diff --git a/index.html b/index.html index 5c8aa47..6b211e9 100644 --- a/index.html +++ b/index.html @@ -1206,8 +1206,11 @@

Option 2: Network Architecture & Automated IaC
  • Option 3: Network Automation Evangelist
  • Option 4: Leadership & Team Management
    • -
  • Option 5: Live & Breathe the Startup Dream
    • +
  • Option 5: Live & Breathe the Startup Dream
    • +
    +

    Please don't hesitate to book time with my Fantasical. Meeting Link.

    +
    @@ -1255,7 +1258,7 @@

    This content is limited. It's less than MVP. And nothing close to MLP. It's Dev in progress.

    I have decided not to port any previous content to this site. I'm starting from scratch.

      -
    • Git Time Stamp fb16e87 (2024-09-20 14:11:23+01:00) by Luke Richardson
      • +
    • Git Time Stamp 3e28889 (2024-09-20 14:15:12+01:00) by Luke Richardson

    diff --git a/search/search_index.json b/search/search_index.json index 2068657..9eb7d16 100644 --- a/search/search_index.json +++ b/search/search_index.json @@ -1 +1 @@ -{"config":{"lang":["en"],"separator":"[\\s\\-]+","pipeline":["stopWordFilter"],"fields":{"title":{"boost":1000.0},"text":{"boost":1.0},"tags":{"boost":1000000.0}}},"docs":[{"location":"","title":"Luke Richardson ... is Available for Hire","text":"

    I'm Luke. A former Network Architect pursuing Technical Management opportunities in London.

    Thank you for visiting. If you have a spare 5 minutes... Please allow me to introduce myself.

    Here you will find my Resume, my new Blog, and some Network related content.

    I'm open to new and compelling opportunities in the Network Community.

    If you have a role I might be interested in, please get in touch. You have my thanks and appreciation.

    Other than that, these pages provide a rudiment of information covering my interests in Network Automation as a career journey captured by the Epics:

    This content is limited. It's less than MVP. And nothing close to MLP. It's Dev in progress.

    I have decided not to port any previous content to this site. I'm starting from scratch.

    While i have you, please do remember ... "},{"location":"books/","title":"My Book Shelf","text":"

    Welcome to My Book Shelf

    Here you'll find a collection of books that I've read and recommend.

    Top Shelf Summarised below -> Bottom Shelf pending!

    "},{"location":"books/#team-of-rivals","title":"Team of Rivals","text":""},{"location":"books/#getting-better","title":"Getting Better","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-expanding-circle","title":"The Expanding Circle","text":""},{"location":"books/#breaking-open-the-head","title":"Breaking Open the Head","text":""},{"location":"books/#lifespan","title":"Lifespan","text":""},{"location":"books/#atomic-habits","title":"Atomic Habits","text":""},{"location":"books/#terraform-up-running","title":"Terraform: Up & Running","text":""},{"location":"books/#learning-go","title":"Learning Go","text":""},{"location":"books/#network-programmability-and-automation","title":"Network Programmability and Automation","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-phoenix-project","title":"The Phoenix Project","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-staff-engineers-path","title":"The Staff Engineer's Path","text":""},{"location":"books/#energy-and-civilization","title":"Energy and Civilization","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-progress-paradox","title":"The Progress Paradox","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-rational-optimist","title":"The Rational Optimist","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-cosmic-serpent","title":"The Cosmic Serpent","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-greatest-show-on-earth","title":"The Greatest Show on Earth","text":""},{"location":"books/#sapiens","title":"Sapiens","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-ten-types-of-human","title":"The Ten Types of Human","text":""},{"location":"books/#on-anarchism","title":"On Anarchism","text":""},{"location":"books/#god-is-not-great","title":"God Is Not Great","text":""},{"location":"books/#money","title":"Money","text":""},{"location":"books/#mind-body-problems","title":"Mind Body Problems","text":""},{"location":"books/#impromptu","title":"Impromptu","text":""},{"location":"books/#superintelligence","title":"Superintelligence","text":""},{"location":"books/#glucose-revolution","title":"Glucose Revolution","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-talent-code","title":"The Talent Code","text":""},{"location":"books/#cosmos","title":"Cosmos","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-hunter-gatherers-guide-to-the-21st-century","title":"The Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century","text":""},{"location":"books/#build-a-mathematical-mind","title":"Build a Mathematical Mind","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-coming-wave","title":"The Coming Wave","text":""},{"location":"books/#enlightenment-now","title":"Enlightenment Now","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-age-of-surveillance-capitalism","title":"The Age of Surveillance Capitalism","text":""},{"location":"books/#in-search-of-schrodingers-cat","title":"In Search of Schr\u00f6dinger's Cat","text":""},{"location":"books/#essentialism","title":"Essentialism","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-chimp-paradox","title":"The Chimp Paradox","text":""},{"location":"books/#life-time","title":"Life Time","text":""},{"location":"books/#quiet","title":"Quiet","text":""},{"location":"books/#other-minds","title":"Other Minds","text":""},{"location":"books/#think-like-an-engineer","title":"Think Like an Engineer","text":""},{"location":"books/#surrounded-by-idiots","title":"Surrounded by Idiots","text":""},{"location":"books/#deep-utopia","title":"Deep Utopia","text":""},{"location":"books/#aws-networking-fundamentals","title":"AWS Networking Fundamentals","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-end-of-the-world-is-just-the-beginning","title":"The End of the World Is Just the Beginning","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-saas-sales-method","title":"The SaaS Sales Method","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-inner-game-of-tennis","title":"The Inner Game of Tennis","text":""},{"location":"books/#waking-up","title":"Waking Up","text":""},{"location":"books/#read-write-own","title":"Read Write Own","text":""},{"location":"media/","title":"My Favorite Media","text":"

    Here you'll find the media I consume routinely that informs my worldview. The things I consider the greatest shows on earth. Content that inspires, educates, and entertains me. In an information rich, complex, and polarized world, I try to consume a wide variety of perspectives and ideas.

    Tip

    My aim in providing this curated content portfolio is to grant you some modicum of insight into the influences that shape my opinions. To be clear, I actively seek out diverse viewpoints that challenge my beliefs. This is a basic tenant of knowledge. Any attempt to box me up ideologically is futile. Please refrain from drawing any radical or definitive conclusions. But feel free to use this page as a frame of reference for understanding the type of person I am.

    I'm more curious than clever. But remain committed to continuously iterating my knowledge. My hope is you will get the gist of the kind of person I am through the media I consume. But that you will also instinctively accept there is much nuance to everyone. We all have multitudes. And it's turtles all the way down.

    "},{"location":"media/#websites","title":"Websites","text":""},{"location":"media/#podcasts","title":"Podcasts","text":""},{"location":"media/#learning-platforms","title":"Learning Platforms","text":""},{"location":"media/#youtube-channels","title":"YouTube Channels","text":""},{"location":"media/#newsletters-blogs","title":"Newsletters & Blogs","text":""},{"location":"quotes/","title":"My Quote Collection","text":"

    Not the most erudite or philosophically pertinent. But still, I wrote them down.

    Intuition is experience distilled. Unknown.

    When we have to change our mind about a person, we hold the inconvenience he causes us very much against him. Beyond Good and Evil Friedrich Nietzsche

    The human body is a network of tubes that exists to distribute resources efficiently. Some Podcast.

    One can adopt one set of principles in private and a different set in public without any inconsistency; all one has to do is make one\u2019s overriding principle the pursuit of self-interest, and then use ethical reasoning in public situations for the purpose of impressing others with one\u2019s impartiality, but not as a real guide to one\u2019s actions. This is hypocritical, but the hypocrisy is part of a consistent design for promoting one\u2019s own interests.\u201d Expanding Circles Peter Singer Page 144

    The trivial many and the vital few. Essentialist Book & Modern Wisdom Podcast

    The conversation we are having with ourselves we can\u2019t have with others. Sam Harris

    Confidence is attractive. Confidence comes from results. And results come from skill acquisition. Unknown

    Don't worry everyone\u2019s pretending. Steven Pemberton.

    Making mistakes makes you smarter. Really fast. Hedge Podcast on NAF

    Just be authentic in the moment and no one can fu*k you. Unknown.

    I 100% guarantee we will not pay more than 10% of that. Neil Schroeder.

    There is a way to catch your dreams without falling asleep. Seinabo Sey

    We all have multitudes. Unknown

    Everything fails all the time. Werner Vogels (Amazon CTO).

    We are all struggling mortals with fleeting lives trying to be right as often as we can. Bill Clinton.

    I think that I shall never see A graph more lovely than a tree. A tree whose crucial property Is loop-free connectivity. A tree that must be sure to span So packets can reach every LAN. First, the root must be selected. By ID, it is elected. Least cost paths from root are traced. In the tree, these paths are placed. A mesh is made by folks like me, Then bridges find a spanning tree. Radia Perlman.

    WeWork will fail in catastrophic fashion before June 2023. Luke Richardson December 2022.

    Let chaos reign. Then reign in chaos. Andy Grove, former CEO of Intel.

    It takes aeons of evolution and perpetual starvation. Unknown.

    Is there music and art and invention? I hope you are dancing in heaven. Cause here on earth something is missing. Dancing in the sky.

    I know people who graduated college at 21 and didn\u2019t get a job until they were 27. I know people who graduated at 25 and got a job immediately. I know people who never went to university and found what they love at 18. I know people who have children and are single, I know people who are married and had to wait 8-10 years to be parents. I know people who are in a relationship and love someone else, I know people who love each other and aren\u2019t together, there are people waiting to love and be loved. My point is, everything in life happens according to our time, our clock. You may look at your friends and some may seem to be ahead or behind you, but they are not, they are living according to the pace of their clock, so be patient. The Minds Journal.

    Nobody gets through this life unscathed. Are you going to drown in your grief?

    We are all going to die. So we may as-well live.

    Long story short... they forgot that they are all brothers and sisters, co-habiting the same planet, so they kinda became delusional and imagined these invisible borders, beliefs and structures separating them, and started destroying each other and the earth they live on ... instead of just living, sharing, creating and evolving together. Internet adage.

    Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible God and destroys a visible Nature. Unaware that the Nature he is destroying is the God he is worshipping. Hert Reeves.

    I wish people cared as much about the earth as they did about who they think created it\u2026 Internet adage.

    Shakespeare said: I always feel happy, You know why? Because I don't expect anything from anyone, Expectations always hurt... Life is short, So love your life, Be happy... & Keep smiling. Just live for yourself & Before you speak, Listen. Before you write, Think. Before you spend, Earn. Before you pray, Forgive. Before you hurt, Feel. Before you hate, Love. Before you quit, Try. Before you die, Live.

    Be Happy & Smile. Listen, Think, Earn, Forgive, Feel, Love, Live.

    It all started with an argument over whose God was more peace-loving, kind, and forgiving. Internet adage with image of cartoon war chaos & destruction.

    I do not believe anything. Most people, even the educated, think that everybody must believe something or other, that if one is not a theist, one must be a dogmatic atheist, and if one does not think Capitalism is perfect, one must believe fervently in Socialism, and if one does not have blind faith in X one must alternatively have blind faith in not-X or the reverse of X. My own opinion is that belief is the death of intelligence. Robert Anton Wilson.

    Luke Comment

    I think belief is the distillation of others' intelligence. Humans categorize and simplify, which is likely why we are unable to perceive actual reality. Evolution has abstracted us from the complexity that lays beneath our perception.

    The one thing I know for sure is that feelings are rarely mutual, so when they are, drop everything, forget belongings and expectations, forget the games, the two days between texts, the hard-to-gets because this is it, this is what the entire world is after and you've stumbled upon it by chance, by accident--so take a deep breath, take a step forward, now run, collide like planets in the system of a dying sun, embrace each other with both arms and let all the rules, the opinions and common sense crash down around you. Because this is love, kid, and it\u2019s all yours. Believe me, you're in for one hell of a ride, after all--this is the one thing I know for sure. Beau Taplin.

    I can bring you more misery than words can tell. Come take my hand, let me lead you to hell. Signed, Drugs.

    Do you know why I am stopping you? Well Officer, a crime requires an injured party. Seeing as there isn't one, I can assume you're attempting to manufacture my consent to a contract with the State's corporate policy in order to generate revenue as part of a racketeering scam. Police officer traffic stopping an astute person.

    The world is not divided between East & West. You are American, I am Iranian, we don't know each other, but we talk and we understand each other perfectly. The difference between you and your government is much bigger than the difference between you and me. And the difference between me and my government is much bigger than the difference between me and you. And our governments are very much the same. Marjane Satrapi, Iranian Graphic Novelist.

    The secret to finding all knowledge is to use exactly the right keywords when you google. Internet adage.

    I like weird people... the black sheep, the odd ducks, the rejects, the eccentrics, the loners, the lost and forgotten. More often than not, these people have the most beautiful souls. Internet adage.

    Only the cool kids are enlightened. Ironic Internet adage.

    Stress is caused by giving a fuck. Internet adage.

    I want to be happy but something inside me screams that I do not deserve it. HealthyPlace.com

    Stars can't shine without darkness. Internet adage.

    Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius, and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring. Internet adage.

    The scariest thing about distance is you don't know whether they'll miss you or forget about you. The Notebook, Internet adage.

    One awesome thing about Eeyore is that even though he is basically clinically depressed, he still gets invited to participate in adventures and shenanigans with all of his friends. And they never expect him to pretend to feel happy, they just love him anyway, and they never leave him behind or ask him to change. David Avocado Wolfe - re Winnie the Poo.

    Never apologize for what you feel. It\u2019s like saying sorry for being real. Internet adage.

    The creative adult is the child who survived. Internet adage with image of man doing graffiti.

    We do not grow absolutely chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another, unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present and future mingle and pull us backward and forward. Or fix us in the present. We are made of layers, cells, constellations. Anais Nin.

    That's the way the cookie crumbles. James Rose 2003 Drawing of a cookie crumbling resin into a bed.

    Luke Comment

    James was my last remaining close friend. He died of heart failure in the year following the Covid pandemic. I miss him more than words can say. I hope everyone has or had a friend as wonderful as James.

    Techno-Feudalist. Yanis Varoufakis

    Forgetting is an essential complement to remembering. Vaclav Smil.

    Learning to learn. It is not enough to hear or read. You have to think it through. Broadly. This is data processing. Make and use associations. Create links between knowledge. Then you can retain information. Data processing is how to learn. Learning is about retaining. Retaining knowledge requires thought. Train your brain muscle. Improve your memory. Somewhat ironically - unknown. :material-smile:{ .bounce }

    There is nothing to do but take a moment to miss him. Sam Harris on Hitch.

    Atheism is clearing the space for better conversations. Science, Art, Culture, Philosophy. Sam Harris.

    A pact with the structure of existence. Jordan Peterson.

    We excuse ourselves into living mediocre lives. Unknown.

    If people knew how hard I had to work to gain this mastery, it would not seem so wonderful at all. Michelangelo.

    We know close to nothing, about everything. And if we embrace that we will have a better experience going through life. YouTube - From Lex I think. Or Sam Harris Pod.

    Nothing is true and everything is possible. Some interview - who?

    We should do politics specifically with a view to whats best for hundreds of years time. Nothing else. Politics for the species. Rather than generations. Luke Richardson 2023

    Luke's Manifesto

    Maintain the status quo of Liberal Democratic Capitalism with a approximate split of 40% GNP to GDP. Spend my term preparing the institutional environment for much grander, but extremely slow burn, generational shifts. Basically do nothing remotely radical or change making. Then pass the work to the next government to implement the changes on which society has been educated, prepared for, and continuously consulted on.

    Reach for the lasers. Human Traffic.

    A salary is a drug they give you to forget your dreams. Unknown.

    All foundational technology gets cheaper and easier to use and ultimately proliferates far and wide. Mustafa Suleyman - DeepMind.

    When we have to change our mind about a person, we hold the inconvenience he causes us very much against him. Beyond Good and Evil Friedrich Nietzsche

    Enjoyment appears at the boundary between boredom and anxiety, when the challenges are just balanced with the persons capacity to act. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - Flow

    A man has as many social selves as there are distinct groups of persons about whose opinion he cares. He generally shows a different side of himself to each of these different groups. William James (derived from the book Quiet)

    The stories we tell ourselves. Dan Mcadmams

    Where we stumble is where our treasure lies.

    Besides black art, there is only automation and mechanization. Federico Garc\u00eda Lorca (1898-1936), Spanish poet and playwright

    \u2026people can be perfectly rational and yet perfectly self-interested. Gist

    "},{"location":"tags/","title":"Tags","text":""},{"location":"tags/#biology","title":"Biology","text":""},{"location":"tags/#conference","title":"Conference","text":""},{"location":"tags/#dna","title":"DNA","text":""},{"location":"tags/#evolution","title":"Evolution","text":""},{"location":"tags/#futurism","title":"Futurism","text":""},{"location":"tags/#network-automation","title":"Network-Automation","text":""},{"location":"tags/#network-community","title":"Network-Community","text":""},{"location":"tags/#pending","title":"Pending","text":""},{"location":"tags/#politics","title":"Politics","text":""},{"location":"tags/#psychology","title":"Psychology","text":""},{"location":"tags/#science","title":"Science","text":""},{"location":"tags/#systems","title":"Systems","text":""},{"location":"tags/#pending_1","title":"pending","text":""},{"location":"whoami/","title":"My Life Story - Heavily Redacted","text":"

    Just the Gist.

    This is a heavily redacted version of my life story, focusing on some pertinent milestones and experiences. Rest assured, i'm not (quite) as boring as it appears. I hope it affords you a useful quick reference to my life and the shaping of my character.

    "},{"location":"whoami/#childhood","title":"Childhood","text":""},{"location":"whoami/#young-adult","title":"Young Adult","text":""},{"location":"whoami/#early-career","title":"Early Career","text":""},{"location":"whoami/#death-majesty","title":"Death & Majesty","text":""},{"location":"whoami/#adult-maturity","title":"Adult Maturity","text":""},{"location":"whoami/#professional-take-off","title":"Professional Take Off","text":""},{"location":"whoami/#professional-pain","title":"Professional Pain","text":""},{"location":"whoami/#do-what-you-love","title":"Do What You Love","text":""},{"location":"words/","title":"My Favorite Words","text":"Understanding Word Types and Language Concepts ...In case you are as dumb and forgetful as me. \ud83d\ude05"},{"location":"words/#types-of-words","title":"Types of Words","text":""},{"location":"words/#language-concepts","title":"Language Concepts","text":""},{"location":"words/#why-this-matters","title":"Why This Matters","text":"

    Understanding these terms helps you grasp the function of words in language, allowing you to communicate more effectively and appreciate the intricacies of how meaning is constructed. By knowing the types of words and concepts like grammar and syntax, you can better analyse, create, and understand the beauty of language.

    "},{"location":"words/#a-priori-phrase","title":"A Priori (Phrase)","text":""},{"location":"words/#affect-verb","title":"Affect (Verb)","text":""},{"location":"words/#allusion-noun","title":"Allusion (Noun)","text":""},{"location":"words/#archaic-adjective","title":"Archaic (Adjective)","text":""},{"location":"words/#altricial-adjective","title":"Altricial (Adjective)","text":""},{"location":"words/#altruism-noun","title":"Altruism (Noun)","text":""},{"location":"words/#autotelic-adjective","title":"Autotelic (Adjective)","text":""},{"location":"words/#automaticity-noun","title":"Automaticity (Noun)","text":""},{"location":"words/#axiom-noun","title":"Axiom (Noun)","text":""},{"location":"words/#axiomatic-adjective","title":"Axiomatic (Adjective)","text":""},{"location":"words/#bayesian-adjective","title":"Bayesian (Adjective)","text":""},{"location":"words/#beguiled-verb","title":"Beguiled (Verb)","text":""},{"location":"words/#belief-noun","title":"Belief (Noun)","text":""},{"location":"words/#bequeath-verb","title":"Bequeath (Verb)","text":""},{"location":"words/#betwixt-preposition","title":"Betwixt (Preposition)","text":""},{"location":"words/#cacophonous-adjective","title":"Cacophonous (Adjective)","text":""},{"location":"words/#cathartic-adjective","title":"Cathartic (Adjective)","text":""},{"location":"words/#conceit-noun","title":"Conceit (Noun)","text":""},{"location":"words/#catatonic-adjective","title":"Catatonic (Adjective)","text":""},{"location":"words/#cheek-by-jowl-adverb","title":"Cheek by Jowl (Adverb)","text":""},{"location":"words/#computational-irreducibility-noun","title":"Computational Irreducibility (Noun)","text":""},{"location":"words/#congenital-adjective","title":"Congenital (Adjective)","text":""},{"location":"words/#consciousness-noun","title":"Consciousness (Noun)","text":""},{"location":"words/#corrigibility-adjective","title":"Corrigibility 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(Noun)","text":""},{"location":"words/#jettison-verb","title":"Jettison (Verb)","text":""},{"location":"words/#kaizen-noun","title":"Kaizen (Noun)","text":""},{"location":"words/#lineage-noun","title":"Lineage (Noun)","text":""},{"location":"words/#lucidity-noun","title":"Lucidity (Noun)","text":""},{"location":"words/#mastication-noun","title":"Mastication (Noun)","text":""},{"location":"words/#materialism-noun","title":"Materialism (Noun)","text":""},{"location":"words/#melancholy-noun","title":"Melancholy (Noun)","text":""},{"location":"words/#memetic-adjective","title":"Memetic (Adjective)","text":""},{"location":"words/#metanoia-noun","title":"Metanoia (Noun)","text":""},{"location":"words/#myelin-noun","title":"Myelin (Noun)","text":""},{"location":"words/#myopic-adjective","title":"Myopic (Adjective)","text":""},{"location":"words/#neologism-noun","title":"Neologism (Noun)","text":""},{"location":"words/#neuro-reductionism-noun","title":"Neuro-Reductionism 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(Adjective)","text":""},{"location":"Contact/","title":"Contact","text":""},{"location":"Contact/#meet-with-luke","title":"Meet with Luke","text":""},{"location":"Contact/#instant-meeting","title":"Instant Meeting","text":""},{"location":"Contact/#schedule-meeting","title":"Schedule Meeting","text":"

    Thank you. Your convenience is my priority

    So feel free to use any other preferred method to reach out and conduct interviews or meetings.

    I cancelled my subscription. If you choose to Zoom it's 40mins on free tier.

    "},{"location":"Hire-Me/","title":"Luke Richardson's Resume","text":""},{"location":"Hire-Me/#employment-history","title":"Employment History","text":""},{"location":"Hire-Me/#education","title":"Education","text":""},{"location":"Hire-Me/#career-achievements","title":"Career Achievements","text":""},{"location":"Hire-Me/#hobbies","title":"Hobbies","text":""},{"location":"Hire-Me/#testimonials","title":"Testimonials","text":"

    Thanks for taking the time to read my resume. Please get in touch. \ud83c\udf89

    Please don't hesitate to book time with my Fantasical.

    "},{"location":"Net-Auto/","title":"Some Network Automation Content","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Auto/#coming-soon","title":"Coming Soon","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Auto/intro-to-docs/","title":"These Pages are built with Mkdocs","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Auto/intro-to-docs/#coming-soon","title":"Coming Soon","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Auto/intro-to-sot/","title":"The Network Sources of Truth","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Auto/intro-to-sot/#coming-soon","title":"Coming Soon","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Auto/intro-to-version-control/","title":"Introduction to Version Control","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Auto/intro-to-version-control/#coming-soon","title":"Coming Soon","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Lead/","title":"Some Advice on Leadership","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Lead/#coming-soon","title":"Coming Soon","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Lead/being-authentic/","title":"Introduction to Being Authentic","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Lead/being-authentic/#coming-soon","title":"Coming Soon","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Lead/being-different/","title":"Introduction to Being Different","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Lead/being-different/#coming-soon","title":"Coming Soon","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Lead/being-wrong/","title":"Introduction to Being Wrong","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Lead/being-wrong/#coming-soon","title":"Coming Soon","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"assets/icons/affinity-master/","title":"Affinity symbol set","text":"

    Free 2D symbols for computer network diagrams.

    "},{"location":"assets/icons/affinity-master/#why","title":"Why?","text":"

    Simple. I wanted modern, crisp, pixel-perfect, printable, manufacturer independent symbols for computer-network topology that does not look like they were made in the 80s.

    "},{"location":"assets/icons/affinity-master/#want-to-change-color","title":"Want to change color?","text":"

    sed -e \"s/rgb(77,77,77)/rgb(45,103,185)/\" c_shield_gray.svg > c_shield_blue.svg

    "},{"location":"assets/icons/affinity-master/#symbol-overview","title":"Symbol overview","text":""},{"location":"blog/2024/07/04/life-as-no-one-knows-it-the-physics-of-lifes-emergence/","title":"Life As No One Knows It: The Physics of Life's Emergence","text":"","tags":["Science","Biology","DNA","Evolution"]},{"location":"blog/2024/07/04/life-as-no-one-knows-it-the-physics-of-lifes-emergence/#author-sara-imari-walker","title":"Author: Sara Imari Walker","text":"Listen to Luke read this Post

    Click the play button below to listen to the audio version of this post.

    Your browser sucks and does not support the audio element.

    ","tags":["Science","Biology","DNA","Evolution"]},{"location":"blog/2024/07/04/life-as-no-one-knows-it-the-physics-of-lifes-emergence/#gist","title":"Gist","text":"

    Assembly Theory. Life is complex molecular structures and pathways.

    ","tags":["Science","Biology","DNA","Evolution"]},{"location":"blog/2024/07/04/life-as-no-one-knows-it-the-physics-of-lifes-emergence/#summary","title":"Summary","text":"

    Life as No One Knows It: Assembly Theory and the Search for Life\u2019s Origins introduces a fresh perspective on life by focusing on the complexity of molecular assembly. By rethinking life as a continuum of assembly complexity rather than a strict category, Walker and Cronin challenge existing paradigms and open new avenues for understanding life\u2019s origins and detecting it in the universe. While their approach leans heavily towards complexity and speculative thinking, it provides a thought-provoking framework that could reshape the scientific and philosophical discourse on what it means to be alive.

    ","tags":["Science","Biology","DNA","Evolution"]},{"location":"blog/2024/07/04/life-as-no-one-knows-it-the-physics-of-lifes-emergence/#terms-concepts","title":"Terms & Concepts","text":"

    Helpful Context & Definitions

    ","tags":["Science","Biology","DNA","Evolution"]},{"location":"blog/2024/07/04/life-as-no-one-knows-it-the-physics-of-lifes-emergence/#ideas","title":"Ideas","text":"
    1. Assembly: More steps means more life like. How to detect life by looking for complexity.
    2. Life as a continuum of complexity: No binary life or no life. It is a spectrum. Life as the ability to generate and sustain complexity.
    3. Origin of life and evolution: Simple to complex chemistry. A system reaches a threshold of complexity -> then biological evolution can commence. Molecules to Organisms.
    4. Astro-Biology: How to find life in the universe? Molecular complexity as the signature of life. Look for it!
    5. Life purpose and meaning: Just the maintenance and proliferation of complexity. We / Life is not special. No specific set of characteristics beyond molecular complexity.
    ","tags":["Science","Biology","DNA","Evolution"]},{"location":"blog/2024/07/04/life-as-no-one-knows-it-the-physics-of-lifes-emergence/#thoughts","title":"Thoughts","text":"
    1. Bias toward complexity and novelty: The authors are clearly biased towards viewing complexity as a primary criterion for defining and understanding life. This bias may lead them to undervalue simpler forms of life or the role of simplicity in biological systems. However, this emphasis on complexity helps bridge gaps in understanding between chemistry, biology, and physics.
    2. Challenge to traditional definitions: Walker and Cronin\u2019s work challenges conventional definitions of life, which could be seen as biased against traditional biological frameworks. They advocate for a broader and more inclusive understanding of life, which could change how life is recognised and studied.
    3. Emphasis on interdisciplinary approaches: The book\u2019s bias towards interdisciplinary suggests that solutions to understanding life\u2019s complexity and origins lie at the intersection of different scientific fields. This may downplay the contributions of specialised studies in favour of a more integrative approach.
    4. Speculative nature: Given its theoretical framework, the book leans towards speculative ideas about life\u2019s nature and the detection of extraterrestrial life. This speculative bias may invite criticism for lack of empirical support but is also where its innovative strength lies, pushing the boundaries of current scientific thought.
    5. Philosophical and ethical overtones: Walker and Cronin\u2019s work is not just a scientific proposal but also philosophical. Their bias towards redefining life has ethical implications, such as how humanity interacts with potential extraterrestrial life forms and the moral consideration of recognising different forms of life.
    ","tags":["Science","Biology","DNA","Evolution"]},{"location":"blog/2024/07/04/life-as-no-one-knows-it-the-physics-of-lifes-emergence/#concluding-remark","title":"Concluding Remark","text":"

    I can't decide if this is a theory of the intuitively obvious or a profound new imagining of... everything ever.

    ","tags":["Science","Biology","DNA","Evolution"]},{"location":"blog/2024/07/04/life-as-no-one-knows-it-the-physics-of-lifes-emergence/#whiteboard","title":"Whiteboard","text":"","tags":["Science","Biology","DNA","Evolution"]},{"location":"blog/2024/07/04/life-as-no-one-knows-it-the-physics-of-lifes-emergence/#quotes","title":"Quotes","text":"

    What modern science has taught us is that life is not a property of matter.

    Physicists and chemists see very intimately what the rest of us who think life exists cannot: there is no magic transition point where a molecule or collection of molecules is suddenly \u201cliving.\u201d

    Life is the vaporware of chemistry: a property so obvious in our day-to-day experience\u2014that we are living\u2014is nonexistent when you look at our parts.

    ","tags":["Science","Biology","DNA","Evolution"]},{"location":"blog/2024/07/04/life-as-no-one-knows-it-the-physics-of-lifes-emergence/#reference-content","title":"Reference Content","text":"

    Sara Imari Walker - Santa Fe Institute Profile

    Sara Imari Walker - Google Scholar

    Sara Imari Walker - Joe Rogan Experience #2184

    ","tags":["Science","Biology","DNA","Evolution"]},{"location":"blog/2024/07/04/life-as-no-one-knows-it-the-physics-of-lifes-emergence/#review-status","title":"Review Status","text":"","tags":["Science","Biology","DNA","Evolution"]},{"location":"blog/2024/08/01/book-review-of-the-the-fourth-turning-by-william-strauss--neil-howe/","title":"The Fourth Turning: An Analysis of Cyclical History","text":"","tags":["Systems","Futurism","Politics"]},{"location":"blog/2024/08/01/book-review-of-the-the-fourth-turning-by-william-strauss--neil-howe/#authors-william-strauss-neil-howe","title":"Authors: William Strauss & Neil Howe","text":"Listen to Luke read this Post

    Click the play button below to listen to the audio version of this post.

    Your browser does not support the audio element.

    ","tags":["Systems","Futurism","Politics"]},{"location":"blog/2024/08/01/book-review-of-the-the-fourth-turning-by-william-strauss--neil-howe/#gist","title":"Gist","text":"

    Generational theory suggests that history moves in cycles. According to Strauss and Howe, we are currently in the Crisis phase of the Fourth Turning.

    ","tags":["Systems","Futurism","Politics"]},{"location":"blog/2024/08/01/book-review-of-the-the-fourth-turning-by-william-strauss--neil-howe/#summary","title":"Summary","text":"

    The Fourth Turning argues that history follows a predictable cycle, divided into four generational archetypes (Prophet, Nomad, Hero, Artist) and four turnings or stages (High, Awakening, Unraveling, Crisis). Each turning represents a different phase of social mood, driven by the behavior and values of the generations in power. Currently, we are in the \"Fourth Turning\" or Crisis phase, which will reshape society and create a new social order.

    ","tags":["Systems","Futurism","Politics"]},{"location":"blog/2024/08/01/book-review-of-the-the-fourth-turning-by-william-strauss--neil-howe/#terms-concepts","title":"Terms & Concepts","text":"

    Helpful Context & Definitions

    ","tags":["Systems","Futurism","Politics"]},{"location":"blog/2024/08/01/book-review-of-the-the-fourth-turning-by-william-strauss--neil-howe/#ideas","title":"Ideas","text":"

    1. The High: Societal rebuilding following a crisis (Prophet, Idealist Archetype)

      • Strong institutions and collective purpose.
        • Example: Post-WW2 (1946\u20131964).

    2. The Awakening: Cultural upheaval (Nomad, Reactive Archetype)

      • Questioning norms, rise in individualism.
        • Example: 1960s counterculture revolution.

    3. The Unraveling: Fragmentation of society (Hero, Civic Archetype)

      • Weakened institutions, peak individualism.
        • Example: 1980\u20132000, political dysfunction.

    4. The Crisis: Systemic shock (Artist, Adaptive Archetype)

      • Rebuilding after societal collapse.
        • Example: Great Depression/WW2, current phase.
    ","tags":["Systems","Futurism","Politics"]},{"location":"blog/2024/08/01/book-review-of-the-the-fourth-turning-by-william-strauss--neil-howe/#thoughts","title":"Thoughts","text":"

    1. Relevance of Cycles in Modern Society: The cyclical nature of history is particularly relevant today, aligning with the current social and political tensions of the \"crisis\" phase. Will this crisis lead to structural reform or just reset the cycle?

    2. Generational Leadership: Transitioning leadership from Baby Boomers (Prophet) to Generation X (Nomad) and Millennials (Hero) could influence the societal response to crises.

    3. Predictive Power: While the book claims predictive accuracy, history is shaped by unpredictable factors (e.g., technological advancements, environmental shifts). The framework is useful but not absolute.

    4. Crisis as a Catalyst for Innovation: Historically, crises have sparked technological and social advancements. The current crisis could drive breakthroughs in sustainability, AI, and governance.

    5. Cross-Cultural Applicability: The theory primarily focuses on Western societies, particularly the U.S. Can it apply to other cultural and political systems? The universality of the theory is debatable.

    ","tags":["Systems","Futurism","Politics"]},{"location":"blog/2024/08/01/book-review-of-the-the-fourth-turning-by-william-strauss--neil-howe/#concluding-remark","title":"Concluding Remark","text":"

    The generational theory in The Fourth Turning provides a compelling framework for understanding society\u2019s recurring patterns and future shifts, emphasizing the importance of recognizing these cyclical changes.

    ","tags":["Systems","Futurism","Politics"]},{"location":"blog/2024/08/01/book-review-of-the-the-fourth-turning-by-william-strauss--neil-howe/#whiteboard","title":"Whiteboard","text":"","tags":["Systems","Futurism","Politics"]},{"location":"blog/2024/08/01/book-review-of-the-the-fourth-turning-by-william-strauss--neil-howe/#quotes","title":"Quotes","text":"

    History moves in cycles, and Winter is coming.

    Each generation\u2019s response to the social moment shapes the next era.

    ","tags":["Systems","Futurism","Politics"]},{"location":"blog/2024/08/01/book-review-of-the-the-fourth-turning-by-william-strauss--neil-howe/#reference-content","title":"Reference Content","text":"

    The Fourth Turning - Wikipedia The Fourth Turning - YouTube

    ","tags":["Systems","Futurism","Politics"]},{"location":"blog/2024/08/01/book-review-of-the-the-fourth-turning-by-william-strauss--neil-howe/#review-status","title":"Review Status","text":"","tags":["Systems","Futurism","Politics"]},{"location":"blog/2024/05/13/book-review-of-behave-by-robert-sapolsky/","title":"Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst","text":"","tags":["Biology","Evolution","Psychology"]},{"location":"blog/2024/05/13/book-review-of-behave-by-robert-sapolsky/#author-robert-sapolsky","title":"Author: Robert Sapolsky","text":"Listen to Luke read this Post

    Your browser does not support the audio element.

    ","tags":["Biology","Evolution","Psychology"]},{"location":"blog/2024/05/13/book-review-of-behave-by-robert-sapolsky/#gist","title":"Gist","text":"

    Sapolsky presents a deterministic view rooted in biology and neuroscience. His approach emphasizes empathy and explores the ethical implications of human behavior, pushing us towards a nuanced, context-sensitive understanding of actions.

    ","tags":["Biology","Evolution","Psychology"]},{"location":"blog/2024/05/13/book-review-of-behave-by-robert-sapolsky/#summary","title":"Summary","text":"

    Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst is an intricate exploration of the myriad factors influencing human behavior. Sapolsky argues that behavior cannot be understood through a single lens but is shaped by a complex interplay of biological, environmental, and cultural factors. He blends reductionist explanations (biological mechanisms) with holistic perspectives (sociocultural influences), offering an in-depth view of why humans act the way they do.

    ","tags":["Biology","Evolution","Psychology"]},{"location":"blog/2024/05/13/book-review-of-behave-by-robert-sapolsky/#terms-concepts","title":"Terms & Concepts","text":"

    Helpful Context & Definitions

    ","tags":["Biology","Evolution","Psychology"]},{"location":"blog/2024/05/13/book-review-of-behave-by-robert-sapolsky/#ideas","title":"Ideas","text":"
    1. Neuroscience and Decision-Making: Sapolsky delves into the brain's role in shaping behavior, discussing how regions like the amygdala (fear/aggression) and prefrontal cortex (rationality/impulse control) influence our actions.
    2. Influence of Hormones and Neurotransmitters: The book examines how hormones (testosterone, oxytocin, cortisol) and neurotransmitters (dopamine, serotonin) affect behavior, especially in contexts like aggression, empathy, and stress.
    3. Evolutionary Biology and Ancestral Behavior: Sapolsky integrates evolutionary biology, explaining how traits like altruism, aggression, and cooperation evolved to increase survival and reproductive success.
    4. The Role of Environment and Culture: The book emphasizes how cultural norms, upbringing, and early experiences significantly shape behavior, beliefs, and moral judgments.
    5. Complexity of Influences: Sapolsky advocates for a nuanced understanding of behavior, arguing that it results from the interplay between genetics, brain activity, hormones, past experiences, and environmental context.
    ","tags":["Biology","Evolution","Psychology"]},{"location":"blog/2024/05/13/book-review-of-behave-by-robert-sapolsky/#thoughts","title":"Thoughts","text":"
    1. Scientific Determinism with Compassion: Sapolsky leans towards a deterministic view of behavior, suggesting that biological and environmental factors heavily influence actions. He balances this with compassion, advocating for understanding over judgment.
    2. Biological Emphasis: Although Sapolsky recognizes the impact of culture and environment, his background as a neuroscientist leads him to prioritize biological explanations, which may appear reductionist.
    3. Critique of Moral Judgments: Sapolsky challenges simplistic moral judgments, suggesting a more rehabilitative approach to justice, grounded in a deeper understanding of behavior.
    4. Humanistic Approach: His work promotes empathy, moving beyond \u201cus vs. them\u201d mentalities, and calls for policies that recognize the shared factors influencing human behavior across groups.
    ","tags":["Biology","Evolution","Psychology"]},{"location":"blog/2024/05/13/book-review-of-behave-by-robert-sapolsky/#concluding-remark","title":"Concluding Remark","text":"

    Sapolsky's deterministic view of human behavior, grounded in biology and neuroscience, is tempered by a commitment to empathy and the ethical implications of understanding behavior. He challenges readers to move beyond simple dichotomies like good and evil and to embrace a more integrated, context-sensitive view of human actions.

    ","tags":["Biology","Evolution","Psychology"]},{"location":"blog/2024/05/13/book-review-of-behave-by-robert-sapolsky/#whiteboard","title":"Whiteboard","text":"","tags":["Biology","Evolution","Psychology"]},{"location":"blog/2024/05/13/book-review-of-behave-by-robert-sapolsky/#quotes","title":"Quotes","text":"

    The brain is heavily influenced by genes. But from birth through young adulthood, the part of the human brain that most defines us (frontal cortex) is less a product of the genes with which you started life than of what life has thrown at you.

    ","tags":["Biology","Evolution","Psychology"]},{"location":"blog/2024/05/13/book-review-of-behave-by-robert-sapolsky/#reference-content","title":"Reference Content","text":"

    Robert Salpolsky - Wikipedia Robert Salpolsky talks Behave - YouTube

    ","tags":["Biology","Evolution","Psychology"]},{"location":"blog/2024/05/13/book-review-of-behave-by-robert-sapolsky/#review-status","title":"Review Status","text":"","tags":["Biology","Evolution","Psychology"]},{"location":"blog/1985/11/16/pending/","title":"Pending","text":"","tags":["pending"]},{"location":"blog/1985/11/16/pending/#pending","title":"Pending","text":"","tags":["pending"]},{"location":"blog/2024/09/16/autocon-reflections/","title":"AutoCon Reflections","text":"

    The AutoCon conferences have been remarkable gatherings of our network automation tribe. The Network Automation Forum (NAF) has fostered an engaged, curious community that's pushing toward what's possible in automated network infrastructure. We\u2019re all very thankful for the passion of Chris & Scott in their efforts to bring \u2018our people\u2019 together\u2026 and we hope they get very rich along the way! They deserve all the accolades, and more besides. Take a Bow.

    Side Note: Help Me Understand the Money Flow - RFC

    They say you should follow the money... and I\u2019m eager to better grasp the macro economics of our sector in transition. A theme I\u2019ll be exploring in more depth later. As my career progresses, i'm looking for ways to add extreme business value structurally - beyond incremental business efficiency in project delivery and design. I want to lead. My initial presumption is we are seeing a slow burn realignment of allocated capital that will be of great benefit to the thought leaders in our space. If anyone can help me understand this better\u2026 please reach out.

    I\u2019m patient - but I too would like to be rich before I die:

    ","tags":["Network-Automation","Network-Community","Conference"]},{"location":"blog/2024/09/16/autocon-reflections/#nafs-central-premise","title":"NAFs Central Premise","text":"

    Let\u2019s begin with the NAF's negatively framed tagline and central question: \"Why hasn't network automation seen full adoption yet?\u201d which is an appropriately provocative query that doubtless resonates but feels out of kilter, to me. Mostly because I believe we are in the new golden era of networking, filled with the most exciting tools, systems, and platforms, and an unprecedented tolerance for experimentation and failure. It\u2019s ironic that many of the vendors we moan about as automation obstacles have, in their oligopolistic malaise, opened the market for the very companies sponsoring these conferences, allowing them to thrive in spaces previously under the iron fist of the big hardware players.

    These conferences are for engineers rather than companies so its appropriate to interrogate that question with more regard to our professional joy, as network tinkerers, as opposed to accrued business value, as corporate monsters... ultimately crucial though that is! And from that perspective, as far as I can tell, everything is going great! But I\u2019m a moron so don\u2019t listen to me.

    Let's get into what I\u2019ve gathered from these conferences, focusing on my favorite presentations from the most recent AutoCon1 in Amsterdam (because the content was much better than AutoCon0 in Denver), before placing all this in the context of where I see network automation heading and drawing a quasi analogy to the current intellectual zeitgeist of societal loops and The Four Turnings. It\u2019s a stretch... but it kinda fits.

    The Cycle of Life (and Networks)

    All that's old is new again. Plan, Build, Operate. Design, Implement, Maintain. Prepare, Deploy, Manage. Architect, Execute, Optimize. Observe, Engage, Act. We all have one of those circular diagrams. We've seen every iteration of them. We use them because they are true in some conceptual or actual sense. They're a compelling frame of reference for conveying what the hell is going on. And usually hide much murkiness. 

    graph LR\n    A[Plan] --> B[Build] --> C[Operate] --> D[BLAH] --> E[to Infinity & Back]

    Anyone noticed the migration back to CLI implementations abstracting new-fangled automation tools of late? All that's old is new again. Full circle. How Meta is that.

    ","tags":["Network-Automation","Network-Community","Conference"]},{"location":"blog/2024/09/16/autocon-reflections/#dinesh-the-contrarian","title":"Dinesh the Contrarian","text":"

    At AutoCon1, Dinesh delivered a compelling keynote with the tagline \"A Contrarian Perspective\". His use of the phrase, \u201cHistory doesn\u2019t repeat, but it certainly rhymes,\u201d set the tone for a talk that challenged some of the conventional wisdom in network automation. And will assist me in folding in the Four Turnings analogy later in this post.

    My real time notes included:

    1. Primordial Soup: He likened the rise of Network Engineers and Developers as evolving from the same \"primordial soup,\" yet diverging into different technical lineages. Different species can\u2019t reproduce!

    2. Configuration Management \u2260 Automation: Dinesh emphasized that configuration management isn\u2019t real automation. Today, it\u2019s more about validation - automating the processes that ensure configurations are correct and in line with policy.

    3. Python is the New OpenFlow: One provocative statements was, \"Python is the new OpenFlow.\" While Python has become a defacto tool for many, Dinesh warned that this won\u2019t be the endgame. He compared Python to OpenFlow\u2019s failure due to its high-level abstraction, implying that simply knowing Python isn\u2019t sufficient.

    4. The Myth of a Uniform Data Model: He argued that the industry\u2019s dream of a uniform data model across vendors is a myth. Vendors will always vendor, meaning they\u2019ll continue to prioritize their own ecosystems over true interoperability. Broken hearts all round. More on this later.

    5. Avoid the Go-Lang Bandwagon: Dinesh advised against pushing specific languages like Go-Lang without considering the bigger picture of where the industry came from versus where it\u2019s headed. He drew an empathetic cord that spoke to people like me that love our field of play but are not genetically built for it. We need tools that democratize the playing field and are accessible to amateurs as well as AutoGods. Praise be upon him.

    This led to a deeper reflection on what the next generation of tools will be, coining the term Tools 2.0, a theme that continued in discussions throughout the conference. I presume his unsaid rift here is \u201cOh, SuzieQ, baby, (we should) love you\u201d. And we really do, so Thank You!

    ","tags":["Network-Automation","Network-Community","Conference"]},{"location":"blog/2024/09/16/autocon-reflections/#claudia-to-the-moon","title":"Claudia to the Moon","text":"

    Among all the speakers, Claudia De Luna of Gratuitous Arp, delivered what I believe was the best talk of the AutoCons to date. She drew a powerful analogy between the stages of network automation maturity and the space flight missions that led to the Apollo moon landing.

    My real time notes included:

    1. Mercury: The early days of automation\u2014akin to manually copying and pasting configurations. We were simply orbiting the earth, building basic scripts, and laying groundwork.

    2. Gemini: This phase was about endurance\u2014engineers started creating automation scripts that could be triggered manually but in a reliable way, much like the longer-duration Gemini missions that bridged the path to Apollo.

    3. Apollo: Full automation, akin to landing on the moon. Fully automated workflows are triggered with minimal human intervention, solving complex problems autonomously.

    \u201cWho really needs Apollo-level automation?\u201d Claudia challenged us, pointing out that some businesses are aiming for complete automation when, in reality, a more practical level of automation may be sufficient right now while we figure things out as a community and refine corporate ecosystems.

    It\u2019s a question worth pondering: How far do we actually need to go? And more importantly, what\u2019s the cost of pushing automation too far too soon in our current quasi nascent state?

    Claudia is Awesome

    I was fortunate to have the opportunity to interact with Claudia a bit during the Workshops in the days prior to the main conference. She was a stand out wonderful person I admired very much. She will be an essential resource and important player as we quest towards Mars. May the force be with her.

    ","tags":["Network-Automation","Network-Community","Conference"]},{"location":"blog/2024/09/16/autocon-reflections/#wim-kubed-the-network","title":"Wim Kubed the Network","text":"

    Thank You Nokia! By far the best of the Workshops was Nokia\u2019s Container Lab session delivered by our communities shining light, Roman. What an incredibly impressive person he is. Respect. We have much to thank Nokia and its exceptional people for. Their approach to open sourcing community tools that deliver outstanding value and assist in building the automation ecosystem is a credit to clever capitalism done right. Container Lab is very well covered in a million community posts so I won\u2019t spend any time on it here - other than to bridge this post toward Wim and Kubenet by linking to the latest iteration\u2026 Clabernetes. Check it out!

    One of the most impressive takeaways from AutoCon1 was Wim's introduction of Kubenet, a new tool from Nokia. Wim, the Head of Technology and Architecture IP at Nokia, has been a shining light and thought leader within the NAF AutoCon community, much respected as an authority in the field.

    Wim opened his session by noting how Nokia's approach to making tools like Container Lab and SR Linux freely available has been well-received by the community. He teased the audience by asking if we wanted more, to muted applause. Mostly because we are an introverted bunch incapable of expressing our emotions with appropriate flare. Inside we were all applauding rapturously, I\u2019m sure.

    Wim\u2019s presentation was delightfully paced. He took us through Kubernetes as a reference framework for Network Automation before expounding in more detail on how our community can leverage the Kubernetes ecosystem to do more than orchestrate containers and explained the path to Kubenet as a new tool for configuring Network devices. This is the promised land for those us who have spent the last decade tinkering with field adjacent activities like Dev-Ops, Cloud, SRE, etc & infinity.

    My real time notes included:

    1. Wim began outlining Nokia\u2019s approach to network automation requirements, stipulating that the new era must be:

      • Consumable: Meaning easy to access and tend to. We want to be able to play with stuff on our laptops maintainably.
      • Predictable: Meaning it should actually work. Nice to automate once but it must continue to work systemically.
      • Collaborative: Meaning we need change and version control via GitOps and associated audit trails.
      • Assisted: Meaning it should leverage the power of AI as a buddy or helper without expecting closed loop AGI. A reassuringly practical take in an unrelentingly absurd zeitgeist period.

    2. Wim then outlined what Kubernetes does for us to achieve our before stated aims. Kubernetes as the platform to do network automation because it is Open source, API Centric, Declarative, Extendable, Continuously Reconciliatory, Collaborative, Event Driven, AI Enabled, and has a Huge knowledge Base. Boom!

    3. Wim tabled the current use cases of Kubernetes amongst our technical peers as a tool for automating and orchestrating Containers, VMs, Clouds, Bare metal, Storage, Server workloads, Applications, mobile core/RAN and emergent AI use cases\u2026 notice anything missing that is close to our hearts? Why can\u2019t we leverage the outstandingly mature ecosystem of Kubernetes to automate our Networks? Awkward pause... Wim is a practical guy - so he birthed and built KubeNet himself! And all glory goes to him.

    4. All these industries use Kubernetes so why not Networks? Wim is on a mission so we can use Kubernetes to do just that. Dinesh would doubtless call this Tools 2.0. I would venture this is a giant leap, let\u2019s be conservative and say Tools 2.5. As we will touch upon later in this post\u2026 some of us still have hope!

    Making networks consumable with Kubernetes:

    As we\u2019ve seen, many other industries are adopting Kubernetes and we don\u2019t want networking to be left behind. Particularly given we have bunch of people on social media grabbing the limelight with the tagline takeaway from AutoCon0 in Denver: \u201cMake Network Engineering Cool Again!\u201d

    Wim impressed upon us a new frame of reference. We can think of Kubernetes as a container life cycle management tool, sure - got it. Kubenet at is core is not focused on that! Rather than delivering containers Kubenet is delivering Network Artifacts. Using Vendor, Abstract, and Automation layer APIs. So rather than instantiating a POD we are configuring network devices. Using APIs constructs to generate and push config to network boxes. Whoa!

    Kubenet will take our protocol abstract parameters which form our intent and then build what we need for our network to operate. Then provide a continuous reconciliation loop to check what we have against what we want and keep it in sync. Lovely.

    I for one can\u2019t wait to see this project develop. I encourage people to keep a keen eye on (frankly everything Nokia is doing) but Wim & Roman in particular are just straight forwardly smashing it. Well done.

    Kubenet is written in Go and will need a scaled out Kubernetes cluster in production - maybe you\u2019ll learn these skills (I\u2019m trying) or otherwise throw it over the fence to your Dev-Ops or SRE Team. But it\u2019s about time we leveraged the whole ecosystem from Kubernetes. And Kubenet will help us learn how to build APIs. As this is required to define new services in Kubernetes. But don\u2019t panic, Kubenet is an orchestrator so you can leverage Python, Ansible, Terraform from Kubenet to bring the Network change to life. Exciting times.

    As Ethan said in the Packet Pushers interview that followed the presentation - this is A LOT!

    Awe & Wonder Blooms

    I\u2019m currently in the awe and wonder naive and blissfully ignorant stage. I\u2019m quite sure multitudinous skeptics and negative commentary will emerge that will prune my absurd expectations. I expect AutoCon2 in Denver this November to open my eyes to this project more. But right now I\u2019m just grateful for Wim and everything Nokia are doing to bridge the gap to our dreams.

    Thank you.

    And now for my exquisitely profound (i\u2019m British) insight to bring this all together as we approach the \u201cmoment of the conference\u201d and the battle of accrued wisdom and naive hope. AutoCon folklore starts here.

    ","tags":["Network-Automation","Network-Community","Conference"]},{"location":"blog/2024/09/16/autocon-reflections/#automation-lost-in-the-wash","title":"Automation - Lost in the Wash?","text":"

    For those unfamiliar The Fourth Turning is a description of societal change through cycles. The intellectual zeitgeist posits we are currently living through the Crisis period where societies are forced to rebuild, new institutions are forged, and unity emerges from chaos. Is there an analogy to be drawn to our evolution from conventional Network Engineering to our new tribe of Network Automation professionals? Kind of. Shaky. But i\u2019ve started so I\u2019ll finish.

    The High, The Awakening, The Unraveling, and The Crisis

    Applying this to the networking industry, it's tempting to claim we're at the crisis point. But are we really there yet? Perhaps we're still in the Awakening or Unraveling phase? Opinions welcome!

    The Awakening: Freedom-Seeking and Automation\u2019s Emergence

    Currently, we see a surge in automation tools and a collective desire for freedom from traditional vendor constraints. Network engineers are actively experimenting with open-source projects and bespoke automation solutions, challenging the status quo. This mirrors the Awakening phase, where norms are questioned and innovation flourishes.

    The Unraveling: Institutions Weaken, Networks Break

    Alternatively, we might be in the Unraveling phase. Here, the institutions that once provided stability (traditional network vendors and their solutions) are weakening. We're witnessing the consequences of fragmented automation efforts, with individualized scripts and bespoke solutions leading to fragile networks.

    Not Quite the Crisis Yet

    While there's a palpable tension and concern about the future, it's arguable that we haven't hit the Crisis point. We\u2019re in the midst of a transformation where the old ways are being questioned, and new practices are being formed. The true crisis would come when the re-skilling becomes required, and network engineers find themselves needing to pivot significantly or face obsolescence. Right now we are very much flourishing as far as I can tell. It's a choose your own adventure landscape. At some future point those choices may depart the stage.

    For now, we\u2019re navigating the complexities and contradictions of these transitions, but we haven\u2019t yet faced the full impact of what this automation-driven evolution will mean for the profession. I for one am totally cool with that. I suspect you are too.

    ","tags":["Network-Automation","Network-Community","Conference"]},{"location":"blog/2024/09/16/autocon-reflections/#peter-and-the-pipedream","title":"Peter and the Pipedream","text":"

    Towards the Moment of the Conference: \u201cI couldn't disagree with you more\u201d

    The moment of the conference came at the very end of AutoCon1, in the questions following Peter's closing Keynote, which posed the question\u2026 \u201cAre we building Hall-9000 or Wall-E?\u201d

    I was fortunate to attend the Workshops in the days proceeding the main conference. The Container Lab session from Nokia was the clear stand out. But Peter, who is the Tech Lead of the Workflow Orchestrator Program at SURF impressed with his demonstrable acumen and holistic orchestration perspective. Peter lives and breathes in the State sponsored and QANGO funded space. He is not subject to same commercial travails as most of us in the Enterprise & Telecoms money machines. Keep that in mind for later.

    Peter's talk on the emergence of AIOPs referenced the desired architectural flow of Observe > Engage > Act. He explained the inherent need and urgency to lean into this ML & LLM assisted approach - as statistically evidenced by the lack of talent entering the networking profession. A timely reminder of that recurrent message that we need to Make Network Engineering Cool again. There are simply not enough of us.

    An controversial take - I might get cancelled. It's supposed to be good natured. Trust.

    I have thoughts here - and a decidedly unpopular opinion I may develop another time\u2026 It\u2019s gone down like a lead balloon when I've brought it up in water cooler conversations at the AutoCons so far. Which makes me nervous to talk openly about it, but the gist is: We are no where close to as smart as we like to think we are! This field is full of comparatively poor technologists by reference to most other adjacent technical domains. Ut oh - I said it. To be clear - I'm in the bottom percentile, and, other than me, absolutely everyone that participates in NAF is to be excluded. This is the impressive tip of our community. But many in our profession would not be capable of transitioning to a legit development role. My argument being I'm of the few self aware or stupid enough to say it out loud. Note the ironically funny feedback loop there. There is loads more nuance as i'm well aware there is a small segment of our profession that actually build the products or engineer very large and crazy complex networks. But the vast swathe of network engineers are working for small time companies or public bodies flipping ports and tickets for a living. I suspect as people drift toward seniority much of this is lost. I think what i'm saying here is please bear in mind you lot are the cerebral few. (Although i'd also note many of the best minds likely consider NAF a community of trivialities so i do need to refine my arguments here.)

    Peters point was that it\u2019s ridiculous to fear that AI will take our jobs. More likely, it will relieve some of the strain of an already lean and work burdened sector. We are all pretty bored of hearing this following the LLM early hype cycle so we can skip the detail.

    When I saw the AutoCon1 speakers list Peter's talk title stood out as the most intriguing. I assumed it would elucidate a narrative questioning if we are building high performance intelligent compute capable of solving real world problems akin to Bostrom\u2019s 2014 SuperIntelligence predictions (Hall-9000) or if, in actuality, LLM models are just the first publicly notorious form of ML that can do a few fun and fluffy things and not much more (WALL-E). Alas, Peters talk did not pan out that way. My disappointment in the moment was ultimately salvaged by the debate that followed. Sweet!

    But before we get to that, it\u2019s worth quickly summarizing Peter\u2019s take on Hollywood's historic commentary on AI themes.

    My real time notes included:

    Good vs Evil:

    1. WALL-E is fluffy and nice:

      • He compacts trash. He, It, They (insert ensuing controversy) were built to help and clean up the earth.
      • Then glitched and became able to think for himself (What the hell is consciousness? Anyhow\u2026).
      • A human conception of the Archetypical hero. Heart warming stuff.

    2. Hall-9000 is something scary:

      • A \u2018cold blooded\u2019 (isn\u2019t language beautiful) task orientated machine that controls everything.
      • Built for \u201cthe accurate processing of information without distortion or concealment.\u201d
      • But it goes wrong. An order contradicts his directive.
      • The \u2018Strange Loop\u2019 paradoxical feedback sets in with some ultimately harsh outcome for humankind.

    Peter declared that WALL-E & HALL-9000 started their life as good but malfunctioned into a stereotype. Before contextualising this to the here and now and our contemporary network automation agenda. So what now? Peter asked and answered - Intelligent Networks. AI will deliver the next paradigm.

    Peter\u2019s conclusion was that Hollywood AI stereotypes should be avoided. (Shock horror. Not exactly the revelation I was hoping for. More a statement of the blindingly obvious.) Instead we need AIOPs for mundane tasks, so we can tackle more complex tasks. A perfectly fine perspective although I\u2019m intrigued to see how our definitions and conceptions of what complexity really is begin to break down in the coming years. Much is ponderously in flux right now.

    SURF already have fully orchestrated provisioning. As displayed in their workshop of the Workflow Orchestrator they have built. You should check it out!

    Peters description of what SURF are building for the next Network Iteration of their high performance network is:

    1. Open Source. \u201cNeed all the help we can get to build this thing.\u201d
    2. Keep it Simple - Make it Powerful. Start small and aim high. This is the path toward intelligent networks.
    3. Moving towards heterogeneous vendor agnostic architecture. Vendor X or Vendor Y -> and the AI still needs to exist.
    4. A healthy service is described in multiple dimensions over time - which gets complicated.
    5. GNMI Telemetry.
    6. Digital Twin for simulations and network planning.

    Peters description of his aims designing and building SURFs next generation of networks was building toward his ultimate thesis:

    It has to be open source and open standards. Therefore, Vendors need to provide us APIs that always look the same. Before declaring, with provocative emphasis, that Vendors need to support OpenConfig to enable multi vendor configuration.

    In summing up, Peter said Automation enables Orchestration so we can unlock the potential of an Intelligent Network. It was a decent talk. Good points well made. He must have been feeling good about himself. Respect. Applause ensued. We had made it to the end of the conference and he must have had every expectation there would be a few soft ball questions and notional praise for all the great work he had done at SURF to build such a high performant network machine.

    Then cometh Dinesh\u2026 \"I couldn\u2019t disagree with you more.\u201d

    \u201cI couldn\u2019t disagree with you more. It\u2019s really important to understand the context in which we operate.\u201d

    I\u2019ll paraphrase the rest of his awesome diatribe...

    OpenConfig is zero. We have devices running that are a decades old. If it ain't broke don't fix mentalities mean these devices are not being replaced anytime soon. Dinesh insisted that the first thing we should stop as a community is continue our push to OpenConfig and other vendor agnostic plays. We need to stop harping on about the standard API because we are not going to get it. The longer we pursue this myth the longer we will be here asking why have we not seen full adoption of automation yet. We had the same problem from SNMP - it\u2019s not changed.

    Of all the great lines being thrown back and forth during this wonderful exchange of frank opinions the most hilarious was:

    Dinesh said:

    \u201cWe somehow think we will tell the vendors to get together and sing Kumbaya - ain\u2019t happening!\u201d

    To which Peter retorted:

    \u201cMaybe I am naive and young - but I do have some hope.\u201d

    Before Wim chimed in to provide a bridge between Dinesh & Peter by suggesting, in ways evocative of his prior KubeNet remarks, that perhaps we as a community could get together and build an abstraction layer, for at least some of it.

    So what were we seeing here? People fighting for their Products. (Noting that their products are, of course, the product of their reasoned and considered thoughts) Just like every Vendor does

    People have different motivations and contexts. I began this post by referencing the allocation of capital in our industry...

    Dinesh & Peter are BOTH CORRECT

    My thought here is they are obviously both correct. It\u2019s a question of perspective. The apparent disjunction between Dinesh & Peter is explained not just by the grizzled and wise vs young and hopeful thing. It\u2019s a function of the sectors in which they have built extraordinarily successful careers. Dinesh is in the brown trenches, and Peter is in the green clouds. All thats old is new again. And ultimately - follow the money.

    We need more Peters. I'm proud of him for standing his ground to the extent he did. But, if it was me, i like to think I would have ripped Dinesh a new one - despite him being perfectly correct and sagely wise on the matter. If educational co-operative institutions and the public sector is not pushing for open systems and vendor agnostic solutions then who the fuck is? In Peter we trust. The personification of a vitally important component of our wonderful technology ecosystem. After all, Elon built SpaceX off the back off NASA and Government funding. I wonder how long before Claudia gets to add the Mars mission to her space & automation analogies.

    Whatever the truth and ultimate outcome\u2026 it was a great dialogue, as Scott made clear in his closing remark. A truly delightful exchange. Thanks much Claudia, Dinesh, Peter & Wim. I like to think we will reflect on this at AutoCon10. Or otherwise the robots at AutoCon1010. I wonder where we will be.

    by Luke Richardson

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    I'm Luke. A former Network Architect pursuing Technical Management opportunities in London.

    Thank you for visiting. If you have a spare 5 minutes... Please allow me to introduce myself.

    Here you will find my Resume, my new Blog, and some Network related content.

    I'm open to new and compelling opportunities in the Network Community.

    If you have a role I might be interested in, please get in touch. You have my thanks and appreciation.

    Please don't hesitate to book time with my Fantasical. Meeting Link.

    Other than that, these pages provide a rudiment of information covering my interests in Network Automation as a career journey captured by the Epics:

    This content is limited. It's less than MVP. And nothing close to MLP. It's Dev in progress.

    I have decided not to port any previous content to this site. I'm starting from scratch.

    While i have you, please do remember ... "},{"location":"books/","title":"My Book Shelf","text":"

    Welcome to My Book Shelf

    Here you'll find a collection of books that I've read and recommend.

    Top Shelf Summarised below -> Bottom Shelf pending!

    "},{"location":"books/#team-of-rivals","title":"Team of Rivals","text":""},{"location":"books/#getting-better","title":"Getting Better","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-expanding-circle","title":"The Expanding Circle","text":""},{"location":"books/#breaking-open-the-head","title":"Breaking Open the Head","text":""},{"location":"books/#lifespan","title":"Lifespan","text":""},{"location":"books/#atomic-habits","title":"Atomic Habits","text":""},{"location":"books/#terraform-up-running","title":"Terraform: Up & Running","text":""},{"location":"books/#learning-go","title":"Learning Go","text":""},{"location":"books/#network-programmability-and-automation","title":"Network Programmability and Automation","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-phoenix-project","title":"The Phoenix Project","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-staff-engineers-path","title":"The Staff Engineer's Path","text":""},{"location":"books/#energy-and-civilization","title":"Energy and Civilization","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-progress-paradox","title":"The Progress Paradox","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-rational-optimist","title":"The Rational Optimist","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-cosmic-serpent","title":"The Cosmic Serpent","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-greatest-show-on-earth","title":"The Greatest Show on Earth","text":""},{"location":"books/#sapiens","title":"Sapiens","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-ten-types-of-human","title":"The Ten Types of Human","text":""},{"location":"books/#on-anarchism","title":"On Anarchism","text":""},{"location":"books/#god-is-not-great","title":"God Is Not Great","text":""},{"location":"books/#money","title":"Money","text":""},{"location":"books/#mind-body-problems","title":"Mind Body Problems","text":""},{"location":"books/#impromptu","title":"Impromptu","text":""},{"location":"books/#superintelligence","title":"Superintelligence","text":""},{"location":"books/#glucose-revolution","title":"Glucose Revolution","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-talent-code","title":"The Talent Code","text":""},{"location":"books/#cosmos","title":"Cosmos","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-hunter-gatherers-guide-to-the-21st-century","title":"The Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century","text":""},{"location":"books/#build-a-mathematical-mind","title":"Build a Mathematical Mind","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-coming-wave","title":"The Coming Wave","text":""},{"location":"books/#enlightenment-now","title":"Enlightenment Now","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-age-of-surveillance-capitalism","title":"The Age of Surveillance Capitalism","text":""},{"location":"books/#in-search-of-schrodingers-cat","title":"In Search of Schr\u00f6dinger's Cat","text":""},{"location":"books/#essentialism","title":"Essentialism","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-chimp-paradox","title":"The Chimp Paradox","text":""},{"location":"books/#life-time","title":"Life Time","text":""},{"location":"books/#quiet","title":"Quiet","text":""},{"location":"books/#other-minds","title":"Other Minds","text":""},{"location":"books/#think-like-an-engineer","title":"Think Like an Engineer","text":""},{"location":"books/#surrounded-by-idiots","title":"Surrounded by Idiots","text":""},{"location":"books/#deep-utopia","title":"Deep Utopia","text":""},{"location":"books/#aws-networking-fundamentals","title":"AWS Networking Fundamentals","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-end-of-the-world-is-just-the-beginning","title":"The End of the World Is Just the Beginning","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-saas-sales-method","title":"The SaaS Sales Method","text":""},{"location":"books/#the-inner-game-of-tennis","title":"The Inner Game of Tennis","text":""},{"location":"books/#waking-up","title":"Waking Up","text":""},{"location":"books/#read-write-own","title":"Read Write Own","text":""},{"location":"media/","title":"My Favorite Media","text":"

    Here you'll find the media I consume routinely that informs my worldview. The things I consider the greatest shows on earth. Content that inspires, educates, and entertains me. In an information rich, complex, and polarized world, I try to consume a wide variety of perspectives and ideas.

    Tip

    My aim in providing this curated content portfolio is to grant you some modicum of insight into the influences that shape my opinions. To be clear, I actively seek out diverse viewpoints that challenge my beliefs. This is a basic tenant of knowledge. Any attempt to box me up ideologically is futile. Please refrain from drawing any radical or definitive conclusions. But feel free to use this page as a frame of reference for understanding the type of person I am.

    I'm more curious than clever. But remain committed to continuously iterating my knowledge. My hope is you will get the gist of the kind of person I am through the media I consume. But that you will also instinctively accept there is much nuance to everyone. We all have multitudes. And it's turtles all the way down.

    "},{"location":"media/#websites","title":"Websites","text":""},{"location":"media/#podcasts","title":"Podcasts","text":""},{"location":"media/#learning-platforms","title":"Learning Platforms","text":""},{"location":"media/#youtube-channels","title":"YouTube Channels","text":""},{"location":"media/#newsletters-blogs","title":"Newsletters & Blogs","text":""},{"location":"quotes/","title":"My Quote Collection","text":"

    Not the most erudite or philosophically pertinent. But still, I wrote them down.

    Intuition is experience distilled. Unknown.

    When we have to change our mind about a person, we hold the inconvenience he causes us very much against him. Beyond Good and Evil Friedrich Nietzsche

    The human body is a network of tubes that exists to distribute resources efficiently. Some Podcast.

    One can adopt one set of principles in private and a different set in public without any inconsistency; all one has to do is make one\u2019s overriding principle the pursuit of self-interest, and then use ethical reasoning in public situations for the purpose of impressing others with one\u2019s impartiality, but not as a real guide to one\u2019s actions. This is hypocritical, but the hypocrisy is part of a consistent design for promoting one\u2019s own interests.\u201d Expanding Circles Peter Singer Page 144

    The trivial many and the vital few. Essentialist Book & Modern Wisdom Podcast

    The conversation we are having with ourselves we can\u2019t have with others. Sam Harris

    Confidence is attractive. Confidence comes from results. And results come from skill acquisition. Unknown

    Don't worry everyone\u2019s pretending. Steven Pemberton.

    Making mistakes makes you smarter. Really fast. Hedge Podcast on NAF

    Just be authentic in the moment and no one can fu*k you. Unknown.

    I 100% guarantee we will not pay more than 10% of that. Neil Schroeder.

    There is a way to catch your dreams without falling asleep. Seinabo Sey

    We all have multitudes. Unknown

    Everything fails all the time. Werner Vogels (Amazon CTO).

    We are all struggling mortals with fleeting lives trying to be right as often as we can. Bill Clinton.

    I think that I shall never see A graph more lovely than a tree. A tree whose crucial property Is loop-free connectivity. A tree that must be sure to span So packets can reach every LAN. First, the root must be selected. By ID, it is elected. Least cost paths from root are traced. In the tree, these paths are placed. A mesh is made by folks like me, Then bridges find a spanning tree. Radia Perlman.

    WeWork will fail in catastrophic fashion before June 2023. Luke Richardson December 2022.

    Let chaos reign. Then reign in chaos. Andy Grove, former CEO of Intel.

    It takes aeons of evolution and perpetual starvation. Unknown.

    Is there music and art and invention? I hope you are dancing in heaven. Cause here on earth something is missing. Dancing in the sky.

    I know people who graduated college at 21 and didn\u2019t get a job until they were 27. I know people who graduated at 25 and got a job immediately. I know people who never went to university and found what they love at 18. I know people who have children and are single, I know people who are married and had to wait 8-10 years to be parents. I know people who are in a relationship and love someone else, I know people who love each other and aren\u2019t together, there are people waiting to love and be loved. My point is, everything in life happens according to our time, our clock. You may look at your friends and some may seem to be ahead or behind you, but they are not, they are living according to the pace of their clock, so be patient. The Minds Journal.

    Nobody gets through this life unscathed. Are you going to drown in your grief?

    We are all going to die. So we may as-well live.

    Long story short... they forgot that they are all brothers and sisters, co-habiting the same planet, so they kinda became delusional and imagined these invisible borders, beliefs and structures separating them, and started destroying each other and the earth they live on ... instead of just living, sharing, creating and evolving together. Internet adage.

    Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible God and destroys a visible Nature. Unaware that the Nature he is destroying is the God he is worshipping. Hert Reeves.

    I wish people cared as much about the earth as they did about who they think created it\u2026 Internet adage.

    Shakespeare said: I always feel happy, You know why? Because I don't expect anything from anyone, Expectations always hurt... Life is short, So love your life, Be happy... & Keep smiling. Just live for yourself & Before you speak, Listen. Before you write, Think. Before you spend, Earn. Before you pray, Forgive. Before you hurt, Feel. Before you hate, Love. Before you quit, Try. Before you die, Live.

    Be Happy & Smile. Listen, Think, Earn, Forgive, Feel, Love, Live.

    It all started with an argument over whose God was more peace-loving, kind, and forgiving. Internet adage with image of cartoon war chaos & destruction.

    I do not believe anything. Most people, even the educated, think that everybody must believe something or other, that if one is not a theist, one must be a dogmatic atheist, and if one does not think Capitalism is perfect, one must believe fervently in Socialism, and if one does not have blind faith in X one must alternatively have blind faith in not-X or the reverse of X. My own opinion is that belief is the death of intelligence. Robert Anton Wilson.

    Luke Comment

    I think belief is the distillation of others' intelligence. Humans categorize and simplify, which is likely why we are unable to perceive actual reality. Evolution has abstracted us from the complexity that lays beneath our perception.

    The one thing I know for sure is that feelings are rarely mutual, so when they are, drop everything, forget belongings and expectations, forget the games, the two days between texts, the hard-to-gets because this is it, this is what the entire world is after and you've stumbled upon it by chance, by accident--so take a deep breath, take a step forward, now run, collide like planets in the system of a dying sun, embrace each other with both arms and let all the rules, the opinions and common sense crash down around you. Because this is love, kid, and it\u2019s all yours. Believe me, you're in for one hell of a ride, after all--this is the one thing I know for sure. Beau Taplin.

    I can bring you more misery than words can tell. Come take my hand, let me lead you to hell. Signed, Drugs.

    Do you know why I am stopping you? Well Officer, a crime requires an injured party. Seeing as there isn't one, I can assume you're attempting to manufacture my consent to a contract with the State's corporate policy in order to generate revenue as part of a racketeering scam. Police officer traffic stopping an astute person.

    The world is not divided between East & West. You are American, I am Iranian, we don't know each other, but we talk and we understand each other perfectly. The difference between you and your government is much bigger than the difference between you and me. And the difference between me and my government is much bigger than the difference between me and you. And our governments are very much the same. Marjane Satrapi, Iranian Graphic Novelist.

    The secret to finding all knowledge is to use exactly the right keywords when you google. Internet adage.

    I like weird people... the black sheep, the odd ducks, the rejects, the eccentrics, the loners, the lost and forgotten. More often than not, these people have the most beautiful souls. Internet adage.

    Only the cool kids are enlightened. Ironic Internet adage.

    Stress is caused by giving a fuck. Internet adage.

    I want to be happy but something inside me screams that I do not deserve it. HealthyPlace.com

    Stars can't shine without darkness. Internet adage.

    Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius, and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring. Internet adage.

    The scariest thing about distance is you don't know whether they'll miss you or forget about you. The Notebook, Internet adage.

    One awesome thing about Eeyore is that even though he is basically clinically depressed, he still gets invited to participate in adventures and shenanigans with all of his friends. And they never expect him to pretend to feel happy, they just love him anyway, and they never leave him behind or ask him to change. David Avocado Wolfe - re Winnie the Poo.

    Never apologize for what you feel. It\u2019s like saying sorry for being real. Internet adage.

    The creative adult is the child who survived. Internet adage with image of man doing graffiti.

    We do not grow absolutely chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another, unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present and future mingle and pull us backward and forward. Or fix us in the present. We are made of layers, cells, constellations. Anais Nin.

    That's the way the cookie crumbles. James Rose 2003 Drawing of a cookie crumbling resin into a bed.

    Luke Comment

    James was my last remaining close friend. He died of heart failure in the year following the Covid pandemic. I miss him more than words can say. I hope everyone has or had a friend as wonderful as James.

    Techno-Feudalist. Yanis Varoufakis

    Forgetting is an essential complement to remembering. Vaclav Smil.

    Learning to learn. It is not enough to hear or read. You have to think it through. Broadly. This is data processing. Make and use associations. Create links between knowledge. Then you can retain information. Data processing is how to learn. Learning is about retaining. Retaining knowledge requires thought. Train your brain muscle. Improve your memory. Somewhat ironically - unknown. :material-smile:{ .bounce }

    There is nothing to do but take a moment to miss him. Sam Harris on Hitch.

    Atheism is clearing the space for better conversations. Science, Art, Culture, Philosophy. Sam Harris.

    A pact with the structure of existence. Jordan Peterson.

    We excuse ourselves into living mediocre lives. Unknown.

    If people knew how hard I had to work to gain this mastery, it would not seem so wonderful at all. Michelangelo.

    We know close to nothing, about everything. And if we embrace that we will have a better experience going through life. YouTube - From Lex I think. Or Sam Harris Pod.

    Nothing is true and everything is possible. Some interview - who?

    We should do politics specifically with a view to whats best for hundreds of years time. Nothing else. Politics for the species. Rather than generations. Luke Richardson 2023

    Luke's Manifesto

    Maintain the status quo of Liberal Democratic Capitalism with a approximate split of 40% GNP to GDP. Spend my term preparing the institutional environment for much grander, but extremely slow burn, generational shifts. Basically do nothing remotely radical or change making. Then pass the work to the next government to implement the changes on which society has been educated, prepared for, and continuously consulted on.

    Reach for the lasers. Human Traffic.

    A salary is a drug they give you to forget your dreams. Unknown.

    All foundational technology gets cheaper and easier to use and ultimately proliferates far and wide. Mustafa Suleyman - DeepMind.

    When we have to change our mind about a person, we hold the inconvenience he causes us very much against him. Beyond Good and Evil Friedrich Nietzsche

    Enjoyment appears at the boundary between boredom and anxiety, when the challenges are just balanced with the persons capacity to act. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - Flow

    A man has as many social selves as there are distinct groups of persons about whose opinion he cares. He generally shows a different side of himself to each of these different groups. William James (derived from the book Quiet)

    The stories we tell ourselves. Dan Mcadmams

    Where we stumble is where our treasure lies.

    Besides black art, there is only automation and mechanization. Federico Garc\u00eda Lorca (1898-1936), Spanish poet and playwright

    \u2026people can be perfectly rational and yet perfectly self-interested. Gist

    "},{"location":"tags/","title":"Tags","text":""},{"location":"tags/#biology","title":"Biology","text":""},{"location":"tags/#conference","title":"Conference","text":""},{"location":"tags/#dna","title":"DNA","text":""},{"location":"tags/#evolution","title":"Evolution","text":""},{"location":"tags/#futurism","title":"Futurism","text":""},{"location":"tags/#network-automation","title":"Network-Automation","text":""},{"location":"tags/#network-community","title":"Network-Community","text":""},{"location":"tags/#pending","title":"Pending","text":""},{"location":"tags/#politics","title":"Politics","text":""},{"location":"tags/#psychology","title":"Psychology","text":""},{"location":"tags/#science","title":"Science","text":""},{"location":"tags/#systems","title":"Systems","text":""},{"location":"tags/#pending_1","title":"pending","text":""},{"location":"whoami/","title":"My Life Story - Heavily Redacted","text":"

    Just the Gist.

    This is a heavily redacted version of my life story, focusing on some pertinent milestones and experiences. Rest assured, i'm not (quite) as boring as it appears. I hope it affords you a useful quick reference to my life and the shaping of my character.

    "},{"location":"whoami/#childhood","title":"Childhood","text":""},{"location":"whoami/#young-adult","title":"Young Adult","text":""},{"location":"whoami/#early-career","title":"Early Career","text":""},{"location":"whoami/#death-majesty","title":"Death & Majesty","text":""},{"location":"whoami/#adult-maturity","title":"Adult Maturity","text":""},{"location":"whoami/#professional-take-off","title":"Professional Take Off","text":""},{"location":"whoami/#professional-pain","title":"Professional Pain","text":""},{"location":"whoami/#do-what-you-love","title":"Do What You Love","text":""},{"location":"words/","title":"My Favorite Words","text":"Understanding Word Types and Language Concepts ...In case you are as dumb and forgetful as me. \ud83d\ude05"},{"location":"words/#types-of-words","title":"Types of Words","text":""},{"location":"words/#language-concepts","title":"Language Concepts","text":""},{"location":"words/#why-this-matters","title":"Why This Matters","text":"

    Understanding these terms helps you grasp the function of words in language, allowing you to communicate more effectively and appreciate the intricacies of how meaning is constructed. By knowing the types of words and concepts like grammar and syntax, you can better analyse, create, and understand the beauty of language.

    "},{"location":"words/#a-priori-phrase","title":"A Priori (Phrase)","text":""},{"location":"words/#affect-verb","title":"Affect (Verb)","text":""},{"location":"words/#allusion-noun","title":"Allusion (Noun)","text":""},{"location":"words/#archaic-adjective","title":"Archaic (Adjective)","text":""},{"location":"words/#altricial-adjective","title":"Altricial (Adjective)","text":""},{"location":"words/#altruism-noun","title":"Altruism (Noun)","text":""},{"location":"words/#autotelic-adjective","title":"Autotelic (Adjective)","text":""},{"location":"words/#automaticity-noun","title":"Automaticity (Noun)","text":""},{"location":"words/#axiom-noun","title":"Axiom (Noun)","text":""},{"location":"words/#axiomatic-adjective","title":"Axiomatic (Adjective)","text":""},{"location":"words/#bayesian-adjective","title":"Bayesian (Adjective)","text":""},{"location":"words/#beguiled-verb","title":"Beguiled (Verb)","text":""},{"location":"words/#belief-noun","title":"Belief 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(Adjective)","text":""},{"location":"Contact/","title":"Contact","text":""},{"location":"Contact/#meet-with-luke","title":"Meet with Luke","text":""},{"location":"Contact/#instant-meeting","title":"Instant Meeting","text":""},{"location":"Contact/#schedule-meeting","title":"Schedule Meeting","text":"

    Thank you. Your convenience is my priority

    So feel free to use any other preferred method to reach out and conduct interviews or meetings.

    I cancelled my subscription. If you choose to Zoom it's 40mins on free tier.

    "},{"location":"Hire-Me/","title":"Luke Richardson's Resume","text":""},{"location":"Hire-Me/#employment-history","title":"Employment History","text":""},{"location":"Hire-Me/#education","title":"Education","text":""},{"location":"Hire-Me/#career-achievements","title":"Career Achievements","text":""},{"location":"Hire-Me/#hobbies","title":"Hobbies","text":""},{"location":"Hire-Me/#testimonials","title":"Testimonials","text":"

    Thanks for taking the time to read my resume. Please get in touch. \ud83c\udf89

    Please don't hesitate to book time with my Fantasical.

    "},{"location":"Net-Auto/","title":"Some Network Automation Content","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Auto/#coming-soon","title":"Coming Soon","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Auto/intro-to-docs/","title":"These Pages are built with Mkdocs","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Auto/intro-to-docs/#coming-soon","title":"Coming Soon","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Auto/intro-to-sot/","title":"The Network Sources of Truth","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Auto/intro-to-sot/#coming-soon","title":"Coming Soon","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Auto/intro-to-version-control/","title":"Introduction to Version Control","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Auto/intro-to-version-control/#coming-soon","title":"Coming Soon","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Lead/","title":"Some Advice on Leadership","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Lead/#coming-soon","title":"Coming Soon","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Lead/being-authentic/","title":"Introduction to Being Authentic","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Lead/being-authentic/#coming-soon","title":"Coming Soon","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Lead/being-different/","title":"Introduction to Being Different","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Lead/being-different/#coming-soon","title":"Coming Soon","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Lead/being-wrong/","title":"Introduction to Being Wrong","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"Net-Lead/being-wrong/#coming-soon","title":"Coming Soon","text":"","tags":["Pending"]},{"location":"assets/icons/affinity-master/","title":"Affinity symbol set","text":"

    Free 2D symbols for computer network diagrams.

    "},{"location":"assets/icons/affinity-master/#why","title":"Why?","text":"

    Simple. I wanted modern, crisp, pixel-perfect, printable, manufacturer independent symbols for computer-network topology that does not look like they were made in the 80s.

    "},{"location":"assets/icons/affinity-master/#want-to-change-color","title":"Want to change color?","text":"

    sed -e \"s/rgb(77,77,77)/rgb(45,103,185)/\" c_shield_gray.svg > c_shield_blue.svg

    "},{"location":"assets/icons/affinity-master/#symbol-overview","title":"Symbol overview","text":""},{"location":"blog/2024/07/04/life-as-no-one-knows-it-the-physics-of-lifes-emergence/","title":"Life As No One Knows It: The Physics of Life's Emergence","text":"","tags":["Science","Biology","DNA","Evolution"]},{"location":"blog/2024/07/04/life-as-no-one-knows-it-the-physics-of-lifes-emergence/#author-sara-imari-walker","title":"Author: Sara Imari Walker","text":"Listen to Luke read this Post

    Click the play button below to listen to the audio version of this post.

    Your browser sucks and does not support the audio element.

    ","tags":["Science","Biology","DNA","Evolution"]},{"location":"blog/2024/07/04/life-as-no-one-knows-it-the-physics-of-lifes-emergence/#gist","title":"Gist","text":"

    Assembly Theory. Life is complex molecular structures and pathways.

    ","tags":["Science","Biology","DNA","Evolution"]},{"location":"blog/2024/07/04/life-as-no-one-knows-it-the-physics-of-lifes-emergence/#summary","title":"Summary","text":"

    Life as No One Knows It: Assembly Theory and the Search for Life\u2019s Origins introduces a fresh perspective on life by focusing on the complexity of molecular assembly. By rethinking life as a continuum of assembly complexity rather than a strict category, Walker and Cronin challenge existing paradigms and open new avenues for understanding life\u2019s origins and detecting it in the universe. While their approach leans heavily towards complexity and speculative thinking, it provides a thought-provoking framework that could reshape the scientific and philosophical discourse on what it means to be alive.

    ","tags":["Science","Biology","DNA","Evolution"]},{"location":"blog/2024/07/04/life-as-no-one-knows-it-the-physics-of-lifes-emergence/#terms-concepts","title":"Terms & Concepts","text":"

    Helpful Context & Definitions

    ","tags":["Science","Biology","DNA","Evolution"]},{"location":"blog/2024/07/04/life-as-no-one-knows-it-the-physics-of-lifes-emergence/#ideas","title":"Ideas","text":"
    1. Assembly: More steps means more life like. How to detect life by looking for complexity.
    2. Life as a continuum of complexity: No binary life or no life. It is a spectrum. Life as the ability to generate and sustain complexity.
    3. Origin of life and evolution: Simple to complex chemistry. A system reaches a threshold of complexity -> then biological evolution can commence. Molecules to Organisms.
    4. Astro-Biology: How to find life in the universe? Molecular complexity as the signature of life. Look for it!
    5. Life purpose and meaning: Just the maintenance and proliferation of complexity. We / Life is not special. No specific set of characteristics beyond molecular complexity.
    ","tags":["Science","Biology","DNA","Evolution"]},{"location":"blog/2024/07/04/life-as-no-one-knows-it-the-physics-of-lifes-emergence/#thoughts","title":"Thoughts","text":"
    1. Bias toward complexity and novelty: The authors are clearly biased towards viewing complexity as a primary criterion for defining and understanding life. This bias may lead them to undervalue simpler forms of life or the role of simplicity in biological systems. However, this emphasis on complexity helps bridge gaps in understanding between chemistry, biology, and physics.
    2. Challenge to traditional definitions: Walker and Cronin\u2019s work challenges conventional definitions of life, which could be seen as biased against traditional biological frameworks. They advocate for a broader and more inclusive understanding of life, which could change how life is recognised and studied.
    3. Emphasis on interdisciplinary approaches: The book\u2019s bias towards interdisciplinary suggests that solutions to understanding life\u2019s complexity and origins lie at the intersection of different scientific fields. This may downplay the contributions of specialised studies in favour of a more integrative approach.
    4. Speculative nature: Given its theoretical framework, the book leans towards speculative ideas about life\u2019s nature and the detection of extraterrestrial life. This speculative bias may invite criticism for lack of empirical support but is also where its innovative strength lies, pushing the boundaries of current scientific thought.
    5. Philosophical and ethical overtones: Walker and Cronin\u2019s work is not just a scientific proposal but also philosophical. Their bias towards redefining life has ethical implications, such as how humanity interacts with potential extraterrestrial life forms and the moral consideration of recognising different forms of life.
    ","tags":["Science","Biology","DNA","Evolution"]},{"location":"blog/2024/07/04/life-as-no-one-knows-it-the-physics-of-lifes-emergence/#concluding-remark","title":"Concluding Remark","text":"

    I can't decide if this is a theory of the intuitively obvious or a profound new imagining of... everything ever.

    ","tags":["Science","Biology","DNA","Evolution"]},{"location":"blog/2024/07/04/life-as-no-one-knows-it-the-physics-of-lifes-emergence/#whiteboard","title":"Whiteboard","text":"","tags":["Science","Biology","DNA","Evolution"]},{"location":"blog/2024/07/04/life-as-no-one-knows-it-the-physics-of-lifes-emergence/#quotes","title":"Quotes","text":"

    What modern science has taught us is that life is not a property of matter.

    Physicists and chemists see very intimately what the rest of us who think life exists cannot: there is no magic transition point where a molecule or collection of molecules is suddenly \u201cliving.\u201d

    Life is the vaporware of chemistry: a property so obvious in our day-to-day experience\u2014that we are living\u2014is nonexistent when you look at our parts.

    ","tags":["Science","Biology","DNA","Evolution"]},{"location":"blog/2024/07/04/life-as-no-one-knows-it-the-physics-of-lifes-emergence/#reference-content","title":"Reference Content","text":"

    Sara Imari Walker - Santa Fe Institute Profile

    Sara Imari Walker - Google Scholar

    Sara Imari Walker - Joe Rogan Experience #2184

    ","tags":["Science","Biology","DNA","Evolution"]},{"location":"blog/2024/07/04/life-as-no-one-knows-it-the-physics-of-lifes-emergence/#review-status","title":"Review Status","text":"","tags":["Science","Biology","DNA","Evolution"]},{"location":"blog/2024/08/01/book-review-of-the-the-fourth-turning-by-william-strauss--neil-howe/","title":"The Fourth Turning: An Analysis of Cyclical History","text":"","tags":["Systems","Futurism","Politics"]},{"location":"blog/2024/08/01/book-review-of-the-the-fourth-turning-by-william-strauss--neil-howe/#authors-william-strauss-neil-howe","title":"Authors: William Strauss & Neil Howe","text":"Listen to Luke read this Post

    Click the play button below to listen to the audio version of this post.

    Your browser does not support the audio element.

    ","tags":["Systems","Futurism","Politics"]},{"location":"blog/2024/08/01/book-review-of-the-the-fourth-turning-by-william-strauss--neil-howe/#gist","title":"Gist","text":"

    Generational theory suggests that history moves in cycles. According to Strauss and Howe, we are currently in the Crisis phase of the Fourth Turning.

    ","tags":["Systems","Futurism","Politics"]},{"location":"blog/2024/08/01/book-review-of-the-the-fourth-turning-by-william-strauss--neil-howe/#summary","title":"Summary","text":"

    The Fourth Turning argues that history follows a predictable cycle, divided into four generational archetypes (Prophet, Nomad, Hero, Artist) and four turnings or stages (High, Awakening, Unraveling, Crisis). Each turning represents a different phase of social mood, driven by the behavior and values of the generations in power. Currently, we are in the \"Fourth Turning\" or Crisis phase, which will reshape society and create a new social order.

    ","tags":["Systems","Futurism","Politics"]},{"location":"blog/2024/08/01/book-review-of-the-the-fourth-turning-by-william-strauss--neil-howe/#terms-concepts","title":"Terms & Concepts","text":"

    Helpful Context & Definitions

    ","tags":["Systems","Futurism","Politics"]},{"location":"blog/2024/08/01/book-review-of-the-the-fourth-turning-by-william-strauss--neil-howe/#ideas","title":"Ideas","text":"

    1. The High: Societal rebuilding following a crisis (Prophet, Idealist Archetype)

      • Strong institutions and collective purpose.
        • Example: Post-WW2 (1946\u20131964).

    2. The Awakening: Cultural upheaval (Nomad, Reactive Archetype)

      • Questioning norms, rise in individualism.
        • Example: 1960s counterculture revolution.

