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The tech industry is getting long enough in the teeth that now there are some bonafide old fogeys. Nevertheless there, fortunately, are plenty of younger tech folks out there pushing the thought and mentality of the industry forward. Andrew Brown, Co-Founder and Cloud Instructor at ExamPro Training Inc certainly is, but his presence in the community is so much more! On this Screaming in the Cloud Replay, Andrew talks about the various internet platforms that he stays active on, and his mission to provide education on the cloud. Importantly so, Andrew does so with an immense amount of generosity. As he puts it, he couldn’t imagine taking money for the courses that he has created. Andrew and Corey discuss at length their thoughts on cloud certifications, the worth of multicloud, and much more!
Show Highlights(0:00) Intro
(0:41) The Duckbill Group sponsor read
(1:15) Why Corey struggles to keep up with Andrew’s impressive online presence
(2:47) Explaining ExamPro
(6:39) The troubles of online “experts”
(13:01) Andrew’s thoughts on using certifications as proxies
(18:14) The value of certification vs. your level of experience
(22:47) The Duckbill Group sponsor read
(23:30) Should engineers learn more than one cloud provider?
(27:10) Is multi-cloud actually the way to go?
(34:31) Where you can find more from Andrew
About Andrew Brown
Andrew Brown has been working in tech 15 years. Today, he creates free cloud certification courses where he teaches people Cloud, DevOps, Data, ML, Security, K8s and Serverless.
Links
ExamPro Training, Inc.: https://www.exampro.co/PolyWork: https://www.polywork.com/andrewbrownLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-wc-brownTwitter: https://twitter.com/andrewbrownOriginal Episode
https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/learning-to-give-in-the-cloud-with-andrew-brown/
Sponsor
The Duckbill Group: duckbillgroup.com
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Corey Quinn is joined by Paulus Schoutsen, creator of Home Assistant and president of the Open Home Foundation. What started as a Python script to control Hue lights is now a leading open-source smart home platform with 1.6M users. Unlike ad-driven devices, Home Assistant prioritizes privacy, user control, and customization. Backed by the Open Home Foundation, it stays independent from corporate influence. Paulus highlights their community-driven approach, with users sharing automations online. By focusing on open standards, privacy, and user-first development, Home Assistant empowers smarter, more sustainable home automation.
Show Highlights
(0:00) Intro
(0:33) Duckbill Group sponsor read
(1:45) What inspired Paulus to create Home Assistant
(6:54) How Home Assistant developed from text files to its current incarnation
(12:02) Duckbill Group sponsor read
(13:42) How Home Assistant is able to detect different IoT devices
(16:06) Why not having investors is a strength for Home Assistant
(21:11) How Home Assistant acts as a unifier for communications protocols
(24:22) Why Big Tech doesn’t have a lot of interest in Home Assistant
(30:45) How to learn more about Home Assistant
About Paulus Schoutsen
Paulus Schoutsen is the creator of Home Assistant, the world’s most active open-source smart home platform, and president of the Open Home Foundation. What started as a Python script to control Philips Hue lights has grown into a global community of over 1.6 million users. Home Assistant stands out for its dedication to privacy, sustainability, and user control, offering a stable, customizable platform free from the ad-driven models of big tech. Paulus also leads Nabucasa, the commercial arm of Home Assistant, and champions the platform’s independence and community-driven ethos, ensuring long-term focus on open standards and user empowerment.
Home Assistant website https://www.home-assistant.io/
LinksSponsor
The Duckbill Group https://www.duckbillgroup.com/
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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On this Screaming in the Cloud Replay, we’re revisiting our conversation with Tobi Knaup, the current VP & General Manager of Cloud Native at Nutanix. At the time this first aired, Tobi was the co-founder and CTO of D2iQ before the company was acquired by Nutanix. In this blast from the past, Corey and Tobi discuss why Mesosphere rebranded as D2iQ and why the Kubernetes community deserves the credit for the widespread adoption of the container orchestration platform. Many people assume Kubernetes is all they need, but that’s a mistake, and Tobi explains what other tools they end up having to use. We’ll also hear why Tobi thinks that multi-cloud is the future (it is the title of the episode after all).
Show Highlights
(0:00) Intro
(0:28) The Duckbill Group sponsor read
(1:01) Memosphere rebranding to D2iQ
(4:34) The strength of the Kubernetes community
(7:43) Is open-source a bad business model?
(10:19) Why you need more than just Kubernetes
(13:13) The Duckbill Group sponsor read
(13:55) Is multi-cloud the best practice?
(17:31) Creating a consistent experience between two providers
(19:05) Tobi’s background story
(24:24) Memories of the days of physical data centers
(28:00) How long will Kubernetes be relevant
(30:18) Where you can find more from Tobi
About Tobi Knaup
Tobi Knaup is the VP & General Manager of Cloud Native at Nunatix. Previously, he was the Co-Founder and CTO of D2iQ Kubernetes Platform before Nutanix acquired the company. Knaup is an experienced software engineer focusing on large scale systems and machine learning. Tobi’s research work is on Internet-scale sentiment analysis using online knowledge, linguistic analysis, and machine learning. Outside of his tech work, he enjoys making cocktails and has collected his favorite recipes on his cocktail website.
Links
Tobi’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/superguenterLinkedIn URL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobiasknaup/Personal site: https://tobi.knaup.me/Original Episode
https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/multi-cloud-is-the-future-with-tobi-knaup/
Sponsor
The Duckbill Group: duckbillgroup.com
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Spencer Kimball, CEO of Cockroach Labs, joins Corey Quinn to discuss the evolving challenges of database resilience in 2025. They discuss the State of Resilience 2025 report, revealing widespread operational concerns, costly outages, and gaps in failover preparedness. Modern resilience strategies, like active-active configurations and consensus replication, reduce risks but require expertise and investment. Spencer highlights growing regulatory pressures, such as the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act, and the rising complexity of distributed systems. Despite challenges, Cockroach Labs aims to simplify resilience, enabling organizations to modernize while balancing risk, cost, and customer trust.
Show Highlights
(0:00) Intro
(0:36) Cockroach Labs sponsor read
(3:14) The foundational nature of databases
(3:55) Cockroach Labs’ State of Resilience 2025 report
(8:55) CrowdStrike as an example of why database resilience is so important
(11:04) What Spencer found most surprising in the report’s results
(15:13) Understanding the multi-cloud strategy as safety in numbers
(18:29) Cockroach Labs sponsor read
(19:23) Why cost isn’t the Achilles’ heel of the multi-cloud strategy that some people think
(23:52) Executives are blaming IT people for outages as much
(28:21) The importance of active-active configurations
(32:01) Why anxiety about operational resiliency will never fully go away
(37:52) How to access the State of Resilience 2025 report
About Spencer Kimball
Spencer Kimball is the CEO and co-founder of Cockroach Labs, a company dedicated to building resilient, cloud-native databases. Before founding Cockroach Labs, Spencer had a distinguished career in technology, including contributions to Google’s Colossus file system. Alongside co-founders Peter Mattis and Ben Darnell, he launched CockroachDB, a globally distributed SQL database designed to handle modern data challenges like resilience, multi-cloud deployment, and compliance with evolving data sovereignty laws. CockroachDB is renowned for its innovative architecture, enabling consistent and scalable database performance across regions and clouds. Under Spencer’s leadership, the company continues to redefine operational resilience for enterprises worldwide.
Links
Cockroach Labs: https://www.cockroachlabs.com/The State of Resilience 2025 report https://www.cockroachlabs.com/guides/the-state-of-resilience-2025/Sponsor
Cockroach Labs: cockroachlabs.com/lastweek -
On this Screaming in the Cloud In this episode of Screaming in the Cloud, Corey Quinn is joined by AWS container hero and security engineer at the Python Software Foundation, Mike Fiedler. They delve into the intricacies of Python's ecosystem, discussing the evolution of PyPI, its significance, and the ongoing battles against security threats like account takeover attacks and typo-squatting. Mike sheds light on his role in maintaining the security and reliability of the Python Package Index, the importance of 2FA, and the collaborative efforts with security researchers. Corey and Mike also explore the challenges and philosophies surrounding legacy systems versus greenfield development, with insights on maintaining critical infrastructure and the often-overlooked aspects of social engineering.
Show Highlights(0:00) Introduction
(0:47) The Duckbill Group sponsor read
(1:21) Breaking down the Python nomenclature and its usability
(5:49) Figuring out how Boto3 is one of the most downloaded packages
(6:43) Why Mike is the only full-time security and safety engineer at the Python Software Foundation
(9:53) How the Python Software Foundation affords to operate
(14:17) Mike's stack security work
(16:14) The Duckbill Group sponsor read
(16:57) Having the "impossible job" of stopping supply chain attacks
(21:00) The dangers of social engineering attacks
(24:44) Why Mike prefers to work on legacy systems
(33:30) Where you can find more from Mike
About Mike Fiedler
Mike Fiedler is a highly analytical, forward-thinking Information Technology professional. His broad-based background includes systems administration and engineering in global environments. Mike is technically astute and versatile with ability to quickly learn, master, and leverage new technologies to meet business needs and has a track record of success in improving performance, stability, and security for all infrastructure and product initiatives.
Mike is also bilingual, speaks English and Hebrew, and he loves solving puzzling problems.
Links
Mike’s Mastadon: https://hachyderm.io/@mikethemanMike’s Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/miketheman.comMike’s Python Software Foundation blog posts: https://blog.pypi.org/The Python Package Index Safety & Security Engineer: First Year in Review: https://blog.pypi.org/posts/2024-08-16-safety-and-security-engineer-year-in-review/Sponsor
The Duckbill Group: duckbillgroup.com
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On this Screaming in the Cloud Replay, we’re revisiting our conversation with Co-Founder of Senzo, Ant Stanley. Ant sits down with Corey to do so. He offers up his history which has lead to his time as “Serverless Hero” to landing on the line that “serverless sucks.” Lend us your ears to see how that transition happened! Ant goes into detail on JeffConf (not the of the Bezos nomen), and working with servers and what to put where and why. Ant and Corey talk over the plague of AWS services where Ant offers his perspective how to trim the fat and keep things simple to make long-term objectives more attainable. They discuss the importance of training, the role of certifications for better and worse, and more. Tune in for his take!
(0:00) Intro(0:51) Duckbill Group sponsor read(1:24) What does it mean to be an AWS Serverless Hero?(3:13) Why Ant and Corey are critical of the state of serverless(7:53) Woes with Lambda and CloudFront(10:12) The never-ending stream of new AWS services(13:36) Hurdles ahead of going serverless(17:33) Struggles of getting customers to understand a newly built service(21:31) Duckbill Group sponsor read(22:14) Pros and cons of certifications(32:17) Where you can find more from Ant
Show HighlightsAbout Ant Stanley
Ant Stanley is a community focused technologist with a passion for enabling better outcomes for society through technology. He is an AWS Serverless Hero, runs the Serverless London User Group, co-runs ServerlessDays London and is part of the ServerlessDays Global team.
Links
A Cloud Guru: https://acloudguru.comhomeschool.dev: https://homeschool.devaws.training: https://aws.traininglearn.microsoft.com: https://learn.microsoft.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/iamstanOriginal Episode
https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/serverless-hero-got-servers-in-his-eyes-with-ant-stanley/
Sponsor
The Duckbill Group: duckbillgroup.com
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Eric Carter of Sysdig joins Corey to tackle the evolving landscape of cloud security, particularly in AWS environments. As attackers leverage automation to strike within minutes, Sysdig focuses on real-time threat detection and rapid response. Tools like Runtime Insights and open-source Falco help teams identify and mitigate misconfigurations, excessive permissions, and stealthy attacks, while Kubernetes aids in limiting lateral movement. Eric introduced the “10-minute benchmark” for defense, combining automation and human oversight. Adapting to constant change, Sysdig integrates frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK to stay ahead of threats. Corey and Eric also discuss Sysdig’s conversational AI security analyst, which simplifies decision-making.
Show Highlights
(0:00) Intro
(0:32) Sysdig sponsor read
(0:51) What they do at Sysdig
(3:28) When you need a human in the loop vs when AI is useful
(5:12) How AI may affect career progression for cloud security analysts
(8:18) The importance of security for AI
(12:18) Sysdig sponsor read
(12:39) Security practices in AWS
(15:19) How Sysdig’s security reports have shaped Corey’s thinking
(18:10) Where the cloud security industry is headed
(20:03) Cloud security increasingly feeling like an arms race between attackers and defenders
(23:33) Frustrations with properly configuring leased permissions
(28:17) How to keep up with Eric and SysdigAbout Eric Carter
Eric is an AWS Cloud Partner Advocate focused on cultivating Sysdig’s technology cloud and container partner ecosystem. Eric has spearheaded marketing efforts for enterprise technology solutions across various domains, such as security, monitoring, storage, and backup. He is passionate about working with Sysdig's alliance partners, and outside of work, enjoys performing as a guitarist in local cover bands.
Sysdig's website: https://sysdig.com/Sysdig's AWS Cloud Security: https://sysdig.com/ecosystem/aws/Sysdig’s 5 Steps to Securing AWS Cloud Infrastructure: https://sysdig.com/content/c/pf-5-steps-to-securing-aws-cloud-infrastructure?x=Xx8NSJ
LinksSponsor
Sysdig: https://www.sysdig.com
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On this Screaming in the Cloud Replay, Corey is joined by John Allspaw, Founder/Principal at Adaptive Capacity Labs. John was foundational in the DevOps movement, but he’s continued to bring much more to the table. He’s written multiple books and seems to always be at the forefront. Which is why he is now at Adaptive Capacity Labs. John tells us what exactly Adaptive Capacity Labs does and how it works and how he convinced some heroes to get behind it. John brings a much-needed insight into how to get multiple people in an organization on the same level when it comes to dealing with incidents. Engineers and non. John points out the issues surrounding public vs. private write-ups and the roadblocks they may prop up. Adaptive Capacity Labs is working towards bringing those roadblocks down, tune in for how!
Show Highlights
(0:00) Introduction
(0:59) The Duckbill Group sponsor read
(1:33) What is Adaptive Capacity Labs and the work that they do?
(3:00) How to effectively learn from incidents
(7:33) What is the root of confusion in incident analysis
(13:20) Identifying if an organization has truly learned from their incidents
(18:23) Gitpod sponsor read
(19:35) Adaptive Capacity Lab’s reputation for positively shifting company culture
(24:22) What the tech industry is missing when it comes to learning effectively from the incidents
(28:44) Where you can find more from John and Adaptive Capacity Labs
About John Allspaw
John Allspaw has worked in software systems engineering and operations for over twenty years in many different environments. John’s publications include the books The Art of Capacity Planning (2009) and Web Operations (2010) as well as the forward to “The DevOps Handbook.” His 2009 Velocity talk with Paul Hammond, “10+ Deploys Per Day: Dev and Ops Cooperation” helped start the DevOps movement.
John served as CTO at Etsy, and holds an MSc in Human Factors and Systems Safety from Lund University
Links
The Art of Capacity Planning: https://www.amazon.com/Art-Capacity-Planning-Scaling-Resources/dp/1491939206/Web Operations: https://www.amazon.com/Web-Operations-Keeping-Data-Time/dp/1449377440/The DevOps Handbook: https://www.amazon.com/DevOps-Handbook-World-Class-Reliability-Organizations/dp/1942788002/Adaptive Capacity Labs: https://www.adaptivecapacitylabs.comJohn Allspaw Twitter: https://twitter.com/allspawRichard Cook Twitter: https://twitter.com/ri_cookDave Woods Twitter: https://twitter.com/ddwoods2Original Episode
https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/finding-a-common-language-for-incidents-with-john-allspaw/
Sponsors
The Duckbill Group: duckbillgroup.com
Gitpod: http://www.gitpod.io/
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On this Screaming in the Cloud Replay, we’re revisiting our conversation with Michael Garski, the director of software engineering at famed electrical guitar manufacturer, Fender. Prior to this position, he worked as a principal software architect at Viant, a principal software architect at MySpace, a manager of internet development at Countrywide Financial, and a manager of system architecture at Fandango, among other positions. He also had a four-year stint in the US Navy, working as an engineering laboratory technician. Join Corey and Michael as they talk about how artists are angels and Fender’s job is to give them wings, how Fender has diversified its offerings in recent years, how serverless is a mindset and how Fender approach serverless technology, how Fender’s traffic surged during the pandemic and how everything mostly scaled up without a hitch, the challenges of teaching students to play instruments over the internet, the vendor lock-in boogeyman, and more.
Show Highlights(0:00) Introduction
(0:42) Dragonfly sponsor read
(1:25) How does Michael describe Fender’s work
(2:08) Fender’s work to go serverless
(4:13) The impact of COVID on Fender
(6:19) Explaining Fender Play and how it works on the backend
(9:44) Working with MediaConvert
(11:30) Experiences with scaling and hitting AWS service limits
(12:52) Why Michael prefers working on the customer side
(15:33) The Duckbill Group sponsor read
(16:15) Frustrations with gateways and third-party apps
(19:03) Managing a massive influx of users during COVID
(21:13) The vendor lock-in boogeyman
(23:19) Cloud costs vs. saving time
(24:49) Walking the fine line of criticism as a director
(28:09) Enforcing consistency across services
(31:52) Where you can find more from Michael
About Michael Garski
Michael Garski has worked in the Los Angeles tech industry for over 20 years, across companies including Fandango, Countrywide Home Loans, MySpace, Viant, and is currently at Fender Musical Instruments as the Director of Platform engineering were he leads the devops, data, and api engineering teams. His focus currently is on building the platform to support the consumer facing digital products for Fender. The most prominent application he supports is Fender Play, a web and mobile application that provides video-based instruction for guitar, bass, and ukulele for more than a quarter-million subscribers.
Links
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mgarski/Original Episode
https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/keep-on-rockin-in-the-server-free-world/
Sponsors
Dragonfly: dragonflydb.io
The Duckbill Group: duckbillgroup.com
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Whether remote or local, Gitpod Co-Founder and CTO Chris Weichel thinks there’s a clear benefit to standardizing automated development environments. On this episode of Screaming in the Cloud, Chris joins Corey to chat about the inception and progression of Gitpod, highlighting the company’s mission to streamline development workflows, improve security, and enhance developer productivity. They also discuss the hurdles and solutions that come with balancing organizational standardization with individual developer preferences. You’ll also get the inside scoop on why Gitpod is transitioning away from Kubernetes and the innovative aspects of Gitpod Flex!
Show Highlights(0:00) Introduction
(0:27) Gitpod sponsor read
(1:39) What is Gitpod in the modern era?
(3:07) The debate of local vs. remote development
(4:57) Explaining Gitpod's target customers
(9:36) Clarifying Corey's misconceptions about Gitpod
(12:42) Building between developer environments
(15:23) Is something inherently bad if your employer forces you to use it
(17:49) Gitpod sponsor read
(19:01) Deploying local development tools at large scale
(21:16) Launching Gitpod Flex
(22:54) Creating a separate product based on feedback
(24:58) Gitpod's decision to leave Kubernetes
(28:16) Where you can find more from Chris and Gitpod
About Chris Weichel
Chris Weichel is the Chief Technology Officer at Gitpod, where he leads the engineering team that builds and maintains the cloud-native platform for software development. With over 20 years of experience in software engineering and human-computer interaction, he has a comprehensive view of the systems Gitpod creates, from the user experience to the underlying technology.
Chris is passionate about creating technology that empowers users, and solving complex engineering problems. His expertise in cloud-native architecture, programming, and digital fabrication has resulted in multiple publications, patents, and awards. Chris is always looking for new opportunities to apply my broad skill-set and excitement for creating technology in a commercial or research context.
Links
Chris’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-weichel-740b4224/Chris’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/csweichelGitpod: https://www.gitpod.io/Why Gitpod is leaving Kubernetes: https://www.gitpod.io/blog/we-are-leaving-kubernetesSponsor
Gitpod: https://www.gitpod.io/ -
Before cloud economics entered his life, Corey’s first true love was a good book. On this episode of Screaming in the Cloud, he’s joined by Laura Brief, the CEO of nonprofit 826 National. The organization is the largest youth writing network in the country, something that’s near and dear to our hearts at The Duckbill Group. Corey and Laura talk about why having a deep appreciation for reading and writing is vital no matter what career path you take. From offering a creative escape for kids to moonlighting as a “pirate supply company,” 826 National helps children realize that there’s an author inside all of us. So check out this great conversation, and be sure to buy one of our shirts while you’re at it!
Show Highlights
(0:00) Introduction
(1:02) Gitpod sponsor read
(2:14) The Duckbill Group's history working with 826 National
(3:01) What is 826 National?
(4:43) Corey's love of reading, writing, and how it correlates with 826 National's mission
(10:11) The rise of ChatGPT and its impact on reading and writing
(13:49) Why GenAI fails to capture the feeling of writing
(22:30) Why writing education is important
(24:54) The benefits of reading and writing for kids
(31:39) 826 Valencia: the Pirate Supply Company
(35:24) Buy a shirt benefiting 826 National!
