Being a creative means I get to explore different genres and forms of art, including books. I recently read my first historical fiction book, the first of many. A historical fiction book contains fictional characters, plots, and dialogue set in accurate settings, events, and social contexts.

The book that tortured me and gave me moments of joy was The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. The man is a literati. From the beginning, the emphasis he puts on how one event triggers everything else, essentially how it started and the redemption we are seeking. We get to see the character grow and experience life in different phases, too.

I enjoyed how he ties the story together and builds anticipation. Unlike some of the fiction books I have read in the past, where the characters easily get away with it, in this book, nobody gets away with it; everything is consequential.

The use and significance of time to mark growth and to reminisce, and especially the portrayal of healing taking time, sometimes an awful long time than we want it to. He does not sugarcoat, no matter how gruesome it gets. One of the highlights I really liked was how he shared the history of Afghanistan, its cultures, customs, and behaviours, which makes it a historical fiction book.

Do not get me wrong, we do get a couple of joy moments throughout the book, but what impressed me is that in every chapter I was always on the edge of my seat. I was hanging on every word because he does not waste words; everything is significant, from the title of the book, to why the characters take time in doing some mundane tasks, to build us to the eventual scene he wants to show, so when something happens, there is an environment for it. Dear reader, the elephants in the room in those scenes made me close the book a couple of times to reflect on what I just read. His wordplay is also ingenious; he explains something as the character, then, as a narrator, uses it in the next sentence.

I loved it, I might not pick up the next book, which would be A Thousand Splendid Suns, in a bit because I need to heal from what I just read, but I will definitely read all, if not most, of his work. That man is exactly who he thinks he is, a historical fiction writer.

I highly recommend this book; you will curse me out if you read it, but I guarantee you will be better off.

Tech hiring in the AI era: Why everyone’s at zero. With the rise of AI, the tech industry is experiencing a “React moment” in which the field is being reset, putting all developers back at zero in mastering new tools. The current era offers a unique opportunity for those who proactively integrate AI into their workflow to outpace those who resist the change.

Agentic Engineering: AI agents can now handle much more code implementation, which means humans have shifted to being more architects and orchestrators, maintaining engineering standards by detailing specs and testing. The rise of AI has raised the bar for software craftsmanship, placing greater emphasis on deep fundamentals such as system design and security rather than just the speed of writing code.

Tech is Fun Again: The Tech Monoculture is Finally Breaking: there is a shift away from monocultural platforms to a new era of specialised, personality-driven hardware and intentional constraints. These range from e-paper displays and 3D printers to a revival of analogue-inspired tech like film cameras and mechanical watches. We are leaning on an “à la carte” tech landscape where discovery feels accidental again, and devices serve unique, single purposes. This also still relates to the shift we are seeing in developer tools, which is contributing to this new, more experimental era of technology.

How you migrate is everything: production systems are inherently in a constant state of “mid-migration.” A successful software team is one that manages these transitions smoothly rather than achieving a perfect, static design. Legacy software is code that works and survives changing requirements. Engineers should accept this unavoidable reality of legacy software and focus on incremental migrations that allow for frequent merges and visible wins. Successful migrations require a disciplined approach that acknowledges that any refactor might be interrupted at any time, meaning the system must remain functional and valuable even when a migration is left half-finished.

A surgeon’s book changed how I fix AI coding disasters: AI lowers the barrier to writing code, and the risk of complexity debt skyrockets. By adopting a surgeon’s mindset, specifically the use of checklists and rigid protocols, engineers can use the speed of AI while preventing the coding disasters that occur when development is guided by vibes rather than engineering discipline.

“No Vibe Coding While I’m On Call”: What Happens When AI Writes Your Production Code: teams must move from speed to disciplined AI-assisted engineering by implementing guardrails such as pre-flight checklists, architectural oversight and AI-on-AI critique. It emphasises the core DevOps principle that “you build it, you run it.” When AI builds, humans must be even more diligent in their roles as orchestrators and verifiers to ensure system resilience.

The uncomfortable truth about vibe coding: the barrier to code generation has dropped significantly, but the value of technical competence in system design and precise communication continues to increase. Developers should treat structured specifications as the authoritative blueprint and single source of truth, ensuring that AI remains a high-speed executor of intent rather than an unpredictable architect.

The End of the Executor: Why Computer Vision Engineers Are Becoming Optional: Engineers must transition into architects or Field CTOs who focus on high-level system design, build-versus-buy trade-offs, and business ROI rather than just technical execution. The demand for manual coding is shrinking, while the demand for human judgment and the ability to orchestrate complex, hybrid systems remains AI-proof.

The Future of the Software Engineering Career: AI is fundamentally dismantling the traditional entry-level career path while simultaneously making deep technical fundamentals more critical than ever. The value in software engineering has shifted from the speed of coding to the judgment required to verify it; developers must now possess a deep understanding of computer science fundamentals, such as distributed systems and hardware architecture, to spot subtle failure modes in AI-generated solutions. The future favours "generalist architects" who can navigate high-level business problems and system design, leaving behind the era where simply knowing a framework like React was enough to build a stable career.

The word of the day is culminate. To culminate is to reach the end or the final result of something.

Example in a sentence:
The festival culminated in a massive fireworks display.

I am making my grand departure into the unknown.

Take care of yourself!

Until the next fortnight, my treasured reader, go forth, and may the odds be ever in your favour! 👏 🤖 ✊ ☠️ 🏹 🪖

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