Junior Developer Pipeline Problem Banner

The Junior Developer Pipeline Problem: Where Do Tomorrow's Seniors Come From?

TL;DR The work AI now automates - boring tickets, bug hunts, boilerplate - was the unspoken apprenticeship that turned juniors into seniors The skills that work built (pattern recognition, systems intuition, taste, calibration) are built by doing, not by reading - and that doing is now cheapest to delegate The new apprenticeship shifts toward reading over writing, debugging agent output, earlier architectural decisions, and deliberate practice of things agents do badly There is a coordination problem: individual organisations rationally skip junior investment in the short term, but the senior pipeline thins industry-wide a few years later If you are starting out today, optimise for proximity to a great senior engineer above salary, title, or any other variable The views in this post are my own personal reflections on the industry as a whole, written in my own time. They are not about any specific employer, team, or colleague, past or present. ...

April 28, 2026 · 11 min · James M
Math Academy - The Fastest Way to Actually Learn Maths

Math Academy: The Fastest Way to Actually Learn Maths

The Gap Between Knowing Maths and Being Good at It Most adults who went through mainstream education have a complicated relationship with maths. They were taught it, they passed it (or did not), and then they mostly stopped doing it. Somewhere between primary school and the end of formal education, the subject either clicked or it did not - and for a significant majority, it did not. The consequences of that tend to surface slowly. You take a data science course and realise you cannot follow the linear algebra. You try to understand how a model is actually working under the hood and the notation stops you cold. You sit in a finance meeting and the numbers float past you. You always meant to go back and fill the gaps. You never quite did. ...

April 22, 2026 · 7 min · James M
Learning How to Learn in the Age of AI Banner

Learning How to Learn in the Age of AI

The Problem Nobody Warned You About For most of history, learning was gated by access. You wanted to understand a topic, you had to find a book, a teacher, a course, or a mentor. The bottleneck was information. If you could get your hands on the material, the rest was time and effort. That bottleneck is gone. A capable model will now explain quantum mechanics, debug your code, summarise a legal document, and walk you through a new language - all in the same afternoon, at a level pitched exactly to you. ...

April 22, 2026 · 8 min · James M
AI Tooling Learning Path Banner

An AI Tooling Learning Path: Logical Phases for 2026

TL;DR The order you learn AI tools matters as much as which tools you learn - most people start with terminal agents or editors before they understand how models actually fail The seven-phase path runs: fundamentals, chat interfaces, AI-native editors, terminal agents, local models, orchestration, and review and evaluation Terminal agents (Claude Code, Cline, Aider) represent the biggest mindset shift - you move from driving with suggestions to specifying and letting the model execute Local models via Ollama belong in phase five, once you have felt the pain of API costs and know which tasks actually need frontier capability Review, evaluation, and capture (phase seven) is the phase most developers skip - and the one that separates AI-curious from AI-competent The hardest part of learning AI tooling in 2026 is not any single tool. It is the order you meet them in. ...

April 21, 2026 · 10 min · James M
AI Resources & Best Practices Banner

The Complete AI Developer's Guide: Resources and Best Practices

TL;DR Prompt engineering, token efficiency, and structured outputs are the core skills for working effectively with any AI model System design patterns - streaming, caching, structured outputs, graceful fallbacks - matter as much as prompting fluency Testing and validation in AI systems requires clear evaluation criteria and production monitoring, not just pre-launch checks Official documentation from model providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google) is the most reliable source of best practices The curated resources table covers everything from GitHub Copilot to local model deployment with Ollama The AI landscape is evolving rapidly, and knowing where to find reliable guidance on best practices has become essential for developers, researchers, and organizations. This post curates the most valuable resources and practices that will help you work more effectively with modern AI systems. ...

April 18, 2026 · 5 min · James M

What Does 'Expertise' Mean When AI Can Pass Any Exam?

TL;DR AI can now pass virtually every professional exam, breaking the long-held assumption that passing an exam equals having expertise What exams actually tested was knowledge retrieval under pressure - a bottleneck that no longer exists when machines can retrieve and apply knowledge better than any human Real expertise is what remains after knowledge retrieval is automated: judgment, integration of context, responsibility, and taste - none of which appear on any exam Professions built on credentialing (law, medicine, engineering) are being forced to confront that their proxies for expertise never measured the thing they cared about New models of assessment - portfolio-based credentialing, apprenticeship, outcomes tracking, and community reputation - will replace exams, but none of them scale as easily In 2023, Claude passed the bar exam. In 2024, it passed the CPA exam and medical licensing exams. By 2026, there’s barely an exam left that AI can’t pass, often on the first try. ...

