Picture Me Coding
@picturemecoding.bsky.social
Everyone's favorite music podcast about software, with your hosts Erik Aker and @mikemull.bsky.social
We talk to Alan Dyke about his journey from doing doctoral research on software engineering to writing embedded software with bash creator Brian Fox to building DNA sequencers. Key takeaway: always remember to add a hurricane mock to your test suite. www.picturemecoding.com/2222783/epis...
cloud.google.com/blog/product...
AlphaEvolve is available for everyone | Google Cloud Blog
Today, we’re excited to share that AlphaEvolve is generally available (GA). AE is a code optimization and discovery agent built on Gemini that helps solve some of the hardest business problems organiz...
cloud.google.com
Who first had the crazy idea of connecting computers together? That's the question we explore in our latest episode: www.picturemecoding.com/2222783/epis...
The Prehistory of the Internet - Picture Me Coding
This episode started with the question: who first had the idea to connect computers together to make a network? We explore JCR Licklider's ideas about an "Intergalactic Network", some of t...
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Looksmaxxing is NP-hard. If anyone achieves it in polynomial time, they can claim a Millennial Prize.
Brett Karlan@oldjerryfodor.bsky.social · 3mo agoIn this paper, I show that "looksmaxxing" falls prey to familiar demandingness objections, and we should instead focus our moral energies on "lookssatisficing"
After exploring a couple of surprising agentic orchestration papers we discuss where we think software development will be in 2046. We boldly predict that people will still not be comfortable with robotic dentists: www.picturemecoding.com/2222783/epis...
Software Development in 2046 - Picture Me Coding
In this episode we discuss a couple of recent papers on just-in-time development and agentic systems and how we think they suggest trends that will affect software development for years to come. ...
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Our latest episode is our 100th! To commemorate the significant number, we decided to talk about numbers: www.picturemecoding.com/2222783/epis...
Numerology - Picture Me Coding
For the 100th episode of Picture Me Coding we talk about numbers. Mike talks about his favorite numbers, Erik talks about his favorite ports, and we discuss the surprising phenomenon of Benford's Law...
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In our latest episode we talk to technology entrepreneur Doug Burke about his experience building a personal AI assistant named Sam, using Claude Code and other agent tools. www.picturemecoding.com/2222783/epis...
Do You Even Schedule, Bro? Making a Digital Workout Partner with Doug Burke - Picture Me Coding
This week we were joined by our friend Doug Burke, who runs a company and has been working on his "digital life workout partner", a voice-activated LLM tool. Doug's story is interesting because he doe...
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In the latest episode we bring back Bob Farzin to help us discuss building software with a team of agents: www.picturemecoding.com/2222783/epis...
TokenMaxxing!: Agentic Software Development with Bob Farzin - Picture Me Coding
In this episode we invite back our friend Bob Farzin to discuss our personal experiences with using teams of agents to write software, and we try to parse out the experiences we're seeing on the inter...
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Our latest episode is about query optimization, focused on Patricia Selinger's seminal paper about cost-based optimization in System R: www.picturemecoding.com/2222783/epis...
Patricia Selinger and the Birth of Query Optimization - Picture Me Coding
In this episode we attempt to explain query optimization and where it came from. In particular we discuss Patricia Selinger's 1979 SIGMOD paper Access Path Selection in a Relational Database Man...
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Thanks for the shout out on the Turing test episode @picturemecoding.bsky.social! Great episode. www.picturemecoding.com/2222783/epis...
The Turing Test - Picture Me Coding
This episode is about the Turing Test, and Alan Turing's original description of the test in Computing Machinery and Intelligence. We also discuss a recent work by two UCSD researchers that clai...
picturemecoding.com
We did an episode a while back on the Turing Test. We wish we'd had this then: olivia.science/turing/
Turing test
Critically analysing the Turing test.
olivia.science
In our latest episode we go back to basics and discuss hash tables. Turned out we didn't understand them as well as we thought, so we look at their history and some recent interesting developments: www.picturemecoding.com/2222783/epis...
Hash Tables - Picture Me Coding
Some recent articles about research on hash tables made us realize we probably didn't know enough about hash tables, one of the fundamental data structures in the biz. We talk about the history ...
picturemecoding.com
We give our report on @socallinuxexpo.bsky.social 23x, where Erik worked as a volunteer this year. (Note: you might hear my dog whimpering toward the end-- she was fine she just wanted snacks) www.picturemecoding.com/2222783/epis...
Scale 23x - Picture Me Coding
We give a report of our experiences at the 23rd version of the Southern California Linux Expo (Scale 23x) in Pasadena. Erik was a volunteer in the network group this year, so we have some behind...
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Follow @picturemecoding.bsky.social and get an extra dose of Amy's opinions!
Picture Me Coding@picturemecoding.bsky.social · 7mo agoIn our latest episode Amy Salley of @hugogirlpodcast.bsky.social returns to help us discuss Murderbot. We discuss the books (up to Network Effect) and how Martha Wells explores topics like AI, consciousness, and neurodivergence. www.picturemecoding.com/2222783/epis...
In our latest episode Amy Salley of @hugogirlpodcast.bsky.social returns to help us discuss Murderbot. We discuss the books (up to Network Effect) and how Martha Wells explores topics like AI, consciousness, and neurodivergence. www.picturemecoding.com/2222783/epis...
Talking Murderbot with Amy Salley - Picture Me Coding
In this episode we're joined again by Amy Salley, cohost of the Hugo, Girl! podcast, to help us discuss the Murderbot series of books by Martha Wells. We discuss our favorite characters and plot...
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Our latest episode is mostly Mike waxing nostalgic about the heyday of recreational programming, especially the late A.K. Dewdney's _Computer Recreations_ column. We also explain taco shops. www.picturemecoding.com/2222783/epis...