(37:15) Where you can find more from Laura Brief and 826 National
About Laura Brief
Laura Brief is the CEO of 826 National. Prior to joining the nonprofit, Laura held leadership positions at high achieving youth organizations including Build, First Graduate, Juma Ventures, and The Posse Foundation, where she developed the organization’s first national career, corporate engagement, and alumni programs. She holds a Master’s in Education and a Master’s in Counseling Psychology from Columbia University, and is the Chair of the Board of Directors at Youth Speaks.
Links
826 National: https://826national.org/Reach out to Laura: [email protected] Buy our charity shirt to help support 826 National: shitposting.fashionSponsor
Gitpod: gitpod.io
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Corey Quinn talks with Serena DiPenti, aka “SheNetworks,” about her career from Cisco to Black Hills Information Security and her challenges in content creation. Serena reflects on starting at Cisco, where her role as a tech engineer required deep expertise and navigating rigid, high-pressure situations that led to burnout and limited growth opportunities. Now at Black Hills, she enjoys the hands-on work in security analysis and network-based penetration testing. Serena finds content creation more demanding than her cybersecurity work, often facing audience skepticism and burnout. However, her podcast Breaking the Internet provides a rewarding, conversational outlet for sharing insights.
Show Highlights
(00:00) Introduction
(00:37) Dragonfly sponsor read
(1:20) Catching up with Serena since she was last on the show(2:34) Serena’s experience at CISCO
(8:00) How Serena got stuck in her TAC role
(11:06) Serena’s pivot to her new role at Black Hills Information Security
(14:10) When Serena finds time to sleep during her busy schedule
(16:43) Corey’s short-lived attempt at YouTube
(20:28) The importance of conversational content
(21:43) Serena’s plans for naming and branding
(25:49) Where Serena sees herself aiming next
(31:18) How to follow Serena’s work
About Serena
Serena DiPenti is an offensive security professional who shares her experiences and expertise through her Shenetworks educational content on platforms like TikTok, Twitter (X), YouTube, and Twitch. Her focus includes topics related to penetration testing, ethical hacking, and other areas of cybersecurity. She's passionate about helping others break into the cybersecurity field, offering tips, guidance, and career advice.
Serena’s work includes creating accessible and engaging content that demystifies complex cybersecurity concepts, making the industry more inclusive and approachable for beginners and professionals alike.Links
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@shenetworks TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@shenetworks?lang=en Twitter: https://x.com/shenetworksBuy our charity shirt to help support 826 National!
https://store.lastweekinaws.com/
Sponsor
Dragonfly: dragonflydb.io -
Corey Quinn sits down with Stephen Barr, Chief Evangelist of CloudFix. With his extensive history in the cloud, the pair delve into Stephen's journey with AWS, relatable anecdotes on optimizing cloud costs, and the complex role of tech evangelists in fostering better communication between engineering and finance teams. Corey and Stephen also weigh the pitfalls of early AI adoption, how to come up with effective content creation strategies, and even postulate a hopeful vision of a tech-driven future (from a Trekkie’s point of view at least).
Show Highlights(0:00) Intro
(0:40) Gitpod sponsor read
(1:52) How Stephen defines his role
(4:26) Breaking down recent shakeups at AWS and the ever-growing promotion of AI
(9:36) How will AI impact how we teach younger people about coding?
(13:45) AI marketing, crypto, and other professional grifts
(16:56) Stephen's history with AWS and the cloud ecosystem
(20:42) Wiz sponsor read
(21:30)Oversights that can easily inflate a cloud bill
(25:32) Acting as a marriage counselor between engineering and finance
(30:09 Stephen's creative process as a Chief Evangelist
(33:54) Stephen's thoughts on the future of technology
(35:28) Where you can find more from Stephen
About Stephen Barr
Stephen Barr, Principal Architect and Technical Evangelist at CloudFix, is known throughout the technology industry for his joyful frame of mind and deep expertise in data engineering, machine learning, LLMs, systems architecture, and all things AWS.
Even as a teenager, Stephen’s digital curiosity and drive landed him at an email hosting startup working on network administration. He also worked at Microsoft while still a high school student.
After graduating from the University of Washington, he continued graduate studies at the University of Rochester and Washington. Stephen has also worked as a data scientist, software developer, technical consultant and more.
When he’s not researching or communicating about the power of AWS, Stephen enjoys spending time with his family at home in Seattle. His interests outside of work include science fiction, 3D printing, and the outdoors., Stephen Barr, Principal Architect and Technical Evangelist at CloudFix, is known throughout the technology industry for his joyful frame of mind and deep expertise in data engineering, machine learning, LLMs, systems architecture, and all things AWS.
Even as a teenager, Stephen’s digital curiosity and drive landed him at an email hosting startup working on network administration. He also worked at Microsoft while still a high school student.
After graduating from the University of Washington, he continued graduate studies at the University of Rochester and Washington. Stephen has also worked as a data scientist, software developer, technical consultant and more.
When he’s not researching or communicating about the power of AWS, Stephen enjoys spending time with his family at home in Seattle. His interests outside of work include science fiction, 3D printing, and the outdoors., Stephen Barr, Principal Architect and Technical Evangelist at CloudFix, is known throughout the technology industry for his joyful frame of mind and deep expertise in data engineering, machine learning, LLMs, systems architecture, and all things AWS.
Even as a teenager, Stephen’s digital curiosity and drive landed him at an email hosting startup working on network administration. He also worked at Microsoft while still a high school student.
After graduating from the University of Washington, he continued graduate studies at the University of Rochester and Washington. Stephen has also worked as a data scientist, software developer, technical consultant and more.
When he’s not researching or communicating about the power of AWS, Stephen enjoys spending time with his family at home in Seattle. His interests outside of work include science fiction, 3D printing, and the outdoors.
Links Referenced
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenjbarr/AWS Made Easy: https://awsmadeeasy.com/Sponsors
Gitpod: gitpod.io
Wiz: https://www.wiz.io/scream -
Corey Quinn chats with Dylan Etkin, CEO and co-founder of Sleuth. He joins this episode of Screaming Into the Cloud to share his insights on reshaping engineering metrics to prioritize team success. Sleuth emphasizes team-level productivity over individual output, sidestepping controversial metrics like lines of code and focusing on alignment and iterative improvement. By aggregating data from tools like GitHub, Jira, and Datadog, Sleuth provides actionable insights, helping leaders reallocate resources for optimal impact without disrupting unique team workflows. Designed for collaborative review, Sleuth’s slide deck-like interface supports meaningful discussions around DORA metrics and deploy tracking.
Show Highlights
(0:00) Intro
(0:51) Sleuth sponsor read
(1:12) What Sleuth is
(2:02) How Sleuth evaluates engineers’ work
(5:41) The value that evaluations brings to a business
(9:34) Who Dylan usually discusses results with
(11:04) Sleuth sponsor read
(11:30) The day-to-day experience of using Sleuth
(14:23) The importance of meeting people where they are
(18:21) The actual outcome of implementing Sleuth
(20:27) Why engineering teams should care about metrics
(24:27) The interface that people have when they're working with Sleuth
(26:23) Where you can find more from Sleuth
About Dylan Etkin
Dylan was one of the first twenty employees of Atlassian, and a founding engineer and the first architect of Jira. He has led engineering at scale for Bitbucket and Statuspage. He has a Master's in Computer Science from ASU. Dylan is a bit of a space nut and has been seen climbing around the inside of a life-size replica of the Mir space station in Star City Russia.
Sponsor
Sleuth: https://www.sleuth.io/ -
On this Replay, we’re revisiting our conversation with Jason Yee, Staff Technical Advocate at Datadog. At the time of this recording, he was the Director of Advocacy at Gremlin, an enterprise-grade chaos engineering platform. Join Corey and Jason as they talk about what Gremlin is and what a director of advocacy does, making chaos engineering more accessible for the masses, how it’s hard to calculate ROI for developer advocates, how developer advocacy and DevRel changes from one company to the next, why developer advocates need to focus on meaningful connections, why you should start chaos engineering as a mental game, qualities to look for in good developer advocates, the Break Things On Purpose podcast, and more.
Show Highlights(0:00) Intro
(0:31) Blackblaze sponsor read
(0:58) The role of a Director of Advocacy
(3:34) DevRel and twisting job definitions
(5:50) How DevRel confusion manifests into marketing
(11:37) Being able to measure and define a team’s success
(13:42) Building respect and a community in tech
(15:22) Effectively courting a community
(18:02) The challenges of Jason’s job
(21:06) Planning for failure modes
(22:30) Determining your value in tech
(25:41) The growth of Gremlin
(30:16) Where you can find more from Jason
About Jason Yee
Jason Yee is Staff Technical Avdocate at Datadog, where he works to inspire developers and ops engineers with the power of metrics and monitoring. Previously, he was the community manager for DevOps & Performance at O’Reilly Media and a software engineer at MongoDB.
Links
Break Things On Purpose podcast: https://www.gremlin.com/podcast/Twitter: https://twitter.com/gitbisectOriginal episode
https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/chaos-engineering-for-gremlins-with-jason-yee/Sponsor
Backblaze: https://www.backblaze.com/
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In this episode of "Screaming in the Cloud," we’re making sure things are nice and secure thanks to Ryan Nolette, Senior Security Engineer at AWS Outreach. As a part of the Outreach team, he’s responsible for making everyone understand the nuances of AWS's Vulnerability Disclosure Program. Corey and Ryan explore the intricacies of AWS's approach to security, including the emphasis on communication with researchers. You’ll also get an overview of what goes into Vulnerability Disclosure Programs and how it courts security researchers over “security researchers.” If there’s anything you can take away from this episode, it’s that Ryan takes great pride in AWS's commitment to transparency and collaboration when it comes to resolving potential security flaws.
Show Highlights
(0:00) Intro
(0:38) Blackblaze sponsor read
(1:06) The role of AWS' security team outreach group
(2:21) The nuance of the Vulnerability Disclosure Program
(4:05) Will the VDP program replace human interactions
(10:08) Response disclosure vs. coordinated disclosure
(15:26) The high-quality communication of the AWS security team
(17:33) Gitpod sponsor read
(18:45) Security researchers vs. "security researchers"
(25:54) What's next for the VDP Program?
(29:26) Avoiding "security by obscurity"
(32:08) Being intentional with security messaging
(36:16) Where you can find more from Ryan
About Ryan Nolette
Ryan is AWS's Senior Security Engineer for the Outreach Team and CoAuthor of AWS Detective. He has previously held a variety of roles including threat research, incident response consulting, and every level of security operations. With almost 2 decades in the infosec field, Ryan has been on the development and operations side of companies such as Postman, Sqrrl, Carbon Black, Crossbeam Systems, SecureWorks and Fidelity Investments. Ryan has been an active speaker and writer on threat hunting and endpoint security
Links
AWS VDP on HackerOne: hackerone.com/aws_vdpAWS VDP inbox: [email protected]: www.linkedin.com/in/cloudy-with-a-chance-of-securityAWS Vulnerability Reporting site: https://aws.amazon.com/security/vulnerability-reporting/Give your feedback on the recently expanded VDP program: https://pulse.aws/survey/MOOFGRLMSponsors
Backblaze: https://www.backblaze.com/
Gitpod: gitpod.io
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On this Screaming in the Cloud Replay, we revisit our chat with Forrest Brazeal. When this episode first aired, Forrest was the Head of Content at Google Cloud, but today, he helps run Freeman & Forrest, an influencer marketing service focused on enterprise tech. In this trip down memory lane, Forrest goes into detail on how he is working to give back to the cloud community. Forrest discusses his time at A Cloud Guru, his time as an AWS Serverless Hero, and the technical excellence he brings to his vast-ranging and prolific content. Forrest is also a successful author of a newsletter and multiple books, including a children's book about the cloud! Needless to say, Forrest is an incredibly varied personality in the cloud community, tune in for a chance to get to know him better!
Show Highlights(00:00) Intro
(1:10) Backblaze sponsor read
(1:36) Starting a new job as the Head of Content for Google Cloud
(2:32) Forrest’s background as a cloud consultant
(3:57) Writing endeavors and The Cloud Resume Challenge
(6:30) Being authentic and helpful in the cloud
(11:43) Forrest’s experiences with Google Cloud
(13:18) Being a thought leader in the cloud community
(16:44) The interview process for Google Cloud
(20:24) Creating online cloud content
(25:51) Having creative freedom at Google
(29:07) The viability of Google Cloud
(31:52) Where you can find more from Forrest
About Forrest Brazeal
Forrest is a cloud educator, cartoonist, author, and Pwnie Award-winning songwriter. He’s also led some of the world's most innovative developer content and community teams at companies like Google and A Cloud Guru.
Links
The Cloud Bard Speaks: https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/the-cloud-bard-speaks-with-forrest-brazeal/The Read Aloud Cloud: https://www.amazon.com/Read-Aloud-Cloud-Innocents-Inside/dp/1119677629The Cloud Resume Challenge Book: https://forrestbrazeal.gumroad.com/l/cloud-resume-challenge-book/launch-dealThe Cloud Resume Challenge: https://cloudresumechallenge.devTwitter: https://twitter.com/forrestbrazealOriginal Episode
https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/creatively-giving-back-to-the-cloud-community-with-forrest-brazeal/Sponsor
Backblaze: https://www.backblaze.com/ -
Corey Quinn chats with Miles Ward, CTO of SADA, about SADA’s recent acquisition by Insight and its impact on scaling the company’s cloud services. Ward explains how Insight’s backing allows SADA to take on more complex projects, such as multi-cloud migrations and data center transitions. They also discuss AI’s growing role in business, the challenges of optimizing cloud AI costs, and the differences between cloud-to-cloud and data center migrations. Corey and Miles also share their takes on domain registrars and Corey gives a glimpse into his Raspberry Pi Kubernetes setup.
Show Highlights
(00:00) Intro
(00:48) Backblaze sponsor read
(2:04) Google’s support of SADA being acquired by Insight
(2:44) How the skills SADA invested in affects the cases they accept
(5:14) Why it’s easier to migrate from one cloud to another than from data center to cloud
(7:06) Customer impact from the Broadcom pricing changes
(10:40) The current cost of AI
(13:55) Why the scale of AI makes it difficult to understand its current business impact
(15:43) The challenges of monetizing AI
(17:31) Micro and macro scale perspectives of AI
(21:16) Amazon’s new habit of slowly killing of services
(26:55) Corey’s policy to never use a domain registrar with the word “daddy” in their name
(32:46) Where to find more from Miles and SADA
About Miles WardAs Chief Technology Officer at SADA, Miles Ward leads SADA’s cloud strategy and solutions capabilities. His remit includes delivering next-generation solutions to challenges in big data and analytics, application migration, infrastructure automation, and cost optimization; reinforcing our engineering culture; and engaging with customers on their most complex and ambitious plans around Google Cloud.
Previously, Miles served as Director and Global Lead for Solutions at Google Cloud. He founded the Google Cloud’s Solutions Architecture practice, launched hundreds of solutions, built Style-Detection and Hummus AI APIs, built CloudHero, designed the pricing and TCO calculators, and helped thousands of customers like Twitter who migrated the world’s largest Hadoop cluster to public cloud and Audi USA who re-platformed to k8s before it was out of alpha, and helped Banco Itau design the intercloud architecture for the bank of the future.
Before Google, Miles helped build the AWS Solutions Architecture team. He wrote the first AWS Well-Architected framework, proposed Trusted Advisor and the Snowmobile, invented GameDay, worked as a core part of the Obama for America 2012 “tech” team, helped NASA stream the Curiosity Mars Rover landing, and rebooted Skype in a pinch.