    3. The Unraveling: Fragmentation of society (Hero, Civic Archetype)

      • Weakened institutions, peak individualism.
        • Example: 1980\u20132000, political dysfunction.

    4. The Crisis: Systemic shock (Artist, Adaptive Archetype)

      • Rebuilding after societal collapse.
        • Example: Great Depression/WW2, current phase.
    ","tags":["Systems","Futurism","Politics"]},{"location":"blog/2024/08/01/book-review-of-the-the-fourth-turning-by-william-strauss--neil-howe/#thoughts","title":"Thoughts","text":"

    1. Relevance of Cycles in Modern Society: The cyclical nature of history is particularly relevant today, aligning with the current social and political tensions of the \"crisis\" phase. Will this crisis lead to structural reform or just reset the cycle?

    2. Generational Leadership: Transitioning leadership from Baby Boomers (Prophet) to Generation X (Nomad) and Millennials (Hero) could influence the societal response to crises.

    3. Predictive Power: While the book claims predictive accuracy, history is shaped by unpredictable factors (e.g., technological advancements, environmental shifts). The framework is useful but not absolute.

    4. Crisis as a Catalyst for Innovation: Historically, crises have sparked technological and social advancements. The current crisis could drive breakthroughs in sustainability, AI, and governance.

    5. Cross-Cultural Applicability: The theory primarily focuses on Western societies, particularly the U.S. Can it apply to other cultural and political systems? The universality of the theory is debatable.

    ","tags":["Systems","Futurism","Politics"]},{"location":"blog/2024/08/01/book-review-of-the-the-fourth-turning-by-william-strauss--neil-howe/#concluding-remark","title":"Concluding Remark","text":"

    The generational theory in The Fourth Turning provides a compelling framework for understanding society\u2019s recurring patterns and future shifts, emphasizing the importance of recognizing these cyclical changes.

    ","tags":["Systems","Futurism","Politics"]},{"location":"blog/2024/08/01/book-review-of-the-the-fourth-turning-by-william-strauss--neil-howe/#whiteboard","title":"Whiteboard","text":"","tags":["Systems","Futurism","Politics"]},{"location":"blog/2024/08/01/book-review-of-the-the-fourth-turning-by-william-strauss--neil-howe/#quotes","title":"Quotes","text":"

    History moves in cycles, and Winter is coming.

    Each generation\u2019s response to the social moment shapes the next era.

    ","tags":["Systems","Futurism","Politics"]},{"location":"blog/2024/08/01/book-review-of-the-the-fourth-turning-by-william-strauss--neil-howe/#reference-content","title":"Reference Content","text":"

    The Fourth Turning - Wikipedia The Fourth Turning - YouTube

    ","tags":["Systems","Futurism","Politics"]},{"location":"blog/2024/08/01/book-review-of-the-the-fourth-turning-by-william-strauss--neil-howe/#review-status","title":"Review Status","text":"","tags":["Systems","Futurism","Politics"]},{"location":"blog/2024/05/13/book-review-of-behave-by-robert-sapolsky/","title":"Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst","text":"","tags":["Biology","Evolution","Psychology"]},{"location":"blog/2024/05/13/book-review-of-behave-by-robert-sapolsky/#author-robert-sapolsky","title":"Author: Robert Sapolsky","text":"Listen to Luke read this Post

    Your browser does not support the audio element.

    ","tags":["Biology","Evolution","Psychology"]},{"location":"blog/2024/05/13/book-review-of-behave-by-robert-sapolsky/#gist","title":"Gist","text":"

    Sapolsky presents a deterministic view rooted in biology and neuroscience. His approach emphasizes empathy and explores the ethical implications of human behavior, pushing us towards a nuanced, context-sensitive understanding of actions.

    ","tags":["Biology","Evolution","Psychology"]},{"location":"blog/2024/05/13/book-review-of-behave-by-robert-sapolsky/#summary","title":"Summary","text":"

    Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst is an intricate exploration of the myriad factors influencing human behavior. Sapolsky argues that behavior cannot be understood through a single lens but is shaped by a complex interplay of biological, environmental, and cultural factors. He blends reductionist explanations (biological mechanisms) with holistic perspectives (sociocultural influences), offering an in-depth view of why humans act the way they do.

    ","tags":["Biology","Evolution","Psychology"]},{"location":"blog/2024/05/13/book-review-of-behave-by-robert-sapolsky/#terms-concepts","title":"Terms & Concepts","text":"

    Helpful Context & Definitions

    ","tags":["Biology","Evolution","Psychology"]},{"location":"blog/2024/05/13/book-review-of-behave-by-robert-sapolsky/#ideas","title":"Ideas","text":"
    1. Neuroscience and Decision-Making: Sapolsky delves into the brain's role in shaping behavior, discussing how regions like the amygdala (fear/aggression) and prefrontal cortex (rationality/impulse control) influence our actions.
    2. Influence of Hormones and Neurotransmitters: The book examines how hormones (testosterone, oxytocin, cortisol) and neurotransmitters (dopamine, serotonin) affect behavior, especially in contexts like aggression, empathy, and stress.
    3. Evolutionary Biology and Ancestral Behavior: Sapolsky integrates evolutionary biology, explaining how traits like altruism, aggression, and cooperation evolved to increase survival and reproductive success.
    4. The Role of Environment and Culture: The book emphasizes how cultural norms, upbringing, and early experiences significantly shape behavior, beliefs, and moral judgments.
    5. Complexity of Influences: Sapolsky advocates for a nuanced understanding of behavior, arguing that it results from the interplay between genetics, brain activity, hormones, past experiences, and environmental context.
    ","tags":["Biology","Evolution","Psychology"]},{"location":"blog/2024/05/13/book-review-of-behave-by-robert-sapolsky/#thoughts","title":"Thoughts","text":"
    1. Scientific Determinism with Compassion: Sapolsky leans towards a deterministic view of behavior, suggesting that biological and environmental factors heavily influence actions. He balances this with compassion, advocating for understanding over judgment.
    2. Biological Emphasis: Although Sapolsky recognizes the impact of culture and environment, his background as a neuroscientist leads him to prioritize biological explanations, which may appear reductionist.
    3. Critique of Moral Judgments: Sapolsky challenges simplistic moral judgments, suggesting a more rehabilitative approach to justice, grounded in a deeper understanding of behavior.
    4. Humanistic Approach: His work promotes empathy, moving beyond \u201cus vs. them\u201d mentalities, and calls for policies that recognize the shared factors influencing human behavior across groups.
    ","tags":["Biology","Evolution","Psychology"]},{"location":"blog/2024/05/13/book-review-of-behave-by-robert-sapolsky/#concluding-remark","title":"Concluding Remark","text":"

    Sapolsky's deterministic view of human behavior, grounded in biology and neuroscience, is tempered by a commitment to empathy and the ethical implications of understanding behavior. He challenges readers to move beyond simple dichotomies like good and evil and to embrace a more integrated, context-sensitive view of human actions.

    ","tags":["Biology","Evolution","Psychology"]},{"location":"blog/2024/05/13/book-review-of-behave-by-robert-sapolsky/#whiteboard","title":"Whiteboard","text":"","tags":["Biology","Evolution","Psychology"]},{"location":"blog/2024/05/13/book-review-of-behave-by-robert-sapolsky/#quotes","title":"Quotes","text":"

    The brain is heavily influenced by genes. But from birth through young adulthood, the part of the human brain that most defines us (frontal cortex) is less a product of the genes with which you started life than of what life has thrown at you.

    ","tags":["Biology","Evolution","Psychology"]},{"location":"blog/2024/05/13/book-review-of-behave-by-robert-sapolsky/#reference-content","title":"Reference Content","text":"

    Robert Salpolsky - Wikipedia Robert Salpolsky talks Behave - YouTube

    ","tags":["Biology","Evolution","Psychology"]},{"location":"blog/2024/05/13/book-review-of-behave-by-robert-sapolsky/#review-status","title":"Review Status","text":"","tags":["Biology","Evolution","Psychology"]},{"location":"blog/1985/11/16/pending/","title":"Pending","text":"","tags":["pending"]},{"location":"blog/1985/11/16/pending/#pending","title":"Pending","text":"","tags":["pending"]},{"location":"blog/2024/09/16/autocon-reflections/","title":"AutoCon Reflections","text":"

    The AutoCon conferences have been remarkable gatherings of our network automation tribe. The Network Automation Forum (NAF) has fostered an engaged, curious community that's pushing toward what's possible in automated network infrastructure. We\u2019re all very thankful for the passion of Chris & Scott in their efforts to bring \u2018our people\u2019 together\u2026 and we hope they get very rich along the way! They deserve all the accolades, and more besides. Take a Bow.

    Side Note: Help Me Understand the Money Flow - RFC

    They say you should follow the money... and I\u2019m eager to better grasp the macro economics of our sector in transition. A theme I\u2019ll be exploring in more depth later. As my career progresses, i'm looking for ways to add extreme business value structurally - beyond incremental business efficiency in project delivery and design. I want to lead. My initial presumption is we are seeing a slow burn realignment of allocated capital that will be of great benefit to the thought leaders in our space. If anyone can help me understand this better\u2026 please reach out.

    I\u2019m patient - but I too would like to be rich before I die:

    ","tags":["Network-Automation","Network-Community","Conference"]},{"location":"blog/2024/09/16/autocon-reflections/#nafs-central-premise","title":"NAFs Central Premise","text":"

    Let\u2019s begin with the NAF's negatively framed tagline and central question: \"Why hasn't network automation seen full adoption yet?\u201d which is an appropriately provocative query that doubtless resonates but feels out of kilter, to me. Mostly because I believe we are in the new golden era of networking, filled with the most exciting tools, systems, and platforms, and an unprecedented tolerance for experimentation and failure. It\u2019s ironic that many of the vendors we moan about as automation obstacles have, in their oligopolistic malaise, opened the market for the very companies sponsoring these conferences, allowing them to thrive in spaces previously under the iron fist of the big hardware players.

    These conferences are for engineers rather than companies so its appropriate to interrogate that question with more regard to our professional joy, as network tinkerers, as opposed to accrued business value, as corporate monsters... ultimately crucial though that is! And from that perspective, as far as I can tell, everything is going great! But I\u2019m a moron so don\u2019t listen to me.

    Let's get into what I\u2019ve gathered from these conferences, focusing on my favorite presentations from the most recent AutoCon1 in Amsterdam (because the content was much better than AutoCon0 in Denver), before placing all this in the context of where I see network automation heading and drawing a quasi analogy to the current intellectual zeitgeist of societal loops and The Four Turnings. It\u2019s a stretch... but it kinda fits.

    The Cycle of Life (and Networks)

    All that's old is new again. Plan, Build, Operate. Design, Implement, Maintain. Prepare, Deploy, Manage. Architect, Execute, Optimize. Observe, Engage, Act. We all have one of those circular diagrams. We've seen every iteration of them. We use them because they are true in some conceptual or actual sense. They're a compelling frame of reference for conveying what the hell is going on. And usually hide much murkiness. 

    graph LR\n    A[Plan] --> B[Build] --> C[Operate] --> D[BLAH] --> E[to Infinity & Back]

    Anyone noticed the migration back to CLI implementations abstracting new-fangled automation tools of late? All that's old is new again. Full circle. How Meta is that.

    ","tags":["Network-Automation","Network-Community","Conference"]},{"location":"blog/2024/09/16/autocon-reflections/#dinesh-the-contrarian","title":"Dinesh the Contrarian","text":"

    At AutoCon1, Dinesh delivered a compelling keynote with the tagline \"A Contrarian Perspective\". His use of the phrase, \u201cHistory doesn\u2019t repeat, but it certainly rhymes,\u201d set the tone for a talk that challenged some of the conventional wisdom in network automation. And will assist me in folding in the Four Turnings analogy later in this post.

    My real time notes included:

    1. Primordial Soup: He likened the rise of Network Engineers and Developers as evolving from the same \"primordial soup,\" yet diverging into different technical lineages. Different species can\u2019t reproduce!

    2. Configuration Management \u2260 Automation: Dinesh emphasized that configuration management isn\u2019t real automation. Today, it\u2019s more about validation - automating the processes that ensure configurations are correct and in line with policy.

    3. Python is the New OpenFlow: One provocative statements was, \"Python is the new OpenFlow.\" While Python has become a defacto tool for many, Dinesh warned that this won\u2019t be the endgame. He compared Python to OpenFlow\u2019s failure due to its high-level abstraction, implying that simply knowing Python isn\u2019t sufficient.

    4. The Myth of a Uniform Data Model: He argued that the industry\u2019s dream of a uniform data model across vendors is a myth. Vendors will always vendor, meaning they\u2019ll continue to prioritize their own ecosystems over true interoperability. Broken hearts all round. More on this later.

    5. Avoid the Go-Lang Bandwagon: Dinesh advised against pushing specific languages like Go-Lang without considering the bigger picture of where the industry came from versus where it\u2019s headed. He drew an empathetic cord that spoke to people like me that love our field of play but are not genetically built for it. We need tools that democratize the playing field and are accessible to amateurs as well as AutoGods. Praise be upon him.

    This led to a deeper reflection on what the next generation of tools will be, coining the term Tools 2.0, a theme that continued in discussions throughout the conference. I presume his unsaid rift here is \u201cOh, SuzieQ, baby, (we should) love you\u201d. And we really do, so Thank You!

    ","tags":["Network-Automation","Network-Community","Conference"]},{"location":"blog/2024/09/16/autocon-reflections/#claudia-to-the-moon","title":"Claudia to the Moon","text":"

    Among all the speakers, Claudia De Luna of Gratuitous Arp, delivered what I believe was the best talk of the AutoCons to date. She drew a powerful analogy between the stages of network automation maturity and the space flight missions that led to the Apollo moon landing.

    My real time notes included:

    1. Mercury: The early days of automation\u2014akin to manually copying and pasting configurations. We were simply orbiting the earth, building basic scripts, and laying groundwork.

    2. Gemini: This phase was about endurance\u2014engineers started creating automation scripts that could be triggered manually but in a reliable way, much like the longer-duration Gemini missions that bridged the path to Apollo.

    3. Apollo: Full automation, akin to landing on the moon. Fully automated workflows are triggered with minimal human intervention, solving complex problems autonomously.

    \u201cWho really needs Apollo-level automation?\u201d Claudia challenged us, pointing out that some businesses are aiming for complete automation when, in reality, a more practical level of automation may be sufficient right now while we figure things out as a community and refine corporate ecosystems.

    It\u2019s a question worth pondering: How far do we actually need to go? And more importantly, what\u2019s the cost of pushing automation too far too soon in our current quasi nascent state?

    Claudia is Awesome

    I was fortunate to have the opportunity to interact with Claudia a bit during the Workshops in the days prior to the main conference. She was a stand out wonderful person I admired very much. She will be an essential resource and important player as we quest towards Mars. May the force be with her.

    ","tags":["Network-Automation","Network-Community","Conference"]},{"location":"blog/2024/09/16/autocon-reflections/#wim-kubed-the-network","title":"Wim Kubed the Network","text":"

    Thank You Nokia! By far the best of the Workshops was Nokia\u2019s Container Lab session delivered by our communities shining light, Roman. What an incredibly impressive person he is. Respect. We have much to thank Nokia and its exceptional people for. Their approach to open sourcing community tools that deliver outstanding value and assist in building the automation ecosystem is a credit to clever capitalism done right. Container Lab is very well covered in a million community posts so I won\u2019t spend any time on it here - other than to bridge this post toward Wim and Kubenet by linking to the latest iteration\u2026 Clabernetes. Check it out!

