Screaming in the Cloud

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 CassidyAbout Cassidy WilliamsCassidy 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.LinksTikTok: 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 Episodehttps://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/memes-streams-software-with-cassidy-williams/SponsorBackblaze: https://www.backblaze.com/ 

On this Screaming in the Cloud Replay, we’re revisiting our conversation with Stephanie Wong. When she first sat down with Corey, she was the Head of Developer Engagement at Google, but today, she serves as the company’s Head of Technical Storytelling. While Stephanie is certainly a key player at such a massive company, her passion lies in her own advocacy for women in tech as well as making tech more approachable to larger audiences. Stephanie is not one to put her job title first. Her bio covers the spread from dancer, to hip-hop medalist, to podcast host. Stephanie gives us the birds eye view on her own non-traditional and interdisciplinary path that led to her work both in and outside of Google. Stephanie’s focus on producing content that reaches across a wide spectrum of participants is crucial to how she has broken the mold on what tech can do, and her lessons are ones we can all learn from.Show Highlights:(0:00) Intro(1:06) Backblaze sponsor read(1:32) Explaining the Head of Developer Engagement(2:13) Stephanie’s background and authenticity in tech(7:11) Approaching developer relations from a non-”traditional” tech background(11:04) Building a personal and company online presence(14:41) Corey’s perceived contradictions with Google Cloud(22:29) Through engaging your audience through media and storytelling(27:23) Helping find the next generation of tech talent(29:23) The cloud and the inflection of tech(38:51) Where you can find more from StephanieAbout Stephanie Wong:Stephanie Wong is an award-winning speaker, engineer, pageant queen, and hip hop medalist. She is a leader at Google with a mission to blend storytelling and technology to create remarkable developer content. At Google, she's created 100s of videos, blogs, courses, and podcasts that have helped developers globally. Stephanie is active in her community, fiercely supporting women in tech and mentoring students.Links:Personal Website: https://stephrwong.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/stephr_wongOriginal Episodehttps://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/breaking-the-tech-mold-with-stephanie-wong/SponsorBackblaze: https://www.backblaze.com/ 

Eric Pullen, a cloud economist at Duckbill Group with extensive AWS experience, dives into the evolution of tech careers in a cloud-first world. He shares insights on the unlikely trend of cloud repatriation, emphasizing the efficiency of cloud solutions. The discussion highlights the importance of aligning cloud spending with business value, cloud cost optimization, and the challenges that arise from AWS service deprecation. Pullen also touches on balancing performance with cost and the critical role of effective communication in large enterprise environments.

In this Replay of Screaming in the Cloud, we revisit our inspiring conversation with Jackie Singh. At the time, she had recently served as a senior cybersecurity staffer at the Biden campaign. But her venerated career is considerably more than that alone. Jackie’s time spent in the Army, at the DoD, and eventually at work in the commercial world allows her to bring an adroit sensibility to her work and to this episode. Jackie goes into detail on her time spent at the Biden campaign and the intricacies of working in such highly politicized, and short term, environment. The cyber security threats she faced there were paramount, to downplay it, and have given Jackie a rich and constantly developing perspective on security. That in combination with her career has helped her develop a perspective that she has kindly discussed in detail during this episode! Tune in for the whole story.Show Highlights(0:00) Intro(1:16) Backblaze sponsor read(1:42) Working for the 2020 Biden Campaign(4:45) The high-stakes world of political information security(10:08) Breaking down Jackie’s impressive resume(12:38) Being the target of a far-right tabloid hit piece(16:24) Contemporary politics, bad faith discourse, and its role in tech(23:34) Common Fate sponsor read(24:03) The ethics of reporting InfoSec vulnerabilities(31:13) Explaining “threat modeling”(36:49) Where you can find more from JackieAbout Jackie SinghJackie Singh is an Information Security professional with more than 20 years of hacking experience, beginning in her preteen. She began her career in the US Army, and deployed to Iraq in 2003. Jackie subsequently spent several years in Iraq in cleared roles for the Department of Defense.She is now an independent consultant. Her passion extends to evangelizing best practices, writing and research for her blog, tweeting informative content, speaking at conferences, contributing to podcasts, and collaborating with fellow journalists and security professionals.Links:Disclose.io: https://disclose.ioTwitter: https://twitter.com/hackingbutlegalOriginal Episode:https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/security-challenges-and-working-for-president-biden-with-jackie-singh/SponsorsBackblaze: https://www.backblaze.com/Common Fate: http://commonfate.io/

