Nick Bradbury I develop Android apps. In a previous life I created HomeSite, TopStyle and FeedDemon for Windows. Skip to content I develop Android apps. In a previous life I created HomeSite, TopStyle and FeedDemon for Windows. Years ago Melissa introduced me to New Orleans Jazz Fest, a two-weekend long festival of music, food, and culture. Given the festivals title youd think it was all about jazz, but it offers a wide variety of music. Heres a short list of some of the acts weve seen there: The Rolling Stones The Who Stevie Wonder Foo Fighters Lionel Richie Red Hot Chili Peppers Buddy Guy Trombone Shorty Joan Jett Pearl Jam The Black Crowes Heart The Eagles David Byrne Aerosmith And the list goes on and on. Along with these big names are countless other acts, some local and others from around the world. We discover so much incredible new music every time were there. One of the many things we love about the festival is it ends at 7pm every day, giving us time to explore before making our way home. Theres always music going on in New Orleans, so after the fest well sometimes catch another show. We look forward to Jazz Fest every year like kids waiting for Christmas. I turned 59 this year, which in my mind is almost old (but younger minds might disagree). Ive been fortunate to witness many big shifts in CompSci, including the rise of PCs, the advent of the web, the switch to object oriented programming, and the mobile explosion. But all of these pale against what Ive witnessed with AI this year. I had a three-month sabbatical from September to December. Prior to my sabbatical, I could use AI for basic programming tasks, but it wasnt capable of heavy lifting without a lot of assistance. When I returned to work in December, everything had changed. In those three months, AI became capable of carrying out large requests, reviewing PRs, and planning complex tasks. My job changed from writing code to reviewing code created by AI. I switched from using an IDE to using Conductor to manage multiple AI tasks in parallel. Ive read some concerns from fellow aging developers that AI will replace us, but at least for now it seems more likely that AI will replace the need for junior developers. We need experienced developers to review AI generated code (again, at least for now). There have been numerous times Ive had to correct AI code that contained serious flaws. But increasingly these flaws arent directly found by me, but instead found by AI after I raise questions. I ask AI if its approach is valid, and it comes back and basically says, Oh, good question, youre right that there are unwanted side effects that need to be addressed. And then it fixes them. At some point I wont need to raise these concerns AI will do it by itself but Im crossing my fingers that my experience will be needed for several years before I retire. Every five years at Automattic we get to take a three-month sabbatical. I think its one of the greatest perks of working here. Unfortunately, my first sabbatical happened during the pandemic, so I didnt get to travel. My second sabbatical, however, was a different story. My wife and I used all our frequent flier miles to take several trips. Our first trip was going to be to Spain, but my wife said shed like to see England, and my mum would be there visiting relatives so we could surprise her. I thought that was a great idea. And surprise her we definitely did. I need to backtrack for a minute here. Growing up my English father would greet people with What ho! instead of Hello! and that became the way we all greeted each other. So back to the surprise. I reached out to my cousin and told her wed like to surprise my mum while she was staying with her. We booked a wonderful hotel near my cousin, and plotted to show up when my mum was doing her morning walk in the British countryside. My cousin texted me when the walk was underway, and my wife and I showed up at the end of the walk. My mum saw us from a distance and thought we looked familiar, but never considered that it was actually us until she got close enough to recognize us. She couldnt believe her eyes she stopped dead in her tracks with her mouth hanging open. And just to make sure she knew it was us, I said a very loud What ho! She turned to my cousin and said a stunned, Its Nick and Melissa! To which my cousin replied, Yes, we know, everyone knows but you. My mum then looked at us and said, You toads! After the shock wore off (which Im not sure it ever did), we spent the rest of the day with them and had great food and conversation. Over 20 years ago I took my 5yr-old son to his first concert. The band was Rush and we both loved the show. Rush stopped touring 13 years ago, but they surprised everyone by announcing a string of shows this year. My wife and I were lucky enough to get tickets to see them in Chicago recently, and once again they were incredible. What was also incredible was the scene outside. Smoke from the Canadian wildfires had blanketed the city, making it dangerous to be outside unmasked. Once I understood the situation I immediately bought us N95 masks, and wearing them gave us unwanted flashbacks to the pandemic. The local news caught this lovely photo of us. Thankfully by the weekend the situation had improved and we were able to do the Architecture boat tour, which I highly recommend. Many years ago I blogged about how developers should do tech support, so after joining Automattic as an Android developer I was pleased that an annual support rotation is a requirement. Previously a support rotation meant dealing directly with customers, which is incredibly important, but this year we also have the option of spending a week using our software as a customer, and I decided to choose that option. So, every day this week Ill post something here using only our mobile app. Ive used our mobile app for blogging for as long as Ive worked on it, but I havent used it for this blog, which has been quiet for several years. My hope