implemented projects where artisan server builds were…

About 4 years ago, I was working for a remote client, building a large, fragile Yantra/WebSphere environment. The client had chosen to use the…

The plugin at githubWhen we started the Chef infrastructure automation project last year, a dev team started up at nearly the same time. I didn't know…

I'm a professional services consultant for a truly enormous corporation; for two more weeks. I turned in my two week notice today. I think I'm all…