Logo Barret Codes
  • Home
  • About
  • Engage With Me
  • Recent Posts
  • Posts
  • Dark Theme
    Light Theme Dark Theme System Theme
Logo Inverted Logo
  • Posts
  • Community
  • Conferences
  • Development
  • Life
  • Podcasts
  • Soft Skills
Hero Image
2025 - The Year in Review

Here’s my 2025 year in review

  • YearInReview
  • 2025
Tuesday, December 30, 2025 | 5 minutes Read
Hero Image
I Got a New Job - The Power of Community and Networking

I got a new job. And it’s all thanks to the power of networking and community.

  • nimblepros
  • job
Friday, July 11, 2025 | 6 minutes Read
Hero Image
Ranking the Star Trek Franchise

Just a bit of fun today. Here’s my rankings of the ENTIRE Star Trek franchise. That’s right. This is EVERY single Star Trek movie and TV Series ranked. #startrek

  • YouTube
  • Star Trek
Monday, June 23, 2025 | 1 minute Read
Hero Image
My New PC Build

I felt the time was right to do a new PC build

  • tech
  • pc
Wednesday, April 9, 2025 | 6 minutes Read
Hero Image
My New Job

I haven’t posted in a few weeks, and there’s a reason for that. I recently changed jobs. It was a long journey, and I’ll go in to that here in this post. But the last few weeks were focused on wrapping up my work with my old employer and getting ramped up with my new employer. And with all of the recent layoffs in tech, I thought it might be of some value to others for me to post about my own job search journey. Maybe it will be of some help to you.

  • career
  • new-job
Friday, February 17, 2023 | 17 minutes Read
Hero Image
A Day In The Life

Taking some inspiration from my favorite ‘cast this week, Guidance Counselor 2.0, by Taylor Desseyn. I wanted to ‘get real’ a little bit about what it’s really like to be a professional software developer and use this post to delve a bit into the day-to-day life of a dev. A bit of disclaimer first: This is entirely based on my experiences and that of others I am familiar with. That said, there is no single, real answer to the question: What is it like to be a software developer? It literally varies from company to company, position to position, person to person, and even day to day. That’s one of the greatest parts of being a software developer: the variety.

    Wednesday, November 30, 2022 | 12 minutes Read
    Hero Image
    Imposter Syndrome Never Ends - And That's Fine

    There’s a ton of feeling in the developer community among new, so-called “junior” developers. It’s something that has come up in many of the mentoring sessions I have held with quite a few people who are new to coding or trying to get into the field. It’s a feeling that you will never be good enough, will never learn all the things you need to learn as a developer, and will never be as good a developer as many of the other devs around you. Many people call it “Imposter Syndrome”. I call it normal.

    • imposter-syndrome
    • soft-skills
    Tuesday, November 15, 2022 | 7 minutes Read
    Hero Image
    It's Your Time Off... Take It

    A quick rant this week. There’s a trend in American workplaces, and it’s terrible. People are taking “time off”, but still working. I can’t even begin to count the number of co-workers I hear who say something to the effect of “I’m out next week, but I’ll still be monitoring emails or joining some calls”. I’m even guilty of doing this on occasion. This isn’t taking time off. If you’re checking email or attending meetings, on your “day off”, you might as well not take time off. There are a couple of reasons why this is the case.

    • culture
    • time-off
    Tuesday, October 18, 2022 | 3 minutes Read
    Hero Image
    The Employee Right to Privacy

    I’ve seen a lot of posts on social media in recent months where people are complaining about their companies spying on them and what they’re doing on their employer-issued equipment and accounts. I want to put this in as plain a statement as possible. ANYTHING you do on employer-issued equipment or using employer-issued accounts is, at the very least, subject to monitoring by your employer. And at worst, belongs to your employer.

    • employment
    • ownership
    • privacy
    Tuesday, September 13, 2022 | 7 minutes Read
    Hero Image
    Is a College Degree Necessary To Find A Tech Job?

    It used to be that having a college degree was a necessary thing to getting a job in software development. This was especially true at the “entry” level of the spectrum. Oftentimes it didn’t really matter much what that degree was in. It was just “required” that you have one. But is that still the case in 2022? Thankfully, in most cases, the answer is: No. Don’t get me wrong. Some companies still keep a stranglehold on doing things the way they’ve always done them. These companies are collectively known as dinosaurs. They live in the past and they are usually either very big, with a huge bureaucracy (i.e. HR department), or they are owned or run by someone who can’t let go of the past (i.e. an old dude who likes to start stories with “in my day…”). These are the same companies that are currently demanding that developers and engineers return to working onsite in the office, because “reasons”. And in today’s world, these are companies that are struggling to get and keep talent.

    • experience
    • hiring
    • interviewing
    • learning
    • tech
    Tuesday, August 16, 2022 | 7 minutes Read
    Hero Image
    Guest Post: What are the different types of interviews?

    I’ve got a guest post this week provided by the Codementor team. Thanks to them for providing this, and I encourage you to take a look at what they have to offer. Your resume got you in the door. What awaits you is a big hurdle: the interview process. Whether it’s a one-on-one interview with the manager, a group interview with the entire team, or multiple interviews of all types, you’ll have to pass them to land the job.

      Tuesday, July 19, 2022 | 9 minutes Read
      Hero Image
      The Ethics of Being a Software Developer

      There’s a lot of pain in the world right now. In nations where freedom exists, the rights and privileges of their citizens are eroding away. The world is changing. Freedom is under attack from every corner and by every means possible, be it war, oppression, apathy, or the destruction of rights by those who have been entrusted to uphold and sustain those rights. As technologists, we have a duty and responsibility to evaluate our roles in those changes.

      • ai
      • ethics
      • facial-recognition
      • machine-learning
      • responsibility
      • surveillance
      Wednesday, July 6, 2022 | 11 minutes Read
      • ««
      • «
      • 1
      • 2
      • 3
      • »
      • »»
      Navigation
      • About
      • Engage With Me
      • Recent Posts
      • Posts
      Contact me:
      • barretblake@live.com
      • barretb
      • Barret

      Liability Notice: This theme is under MIT license. So, you can use it for non-commercial, commercial, or private uses. You can modify or distribute the theme without requiring any permission from the theme author. However, the theme author does not provide any warranty or takes any liability for any issue with the theme.


      Toha Theme Logo Toha
      © Copyright Barret Blake.
      Powered by Hugo Logo