is to gain insights to issues customers are experiencing, and maybe itll convince me to blog here more often. Back in 2005, I had surgery to remove a tumor that had wrapped itself around my left hearing and balance nerves. Removing the tumor required removing those nerves, so when I awoke from surgery I was (and still am) completely deaf in my left ear. I was also extremely off kilter due to the missing balance nerve, but I was determined to regain my balance and enlisted the help of a private yoga instructor (I couldnt return to a yoga studio because I wouldve been falling all over the place). These balance-oriented sessions helped immensely. Ive been practicing and loving yoga ever since. For the longest time I focused on holding poses, but eventually it dawned on me that the poses themselves are less important than how you get there. This revelation turned yoga into a slow motion dance for me. For several years I went to the studio by myself, but then I met Melissa and now we go together. Doing yoga side-by-side with your partner is a wonderful thing. And then the pandemic hit and we could no longer enjoy being around a room full of yogis moving and flowing with us. Thankfully, one of our favorite instructors set herself up on Vimeo and offered on-demand classes, which we do a couple times a week from our basement. We also do live-streaming classes via Zoom, which was a little strange at first but now we love it. We dont have to drive anywhere, we still get to see people we know, and best of all we can play our own music. Its quite a treat doing hot yoga to a Metallica playlist :) Weve also been doing virtual classes at studios around the country like this one, and its been oddly fun seeing a screen full of people we dont know practicing with us. Were being extremely cautious about venturing out right now so apart from grocery stores and occasional outdoor events, these virtual classes are practically the only time we feel like were around other people. When we can eventually attend an in-person class, its going to pretty hard to adapt to it. Since we mute our audio, were constantly talking in these virtual classes, often trying to crack each other up during balance poses to see who falls over first. Im pretty sure we couldnt do that in an actual studio. Itll be quite a while before were comfortable going to a studio, so for now were extremely thankful we can still do yoga in other ways despite this raging pandemic. Having a regular practice has really helped us stay somewhat sane during these insane times. I was born in England but moved to the US when I was very young. My parents held onto their British culture in many ways, one of which was continuing to watch British comedy. When I was in elementary school, I remember walking in on my dad watching Monty Pythons Flying Circus. I watched it with him and thought it was the funniest thing Id ever seen. The sketch I walked in on was the Upper Class Twit of the Year, which I found even funnier because one of the twits had the same name as one of my brothers. My brothers and I continued to enjoy Python for decades and followed the casts post-Python work as well, especially John Cleeses (in fact, my wife and I re-watched A Fish Called Wanda just last night). So I was thrilled to discover John Cleese on Cameo, offering to create personalized videos for a fee. My oldest brother had a birthday coming up, so I couldnt resist paying John Cleese to insult him as a birthday gift. He did not disappoint. In my early twenties I met a wonderful girl named Melissa. In previous relationships I felt like an outsider, but with her I was so at ease. We were young & stupid and let it slip away, but I always looked back on her as the one that got away. Thirty-ish years later I was walking my dogs in a nearby park and I ran into Melissa. I couldnt believe it was her, and I couldnt believe she lived just a few miles away. We walked and talked for a while that morning, and continued to walk and talk for weeks after. We pretended to be platonic, but I knew I loved her. One day I held her hand and it was the most connected I ever felt with someone. We went through a lot to get to this point, but on January 1, 2019, we married. Here Comes the Sun played as she walked down the aisle, because thats what she is to me. Our wedding dance was to Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, which was when my friends and family learned I really cant dance. We love doing so many things together hot yoga, running, hiking, martinis, and so much more but our favorite thing is live music. In the past few years Ive seen more concerts than Ive seen in my entire life. Roger Waters, Metallica, Buddy Guy, Beck, Primus, Rolling Stones, Trombone Shorty, Hamilton, Tool, Dweezil Zappa, Wilco, Aerosmith, Joe Bonamassa, Gary Clark Jr, Anthrax, George Clinton, Jonny Lang, Foo Fighters, the list goes on. These days, of course, our concert-going has been put on pause. But were still having fun. To keep us sane in lockdown, my wonderful wife filled the yard with toys. We have a badminton net, bean bag toss, croquet, hoppity hops, and a tiny kiddie pool to cool off in. We also bought inflatable paddle boards and kayaks so we can enjoy a nearby lake. We dont know where things are headed in this country, but we do know that well continue to live a life of love, laughter, and music. Im so glad for that morning in the park, and so glad Im finally sharing this story with you. Just over seven years ago I joined Automattic, and I said this back then: They treat their employees the same way I try to treat the end users of my software. As a developer, I’ve tried to provide a great experience to those who use my software. As a company, Automattic tries to provide a great experience to those who work there. People stick with you when you provide a great experience. Seven years later, I still feel this way. Among the benefits they provide is a three-month paid sabbatical after being with them for …