Xe Iaso returns to Screaming in the Cloud, and it’s been quite an interesting few months for them. They’re now the CEO of Techaro and are back for a discussion that spans career trials, the peculiarities of AI, and the intricacies of video production. Xe shares candid insights about being laid off multiple times and how it paradoxically led to career growth (and the tricks to resume-building). Xe also highlights the nuanced world of video editing and they’re learning tools like DaVinci Resolve.Show Highlights:(00:00) Intro(00:50) Backblaze sponsor read(0:52) Xe’s transparency with their layoffs over the past couple of years(04:39) What Xe has been up to with their coding lately (05:05) Xe’s method of addressing AI models’ Strawberry Problem(10:44) Xe’s use of prompt injection attacks in their resume(13:23) Why Xe has been embracing independent contracting(15:20) How Xe has been working with video(18:10) Common Fate sponsor read(19:56) The shifting nature of content creation and the need for practice(24:23) The importance of having audio backups for presentations(26:17) What Xe is building toward as a contractor(28:50) Where you can find more from XeAbout Xe IasoXe Iaso is a top voice on cloud computing, developer marketing, and shitposting. They focus on making computers easier to understand and entertaining people in the process. They also use satire as a way to cope with the surreal madness that is the technology industry these days.LinksXe’s blog: https://xeiaso.net/ Friend pendant ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_Q1hoEhfk4SponsorsBackblaze: https://www.backblaze.com/Common Fate: https://www.commonfate.io/ 

Do we have your permission to share this episode of Screaming in the Cloud with you? Sonrai CTO and Co-Founder Sandy Bird is back on the show to help Corey break down the woes that come with granting permissions in the world of cloud security. As they catch up, the pair touch base on how automation can create major headaches, what goes into navigating the minefield of granting permissions, and if the future of adoption patterns is as grim as Corey predicts. Sandy also answers one of Corey’s long-time questions: how do you pronounce “Sonrai?” Who knows? Maybe Corey will finally learn how to say it properly...Show Highlights:(0:00) Intro(0:30) Breaking down Sonrai’s name(1:45) Sonrai sponsor read(2:25) Getting alerts vs. fixing the root of the problem(4:50) The problems with granting permissions(7:34) The dangers of automating permissions(10:10) "Where do I make this change, and how do I enforce it?" (13:46) The security concerns that come with tagging automation(16:12) Sonrai sponsor read(16:53)  Properly deploying permissions access(21:16) Woes of running reporting in the middle of the night(23:21) Are adoption patterns getting worse?(29:01) Where you can find more from Sonrai SecurityAbout Sandy BirdSandy Bird is the co-founder and CTO of Sonrai Security, helping enterprises protect their data by securing cloud identities and access. Sandy was the co-founder and CTO of Q1 Labs, which was acquired by IBM in 2011. At IBM, Sandy became the CTO for the global security business and worked closely with research, development, marketing and sales to develop new and innovative solutions to help the IBM Security business grow to ~$2B in annual revenue. He is a trusted and experienced cloud security expert., Sandy Bird is the co-founder and CTO of Sonrai Security, helping enterprises protect their data by securing cloud identities and access. Sandy was the co-founder and CTO of Q1 Labs, which was acquired by IBM in 2011. At IBM, Sandy became the CTO for the global security business and worked closely with research, development, marketing and sales to develop new and innovative solutions to help the IBM Security business grow to ~$2B in annual revenue. He is a trusted and experienced cloud security expert.LinksSonrai Security: https://sonraisecurity.com/Sonrai Security free trial: https://sonraisecurity.com/trial/Sonrai Security demos: https://sonraisecurity.com/demo/Sonrai Security learning resources: https://sonraisecurity.com/resource-library/Sonrai Security blog: https://sonraisecurity.com/blog/Sonrai Security ACCESS Virtual Summit: sonrai.co/access-on-demandSponsorSonrai Security: https://sonraisecurity.com/

From elementary school music teacher to a Senior Cloud Engineer at Defiance Digital, Mike Gray has lived quite a few lives. He hit it off with Corey during the AWS New York Summit this past summer. What brought them together? Their mutual frustration at what dominated the discourse of the event: the current fascination with GenAI. Although Mike has his qualms with AI, he also enjoys working with it quite a bit. As a matter of fact, he uses it to help automate his home and appliances! From exploring what goes into consulting customers on cloud products, to the nightmare of having your kids hijacking your Alexa with an endless stream of children’s music, this episode features twists and turns, leaving no stone unturned.Show Highlights:(0:00) Intro(0:40) Chronosphere sponsor read(1:14) The responsibilities of a Senior Cloud Engineer at Defiance Digital(2:07) Cloud product consulting(3:27) The challenges of working with Kubernetes(7:50) Mike's problems with AI(9:33) Challenges with home automation(15:38) Chronosphere sponsor read(16:13) The joys of home automation(18:34) Prefered hardware for home automation(20:10) Home automation and the impact on your relationships and kids(23:43) Going from teaching kids to the world of tech(28:42) Where you can find more from MikeAbout Mike GrayMike Gray is a technologist, currently employed as a Senior Cloud Engineer, with a focus on Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform.In previous roles, he has worked with companies of every size, from single-digit employee startups to Fortune 500 companies. In a past life, Mike has worked as a professional musician and music educator.Mike is also an active open source contributor, splitting time between OpenVoiceOS and Neon AI. Think of it as open source Alexa, but all your data stays at home.LinksMike's website: https://graywind.orgMike’s email: mike@graywind.orgMike’s Twitter: https://x.com/saxmanmikeSponsorChronosphere: https://chronosphere.io/?utm_source=duckbill-group&utm_medium=podcast

It turns out, you don’t need to step outside to observe the clouds. On this episode, we’re joined by Chronosphere Field CTO Ian Smith. He and Corey delve into the innovative solutions Chronosphere offers, share insights from Ian’s experience in the industry, and discuss the future of cloud-native technologies. Whether you're a seasoned cloud professional or new to the field, this conversation with Ian Smith is packed with valuable perspectives and actionable takeaways.Show Highlights:(0:00) Intro(0:42) Chronosphere sponsor read(1:53) The role of Chief of Staff at Chronosphere(2:45) Getting recognized in the Gartner Magic Quadrant(4:42) Talking about the buying process(8:26) The importance of observability(10:18) Guiding customers as a vendor(12:19)  Chronosphere sponsor read(12:46) What should you do as an observability buyer(16:01) Helping orgs understand observability(19:56) Avoiding toxicly positive endorsements(24:15) Being transparent as a vendor(27:43) The myth of "winner take all"(30:02) Short term fixes vs. long term solutions(33:54) Where you can find more from Ian and ChronosphereAbout Ian SmithIan Smith is Field CTO at Chronosphere where he works across sales, marketing, engineering and product to deliver better insights and outcomes to observability teams supporting high-scale cloud-native environments. Previously, he worked with observability teams across the software industry in pre-sales roles at New Relic, Wavefront, PagerDuty and Lightstep.LinksChronosphere: https://chronosphere.io/?utm_source=duckbill-group&utm_medium=podcastIan’s Twitter: https://x.com/datasmithingIan’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ismith314159/SponsorChronosphere: https://chronosphere.io/?utm_source=duckbill-group&utm_medium=podcast

Miles Ward, the witty Chief Technology Officer at SADA, shares fascinating insights into Google Cloud's direction. He discusses GCP's partnership with SADA and the impact of changes in the cloud landscape. Topics include the rise of distributed databases and new offerings for developers that enhance web application performance. Miles humorously tackles Google Cloud outages and the complexities of multi-cloud strategies, while highlighting the importance of data privacy and innovative solutions for modern challenges.

After years of trying, Corey has finally convinced a TAM to come on the show! In this lively episode, AWS Senior Technical Account Manager Shlomo Dubrowin takes the mic to share his fascinating experiences dealing with cloud complexities. Listen in as Shlomo recounts building AWS Reasonable Account Defaults from scratch, stresses the importance of writing a solid application, and shares the benefits of leveraging GenAI to help maintain his work. Don't miss this entertaining and insightful conversation that could save you a few bucks!Show Highlights:(0:00) Intro(0:42) Chronosphere sponsor read(1:15) Finally getting a TAM on the show(2:24) Providing quality customer service as a TAM(5:31) AWS Reasonable Account Defaults(11:01) What went into crafting AWS Reasonable Accounts Defaults(12:20) Chronosphere sponsor read(12:54) Writing a program that won't break easily(17:25) Optimizing billing data(19:53) Transparency in costs(21:27) Expanding AWS Reasonable Account Defaults(23:34) Further optimizing AWS Reasonable Account Defaults in the future(26:18) Building with GenAI(29:01) Where you can find more from ShlomoAbout Shlomo DubrowinShlomo Dubrowin has been a TAM for over 6 years supporting AWS customers from startups through to Fortune 100 companies. He has spoken at re:Invent twice and has specialized in Cost Optimization. Shlomo has been in the tech industry since 1994. And he lives with his wife, son and 2 dogs.LinksClouded Torah: https://www.clouded-torah.org/SponsorChronosphere: https://chronosphere.io/?utm_source=duckbill-group&utm_medium=podcast