Recent Posts

Abstract, wave-like structures, like sand dunes, from blue-green to yellow.

Introducing: Office hours!

| In General
| 2 minute read

What are office hours? Office hours have their roots in academia, where professors would publish certain hours at specific days of the week where students could simply come in and ask questions. It’s an easy way to meet without the back and forth of finding a date/time that works. Why office hours? …

A magical library interior with towering curved bookshelves reaching up to a ceiling covered in golden autumn leaves, warm ambient lighting, and a silhouetted person standing before a large circular window that floods the space with golden light

How to turn imposter syndrome into a superpower

| In Productivity
| 5 minute read

Here’s a secret: after almost 13 years at Amazon Web Services, I still felt like most people around me were smarter and more capable than me. And now, as a blogger looking at other writers? That feeling hasn’t gone away. If this sounds familiar, you’re experiencing imposter syndrome—and you’re in ex…

A dreamy, ethereal landscape with soft pink and purple clouds in a pastel sky. Flowing sine waves made of code characters weave through the scene in translucent ribbons of light, creating gentle wave patterns. Several colorful butterflies - including blue, purple, and pink ones - flutter gracefully across the composition. The overall mood is serene and fantastical, blending programming elements with natural beauty.

Animating SVG with plain JavaScript and CSS

| In Tech
| 5 minute read

Refactoring my banner into SVG was only the beginning: the next step was animation. I continued with the “AI as a teacher” model and asked Claude to explain to me concepts like IIFE, how the browser’s DOM processes SVG elements, which SVG properties are GPU-accelerated and other CSS performance conc…

Abstract digital landscape with flowing wave-like forms in vibrant magenta, purple, and cyan colors, overlaid with glowing geometric patterns and data visualization elements against a starry black background.

This time I coded it myself: using AI as a teacher

| In Tech
| 7 minute read

If you’re a returning visitor, you might notice the header image on this blog looks more sharp and crisp—that’s because it is! ✨ After creating my own URL shortener, I wanted to modernize my header image. I built it back then in 2022 using p5.js, but the resolution wasn’t great. Now I wanted a more …

Abstract network visualization with glowing golden nodes connected by luminous lines against a deep blue background, representing interconnected systems and data flow.

Adding Webmention support

| In Blogging
| 4 minute read

This weekend, I added Webmention support to this blog. What is it? From the Webmention W3C recommendation:

Webmention is a simple way to notify any URL when you mention it on your site. From the receiver’s perspective, it’s a way to request notifications when other sites mention it.

Think of it as…

Close-up of an intricate mechanical watch movement with golden gears, springs, and components illuminated by warm ambient lighting.

Introducing the now page

| In Blogging
| 1 minute read

As of today, this blog has a “now page”. What is a “now page”? It’s a really good idea by Derek Sivers. From nownownow.com:

a page that tells you what this person is focused on at this point in their life.

Back then in the good old days of Unix, we called it a .plan file. Today, it’s not easy to f…

Constantin with headphones sitting at a table in an office break area, smiling while looking at a laptop covered in various tech and programming stickers. Large windows show a cityscape view of Munich office buildings in the background.

A new beginning, navigating the future 🧭

| In Miscellaneous
| 1 minute read

154 months of building solutions at AWS taught me something unexpected: the most resilient professionals are people who can build cloud architecture, debug a cultural problem, coach a group of executives, mentor a struggling colleague, and learn something entirely new by Thursday. Think Robert Heinl…