How a quest to answer the question "what should I watch tonight?" led to the evolution of a custom film discovery and recommendation system.
July 11, 2026
· Projects
· 8 min read
Writing
I started writing about software and publishing it on the internet in 2016. My writing then was largely focused on programming craft, golang internals and infrastructure — foobarcat.blogspot.com.
Now my focus is primarily mechanism level analysis and intervention in systems where software, organisations, and psychology intersect. I also use this space to share context and provide updates on ongoing projects.
If you are new to my writing then it is suggested that you start here:
Why Reliability Is Structurally Undervalued,
Harnessing the Engine,
The Economics of Slop.
Articles
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Building Personal Film Infrastructure
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Context ObservabilityWhat context is, why it matters and how to gain observability over it — Improving the effectiveness of LLM assisted workflows.July 06, 2026 · Artificial Intelligence · 6 min read
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The Economics of SlopExplaining why low quality output gets created, accepted, and eventually becomes prevalent; how AI exacerbates this — and how engineering organisations can restore the balance.June 24, 2026 · Artificial Intelligence · 10 min read
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The Software Engineer and the Steam DrillWhat American folklore can teach us about what happens to software engineers when AI makes implementation labour cheap, tireless and abundant.June 10, 2026 · Artificial Intelligence · 8 min read
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Harnessing the EngineAI is a generative engine capable of extraordinary power; the right engineering system can transform that power into leverage.June 04, 2026 · Artificial Intelligence · 6 min read
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Leveraging AI to Build a Style App over Easter WeekendA four-day AI-assisted MVP build of Sextant, a style app exploring signal calibration through software.May 29, 2026 · Projects · 7 min read
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Friction as Social InfrastructureHow modern systems can optimise away the everyday necessity of co-operation, eroding the mechanism through which social trust is built.May 19, 2026 · Software and Society · 6 min read
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The Importance of Expectation ManagementEstimates do not just predict outcomes; they construct the frame through which they are judged.May 11, 2026 · Engineering Leadership · 6 min read
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The Priest and the PromptAI assistants are encountered as neutral tools, but increasingly operate as interpreters of meaning, shaping conscience in ways once associated with religious institutions.April 28, 2026 · Software and Society · 7 min read
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Initiative: Harnessing Adaptability under UncertaintyExploring under what conditions acting without instruction provides outsized leverage and when it instead becomes a liability.April 18, 2026 · Engineering Leadership · 10 min read
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Reality, Failure and FeedbackExposure to reality and the feedback from it determines the reliability of models and the systems which are built upon them.March 07, 2026 · Engineering Leadership · 7 min read
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The Signal and the SelfThe signal we emit often lags reality, but can be reconciled via calibration, introducing Sextant - a tool for signal calibration through clothing.February 16, 2026 · Software and Society · 4 min read
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The Failure of Fridge FuturismA case study and analysis into why 'smart fridges' failed to take off and what this means for product design.February 12, 2026 · Software and Society · 5 min read
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What Ownership Really MeansExploring the nature of ownership as a structural force, and the profound effects that it can have upon behaviour through the aligning of incentives.January 24, 2026 · Engineering Leadership · 6 min read
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Why Reliability Is Structurally UndervaluedAn exploration of why reliability failures persist in spite of capable engineers, mature tooling and stable processes, and how this can be remedied.January 12, 2026 · Engineering Leadership · 6 min read
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The Properties that Sustain Organisational AlignmentOrganisations that remain aligned do not do so accidentally; they do so because they support properties that align incentives behind mission.December 17, 2025 · Engineering Leadership · 8 min read
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Incentives: The True Architecture of OrganisationsIncentives form the load bearing structure of an organisation and dictate whether action is aligned with mission or is diverted by drift.December 03, 2025 · Engineering Leadership · 4 min read
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Security and Engineering - Competing IncentivesHow Security and Engineering's natural incentives can conflict and how they can be reconciled.November 19, 2025 · Engineering Leadership · 3 min read
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Building the BaconometerHow I built a film network exploration tool powered by a graph database.July 21, 2025 · Projects · 7 min read