April 6, 2026 · 7 min · James M

Music Production Blogs

Bedroom Producers Blog (bpb) logicxx Native Instruments Point Blank Music School Sound On Sound WA Production

January 19, 2024 · 1 min · James M

Music Production Courses

Ableton Ableton Certified Training ADSR Ask.Video Coursera Groove3 London Academy of Music Production MacProVideo Point Blank Music School Producertech Skillshare Udemy Tomas George - music producer, composer & audio engineer Ableton Live 11 - Music Production in Ableton Live - learn music production, recording, editing, music mixing, songwriting & music theory Cubase Ask.Video Groove3 London Academy of Music Production Sonic Academy Steinberg Logic Pro Udemy Tomas George - music producer, composer & audio engineer Music Production in Logic Pro X - The Beginners Guide! - learn the basics of setting up, creating music & music production in Logic Pro X Music Production in Logic Pro X - The Complete Course! - creating, recording, mixing music & mastering in Logic Pro X Maschine ADSR Ask.Video MacProVideo Maschine Tutorials Producertech Masterclass Armin van Buuren Teaches Dance Music deadmau5 Teaches Electronic Music Production Timbaland Teaches Producing and Beatmaking Mix With The Masters Learn the entire process of music production, mixing and mastering from the world’s top engineers and producers through seminars and online videos ...

January 19, 2024 · 2 min · James M

List of Personal Development Books

Books 100 Mental Models (Wisdom Theory) - the most important ideas of each science: philosophy, mathematics, physics, statistics, engineering, chemistry, biology, psychology, economics & history Almanack of Naval Ravikant - a guide to wealth and happiness - timeless wisdom on wealth, happiness, and philosophy Choose Yourself: Be Happy, Make Millions, Live the Dream (James Altucher) - generate real inward success (personal happiness and health) and outward success (fulfilling work and wealth) Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time (Brian Tracy) - practical strategies for overcoming procrastination and increasing personal productivity Ego Is the Enemy (Ryan Holiday) Get the Edge (Tony Robbins) - strategies for personal transformation and achieving excellence in all areas of life High Performance Habits (Brendon Burchard) How to Win Friends and Influence People (Dale Carnegie) - timeless principles for building relationships and improving interpersonal effectiveness Moonwalking with Einstein (Joshua Foer) - journey into memory and the art of remembering through ancient techniques and modern neuroscience Screw It, Let’s Do It (Richard Branson) Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain (John J. Ratey) - explores the profound effects of exercise on brain function, mood, and cognitive performance The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Stephen R. Covey) The Influential Mind (Tali Sharot) The Power of Positive Thinking: A Practical Guide to Mastering the Problems of Everyday Living (Norman Vincent Peale) - foundational work on the power of belief and positive thinking in achieving success Ultralearning (Scott H. Young) Audio Books 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (Jordan B. Peterson) 25 Stories I Would Tell My Younger Self (Dr. Julian Hosp) Awaken the Giant Within (Tony Robbins) Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Techniques for Retraining Your Brain (Jason M. Satterfield) The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment (Eckhart Tolle) The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations (Ori Brafman, Rod Beckstrom) The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F^ck (Mark Manson) Your Deceptive Mind: A Scientific Guide to Critical Thinking Skills (Steven Novella) Zero to One (Peter Thiel)

May 28, 2023 · 2 min · James M

Blockchain & Web3 Courses

Overview Whether you’re a beginner exploring blockchain fundamentals or an experienced developer building decentralized applications, these curated courses provide structured learning paths from foundation concepts to advanced smart contract development. Beginner-Friendly Resources Start with fundamentals and core concepts: CryptoZombies - Interactive, game-based introduction to Solidity programming. Perfect for complete beginners to learn smart contract basics through engaging gameplay. Blockchain Council Certified Blockchain Developer™ - Professional certification program with structured curriculum covering blockchain architecture, consensus mechanisms, and development fundamentals Web3 University - Open-source education hub with accessible guides and tutorials. Great for understanding Web3 concepts without heavy technical prerequisites. ...

April 18, 2023 · 2 min · James M