Betatalks the podcast

In this episode, we talk with Brady Gaster. He tells us more about his role at Microsoft as a Principal Program Manager, what does it entail? On what does he and his team spend their time? How are the PM roles divided? And how do they  facilitate the interaction with users or clients? We hear more about what it takes to implement something new and its timelines. He shares with us where "the biggest party in the cloud" is being held,  his favorite services and his favorite discovery over the last months. We touch upon Azure App Service, Azure Container Apps, Azure Kubernetes Service, Azure Bicep and Static Web Apps, among others.  About this episode, and Brady in particular: you can find @bradygaster on Twitter or read his blog.About Betatalks: have a look at our videos and join us on our Betatalks Discord channel 

In this episode, we talk with Suzanne Daniels about Backstage, an open-source platform that originated at Spotify. She tells us more about the origin of Backstage, why it took off, and the reasons why it's open for the community. She shares the new technologies that have impressed her the most lately, her all-time favorite song, and we chat more about the importance of communities.About this episode, and Suzanne in particular: you can find @suushier on Twitter or read here more about her. About Betatalks: have a look at our videos and join us on our Betatalks Discord channel 

Our friend of the day is Elio Struyf. He tells us more about Front Matter, a CMS that runs within Visual Studio Code. How was Front Matter born? And what are the future plans? We talk about his extensive experience in development and about being recognized as a Microsoft MVP and SharePoint/Microsoft 365 Top 25 Influencer. Furthermore, how did his online sticker shop Pimp Your Own Device come to be?  And how did this hobby become a business? We close with a short discussion and some viewpoints about low code versus no code. Does no code have a future? About this episode, and Elio in particular: you can find @eliostruyf on Twitter, visit frontmatter.codes, read his blog or purchase some Pimp Your Own Device stickers.About Betatalks: have a look at our videos and join us on our Betatalks Discord channel 

In this episode, we talk with Ramon de Rooij. Ramon might be one of the few people that can say that he's worked his entire career in cloud-based IoT. How did he start, what has he done, and what is he doing currently? We dive into Azure Digital Twins. What is this platform all about and what are the possibilities with it? We focus on creating smart homes and especially on security in IoT. A great deal of data is collected, but how is it stored and secured? Is it the responsibility of the company or the supplier? Furthermore, we talk about his experience in ethical hacking. What should every developer know or take into account?About this episode: you can read more about Azure Digital Twins and EDGE Next here & here. About Betatalks: have a look at our videos and join us on our Betatalks Discord channel 

In this episode, we talk with Gregor Suttie about how his willingness to help people has culminated in the Festive Tech Calendar. A fun event through December where people from all communities take part in fun and engaging sessions. We dive into what his main focus is as an Azure architect, and how it's like working for a Dutch company while living in Glasgow. Which service has impressed him the most? And what are his thoughts on AKS?  About this episode, and Gregor in particular: you can find @gregor_suttie on Twitter or join Festive Tech Calendar 2021.About Betatalks: have a look at our videos and join us on our Betatalks Discord channel 

In this episode, we talk with Floor Drees about what it’s like working for K6, an open-source load testing tool and cloud service. How did her role come about? And have they seen an incline in usage and community interaction since Microsoft disabled load testing in Azure DevOps? We dive into her experience as DevRel consultant, helping companies organize, produce and host livestreams and events. Helping them to define and set-up the DevRel role. We talk about broadening and adopting new ways to teach and share knowledge. But also how to enhance accessibility, and how it's important to pay attention to tooling, subtitles, themes, and aesthetics. And what about dinosaurs?About this episode, and Floor in particular: you can find @FloorDrees on Twitter and FloorD on Github.About Betatalks: have a look at our videos and join us on our Betatalks Discord channel 

Our friend of the day is Jessica Engström. We dive into User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX), the area of expertise she is passionate about, and where she really shines. We talk about bad UI/UX, common mistakes and examples, and the effect it has on users. Causing annoyance – often even rage-quitting – when encountering basic elements that should’ve worked in the first place. We zoom in on the mindset of the responsible developers and what they should strive for. And how does she herself define UI and UX? She shares quick fixes, practical tips, and best practices for optimizing UI/UX. We dive into voice UI, bots like Siri and Alexa, and their language and translation issues. Furthermore, we hear more about the origin and motivation behind the Coding After Work podcast and Twitch channel.About this episode, and Jessica in particular: you can find @engstromjess on Twitter and her podcast Coding after work.About Betatalks: have a look at our videos and join us on our Betatalks Discord channel 

In this episode, we talk with one of, or maybe even the most active Visual Studio extension developers in the community, Mads Kristensen. Where and how did this start? What does he love about it? We talk about Microsoft using and being present on Github, contributing to open-source projects, and its amazing side effects. About what it's like responding to and prioritizing feature requests, implementing new features, and the contrast and compatibility of Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code. And of course, we dive into how Schema Store, which collects schemas for JSON files, came to be and what it tries to achieve.About this episode: you can find @mkristensen on Twitter or visit his blog.About Betatalks: have a look at our videos and join us on our Betatalks Discord channel 

In this episode, we talk with Mike about hybrid solutions regarding work, events, and coding. Why a hybrid way of thinking is essential, why it's important to use coding, infrastructure, and operation expertise, and why he’s called ‘the perfect hybrid solution’. We talk about collaborating with Microsoft partners, helping ISVs bring value to their customers, and about ‘FINO’, a concept he came up with: Failure Is Not an Option. Furthermore, we touch upon the status of introverts and geeks in IT, how they’re viewed by peers and outsiders, and of course, about his pinned tweet ‘Hit me baby one more time’! About this episode: you can find @TechMike2kX on Twitter.About Betatalks: have a look at our videos and join us on our Betatalks Discord channel 

Our friend of the day is Stacy Cashmore. In this episode, we get to learn about her journey from attending conferences and having panic attacks to gaining confidence and experiencing a conference from the other side as a speaker. They talk about technologies that have impressed them lately, in particular Static Web Apps with its great scalability and price-quality ratio. And we hear more about her hobbies like creating Lego Modular Buildings & classic cars.  About this episode: you can find @stacy_cash on Twitter and visit her blog Stacy CloudsAbout Betatalks: have a look at our videos and join us on our Betatalks Discord channel