Recreational Programming - Picture Me Coding
Does anyone program just for fun anymore? This episode we're talking about recreational programming, with a focus on A.K. Dewdney's Computer Recreations column from the 1980s. Also, taco s...
picturemecoding.com
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Scheme, we did an episode on functional programming. We trace the history of FP and discuss how FP will or won't fit in the AI programming world. www.picturemecoding.com/2222783/epis...
Functional Programming: Are We There Yet? - Picture Me Coding
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Scheme, we decided to talk about functional programming: what it is, how's it going these days, and does it still matter in the era of AI. Although there's b...
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Absolute banger of a @picturemecoding.bsky.social episode on 'local first': www.picturemecoding.com/2222783/epis...
Our Flag Means Local-First - Picture Me Coding
This week Mike and Erik talk about the local-first software movement. There's a pretty cool paper about it from 2019 called "Local-First Software:You Own Your Data, in spite of the Cloud", and there's...
picturemecoding.com
...and we're back. For our first episode of 2026, we're talking about S3 and cloud object storage. Plus, we finally figure out what an exabyte is. www.picturemecoding.com/2222783/epis...
The Infinite Drive: S3 and Cloud Object Storage - Picture Me Coding
For our first episode of 2026 (and Season 4), we're talking about Amazon's Simple Storage Service (S3). S3 is probably the biggest cloud service, or at least we think it is, because it is super ...
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For our last episode of 2025 (and Season 3) we welcome guest Kyle Willcox to talk about Salesforce and Low Code. Also, surf, waves, stingrays, and Plato. Multitudes, baby, multitudes. www.picturemecoding.com/2222783/epis...
Salesforce and Low-Code with Kyle Willcox - Picture Me Coding
In this episode we discuss working in the Salesforce environment, and low-code platforms generally, with software engineer Kyle Willcox. Kyle's dev journey from a CS degree at UNC Wilmington to ...
picturemecoding.com
We did another tech news roundup for the holiday week, but it's mostly about data centers. We recommend you save it for after the Thanksgiving feast-- it should pair nicely with a food coma and a nice Pinot Noir www.picturemecoding.com/2222783/epis...
Tech News Roundup: Fighting Robots with Poetry - Picture Me Coding
For the holiday we're doing another news roundup, although it's mostly about data centers and AI to be honest. Inside the Data Centers...Korean Data CenterOracle Data Center DebtCloudflare Outag...
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In this episode we talk about CRDTs. If you don't know what those are, you should listen. It might save you from zombies. www.picturemecoding.com/2222783/epis...
Conflict-Free Replicated Data Types (CRDTs): How To Survive the Zombie Apocalypse - Picture Me Coding
Erik became fascinated with CRDTs while working on a project, so we're talking about how they work, how they simplify some distributed systems, and how they might protect you from zombies.Conflict-Fre...
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In this episode we're talking about the Turing Test, thus possibly becoming the first people who've ever needed to study for it. The Turing Test (aka The Imitation Game) just turned 75. Has it been passed? www.picturemecoding.com/2222783/epis...
The Turing Test - Picture Me Coding
This episode is about the Turing Test, and Alan Turing's original description of the test in Computing Machinery and Intelligence. We also discuss a recent work by two UCSD researchers that clai...
picturemecoding.com
In the latest episode we discuss the late Mark Weiser's ideas about "ubiquitous computing". Did we achieve it, did we forget about it, or did it morph into something less friendly? www.picturemecoding.com/2222783/epis...
Ubiquitous Computing - Picture Me Coding
In 1988 Mark Weiser of Xerox PARC coined the term "ubiquitous computing", and in 1991 he spelled out the particulars of this concept in a Scientific American article called "The Computer for the 21st ...
picturemecoding.com
In our latest episode we talk about regular expressions. What are they, where did they come from, and most importantly: are they evil? www.picturemecoding.com/2222783/epis...
The Two Problems With Regular Expressions - Picture Me Coding
This week we're talking about regular expressions, aka, regex. These are a favorite tool of programmers, but they also have a dark side. Do regex cause more problems than they solve? ...
picturemecoding.com
We're talking about Unix again, especially about what made it successful. Turns out it might be because the developers didn't start off with any particular objective in mind, they just wanted to make it easier to write programs: www.picturemecoding.com/2222783/epis...
The History of Unix, Part 2: Unix not Eunuchs - Picture Me Coding
A continuation of our discussion about the history of Unix and its development at Bell Labs. Erik wonders why Unix became successful and which features were novel and important. Mike just wants ...
picturemecoding.com
This week we're talking about the history of the Unix operating system, focusing on its origins at Bell Labs: www.picturemecoding.com/2222783/epis...
The History of Unix: Part 1 - Picture Me Coding
This week we talk about the early days of Unix, primarily based on Brian Kernighan's book Unix: A History and Memoir, about his days at Bell Labs and the creation of Unix and C by Ken Thompson, Dennis...
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For this episode we delve into computational complexity, attempting to build up to Ryan Williams's remarkable recent result regarding space complexity vs time complexity. We are undeterred by not knowing what the hell we're talking about: www.picturemecoding.com/2222783/epis...
Space, Time, and Squishy Pebbles - Picture Me Coding
This week we dip our toes into the river of theoretical computer science and immediately drown. We discuss the amazing and surprising result of researcher Ryan Williams about how space is a more...
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We're talking about databases again, this time the category of NoSQL databases. This type of database is now over 20 years old, but that wasn't enough time for us to figure them out: www.picturemecoding.com/2222783/epis...
Databases Part II: No SQL, No Problem - Picture Me Coding
This week we try to make sense of what were once called "NoSQL" databases, focusing on the early entries into the field like Bigtable, Dynamo and Cassandra. We try to explain how they differ fro...
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