Tech

Motivation As cloud adoption increases, so does the complexity of managing costs. As with any organization, we constantly face challenges related to optimizing and mitigating the risks of cloud spend. With the risk of cloud costs spiralling, it became clear that a more structured approach is needed. Enter FinOps — short for Financial Operations. It’s a discipline that focuses on maximizing business value from cloud spend, allowing companies to make more informed financial decisions around cloud usage....

When it comes to my own productivity, few techniques have helped me as much as time blocking. Earlier this year, I shared some thoughts on this method, praising its ability to slice through the cacophony of daily tasks and distractions. However, in the months since and, as the post-holiday workload surged, I think it is worth a revisit to this topic. The essence of time blocking, for those unfamiliar, lies in its simplicity: allocating specific blocks of time to individual tasks or types of work....

In the whirlwind of technological evolution, generative AI emerged as a beacon of transformative potential. Less than two years ago, the advent of ChatGPT set the tech world ablaze with predictions of a seismic shift that promised to redefine industries, economies, and the fabric of our daily lives. Goldman Sachs, with the precision of seasoned soothsayers, foretold the displacement of 300 million jobs.1 Yet, as we stand eighteen months into this future, the landscape is markedly different from what was prophesised....

Running Linux and working in Cloud and HPC it is common for me to be stumped when problems appear. Indeed that is where the fun is. However, after receiving a link to download some photos from a recent even, I was shocked to see the images were in .heicformat.1 I have never heard of this and was shocked that something as simple as an image file could not be opened easily on my fancy, sleek, XPS-13....

Thoughts here are my own In the ever-evolving landscape of technology and artificial intelligence (AI), the decision by the new Labour government to shelve £1.3bn of funding promised by the previous Conservatives leadership for tech and AI projects will cast a long shadow over the future of AI, and scientific compute, innovation in the UK.1 This move, while framed as a necessary adjustment to restore economic stability, underscores a deeper, more systemic issue: the vulnerability of technological advancement to the whims of political change....

In the rapidly evolving landscape of technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative force, with the promise to reshaping industries and redefining the way businesses operate. As organisations increasingly integrate AI into their operations, a new challenge arises: managing the financial implications of these powerful technologies. This is where Financial Operations (FinOps) comes into play, offering a strategic framework to maximize business value from AI investments. AI’s potential to drive growth and innovation is undeniable....

In the realm of technology, quantum computing stands as a beacon of future possibilities, and potential horrors. Its development, still in nascent stages, promises to revolutionize our approach to solving complex problems that are currently beyond the reach of classical computers. However, with great power comes great responsibility. The journey towards integrating quantum computing into our societal fabric necessitates a thoughtful approach to governance. This essay explores the initial steps towards establishing governance principles for quantum computing and underscores the importance of continuous evolution of these principles as the technology matures....

When ChunkHost, a hosting provider I’d been using since the mid-2010s, announced its closure last year, I missed the warning emails. This oversight could have spelled disaster but, on reflection, it was a serendipitous push towards reevaluating my hosting needs and expenses. This experience, while initially seeming like a setback, turned into an exploration of more sustainable and cost-effective hosting solutions. Hosting, especially on dedicated servers or virtual machines, can be a significant overhead for anyone running websites or online projects....

In the rapidly evolving landscape of technology and finance, a new cultural practice has emerged, one that promises to redefine the way organizations manage their cloud costs. This practice, known as FinOps, represents a blend of finance and operations, specifically tailored to the unique demands of cloud computing. It’s not just a strategy or a set of guidelines but a profound shift in organizational culture, where cross-functional teams—spanning engineering, finance, product development, and beyond—collaborate to achieve a common goal: maximizing the value derived from cloud investments....

In the realm of productivity, few practices are as simple yet transformative as the weekly review. It’s a ritual that, at first glance, might seem like an additional task to a already packed schedule. Yet, those who have integrated it into their routine know it’s not just another task; it’s a lever for intentionality, clarity, and progress. David Allen, the mind behind the Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology, distilled this practice into a fine art....