    One of the most impressive takeaways from AutoCon1 was Wim's introduction of Kubenet, a new tool from Nokia. Wim, the Head of Technology and Architecture IP at Nokia, has been a shining light and thought leader within the NAF AutoCon community, much respected as an authority in the field.

    Wim opened his session by noting how Nokia's approach to making tools like Container Lab and SR Linux freely available has been well-received by the community. He teased the audience by asking if we wanted more, to muted applause. Mostly because we are an introverted bunch incapable of expressing our emotions with appropriate flare. Inside we were all applauding rapturously, I\u2019m sure.

    Wim\u2019s presentation was delightfully paced. He took us through Kubernetes as a reference framework for Network Automation before expounding in more detail on how our community can leverage the Kubernetes ecosystem to do more than orchestrate containers and explained the path to Kubenet as a new tool for configuring Network devices. This is the promised land for those us who have spent the last decade tinkering with field adjacent activities like Dev-Ops, Cloud, SRE, etc & infinity.

    My real time notes included:

    1. Wim began outlining Nokia\u2019s approach to network automation requirements, stipulating that the new era must be:

      • Consumable: Meaning easy to access and tend to. We want to be able to play with stuff on our laptops maintainably.
      • Predictable: Meaning it should actually work. Nice to automate once but it must continue to work systemically.
      • Collaborative: Meaning we need change and version control via GitOps and associated audit trails.
      • Assisted: Meaning it should leverage the power of AI as a buddy or helper without expecting closed loop AGI. A reassuringly practical take in an unrelentingly absurd zeitgeist period.

    2. Wim then outlined what Kubernetes does for us to achieve our before stated aims. Kubernetes as the platform to do network automation because it is Open source, API Centric, Declarative, Extendable, Continuously Reconciliatory, Collaborative, Event Driven, AI Enabled, and has a Huge knowledge Base. Boom!

    3. Wim tabled the current use cases of Kubernetes amongst our technical peers as a tool for automating and orchestrating Containers, VMs, Clouds, Bare metal, Storage, Server workloads, Applications, mobile core/RAN and emergent AI use cases\u2026 notice anything missing that is close to our hearts? Why can\u2019t we leverage the outstandingly mature ecosystem of Kubernetes to automate our Networks? Awkward pause... Wim is a practical guy - so he birthed and built KubeNet himself! And all glory goes to him.

    4. All these industries use Kubernetes so why not Networks? Wim is on a mission so we can use Kubernetes to do just that. Dinesh would doubtless call this Tools 2.0. I would venture this is a giant leap, let\u2019s be conservative and say Tools 2.5. As we will touch upon later in this post\u2026 some of us still have hope!

    Making networks consumable with Kubernetes:

    As we\u2019ve seen, many other industries are adopting Kubernetes and we don\u2019t want networking to be left behind. Particularly given we have bunch of people on social media grabbing the limelight with the tagline takeaway from AutoCon0 in Denver: \u201cMake Network Engineering Cool Again!\u201d

    Wim impressed upon us a new frame of reference. We can think of Kubernetes as a container life cycle management tool, sure - got it. Kubenet at is core is not focused on that! Rather than delivering containers Kubenet is delivering Network Artifacts. Using Vendor, Abstract, and Automation layer APIs. So rather than instantiating a POD we are configuring network devices. Using APIs constructs to generate and push config to network boxes. Whoa!

    Kubenet will take our protocol abstract parameters which form our intent and then build what we need for our network to operate. Then provide a continuous reconciliation loop to check what we have against what we want and keep it in sync. Lovely.

    I for one can\u2019t wait to see this project develop. I encourage people to keep a keen eye on (frankly everything Nokia is doing) but Wim & Roman in particular are just straight forwardly smashing it. Well done.

    Kubenet is written in Go and will need a scaled out Kubernetes cluster in production - maybe you\u2019ll learn these skills (I\u2019m trying) or otherwise throw it over the fence to your Dev-Ops or SRE Team. But it\u2019s about time we leveraged the whole ecosystem from Kubernetes. And Kubenet will help us learn how to build APIs. As this is required to define new services in Kubernetes. But don\u2019t panic, Kubenet is an orchestrator so you can leverage Python, Ansible, Terraform from Kubenet to bring the Network change to life. Exciting times.

    As Ethan said in the Packet Pushers interview that followed the presentation - this is A LOT!

    Awe & Wonder Blooms

    I\u2019m currently in the awe and wonder naive and blissfully ignorant stage. I\u2019m quite sure multitudinous skeptics and negative commentary will emerge that will prune my absurd expectations. I expect AutoCon2 in Denver this November to open my eyes to this project more. But right now I\u2019m just grateful for Wim and everything Nokia are doing to bridge the gap to our dreams.

    Thank you.

    And now for my exquisitely profound (i\u2019m British) insight to bring this all together as we approach the \u201cmoment of the conference\u201d and the battle of accrued wisdom and naive hope. AutoCon folklore starts here.

    ","tags":["Network-Automation","Network-Community","Conference"]},{"location":"blog/2024/09/16/autocon-reflections/#automation-lost-in-the-wash","title":"Automation - Lost in the Wash?","text":"

    For those unfamiliar The Fourth Turning is a description of societal change through cycles. The intellectual zeitgeist posits we are currently living through the Crisis period where societies are forced to rebuild, new institutions are forged, and unity emerges from chaos. Is there an analogy to be drawn to our evolution from conventional Network Engineering to our new tribe of Network Automation professionals? Kind of. Shaky. But i\u2019ve started so I\u2019ll finish.

    The High, The Awakening, The Unraveling, and The Crisis

    Applying this to the networking industry, it's tempting to claim we're at the crisis point. But are we really there yet? Perhaps we're still in the Awakening or Unraveling phase? Opinions welcome!

    The Awakening: Freedom-Seeking and Automation\u2019s Emergence

    Currently, we see a surge in automation tools and a collective desire for freedom from traditional vendor constraints. Network engineers are actively experimenting with open-source projects and bespoke automation solutions, challenging the status quo. This mirrors the Awakening phase, where norms are questioned and innovation flourishes.

    The Unraveling: Institutions Weaken, Networks Break

    Alternatively, we might be in the Unraveling phase. Here, the institutions that once provided stability (traditional network vendors and their solutions) are weakening. We're witnessing the consequences of fragmented automation efforts, with individualized scripts and bespoke solutions leading to fragile networks.

    Not Quite the Crisis Yet

    While there's a palpable tension and concern about the future, it's arguable that we haven't hit the Crisis point. We\u2019re in the midst of a transformation where the old ways are being questioned, and new practices are being formed. The true crisis would come when the re-skilling becomes required, and network engineers find themselves needing to pivot significantly or face obsolescence. Right now we are very much flourishing as far as I can tell. It's a choose your own adventure landscape. At some future point those choices may depart the stage.

    For now, we\u2019re navigating the complexities and contradictions of these transitions, but we haven\u2019t yet faced the full impact of what this automation-driven evolution will mean for the profession. I for one am totally cool with that. I suspect you are too.

    ","tags":["Network-Automation","Network-Community","Conference"]},{"location":"blog/2024/09/16/autocon-reflections/#peter-and-the-pipedream","title":"Peter and the Pipedream","text":"

    Towards the Moment of the Conference: \u201cI couldn't disagree with you more\u201d

    The moment of the conference came at the very end of AutoCon1, in the questions following Peter's closing Keynote, which posed the question\u2026 \u201cAre we building Hall-9000 or Wall-E?\u201d

    I was fortunate to attend the Workshops in the days proceeding the main conference. The Container Lab session from Nokia was the clear stand out. But Peter, who is the Tech Lead of the Workflow Orchestrator Program at SURF impressed with his demonstrable acumen and holistic orchestration perspective. Peter lives and breathes in the State sponsored and QANGO funded space. He is not subject to same commercial travails as most of us in the Enterprise & Telecoms money machines. Keep that in mind for later.

    Peter's talk on the emergence of AIOPs referenced the desired architectural flow of Observe > Engage > Act. He explained the inherent need and urgency to lean into this ML & LLM assisted approach - as statistically evidenced by the lack of talent entering the networking profession. A timely reminder of that recurrent message that we need to Make Network Engineering Cool again. There are simply not enough of us.

    An controversial take - I might get cancelled. It's supposed to be good natured. Trust.

    I have thoughts here - and a decidedly unpopular opinion I may develop another time\u2026 It\u2019s gone down like a lead balloon when I've brought it up in water cooler conversations at the AutoCons so far. Which makes me nervous to talk openly about it, but the gist is: We are no where close to as smart as we like to think we are! This field is full of comparatively poor technologists by reference to most other adjacent technical domains. Ut oh - I said it. To be clear - I'm in the bottom percentile, and, other than me, absolutely everyone that participates in NAF is to be excluded. This is the impressive tip of our community. But many in our profession would not be capable of transitioning to a legit development role. My argument being I'm of the few self aware or stupid enough to say it out loud. Note the ironically funny feedback loop there. There is loads more nuance as i'm well aware there is a small segment of our profession that actually build the products or engineer very large and crazy complex networks. But the vast swathe of network engineers are working for small time companies or public bodies flipping ports and tickets for a living. I suspect as people drift toward seniority much of this is lost. I think what i'm saying here is please bear in mind you lot are the cerebral few. (Although i'd also note many of the best minds likely consider NAF a community of trivialities so i do need to refine my arguments here.)

    Peters point was that it\u2019s ridiculous to fear that AI will take our jobs. More likely, it will relieve some of the strain of an already lean and work burdened sector. We are all pretty bored of hearing this following the LLM early hype cycle so we can skip the detail.

    When I saw the AutoCon1 speakers list Peter's talk title stood out as the most intriguing. I assumed it would elucidate a narrative questioning if we are building high performance intelligent compute capable of solving real world problems akin to Bostrom\u2019s 2014 SuperIntelligence predictions (Hall-9000) or if, in actuality, LLM models are just the first publicly notorious form of ML that can do a few fun and fluffy things and not much more (WALL-E). Alas, Peters talk did not pan out that way. My disappointment in the moment was ultimately salvaged by the debate that followed. Sweet!

    But before we get to that, it\u2019s worth quickly summarizing Peter\u2019s take on Hollywood's historic commentary on AI themes.

    My real time notes included:

    Good vs Evil:

    1. WALL-E is fluffy and nice:

      • He compacts trash. He, It, They (insert ensuing controversy) were built to help and clean up the earth.
      • Then glitched and became able to think for himself (What the hell is consciousness? Anyhow\u2026).
      • A human conception of the Archetypical hero. Heart warming stuff.

    2. Hall-9000 is something scary:

      • A \u2018cold blooded\u2019 (isn\u2019t language beautiful) task orientated machine that controls everything.
      • Built for \u201cthe accurate processing of information without distortion or concealment.\u201d
      • But it goes wrong. An order contradicts his directive.
      • The \u2018Strange Loop\u2019 paradoxical feedback sets in with some ultimately harsh outcome for humankind.

    Peter declared that WALL-E & HALL-9000 started their life as good but malfunctioned into a stereotype. Before contextualising this to the here and now and our contemporary network automation agenda. So what now? Peter asked and answered - Intelligent Networks. AI will deliver the next paradigm.

    Peter\u2019s conclusion was that Hollywood AI stereotypes should be avoided. (Shock horror. Not exactly the revelation I was hoping for. More a statement of the blindingly obvious.) Instead we need AIOPs for mundane tasks, so we can tackle more complex tasks. A perfectly fine perspective although I\u2019m intrigued to see how our definitions and conceptions of what complexity really is begin to break down in the coming years. Much is ponderously in flux right now.

    SURF already have fully orchestrated provisioning. As displayed in their workshop of the Workflow Orchestrator they have built. You should check it out!

    Peters description of what SURF are building for the next Network Iteration of their high performance network is:

    1. Open Source. \u201cNeed all the help we can get to build this thing.\u201d
    2. Keep it Simple - Make it Powerful. Start small and aim high. This is the path toward intelligent networks.
    3. Moving towards heterogeneous vendor agnostic architecture. Vendor X or Vendor Y -> and the AI still needs to exist.
    4. A healthy service is described in multiple dimensions over time - which gets complicated.
    5. GNMI Telemetry.
    6. Digital Twin for simulations and network planning.

    Peters description of his aims designing and building SURFs next generation of networks was building toward his ultimate thesis:

    It has to be open source and open standards. Therefore, Vendors need to provide us APIs that always look the same. Before declaring, with provocative emphasis, that Vendors need to support OpenConfig to enable multi vendor configuration.

    In summing up, Peter said Automation enables Orchestration so we can unlock the potential of an Intelligent Network. It was a decent talk. Good points well made. He must have been feeling good about himself. Respect. Applause ensued. We had made it to the end of the conference and he must have had every expectation there would be a few soft ball questions and notional praise for all the great work he had done at SURF to build such a high performant network machine.

    Then cometh Dinesh\u2026 \"I couldn\u2019t disagree with you more.\u201d

    \u201cI couldn\u2019t disagree with you more. It\u2019s really important to understand the context in which we operate.\u201d

    I\u2019ll paraphrase the rest of his awesome diatribe...

    OpenConfig is zero. We have devices running that are a decades old. If it ain't broke don't fix mentalities mean these devices are not being replaced anytime soon. Dinesh insisted that the first thing we should stop as a community is continue our push to OpenConfig and other vendor agnostic plays. We need to stop harping on about the standard API because we are not going to get it. The longer we pursue this myth the longer we will be here asking why have we not seen full adoption of automation yet. We had the same problem from SNMP - it\u2019s not changed.

    Of all the great lines being thrown back and forth during this wonderful exchange of frank opinions the most hilarious was:

    Dinesh said:

    \u201cWe somehow think we will tell the vendors to get together and sing Kumbaya - ain\u2019t happening!\u201d

    To which Peter retorted:

    \u201cMaybe I am naive and young - but I do have some hope.\u201d

    Before Wim chimed in to provide a bridge between Dinesh & Peter by suggesting, in ways evocative of his prior KubeNet remarks, that perhaps we as a community could get together and build an abstraction layer, for at least some of it.

    So what were we seeing here? People fighting for their Products. (Noting that their products are, of course, the product of their reasoned and considered thoughts) Just like every Vendor does

    People have different motivations and contexts. I began this post by referencing the allocation of capital in our industry...

    Dinesh & Peter are BOTH CORRECT

    My thought here is they are obviously both correct. It\u2019s a question of perspective. The apparent disjunction between Dinesh & Peter is explained not just by the grizzled and wise vs young and hopeful thing. It\u2019s a function of the sectors in which they have built extraordinarily successful careers. Dinesh is in the brown trenches, and Peter is in the green clouds. All thats old is new again. And ultimately - follow the money.

    We need more Peters. I'm proud of him for standing his ground to the extent he did. But, if it was me, i like to think I would have ripped Dinesh a new one - despite him being perfectly correct and sagely wise on the matter. If educational co-operative institutions and the public sector is not pushing for open systems and vendor agnostic solutions then who the fuck is? In Peter we trust. The personification of a vitally important component of our wonderful technology ecosystem. After all, Elon built SpaceX off the back off NASA and Government funding. I wonder how long before Claudia gets to add the Mars mission to her space & automation analogies.

    Whatever the truth and ultimate outcome\u2026 it was a great dialogue, as Scott made clear in his closing remark. A truly delightful exchange. Thanks much Claudia, Dinesh, Peter & Wim. I like to think we will reflect on this at AutoCon10. Or otherwise the robots at AutoCon1010. I wonder where we will be.

    by Luke Richardson

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