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fuck

Alright. It’s out there. The “word.” Should I have written cunt? It is one in the same, depending vernacular and/or region. Regardless. That’s out of the way. I want to discuss something. A short story first.

A lowly, quiet web server sits, marginally neglected but happy pumping its packets in response to requests. It has no ports open other than those to serve simple text files, and it doesn’t accept inputs, so it just lives, you know? Just does its job. Then, one day, this web server decides it wants a little more out of its life. It decides to not just serve a web site but to serve a couple others, you know, because web rings were becoming a thing and it thought that would be fun, and maybe it would help share resources. That worked for a while.

The web server was happy. It had friends. It had socialization, and its resources were finally not living in idle, but bits were moving. Things were aching a little, but that was because the things that hadn’t moved for a while, were moving. It was ok though, and it was happy. It did its job relentlessly, and shared those resources unrequit3d. 1t was happ4.

Th3 web s3rvR started to str#g&l3. It kept phi$h!ng but eventu4lly. It f41l3d. The software didn’t realize the hardware was g1ving 0ut. T0o much inpu+ with0ut enough throu&h4ut, or a h34rt big en0ugh to accommod4t3 all the pressure equated to total fai========0xFFFFFF—-no0p

0xd34db33f

2024 was a loss. The web server burned out. It went on to hack together solutions for self preservation, because it had child links to support and retain. Its peers didn’t care for its efforts, just their own preservation. Its adminstrator was happy it produced something as it meant they had another breath to breathe, but that means little to the little web server. Till next year…

The web server will persist.

Ok. Let’s talk about the culture of tech. Or moreso, let me tell you my perception of tech. Your opinion doesn’t matter anymore than mine. We both have assholes, so we’re level. Find your exit, if you don’t want to read this. Paper’s just to your left. No skid marks allowed in this house.

Just because you write code, doesn’t mean you are authority. Just because your “level” in an org is higher than another’s doesn’t mean a goddamn thing unless you’re day 1 in a startup (even then – day 0 doesn’t mean you’re superior). Just because someone does something parralel to your perview without acknowledging you, nor requesting your permission, doesn’t mean they are wrong.

Decreasing salary offers based off of physical location is garbage. A persons talent is NOT worth less based off their physical location. Point blank. SV mindset must die. Pay me or get fucked. Per Bezos, disagree and commit, regardless delivery method of the message. We’re in 2025 – I don’t need to smell your farts, nor you mine, to know who is working. We have tickets, roadmaps, KPIs, OKRs, MVPs, and QBRs, right? All the acronyms that don’t mean anything impactful – a physical presence in an office, or proximity to one, doesn’t decrease the value of a person’s time for money.

I am a coward. I don’t take confrontation on the chin. But I will think, and I will write, and I will respond, oftentimes at inoppertune times, and more often than not I fuck things up. And I’m starting to think a lot of people in security, or seasoned people in tech, realize this trait and we hide. Then, we respond. Sometimes it works out. More often than not lately, I’ve seen people completely fall off. This is a toxic signal. We need to do better. So…

I’m fucking done hiding.

I’m burnt out. I want out. I want better. I need better.

Alcohol is a huge thing we don’t talk about but is always around. Show me a founder, show me a senior + level developer/engineer, show me an authority of some type that’s not or hasn’t had, a problem with alcohol. It’s an issue. We glorify the parties, the nightcap, the Friday let loose. What’s happened instead? An entire industry of alcoholics only operating at 35% because every night, and every weekend in excess, they’re ingesting poison.

If we really gave a shit, and wanted to execute change in this world we all share, alcohol would not be a fixture. We would leverage a clear mind, all the time. Champion sobriety as superior to inebration. The Ballmer Peak is bullshit, I rather meet Gaia on two points and a few grams for enlightment than spend three days repaying a night’s debauchery. My brain cycles are too expensive anymore. I have given too much, and am tired of CEOs touting their expensive spirit as a signal of a good time, especially when their belligerent ass can’t even recognize a three year employee. “Hi Mr CEO, never shook your hand, glad to meet you.” “Oh shiiiittt hahahah, I need to pee.” Fucking shameful.

Do better. Me. You. Them. The webserver is cooking.