Earning his Bachelor of Science in Rhetoric and Media Studies from Willamette University, Miles is a three-time technology startup entrepreneur who also plays a mean electric sousaphone.
Links
Professional site: https://sada.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/milesward/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/mileswardSponsor
Backblaze: https://www.backblaze.com/
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Seth Eliot, Principal Resilience Architect at Arpio, and former Global Reliability Lead at AWS, joins Corey to discuss cloud resilience. He emphasizes that Multi-AZ setups are typically sufficient, with multi-region configurations only necessary for specific risks. Seth highlights the importance of balancing cost and resilience based on business needs, while cautioning against making resilience a mere checkbox exercise. Together, they explore disaster recovery challenges, noting that many companies fail to account for real-world complexities during testing. Seth also stresses the importance of avoiding control plane dependencies and warns that poorly designed multi-cloud setups can introduce additional risks.
Show Highlights
(0:00) Intro
(1:12) Backblaze sponsor read
(1:40) Seth’s involvement in the Well-Architected sphere of AWS
(4:43) Well-Architected as a maturity model
(6:46) Cost vs. resilience
(10:37) The tension between resiliency and the cost pillar
(13:26) Legitimate reasons to go multi-region
(18:31) Mistakes people make when trying to avoid an AWS outage
(24:07) The challenges of control planes
(25:04) What people are getting wrong about the resiliency landscape in 2024
(26:31) Where you can find more from Seth
About Seth Eliot
Currently Principal Resilience Architect at Arpio, and ex-Amazon, ex-AWS, ex-Microsoft… Seth has spent years knee-deep in the tech trenches, figuring out how to design, implement, and launch software that's not just fast but also bulletproof. He thrives on helping teams tackle those "make or break" technical, process, or culture challenges—then partners up to solve them. As the Global Reliability Lead for AWS Well-Architected, Seth didn’t just work with customers; he scaled his insights via workshops, presentations, and blog posts, benefiting thousands. Before that, as one of the rare AWS-dedicated Principal Solutions Architects at Amazon.com (yep, not AWS, but the mothership itself), he rolled up his sleeves with engineers to fine-tune the AWS magic powering Amazon.com’s immense stack. Earlier? He led as Principal Engineer for Amazon Fresh and International Tech, and before that, helped bring Prime Video into homes everywhere.
Links
Personal site: https://linktr.ee/setheliotLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/setheliot/Twitter: https://twitter.com/setheliotSponsor
Backblaze: https://www.backblaze.com/ -
On this Screaming in the Cloud replay, we’re looking back to our conversation with Cassidy Williams, a Senior Director of Developer Advocacy at GitHub and the co-founder and chief product officer of Cosynd, Inc. Prior to these positions, she worked as the principal developer experience engineer at Netlify, an instructor and senior engineer at React Training, director of outreach at cKeys, a senior software engineer at CodePen, head of developer voice programs at Amazon, and a software engineer at Venmo, among other positions. Join Corey and Cassidy as they reflect on what Netlify is and what a developer experience engineer does, how JavaScript started off as a toy language and why everything that can be built with JavaScript will be moving forward, the benefits of using low-code development tools, how discovering TikTok helped Cassidy drum up a major following on social media, how Cassidy's humor is never directed at people or organizations and why that's the case, the differences between recording a podcast and live streaming on Twitch from the speaker's point of view, and more.
Show Highlights(0:00) Intro
(0:22) Backblaze sponsor read
(0:49) What is Netlify and its role of a principal developer experience engineer
(2:50) Is JavaScript the future?
(7:46) Using low-code tools for web development
(12:12) Having a goofy internet presence in a serious field
(17:23) Social platforms as a means to teach
(24:50) Twitch streaming and its inherent challenges
(28:16) Cassidy’s online coursework and how she answers, “So, what do you do?”
(32:12) Unique ways of tracking Twitter followers
(37:15) Where you can find more from Cassidy
About Cassidy Williams
Cassidy is a Senior Director of Developer Advocacy at GitHub. She's worked for several other places, including Netlify, CodePen, Amazon, and Venmo, and she's had the honor of working with various non-profits, including cKeys and Hacker Fund as their Director of Outreach. She's active in the developer community, and was one of Glamour Magazine's 35 Women Under 35 Changing the Tech Industry and LinkedIn's Top Professionals 35 & Under. As an avid speaker, Cassidy has participated in several events including the Grace Hopper Celebration for Women in Computing, TEDx, the United Nations, and dozens of other technical events. She wants to inspire generations of STEM students to be the best they can be, and her favorite quote is from Helen Keller: "One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar." She loves mechanical keyboards and karaoke.
Links
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cassidooNewsletter: https://cassidoo.co/newsletter/Scrimba: https://scrimba.com/teachers/cassidooUdemy: https://www.udemy.com/user/cassidywilliams/Skillshare: https://www.skillshare.com/user/cassidooO’Reilly: https://www.oreilly.com/pub/au/6339Personal website: https://cassidoo.coTwitter: https://twitter.com/cassidooGitHub: https://github.com/cassidooCodePen: https://codepen.io/cassidoo/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cassidooOriginal Episode
https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/memes-streams-software-with-cassidy-williams/
Sponsor
Backblaze: https://www.backblaze.com/ - Visa fler
