Archives

Resurrecting Family History in 90 Minutes: The Era of Personal Software

How I used Gemini CLI to turn a hacky weekend script into a full-featured family photo app in less time than it takes to watch a movie.

The Meat Ma'am Has Left the Building: Goodbye, K&W

K&W Cafeteria closes after 88 years. A reflection on green jello, baked spaghetti, and the incredible success of a business that lasts nearly a century.

When AI Can't Save You: A Senior Engineer's Crisis

Experience doesn't immunize you from confusion. A look at how GenAI can amplify your ignorance just as fast as it amplifies your productivity.

It's Not the Model, It's the Context

Why upgrading to the latest frontier model won't fix your productivity if your context window is a chaotic mess.

Thankful for Hope, Home, and the Agentic Future

Reflecting on security, family, and the privilege of working in Agentic AI during this pivotal moment of social change and technological breakthroughs.

How I Finally Deleted 60,000 Emails (And The Trick That Worked)

I had 60k+ unread emails. I'm not an Inbox Zero advocate, but I needed a reset. Here is the 'Email Bankruptcy' story, the filter trick that broke Gmail, and the AI agent I built to keep it clean.

The Forever Race: Why There Is No 'Winner' in AI

Every time a new model drops, we look for a champion. History suggests we should be looking for the victims instead.

AI Writing: From "Sounding Like Me" to "Revealing What I Know"

Why my AI writing strategy shifted from style mimicry to knowledge extraction, and how agentic workflows are the future of idea sharing.

Gemini CLI Tips: Advanced Configuration & Tricks

Deep dive into configuring the Gemini CLI, customizing those loading messages, and why open source contributions are the best holiday escape.

The Four Patterns of AI Interaction in 2026

From IDE plugins to fully agentic environments, exploring the four dominant patterns for interacting with Generative AI in 2026.

Gemini 3 Pro vs Claude Sonnet 4.5: Antigravity IDE Review

Real-world Gemini 3 Pro vs Claude Sonnet 4.5 comparison. Antigravity IDE review, benchmark performance, and capacity limits explained.

Gemini CLI's Hidden Superpower: Custom System Prompts

Customize Gemini CLI behavior with custom system prompts using a simple environment variable. Tutorial + ready-made agents from Pirate to Shakespeare.

TOON vs JSON: Why AI Agents Need Token-Optimized Data Formats

TOON cuts LLM token costs 50% vs JSON. Why AI agents need token-optimized formats like TOON & markdown. Deep dive for developers building with AI.

The Case for Universal AI Extension Standards: Skills and Extensions Should Be Interchangeable

Claude Skills and Gemini Extensions solve the same problem with incompatible formats. Here's why standardization would eliminate unnecessary cognitive load.

Paper Billionaires: Why Most Startup Valuations Are Financial Fiction

Most tech 'billionaires' are paper rich from inflated startup valuations. Here's why your equity options might be worth nothing - and how to know the difference.

Open Source AI Agent Testing Framework with Auto-Generated Benchmarks

AI agent testing framework that auto-generates benchmarks from 5 questions. LLM-as-judge evaluation, performance tracking, production examples. Open source, MIT licensed.

How Google's File Search API Eliminated 7 Database Tables from My RAG Pipeline

I replaced a complex RAG pipeline (GCS, Vertex AI, 7 database tables) with Google's File Search API. Same cost, 90% less code. Here's how.

MCP Context Bloat: When Your AI Agent Gets Dependency Hell

Running too many MCP servers creates the same problems we learned to avoid with dependencies. Here's what we're doing about it.

Shift Left CI/CD: Are Centralized Pipelines Becoming Obsolete?

I'm shifting 90% of validation left to local pre-commit hooks. Here's why shift left CI/CD is questioning centralized pipelines for small teams with AI agents.

The Documentation Mountain: When AI Generates Code Faster Than We Can Understand It

We're creating mountains of documentation for AI-generated features. But no amount of markdown will replace actually understanding how bits move through a system.

AgentKit vs ADK: Which AI Agent Framework Actually Works?

OpenAI AgentKit vs Google ADK comparison: architecture, security, model flexibility, and real production experience. Which AI agent framework works for your use case?

Parallel AI Agents: Cursor 2.0's 8-Agent Approach vs Sequential Orchestration

Cursor 2.0 runs 8 AI agents in parallel for better results. But does the 25-35% token cost increase justify the speed? Analysis of parallel vs sequential agents.

Spec-Driven Development: How Our 43-Agent System Compares

How our 43-agent system implements spec-driven development. CLAUDE.md files, agent prompts, and workflow specs create predictable AI agent orchestration.

1,189 AI Agents and Most of Them Don't Matter

The AI agent ecosystem is massive and fragmented. Here's how to separate tools that solve real problems from expensive distractions.

When Your AI Agent Decides to Skip the Tests

Comparing two approaches to AI coding: paranoid infrastructure engineer versus move-fast entrepreneur. Both are right.

Google's CodeMender: When Security Tools Become Autonomous Agents

Google's CodeMender represents a fundamental shift in how we think about code security. Not just finding vulnerabilities, but autonomously fixing them. And it fits perfectly with our agent-first development approach.

The 7 Agentic AI Patterns We've Been Using Without Knowing It

Analyzing formal agentic AI design patterns against our three-team agent system reveals we've been implementing these patterns implicitly across marketing, engineering, and business domains.

The Boring Middle: Why AI Agents and Shell Scripts Both Win

Kelsey Hightower's right: AI agents and shell scripts both have their place. Here's why the future isn't either/or—it's the boring middle.

I Added Office Hours to My Website

Why I'm making myself available for scheduled conversations and what I hope to learn from them.

Amazon's 30,000 Layoffs: Is AI Really to Blame?

Amazon just announced its largest layoffs in history while posting record profits. The narrative says AI automation is replacing jobs. The numbers tell a different story about profit maximization.

AI Agent Feedback Loops: How to Monitor and Validate Autonomous Agents

Learn how to build feedback loops for AI agent teams. Covers validation, monitoring, error handling, and CI/CD patterns for autonomous agents.

Why I Use Claude Code (Even Though I Work at Google Cloud)

An honest look at choosing AI coding tools based on pricing models, use cases, and validation workflows - not just employer loyalty.

When AI Agents Break Things (And What I'm Doing About It)

After an AI agent spent hours helping me build a feature, then broke it completely the next day, I'm analyzing my context files and agent configs to prevent this from happening again.

Why Experienced Architects Will Orchestrate AI Agent Teams (Not Write More Code)

The AI replacement narrative gets it backwards. Junior developers get faster with Copilot. Senior architects are learning to orchestrate fleets of specialized autonomous agents.

What 106 Extensions in Week One Tell Us About AI Developer Tools

Analysis of the Gemini CLI extension marketplace launch: what 106 extensions and 34,000+ downloads in week one reveal about developer priorities and ecosystem growth patterns.

Hello, I'm Jamie

An introduction to this blog, my background in tech, and what I am building now with BrandCast and FamilyCast.

The Craftsman's Paradox

What woodworking taught me about AI coding agents and the future of software development. The Industrial Revolution didn't kill craftsmanship, and AI won't either.

Dissecting a Docker Container Image

A technical deep dive into the internal structure of Docker container images, exploring how layers, metadata, and tarballs work together to create portable application packages.