Reading List
The most recent articles from a list of feeds I subscribe to.
Refactoring English: Month 14
New here?
Hi, I’m Michael. I’m a software developer and founder of small, indie tech businesses. I’m currently working on a book called Refactoring English: Effective Writing for Software Developers.
Every month, I publish a retrospective like this one to share how things are going with my book and my professional life overall.
Highlights
- A new strategy for finding book readers is having positive results.
- I had a breakthrough experience by letting an AI agent run in unrestricted mode.
- I’ve been using AI to correct decisions I regret about my tech stack.
Goal grades
At the start of each month, I declare what I’d like to accomplish. Here’s how I did against those goals:
Eversource EV Rebate Program Exposed Massachusetts Customer Data
I recently claimed a rebate for installing an electric vehicle (EV) charger, only to discover that Eversource, my power supplier, was publicly exposing personal information of customers who applied, including:
- Full names
- Vehicle registration certificates (including plate number and vehicle identification number)
- Home addresses
- Email addresses
- Phone numbers
I’ll include the backstory that led me to the vulnerability, but if you just want to know about the security vulnerability, you can skip to that.
My Eighth Year as a Bootstrapped Founder
Eight years ago, I quit my job as a developer at Google to create my own bootstrapped software company. Every year, I post an update about how that’s going and what my life is like as an indie founder.
Previously on…
I don’t expect you to go back and read my last seven updates. Here’s all you need to know:
- 2018 - 2020 - Quit my job and created several unprofitable businesses.
- 2020 - 2024 - Created a product called TinyPilot that let people control their computers remotely.
- 2024 - Sold TinyPilot, became a father.
How finances went
People are always most interested in how money works as an indie founder, so I’ll start there. Here’s what my revenue and profit looked like every month this year.
Refactoring English: Month 13
New here?
Hi, I’m Michael. I’m a software developer and founder of small, indie tech businesses. I’m currently working on a book called Refactoring English: Effective Writing for Software Developers.
Every month, I publish a retrospective like this one to share how things are going with my book and my professional life overall.
Highlights
- I added regional pricing for my book based on purchasing power parity.
- I created my first Flutter app.
- I’m writing my first cross-language library.
Goal grades
At the start of each month, I declare what I’d like to accomplish. Here’s how I did against those goals:
Refactoring English: Month 12
New here?
Hi, I’m Michael. I’m a software developer and founder of small, indie tech businesses. I’m currently working on a book called Refactoring English: Effective Writing for Software Developers.
Every month, I publish a retrospective like this one to share how things are going with my book and my professional life overall.
Highlights
- I’m working on a game to predict which posts will reach the front page of Hacker News.
- I’m creating a family photo sharing app out of spite.
- I switched to a keyboard-first window manager.
Goal grades
At the start of each month, I declare what I’d like to accomplish. Here’s how I did against those goals: